Fresh from their headline slot on the Dr Martens Stand For Something Tour, which took place at The Cluny in Newcastle, VANT put together an exclusive playlist for Fault.
1. Bob Dylan – Talkin’ World War III Blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFEe4eMBb3s
After Bob Dylan received his Nobel Prize recently I began listening back through his catalogue. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is one of his most magnificent pieces of work, in particular this song jumped out at me. I love the playful nature of the lyricism despite it’s dark subject matter, listen out for the ‘Adam & Eve’ line, brilliant.
2. Parquet Courts – Borrowed Time
When I first started making music when I was 14/15 I felt like I had so much freedom and the genre I was naturally drawn towards was scrappy punk rock. The older I got the more pressure I felt to conform to what I deemed to be popular at the time, I experimented with electronic music, then folk and nothing felt quite right. In 2012 Parquet Courts came out and I fell in love with them. They reminded me to be honest to yourself and if you believe in what you do people will naturally gravitate towards it, people see through pretenders real fast.
3. Barry McGuire – Eve of Destruction
Around the time I discovered Parquet Courts I also came across this song by Barry McGuire. I’d had existential thoughts and concerns about the world around me for a long time but I hadn’t really considered putting them into a musical format, certainly not as bluntly as this 60s Number 1 pop hit. You can be as direct as you want to be lyrically, if the melody is strong enough people will still nod their head, tap their foot and sing-a-long, even if they don’t realise what it is they are singing about!
4. Willy Mason – Oxygen
Recently I showed Billy an album I played religiously during my teenage years, ‘Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning’. As we were listening I had this weird epiphany, I hadn’t realised how political the lyricism was until that very moment, I had been brain washed, in the best possible way! Music can be so powerful and influential to a young mind. Bright Eyes & Willy Mason shaped my world view without me even knowing about it. Oxygen is such a beautiful, heart-breaking song. I also have to thank Zane Lowe for introducing me to it. Most of my early influences came directly from Gonzo, that show taught me everything I know!
5. The Vines – Get Free
The Vines were my Nirvana. Highly Evolved was my Nevermind. When I saw the Get Free music video for the first time it changed my life, Craig Nicholls was the coolest person I’d ever seen, he made me want to be a musician. I was 12 years old when this album came out and I remember saving up 6 weeks pocket money in anticipation, then, when the opportune moment presented itself to me, I snook down the CD isle of ASDA while my Mam was getting her groceries, bought it and smuggled the contraband home underneath my school jumper. I’ve probably listened to that record more than any other, it is the single most important thing I’ve ever purchased.
6. Low – Dinosaur Act
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuagB3XFsd0
Other than MTV2, my other major musical influence was and continues to be my Dad. He’d always be buying CD’s based on reviews and he amassed a pretty hefty collection of great avant-garde new bands such as Sparklehorse, Port O’brien and Califone, as well as a lot of shitty stuff as well! My Dad of course introduced me to all of the classics as well; Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones etc but it was the new stuff, that was just coming out that had some how bypassed me that always excited me the most. I remember us staying up late one night and listening to ‘Things We Lost In The Fire’ from start to finish, in complete silence. His enthusiasm and hunger for new sounds has taught me to give albums a chance and a few listens before deciding to discard them completely, something I’ve vitally taken with me into the digital era.
7. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Stagger Lee
Another lesson my Dad gave me was the poetic, phonetic beauty of swearing, demonstrated expertly by Nick Cave in this mother-fucking masterpiece. I saw Nick Cave live at Primavera a few years ago and I met him briefly before a Circus De Soleil event at the Roundhouse in Camden later that year. If I start slicking my hair back and wearing a suit in a few albums time he is entirely to blame for being a total bad ass. Sit back, smoke a cigarette, drink some whiskey and revel in Stagger Lee.
8. Pixies – Hey
I never really got the Pixies until I saw Zack And Miri Make A Porno. The movie is fucking terrible but I remember about halfway through this song coming on which made my hairs stand on end. I pain-stakingly repeated the lyrics over and over again until the film finished and all the way back from the cinema until I could finally google them when I got home. Subsequently, I spent the next three months listening to nothing other than Come On Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa & Doolittle and suddenly, hey, I was a convert!
9. The Kinks – This Time Tomorrow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwVJ7FWc4rQ
Movies have been just as influential for me as music, no director more so than Wes Anderson. His use of music in The Darjeeling Limited alone ranks it in my Top 10 of all time. That movie started my love of The Kinks. If anyone asks me who do I prefer, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? I always reply The Kinks. In my eyes they are the most underrated band of all time. Ray Davies is such an incredible lyricist and in a strange way he laid the foundation of honesty most often associated today with Hip Hop. The Kinks consistently wrote about their changing social and financial statuses throughout their career. This was best executed on the album ‘Lola vs Powerman and the Money-Go-Round’, which is definitely in my Top 10 albums of all time, thanks Wes!
10. Neil Young – Don’t Let It Bring You Down (Live At Massey Hall 1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7letrMf_nE
Where do I start? Over recent years Neil Young has slowly become my biggest influence. I’ve always loved him but after seeing a Q&A with him and FINALLY (long story) getting to see him perform live this year he has placed himself firmly at the top of the pile. He is a true artist, he’s had up’s and down’s and not always been in the spotlight but he has always done what he wants and most importantly said what he believes throughout his life and his career. Live At Massey Hall is one of the greatest albums of all time, it shows the beauty of songwriting in it’s most primitive form, just a voice accompanied by a guitar or a piano. I could of picked any song from this record but ‘Don’t Let It Bring You Down’ seems like an apt way to round of this list.
You can keep up to date with Vant on Facebook and Twitter. Find a full list of their upcoming tour dates at http://www.wearevant.com/.
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