CMU Playlists

Playlist: All Tomorrow’s Parties

By | Published on Saturday 7 May 2011

Barry Hogan

The All Tomorrow’s Parties festival originated in 1999 as Belle & Sebastian’s Bowlie Weekender. From the outset, it aimed to be an alternative to larger, more corporate festivals, shunning any form of sponsorship and taking place in a Butlins holiday camp, where fans and artists both stay alongside each other in chalets.

The festivals are also curated by a different artist on each occasion, the first ATP proper in 2000 being put together by Mogwai, while Animal Collective will host next week’s event at Butlins in Minehead.

Having stuck to their fiercely independent principles from the outset, founder Barry Hogan and his team have, over the last decade, built up a whole series of other festivals and events, including the Nightmare Before Christmas festival in December, the Don’t Look Back concert series, which sees artists play classic albums live in full, a US edition of the ATP festival, and its latest venture, I’ll Be Your Mirror, a two-day event taking place in London and New Jersey which is this year curated by Portishead. And, in addition to all that, there’s also the ATP/R record label, which has released music by bands including Fuck Buttons and Deerhoof.

This week, it was announced that next week’s Animal Collective-curated event would be the last springtime ATP festival for the foreseeable future, the company choosing to concentrate on its other projects for the time being. So, if you were hoping to spend a May weekend watching bands as diverse as Big Boi, Gang Gang Dance, Lee ‘Scratch Perry’, Meat Puppets, and Terry Riley at any point in the future, you’d best head over to www.atpfestival.com and buy yourself a ticket for next week’s bash pretty sharpish.

Ahead of that, we asked Barry Hogan to put together a Powers Of Ten playlist for us. As you might expect, it’s both eclectic and very lovingly put together, just like the festivals. Hogan said of his choices: “It’s really hard to try and pick your top ten favourite songs of all time without missing off some champs like Leonard Cohen, Public Enemy, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Sabbath, Neil Young, Neu!, Sleep, Autechre, Kraftwerk, Sonic Youth or The Velvets but here is a selection of ten tracks that hold a place in my heart and hopefully you will like them, too”.

BARRY HOGAN’S TEN
Click here to listen to Barry’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his selections.

01 Miles Davis – Shhh/Peaceful
This is on ‘In A Silent Way’ from 1969 and it blows my mind every time I hear it. It was a toss up between this and ‘Bitches Brew’ – with his body of work it is hard to pick one single track, as he was so prolific and released so many great LPs. But ‘In A Silent Way’ is a masterpiece and featured so many great musicians like John Mclaughlin, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. I saw a poster the other day for a show from the 70s where Neil Young and Crazy Horse were playing and Miles Davis was the support. Can you imagine how fucking great that show would have been?

02 Slint – Nosferatu Man
Slint made one of my all time favourite records in ‘Spiderland’. Getting them back together for me was one of the best experiences of running ATP. I remember flying to Louisville to meet them and they told me it was the first they had all been in a room together for thirteen years. I couldn’t believe it and was like the ultimate fan boy. I had to excuse myself and go to the toilet so I could do a little dance with the excitement that Slint were finally going to play again. Their performances blew me away and I think seeing them in February 2005 was one of my fondest memories of ATP.

03 Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – Big Eyed Beans From Venus
Beefheart and his ever-changing Magic Band had so many cuts to choose from but the drumming on this is one of my favourite drum breaks ever. The odd thing is Drumbo, who is the best of the magic drummers (and arguably one of the greatest drummers of all time), doesn’t play on this particular track, but the unorthodox approach that these guys put to their craft is what made their music stand out. Beefheart’s sound is an acquired taste but once you get to the point where you start to like it, you wont turn back. It was sad to hear that Don Van Vliet passed away last year but his music lives on in all of us.

04 Portishead – We Carry On
This track taken from the ‘Third’ LP reminds me of Silver Apples and Neu! but it emerges with its own sound to make it my favourite track by them. It’s incredible how they took a break and returned with what I think is the strongest record to date and the best record of that year.

05 Neutral Milk Hotel – Oh Comely
I read somewhere that this track, taken from the masterpiece that is ‘In the Aeroplane Over The Sea’, was recorded in one take – it’s raw, it’s in your face and so poignant and just gets better and better every time I hear it. There is only one Jeff Mangum and he is like a rare comet that only comes around once every 70 years. And luckily he will be orbiting us later this year so people should make the effort to try and catch him if they can.

06 GZA – 4th Chamber
This is from ‘Liquid Swords’ – a classic record from GZA of the Wu Tang featuring those legendary samples from the movie ‘Shogun Assassin’. Of all the solo releases, I think ‘Liquid…’ is the best one. Not one shit track and the production on this LP has gone onto influence so many artists. He is currently working on ‘Liquid Swords 2’ now so I am very keen to see how that turns out.

07 Can – Future Days
The title track from Can’s fifth LP and the last one that Damo Suzuki sang on. I heard stories that Can used to play in German castles and have these long parties that went on for days on end. That I would love to have seen. Their improvisation, which they learned from being students of Stockhausen, is what made Can’s sound both spontaneous and unique.

08 The Drones – Jezebel
The Drones are an underrated band from Australia. A band that I think in ten years people will look back on and realise how amazing their music is. It’s a hybrid of The Birthday Party and The Scientists and influenced by all the greats from Neil Young to the Stooges. If I had to play someone one track to illustrate how good they are, I’d pick ‘Jezebel’. It’s epic and touches on the subject of suicide bombers, but the destructive music that accompanies Gareth’s lyrics is one of the best things we have ever released on ATP/R. It’s not for the faint hearted but anyone that gives them a chance will realise the magic behind them.

09 Dirty Three – Deep Waters
The Dirty Three hold a special place in our heart at ATP. Their event in 2007 was, I think, the best event we have ever staged. Working with all three members was a joy and anyone that doesn’t like the Dirty Three needs their head tested. So many great records and each performance very different from the last. One of the greatest shows we have ever promoted was Dirty Three performing ‘Ocean Songs’ with Nick Cave as their piano player. The performance was magnificent and I remember Warren Ellis dedicating the song ‘Deep Waters’ to myself and Deborah, my wife who runs ATP with me. It was the song she walked down the aisle to when we got married, too.

10 Iggy & The Stooges – Gimme Danger
‘Raw Power’ is described by some as the best Stooges LP. I think ‘Fun House’ is the one, but my favourite Stooges track overall is ‘Gimme’ Danger from ‘RP’. There isn’t much to say here that hasn’t been said a million times before. The Stooges records are unique and they sound incredible every time you put them on – the sounds that influenced a million bands. ‘Gimme Danger’ has one of the best riffs in the history of music. This record is essential and kids should be encouraged to listen to this every day at school!



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