Record Shopping With #0002 - Black Honey

Black Honey recently released their amazing new single ‘Bad Friends’ and announced a massive headline tour of the UK this October including a huge show in their hometown of Brighton at Concorde 2.

We took them for a spot of record shopping at the Truck Store when they stopped by Oxford, to talk about Elliott Smith, cool record inlays and gigging with The Magic Gang.

Tommy Taylor (Bass)

Bob Dylan - 'Highway 61'

Tommy: It's a pretty all time classic, I actually have it on vinyl already. It's one of the first records I remember hearing because my dad is a big Dylan fan. It's just pretty awesome!

Imagination - 'In The Heat Of The Night'

[laughter breaks out as Tommy holds up his next choice]

Tommy: So this is “In The Heat Of The Night” by Imagination.

Izzy: It's got a gatefold, can we look inside? … OMG!

Tommy: What I love about this really is the art work. There's a lot going on. The more you look at it the more you notice. There's a piano staircase, and a man is pointing towards the end of the staircase, There's a snake... The band are standing on the piano keys, starting their journey. They're all looking like rather camp Roman soldiers, which is always a good thing!

Chris: What does it sound like Tommy!?

Tommy: Who cares!?

[Laughter]

Izzy: Can we make a guess as to what it sounds like? I reckon it's gonna be like, seventies, soul fusion, with funkadelic basses.

Chris: I reckon it's a bit more sci-fi than that, like there's a bit of Egyptian sci-fi going on there.

Tommy: Yeah, so I think it's gonna be some weird soul... but eighties soul.

Izzy Phillips (Vocals/Guitar)

Various Artists - 'Hillbillies In Hell : Volume Four'

Izzy: My first choice is “Hillbillies In Hell : Volume Four”, yet to complete the collection of volumes 1-3. I'm really excited by tracks such as “Doye O'Dell – The Devil Wants To Talk”, and “Porter Wagoner & Dolly Parton – Satan's River”. Yeah, she's the only one on the record that I recognise, so just for Dolly I feel like it's worth it. I like the art work because it's got a picture of a lady, sort of revealing a bit of her breast, with some devil horns. I feel like that artwork really speaks to me. If I like it I'll probably be purchasing the other three volumes.

Wu Tang Gang - 'Iron Flag'

Izzy: I like to get into Hip-Hip at the moment, and Wu Tang are pretty classic Hip-Hop artists. The album Iron Flag is from 2001 so it's pretty late for them but I think it's an important one.

Johnny Cash - 'Live At Falsom Prison'

Izzy: I tried to get this at a charity shop, like four years ago for like 50p. I came back half an hour later and it had sold, so I was really upset about it. So I would like to purchase it on vinyl. I feel like this record is awesome because all of Johnny Cash's lyrics are talking about being in jail and shooting another man down, they're like a metaphor, because he never actually shot anyone and he never actually went to prison, but all of his songs are about it, and him performing in a prison feels like it relates to his narrative in a way that speaks to me.

Elliott Smith - 'Either/Or'

Izzy: I love Elliot Smith, I love everything he's done, I can listen to him all day long. This has a couple of my favourites on it. It's got “Between The Bars” which is a classic, I play it a lot on my acoustic guitar in my bedroom.

Tom Dewhurt (Drums)

The Magic Gang - 'Self Titled'

Tom: I picked this because basically, I own all their EP's and it's their debut album. And I bloody love them!

[Tom opens up the inlay and reveals the poster of the band, Izzy remarks that it's very “Beach Boys” and they're way more handsome on that then on the front cover.]

Tom: We've gigged with them all around the country and followed them ever since we started, so it's nice to support your fellow artists.

Chris Ostler (Guitar)

Tame Impala - 'Lonerism'

Chris: So I've already got this on vinyl, but it's one that I keep going back to. I'm a bit of a production nut and helped produce a lot of our records and I've taken a lot of inspiration from how this is produced. I love the way it sounds, there's a lot of really cool clever things going on in it, Kevin Parker (Producer of the record) is a bit of a genius. Love it! Give it a listen.

Queens Of the Stone Age - 'Villains'

Chris: This is the only QOTSA album in here, but I could have chosen any of them, because they're one of my favourite bands. This one in particular is produced by Mark Ronson, and is also an absolute genius. I love how in this record they have somehow managed to capture everything that is QOTSA but also everything that is Mark Ronson, without taking away from either on of them and I really admire that a lot.