Franz Ferdinand drummer Paul Thomson took time out of recording to head off on a crate-digging session with us. Is he committed to vinyl? “Yes, it was a Spotify algorithm that brought Ellen Arkbro’s Mountain Of Air to my attention,” he says, “but I did the decent thing and bought the record…”
Ellen Arkbro – Mountain Of Air
“Weirdly unsettling and simultaneously comforting, it’s a piece performed on a 393-year-old organ tuned to meantone temperament, which apparently was the tuning system of its day.”
Áine O’Dwyer – Music For Church Cleaners
“It’s performed and recorded on the organ in St Mark’s Church in Islington while the cleaners are in. So the sound of vacuum cleaners and chatter becomes part of the performance.”
Technosis – Change Positions
“This was briefly given props by M.I.A. on a mixtape, and DJ Ben UFO has been known to drop the track, which is made up of a loop from Moments In Love by Art Of Noise along with a shady vocal sample.”
Pussy Galore – Penetration In The Centrefold
“When I was 17, I went on a trip with my art class; the highlight was visiting Rough Trade in Covent Garden. I bought the most abrasive thing I could find; a live Pussy Galore bootleg.”
Del Tha Funky Homosapien – Both Sides Of The Brain
“I haven’t heard this since it came out. Always thought he was very underrated as an MC, although the Gorillaz spots have probably helped bring him to a wider audience.”
4Hero – Mr Kirk’s Nightmare
“I first heard this on pirate radio driving around Walthamstow at the tail end of the Second Summer Of Love. By this point, the dream had soured and the records started getting darker, eventually morphing into jungle…”
Eiffel 65 – Blue (Da Ba Dee)
“I first heard this on the radio on a coach on a 13th Note day out in 1999. 13th Note was a bar that employed Alex [Kapranos] and myself as bartenders, as well as just about everyone of our age group, it seemed…”
Art Ensemble Of Chicago – Message To Our Folks
“Late-60s spiritual, woke jazz is my jam: Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane and Art Ensemble, which was wild and for the most part melodic, but had a groove and was percussive.”
Ronnie Von – Anarquia
“A Brazilian psychedelic record from 1969. Ronnie Von is a name I’ve never seen mentioned in the same breath as artists like Os Mutantes or Gal Costa, but he must’ve had some connection to the Tropicália movement?”
ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man
“The best-sounding modern rock record ever. Alex and I still absolutely lose our minds enthusing about it, it hasn’t dated at all – unlike records that followed it, where they tried to utilise the latest recording tech.”