What's on Rob Leggatt's Creative Playlist?

Moondog, Pastoral

Moondog is an obsession of mine. A blind, homeless giant with a godly white beard, he stood on the same street corner in downtown Manhattan from the late 1940s to the early 1970s dressed as a Viking, selling poetry and playing self-composed music on bizarre instruments of his own making. He released several albums and was revered by the likes of Steve Reich and Phillip Glass. His music has a hypnotic, ancient vibe, yet is always playful and alive.

Warfield Spillers, Daddy’s Little Girl

From a recent compilation album called Sky Girl, a diverse collection of private press tracks from 1961-91. I plumped for this song because, despite its gloriously shambolic approach (lopsided timing, biscuit tin percussion and mumble-soul vocals) it’s also an achingly beautiful love song from a father to his estranged daughter.

The Walker Brothers, The Electrician

Horror movie strings, moody electronics, nightmare lyrics about torture and damnation and then a glorious explosion of Spanish guitar and orchestral lushness. A very strange and terrifying record. Used to great effect at the ultra-violent opening of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson. I like to imagine a parallel universe where this piece is used to soundtrack a commercial for an energy company or power tool manufacturer.

John Cale, Do Not Go Gentle

I DJ at festivals occasionally as part of a collective and this track was introduced to me by a friend during a Sunday morning session where we played hangover music to stragglers and early risers. A famous Dylan Thomas poem set to a modern classical score One of those records that makes such an instant impression you wonder why you’ve never heard it before..

Spike Milligan, Q5 Piano Theme

The sound of insanity. A high watermark in the production career of George Martin. The accidental invention of drill and bass. It could be argued that without Spike Milligan there’d be no Squarepusher. At some point in every edit I’ll try this to picture. It never, ever works. In fact it always fails in the most spectacular fashion. The sheer sonic nonsense of the record will completely overpower any visuals but the result always collapses me into hysterics.