Cornelia – 8 Soundtracks To A (So Far) Eventful Life

Aimatines Skies Apo Apostasi is possibly my favourite track by composer, producer and poet Lena Platonos. The album Gallop is so rich and powerful it’s remained on my top five albums list ever since I first heard it play. I don’t understand Greek but the lyrics still speak to me somehow. Originally released in 1985, the album just got re-issued on vinyl by Dark Entries.

When Jazz introduced itself to me, I finally realised music was something I needed to practice to survive life. After spending so much time in choirs this was my window for individual expression. You could listen and learn from the masters without trying to copy them, at the end it was all down to the heart and soul of the performer. Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Monica Zetterlund and Ella Fitzgerald all sounded timeless to me. Growing up in the countryside during a period when the economy was struggling and racism caught on like a plague in my school, this song helped me focus. Don’t turn your back on history or it will repeat itself.

I went to see Maria Minerva play a club night called Wet Play in Manchester a few years ago and picked up a copy of her brilliant album Cabaret Cixous at Piccadilly Records the day after. She’s got this genius, punky way she goes about her song structure and soundscapes that really attracts me to her music.

Many Japanese composers and producers are an incredible source of multi-level artistry and in that respect Ryuichi Sakamoto is perhaps the brightest star in my book. Although massively versatile he’s got a way of always presenting you with a complete story, which I think this song and album is a great example of.

Terence Trent D’arby (or Sananda Maitreya as he prefers to be addressed these days) was my first childhood hangup. He had it all – pretty, talented and a complex identity. I went on my first ever bus trip to the capital (Stockholm) to see him perform songs I already knew inside out and it was magical. It’s the one and only time I’ve waited outside a stage door to get a glimpse of my idol and eventually he showed up in a slinky dressing gown and the rest of the group screamed in high pitch women’s voices. I must have looked like such a misfit to him, being at least half their age. He grabbed the hat I was wearing, signed it and smiled as he gave it back to me. You could hardly see his signature, but I still have that hat.

I never went to music school but grew up listening to all the classical masters, dancing around the living room with light feet making sure for the needle not to skip. Little did I know that my favourite Debussy piece was already beautifully interpreted by Isao Tomita, but if I had I’d probably got into electronic music much sooner in life. In my view this cover beats the original.

I only stumbled upon Mark Shreeve’s music a few years ago, realising what a great composer he is. ‘Myriad of Colours’ from the album Oracle was the first song I heard, which therefore holds a special place in my heart.

Before working with Portico Quartet and the touring we did together off the back of that, I used to go and see them perform on a regular basis. When they told me they were going to do a support slot for Scritti Politti at a club in London I couldn’t believe my luck. The whole Scritti Politti team proved to be just as lovely as I hoped them to be and we ended up spending the rest of the night nerding about music tech. ‘Absolute’ is probably my favourite SP song due to it’s hooky yet intricate build up and luscious synths.