7 influences on the music of Everything Everything.
This is one of those albums that I place in the ‘so good you don’t actually listen to it’ category, a collection of pieces so frighteningly heavenly that I can barely ever put it on, for fear of being moved to death. The delicacy, space and simplicity are all to be greatly admired, the atmosphere and profundity are undeniable. God knows what it’s about. Actually he probably does, and that’s why it’s so good.
2. R KELLY – TRAPPED IN THE CLOSET
I could wax lyrical about this work for literally months, and I have, several times. Suffice to say, if you know what it is, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’m very attracted to R Kelly’s audacity, surrealness and rhythmic vocal – lots of fast, syncopated syllables have certainly permeated our songs – and it’s down to this guy, and Beyonce.
3. LE MYSTÈRE DES VOIX BULGARES – BULGARIAN STATE TELEVISION FEMALE VOCAL CHOIR
I first became aware of this group in a university lecture, from the opening few seconds I was totally transfixed. The sheer skill needed to actually sing this stuff is incredible, and the harmony is exquisite – a real otherwordly approach to singing, and to think it came from within Europe is stranger still. Such an amazing sound, and performed live – man alive!
I first heard this when my brother was given it by a relative in Canada. For a good while it just sounded to me like a strange, funny mess (I was 12…), but slowly the total insanity of it started to make sense. It’s an album of intense diversity and super attention to detail, every second is poured over and tweaked, every gap is filled with a movie quote, a toilet flushing, breaking furniture, porn, or most importantly Mike Patton’s guttural wheezing or screaming – mumbling and cracking up. It’s completely full, you really have no idea what you will hear next. A fascinating listen, with brilliant songs and bizarre, surreal moments.
5. THE DOUGNUT IN GRANNY’S GREENHOUSE – BONZO DOG DOODAH BAND
I found this in my parent’s record collection. Simultaneously hilarious (in a way that somehow hasn’t aged too badly) and genuinely good. It’s the darkest work they produced and thus veers far more into League of Gentlemen areas as opposed to zany Monty Python, making for much less silliness than usual. It has a very strange and murky atmosphere, essentially a ‘madness’ record, like Dark Side of the Moon, only weirder and more immature, perhaps letting me hear it repeatedly as a child was a BIT OF A FOLLY. This was definitely a key influence, my family and I can (and do) quote almost every word of the Bonzo’s back catalogue, whatever use that is.
6. REQUIEM FOR MY FRIEND – ZBIGNIEW PREISNER
Choral music is simply the best sound there is, we have always loved the sound of many people singing and our recordings, certainly our demos, are always a mass of multi-tracked voices. I have always found this album to be a very moving example of ‘church shit’.
7. 10CC – THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
‘I’m Not in Love’ I’ll readily admit to being probably my favourite song. This album is deceptively complex and proggy, despite 10CC being best known for ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ they are actually masters of caricature and very accomplished song-writers in loads of different sounding genres. Perhaps they don’t know what genre they are, and they don’t fit in anywhere, and they sing a bit like Queen, and they have a humourous side, and they are really really good, but that sounds a bit too like us!
Everything Everything are playing the Dummy party this Friday. Also playing are Fiction, and it’s at Bardens Boudoir on the Stoke Newington Road in Dalston, London. You really should come, it’s going to be great.
