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Baker's Dozen

Something Searing: Yannis Philippakis Of Foals' Favourite Albums
Lisa Lavery , August 26th, 2015 09:56

Before the release of new album What Went Down, the Foals frontman gives Lisa Lavery his top 13 LPs, all records united by "people's voices that connect directly", moving through Arthur Russell, Pixies and Howlin' Wolf

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Majical Cloudz - Impersonator
Have you heard that Majical Cloudz record?

No.

Good record that.

PR: Who's that?

ARE YOU KIDDING?! Magical Cloudz?! Majical Cloudz is two guys from Montreal and this record is only two years old. I bought it on a whim because I was intrigued by the strange spelling and a friend had seen them live and said that it was one of the most startling experiences of his life. I didn't listen to it immediately, but a couple of days after New Year's, I was feeling crushed, it was raining, I had it on my headphones and there was something so private and discreet about it.

It's all to do with the lyrics and the singer; the music is very understated, there's no real progression in the songs. Unobtrusive, discreet backdrops for what it might feel like stumbling across an AA meeting or a domestic argument or reading someone's diary. There's a confessional, disarming honesty about his lyrics, they're poetic - there's some imagery that adds to the strangeness in a way, but when I listen to it, I feel like I have a companion in my head, the same as when you fall in love with a book. Of all the records that have recently come out, it's the only one I feel like I'll be in love with for a long time, it's very special to me.