A collection of Joe Talbot’s favourite songs of all time
The favourite songs of our favourite artists can act as a gateway into new and exciting music. There’s no guarantee that you’re going to like everything they like, but at the very least, it gives you a fascinating insight into what makes them tick. For instance, it is far from just growling post-punk at its most ferocious that pleases Joe Talbot.
Joe Talbot has been the vocalist for British rock band IDLES since 2009. The singer has released five studio albums and multiple EPs and singles with the searing group. Straddling the vague intersection of punk and post-punk, the passionate nature and political lyrics of Talbot’s songs has always made the band an unruly force to be reckoned with.
Their debut album, Brutalism, is a rage-fuelled epic that stirred the times with some much-needed anger and action. But even among that rally-cry, there was always a hint that a softer side lingered somewhere in Talbot’s tenets—it wasn’t all blood, guts and righteous vitriol.
In 2019, Joe Talbot appeared on NPR’s All Songs Considered as a guest. During his appearance, he revealed some of the music that had influenced his life up to that point, as well as the tunes that had been soundtracking the band’s long drives across rural America. It’s a fascinating listen, but if you’d prefer to just get a load of the tracks he recommended, then we’ve rounded them up for you below.
Joe Talbot’s all-time favourite songs
‘The National Anthem’ – Radiohead
Talbot picked out two Radiohead songs amongst his selections, with the IDLES singer describing them as “a beautiful band”. During his interview, he describes how the band were about to set out on a two-day trek across Kansas. Realising they needed a decent soundtrack for the long and, at times, “boring” drive, he suggested the band go through the entire Radiohead catalogue on shuffle.
“We love Radiohead for very different reasons,” he said. “There’s that old cliché about them being miserable, so we were like: ‘Let’s play their catalogue and see how it makes us feel’.”
Talbot’s first selection was the monolithic ‘The National Anthem,’ which appeared on 2000’s Kid A. Layering horn sections, free jazz freakouts, and wild feedback over an incessant, pulsing bassline, the track is a highlight from an album that has become one of their classics. “It’s probably my favourite Radiohead song,” says Talbot.
‘Bangers + Mash’ – Radiohead
Radiohead have never been afraid to take unexpected steps in their musical evolution. 2007’s In Rainbow saw the band not only experimenting musically, but also with the release of their music. It was one of the first records to pioneer the pay-what-you-want model, with fans able to download an MP3 of the album for nothing—if they wanted, of course. In addition, it’s touted as being the first ever surprise album, in which an artist’s record is released without any marketing or official notice.
As is pretty much par for the course for Radiohead, In Rainbows was lapped up by critics and fans. Hidden away on disc two of the release was ‘Bangers + Mash’: a glitchy, fidgety, distorted banger that blew up the stereotype that Radiohead are a miserable band. Talbot says the tune “blew my tiny little mind” when he first heard it.
‘Bad Girl’ – Lee Moses
Talbot’s influences stretch beyond guitar-based music, however. One of his other selections was the song he and his wife chose for their first dance at their wedding. We’ll let Joe recount the story of hearing ‘She’s a Bad Girl’ for the first time.
“I discovered it watching Lena Dunham’s Girls,” he says, adding, “It’s from a scene where one of the characters starts dancing in her underwear. And this song comes on. And there are a few moments in my life where you hear a song for the first time and it alters your state as a person. I genuinely believe that I changed the way I felt and was because I heard ‘Bad Girl’ by Lee Moses.”
‘Tic Boom’ – Leikeli47
IDLES are very much from the heavier side of the rock spectrum, but they’ve never been shy about their hip-hop influences, either. They brought in acclaimed hip-hop producer Kenny Beats to oversee the fourth album, Crawler, and it shows in the final polished sheen they served up. So it’s maybe not a huge surprise that Talbot included some hip-hop amongst his selections.
“I got put onto Leikeli47 by a friend of mine,” he says. “The beats are intricate and well-processed, the album flows beautifully. There’s a lot of afrobeat influences on there. She’s a Brooklyn MC, a rapper, and I just think the album is infectious and everything I love about hip-hop.”
‘Runnin” – The Pharcyde
Talbot turned back the hip-hop clock for his next choice, picking out the 90s classic ‘Runnin” by The Pharcyde. “I discovered hip-hop at ten,” says Talbot. “Labcabincalifornia was the first album I heard that really made me excited for my own language and to discover my own path in music.”
Beyond the quirky lexicon and flow, there is also a stirring sense of groove when it comes to The Pharcyde. The rolling rhythms ethos has also been palpable in the Bristol band’s own propulsive beats. sugar-coated with nostalgia, this is perhaps where that sound all began for the band.
‘Astral Weeks’ – Van Morrison
If The Pharcyde reminds Talbot of his youth, his next choice reminds him of pure love and joy. He first heard the summery boon of Astral Weeks at 19 after his father recommended it to him, and it has stayed with him ever since. There is a deep spiritualism in Van Morrison’s finest record that renders it a rare gift.
“That album changed my life. I’m a very instinctive person; I don’t really work too much on intricacies. I’m in the moment, and if I love something, then I love something. And Astral Weeks just took me to a place of pure joy,” he said. Ironically, Morrison does fuss over intricacies and it is the filagreed nature of this record that makes it magical.
‘Silver Tongues’ – Crows
IDLES’ success in recent years enabled Talbot to start his own record label, Balley Records, where he could really start promoting some of his musical loves. One of the first releases on that label was ‘Silver Tongues’ by Crows: a raucous, rollicking shot of pure punk adrenaline that doesn’t sound a million miles away from IDLES themselves.
“It’s a band I discovered when I worked at The Louisiana in Bristol,” says Talbot. “They blew my mind, and now I get to release their music.” With rattling wit, the up-and-coming group rage with an old-school rock ‘n’ roll purity, and, like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club before them, they’ve got riffs for days to boot.
‘Doorman’ – Slowthai
Talbot’s final selection was another UK artist. This time, he plumped for Northampton’s Slowthai. Another artist who straddles the divide between punk and hip-hop, Talbot picked out one of the standout tunes from his breakthrough 2019 album Nothing Great About Britain.
Prior to the punk-rapper’s present controversies arising, Talbot commented, “He is a joyous and violent young man. He’s got so much confidence, and he’s so astute in what he does, in his own language. He’s a very exciting artist from the UK, and this is what Brexit sounds like [to me].”
