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Baker's Dozen

A Gorgeous Haunting: Tom Ravenscroft's Favourite Records
Ben Graham , August 23rd, 2023 09:06

From 90s grunge and hip hop to contemporary ambient electronica, DJ Tom Ravenscroft tells Ben Graham about the 13 albums that give him the most listening pleasure, and developing his own musical interest away from the influence of his dad, the late John Peel. Tom Ravenscroft image courtesy of the BBC.

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Babes In Toyland – Fontanelle
One of the first festivals I went to was an early Reading in the early 90s, 92 I think maybe it was, it was one of the years Nirvana played anyway, I remember that. But I was briefly looked after by Babes In Toyland as my parents had to go and do something else. They agreed to look after me for a bit and I just thought these were some very charming women that I was falling hopelessly in love with as a 12-year-old or whatever, and they were super nice and really loving and looked after me. They handed me back and I saw them go on stage and I was like, ‘I wasn't expecting this’. They were so wonderfully punk rock, and I remember watching them and thinking that they were the coolest people on earth. I hadn't seen people making a noise like that before, and it shook me up, seeing that people could be completely wild and themselves on stage in that way. I didn't know you could do that. I wasn't expecting them to scream and smash stuff up. Oh, right. That was them. Wow, you guys are actually fricking terrifying! And I was smitten ever since, really. For a long time, they were my heroes.