Alex Clare

You can learn a lot about someone by asking them what they think the greatest record ever made is. Take Alex Clare. Tell him you’re going round to his flat tonight with the express intention of smashing every piece of recorded music he owns – leaving him only one – and the ideas just come tumbling out. “Wow!” he laughs. “If it was production wise I’d probably go for Radiohead’s OK Computer. It’s an incredible record – kind of mind-blowing really. But it’s not the greatest record ever made…” Alex stirs his coffee and thinks. “The first record I ever fell in love with was The Score by The Fugees, but that’s not the greatest record ever made either. I used to think it was The White Album – but it’s not that… I suppose it might be Donny Hathaway’s second album, the one with Magnificent Sanctuary Band on? But I think, really, it’s Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life. That track Have A Talk With God has the most incredible synth parts you’ve ever heard. That’s the greatest record ever made for me.” He sits back – pleasurably exhausted. “You can’t touch Stevie,” he says. “Even his bad ones are amazing!” ... more...