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Baker's Dozen

Overlapping Terrain: Richard Skelton's Favourite Music
Luke Turner , February 26th, 2020 09:18

Following the release of his new album LASTGLACIALMAXIMUM, the prolific Richard Skelton speaks to Luke Turner about the music that inspired his own work, from Thomas Tallis to Phuture, Nico to Sly & The Family Stone, The Stooges and Gorecki

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Thomas Tallis – Spem In Alium
I don't consider myself religious. I'm not interested in this because it's 'devotional' music. I don't necessarily listen to the words. The majority of the pieces I've listed here have been instrumental, and it's that primal language of music that draws me in. For some reason I find choral music incredibly powerful. If we analyse it, it could be something to do with the scales that are being used and the way that the music is arranged. It could possibly have resonances with other kinds of music that we've talked about. I don't listen to it and get a sense of religiosity, but I do get a sense of the mystical, and of awe and wonder, and I experience something similar when immersed in natural landscapes. So there’s some kind of dovetailing there, between land and music, and how I experience them. It’s very instinctual. An overlapping terrain that I’m always looking to explore.