Category: Interviews

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: This Is The Kit

Kate Stables on the prismic, reflective qualities of a Paul Simon classic

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

This Is The Kit is the alias of English musician Kate Stables. Established in 2003, she released her first album Krülle Bol in 2008 and has over four subsequent albums – the latest of which was 2020’s Off Off On for Rough Trade – established a sound deeply rooted in the folk traditions of storytelling, with songs evoking an earthy, tactile sense of time and place one moment and ethereal, dream-like atmospheres the next.

Recently she announced her new album, Careful of your Keepers, due for release 09 June along with the lead single Inside Outside which you can listen to below.

For her One Track Mind selection, Kate has penned some typically poetic words about a favourite track from Paul Simon’s seminal album Graceland.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Julia Gjertsen

The Oslo-based pianist and composer on the cinematic journey and structural chaos of Fieldhead

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Julia Gjertsen is a pianist and composer based in Oslo. Combining contemporary electronic elements with the piano, she creates contemplative soundscapes and introspective compositions that draw inspiration from nature and reflect on moments from the past and present. Her music is characterized by a tender playing style and beautifully crafted melodies that aim to convey nuanced perceptions and emotions that can often be challenging to express through words.

Her second album Formations was released last year, while more recently she released the collaborative EP Dive alongside Finnish composer Juha Mäki-Patola. Her latest single, Embers, came out earlier this month as part of Fractals, Moderna Records’ annual piano day compilation featuring twelve pieces from composers and pianists around the world.

For her One Track Mind selection, Julia has selected the opening track from UK electronic duo Fieldhead’s 2009 album they shook hands for hours.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Thanya Iyer

The South Indian-Canadian artist on the unrestrained joy of a US saxophone icon.

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Thanya Iyer is an enigmatic songwriter who crafts sparkling experimental pop music. Her live trio, with Pompey and Daniel Gélinas, wields acoustic and electronic instruments to flesh out her serene, spiritual compositions.

Her wonderful 2020 album KIND was inspired by years of touring and connecting with community in a live setting. Released earlier this year, new latest EP rest is more reflective and introspective, composed predominantly during the pandemic, and explores existential themes through the prism of contemplative pop, folk and jazz.

For her One Track Mind selection, Iyer has selected a life-affirming jazz cut from the American saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Tomu DJ

The California producer on the enduring appeal of some soft rock icons

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Tomu DJ is an American producer and DJ best known for her self-released albums on Bandcamp. She imbues her music with a gentle yet driving emotional force, creating intricate but comforting melodies across her discography. Tomu draws inspiration from her inner self—her memories and her past—and seamlessly infuses these reflections into her music. She released her latest LP Half Moon Bay earlier this year, which is yet another plaintive, thoughtful collection of tracks that straddle house, breaks, ambient and electronica with impressive assuredness.

For her One Track Mind selection, Tomu DJ has picked a track from one of the most iconic rock outfits of all-time, the mesmeric Steely Dan.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Bad Flamingo

The US duo sing the praises of a Scott Joplin classic.

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

US duo Bad Flamingo are without doubt one of my favourite musical discoveries of the last couple of years. Swaggeringly cool and pretty much anonymous online, they make sleazy, sweaty, dusty tracks that swing between alternative rock, country and something altogether less easily defined. Their latest run of singles has been faultless, and hopefully they will be following up their brilliantly titled 2018 album I Said A Prayer Twice for Both My Faces very soon.

For their One Track Mind selection, Bad Flamingo paint a typically vivid picture about their time with a track by American composer and pianist Scott Joplin.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Joy Helder

The London-based electronic artist reminisces about the melodic Italo-stylings of Skatebärd’s Why Now?

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

“Miniature soundtracks for moments in life, created electronically in London” is about as much concrete information I can find about Joy Helder. But whatever lack of identifying detail there might be available in regards to his background is more than counterbalanced by the depth and richness of his productions. Latest EP Joy moves through both ambient and more rhythmically structured experimental electronica, with field recordings, haunting melodies and muted percussion combining to create an atmosphere that’s at times claustrophobic and foreboding, others expansive and calming.

For his One Track Mind selection, Joy has picked a track by Norwegian artist Skatebärd that soundtracked many a bus journey shortly after he arrived in London.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Hinako Omori

The classical pianist and synthesiser obsessive discusses the timeless beauty of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Energy Flow

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Born in Yokohama, Japan, Hinako Omori moved to the UK when she was three years old and currently lives in London. She began her musical path learning classical piano, later training as a sound engineer, and has since moved into working with analogue synths. Previous to releasing her own solo material she toured with and played on records by a raft of critically acclaimed musicians including Kae Tempest, Georgia, and Ed O’Brian. However it is her experience in sound engineering that form the foundation for her new album a journey…, a deeply meditative electronic project that encompasses binaural field recordings, analogue synthesisers and augmented vocals.

For her One Track Mind selection, Omori has picked a track by arguably Japan’s most celebrated and influential musician of all time, Ryuichi Sakamoto.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ

The queen of nostalgic dance music waxes lyrical about a track from The Avalanches timeless debut

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ is a London-based electronic music producer. Named after the TV series that pretty much every child of the 90s will be familiar with, her music is deeply evocative, mixing samples from TV, film and music with lo-fi beats and a huge amount of affection for her source material. As Amaya Garcia put in in their fantastic profile for Bandcamp Daily, DJ Sabrina creates music in which listeners can “revel in the intensity of falling in love, experiencing heartbreak, weathering deep crushes, and dancing their worries away in the warm glow of the dancefloor.” Released last month, her latest single Under Your Spell perfectly encapsulates this joyously singular sound, and would be a perfect jumping off point for anyone looking to get stuck into her expansive back catalogue.

For her One Track Mind selection, DJ Sabrina has chosen a song from an act that shares both her penchant for sampling, and her ability to hammer our emotional button, The Avalanches.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: Emily Wells

The singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist on the educational perfection of Harry Nilsson

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

Emily Wells is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, arranger, and producer, whose extraordinary music incorporates elements from experimental, electronic, chamber pop and classical, and has been variously described as “dramatic, meticulous and gothic” (New York Times) and “visionary” (NPR). Released earlier this year, her latest album Regards To The End was inspired by the often radical actions of AIDs activists in the 1980s as seen through the lens of the current climate emergency. Intricate, sobering and quietly powerful, it is an immaculately atmospheric body of work from a breathtakingly talented artist.

For her One Track Mind selection, Emily has chosen a song from American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson, that for her transcends the artistry of songwriting and becomes a lesson for storytellers, regardless of the medium.

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Interviews Music

One Track Mind: John Moods

The Berlin-based artist talks in depth about the enigmatic beauty of Townes Van Zandt’s Highway Kind

The premise of One Track Mind is pretty simple: I ask artists to pick one track that means a lot to them – either something they’ve discovered recently, something that’s been with them for years, or one that reminds them of a specific time in their life or career – and tell me what makes it so special to them. I get to talk to the artists I love, and they get to talk about the artists they love. Love all round!

John Moods is the musical solo exploration of Jonathan Jarzyna from the Berlin based pop band Fenster. Released back in August of this year, I came to his 2021 album So Sweet So Nice a little late, but it’s one of my favourite releases of the year. Tackling questions about mortality in an often light-hearted and delicate fashion, it at times evokes the hazy melodies of 80s acts like Steeley Dan, at others diving off into Paul Simon-adjacent territory, but all the while maintaining its own strong, distinctive identity. It’s a beautiful, beguiling body of work, and I one I highly recommend if you’re not already familiar with his music.

For his One Track Mind selection, John describes a song that seems to him to channel something from beyond this earthly plane.

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