Culture Clash – Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke

The frontman talks Canadian movies and Cat Power...

The latest Tapes mix release, coming via !K7, is helmed by Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke (find some news on it, and a pre-order link, here).

Finding room for tracks by Wookie, Junior Boys, Do Make Say Think and the absolute banger that is Double 99’s ‘Rip Groove’, as well as Okereke’s own remix of Bloc Party’s ‘Obscene’, it’s a mix expressing a real love for the dance music of its curator’s teenage years. There are also tracks from Fela Kuti and French Fries – this man’s tastes go wider and deeper than you might think.

Ahead of the Tapes mix (20-minute trailer below), which comes out on October 14th, Kele shed some light on his cultural favourites of the moment as part of Clash’s long-running Culture Clash series…

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Movie

The last film I saw that really moved me was a Canadian film called Café De Flore, written and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. It explores the idea that resolved struggles from our previous lives may reappear in any future lives that we may have. It’s strange. I saw it the same week that I saw Cloud Atlas, which touches on similar themes but for some reason the subtlety of Café De Flore has stayed with me. It felt like I was watching a dream. 

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Television Show

Since coming home from tour I’ve been watching some pretty bad TV. I’m not ashamed of it though – I like bad TV. My favourite bit of bad TV is The Fried Chicken Shop, a fly-on-the-wall docu-soap set in a south London chicken shop. It’s part funny and part sad, but the best thing about it is it’s filmed down the road from where I live, so I see all the characters from my area. My favourite is Jesse, the fearless but slightly miserable Clapham tranny. 

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Album

I’ve not been listening to much new music at the moment. I went on a bit of a Cat Power binge a few months ago. I met her at Latitude and I had a very strange interaction with her. But nonetheless it made me dig out my copy of ‘The Greatest’. But it’s 1998's ‘Moon Pix’ that’s really captured my attention of late. I’ve been listening to everyday; I just love the frailty of her voice and her wistful guitar playing. 

Cat Power, ‘Cross Bones Style’, from ‘Moon Pix’

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Gadget

It’s very boring of me, but I guess my favourite gadget is my dictaphone. I've had it from the very beginning of my career and I take it with me wherever I go. It’s great for starting ideas. I know I could probably do the same thing if I had an iPhone, but I kinda like the idea that all the music I have ever made has started life in this one black box. 

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Find Bloc Party online here

Visit !K7 online here

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Stream tracks by Bloc Party via Deezer, below…

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