2. Arthur RussellCalling Out Of Context
I love all of his records. Calling Out Of Context in particular was the most accessible at first – I had to re-educate my ears at the beginning though, in order to get into it. A friend of mine told me about it at uni – we were just starting Foals and I was getting more interested in pop music – or what my idea of that was – to write simpler, more emotive songs without hiding behind structures and techniques.
His music is so open. When we wrote the first batch of Foals songs, we bought this second-hand Royal Mail van that was falling apart and we had one of those cassette adaptors that attached it to a Discman. It was one of those self-booked tours where there was no one there and we would get back into the van and put this record on and it lifted the spirits.
It’s the perfect record for a summer’s day, Sunday morning – it’s got a lightness and discreetness to it, I just love his voice. You can feel light within; when I listen to him, I can picture a visual scene filled with light. It’s a daytime record.
