8 Tracks – Fudge Fingas

Woo – A WaveThanks to Emotional Rescue, who recently reissued their ‘WhicheverWay You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong’ LP, I’ve had these guys’ musicon a loop in my head for the past few weeks now. This track inparticular, though, feels like it has been in my head since I was achild, and only now am I hearing it in the ‘real’ world.

I have to make mention of this man as an influence, particularly ashis Mr.Fingers pseudonym was an obvious factor in one of my (perhapsregrettable) choices of monikers. The album ‘Sceneries Not SongsVolume Tu’ was an album I had on repeat throughout the mid to latenineties; I spent a long time picking apart its chords, tones andmelodies and trying to put them back together myself, without itsounding too much like complete plagiarism.

I suppose I should put something at least a bit current in amongstall these oldies. This is one of the few releases in recent yearswhich, for me, evokes the same timeless, bittersweet, otherworldlyfeelings that some of these other tracks do. I’m always striving toachieve the same effect with my own music, and can only hope I comeclose to this.

My daughter’s favourite, from the LP ‘Coming From Reality’ which hasbeen played solidly in my car for the last two or three years, at herbehest. After watching the excellent ‘Searching For Sugarman’documentary recently, I discovered this track was named afterRodriguez’ own two daughters at the time, one of whom has the samename as mine, it turns out.

I can’t believe it took me this long to properly get into this guy’smusic. Thanks to Numero Group for their Celestial Soul Portraitcompilation, I’m now just a few short steps away from renouncing allworldly possessions, high tailing it from the bullshit laden world ofmodern music, and beating a retreat into the wilderness with only afew simple instruments in tow…

I recall hearing this round at my mates’ house after hours, back in’95, just after it came out. It was late and we were all a wee bitstoned – it was the ’90s: hot knives, microdots, Tories in power,bleakness tempered by drugged up optimism. This still hits me as hardand heavy now as it did back then.

The first ever house record I heard that hit me in places I didn’t know existed, certainly not as a 10 year old anyway. Hearing it on Radio 1 in the back of my mum’s car as the sun was setting one evening, suddenly it clicked. Great dance music has always been pop: take that, all ye naysayers who decry the mainstreams’ umpteenth re-embracing of ‘deep’ sounds. Same as it ever was.

A track with personal significance, to do with where and when Ibought it – i.e. from the record shop I would later go on to get a jobin. There are so many tracks by so many artists from this era thatshaped the way I approached making house music forever, but this isundoubtedly a standout for me.