Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker on his five favourite songs
Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker is a creative mastermind who has been at the forefront of music for over a decade. Parker is a one-man band that has galavanted across musical boundaries, and his genre-bending sound is reflected in his expansive taste.
The Perth native is the archetypal modern artist. A songwriter and musician who incorporates an array of styles with his work in Tame Impala, which is why they’ve managed to garner such an immensely dedicated fanbase and become a seasoned festival headliner. In an interview with Apple Music, Parker picked out five pivotal musical moments that defined his taste, and collectively, they explain his artistry.
An early memory for Parker was his introduction to Daft Punk, which came when he watched a video by the band on the Australian musical programme, Rage. Although he was only a child, hearing ‘Da Funk’ for the first time remains a vivid and cherished recollection for the multi-instrumentalist.
“I don’t know if it hit me straight away,” Parker commented. “I was definitely intrigued by the dog-man video clip. I was like, ‘wow this is a really different thing. I think it really sunk into me later in life how great it was… It’s a classic, it’s amazing!”
Next up on Parker’s list is ‘L’Hôtel Particulier’ by Serge Gainsbourg. On a previous occasion, the Australian spoke to The Guardian about his experience living in Paris and revealed Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson album soundtracked his Parisian life. Therefore, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he picked a song from the album when listing his five favourite tracks of all time.
Explaining his decision, Parker said: “It’s one of the great concept albums. I think just the mood that it paints and everything about it – the sounds, his voice, the instruments, the rhythms, the grooves – everything! It’s just like palpable.”
His third pick is ‘I Am A Good’ from Kanye West’s Yeezus, which was the first time Parker understood Ye. “Yeezus was the album were I fully clicked on Kayne West. I guess I learnt that hip hop can be minimal and I just love his sentiment on this song,” he revealed. “It makes me think he’s serious but he’s not. I love it.”
Parker changed the tone by including ‘Good Times Bad Times’ from Led Zeppelin’s self-titled debut. “Track one of their first album,” he said. “It was a watershed moment. They were the missing piece for me between rock from the Sixties and rock from the Eighties. I never knew where they joined up. [Then hearing the song I thought to myself,] ‘Oh I get it, it’s Led Zeppelin! ‘”
He added: “[The drums] are amazing, it’s the gold standard for drum playing, for drum sound, for everything.”
Finally, Parker picked ‘Machine Gun’ from Portishead’s 2008 album, Third, and said: “This song is just so inventive despite being so minimal. It’s one of those things that if I ever hear it I just have to stop what I’m doing and sit down. I just have such a reverence for this song.”
Listen below to a playlist of Kevin Parker’s five favourite songs.
Kevin Parker’s five favourite songs:
- ‘Da Funk’ – Daft Punk
- ‘L’Hotel Particulier’ – Serge Gainsbourg
- ‘I Am A God’ – Kanye West
- ‘Good times Bad Times’ – Led Zeppelin
- ‘Machine GUn’ – Portishead
