The track I’ll be opening my next DJ set with
Save!: Easy Walk & Talk
From a new album on Ivan Smagghe’s label, this is spoken word, plangent synths and drones. It’s a cold opener; I love intros to sets rather than mixing into whatever’s playing.
The track I’d play to show off my eclectic tastes
Ivan Smagghe: A Simple Truth (Is Not That Savage Is edit)
I finished an eight-hour set at Panorama Bar with this brilliant edit of Buddy Holly’s Everyday and was very gratified when two women came up to me afterwards to ask about it. As I smiled and waited for a gush of praise they proclaimed it “the worst record they’d ever heard in a club”. It’s good to make an impression.
The track that got me out of bed this morning
Sadly at the moment it’s usually a terrible reggae version of The Wheels On The Bus to placate the two-year-old. I’ve tried playing her Can’s Future Days – my favourite sunny morning record – but she’s not having it.
The track that should have been a crossover hit
Morane: Let Me Out (No, There’s Nobody In The Cellar mix)
This is an obscure Perlon B-side that wouldn’t ever have gone near a chart except in my most fevered imagination but it’s totally magical and a lost classic as far as I‘m concerned. It’s as if Captain Beefheart made a house record: some atonal orchestral jazz and a mournful song with these sudden moments where a skronky chord stops everything.
The track that currently gets the most rewinds
Sanfuentes: Square Waves Over America
Sometimes, all you need is a squiggly banger. Don’t overthink it, Pearson.
The track I’d play at my auntie’s wedding
Dusty Springfield: That’s The Kind Of Love I’ve Got For You
I’m more than happy to stick to the script at a wedding with the likes of Uptown Girl and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy, but I’ve snuck this one in a couple of times. Dusty does disco – produced by Roy Thomas Baker! – from her “down the dumper” period. Goddess.
