“The early vinyl albums I remember that were crucial to me were Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles! Live! It’s a live performance at the Sunshine Festival in Hawaii in 1972. The tracks on the A side just seemed to blend into each other as one big massive percussive jam session.”
“I remember it had these incredible organ sounds, with Santana’s guitar piercing through now and again. Also the constant noise, whistles from the audience interrupted now and again by Buddy Miles vocals, and screams created a real sense of excitement. The B side was a 25 minute track with a great title called “Free Form Funkafide Filth.” The central layout was a photograph of the huge audience at the festival with crudely cutout photographs pasted on top of the various sections of both bands. It gave the impression of a massive monster band. I was also impressed by the sheer figure of Buddy Miles and his wonderful hairstyle.
There’s a Riot Goin’ On by Sly and the Family Stone was an important album for me, mainly because of two tracks “Familly Affair” and “Spaced Cowboy.” The sound was so fresh and new to me. The original front cover was pretty radical I realise now. It was a red, white, and black American flag with suns in place of the stars.
Keith Jarret’s The Köln Concert LP had a huge effect on me when I first heard it, but classical music is pretty much what I grew up with and studied in my teens. There are far too many classical albums to mention that were really important and crucial to me. I will just mention the first classical vinyl album I bought immediately after hearing a rehearsal of it on the radio. It was Tod und Verklärung by Richard Strauss with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.
I got a taste of electronic and experimental sounds with 20th century composers such as Luigi Nono and Edgard Varèse. In 2010 I met and became friends with Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Amongst his many gems spanning over 40 years, I cherish the early Kluster albums like Klopfzeichen and Eruption, but also the later studio album Qua by Cluster. From his self-portrait solo series, a favorite of mine is The Diary Of The Unforgotten, capturing the spirit of his time living at Forst. And the list goes on, and I’m still discovering…”
—Christopher Chaplin
Christopher Chaplin’s full length release, Je suis le Ténébreux arrives in stores on October 21 via Fabrique Records and features guest artists Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Christine Martha Roedelius, French actress and soprano Judith Chemla, Italian tenor Pino Costalunga, and artist and poet Claudia Schumann—on vinyl.
