Blender Magazine interview with Elijah Wood
http://www.blender.com/articles/issue13/elijah_wood_music.html
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The Stone Roses Remind Me of Frodo Baggins!
If there’s one thing Elijah Wood loves more than keeping Middle Earth safe, it’s the hundreds of albums he drags around to movie sets. But nü-metallers, beware: Wood hates your guts!
By Nick Duerden
Elijah Wood strolls through a Hollywood theater complex, a
bag of CDs in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He sits at an outdoor table
and orders coffee. And matches. Wood smokes a lot. In a couple of hours, he
sucks on six or seven cigs as though they supply oxygen.
Despite the smokes, and the almost-beard that’s struggling to assert itself on
his angelic face, Wood could still pass for 14. At 21, he’s already established
a strong acting career. In 1997, he had a notable turn as a stoned high schooler
in Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm, and today, thanks to an inescapable three-part
fantasy saga called The Lord of the Rings, he’s a global superstar.
Wood, playing head hobbit Frodo Baggins in the trilogy, is eager to see The Two
Towers, the new installment: “I haven’t seen it yet, but I know it’s going to be
much better than the first one.”
Movies, it seems, are only Wood’s second-favorite subject — when he talks about
music, his blue eyes blaze: “I love music so much. But I would never try to be
like other actors and attempt to make some myself. I mean, have you heard 30
Seconds to Mars?” Upon learning that Jared Leto’s nü-metal act has somehow
managed to evade Blender’s ears, Wood nearly shouts: “Fucking awful, man! I love
music too much to ever do it any harm.”
This fall, the nü-metal-hata’s been preparing to embark on a worldwide
promotional circus for The Two Towers by winnowing his collection to the
bare-bones 300 CDs he’ll bring along for company. “One day, I’d love to have my
own label,” he says, dragging on cigarette number seven. “Just something small.
But highly influential, of course.” Of course. . . .
SMASHING PUMPKINS
SIAMESE DREAM
Virgin, 1993
“This was the first band I ever really worshiped, and this
album meant everything to me. I’ve always stuck by them because of Siamese
Dream, even though most people I know hate them, or, more specifically, hate
Billy Corgan. I hope that in years to come people will reappraise it and realize
that Corgan was perhaps the greatest songwriter of his generation.”
THE STONE ROSES
THE STONE ROSES
Silvertone, 1989
“I discovered it in New Zealand when we were filming The
Lord of the Rings. Every time I play it, it fills me with memories of Frodo
Baggins. It’s so innovative and progressive, and it has influenced so many
people. The band’s story is a sad one, because the success of this record
effectively ruined them — but maybe it’s even better because of that. My
favorite album ever? Could be.”
VERBENA
SOULS FOR SALE
Merge, 1997
“I came upon them by accident, reading an article in a
magazine. That’s what I do: I read about all different kinds of music, then I go
out and experiment. It didn’t exactly sound like my thing, but I liked their
enthusiasm, so I bought it. This is just a brilliant record.”
MILES DAVIS
KIND OF BLUE
Columbia, 1959
“This was the first record that really got me into jazz,
back in ’96, ’97. I’d heard a little jazz at that point — Coltrane, Ellington —
but I was intent on finding the perfect introduction. As soon as I heard this, I
thought it was unbelievable. I’ve since branched off into lots of other kinds of
jazz, but this remains a special album.”
BLACK SABBATH
PARANOID
Warner Bros., 1971
“I got into this during my mid-’90s metal stage. There is
absolutely no correlation between this and the current crop of nü-metal, which,
if you ask me, can get fucked. I hate all that shit: Limp Bizkit and Disturbed
can go to hell. It’s not rock at all, and if it is, then it’s not good rock. The
only band that comes close is maybe Queens of the Stone Age. The others suck.”
BUFFALO DAUGHTER
NEW ROCK
Grand Royal, 1998
“Whenever I get tired of American music, I start reading,
searching the Internet and browsing through record stores for weird shit. This
is one I came up with recently. It’s two girls and one guy from Japan, and they
do rock and dance-type electronica, with funk and soul thrown in. They do things
with music that no American band can do. It’s impossible to get tired of. Check
it out.”
THE SUNDAYS
READING, WRITING AND ARITHMETIC
DGC, 1990
“I absolutely adore this album. I was really into
discovering new things when it came out — I must have been 10 — and here was
this cute band from England that the British press was going wild over. I liked
the fact that I got it before any of my friends! The Sundays haven’t been very
productive since, have they? [Sighs] I really do love them.”
THE METERS
LOOK-KA PY PY
Sundazed, 1970
“The Meters started in the ’60s in New Orleans and were
partly made up of Neville brothers — as in the Neville Brothers. It’s the kind
of thing I like to hear with a few buddies when we’re going to have an all-night
session, you know? It’s that kind of music: instant atmosphere. It may be hard
to dig up this album, but you have to try to find it — it’s worth it.”
A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS
Jive, 1993
“I like a lot of hip-hop — always have. I like the
delivery, the poetry. And Q-Tip must have the best rap voice of them all. This
has to be my favorite rap album, or at least my joint favorite alongside De La
Soul Is Dead, which is another truly fantastic rap album. If I had to pick one?
OK, this one, but just by a whisper.”
PRINCE
1999
Warner Bros., 1983
“I’ve always loved Prince. He’s a genius. Or was a genius
— he hasn’t done anything great for almost a decade. But the years ’79 to ’88,
he was untouchable. He couldn’t write a bad song. I think 1999 is funkier than
anything he’s ever done before or since, and it probably contains my favorite
Prince songs, from ‘Lady Cab Driver’ to ‘D.M.S.R.’ It has so many different
flavors, this album — it’s awesome.”
Some more of Elijah's favorites:
10,000 MANIACS IN MY TRIBE RYAN ADAMS HEARTBREAKER AIR PREMIERS SYMPTOMES DAMON
ALBARN MALI MUSIC ALICE IN CHAINS SAP THE AMPS PACER FIONA APPLE WHEN THE PAWN .
. . THE APPLES IN STEREO HER WALLPAPER REVERIE THE AVALANCHES SINCE I LEFT YOU
BADLY DRAWN BOY THE HOUR OF BEWILDERBEAST ERYKAH BADU MAMA’S GUN THE BEASTIE
BOYS PAUL’S BOUTIQUE THE BEATLES MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR BECK MUTATIONS THE BEES
SUNSHINE HIT ME BELLE & SEBASTIAN STORYTELLING THE BETA BAND THE 3 EP’S BEULAH
THE COAST IS NEVER CLEAR BLACK SABBATH BLACK SABBATH DAVID BOWIE HUNKY DORY
BROADCAST THE NOISE MADE BY PEOPLE THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET TIME OUT CAKE
MOTORCADE OF GENEROSITY THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS EXIT PLANET DUST THE CLEAN
COMPILATION CLINIC WALKING WITH THEE JOHN COLTRANE BLUE TRAIN CORNELIUS POINT
ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS THIS YEAR’S MODEL THE CURE BOYS DON’T CRY CUT
CHEMIST AND DJ SHADOW BRAINFREEZE DAFT PUNK FACE TO FACE THE DANIELSON FAMILE
TELL ANOTHER JOKE AT THE OL’ CHOPPIN’ BLOCK DINOSAUR JR. WHERE YOU BEEN DJ CAM
MAD BLUNTED JAZZ DJ Q-BERT DEMOLITION PUMPKIN SQUEEZE MUSIC DOVES THE LAST
BROADCAST DYMAXION x4+3=38:33 THE EELS ELECTRO-SHOCK BLUES ELBOW ASLEEP IN THE
BACK BRIAN ENO AND DAVID BYRNE MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS ROBERTA FLACK FIRST
TAKE THE FLAMING LIPS THE SOFT BULLETIN THE FREE DESIGN KITES ARE FUN — THE BEST
OF GALACTIC COOLIN’ OFF GRANDDADDY THE SOPHTWARE SLUMP HERBIE HANCOCK THRUST PJ
HARVEY RID OF ME FREDDIE HUBBARD RED CLAY IDLEWILD 100 BROKEN WINDOWS IMPERIAL
TEEN ON MICHAEL JACKSON OFF THE WALL SKIP JAMES THE COMPLETE EARLY WORKS
JURASSIC 5 QUALITY CONTROL KID LOCO A GRAND LOVE STORY THE KINKS KINDA KINKS
KYUSS . . . AND THE CIRCUS LEAVES TOWN LAMB LAMB LED ZEPPELIN HOUSES OF THE HOLY
JOHN LENNON PLASTIC ONO BAND LOOPER UP A TREE LUSCIOUS JACKSON NATURAL
INGREDIENTS MAD SEASON ABOVE MARY’S DANISH AMERICAN STANDARD MEAT PUPPETS MEAT
PUPPETS II MESCALITO ONE PATH IN A MILLION JONI MITCHELL BLUE MODEST MOUSE THE
MOON AND ANTARCTICA MOLOKO THINGS TO MAKE AND DO MONEY MARK MARK’S KEYBOARD
REPAIR THE MOONEY SUZUKI PEOPLE GET READY STANTON MOORE ALL KOOKED OUT! VAN
MORRISON ASTRAL WEEKS ME’SHELL NDEGÉOCELLO PLANTATION LULLABIES NIGHTMARES ON
WAX SMOKER’S DELIGHT NINE INCH NAILS PRETTY HATE MACHINE NIRVANA BLEACH NO DOUBT
TRAGIC KINGDOM OS MUTANTES OS MUTANTES SHUGGIE OTIS INSPIRATION INFORMATION
MACEO PARKER MACEO AND ALL THE KING’S MEN DOING THEIR OWN THING PAVEMENT
BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS PEANUT BUTTER WOLF MY VINYL WEIGHS A TON THE PHARCYDE
BIZARRE RIDE II THE PHARCYDE PHOTEK MODUS OPERANDI PINK FLOYD MEDDLE PLASTILINA
MOSH AQUAMOSH PORTISHEAD DUMMY PREFUSE 73 VOCAL STUDIES + UPROCK NARRATIVES
PRIMAL SCREAM SCREAMADELICA PRIMUS FRIZZLE FRY PULP DIFFERENT CLASS QUASIMOTO
THE UNSEEN QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE SONGS FOR THE DEAF THE RAINCOATS THE
RAINCOATS THE ROCHES THE ROCHES THE ROOTS THINGS FALL APART SCHOOL OF FISH
SCHOOL OF FISH THE SEA AND CAKE THE SEA AND CAKE SIMIAN CHEMISTRY IS WHAT WE ARE
SLEATER-KINNEY DIG ME OUT SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE FRESH THE SMITHS LOUDER THAN
BOMBS THE SNEAKER PIMPS BECOMING X THE SONICS HERE ARE THE SONICS!!! SONIC YOUTH
GOO SOUTH FROM HERE ON IN SPARKLEHORSE GOOD MORNING SPIDER SPOON GIRLS CAN TELL
SQUAREPUSHER FEED ME WEIRD THINGS STEREOLAB EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP THE STOOGES
THE STOOGES ROB SWIFT THE ABLIST TELEVISION MARQUEE MOON THE TIME WHAT TIME IS
IT? TRAVIS GOOD FEELING T-REX ELECTRIC WARRIOR VARIOUS ARTISTS DESERT SESSIONS,
VOLS. 1?4 THE VELVET UNDERGROUND THE VELVET UNDERGROUND V.S.O.P. THE QUINTET
WEEN 12 GOLDEN COUNTRY GREATS THE WHITE STRIPES DE STIJL THE JOSEPHINE WIGGS
EXPERIENCE BON BON LIFESTYLE WILCO YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT STEVIE WONDER
INNERVISIONS NEIL YOUNG HARVEST THE ZOMBIES ODESSEY & ORACLE