Warmer Climes

WARMER MIXTAPES #211 | by Angelo Ismirnioglou, Tyler Badali, Jordan Raine, Andrew Beck and Wesley Nickel of Young Liars

Things have been crazy, Jordan was out of the country on his honeymoon.
We actually got the exclusive shots for you at his wedding.

SIDE A | by Wesley Nickel

1. Animal Collective | In The Flowers
Animal Collective had always appealed to me, by giving my ears something not conventional music offered. At times Animal Collective manages to lift your feet off earth and then just when you feel that you are floating away into outer space, they bring you back with colorful melodies and hooks. When I listen to In The Flowers, I imagine myself as a child, with no shoes, covered in facepaint dancing in a giant field of flowers. Not caring about anything but the beat of the song.

2. Nurses | Caterpillar Playground
Nurses is a new love of mine. I recently saw them perform at Sasquatch, and was taken away. Nurses reminds me a lot of newer Animal Collective, with bright sounding samples and keys. Although they posses a bit more structure to their songs in my opinion. For a visionary explanation of their music, I imagine being in a forest, full of reds and greys, just at the very end of a thunderstorm, when The Sun returns. And with the music playing, all the animals in the forest dance along to the beat.

3. Beirut | Elephant Gun
Beirut has always been my biggest inspirations for music. His music reminds me of an old world, full of gypsies, moonshine and ballroom dancing. Elephant Gun was the first song I had heard of his and fell in love instantly. Beirut was the reason I play accordion.

4. David Bowie | Life On Mars?
David Bowie has remained my biggest influence in all my musical endeavors. His music has represented a very timeless sound, as he has adapted throughout all the years to still create great music. Life On Mars? was the first song on piano I taught myself for years, and I still play it all the time to warm up.

5. Fandeath | Reunited
There are a lot of metal bands in Vancouver, and not that there is anything wrong with metal, but looking at the local Vancouver music scene, Fandeath was an incredible breakthrough. I had been to a few Dandi Wind shows, and then I opened a Nylon magazine with Fandeath in it. I took a listen and fell in love. They have a very strong Abba/disco feel.

6. Fleet Foxes | Mykonos
Fleet Foxes is another gem of this decade. There is very few LP's you can look back in the last few decades and know they are timeless, and often we wonder what our children will have as an equivalent to Bowie and Rolling Stones. Fleet Foxes are on the brink of becoming such a classic.

7. Grizzly Bear | Fine For Now
I had been a longtime fan of Grizzly Bear, for it's creative approach to folk experimental music. Then Grizzly Bear released Veckatimest and I was completely blown away. When I close my eyes and listen to this album, I feel like I'm being taken on an adventure all through forests and streams and mountains. Fine For Now is my favorite song off the album.

8. MGMT | It's Working
MGMT became instantly Electro Pop titans when Oracular Spectacular came out, and many of us wondered on how they would follow up that album. Congratulations has received a lot of harsh criticism, but I have grown to love it at equal levels; if not even more, than Oracular. It's Working provides a colourful serving of 60's psychedelic rock. A genre that really needs a revival. The lyrics are especially cleaver in this song.

9. Nurses | Yyo
Nurses was my big artist discovery of the year, so I've submitted two of their songs for this. We recently have gotten into using sampling more with our live sets, and I had the opportunity to see Nurses live just recently. They were big on doing live sampling and tweaking of their sound, much like what Animal Collective like to do, but I appreciate Nurses because they never seem to lose dynamic or attention. Yyo is the first song off the album and a great favorite of mine.

10. Wolf Parade | Ghost Pressure
I've heard reviews saying that neither of Wolf Parade's vocalists are singers, but I believe that uniqueness is way more desirable than normal, and therefore I believe Wolf Parade has a sound like no other. Their newest album, Expo 86 is a lot more guitar and rock driven than the previous albums have been, however the few tracks more synth and keyboard driven have really caught my attention. This is my favorite song off the album.




SIDE B | by Andrew Beck

1. Paul Simon | Homeless
I chose this track because Graceland was the first album that was ever my own. My parents gave it to me (they had owned it for years) when I got my first portable cassette player. Up until that point living in a Christian household all I had listened to was church music. I wore that tape out listening to it so many times. Homeless reminds me of my childhood. The warmth in the members of Ladysmith Black Mambazo's voices just move me. I have never gotten enough of that album.

2. In Medias Res | Tonight I Am New
When I first moved to Metro Vancouver from a small town of about sixteen hundred in the interior of BC I had just started playing bass. I went to a friends battle of the bands and In Medias Res was playing. For their age at the time they were so far ahead of anything anyone else at that show was doing. It was crazy especially to a small town kid like me. I don't remember what they played or anything else. I saw them a few times after that, then they disappeared (on hiatus I believe). Shoot forward to two years ago I just happened upon a flyer saying they were playing their first show in over two years. I had just asked out my current long term girl friend and asked her if she wanted to go. That was our first date. IMR is full of great firsts for me. This song is off their new soon to be released album It Was Warm And Sunny When We First Set Out, they have a great video of it on Vimeo.

3. Mew | She Spider
Mew for me in high school was that one band that no one knew about, then someone told everyone about them, and the next day the whole school were fans. Me and Tyler drove down to Seattle with some other friends to see them because we were too young to see them in BC. It was a spectacular show. This was one of our favorite songs they played that night. On the way home Tyler ran over a meridian and had to have his car towed across the border, it may have been less of a happy night for him.

4. Dave Holland | Bring It On
Dave Holland has to be one of the best big band leaders of the modern era. I love Jazz, I wish I could play it all the time. I listened to the album Overtime constantly while on a musical exchange in Cuba. Traveling around the tropics while listening to the randomness of this track just feels awesome. It's a great album.

5. Kenna | Baptized In Blacklight
Kenna has an awesome voice. This track just works, I don't know what it is about it but it does. I love the way the chords feel in the chorus. It reminds me of driving around the downtown core at night.

6. Zao | The Buzzing
I went through an intense metal phase. I wore headphones around my neck a lot and people called me headphones kid. Zao was awesome and still is. This track is just intense, Zao is one of the best bands in metal/hardcore ever. The Wolves Lead The Sheep is such strong imagery. The whole song is filled with juxtaposition. Everyone really hates when ever I play this track in practice. I'm not afraid to let my metal show.

7. Pavement | Rattled By The Rush
Holy crap I love Pavement. If indie is a genre Pavement is the pure progeny of it. I really really really wish that I had a chance to see them this summer at Sasquatch. Pavement was my Weezer. Rattled By The Rush is so catchy while being sooooo disorganized. The tempo falls apart, there is some weird broken organ sounds, warbely vocals, just everything. Pavement is what I listened to my last year of high school and my first year of university. I can never get anyone else to like Pavement. I wish there was more Pavement, but maybe doing more at the time would have just made it bad.

8. Pat Metheny | Last Train Home
If you do not listen to Pat Metheny you are doing yourself a great disservice. He is not only quite possibly the ugliest man in music, he is probably one of the great guitarists of all time. One Quiet Night is probably the only acoustic album that will blow speakers. The bass off of his baritone guitar is just sooooo rich, it is the only acoustic album I know that can blow speakers. One Quiet Night was literally recorded in one night. He bought a new guitar, sat down, and just recorded an album making songs as he went. The album sounds like what the album from a story like that would sound like. It is beautiful playing and some of the most peaceful music. It's great for just sitting on the beach reading a book.

9. Air | Don't Be Light
I love Air, but even more I love Justin Meldal-Johnsen. I mean talk about a list of credits: Beck, Goldfrapp, Ladytron, Nelly Furtado, NIN, Ima Robot the list goes on. Don't Be Light just has this weird feel and it's just soo strongly punctuated by JMJ. JMJ tends to be my musical hero when I'm looking for something to spark some thoughts when I'm writing or sitting in the studio and things are fitting. The solo in this song just simply rocks. The feel is amazing. It goes from spacey to just a non-stop drive. Anything JMJ is on is usually gold.

10. The Roots | Criminal
The Roots are great. Just freaking pioneers of a genre. Whether backing Jay-Z or doing some of the most experimental Hip-Hop ever or playing on Jimmy Fallon's Show. That being said, I hate this song. I really used to like it. Then my girl friend decided she liked it. She doesn't get tired of songs ever. I have listened to this spectacular song one too many times. It's like every time I get into the car I just know its coming on. It is still such a great track though. The feel of the beat with the layers of guitars just feels great and warped. The lyrics tell a story. It is literally mastery of one's trade. I have so much respect for a band that so obviously loves what they do.


SIDE C | by Jordan Raine

1. Patrick Watson | Drifting
Patrick Watson is one of the amazing gems of the Canadian music scene that goes under appreciated. This song takes me every time I listen to it. Seeing them play in St. James hall in Vancouver was one of my favorite concerts. The intimacy of the old wooden hall, the sixty audience members, and the band was such an involved musical experience. One of those moments you remember.

2. Born Ruffians | Kurt Vonnegut
A pleasantly surprising concert at Richards On Richards (RIP) with Born Ruffians revived my belief in three piece bands. They are ridiculously fun. The night ended with a huge encore of Knife (by Grizzly Bear) with Plants And Animals. Epic. Another small concert that ranks high on my list. Luke LaLond takes his voice through unusually raw and fantastically high places often. Barnacle Goose also features some lyrically packed phrases and group shouts that are irresistible. I don't hear this enough outside of punk and I love it.

3. New Order | True Faith
When I was about eight years old we had an Apple Power Macintosh 4400. I loved that thing. It came with all sorts of games. About 13 years later, I stumbled upon a New Order CD and started listening to it. Then True Faith came on. It finally hit me: one of the games I couldn't figure out how to play when I was a kid featured an instrumental True Faith on during the intro. I would open the game up, let True Faith play, then close the game and do it all again. I wish I could remember that game was called...

5. Arcade Fire | Wake Up
One Friday night in my first year of university, myself and a friend decided to go to Sasquatch Festival the following day. It was a single day of amazing bands. Bright and early we left Vancouver and drove 5ish hours to the Gorge, Washington, stopping along the way to pick some tickets in Issaquah. Finally we arrived. As the day went on we saw amazing band after amazing band. We weren't allowed to bring our food in and refused to buy the high-priced food. About halfway into the day a band I had heard of but never listened to took main stage. The band of 8+ members spread out on the huge stage and took their marks. Center stage was a disheveled looking red-haired fellow with a drum strapped to his chest and tambourine in hand. He began a primal boom-kah, boom-boom-kah. Then the guitar started. Then the voices...ALL the people on stage in unison! The rest of the song (and set) continued to blow me away. The band was Arcade Fire. The song was Wake Up. The red-haired fellow was Richard Parry. Later, we shared a short and awkward conversation, in which my friend told Richard she had a crush on him. Nice.

6. Bell Orchestre | Throw It On A Fire
After such a great show, I had to see Arcade Fire again. The next time they came to Vancouver a band called the Bell Orchestre opened up for them. I was a bit confused at first... It seemed that half of Bell Orchestre was Arcade Fire. Turns out that this was a side project of the aforementioned Richard Perry and a few others from Arcade Fire. Instrumental avant-garde/indie music. A fantastic combo. The show had many great moments but at the beginning of Throw It On A Fire the band began pounding away at whatever instrument or object was in front of them. Why is it always the beats get me? Way to be Richard! Beat that upright bass!

7. Cake | The Distance
In high school, I took a TV and Film course. The majority of the time, we just ran around with a video camera, hardly making anything worthwhile. We were then assigned to shoot a music video. I can't quite remember how it came about, but we chose The Distance. After some intense brainstorming, we decided to dress someone up in a white tuxedo and run them around the city doing things. Best music video ever. For real.

8. Erik Satie | Gymnopédie No. 1 (Played by Pascal Rogé)
The other two are good too, but No. 1 is my favorite. This track was introduced to me in university during one of my music courses. Mr. Satie lived in the time of Debussy and was an underdog composer to his peers. He would play in Le Chat Noire Café-cabaret while his peers sat and chatted. He labelled his music furniture music. Music with the same function as a decorative table: to be looked at briefly and then largely ignored. He was either inferior to his peers, or centuries ahead of them, depending on how you look at it. His music has always been an inspiration for me and has often relaxed me during a drive.

9. Passion Pit | Sleepyhead
A friend of mine's family has a cabin on Gabriola island. A year or so ago, myself and a group of friends headed there for a long weekend away. It island is tiny. The folks are all hippies. There is no use for clocks or watches. There is a beach with the perfect view of the sunset. The place is unbelievable. After returning, my friend put together a video of the trip and Sleepyhead was used as the theme music. Everytime I hear this song it reminds me of a great weekend on Gabe.

10. The Dears | We Can Have It
Before 2003, I didn't listen to good music. In fact, I listened to bad music. The only redeeming items in my music catalogue were injected by my dad... Phil Collins and Alan Parson's Project to name a few. From 2003-2004 I discovered a lot of really good music. One of those artists were the Dears. I found a live show on KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic and loved it. Murray Lightburn and the whole gang played a great set and I couldn't believe it was online for free. Over the next month or so I watched the entire set over and over again. I'll still watch it from time to time. Hopefully they don't take it away.

+11. Bon Iver | Skinny Lover
First time I heard Bon Iver was an unlabeled song on iTunes in a house I was living in with six other guys. It wasn't actually Bon Iver but was a cover my friend did. I thought the name was really bizarre. It was great. Pretty sad, but a not quite as depressing as David Bazan. After learning it was pronounced bon-aye-ver, I was all set and even bought the vinyl.


SIDE D | by Tyler Badali

1. John Frusciante | Repeating
This song speaks to me on many level's. The first being a compilation of several high school memories with Andrew and our best friend Min. His voice is extremely similar to John's and we fell in love with his solo work through Min. This song was always playing on long drives with lots of sunshine. Another meaningful element of this song are the drums. The use of a sizzle cymbal and scraping brushes invokes thoughts and memories of my Grandfather, a talented jazz and marching snare drummer.

2. Refused | Deadly Rhythm
Refused is a band that simply won't take no for an answer. David Sandström is an amazing drummer. This track has all the a feel that makes a drummer successful in my eyes. It also brings back a wonderful memory of Andrew and I. We were the rhythm section for our high school musical. Fooling around one day, as we always did on our instruments, Andrew started up the bass line to deadly rhythm in front of the entire cast. I couldn't help but rip a good section of the song with him until the teacher's asked us to stop. We did this a lot, so it was funny that something so common for Andrew and I seemed to shock the entire crew.

3. Incubus | The Warmth
The warmth perfectly crystalizes my feelings towards drumming and music as a whole. Incubus is a band that I know will stick with me for the rest of my life. I grew up as a young musician learning and listening to José Pasillas. Their live DVD, Alive At Red Rocks, holds special meaning to Andrew and I. The main menu has a 10 second section of the bridge that plays on repeat until you select an option. At the end of the dvd, it automatically reverts you to this menu. After a long night of playing and writing. Andrew, Min and I would turn on Alive At Red Rocks and fall right to sleep. All of us, being too stubborn to get up and turn it off. Typically it would repeat until my mom would wake up and come downstairs to turn it off. I will always remember that 10 second loop of the bridge in the warmth.

4. Alexisonfire | Sharks And Danger
When I was learning different songs growing up as a young musician, Sharks And Danger taught me the power of simplicity. The song itself is an interesting adventure that always brings me back to warped tour '06. A profound adventure for me growing up.

5. The Beatles | Penny Lane
The Beatles have always brought me back to my childhood. The world at your finger tips. Having no clear sense of where to begin or where to end. Penny Lane is one of my favorite songs to hear played or sung by someone else.

6. The Bee Gee's | Stayin' Alive
Some of the best hooks and most catchy rhythms are within this song. Stayin' Alive is a timeless 4:48 minutes that will always make you move. It reminds me of several sweaty nights on the dance floor.

7. Ben E. King | Stand By Me
Inspired by many family occasions that included music and dancing, I chose this song for the countless dances I have shared with my Grandmother. I love to dance. I love to Slow dance with the one's that mean the most to me.

9. Bloc Party | Price Of Gasoline
The price of gas keeps on rising. This song has everything. Guitar lines that leave you wanting more, driving drum line, claps! This was always a favorite of mine to play at home over and over.

10. Antonio Vivaldi | The Four Seasons: Concerto No. 1 In E Major, Op. 8, RV 269, La Primavera (Spring) (Performed by I Musici)
This to me is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. It is the soundtrack to every good dream I can remember. The composition of the different instruments interacting with one another in both a soft yet bold way. The violin came alive to me in this song.

+11. Dr. Dre | The Next Episode
I have had many experiences with this playing in the backround. From road trips camping, to the limo ride before graduation. Many close friends of mine love Dre and share my feelings of fondness towards 2001.


SIDE E | by Angelo Ismirnioglou

1. Red Bone | Come And Get Your Love
This song just makes me so happy enough said.

2. Ten Years After | I'd Love To Change The World
When I first started playing guitar, this was first song I learned all the way through.

3. Klaatu | Doctor Marvello
My father has always tried to show me new music or at least music he thinks I've never heard. It's gotten so ridiculous now that he goes on YouTube everyday, but I'm grateful because every so often he gives me a gem like this one. I'm just so amazed at the production and sound of this song for its age.

4. M83 | Don't Save Us From The Flames
Reminds me of little parties at my friend Maxeys.

5. Bloc Party | Skeleton
A really old song of theirs, every time I hear it I instantly remember driving around Gastown in Vancouver around October of '05 in the pouring rain with my best friend talking about how we wanted to start a band. Always puts a smile on my face.

6. Bobbi Brown | Every Little Step
This song makes me think of my mom, shitty hotel rooms, carne asada burritos and HBO. Sure was fun being a kid...

7. Death From Above 1979 | Little Girl
I almost drove my car off the side of a mountain listening to this song. Gets me excited every time.

8. Zapp And Roger | I Want To Be Your Man
I remember hearing it for the first time when I was dancing with a girl I had the biggest crush on, I finally worked up the nerve to ask her to dance after 2 years and when this song came on and I heard the vocals I just stood there dumbfounded totally oblivious to the girl, I just wanted to know how they did that effect to their voices.

9. Prince | Let's Go Crazy
Prince is one of my favourite artists, such a talented musician and a very underrated guitar player. I have this memory of myself running around the house going crazy wearing my little blue pyjamas when I was about 4 or 5 years old 'cause my dad was playing this song on his new sound system.

10. Pixies | Debaser
My band of first's. I lost my virginity to Doolittle, first band to make me want to be in a band and Frank Black was the determining factor on getting a Telecaster, between Prince and Frank Black, I was sold.

+11. Snoop Dogg | Ain't No Fun ( If The Homies Can't Have None)
This is a very nostalgic song for me. Whenever I listen to it I instantly start thinking of being young growing up in San Diego. I also love the sound of all the instruments used and simplicity. It's so laid back you almost forget how vulgar the lyrics are.