10 Seconds: Bridget Walsh

"Thank you so much for asking me to do this, George - what a treat to go back into the archives of my life so far to find moments that resonate through time and space.

My childhood wasn’t filled with the standard music of my generation, so there are fundamental albums and songs that I don’t know, but so many weird little niche ones that I do. I was second-hand listening to student radio and bands whose names I will never know, so can’t bring those to mind for this. Then there’s the heartbreak of some of my intrinsic musical history being tainted by people’s bad / heartbreaking / despicable behaviour. 1990s-2000s hip hop and RnB are some of the most vital building blocks in my musical history, but of course, I can’t include so many people on this list anymore. And there are so many current and recent tunes from friends and colleagues that I want to showcase, but I thought - no, treat this as a time travelling adventure!

I had to make a literal spreadsheet to whittle down the shortlist (!!) but here we go…"

https://www.lovefrombridget.com/

1. Atmosphere - Puppets (2'53" - 3'03")

“Just before I moved to London from Aotearoa (NZ) I quit my job in commercial radio and moved to Wellington. I’d been working at a Top 40 station, so pop music was on ‘high rotate’ which meant hearing the same song every 3-4 hours. I was thus avoiding pop music and seeking new inspo, so when a guy I was on a date with suggested I might like Atmosphere (after we’d been chatting about the hip-hop station I worked at before the Top 40 one), I was stoked! The whole tune is basically one increasing build, and at this point we’ve got the bars, the beats, the keys and the backing vocals - I had this on repeat in my car driving round Wellington in my VW golf that summer”

2. Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place (0'00" - 0'10")

“How to choose a single Radiohead tune though?! From the first note you know exactly what song is playing. That pick-up into the synth line. Straight away my brain says the main lyric to myself, and it’s almost like divine intervention. Like whoever has played that song has been influenced by the Universe to let everyone who can hear it know, that, even if shit is challenging, or messy, or chaotic, or heartbreaking at that point in time, we are exactly where we need to be. The simple, droning lyric-like a mantra. Goooood. Chill out. Breathe. Om shanti.”

3. Hiatus Kaiyote - Molasses (3'04" - 3'14")

“I left my old band in a blaze of Greek tragedy-level glory. That’s a story for another day, but it felt like my whole world was on fire, and I was writing a LOT and trying to work out what sort of music I was supposed to make. My old drummer Chan sent me Tawk Tomohawk and changed my life. Ok THIS. This nerdy, musical, hooky, catchy, adventurous, boppy, expressive, magical music exists and it’s allowed and it doesn’t matter if you can’t label it in a genre. Chan also took me to my first D’Angelo concert in Birmingham that year. What a hero. I remember playing this tune to a bunch of my friends while we were staying at a hostel in Berlin being like - listen to her voice…BUT WAIT GUYS! It’s gonna all of a sudden drop into like a drum and bass break - and everyone was like…Bridget, are you ok Truthfully - I probably wasn’t at that point BUT Hiatus always heals.”

4. Sinead O'Connor - You Do Something To Me (2'02" - 2'12")

“Given that I’m about to finish my Masters in Jazz this summer, and I’ve been told by my head of department that I’m no longer allowed to say ‘I’m not really a jazzer’ - I feel inclined to include a little bit of jazz. I didn’t come up through the UK education system or scene. I’m a constant source of disappointment when people ask me if I’ve listened to this or that seminal jazz album or artist. I cut my teeth on underage raving and Dr Dre. But there were a couple of CDs in my house growing up that I do remember, one of which was Red Hot & Blue - this compilation of Cole Porter tunes reimagined by pop artists. Blasphemy to many, but sort of the only reference point I had. Being of Irish stock, and also being hugely political in my art and my life, it feels pertinent to include Sinead here. Her wobbly vibrato and the doubled vocal production is sort of on point for me. I love / prefer effects and toys, and appreciate that even in the 90s and in jazz, there was a place for the venn diagram of my musical future to exist!”

5. The Bronx - Shitty Future (1'34" - 1'44")

“My ex-boyfriend Michael, who is still one of my closest friends today, is also from Aotearoa and is also a musician. Though he’s now making alternative-dark-synth-pop of sorts, when we first moved here, we moved in the punk and hardcore scene. There’s something about people moving together that resonates so deeply with me as a human and a musician. Whether it’s a mosh-pit, a rave, every dropping low or everyone singing along at a festival - I kind of don’t care. The pulse of the music, unifying us all in the present moment: that’s the juice for me. I’ve seen The Bronx live at least once, and their on stage energy is next level. The simplicity of the lyric, the SCREAM. Sometimes (especially now): we are all that scream. For real.”

6. Jeff Buckley - So Real (3'22" - 3'32")

“Like Radiohead - how do you choose ONE Jeff Buckley tune. Man, what a gift to the world. His unapologetic vocal, I think that’s a recurring theme for me in this list. Jeff, Nai Palm, James Blake, Kimbra - all of these voices that are so much more expressive and raw and human than they are necessarily “nice”, y’know? And the CHORDS that come up in this section before again, he starts wailing. Maybe I’m in the mood to wail at the moment haha. Michael’s old band actually had a song called Geoff inspired by those exact chords, so maybe that’s why this one sticks out. But yeah this is just one of many integral Jeff moments that have helped to consolidate my love of over the top harmony in “pop” style music, and affirm my truth of seeing the voice as an instrument to be explored and expanded, rather than just a shiny polished thing.”

7. Anderson Paak (Feat Talib Kweli & Timan Family Choir) - The Dreamer (3'47" - 3'57")

“It was 2016 and my friend Andy from this heavy AF band called Palm Reader, asked me to come stay at the band house for a couple days and offer my thoughts on their new record. While I was there he played me the Anderson .Paak tiny desk, and I was hooked. I listened to Venice and Malibu on repeat as I bounced around the planet that year trying to make music and save the world and keep my shit together. I was doing yoga at my friend’s place in LA with Malibu on in the background (obvs) when my brain just tuned into this verse from Talib and I was like oh. OH. OK! My job as an artist is to make the revolution irresistible? Yeah, ok - great! I cite that lyric and that verse whenever I get asked about the intersection of my art and my activism. It’s spot on.”

8. Kimbra - 90s Music (1'26" - 1'36")

“I’m ashamed to say that I used to feel like there was a glitch in the matrix and that Kimbra (also from NZ) had somehow ended up living my life hahah. Jokes, cos obvs, like Thom says - everything in its right place lol. But the way Kimbra makes art, not just music but ART. She’s definite goals. She’s one of the few famous people I’ve met where I’ve actually been proper nervous. Like - hey omg I love you. Cringe. She’s got a killllller voice, an insane imagination, heaps of toys and mad production chops and just more of that unapologetic, un-boxable artistry. I love how this tune moves from weird glitchy spoken word (with thick kiwi accent), to full choral breakdown, to like a groovy but still glitchy sort of 90s drop.”

9. James Blake - Love Me In Whatever Way (2'52" - 3'02")

“The arc of a tune, of a show, of a lyric… the shape of where we’re going and what we’re saying and how we’re gonna get there. I’m such a nerd for that shit, which is likely why I’m such a sucker for a build. I was reaching for the lasers in NZ from the age of 15 too, so that’s imprinted on my DNA too. But James Blake is such a master of like - complex simplicity? Like taking an idea and then exploring and expanding and adding and pulling apart and putting back together in such beautiful and deep and tasty ways. My friend Verushka did a cover of this too. She was a huge catalyst in my band 10:32 meeting and forming, and we share a studio now too. Love the musical mycelium linking us all together, and James just interwoven in there. The whole Colour in Anything record was a vital part of my survival when it came out. The TEARS that I’ve cried pulling this list together for you, George!”

10. Jungle Brothers - True Blue (Aphrodite Remix) (1'28" - 1'38")

“Ok before we get too emotional. THIS version of THIS tune. I had thought I knew it from the Human Traffic soundtrack (iconic) but it appears to not be on there. So lord knows how it came into my world, probably at some rave somewhere. But again with the build, again with the drop. When I was going to these all ages raves in NZ as a teenager, we were basically partying as though we were in London haha. Which, looking back, is actually pretty iconic in itself. And hilarious that I said that exact word, because the club we used to go to in the weekend was called Icon haha. Thom’s bringing that divine intervention again clearly. Loved to hear the Heaven & Hell sample pop up in Jenny from the Block too…”

11. The 1975 - Somebody Else (3'00" -3'10")

“A dark horse to include, but a vital cog in the machine. I met a couple of these guys at a party in LA (same trip as the Talib yoga experience) but I didn’t actually know who The 1975 was. I was just stoked to hear British accents while I was waiting for the bathroom. I was all like ‘oh cool - I’m in a band too!’ hahah... They were in LA to record this album. I was experimenting a lot with Maschine and vocal sampling at the time, and I think - even if the band aren’t your cup of tea - what they did with this record was so much more interesting that a lot of the other music coming out at the time. (Maybe since too - though holy crap that post-chorus section in Lady Gaga’s ‘Abracadabra’ almost made the cut on this list!) Perhaps it’s cos I’m such a nerd for sonics, but this is a bona fide pop anthem for me, off a really yummy record across the board.”

12. Dj Zinc feat Ms Dynamite - Wile Out (0'25" - 0'35")

“Maybe 12 tunes was more than I was allowed to submit BUT I couldn’t not include this one because it was the one tune, while going through my shortlist sat on my bed at like 11am, that made me put my coffee down so I could start dancing. By myself. In my pyjamas… Right before the messy break-up with my old band, we were out on our final tour and this beat dropped and - even though everything was absolute chaos and absolutely past breaking point - for those 3 minutes, we danced and smiled and hugged and kissed and everything was… everything was in its right place.”

Gotta throw in a few honorable mentions as well, while I’m here:

Svefn-g-englar by Sigur Ros

Don't Forget You're Precious by Alabaster DePlume

Virus (Hudson Mohawke Peaches and Guacamol remix) by Björk

Fruitflies by Gabriel Garzon-Montano

Rid of Me by PJ Harvey

Kalopsia by Queens of the Stone Age

LITE SPOTS by Kaytranada

And a tune that’s not released yet called “Nicole” by Lyle Barton that makes me cry as soon as it starts, every time!