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Baker's Dozen

Proper Stories: Emilíana Torrini's Favourite Albums
Tom Hughes , August 29th, 2013 07:38

Ahead of the release of her sixth album Tookah next month, the Icelandic singer-songwriter scours her record collection (mentally) to pick her top LPs

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Isao Tomita - Snowflakes Are Dancing
I put this down because of the effect it had on the sound of my record. I discovered it around ten years ago, living with an ex. Between us we had about 20,000 records in the house, and I found this album one time and put it on. Maybe I connected with it because of the Iceland thing, I don't know, but I just loved it. Every time I play it when other people are there they tell me to turn it off! But it had a big impact on me, it's so otherworldly. It is what it is, the title describes it perfectly, snowflakes are dancing.

The album is [French composer] Claude Debussy’s work but done with synths, and Tomita's version creates this animation in my head. I love it when I get very strong visuals, things start moving and it's almost like watching Fantasia or something. It drags you out of your reality and you go into your unconscious world, where things are a little bit different and more interesting.