Art of Noise // Frankie and the Heartstrings

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The Art Of Noise is back! Did you miss us? What do you mean “no”?! Well I suppose you won’t want to listen to the exclusive mixtape Frankie and The Heartstrings made for us then will you? Oh right so now you’re interested?!

Yes, it’s our Art of Noise playlist feature and this time around we’ve asked Sunderland’s finest five-piece to delve deep into their record collection to dig out a selection of tracks that have inspired them to keep it real, made them dance around like idiots or transported them to previously foreign musical realms.

Below you can listen to choice picks from Mick Ross, Frankie Francis, Michael McKnight, Dave Harper and Steven Dennis while their words take us on a track-by-track journey from Destroyer to the aptly named The Art of Noise.

Art of Noise // Frankie and the Heartstrings

Destroyer: ‘It’s Gonna Take An Aeroplane’
Mick Ross: I recently rediscovered this band and their latest record after falling in love with them a few years ago at ATP. I’d never heard of them before and bought ‘Your Blues’ – this is the highlight track. Pop genius.

Prefab Sprout: ‘Goodbye Lucille #1 (Johnny Johnny)’
Mick Ross: My current favourite track from one of the greatest records ever made. The chord sequence and brilliance of the harmony work makes it impossible to not keep re-positioning the needle of my record player and dance round like and idiot before a night out. (Sad I know).

The Vaselines: ‘Molly’s Kiss’
Michael McKnight

The Housemartins: ‘Five Get Over Excited’
Michael McKnight

Tindersticks: ‘Tiny Tears’
Dave Harper: Tindersticks are a grown up, very sophisticated band: Everything I am not. They exist in the same space as Tom Waits, Charles Bukowski, Vincent Gallo and others I pretend to understand. That went out of the window when I heard ‘Tiny Tears’. I would get stoned, lie in bed and listen to this. It’s so far away from anywhere I’ve ever been.

George Jones: ‘White Lightening’
Dave Harper: That term, keeping it real. Well George Jones sings about his father’s illegal alcohol production sideline without becoming “a facking graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassss!”. There is a cover by The Fall but this is better because it’s sang by a real rebel and not a man who counts flies covered in his own shit.

Talking Heads: ‘Warning Sign’
Steven Dennis

Dire Straits: ‘On Every Street’
Steven Dennis

The Art of Noise: ‘Close (To The Edit)’
Frankie Francis: When I saw the name of your mixtape piece I instantly thought of this piece of music. It’s something I play when DJing and it’s a brilliantly put together piece of music using what I’m sure were cutting edge production techniques at the time.

The Men: ‘Lotus’
Frankie Francis: I discovered these guys while in my manager’s house. He slipped it on the record player and I instantly felt I had to go out and buy it so I did the next day from Rough Trade. This track is brilliant and I love putting it on really loud. It has the frustrated angst of Fugazi and the noise of an early Valentines song.