Riffs

The first and latest albums bought by Anne Dudley of Art of Noise

TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)

MFSB (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) featuring The Three Degrees

I did really like "The Sound of Philadelphia" for its combination of rhythm tracks with a big, interesting arrangement. It had a wonderfully fresh and creative approach by the production team Gable and Huff. It's a pop record, an instrumental track with a bit of vocals, which sounds desperately old-fashioned now.

What I chiefly liked about this record was a black and white photograph on the sleeve, which showed about 50 musicians in the studio: trombonists, string players, drummers, and an extraordinary racial mix, men and women, middle-aged, young and old. I remember looking at this photograph in great detail and really wanting to be a session musician.

In those days, I don't think that many other people were really interested in the nuts and bolts of how a record was made.

Water Music

Toru Takemitsu

Takemitsu seemed to me to be the natural heir to Claude Debussy. They both stood apart from their contemporaries. He picked wonderful textures, very unusual groups of instruments and mixed Western and Eastern influences. When I discovered his film scores - and he didn't just do a few, he wrote about 90 throughout his life and absolutely adored the movies - it was extremely inspirational. He was so innovative in his sounds: electronic, orchestral, weird Eastern influences. In general, my taste in music is very catholic. That means I choose anything. I love going into the big HMV in Oxford Street and will often stay for hours. As a composer, you are always searching out new ideas. You are a magpie gathering shiny bits from all over the place.

Anne Dudley is an the Oscar-winning composer; Art of Noise's `The Seduction of Claude Debussy' is out now on ZTT