WARMER MIXTAPES #112 | by Nicholas Ng [Fiveng]

1. The Beatles | Don't Let Me Down
Call me boring, but The Beatles are probably my favorite band. It could be the whole childhood nostalgia thing, but I think they're like the best cheese pizza in the world. Don't know quite when I first heard this one, but it feels like it's always been burrowed in my subconscious. I love simple, straight-forward lyrics, and this one really resonates with me...I think everybody is secretly whispering this to themselves inwardly. They're the reason I write pop music.

2. Howlin' Wolf | Spoonful
A really famous blues song from a really famous blues singer. I think I got into the blues like five years ago, through all the old 60s rock 'n' roll bands like The Rolling Stones. This man is probably one of my favorite singers ever. His voice sounds like someone threw a bunch of rocks down a garbage disposal. Talking about the rat race I presume, everybody's fightin' about a spoonful.

3. Dennis Brown | Things In Life
I first heard about Dennis Brown and this song through a Wong Kar-Wai movie called Chungking Express. He's my favorite reggae singer, and this song always lifts me up when I feel down. Because it's not everyday were gonna be the same way, there must be a change somehow.

4. Otis Redding | These Arms Of Mine
They don't make dudes like this anymore. This man's voice is so incredible and has so much raw soul that it just hits you deep down inside. Combine his voice with Booker T. & The M.G.'s. and you can't go wrong ever.

5. Wu-Tang Clan | C.R.E.A.M.
I know, not a very interesting choice, but the Wu are my favorite crew of MC's, and I can't think of a better song of there's. Method kills on the hook, and Raekwon and Inspectah Deck's verses are just on point.

6. Patsy Cline | I Fall To Pieces
A bit cheesy and a bit too Nashville country pop, but Patsy Cline is the best damn female country singer I've ever heard. Love that vintage 50s/60s reverb on her voice.

7. The Jesus And Mary Chain | Deep One Perfect Morning
They always remind me of my life in the late eighties/early nineties (and also that Scar Jo movie, Lost In Translation) even though I don't think I ever listened to them when I was in kindergarten or whatever around that time. A hell of a lot less interesting than their noise stuff, but this song is just so perfectly depressing: And my thoughts are turning backwards and I'm picking at the pieces of a world that keeps turning the screws into my mind...

8. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles | What's So Good About Goodbye
There is clearly a bias in this list towards oldies type music. I just prefer that warm vintage analog sound and those classic melodies. Smokey is also one of my favorite singers, and this is just a great underrated early Motown song. Fluff lyrics, but that's how it's supposed to be. I can imagine teenagers slow dancing to this at a high school prom in the early 60s. Short and sweet.

9. Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa | Baby
I first discovered Tropicália through Caetano Veloso and Os Mutantes a couple of years ago. Just a perfect pop tune. Love the strings and the clav/percussive noise. I don't know what they're singing about, but it's almost certainly about love. Pop music's subject matter almost always concerns love, and I think it's a tradition that is so ingrained that it must be maintained. Baby for sure.

10. James Brown | It's A Man's Man's Man's World
Rock 'n' roll music has a history of misogyny, and this one probably takes the cake (words written by a woman no less!). But this song is so damn sick and fucking epic, I couldn't not have this on the list. Just listen to those strings and The Godfather's voice...Jesus Christ. I love this song so much I used to have it as a ringtone, and I never use ringtones. There's some old guy in downtown San Francisco that dances and grooves just like The Godfather. Fucking awesome.