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Baker's Dozen

A F**king Joy: Aidan Moffat's Favourite Albums
Daniel Dylan Wray , April 2nd, 2015 14:15

With Aidan Moffat's excellent new record with Bill Wells just out, we sent Daniel Dylan Wray up to Glasgow to meet the former Arab Strap man/Quietus sex columnist to discuss his top formative albums. And, with the help of beers, a record player and one powerful deployment of the phrase "get to utter fuck", here's what he picked

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Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis
You've been warned… I might try and shag you while we're listening to this ['Breakfast In Bed']. It's the most erotic song I've ever heard, it's fucking fantastic. This whole album, she practically sighs the whole record out. I think the essence of Dusty Springfield is this inherent sadness to her. The first Dusty Springfield record I bought was the Pet Shop Boys one with her ['What Have I Done to Deserve This?'] which is still a fantastic record, and that spurred me in the 80s to start listening to her records. This is a gem of a record, she's met the perfect band to accompany her voice, her voice has never sounded better, she's so relaxed on it, you get these wonderful, breathy, sexy vocals all the way through the record. I've never heard anything sexier than this record, even on 'I Don't Want to Hear it Anymore', when she's hearing her neighbours through the wall talking about her man shagging somebody else, it still sounds like this erotic world that you want to live in. I speak about sadness because there was one, she felt she had to hide her sexuality, in those times it was a difficult thing. It's maybe for some of the reasons why I'm saying I love this record that she felt she couldn't come out initially, but I mean I don't care if she was shagging a man or a woman, it still sounds fucking magical. She seems like quite a tragic character, maybe someone that just came from the wrong time. When I start listening to this record I just want to be there with her, especially this song 'Breakfast In Bed', I don't care if she wants to shag me, I just want to be there, having a cuddle with her in the bed, listening to this fucking song.