The sage and wonderful singer of Elbow is drawing his curtains wide and letting us into what’s cramming up his smartphone, featuring cold war dramas and respectful football mascots.
Album: Thee Oh Sees, A Weird Exits
“When I set foot in Piccadilly Records in Oldham Street [Manchester], I know I’m coming out 40 quid lighter. I dropped in to see those guys the other day. Thee Oh Sees are new to me. It’s edgy, full-on guitar; garage punk. But it’s got a psychedelic edge, which makes it a bit proggy.”
Online: When Football Mascots Observe the Minute’s Silence
“It’s a series of photographs of sports mascots observing a minute’s silence at the beginning of matches. When they cross their hands respectfully it’s the best. I often look at it to cheer me up. There’s a brown bear that absolutely cracks me up.”
Film: The Consequences of Love
“It’s something of a gangster movie. I can’t say too much without giving away the plot, but it’s the best character development of any film I’ve ever seen. And, as with all of Paolo Sorrentino’s work, it keeps you guessing. His stuff is at once aesthetically beautiful and really cheerfully playful. He’s a very mischievous director, but he has an aching heart for romance which underpins everything. Sorrentino does these vast, beautiful things but manages to give it a heart and a warm personality – proclaiming the great beauty in things without it being a serious business for serious men.”
TV: Smiley’s People
“I love a Cold War thriller. This is an exercise in subtlety. It’s about bringing down Smiley’s arch rival, Karla, played by Patrick Stewart. It’s a really interesting portrait of Seventies Britain. Cortinas and flares: bring it on.”
Book: Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters...by JD Salinger
“Salinger’s short stories take you on journeys you don’t expect, and in the last few words give you an emotional punch. Salinger writes with extraordinary tenderness but his short stories follow the form of how stories should be.”
Podcast: Radiolab
“It’s two guys who attended the same university in different eras. They tell you fascinating stories.”
Elbow’s new album Little Fictions is out on 3 February. They tour the UK in March
