A Conversation with David Wilcox   (continued)

DW: I just started a book called Slackjaw by Jim Knipfel. And what have I been listening to? Oh, let's see… I should have my answers ready for this, because I can never remember. Well, of course, Nora Jones, a couple months ago…

PM: Boy, her career really took off. [see our review]

DW: Yeah. I better go look at the CDs just so I can remember. I have such a voracious appetite for music that I will have a favorite CD for, you know, like three or four days, and then move on to something else.

PM: Right.

DW: So for this last road trip, it was John Mayer. I listened to his CD probably forty times.

PM: Are there CDs you go back to again and again, favorites that you return to?

DW: In terms of sort of overall, lifetime best CDs, I would say there's the Apple Venus by XTC.

PM: Wow! I don't meet enough acoustic guys that are XTC freaks like I am. They're so amazing.

DW: Oh, my God, just huge, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

PM: And never got what they deserved?

DW: Well, you know, I have no perspective on that. But I just feel like that particular record, it's basically incredible, the symphonic aspect, and the writing. You can tell the two personalities. One guy is trying to be a little bit cool, and the other guy is so up front, and writes about just very kind of -- if you were describing their songs as their clothing, one would be in a fine suit, and the other would be kind of frumpy and smiling.

PM: [laughs]

DW: The combination is so wonderful. And musically, it's just so satisfying.

PM: You know, I don't have that particular record, but I'm going to go get it now.

DW: It's the best. Apple Venus. There's also Apple Venus Volume 2. The one I'm talking about is Apple Venus Volume 1. Volume 2 is also great, but it's not orchestral. That, I think, is totally interesting, to hear the way all the parts work.

PM: And I think they do the orchestrations themselves, right?

DW: Yeah. Okay, here's another CD that you can't live without: Paul Sprawl. You ever heard of Paul Sprawl?

PM: No.

DW: Okay. The album is called Blue Suitcase, and it's on a German label. It came out in '99 and it's wonderful. In terms of the playing, you can really get inside what he's doing, in terms of studying the moves. There's stuff that he does that nobody else does.

PM: And is he an American artist?

DW: He is probably southern Californian.

PM: Do we know that German label? Is the cover right there?

DW: Yeah, but I'm not seeing the name. Here's something that says "Intuition, a division of…" and the rest is in a print I can't read. It's blue against black, so it doesn't come across.

PM: Oh man, that's a pet peeve of mine, unreadable record covers. I'll go find his website. [check out paulsprawl.com]
continue

print (PDF)      listen       archives       puremusic home