Kris Wadsworth

“Did you really think I was going to lie like other people?” Kris Wadsworth offers up one of the most honest (and funniest) selections of Top Tracks to date…

What’s the first record you ever bought?

KMFDM – ‘Flesh’. I’ve tried to answer this question before and, to be honest, it was quite a few. I can’t remember exactly. Probably some sort of heavy metal or industrial or hip hop. I don’t know. Do tapes count? I used to listen to this when I was like ten or eleven years old. I can say that for sure. I think I just barely passed a subject in school and got this as a reward for not being a total fuck-up. Music was often the reward for that… until I almost got kicked out of school entirely.

The first time you remember hearing electronic music?

I have no idea because I’m only 28 and there has been electronic music since before I was born. I’ve heard it my whole life, if I really think about it. Probably in the Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal that I had with a little ‘press-and-play’ synth in its sweater. I totally remember listening to that over and over again, practically in my ear at night when I was a little kid and couldn’t sleep. It was strange because when you hold a ridiculously cheap little synth like that very close up to your ear, it sounds insanely detailed and bizarre. It blocks out noise and stray thoughts and everything, really. I must have liked that, I guess?

Did you really think I was going to lie like other people and try to pass off some sort of dance music as the first electronic music I ever heard? That is ridiculous.

Your favourite ever record?

Haus Arafna – ‘Independent’. They’re kind of Satanic. I love almost everything they’ve made. This is 100% true: I discovered them by accidentally – and was absolutely hypnotised by their stuff – shortly after I got a second blatantly Satanic tattoo. I had never heard them before that. Coincidence? No such thing as a coincidence…

The guaranteed floor-filler?

David Allen Coe – ‘Fuckin’ In The Butt’. This gets everyone going crazy every time. Essential underground ‘banger’. DAC dedicated this to the Mickey Mouse Fan Club. Fantastic!

The guilty pleasure?

Throbbing Gristle – ‘Hamburger Lady’. I actually don’t feel guilty at all for loving incredible music. I love Throbbing Gristle. The harmonica they used sounds guilty as a motherfucker, though. It sounds like it had a rough few centuries and is sweating in hell for it forever. Chin up, harmonica.