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Baker's Dozen

Inhabiting The Music: Charlotte Gainsbourg's Favourite Albums
Jeremy Allen , April 25th, 2018 07:45

Ahead of her appearance on The Quietus' stage at this year's Field Day Festival, Charlotte Gainsbourg takes Jeremy Allen through her favourite albums, from Portishead to Bach, Lou Reed to her dad

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John Mayall - The Turning Point
I'm no fan of live albums or even live shows, but this album somehow makes it different. I didn't see the live show because I wasn't born; it was recorded in New York in 69. But it's an album for me that you listen to from the beginning to the end, and it does make a difference. All these albums that I've talked about, the same happens with each of them: you go from song one to, I dunno, song 10 or song 12. And you don't just pick a song.

For me The Turning Point is always on at home. Yvan [Gainsbourg's partner] made me discover this album and he sort of educated me in a different way. I met him when I was 19, so I wasn't fully educated music wise. So he introduced me to Mazzy Star, to John Mayall, to Radiohead also. I don't know why I respond so vividly to this album. I don't know how to describe what it means to me really, it's just one of those albums that accompany you through years and years. It was a different sound and a real discovery.