Sebastien Tellier wants your sex and soundtracks

With the release of his new single Sexual Sportswear, the Paris-based musician pulls out his charming English and tells us about some of the songs, albums and films that have influenced his Gallic electronica - or, as we like to call it, Gallictronica

I am from the future, Sébastien, and I understand your pain

I Want Your Sex, George Michael

I love the whole album, Faith, but I Want Your Sex is my favourite. It was a great inspiration for my album, Sexuality. Because, you know, you can feel the heat of the night. It's very important. You can find this kind of thing in black American music, but not in most white European music. (Except Bryan Ferry. He can do that and does on Dylanesque.)

Buy the track on iTunes.

Lucio Battisti, Ancora tu

Lucio Battisti is a great Italian singer, very popular in Italia. This is a very beautiful song about a woman, and he can't forget her. Battisti was a great fan of American music like Stevie Wonder, so he tried to mix that with an Italian style. You can cry when you listen to this music. It's not a sad song, but you can cry. Having a Latin vision of sex on my album, that was important for me. In Paris or in Europe, it's the same kind of culture like in the US, this kind of feeling with the very dominating guy and very bitch woman. I like it, but maybe it's more ideal to talk about sex with a Latin sensibility.
Click to buy the track on iTunes.

No Other, Gene Clark

Before the recording of my album, we would meet in my apartment to drink champagne and sing. My producer Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo brought No Other by Gene Clark (from the Byrds), and for me it was a great discovery and made me think of another direction for the album. Very cool music from a very cool spirit. I'm a great fan.
Click here to buy the album on iTunes.

Soundtrack from A Clockwork Orange, Wendy Carlos

I am not selecting a particular song, but the entire soundtrack. The compositions are completely wonderful. The sound is not clean, but the idea of the music is pure, perfect. When I listen to Wendy Carlos's soundtracks, I become very quiet. I don't see the picture from the movie, I just imagine my own movie.
Click here to buy the soundtrack.

Rock Bottom, Robert Wyatt

Another whole album. A long time ago, I was a big fan of Pink Floyd. For me, Pink Floyd were better than anything. Only when I listened to Robert Wyatt did I discover, oh, there is somebody else better. And for me, that was the beginning of the opening of my mind to music. Before I had a mono-love for Pink Floyd. Wyatt came to came to break this obsession.
Click here to buy the album on iTunes.

California Dreamin', The Mamas and the Papas

It's my favourite song. The harmonies and the vibe are really beautiful. It's light music, but right behind you find a very very deep side. The mix between happiness and sadness: for me, it's perfect to reach this feeling. Singing like the Mamas and the Papas, that would be my most wonderful dream.
Click here to buy the track on iTunes.

Les paradis perdus, Cristophe

He is one of the best French singers, very sensitive and with a very, very, very high voice - like when you sing in church. He's a wonderful guy. He creates a cool way to be French. In France, he's the last one. All the cool guys are done and dead and, no, he is the last one.
Not available on iTunes, but click here to listen on iTunes.

Twin Peaks, Angelo Badalamenti

Et donc, it's the soundtrack from David Lynch's TV show. The spirit of the music is very fine. It's intellectual but very joyous music for pleasure at the same time. I love that, I love that, I love that. Now you can buy the series on DVD and see it again. It's a really wonderful, big piece of art. Better than all the other TV shows. I love The Sopranos, but I think, in the end, Twin Peaks is better.
Click here to buy the theme to Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Soundtrack to Phantom of the Paradise, Paul Williams

This is from a musical horror-thriller by Brian De Palma. It's the perfect mix of "rebel" music and popular song. If you listen to the music without the picture, you get the feeling of, uh, rebellion. There is no word in English to explain this kind of feeling: quelque chose de décalé. I can't explain; it's too deep.
Not available on iTune, but click here to watch the trailer.

As told to Kelly Nestruck

· Sebastian Tellier's single Sexual Sportswear is out now. His album Sexuality is out in February. For more information, visit www.sebastientellier.com.

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