One studio under a groove
by Damon
Music is a matter of taste – that much we all know. One man’s Meat Loaf is another man’s Poison after all. Here in the Madhouse creative studio though, we take a positive delight in combining seemingly disparate sonic flavours to create a steaming aural gumbo from which we all sup. With our ears.
We call this exercise ‘Five Tunes’.
A few times each week, the call goes out, “Shall we do Five Tunes this afternoon?”. There follows a flurry of clicking and scrolling as assorted creative types ransack their MP3 folders and pluck out five pieces of music each; these are then combined into one all-conquering playlist that rules the studio’s airwaves for a few hours, provoking furious musicological debate and scholarly argument, plus hand-jiving and dancing on tables.
No genres are excluded from Five Tunes; all team members are free to choose exactly what they please. From strutting hair metal to the most bashful twee pop, from the happiest hardcore to the dreariest goth, from arrhythmic electronics to square-bashing brass bands, our creative output has been soundtracked by them all.
We like to think we’re a stronger team because of it. Certainly, when you’ve listened to the entire 37 minutes of Villalobos’s ‘Fizheuer Zieheuer’ together, there are bonds forged that no creative brief can break apart.
In order to give you at least an inkling of what a typical Five Tunes session sounds like, I’ve asked everyone in the studio to submit the couple of tracks they return to again and again – to the delight or dismay of their colleagues. So without further ado – and in no particular order – here’s the Madhouse creative studio’s top... er... sixteen:
The Cure – ‘From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea’
Beastie Boys – ‘Skills to Pay the Bills’
Julie London – ‘No Moon At All’
Deadmau5 – ‘Raise Your Weapon’
And remember: this compilation is not available in the shops.
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