Another interview about favourite records

There's a nice little article here: http://stereosubversion.com/artistic-taste-the-wave-pictures and cut n pasted below where Tattersall shares some of his musical tastes once more. This press is ahead of a brief U.S. jaunt which the WP's will embark upon in August.

David Tattersal wants to be clear that he never, ever utilizes the mainstream marketplace to find something new. Word-of-mouth recommendations are the methods du jour, and the results are favorite albums from Ry Cooder and Captain Beefheart. Thus the vocalist for The Wave Pictures has a feel for what matters regardless of what popular culture is pointing toward, and that theme is exhibited in his UK trio. While they had a solid run at SxSW, they’re still waiting to break Stateside. Until then, here’s insight into vocalist Tattersal’s Artistic Taste.

What was the first album you discovered without the assistance of popular radio or television?

Ry Cooder, The Long Riders Original Soundtrack

I was pretty hooked on my dad’s small vinyl collection from quite a young age. I think I was six or seven when I started asking him to

play this one over and over, possibly driving him crazy. I think I liked it because it has cowboys on the front cover. It also has David

Lindley and, of course, Ry Cooder, playing on it: two wonderful musicians.

In my memory (which, admittedly, is pretty suspect) I remember this as the first album that I ever got excited about, or was even aware of. It had a brown cover. I remember looking through all the records to find one with a brown spine. I don’t think I saw the film until I was in my mid-20s. It’s a good one, a typical Walter Hill film. Lots of slow motion gun fights and that sort of thing. Ry Cooder has always been good at breathing new life into old musical forms, something that almost nobody else does convincingly. On this, they play a lot of very old american folk music, but it sounds completely alive and fun.

One thing I would add is this: I never discover any music with the assistance of popular radio or television. Those, to me, are useless places to learn anything, because they are utterly driven by the marketplace. I hear about things from friends and family and so on, or from reading stuff. Maybe my initial love my dad’s record collection is the reason for this. I learned about music in something of a vacuum, since he had given up buying new music not long after he bought this soundtrack, a few years before I was born.

What album is a favorite for the way it prominently features your instrument of choice?

Robert Johnson, The King Of The Delta Blues, Volumes 1 and 2

My instrument of choice is guitar. I can’t think of more virtuoso guitar playing than that on these recordings. His singing is pretty

otherworldly too. It’s easy to understand why Clapton and Keith Richards and all those people initially assumed there was a second guitarist on these recordings, and why the myth that Johnson sold his soul to the devil in return for being granted super-human musical powers is so well-known. His musicianship, and indeed his lyricism, is untouchable. When I heard this I realized that a guitar could be,  all on its own, a whole universe of expression. I still listen to Johnson all the time and I always hear something new.

What album do you feel like you understand, despite the fact that the vocals are in another language?

The Four Brothers, Bros.

Well, I guess I don’t understand what they are saying. But I definitely understand this music. It’s the happiest music that I can think of. It’s like sunshine. It’s such a joy to listen to this band, to hear the way they play together. I have never heard a single recording they made that I did not enjoy. I really love them. I try to play along with this record all the time on my guitar. I understand the spirit of it. I sort of think everyone in the world would enjoy their music a bit. You’d have to be quite hard-hearted to hate them.

What album is not considered a classic, and you find that mystifying?

Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band, Unconditionally Guaranteed

In actual fact, not only is this not considered a classic, but Beefheart fans hate it. It’s thought of as a terrible sell-out record,

which it is in some ways I suppose, and which Beefheart kind of acknowledges by being photographed for the cover clutching huge wads of cash and looking sinisterly pleased with himself. It also didn’t work. He didn’t become a huge commercial star because of this. But he should have done! It’s so much fun!

It’s an awesome rock record. I like Trout Mask Replica and all his weirder stuff too, but it’s not going to stop me enjoying this one in any way. It has such great grooves and hilarious lyrics. Peaches, the last track, is a masterpiece. I quite often DJ songs from this and people always dance to it. Sometimes I think Beefheart fans don’t want people to get into him. They’d rather keep him all to themselves or something. They always dismiss his most easy-to-like stuff. I don’t know. I think this should be considered a classic anyway.

What album is an outlier for you given your usual taste?

Ann Peebles, Tellin’ It

To be honest, I don’t listen to a massive amount of soul. I tend to find a little goes a long way. Especially with 70s soul things. But

lately, I’ve been listening to this album over and over and over again. It’s wonderful. That Hi-records drum sound, and the awesome musicianship of drummer of Mr. Grimes, is so sexy and groovy and cool.

And I love the way she sings. It’s emotional, but she isn’t busting a gut wobbling her vowels all over the place in the preposterous melodramatic style of today’s soul-wannabes. She’s got restraint, and sensitivity. She knows how to put on a brave face, which is the saddest thing of all. And she can be totally powerful too. It’s quite masterful, her singing.

What album has your favorite lyrics?

The Mountain Goats, Sweden

I never fail to be impressed by John Darnielle’s lyrics. Every one paints a perfect little heart breaking situation, in the simplest most

elegant language imaginable. This album is like a greatest hits, as so many Mountain Goats albums are. The first time you hear it you think, ‘This is just some bloke thrashing a guitar into a tape machine.’ But the more you play it, the more little details come out.

Eventually, you are singing along with the whole thing from top to bottom and somehow every song is a smash hit in your little world.

It’s a constant inspiration to me.

What album were you embarrassingly late to discover?

The Velvet Underground, White Light/White Heat

I had everything else they’d ever done, and all Lou Reed’s solo albums, but I had avoided this one. I had heard it at people’s houses,

and thought it was just noise, and thought maybe it was Captain Beefheart fan syndrome when Velvets fans said this was their favorite Velvets album: ‘Let’s pick the hardest Velvets album to like and say that’s the best one, and drive away all the fairweather fans.’

Well, I finally got a copy of it, more of less just to complete my collection. And I played it once. And I became hooked. This is now

quite possibly my all time favourite album. For it’s spirit, it’s adventurousness, it’s daring, it’s sense of four people in a room together having fun, for John Cale’s lead vocals, and for two of the greatest rock and roll tracks ever recorded, “I Heard Her Call My Name” and the title track. It’s a crazy masterpiece and I love it to pieces.