Name Mark Webber
Best known for Being an internationally recognized curator of avant-garde cinema, and guitarist in Pulp.
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Current city London.
Really want to be in Los Angeles is one of my favorite places. It was great to return there in September for the last few days of the Pulp tour. I hadn’t visited for many years and it was a relief to see the city hadn’t changed that much. Wonderful museums and book stores, but my favorite thing is driving around the hills looking at extraordinary houses.
Excited about Playing guitar again. It’s something I’ve neglected for long periods, but right now I’m really enjoying it, and trying to do some new things.
My current music collection has a lot of Old classics and big box sets that contain multiple versions of the same old songs.
And a little bit of New music that will soon become old classics.
Preferred format I’ve been through each format in turn. I resisted CDs for a long time, then grew to love them. Tried at first to be very selective but ultimately ended up re-buying almost everything I had on vinyl and more besides. Now I love music servers and streaming. The algorithms can drive you crazy and I’ve tried endless times to get it to stop randomizing when an LP ends, but this phenomenon has in fact introduced me to much of the new music that I listen to these days.
5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:
1
The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground & Nico
Discovering the Velvets and Andy Warhol opened me up to not only a vast range of possibilities in music, but [an even] vaster world of art and culture that has occupied me since my teenage years. I absorbed every possible scrap of Velvets recordings, together and solo, and then worked my way through bands they influenced, and the musicians that influenced them, such as the composer La Monte Young.
This was also my entrée into the world of avant-garde cinema, where I’ve been fortunate to experience so many great works and to get to know some incredible film artists.
2
Third/Sister Lovers, Big Star
If I had to save one album for the future of mankind—or for my own pleasure at least—it would be this one. The songs recorded for what became Big Star’s mythical third LP run the whole gamut from absolute heartbreak to unfettered joy. Alex Chilton may have been in the depths of despair at the time, but he still had the voice of an angel, and an absolutely effortless carefree virtuosity on guitar. Amid the chaos, the production by Jim Dickinson and John Fry is impeccable.
3
Moon Pix, Cat Power
As Pulp toured This is Hardcore in 1998, we were each, in our different ways, beginning to lose touch with reality. I was in grave danger of forgetting what was important about music, but discovering Moon Pix set me on the road to recovery. The honesty and simplicity of these songs was so refreshing and exciting for me in that moment. It’s hard to imagine now, but I actually ran away on tour with Cat Power in Europe. For some blessed reason, Chan and the band were kind enough to let me tag along, a stowaway in their tiny van, and I spent a few days on the road with them, helping with their equipment and getting back to basics.
4
Two Hands, Big Thief
Masterpiece by Big Thief kept being thrown at me by Spotify and it didn’t take me long to catch on. It’s difficult to choose one of their albums as a favorite but today it’s Two Hands. The vocals and guitar playing are an absolute wonder, as is their songwriting, and even now, after recent personnel changes, the band interacts with each other so symbiotically. I love their solo records too, and the new Big Thief songs previewed at recent concerts are incredible. Pulp have unexpectedly written a few new songs lately, some of which we debuted on the U.S. tour. I’ve tried to introduce some elements of Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek’s approach into my parts, and I’ve even started to play Collings guitars, following their example.
5
Discover America, Van Dyke Parks
It’s only recently, after decades of listening, that I’ve learned that Discover America (strange title …) only contains one original song—the rest are all covers, mostly old calypso songs from Trinidad. But tunes like Bing Crosby and G-Man Hoover are absolutely timeless. Van Dyke is of course a brilliant composer and lyricist but this album foregrounds his vocal delivery and arrangement skills. He’s also creating moods with ambient sounds, not only unusual instrumentation. A massive departure from the also-unique Song Cycle, this is another one of those records that stands alone, I can’t think of anything like it. To listen to it is to be transported.
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