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Baker's Dozen

A World Where Everything Is Cool: Joel Gion's Baker’s Dozen
Harry Sword , February 7th, 2024 10:41

From carrying a Marvin Gaye cassette in his pocket to reciting the entirety of Easy Rider, and the glory of Psychedelic Brazil to the real Beatles, Joel Gion of the Brian Jonestown Massacre talks to Harry Sword about the 13 records that mean the most to him.

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Ennio Morricone – Veruschka OST

I’m a huge Ennio fan, particularly the psych/lounge/jazz stuff – nobody knows what to call it! And that mode of his is my favourite. This one sounds not just like a ‘soundtrack’, but a soundtrack from a dream within a dream; I get this weird kind of past life energy from it. I was born in 1971 and the orchestration and the heavy use of delay and the vocals; to me it’s the ultimate mode of escapism.

I love escapism and I love this stuff because you can put it on the headphones when you’re walking along the cliffs or beside the ocean, and you’re in a different world. The film is about the model Veruschka – there’s this really crap plot in place but she was really far more than a model, she was an artist. She’d try to blend in with her environment. She’d be among white stones or meld into a tree, so they followed her around from 71. It’s groovy, psychedelic and then the love interest is the baddy from Fistful Of Dollars which is just totally ridiculous!