“You can read it as funny, or really sad”, says Tom Hardwick-Allan of the absurdist South East London group Gentle Stranger, speaking in The Wire 434. The band's lyricist is referring to the tragicomedy often found within their song's narratives, as well as the playful yet serious mood the band create during live performances. Here, Hardwick-Allan and bandmates Alex McKenzie and Josh Barfoot collate music that shares a similar sentiment and that has inspired their own practice.

Tracklist

Anthony Braxton “Piece Three (Creative Orchestra Music 1976)”
White Noise “Here Come the Fleas”
Yellow Magic Orchestra “Computer Game 'Theme From The Invader'”
Plastics “Copy”
Henry Threadgill “Vivjanrondirkski”
Harry Partch “Barstow 1”
The Residents “Breath And Length”
Die Tödliche Doris “Stümmel Mir”
Primus “My Name Is Mud”
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone “Number 10”
Xiu Xiu + Eugene S Robinson “The Girl Everyone Loves”
Neil Young “Birds”
Piglet “Birds Do You Want”
Fred Frith “Sparrow Song”
Ashley Paul “Bounce Bounce”
Cromagnon “Genitalia”
Harry Partch “Barstow 2”
Aksak Maboul “A Modern Lesson”
Shirley and Dolly Collins “A Forsaking/Our Captain Cried”
Aidan Coughlan “The Bells Of St. Anthony”
Ziggy Can’t “Benzine.14”
Washington Phillips “Lift Him Up That’s All”
Bonnie “Prince” Billy “Ebb Tide”
Natural Snow Buildings “Lie There”
Harry Partch “Barstow 3”
Ivor Cutler “I Got No Common Sense”
Scott Walker “The Escape”
Butthole Surfers “Weber”
Pere Ubu “Navvy”
DNA “Blonde Red Head”
Talk Talk “Taphead”
Robert Saint “Gresford (The Miner’s Hymn)” (performed by Black Dyke Band)

Read the full interview with Gentle Stranger in The Wire 434. Subscribers can access the article via the online archive. Love And Unlearn is released by Prah.