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"If there was one album which has profoundly affected me over
a long period of time, it would be "Astral Weeks" by Van Morrison.
Once you've immersed yourself in that record and it's blown
you away, you're never able to look at music again in the same
way again. It's not a record you go back to and say "this is
crap, I used to like this record", it's an acquired taste.
The first time I heard it, I didn't get it, and somewhere along
the line the penny dropped. I went through my Into The
Mystic phase and "Astral Weeks" just
opened up for me. I can think of no greater moment of inspiration
in popular music history. It's got the daftest ideas, like an
out of time drummer, it's all in the charm of it.I don't think
Van Morrison was in charge of it, it just all exploded around
him. From start to finish, there's no other record like it.
"My Dad had a Bob Dylan greatest hits album
on in the car as we drove through France when we were kids.
Since then, I've head just about all his albums. My favourite
album is "Blonde On Blonde". It's not such an easy album to
listen to, there's a really harsh harmonica sound on it, it
can blow your eardrums at times. "Visions Of Joanna" and "Sad
Eyed Lady Of The Laylands" are fantastic. "Blood On The Tracks"
is another favourite of mine. Then there's "Oh Mercy" from his
recent past and the beginning of "Infidels" from the Eighties.
He has consistently done it over the decades - how did he pull
"Oh Mercy" out of the bag when he seemed to be writing such
pap? On that album, Lanois must have created a great vibe in
the studio for someone like Dylan, who is very performance-based.
He gets the performances out of him and then embellishes them
in a very Lanois way. Dylan is so dry and sand-like in the middle
of this lovely-sounding mixture. You get this great texture...oops,
now I'm beginning to sound like one of those TV chefs!"
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