Warmer Climes

WARMER MIXTAPES #160 | by Tomas Hellberg, Niklas Mellberg, Aidin Zandian and Simon Imner of Verious

SIDE A | by Simon Imner

1. Lou Reed | Vicious
The opening track on one of my favourite albums, an album from my father's CD-collection that I discovered in early age thanks to the cool album cover.

2. Grateful Dead | Box Of Rain
I can't figure out the meaning of this song. But the calming country feeling in it makes me want to grab a rusty bicycle and ride it downhill without holding the handlebars.

3. Skeeter Davis | The End Of The World
A great tune with such heartbreaking lyrics. If I'm having a bad day, the song make me feel even worse. But if I'm feeling happy, the lyrics speak to me more ironically. So what if your love left you- it isn't the end of the world!

4. The Beatles | Here, There And Everywhere
Really one of their most beautiful songs. Makes me think of the sweet feeling of being convinced that you constantly want that certain person by your side.

5. Noah And The Whale | Jocasta
I recently discovered this band's greatness and this is a song that I can listen to over and over. I love the part after following the first verse, when the whole band enters.

6. AC/DC | It's A Long Way To The Top
This convinced me that bagpipes are SO rock'n'roll! Naturally, I'm not a huge fan of AC/DC, but I can't but love the simplistic drum track driving through the whole song.

7. The Smashing Pumpkins | Dancing In The Moonlight
To risk everything just to chase after your summer fling. Thin Lizzy's original catches the excitement in it, but Billy Corgan's interpretation gives me second thoughts about what I'm really about to do.

8. The Smiths | A Rush And A Push
There's too much caffeine in your blood stream, and a lack of real spice in your life. That sentence instantly made it to my favourite by The Smiths.

9. Boots Randolph | Yankety Sax
I always play this song on both the pre party and the after party to instantly get myself in a great party mood. Why? Because I just can't help but smile when I hear it. That and the fact that this tune has the amazing ability to make anything hilarious.

10. The Stone Roses | Sally Cinnamon
I really can't put a finger on what's so special about this. I just adore it.

SIDE B | by Tomas Hellberg

1. Bachman-Turner Overdrive | You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
This song always intrigued me as a kid, with the singers stuttering and the driving rhythms of the guitars, it instantly takes me back in time. I love how the minor seventh chords are used as a bridge between the verses and that punchy powerchord chorus.

2. The Beatles | Martha My Dear
Listen to all the subtle and simple rhythms as they weave this song into an instant foot-tapper. My favourite part of this song is the part where the electric guitar suddenly comes in and joins the piano and the orchestra.

3. Randy Newman | Short People
I just love the simplicity of this song, and the mean-sounding electric guitar that fits so well with the lyrics.

4. America | A Horse With No Name
One of my favourite chord sequences. The melancholy and feel of this song really appeals to me, it is so extremely repetitive but it never gets boring, one of the few songs that can use lalala as a chorus with a succesfull result.

5. Arctic Monkeys | Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?
This song really makes me want to just leave Stockholm and explore something new...Anywhere but this depressing place. It has got that desperation feel to it, you may call it a youth thing.

6. Elliot Smith | Baby Britain
I've got a thing for simple piano songs, this song reminds me of lonely summer nights. The arrangement is very Beatle-ish, but I love the melody and the lyrics.

7. Black Sabbath | Solitude
Not exactly your average Black Sabbath song, but the songs mysticism got me hooked. It is very...Strange, but beautiful. The lack of instruments is mesmerizing, and the repeating bassline is the only concrete structure of this song. I've always wondered why they used that bicycle bell that consistently rings in the background.

8. Bob Dylan | You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
Bob Dylan is one of my favourite songwriters, believe it or not, and this song captures the search for love and the early stages of a relationship so well. Flowers on the hillside, bloomin' crazy, crickets talkin' back and forth in rhyme is really what it feels like when you've just found someone you love to be with.

9. Flash And The Pan | Walking In The Rain
This song is so cinematic, it would fit perfectly into any Quentin Tarantino movie. I almost hear the sound of the rain everytime I listen to it. The synthesizer that fades in and out of the song makes it very interesting, it's almost like the sound of a distant thunder.

10. Django Reinhardt | Tea For Two
There are actually quite a few different versions of this song, but I like the original version the best, the version with just Django and his guitar. It's a sweet little melody and it makes me smile.

SIDE C | by Aidin Zandian

1. Vapnet | Stuguvägen
Swedish indie pop as it's best. Reminds me of the nice moments I had with my friends in summer -06. And it's still as good as it was back then.

2. Lydia Lunch + Rowland S. Howard | Some Velvet Morning (Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood Cover)
One of the coolest duet covers I've ever heard.

3. The Coral | Grey Harpoon
Might be an odd choice of a song, since it's far as critically acclaimed as their singles...But I like the song, and it's oddness and The Coral is according to me one of the best bands ever.

4. Eight Legs | Best Of Me
I like!

5. The Cure | Close To Me
Old, but still a good tune.

6. The Last Shadow Puppets | In The Heat Of The Morning (David Bowie Cover)
Great cover from one of my favorite musicians, Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys

7. Fanfarlo | You Are One Of The Few Outsiders Who Really Understands Us
A cozy indie pop song from a London based indie pop band.

8. The Von Bondies | It Came From Japan
Class A garage rock tune. The song makes you wanna dance. Perfect pre party song, makes everybody in a good mood.

9. Frightened Rabbit | The Twist
A song that I guess many people could relate to.

10. Small World | First Impressions
The song makes me think of a sunny summer afternoon, hanging in a park with a bunch of friends, drinking beer, having picnic and having a laugh.

SIDE D | by Niklas Mellberg

All the songs I have listed are more or less about love and sadness in life...
Why? Well I don't know, maybe I'm kind of a daydreamer and thinker who like to drift away in beatiful and melancholic lyrics.
Some of the songs are real classics, others may be hard grab on to at first. Like the song I got lost from Dinousaurs Jr. album Beyond.
That song is really beautiful but I took some time to really appreciate it. It just happend that my list became a bit melancholic.
Any way I really love all these songs they all work as therapy for my soul when I need to get away from everything.
They all portray strong feelings to me. When I listen to them I can think clearly and relax.