Blanck Mass’ Benjamin John Power on the first and last records he bought, plus one he turns to in an emergency
FIRST
Hot Butter
‘Popcorn’
(MUSICOR, 1972)
“The first record I ever ‘procured’ rather than bought was the vinyl single of ‘Popcorn’, although rather than the Gershon Kingsley version, I think it was the Hot Butter version or something similar. My parents had bought me ‘In The Army Now’ by Status Quo as gift and ‘Popcorn’ for my younger brother, but it turned out that we preferred each other’s records so we swapped.”
LAST
Matmos
‘Plastic Anniversary’
(THRILL JOCKEY, 2019)
“The last record I bought was ‘Plastic Anniversary’ by Matmos. I’ve always found them to be so forward-thinking and the concept behind this one that the entire record is composed entirely using sounds sourced from plastic. It’s an incredibly innovative idea especially considering the environmental connotations. My V/A and good friend Dan Tombs switched me onto this one recently. ‘Thermoplastic Riot Shield’ is a particular highlight for me.”
ALWAYS
Syrinx
‘Long Lost Relatives’
(TRUE NORTH, 1971)
“One that I always reach for in an emergency would be ‘Long Lost Relatives’ by Syrinx. Having only become aware of their output recently due to seeing their involvement in the ‘I Dream of Wires’ modular synth documentary, this is very quickly became a favourite of mine. Even though they were inoperative for a long time after this album was released in 1971, they have, in more recent years, come out of hiatus. ‘December Angel’ is a particularly poignant piece for me.”
