1. Peter Gabriel – Red Rain
I think it’s obvious how enormously influenced by Peter Gabriel I am. I remember this track being the colour of the car window.
2. Rey Charles – A Song For You
We had Donny Hathaway record with original version of “A song for you”. But at the same time I heard the Rey Charles recording and I was totally hypnotised by the way he was phrasing.
3. Czesław Niemen – Klęcząc przed tobą
He was a genius. And I don’t think that’s a sentiment speaking threw me.
4. Steve Wonder – Black Orchid
“Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants” was one of my favourite albums when I was a child.
5. Take 6 – Something Within Me
I saw them in concert and then I dived into their recordings. One can learn everything about harmonising vocals from them.
6. Michael Jackson – Liberian Girl
The chorus in this piece blew my mind. “Bad” was the first vinyl record of mine and Michael Jackson staid with me for a long time. I wasn’t aware of that at the time but this way I was also following one of the biggest producers of all times – Quincy Jones.
7. Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly
Maybe that was one of the reasons why I loved The Fugees when I was in high school. This version of “Killing Me Softly” was the first one for me though.
8. Chicago – 25 Or 6 To 4
This is pure energy. Also because of the beautifully written and performed brass.
9. Legend B – Lost In Love
When I was about 16 my brother introduced me to techno. This track killed me.
10. Dimmu Borgir – Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Around that time my brother also introduced me to various kinds of metal. This album and the sound of it (for a metal band it was very pure, almost clean, aesthetically transparent) had a great influence on me, concerning shaping the melodic atmosphere.
Mooryc – Wiped Out (Sonar Kollektiv)
Ever the excellently eclectic label, Sonar Kollektiv’s next full length release is a delightful album from Polish musician Mooryc. Featuring 11 tracks of beautifully dreamy modern folk music, it is another fine feather in their resplendent musical bow. Mooryc aka Maurycy Zimmermann is a Berlin based artist who has put out two albums and various EPs on labels like Freude Am Tanzen and Fat-zig in the last five or so years. He meshes synth pop and leftfield sounds, experimental ideas and house grooves into captivating songs that really bring something fresh to the table. Here though, he goes largely acoustic and song based, and does so in moving fashion. A formally trained musician (who grew up in a house of writers, artists, musicians and more thanks to his parent’s immersion in the arts) with piano, guitar, percussion, bass, violin, saxophone, and synthesiser playing skills, he has an eclectic taste far away from the dance floor and brings all that to the table here. Things kick off with ‘We Were Ready’, a delicate song where you can hear fingers squeaking on guitar strings beneath Mooryc soothing vocals. Weird effects reverse his voice in the background and it makes for a beguiling mix of the organic and the synthetic. The excellent ‘You Will Go’ is then a sugar-sweet ode to goodbye recited in a delicate manner like a wisp of wind.
Only a few tracks (‘One Day’ and ‘Bad Luck’) have a beat all. Most of the time this album is simply guitar based, with the thirtysomething’s wonderously magic voice, making these songs shine so bright. The title track is one of the many fine examples why this album should be always be within easy reach during the months ahead. Songs like ‘Inconceivable’ or ‘Who Are You Now’ have great warmth and tremendous comfort which are more than welcome when the nights get longer and colder. ‘Certain Opportunities At Your Door’ is a sombre two minute interlude that is heartbreakingly intimate and pained, while ‘Mare’ is pure candle lit fair straight from Newport Folk Festival in the 60s. Shades of James Taylor litter this album, with tracks like ‘Who Are You Now’ bringing that sound up to date with a gentle tumble of drums and sunny acoustic strings. Intricate but accessible and honestly heartfelt throughout, this is a timeless album full of delightful musical jewels that shifts from airy and carefree to more tender and tortured with real style.
