Fatoumata Diawara MALI BLUESER
What music are you currently grooving to? A lot of traditional music, music from my roots, music from my region of Wassoulou. I’m also listening to lots of old songs from Mali. I love listening to the old grooves and the old voices. They really inspire me. Especially the voices of Malian women. What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Nina Simone’s The Very Best Of… I always get inspiration from her. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? In Mali I couldn’t buy a record because of my background, so the first record I bought was Nina Simone’s best-of when I came to Paris. When I got my freedom, leaving my family to run away and come to Europe, she was the first voice that I heard. She supported me mentally and her music encouraged me to keep my own voice as it is, because when I started to sing I was trying to
sing like European people. I’ve been listening to her ever since. Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? It would be Ali Farka Touré. I’d want to keep Ali Farka Touré’s style, but not be an exact copy, be myself too. What do you sing in the shower? I love singing songs in the shower, but I also like to write songs in the shower. The sound of the water is very inspiring for writing melodies. What is your favourite Saturday night record? Women singing jazz and blues – Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone. And your Sunday morning record? Could be jazz, classical… and I love the songs of my ancestors. You have to dig deep to find recordings, but I love listening to these old songs. Fatoumata’s new LP Maliba is available digitally now.
A LL B AC K TO MY PL AC E THE STARS REVEAL THE SONIC DELIGHTS GUARANTEED TO GET THEM GOING...
Billy Childish
BATTLER OF MEDWAY What music are you currently grooving to? Today, when I was painting, The Early Music Show on Radio 3, it was (looks it up) ‘A Celebration Of The 450th Anniversary Of The Birth Of The Composer Thomas Tomkins.’ It sounded sort of like somebody keying into some spiritual, ritual element of himself in nature. But I’d never heard of him until today, and I won’t remember him tomorrow. What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? An impossible question. I’ll say Robert Johnson, King Of The Delta Blues Singers. But if you ask me in 10 minutes it would be different.
Aida Muluneh, Alison Wonderland
What was the first record you ever
bought? And where did you buy it? Strawberry Fields, from Boots in Chatham. It was a bit like when I first heard Jimi Hendrix in ’67, it sounded like it could almost be power drills it sounded so weird, like when people first went to the cinema and thought the train on the screen was going to run them over. Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? When I was a kid, Jimi Hendrix, because of my intense sort of emotional feeling about him. What do you sing in the shower? Things I’m working on. Oh, Julie [Mrs Childish, speaking offstage] said I sing Grizzly Bear, the work song. What is your favourite Saturday night record? Ramones, Doors, early Kinks, early Rolling Stones, early Bob Dylan, early Who, Jimmy Reed, Bo Diddley, early Ike and Tina, Janis Joplin doing Ball And Chain at Monterey, Wilson Pickett, Billie Holiday. I’ve been known to, like, possibly dance to Jimmy Reed, otherwise I probably don’t move. And your Sunday morning record? Music on a Sunday morning, what do you think this place is? We don’t listen to music on a Sunday morning. Julie does, she has playlists. She likes all sorts of nonsense, ‘Classic Rock’ she calls it. Ha ha! She’s giving me the finger, she’s American. The William Loveday Intention’s The Baptiser is out now; Paralysed By The Mountains is released on April 29 (both Damaged Goods).
Mike Scott
THE WATERBOY’S BACK IN TOWN What music are you currently grooving to? Daddy’s Home by St. Vincent. I’m in awe of the writing, the singing, the sound sculpture, the guitar playing, the lyrics. And it’s fabulously mixed, dirty, sexy, unpredictable; everything great rock music should be. What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album? Sticky Fingers. And my favourite track is Wild Horses. That one’s as close as Mick comes to compassionate, and where he leaves off, Keith’s lead guitar takes it all the way. I love the orchestral arrangements on Sway and Moonlight Mile too. Don’t usually think of the Stones with strings, but it works great. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it? Last Night In Soho by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. Eight shillings and threepence-ha’penny from Boots on Princes Street, Edinburgh, summer of ’68. Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? That prince among men, Charlie
“I’m in awe of St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home.” MIKE SCOTT
Watts. And these days, Taylor Swift. The world’s at her feet, talent and songs are pouring out of her, she has wisdom beyond her years and control of her destiny. What do you sing in the shower? Whatever new song I’m working on. What is your favourite Saturday night record? Mad Dogs & Englishmen by Joe Cocker. Favourite moment is when Leon Russell hits the piano reprise on Delta Lady and the band crashes back in. And after the closing rally he hits it again. And they crash in again. I wish it went on forever. Maybe in some parallel universe it does. And your Sunday morning record? I’m no Christian, man, but it’s gotta be Soon As I Get Home by The Thomas Whitfield Company, a gospel choir out of Detroit in the 1980s. The spirituality, like all great gospel or sacred music, transcends separate notions of religion. The Waterboys’ All Souls Hill is released on Cooking Vinyl on May 6.
MOJO 9
