WARMER MIXTAPES #153 | by Amanda Palmer (The Dresden Dolls) and Jason Webley of Evelyn Evelyn

1. Joy Division | Isolation
Because we like Joy Division we played their other song on our record with ukulele, also did you know that Joy Division was for in the war in Germany where they put the pretty women for having fun with but in a mean way when they didn't want to? And also because he also sounds lonely but then he died, which is sad.

2. The Andrews Sisters | Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)
Because they are good singers together and also because sometimes it is dangerous sitting under a tree and so they are being nice telling us in a song, also because they are lonely we think.

3. Three Dog Night | One
This is a good song even though it's very sad and it is true.

4. Tegan And Sara | Dark Come Soon
Because we like Tegan And Sara, they sang for our record with us but they weren't with us together when we sang, they were on the computer for their part. Evelyn thinks this song is about being twins because what she says about doing things first but Evelyn is wrong because on YouTube Tegan says that it isn't and Tegan is nice. Since they are twins they are our friends but not like other people are.

5. Ghost Bees | Vampires Of The West Coast
Because they are twins and because they live in Canada and we used to live in Canada but we never met them. And because their name is Ghost Bees. And it is kind of scary. And because their voices are pretty and they sound nice. We don't know what this song is about but it sounds sad.

6. Sinead O'Connor | I Don't Know How To Love Him (Jesus Christ Superstar Cover)
Because we love this song and we used to sing it before we wrote our new songs. But this song is not by Sinead O'Connor, it is by Jesus Christ Superstar.

7. Jason Webley | Icarus (with Amanda Palmer)
Because Amanda and Jason are our friends and because they helped us make our album and because we like their music. This is a song Jason wrote but Amanda sings it too. Sometimes he sings it alone and sometimes she sings it alone and sometimes they sing it together and it is good every way and it is funny.

8. INXS | Never Tear Us Apart
Because we like this song and also the man who sang it died did you know that? And also because it is like the Joy Division song that we sang but actually it is the opposite because the other song is Love Will Tear Us Apart and this one says Never Tear Us Apart, but we like them both and also because he sounds maybe lonely too so maybe the songs are really the same.

9. Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin | Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves
Because this song is very inspirational and especially if you are a sister. But Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox are not sisters. But they sing together very good.

10. Cyndi Grecco | Making Our Dreams Comes True
Evelyn doesn't actually like sisters are doing it for themselves as much and she says this song is more inspirational and we are sleepy now. Goodnight friends!

Facts & Figures | with Sam Amidon of Samamidon

Warmer Climes: Have you been on your highest mountain?

Sam Amidon: No, but I have a friend who is a mountain. He is a following mountain, his name is TFM - The Following Mountain. He's like a mountain but better, because he follows you, which means that if you ever want to walk up a mountain, he is right there!

Warmer Climes: The most comfortable place for you to breathe:

Sam Amidon: The brain brain.

Warmer Climes: Who is the most stylish musician?

Sam Amidon: Arthur Doyle.

Warmer Climes: What has been the defining moment of your life so far?

Sam Amidon: The day I realized I could type at 120 words per minute.

Warmer Climes: How to be less home alone inside my head?

Sam Amidon: It's more like, how to be more!

Warmer Climes: I See The Sign is...

Sam Amidon: A remake of The Day After Tomorrow, which is a beautiful film by Roland Emmerich that I have not seen.

WARMER MIXTAPES #152 | by Nicolaas Zwart (Desolation Wilderness)/[Electric Sunset] of Drone Ranger

1. Jackie Opel | You Too Bad
This song is a really incredible ska jam. A friend of mine was recently in the Bay Area and we drove around Highway 1 (the quintessential oceanside American movie highway) really fast in his BMW listening to this.

2. Mariah Carey | Fantasy
I heard this for the first time on the radio a few months ago, even though it was really big when I was a kid. I actually probably heard it when I was young, but I definitely didn't remember it, because it impressed the hell out of me with the Tom Tom Club riff and the really insane harmonies. It's definitely not some boring/smooth R&B song; it's perfect anything music.

3. Lone Ranger | The Answer
I first heard this when I was living in a recording studio temporarily between two tours. I was just hanging out, spinning records through the playback system, and I heard this song. I think this is what started my current obsession with Reggae and a lot of stuff coming out of Jamaica around then.

4. Jim Brown | Seen Him
Just another incredible reggae party jam.

5. Hudson Mohawke | Joy Fantastic (feat. Olivier Daysoul)
This one is so funny and cool. The totally off the wall vocals and spoken word parts are really hilarious.

6. Ken Nordine | Green
This is from a whole spoken word album about colors (called Colors) by Ken Nordine. Really interesting sort of beat poetry type stuff with a jazz group playing various instrumental backgrounds. My friend put this one on a mix he made for a long move I was going on and it was cool and surprising. I went and got the album a few days later.

7. Muungano National Choir | Kyrie
This is a really beautiful choir piece with interesting kind of atypical percussion stuff. I don't too much about the MNC but I got this album and it's full of really gorgeous kind of Kenyan choral music.

8. ESG | UFO
I first heard this song while I was driving into Berlin for the first time on tour in Europe and ESG was the perfect soundtrack for that city.

9. The Clash | Police And Thieves
I love this band so much and recently started getting really into them again. And this song is just awesome. The original version is really good too, but I think this one is better.

10. The Four Tops | I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
Yeah, pretty cheesy, but I still love this song despite it being so played out. I dunno, it just rules pretty much.

WARMER MIXTAPES #151 | by Henrik Jonzon of Nervous Nellie

Here are some songs that I am digging right now & forever.

1. Wilco | You & I
Because it is a song in total harmony, it brings calm to the soul.

2. Pavement | Range Life
Thanks to their 2010 reunion this song has brought back my youth.

3. Gianni Nanni | I Maschi
Everybody loves a slick Italian ballad, as do I.

4. Shout Out Louds | Throwing Stones
No doubt the best track on their new album, mature & gripping.

5. Håkan Hellström | Ziegnarliv Dreamin'
This song has everything good about Sweden packed into it.

6. Nervous Nellie | West Is The Best
Because it is my favourite song on our new album, I feel a sense of pride and development everytime we play it.

7. Lou Reed | Perfect Day
Needs no explanation.

8. David Bowie | Heroes
This song makes me want to change my name to Bowie.

9. Wovlot | Theme Park
I wish I had written this song and that is a true compliment.

10. My Morning Jacket | Knot Comes Loose
Every time I here his voice my body tingles. The guitar harmonies here are out of this world.

WARMER MIXTAPES #150 | by Lisa Milberg [Milberg] of The Concretes

1. Patti Smith | Redondo Beach (demo)
I read Patti's book /Just Kids/ recently. It's about her in her late teens and twenties when she moves to New York and she meets Robert Mapplethorpe and they become inseparable. I've never cared for her music much but the book on the other hand blew me away. It's so beautifully written and such a wonderful, sharp recollection of that larger than life friendship and love that I think can really just happen to you once. It hits your heart like thunder and it leaves you with a little dance in your step. Then a friend of mine sent me her demo of Redondo Beach. It's such a simple and perfect song. It's lyrically very sad but at the same time it's got this fabulous rawness to it (nothing beats demos) and the most genius basic groove. So amidst all the sadness I find it's really quite a flirty song. And I love flirty.

2. Allesi Brothers | Seabird
All the sounds are cheesy, the production is questionable, it's a shitty old drum machine and the frequencies are all funny, like listening to lovesick bees in summer. Yet I wouldn't change a thing. I can listen to this song for days on end and taste the ocean on my tongue. I'd like to think that Seabird could fly over Redondo Beach.

3. Steve Mason | All Come Down
This is the first song taken from (former Beta Band singer) Steve Mason's upcoming solo album, and it is a really beautiful thing. I would only be a little surprised if I put my ear to a seashell and heard this. Whenever I hear his voice I see him standing on the top of a green Scottish hill crooning under a two-rainbowed sky. Also Richard X has helped out with the production on the album so there's a really fabulous slickness to it which adds an interesting dimension. It works so well. Mason is the thinking woman's popstar. As well as my dream producer for my Milberg music.

4. Marshall Hain | Dancing In The City
Oh man, just the thunder that opens the track makes me weak in my knees. And if you watch the video she's got this excellent reluctance to her whole appearance as well as her vocal delivery...Like she knows they're onto something with that song but she's really gonna do everything in her power to fight it. Grumpy slow disco. This and the Bee Gees Love You Inside And Out are perfect in tempo and mood. So many big songs are too fast I find. And so many disco songs are too cheerful. Disco needs to sulk a little to matter to me.

5. Rah Band | Clouds Across The Moon
Heartache and space. Heartache in space even. What more can you ask for? This has been a really central song for my band through the years. Along with (fellow space enthusiasts) ELO and, from the top of my head, Colin Blunstone/Rod Stewart/Karen Dalton/Moondog/Dr Dog/McCartney/Paul Simon and a few others, this is one that never leaves our tourbus mixtapes for long.

6. Pure Ecstasy | Easy
I originally found this band through the excellent Friendship Bracelet blog. I could have picked any one of their songs, they all got lovely little broken melodies that are dripping of reverb. For me it's always about the melodies. And the tempo and sometimes the trousers but my point is that you can't hide a good melody and you can't disguise a bad one either.

7. Jill Jackson | I Will Love You For A While
I will love you for a while, just how long I can not say. But long before love grows old I'll be on my way she sings in a voice sweet of innocence. It sums up the dark side of love so painfully accurately. Whoever loves the other one less calls the shots. Goffin & King, I bow my head before you for turning that cynical message into something I find myself humming in bus stops.

8. Robert Wyatt | Shipbuilding
This is the greatest man, and beard, in the world. I love Robert Wyatt deeply. This song (about the Falklands war, written by Elvis Costello especially for Wyatt) still moves me to tears every time I hear it. He did this on Top Of The Pops and at first they didn't want him to come on in his wheelchair. Every time I see that clip I think about that and I'm so deeply ashamed on behalf of some people on this planet. I've been to Robert's house once. He opened the door, took one look at my black fingernails and said What are you trying to kill an old man?!...Then we listened to jazz and talked and ate sandwiches, that his wife Alfie prepared. It was the best afternoon ever. Listening to the song now I think it's an outrage that he didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize for it.

9. Frida | I See Red
Frida, Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad, one of the two A's in ABBA, recorded this for her first English-language solo-album in 1982. It's produced by Phil Collins and it sounds so good right now that I'm starting to think if there's a God it might be Phil Collins. Now that'd be a surprise. Also the song opens with him doing a real I mean business-drum fill and I have to say it's up there with those 4 sloppy drum notes that open Squeeze's Up The Junction. Frida makes me very proud to be Swedish and I used this song as my walk-on-stage-tune for my little Milberg tour I did last year.

10. Procol Harum | A Whiter Shade Of Pale
This is probably one of the two most famous songs in the world and there are one thousand good reasons for that...I hear everything in this song. My childhood, my first dance, my teens, my broken heart, my mended heart, first kisses, summer nights. And Bach and Percy Sledge of course. In Scorsese's Life Lessons, one of the three New York Stories, Nick Nolte plays an abstract painter struggling with his work and with his relationship with Rosanna Arquette who plays his assistant and former lover whom he still craves. Through the whole film he spends most of his time in his big loft, frustratingly painting away and playing this song on repeat over and over and over again. It's the best soundtrack to any film ever and the repetition makes it so very powerful. (I can't even say if the film is good anymore, they had me at fandango. And I seem to recall Nolte is quite hot in it too).

Facts & Figures | with Ryan Kennedy of Rikers

Warmer Climes: Define Sea Legs.

Ryan Kennedy: Sea Legs is about finally getting comfortable with a situation only to have it taken away from you. The term is widely used to represent the idea that a person is comfortable at sea, but I've taken that idea and put it on land. I went through something I was having trouble adjusting to, then just as I was OK with it, it dissappeared.

Warmer Climes: What’s missing in your life?

Ryan Kennedy: Not much. I'm a lucky guy, might sound cliched but everytime I seriously try to complain I sound like an ass. I've got it pretty good.

Warmer Climes: When are you at your happiest?

Ryan Kennedy: When I'm writing songs, playing live or hanging out with my dog.

Warmer Climes: What’s your fondest memory?

Ryan Kennedy: Well it's hard to seperate professional memories and personal ones but musically speaking I've been fortunate to play some great shows and play with some great people so it's hard to pick just one. I've always thought the best part of being in a band is the feeling of being in a gang so I'd say the people I've played with have given me the best memories. Nothing specific just a bunch of stupid/awesome moments that add up to a special experience. This already sounds like a Hallmark card. Fuck. My fondest personal memory is probably surprising my father on a special day for him by coming home from a year in Japan early to be there for his event. No one had any idea I was coming home. It was nice. There are probably others I'm forgetting but that one was hard to top.

WARMER MIXTAPES #149 | by Andrew McKee, Michael Mandeville, Brant Stuns and Alex Maguire of The Young Friends

SIDE A | by Andrew McKee

1. The Teenagers | Homecoming
This is probably one of the most creative songs musically as well as lyrically. I love the lo-fi sound of this song, and the euphoric summery chorus. And to top it all off, the soft female voice perfectly compliments the sleazy French-accented monologue verses.

2. Peter Bjorn And John | The Chills
One of the best songs by PB and J and is often overlooked by Young Folks off of their album Writer’s Block. Simplicity is perfection.

3. Naughty By Nature | Hip Hop Hooray
I remember hearing this song on the radio all the time when I was really little. Reminds me of the good ole’ days.

4. The Drums | Let’s Go Surfing
This song is pure bliss and I love everything this song and band stands for. The Drums saved pop music. Enough said. (Shout out to Jacob, Caleb and the Holiday Records Crew!)

5. Nite Jewel | Weak 4 Me
I saw this band live before I had heard the record when they opened for Deerhunter. The awesome lo-fi 80’s analog synths and TR-606 beats made me feel like it was prom night in 1985.

6. Nico | These Days
This is one of those go-to songs for a Sunday afternoon. It always makes me feel like I’m in the middle of a summer road trip montage or something.

7. Black Sheep | The Choice Is Yours
This group is pretty fierce. There’s something about the energy from the hip hop groups that came out of New York pre 2000’s that just really catches my attention.

8. Positive K | I Got A Man
The music is carefree and upbeat and the tag team male and female vocals really give this song an ill Fresh Prince vibe. I always imagine walking around Brooklyn in the 90’s with this song playing in the background.

9. Washed Out | Get Up
This is the ultimate 80’s pump-up work out anthem. The lo-fi production is really awesome and works flawlessly with the uber fat synth bass. This is probably the song that would go through my head right after getting in a street fight at midnight.

10. Sonic Youth | Little Trouble Girl
This song doesn't sound quite like most Sonic Youth, but its 50's girl-group-influenced shoegaze is amazing.

SIDE B | by Michael Mandeville

1. Animal Collective | Loch Raven
I first heard this song a few years ago when my sister bought Feels, but I always seemed to skip over it. About a year ago though I listened to this song with a friend and for some reason everything around us went silent as we listened to the beauty Animal Collective had created. I felt a sensation of bliss for 5 minutes, something you don't get to experience everyday. Ever since that moment it has been an important song to me.

2. Ball Of Flame Shoot Fire | Wolf Cry
When I got their EP, Grumpy Little Bird, I was instantly hooked. All the songs are marvelous, but this one really grabbed me. The expression and passion that the singer Jess radiates is very special. This is definitely one of my favorite bands and I highly advise everyone to check them out.

3. New Order | Bizarre Love Triangle
This might be the perfect pop song. The lyrics are so catchy and cheesy, and the music makes you want to dance - really it's just a fantastic song.

4. Miles Davis | Blue In Green
Off one of the greatest albums of all time, Blue In Green has identified itself as a masterpiece. It came on the radio one night when I was heading home and it really made me catch my breath for a second. There isn't a word or phrase that describes the beauty of this track.

5. Pavement | Harness Your Hopes
My sister made me a mix and Pavement was one of the many bands I grew to love because of it. Harness Your Hopes was the song she gave me and the first Pavement song I had heard. I was listening to a lot of electronic and dance music at the time and this was so raw and real. I worship the way Stephen Malkmus writes, and this song's lyrics remain to be my favorite lyrics in a Pavement song.

6. My Bloody Valentine | To Here Knows When
I saw them play at this festival last year knowing maybe a few songs. They jammed this song for a while and it was so loud and pretty that it continued to play in my head for days. I found it later, and now it revives that memory of amidst thousands of people being blown away by all the noises coming from the stage.

7. Radiohead | Idioteque
They have to be my favorite band. I can never really tell how they manage to make some of the noises on this song (or a number of them), but the beat is great and Thom Yorke's vocals are perfect as always.

8. The Strokes | Red Light
One of my favorite guitar harmonies and choruses. It's The Strokes, I don't really have to say much for people to get my point. They are amazing.

9. OutKast | Roses
Ummmmm anything Andre 3000 touches is perfect. Especially this song.

10. Muse | Citizen Erased
There is so much going on in this song. I love how Muse can pull of combining such a heavy hook with slower, lighter parts. This has been a favorite of mine or a long time.

SIDE C | by Alex Maguire

1. Reverie Sound Revue | Rip The Universe
One of my friends mentioned this band to me, and after hearing the first couple songs of the EP, I was hooked. The guitar-work and singing are just so ethereal, plus the vocals are beautiful.

2. The Psychedelic Furs | Heartbreak Beat
The Psychedelic Furs are so awesome. Saxophone? Yes! The chorus just makes me want to dance.

3. Dntel | Last Songs
I got into Dntel through The Postal Service (of course). The acoustic guitar combined with strings and beats makes a song packed with emotion.

4. Memoryhouse | Lately (Deuxième)
The sample of Phone Call from the soundtrack of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind is sublime.

5. Surfer Blood | Take It Easy
The ending of this song is incredible. The percussion and guitars intertwine so tightly.

6. Pavement | Gold Soundz
I’m so excited for the whole Pavement revival. This song is essential. The vocals are what do it for me. The lyrics are what do it for me. Cause you’re empty, and I’m empty. So great.

7. Radiohead | Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box
I kind of disregarded Amnesiac when I was first getting into Radiohead, but this track is completely haunting. It has an ice dystopian feel to it. Pleasant.

8. Air | La Femme D’Argent
I’m really into jazz, and this song features a perfect combination of jazz and electronica. The electronic piano solo is mellow and bass is groovy.

9. New Order | Temptation
So simple, so good. The riffs repeat throughout the whole song, but it never gets old. Definitely some of the best New Order.

10. Justin Bieber | Baby
SO CATCHY. The first time I heard it, I thought a pubescent girl was singing. Plus, its hysterical when Ludacris raps.

SIDE D | by Brant Stuns

1. The Cure | In Between Days
Again, one of the first bands my parents started exposing me to as a kid. I remember my dad used to play this song when our family would go on road trips. I have been a huge fan of The Cure ever since then. This song reminds me of growing up...The good, the bad, and every aspect of it. Beautiful song.

2. Lightspeed Champion | Midnight Surprise
The most beautiful song ever written. Every single part of this song is amazing. I can listen to it (all ten minutes of it) on repeat and never get bored.

3. M83 | Kim & Jessie
This song reminds me of watching the sunset on a nice autumn day. Probably because I have listened to it most in this scenario.

4. The Teenagers | Homecoming
This song is genius. Enough said.

5. The Drums | I Felt Stupid
Amazing song. I absolutely love everything about it...Um...well... you know, it's an all together new thing...

6. Arctic Monkeys | A Certain Romance
Picking a single Arctic Monkeys song for this was tough. Pretty much every Arctic Monkeys song could have been in this slot. This one has always reminded me of being a kid which is why I love it.

7. The Smashing Pumpkins | Pennies
One of my favorite summer songs. I love listening to it on a hot summer day while watching the sunset with my best friends.

8. Vampire Weekend | Campus
I never got into Vampire Weekend until Andrew showed me this song. Not only did it get me into Vampire Weekend but it also became my favorite song. Reminds me of being a teen in school.

9. Wavves | Mickey Mouse
Not much to say about this one. It's pretty repetitive yet very interesting at the same time. I love driving around with all the windows down at 2 am listening to this song way too loud.

10. Will Smith | Gettin' Jiggy Wit It
Big Willie Style was one of the first CD's my parents let me listen to when I was really, really young. Strange, I know. I have been a Will Smith fan ever since.

Facts & Figures | with Nicolas Makelberge of Nicolas Makelberge

Warmer Climes: Where's the Invasion? What builds it? Who transforms it in a love virus?

Nicolas Makelberge: It's about the disorientation of a pawn who just got his land taken from him, and who is forced to change story to live by, one dictated by the fascism machine efficiency and of crying highways at night, battered by spinning rubber hoses and whipped into submission. Of a wining machine or machine-person trying to tell us through his art how he experiences life. And we feel nothing. Not a damn thing. All while we are getting ready to reclaim what's f"#$ ours.

Facts & Figures | with Eric Berglund [ceo] of The Tough Alliance

Warmer Climes: What should I do?

Eric Berglund: You have to try to live, not just feel sorry for yourself. Go out in nature and breathe properly. Or exercise. Then listen to music, but forget yourself (or your life situation at least) and why you do it.

WARMER MIXTAPES #148 | by Pierre Louis Hall (Lead Balloons)/[Golden Glow]

1. Felt | Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow
For me this is the perfect pop tune. Felt are due a reunion. Lawrence is the greatest pop star that never was. There are many different versions of this song - you need the one with the girl backing singers on it, from the best of, Stains On A Decade. Everything about it fits, from the bassline to the way he accentuates every word, and the shimmering guitar riff. This is where I got the name for my solo project, Golden Glow from. It’s a tribute.

2. Janet Kay | Silly Games
When I was growing up, this is the kind of stuff I would always hear being played by my mum. This is a lovers-rock classic and so so beautiful, and lilting. I love the drums, and the lyrics are so tender and wistful. There’s something about songs you hear from that age - they seep into your consciousness forever, and make up part of your composition. My mum has passed away now, but every time I hear this, I hear her too.

3. Prefab Sprout | Bonny
I’ve only really discovered this recently. Prefab Sprout seems to be an act that provoke an extreme reaction. People seem to either love or hate them. I’ve only really heard Steve McQueen but I think it's genius. It’s all about the build up in this tune, I love it. It has great pace and is epic while still being understated. It reminds me of driving at night, down empty motorways, the flickers of lights as you pass. It also just reminds me of the 80s. The good parts at least.

4. The Drums | Submarine
I love this band. Jacob from the band puts out my stuff on his own digital imprint, Holiday Records. They’re such nice guys. This is the kind of tune you dream of writing, an instant pop classic. So likeable. It takes the best parts of The Cure, The Shangri-Las and Sarah Records and puts their own stamp on it. It's just cool as fuck, as soon as it starts. His voice, the drum machine, and then the guitar line kicking in. I love the fact a band like this can just come along with no real intention of doing anything apart from making great music and get everyone dead excited and as a result turn all these kids onto bands they never heard before, The Wake, Orange Juice, The Field Mice. It’s great.

5. Egyptian Hip Hop | Rad Pitt
Love the title. Love his voice...Love the production. Love the lyrics. Love the melody. Love the spacing. LOVE LOVE LOVE this tune. I know everyone is talking about this band at the moment, and it's fashionable to say they’re cool, but for me this is everything about what is great about being in band. Young kids, with talent, recording on shit equipment, producing genuinely staggering songs. It’ll be interesting to see what happens now the hype machines kicked in, but it really doesn’t matter, as there will always be this, and I genuinely love it more each time I hear it. Great that they’re local too, it's exactly what Manchester needs to be doing in order to distance itself from the MADchester legacy to show its still evolving, still moving and still producing genuinely exciting music.

6. Kindness | Swinging Party
It’s a cover of a Replacements tune. I just love it. It’s so simple and minimal but really effective. You’re waiting for the big kick-in, but it never comes, it just, remains. It reminds me of a kinda modern last-dance-at-the-prom-in-Back-To-The-Future kind of tune. It could definitely soundtrack the credits to a film. There’s something quite mysterious and child-like about Kindness. The choice of tunes, and the way they’re covered, its like flicking through an old photo album.

7. Real Estate | Beach Comber
This is a great tune from a great band. I love a lot of bands from America at the moment like these, and Desolation Wilderness that are doing this kinda lo-fi thing that sounds like they’re playing underwater. It’s the sound of the beach, or driving along the coast in an open-top car with the wind blowing through your hair. There are echoes of Pavement too; the drums are great and the two guitars work so well together, all the little riffs overlapping each other at the right time, clean and jangly but also rocky too, as I discovered when I saw them live, they were almost quite Lemonheads-y in parts. They played a lot of instrumentals too, which was great, just building up the layers. They should be huge.

8. The Shangri-Las | Sophisticated Boom Boom
I love the quintessential teenage melodramas they sung about. It’s so easy to follow and the groove is infectious. It has the feel of a classic, and the production is great, it just works. It’s funny how they influenced such a huge body of people, from the New York 70’s-ish punk acts like Blondie and the New York Dolls to Sonic Youth, Vivian Girls and The Horrors, and everything in between. That says a lot about the strength of the songs. Listening to this reminds me of going down into a smoky jazz club late at night, maybe 2/3am – thinking the party is over, and then opening the door to see a crowd of people of all races all getting down to this, grinding until the early hours, absorbed in the music. Kinda like something outta Hairspray meets Bugsy Malone.

9. Blur | Sweet Song
One of my favourite bands. It could have been this, or No Distance Left To Run or Out Of Time. It’s just so emotional, so heartfelt and genuine. It just pulls you inside out. When Albarn feels like this he can’t help but getting through to you, and the melody and the lyrics are just so naked and natural, you know he’s not making any of it up. It’s the sound of feeling alone. And we’ve all been there...

10. Electrelane | Film Music
Again, a band I am only just recently discovering, but am already head over heels for. This builds up in just the best way and is just so cool. It reminds me of Paris, film-noir, and that point on a night out after you’ve come home from the club and everything is starting to go crazy at home or at a party or something. That's the best part of a night as far as I’m concerned. It's druggy, and psychedelic in a modern way. You can hear all the best bands in it, The Doors, The Velvet Underground as well as being quite kraut-y. Not bad for a bunch of girls from Brighton.

WARMER MIXTAPES #147 | by Johannes Arnesson [Owl Vision]

5 tracks that are right now and 5 tracks that are forever classics to me.
Photo by Malin Timfjord.

1. The xx | Infinity
I love their whole album (xx). It's like one big dreamy track out of a David Lynch flick.

2. White Lies | E.S.T.
This one is actually on my forever classics list but since I'm listening to it right now I'll make room for another one on the forever classics. This is my first choice of the tracks on the epic album To Lose My Life. White Lies is like a perfect mixture of the bands I like the most. E.S.T. is like a soundtrack to my favorite movie!

3. Hot Chip | One Life Stand
Makes me think of Depeche Mode's earlier stuff, especially the Speak And Spell album. Great track with a nice melancholic feeling to it!

4. Pnau | With You Forever
Well this is basically an Empire Of The Sun track. I could have chosen a random track from Walking On A Dream but this is actually my favorite one with singer Luke Steele. I love the playfulness in their music. They have created something totally unique!

5. Erol Alkan and Boys Noize | Death Suite
This track is just mental! It's simple yet hardcore. Melodic yet monotone. The feeling in their synthesizers really comes through. Hopefully Erol Alkan will play this track when I see him on one of the festivals that I'm playing this summer!

6. Tears For Fears | Head Over Heels
I didn't really fall in love with this song until I heard it in the movie Donnie Darko. What a fucking amazing track! I fell for it right away and I can listen to it for infinity without getting tired of it. I'm a big sucker for the 80's and this is one of the absolute peaks in my opinion.

7. Depeche Mode | Shake The Disease
This is truly the definition of forever classic for me. I'm a huge fan of Depeche Mode, especially their earlier stuff. The feeling I get when I hear this song is one of a kind.

8. She Wants Revenge | Out Of Control
Dark, mysterious and melodic. It was hard to choose one She Wants Revenge track but this one has to be it. Beautiful!

9. The Presets | If I Know You
I love all of The Presets tracks so I choose the track that fits this playlist the best. The video for this track was also very convincing for the choice.

10. The Galvatrons | Robots Are Cool
I'm not really sure this is a forever classic it's probably more right now... But because it's a track that I've been listening to from on and off since I discovered The Galvatrons about 3 or 4 years ago it kind of hits the forever classics list. 3 years is a long time. This track and many other of their tracks makes me very nostalgic. They make me think of all the stuff I used to do when I was a teenager.

WARMER MIXTAPES #146 | by Mat Cothran (Persona La Ave, The September 11ths) of Coma Cinema

Photo by Erica Schrag.

1. The Replacements | Left Of The Dial
The 'Mats have long been my favorite band, and this song is probably the best representation of their drunken, stumbling perfection.

2. Mercury Rev | Chasing A Bee
This was the song that got me into Mercury Rev, and it's still my favorite thing they've done.The bizarre, hypnotic lyrics from David Baker just make the gigantic chorus a bigger payoff. My attention span is terrible, so any song this long I can get into must be some kind of masterpiece, right?

3. Guided By Voices | Game Of Pricks
With so many great albums and such a massive number of great songs, it's hard to narrow it down to one Guided By Voices track, but this is the one I find myself going back to the most. It's direct and to the point, and with awesome lyrics: I'll climb up on the house...Weep to water the trees...

4. Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel | Tumbling Down
I actually came to know this band, and specifically this song, through the movie Velvet Goldmine. It's epic without being overbearing or pompous, and its sentimental weirdness really strikes me in the nicest way possible.

5. Toro Y Moi | Talamak
This is a really beautiful song from Toro Y Moi's Causers Of This album. At first listen, it's just this really mellow groove that you want to nod your head to, but when you go deeper it's this very sincere, sad song that kind of breaks your heart, but in a wonderful way.

6. Skeletons | Stepper A.K.A Work
I love every album by this band. They're completely underrated and neglected by all the taste makers but they never fail to amaze, especially with this song from their most recent album Money. With so many subtleties, the whole thing is like a a dance hall that's rigged to explode any minute. It's possibly the tensest song I can think of.

7. Syd Barrett | Wolfpack
This was the first song I heard from Syd Barett outside of his stuff with Pink Floyd. Syd was one of my first real musical obsessions; his music was such a strange mystery, especially lyrically, and his spaced-out guitar sounds got me interested in learning the instrument. This song, in a lot of ways, got me started writing music.

8. Backseat Dreamer | For Starry Eyes
This one is a complete masterpiece of song construction and, in all honestly, is one of the warmest, most alive electronic songs I can think of. The melody is beautiful and the strings are gigantic and overwhelming, but the best part is the strange darkness within the song. It's kind of unexplainable, but when you hear it you feel it all over.

9. Big Country | Broken Heart (13 Valleys)
All cheesy 80s production aside, this song manages to be both incredibly catchy and devastatingly poignant. Every melody is better than the one that precedes it, and they're all very good.

10. Animal Collective | Banshee Beat
An incredible song, made simply wonderful by the way Avey Tare sings the word pool. It's at that moment that the song transforms from a pretty, sort of defeated sounding song into a massive celebration. Animal Collective has so much good shit, but this is by far my favorite.

WARMER MIXTAPES #145 | by Anthony Comte [The Phantom's Revenge]

Here is my top 10! Wasn't easy to choose (but I guess everyone must say that) so I picked The Most Played tracks in my iPod.

1. Radiohead | Reckoner
Before I started to make music, I used to listen to house music and funk only, then I opened my ears to everything I could, this song is my favourite. Reminds me of a lot of things because that song follows me everywhere I go through my iPod, but above all it reminds of the great trips I've been to thanks to music. I think I have listened to that track at least one time every day since I know it. The entire In Rainbows album is really cool tho.

2. Double Exposure | My Love Is Free
7,39 minutes of happiness. The singer's voice is amazing, the instrumental is perfect. This track is more effective than a thousand boxes of antidepressants, and every doctor should consider that track as a medication to help people getting better. If I had a time machine, first I would use it to go back to 1976 and see that track played live by the band (and then I'll try to take care of world wars and stuffs like that, yeah it's selfish). Every track made by this band is a classic, just look for Everyman, Ten Percent and Baby I Need Your Loving, you can't go wrong, even if you're not so much into disco music.

3. David Bowie | A Lad In Vain
2 years ago, I was introduced to the great David Bowie thanks to a Soulwax edit of Rebel Rebel I've found on a blog, of course I knew the man and some of his songs but I had never tried to dig deeper. Then I almost listened to his entire discography and randomly found this unreleased track. I don't really know the history behind track, I assume it was recorded in the same time than Aladdin Sane. I really love this track, the piano part is fantastic.

4. Daft Punk | High Fidelity
It's impossible for me to not put a Daft Punk track in this tracklist. This one is my favourite. When the album was released, I was 14 years old and I didn't care so much about music but maybe 1 or 2 years later I bought the album on vynil, this is the kind of thing you remember because this album had such a big impact on house music. Daft Punk introduced me to house music and I really mean it, not just because it was a fantastic album but because Teachers actually introduced me to...The teachers...Paul Johnson, DJ Funk, DJ Sneak, Kenny Dope, Louis Vega, Roy Davis, Armand Van Helden...The way they use the Billy Joel sample in High Fidelity is ridiculously great.

5. Queen | Don't Stop Me Now
Can't think of a better song to feel good. I'm one of the people who thinks Freddie Mercury was the greatest singer of all time. I can't say if Queen is my favourite band but this is one of the rare band that I almost like all the songs.

6. Mr. Oizo | Patrick122
This track is important to me because it's the track that pushed me into the game (I mean making music). The way he used the sample inspired me a lot. This man is a crazy freakin genius. The details in each track he made are impressive, I recommend to everyone to find a good and quite place and listen carefully to his album with good headphones.

7. The Rolling Stones | Paint It Black
From the soundtrack of my favourite movie, Full Metal Jacket. The first time I saw this movie I was like Wow!...And this Rolling Stones track on the end credits killed me.

8. Lil Wayne | Let The Beat Build
It needed just 5 seconds for me to love that track. The Eddie Kendricks sample Lil Wayne used is perfect, a great example of good sampling. The only Lil Wayne tracks I really like are the one produced by Kanye West (as I'm a big Kanye West fan) like Comfortable, Shoot Me Down and Tie My Hands.

9. Talking Heads | A Clean Break (Let's Work)
This is for me the best band name ever! Each track is special. I just know them since maybe 2 years but I think listened to everything they have ever made (seeing them in live is #2 in my time machine wish list). Pull Up The Roots it's also a fantastic track that I will play on my dj set one of these days.

10. The Doobie Brothers | What A Fool Believes
I think I have listened to this track for the first time in a movie I can't remember the name (not sure if it was a movie but I'm sure that was an American thing), I've never stop loving it since. In 20 years (if the end of the world doesn't happen) I will still love this track and I will still try to sing like Michael Mc Donald (you would be impressed). In the same style I could speak about Hall & Oates and Private Eyes. This is the kind of old cheesy pop song that I love.

WARMER MIXTAPES #144 | by Gustav Petersson of Gentle Touch

1. The Smiths | I Know It's Over
Simply the best song ever written.

2. This Mortal Coil | Song To The Siren
Liz Fraser's voice is one of the best ever.

3. Julee Cruise | The World Spins
When she comes to the chorus I always cry a small tear.

4. Reeperbahn | Små Druvor
The best song written in Swedish.

5. Sinead O'Connor | Nothing Compares 2 U
So powerful.

6. Red House Painters | Strawberry Hill
I love the choir in this song.

7. Brian Eno | An Ending (Acent)
I don't have to say anything about this one.

8. Clan Of Xymox | Louise
They look really funny, but they make great music.

9. Depeche Mode | Everything Counts
It's hard to choose between their songs, but I think this one is the best.

10. Savage | Don't Cry Tonight
The best song from the Italodisco era.

+11. Q Lazzarus | Goodbye Horses
It's a great, great song. One of my personal favorites.

WARMER MIXTAPES #143 | by Mikael Carlsson [The Honeydrips] of Dorotea

1. The Cure | Charlotte Sometimes
These days I find myself listening a lot to The Cure circa 1981. Charlotte Sometimes is an astonishingly eerie and sad masterpiece based on Penelope Farmer's novel with the same name.

2. The Specials | Ghost Town
Speaking of eerie...

3. Cocteau Twins | Sugar Hiccup
Elizabeth Fraser's voice is the gothic little sister of Dusty Springfield's voice.

4. Most Valuable Players | Some Nerve
Just beautiful. Their best song yet and Hugo's vocals has such nerve!

5. Eyeless In Gaza | New Risen
Most Valuable Players made me remember this old classic. I bought their album some seven-eight years ago, and listened to this song over and over.

6. Alicia Keys | Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart
She's still got it.

7. The Clash | Armagideon Time
They sure knew how to take an old song and turn it into their own. The production is top notch.

8. Paul McCartney | Monkberry Moon Delight
It's fascinating how throughout his carreer, he combines absolute brilliance with absolute nonsense. Sometimes, an odd gem like this one just happens to come about. In my ears, this song sounds like a mixture of Leadbelly, music hall and, well, Iron Maiden. Just listen to the guitar lick! And mind you, this was years before Iron Maiden even existed.

9. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman | They Say It's Wonderful
Johnny Hartman's voice reminds me of when Jiminy Cricket sings When You Wish Upon A Star on Christmas Eve (on Swedish television). I suppose it has something to do with childhood lost.

10. Nancy Adams | Love
...And speaking of childhood lost...Once we watched the lazy world go by...Now the days seem to fly... A thousand different feelings overwhelm me when I hear this song. One of my all time favourites.

WARMER MIXTAPES #142 | by Jay-Jay Johanson

Can't cut it down to 10. Impossible. The smallest amount I can deliver is 16. And I really would need at least 20. Chopin, Judee Sill, Miles Davis etc. deserve to be in this list. But I'll put them next time.

1. Mahavishnu Orchestra | You Know, You Know
Discovered it pretty late, maybe ten years ago now, struck me then, strikes me still, every time I hear it. Every improvisation is totally interesting. Great structure, perfect drumming. Lovely tune. No lyrics or vocals needed.

2. Serge Gainsbourg | Melody
Heard this song, this magnificent album, back in 1992 first time. It definitely became an inspiration for my early works, and it woke up my interest for French music and culture. This orchestral arrangement is just amazing. The words so thrilling. Wish it was ten minutes longer, and it kind of is, cause it continues on the album!

3. King Crimson | I Talk To The Wind
Heard this song for the first time approximately during the same period as I heard Serge. Here again, total beauty, extraordinary sweetness, and again these adorable improvisations. Pure inspiration.

4. Nico | Chelsea Girls
This is better than anything Velvet recorded. Alternative folk. New York essence. Beauty. Attitude. This track has everything.

5. David Crosby | Laughing
I have adored Neil Young since I saw him live in 1991, and it's via Neil I discovered Crosby and his great songwriting. The end when Joni MItchell arrives on backing vocals is just totally uplifting. Every time.

6. Joni Mitchell | Coyote
This is from her best album, Hejira, and album that reminds me of the great third album Secrets Of The Beehive by David Sylvian. The wizard Jaco on bass here, no real drum beat needed.

7. John Cale | Paris 1919
John and I have met a couple of times, he's a genious. This is his best recording, better than anything Velvet ever made.

8. Lou Reed | Street Hassle
Wow, this song is often my absolute favourite if I had to pick only one. It's almost eleven minutes long, but it could have gone on forever without beeing boring. This couldn't have been made by anybody else, truly unique.

9. Portishead | The Rip
The best song by P, from their best album 3.

10. Penguin Cafe Orchestra | Perpetuum Mobile
This song has followed me since childhood. Monotone minimalism. Perfection. Playful and haunting. A great band, great performers.

+11. Chet Baker | The Thrill Is Gone
My favourite artist, my favourite voice, my biggest inspiration, by far. I saw him live in 1984 and that changed my life, totally. I have all the vocal studio recordings of Chet. It took me 15 years to collect them all. Love him madly.

+12. Nick Drake | Things Behind The Sun
His best song from his best album Pink Moon. Another great story with a sad end. He didn't make a bad recording. Short life with perfect output.

+13. Linda Perhacs | Hey, Who Really Cares?
Don't know much about her, but this is from her only album Parallellograms, marvellous songs, fantastic voice, psychedelic and charming.

+14. Beth Gibbons | Mysteries
Beth did a absolutely superb job on her solo album. It was exactly what I needed when it was released. I was in Japan at the time, and these songs brought me back home again. And I'm a homesick guy of nature.

+15. David Sylvian | Weathered Wall
David was my hero in my early teenage years. Brilliant Trees was my favourite album when I lived with my parents, and it was the most important album I took with me when I moved away from home at the age of 16.

+16. Riuichi Sakamoto | Solitude
Sakamoto made his best album recently, to the film Tony Takitani. Fantastic film, and an even better soundtrack. Minimalism. 100% beauty.

WARMER MIXTAPES #141 | by Myles Cooper

1. Juiceboxxx | 100 MPH
I love this song so much, I invited Milwaukee's Juiceboxxx by Greyhound bus to San Francisco so we could play a show together. 100 MPH won me over at first listen with its nervous Chicago house, non-informative party-rocker emceeing and left-field electric guitar solo. As for the show we played together, Juiceboxxx was incredible: he got gay boys dancing and the straight boys moshing. We stayed up all night, got pinkeye, saw Big Freedia at a house party in Oakland and watched the Dennis Rodman Show on VHS tape until The Sun came up...Literally.

2. Sounds Of Blackness | Optimistic
I sing this song to myself when I am taking the subway and walking down the street. I spin it in the gay club every few weeks and people always go crazy for it.

3. SSION | Clown
A mutual friend of Kansas City's SSION strongly recommended that I travel to Los Angeles for the premier of SSION's Boy at the Perez Projects gallery. The film is the classic story of teenagers selling their soul to the Devil in order for their band to hit it big. You may think this is a silly plot, but it really happens. A teen metal band murdered a classmate during a Satanic ritual in a nearby town when I was just a child. When I was 18, I worked alongside the murdered girl's best friend in a retirement home serving liver and onions on white tablecloths. In the music scene, I was in a goth band Princess Dead with people who had collaborated with and fed food to the murders awaiting trial in county jail. I didn't realize it until the climax of Boy where SSION triumphantly performs Clown, but in the parallel universe, the teenagers who sold their souls to the Devil really DID make it! That's why I like Clown so much. It makes me cry optimism. It makes me feel reborn. It makes me feel like life isn't such a drag.

4. Alexis | Lonely Sea
Recently my two closest gay friends, Hunx (from Hunx And His Punks) and Alexis, broke up. I met both of them while they were in the relationship, and while I knew them as very strong individuals, it was hard to imagine them apart. I was scared for Alexis, who is both my background singer and co-party promoter, fearing that he would fall into an artistic slump of depression unable to assert himself. So when I heard Alexis' Lonely Sea, which is both autobiographical and
daringly different from Hunx's material, with its lazy bongos and beach saxophones, I was really convinced that my headstrong friends were gonna be okay. This Nick from Teengirl Fantasy produced track is spot on with its clearwater dance music cliché and vocal leads from a drag queen swallowing her own words.

5. Kenny Voughan & The Art Of Love | Feels Like Heaven
This song has no gravity. I makes you feel like you are floating. I have been trying to figure out all the vocal parts. It is really fun.

6. Стекловата | Просто осень
I recently discovered Russian boy bands. Стекловата is definitely my favorite. I like everything they've done. I listen to this song Просто осень a lot because I relate with the video, which you can find on YouTube. Just like the video, I feel like a boy lost on the forest, jumping over a dangerous fire, waiting for a daddy with a guitar to save me. I also relate to their studio. I don't have a lot of money, so their outdated equipment resembles what I use to create my music today. A strong sense of commonality with these Russian boys is what keeps this song especially relevant in my life.

7. KKN | Sailor Boy
KKN...AKA Holy Shit...I met Matt Fishbeck at a really beautiful time when Ariel Pink from Haunted Graffiti and Christopher Owens from Girls were both playing in his band Holy Shit. Matt was, and still is, a very strong character with a warrior-at-battle intensity. Sailor Boy matches his cool and aloof personality quite well - frantically unfinished - traveling from here to there - with its dark ambiguously gay theme - you're never really sure if Sailor Boy wants to service you or kill you. But whatever Sailor Boy wants, it is only fleeting, he'll be onto the next port before you discover his name, or who he really is.

8. Man Like Me | Carny
I found this song on the Internet one night, and I really loved its immediacy. I have no idea who these guys are, but I listen to this song so much that I googled all the band members and tried to add them on Facebook. Only the keyboard/CDJ guy accepted the friend request which bums me out. I want to meet these guys someday. Unfortunately, I don't think they are popular enough for a US tour.

9. Anthony Flanagan | It's Alright (Dennis Ferrer's Bounce And I'm Out Mix)
This is my favorite song right now. It is healing like medicine. I listen to it while I try on outfits, I listen to it before I got to sleep, I listen to it when I wake up in the morning totally regretting what I've done the previous night. It inspires me to be myself. It makes me excited to live.

10. Big Freedia | Azz Everywhere
This track gives me chills. I love the concept of ass being everywhere. The energy of this track is unmatched. Freedia has the most amazing dancers that shake their ass to this track. I invited one, Altercation, to perform at my club. She wanted to play the piano. I really had no idea what that would entail. She painted her face black with a white crescent moon over her cheek and played songs about the NOL Saints and her father. The senior gay bartender Barry called it narcoleptic lesbian music.