Warmer Climes: April 2010

Facts & Figures | with Fredrick Carlsson

Warmer Climes: What scares you the most?

Fredrick Carlsson: The idea of us atheists being correct. Blank cold blackness of nothing really truly scares me. I'd rather reincarnate forever and ever and ever, or live in some happy ethereal utopia. SOMETHING, goddamnit, I need something for my earthly troubles. Some kind of comfort.

Warmer Climes: How come only honey survives the future?

Fredrick Carlsson: It's apparently the only kind of food that doesn't go bad. You can keep honey for millions of years, I guess. If only everything were like honey...

Warmer Climes: Which are the beautifulest girl/boy names?

Fredrick Carlsson: Ico and Jorda. Both unisex names.

Warmer Climes: What makes you happy?

Fredrick Carlsson: Waking up and realizing that all the scary shit I've dreamt just wasn't real. That a new wonderful, beautiful, day awaits.

Warmer Climes: Define your Warmer Climes.

Fredrick Carlsson: Sitting in The Sun on my balcony, shirtless, drinking a cold Becks and listening to Studio.

Warmer Climes: When in life have you felt most alone?

Fredrick Carlsson: I don't know really, perhaps when I got dumped the first time. I don't know. I don't really feel alone that much.

Warmer Climes: What does your honey future hold?

Fredrick Carlsson: Better music, better weather, more friends, more travelling!

Warmer Climes: How would you describe yourself?

Fredrick Carlsson: Outward reaching introvert with a taste for the music I can't recreate.

Warmer Climes: What is your earliest memory?

Fredrick Carlsson: Falling of my bike as a kid. Scarring my left cheek. Blood everywhere!

Warmer Climes: Who has been the biggest influence on your life?

Fredrick Carlsson: My granddad. Father's father. An awesome and renowned jazz musician with a wonderful view on life and a great neverending humor. He celebrates his 80th birthday today.

WARMER MIXTAPES #166 | by Matthew Paul of Ghost Wave

1. Dettinger | Track 3 (Oasis)
This is my favorite tune from the Oasis album. I first heard the tune a few years ago but only just got hold of it again recently. We spend a lot of time getting into this side of the spectrum especially Eammon (drums) and I'd say it informs our own sensibilities in some ways too.

2. Boredoms | 〜
Boredoms are another band we are really psyched on (like a lot of people). I like their fast splashy tunes the best but I couldn't say for the other dudes. The quick reversed cymbals and weird panning rips.

3. Ken Boothe | I Wish It Could Be Peaceful Again
I first heard this song when I was driving to the beach with some friends. It's got a sweet kind of 70s vibe and real sunny. The guitars rip and the voices are awesome too. I just remembered this one and thought it'd be good for the list.

4. The Frantics | No Werewolf
I don't really know much about The Frantics and I can't remember where I learned about this song but it's definitely one of my favourite tunes. It's got kind of a Joe Meek vibe and this version was the basis for the ventures jam The Fourth Dimension. The guitars on the ventures version are a bit different but I think I like The Frantics version more for now at least.

5. The Chills | House With 100 Rooms
One of my friends got me into this tune and it's been a favourite ever since. I got Kaleidoscope World on cd when I was in high school and couldn't really jam with it immediately but over the years this band has become one of my favorites for sure. I watched some YouTubes of The Chills playing in Auckland in the late 80s I think and that was pretty sweet. Everything about this song rules, there's not much more I can say except if you haven't heard it check it out.

6. Love | Alone Again Or
Acoustic guitar is awesome and I hope we use a lot on our record although to date we haven't picked one up. I read a 33/3 about Forever Changes and I think that experience reminded how analysis kind of puts a strain on whatever it is you're looking at/reading/listening to. It feels nicer to me to let it flow. Anyways this song was written by Bryan Maclean and I really like his guitar style. I've only really listened to this album heavily and heard their other albums are kind of average so maybe I'll listen to them in like a few years or something.

7. Count Ossie And The Mystic Revelation | Back To Africa
This is a really sweet and simple song. It's cool because it feels like the drums are kind of at the front and play the lead. The tune is awesome and I really dig Ossie's voice. I'm listening to the jam on some big speakers in the garage, there's cool pans all over the place.

8. The Grateful Dead | Friend Of The Devil
I totally wish I could record songs as sweet as this one. Another reason why acoustic guitar rules. All the parts kind of create the feeling of a wave. I like how the song is kind of about this guys situation but he carries it well. He's obviously kind of seasoned and aware of different energies like the devil and I feel like I get in some ways what he's talking about. Cool!

9. Lee "Scratch" Perry | Crab Years
I'm not sure what Scratch album this tune comes from but I'm pretty sure it's a bonus disc from some compilation. Anyway it's the dopest track and it reminds me of this real cold place where I used to live. I remember a lot of times filling the room up with friends drinking and smoking listening to these jams in the haze. I'm living in a nicer place now but I like to remember those old times still with this one.

10. Spacemen 3 | Walking With Jesus (Forged Prescriptions)
This song is real good and there's not too much to say about it except this version makes me feel pretty cool and relaxed. There are three different versions of this song on my iTunes but I like this one the best. It's nice and soft feeling with the delays and the guitar. I'm listening to the bass line and it's giving me some direction for a new song on the record we're working on now. I'm gonna go jam on that, PEACE!

WARMER MIXTAPES #165 | by James Theron Chapman and Michael Colin Chau of Liquid Days

SIDE A | by Michael Colin Chau

1. My Bloody Valentine | Sometimes
I purchased Loveless back in high school without really knowing much about their music at all. I think I was just drawn to the cover. I love that cover. Upon first listen, it felt like music I had heard before. It had a very nostalgic quality to it as if it was music I've had floating in my head all along. The album solidified for me the idea that mood and atmosphere can be just as important as a catchy melody.

2. Talk Talk | New Grass
The sloping, languish guitar riff is totally melancholy yet it's so beautiful that I can't help but feel uplifted when I hear this song. Mark Hollis's delivery is so brutally honest and unaffected, it's as if he recorded himself in a stream-of-conscious right after a break up. It totally floors me every time.

3. Talking Heads | Naive Melody (This Must Be The Place)
James was actually the one who turned me on to Talking Heads for the first time several years ago. It's probably my favorite love song of all time. David Byrne is brilliant because he uses metaphors about mundane things to communicate grandiose ideas. The song is unbelievably yearning under the guise of a stoic man who just wants a few simple pleasures.

4. Oneohtrix Point Never | Ships Without Meaning
Daniel Lopatin is like the Jimi Hendrix of modern day synth music. He has completely honed his craft so meticulously, and his methodology seems very deeply rooted and conceived. This song is a fine example of what the man can do. Straight from the aether, it floats yet at the same time has this pulsating rhythm just below the surface. Amazing.

5. The Field | Everday
I love the Kompakt sound and this is a great example. Pure, dreamy minimal techno. Halfway through there's this break where you hear a woman's voice from a distance that bursts through the song for a brief moment. I'm not quite sure why, but I love the break to death.

6. John Coltrane | Psalm
I listen to this piece of music whenever I feel like I need a good cleansing. Total jazz meditation. This is Coltrane using his saxophone as a conduit to God, everyone, or even himself. Somehow the sound of his horn seems a more pure form of communication than a human voice ever can be. Sound waves, carefully played notes, all meticulous yet completely unfettered spill out of his instrument.

7. Brian Eno | Discreet Music
What can I say about Brian Eno? The guy pretty much legitimized ambient music. Eno's work is as much about the process as the result. This track was just him fucking with tape loops, allowing for a huge element of chance and unpredictability. His entire methodology and theories on art have been a huge subconscious influence to me in a lot of ways.

8. Manuel Göttsching | E2-E4
For me electronic dance music has always been about more than just getting people to shake their ass. I had already started making music before I heard Manuel Göttsching, but for some reason after hearing E2-E4 it sort of validated the medium for me as an intelligent form of expression. I get really into the droning, almost meditative repetition in dance music.

9. Can | Mushroom
The drums are fucking killer on this track. When I was younger, I used to write a lot of standard rock songs. Bands like Can sort of helped steer me away from the verse-chorus-bridge way of thinking. It opened some doors in my mind.

10. Rhys Chatham | A Crimson Grail
Ever since I was five years old, I had always wondered to myself what 400 guitarists playing in unison inside a cathedral would sound like. No, but seriously...

SIDE B | by James Theron Chapman

A Very Short Collection of Haiku (and the songs that inspired them in alphabetical order):

1. The Velvet Underground | All Tomorrow's Parties
Widescreen piano.
Blameless ghost casts the first stone.
The party's over.

2. David Bowie | Ashes To Ashes
Everything so wrong.
Bizarre sonic bedfellows.
Everything so right.

3. Joy Division | Atmosphere
I just wants to touch
Hannett shimmers in the clouds.
Drums splash like raindrops.

4. R.E.M. | Half A World Away
Wildlife woozy, dazed.
Who'd predict this hurricane?
Pick up the pieces.

5. Talking Heads | Heaven
Nervous man on a
Circular conveyor belt.
Each pass calms him more.

6. Prince | I Would Die 4 U
Messiah in tights.
This lush, clattering jetstream.
Has no analog.

7. Brian Eno | Mother Whale Eyeless
Born in the basement.
Blasts off to the cloud-ocean.
Are those singers ABBA?

8. Radiohead | Motion Picture Soundtrack
Sleepwalk travelogue.
Lovers part to love again.
This harp is heaven.

9. The Righteous Brothers | Unchained Melody
Elegant trappings
Can't mask elemental need.
Chains couldn't hold this.

10. Björk | Unravel
Damn, this is Gospel.
It's the Holy fucking Truth.
All love is fleeting.

WARMER MIXTAPES #164 | by Tyler Tadlock [Spirituals]

1. Four Tet | Sing (Floating Points Remix)
I first heard the Four Tet version of Sing in a playlist he put together for BBC radio. The mix he did had a lot of great music on it, as to be expected, but Sing stood out to me more than anything on the whole mix. An incredibly inspiring sound on his new record, and if I was wasn't a stubborn fan of Rounds, I would say this one is by far his best work. And better yet, there have been some bang-up remix jobs of his recent singles, including the Joy Orbison take on Love Cry, which hasn't left my iTunes playlist for a while. More recently this Floating Points remix has been taking the spotlight in my playlist. So much great stuff going on in the UK right now, kinda makes me want to move there.

2. Caribou | Jamelia
Equally as exciting has been Caribou's new release. I'd been really missing the old Manitoba stuff which was a bit more sample-heavy and dance oriented. What I admire about Dan Snaith, like Kieran Hebden, is that he is not afraid to change sounds from record to record. He is constantly pushing the limits and experimenting with new sounds and genres. I really dug the direction of the psychedelic driven albums in his recent releases, but have always had a sentiment for the older, more dance oriented stuff. Needless to say, when I found out his new record, Swim, was a bit more of that flavor, I jumped all over it. It's a very comfortable union of the older dance driven stuff and the more recent records. This track is particularly one I can't keep off rotation, because it features vocals by Luke Lalonde from Born Ruffians, which seems to fit extraordinarily well. Makes me wish they would do some sort of side-project together with how well this tune turned out.

3. Tony Allen | Afro Disco Beat
Tony Allen is a legend to say the least. He is almost single-handedly responsible for Afrobeat. What struck about this track was how tasteful it is. Modern music has a bad habit of pulling out all the stops to impress folks. Compositionally it is spot on. That's why he is a great drummer/band leader, not because he can play fast and complicated, but because he allows the song to build and develop without playing too much. This song develops itself by adding and taking away layers, not by taking you on some unnecessary emotional roller-coaster like a lot of music these days.

4. The Young Lovers | You Make Me Dizzy
When I first heard this one I thought to myself I wish I could make music like that. The sample work in this track is unreal. I believe they sample a Coltrane tune and what they do with it is out of this world. Very tasteful and powerful use of sampling on this track. They way the keep in tact the small things like the feathered notes on the snare. That rim click and steady upbeat hat drops out to give the sample room to work, then joins back in to just nail in the groove. I wish The Young Lovers had more records. This stuff simply kills.

5. Meredith Monk | View 1
I am always blown away at just how much music there is out there that I don't know about yet. I found out about Meredith Monk while researching minimalist music and 20th century composers. Meredith Monk makes some gorgeous music. This track is breath-taking. I've been listening to it a few times a day for little while now. It's refreshing to hear stuff that allows room for your ears to digest simplicity as something beautiful. I think that's what I like about minimalist music. It's a nice breath of fresh air from all the intensity and business of most popular music.

6. The Claudia Quintet | Just Like Him
I saw John Hollenbeck at the Whitney in New York and it was one of the most influential nights of my life. His control and creativity as a drummer and composer is really inspiring to me. He is probably my favorite composer alive today. It was hard to pick any one of his pieces, so I put this one from the I, Claudia record, which I have on heavy rotation right now. The beat that introduces the song is such a solid way to begin the song and the record. His playing is so precise it can sometimes be mistaken for electronic drums. That combined with the way he shapes the song tonally through adding and subtracting instruments as needed is what makes him a phenomenal composer and musician.

7. Steve Reid Ensemble | Lugano
If someone grew up listening to rock music, like I did, and wanted to get into jazz, I would let them hear this song. Having been raised on suburban rock like Peter Frampton and Led Zeppelin, it took a special jolt to get me really into listening to jazz. There are a lot of misconceptions about jazz, like it's soft or smooth. Sometimes it can be harsh and energetic. I remember the first time I made a connection with jazz, listening to Coltrane's Afro Blue. I almost wrecked my car I was so into it at the moment. For the first time I heard jazz as something that could have as much energy as a live Zeppelin show. Elvin Jones wailing on the drums was like listening to a John Bonham drum solo. I'm just now getting into Steve Reid and this track does the same thing for me that Afro Blue does.

8. J Dilla | So Far To Go
As soon as I found out I was doing this list the first artist that came to mind that had to be on it was Dilla. Master-producer/beat maker. One of the most creative and influential producers to ever live. Dilla was the first hip hop I really got into. He could flip just about anything and make it as soulful and as groovin as anything you've ever heard. So Far To Go is a good example. This song is beautiful.

9. Above Smoke | Elevation (feat. Sterociti)
The world of house music has been taking me over lately. I found out about the Deep Explorer label in Spain through a Resident Advisor article. This particular cut of Above Smoke's puts me in that place at the moment. This track is simple, subtle, yet warmer than slowly sinking into a hot tub filled with green tea. Can't wait to hear more from this label.

10. Pépé Bradock | Deep Burnt
House music was hard for me to get into until hearing this track. Again, another track I would give someone if they were wanting to get into this type of music. A lot of people's ears are trained by pop to expect some sort of instantaneous reward. If they don't hear something they like within 30 seconds, they turn it off. Getting into playing free improvisational music had more of an impact on my listening than anything else in my life. It showed me that there is some music out there that you have to become involved with as a listener in order to truly appreciate it. Although house music is loads more accessible than free improv music, it takes a similar attention span. If you train your ears to listen to something develop and evolve over time and reject the notion that things have to be popping out at every corner to keep you entertained, there will be so much more fascinating music you'll find yourself getting into. I made that connection with Deep Burnt last summer while walking my dog around my neighborhood. I had time to listen and it was ever so rewarding. This one is a classic.

WARMER MIXTAPES #163 | by Ian Hixx and Patricia Furpurse of Soft Metals

SIDE A | by Patricia Furpurse

1. Severed Heads | We Have Come To Bless This House
This song seems to mirror the rhythm of life. It reminds me or the constant beating of my heart and the blood it pumps through my veins and how beautiful it all is.

2. Oppenheimer Analysis | Radiance
This song was inspired by the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer also known as the Father of the Atomic Bomb who recited a line from the Bhagavad Gita...If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. and Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds. to describe how powerful his creation, the atomic bomb is. I can't imagine the feeling he must have had knowing that he helped to create the means by which humanity could completely destroy itself. There's something beautiful and sacred about it all and this song conveys this idea well, like a beautiful hymn to science and technology.

3. Moderne | Judo-O-Dojo
This is such a fun synth-pop song. How can it not charm you? It's lyrics are simple and silly; something about karate, I think. I think it's really about the West's fascination with the East played on the pentatonic scale. The melodies are so cheerful and innocent. I think of a neon geisha at a karate tournament pouring tea for their enchanted gentlemen.

4. Fad Gadget | Coitus Interruptus
Frank Tovey's voice is one of the influences for my singing voice. It's androgynous, both hard and soft and sexy like a dark cabaret. This is a bizarre song about sexual dysfunction and sado-masochism. His simultaneous assumption of both roles in the song is theatrical and arousing. I love all the noise, vocal, and synth violence.

5. The Units | High Pressure Days
This is one of the first US synth punk bands and it's fronted by a couple in love, Scott Ryser and Rachel Webber. Some electronic songs use synths to convey a feeling of alienation and lack of emotion, but The Units make music that reflects their thoughtful view of the modern world and expresses it with raw human emotion.

6. Chris & Cosey | Morning
I love the playful intertwining melodies in this song. They dance about each other like a free form ballet. Cosey's singing is always full of so much mystery and beauty. Chris Carter's sonic palette is timeless. I love to pick apart all the layers and drift on the ripples of delay.

7. Black Devil | Follow Me
This song makes me wish so badly I could be the age I am now, but in the discotheques of Paris, Italy, and Germany around 1978. This song's heavy atmosphere is cinematic. It's part Ennio Morricone soundtrack part Fellini psychedelic cinema part tribal African trance. There's something heroic and romantic about the melody. I like to imagine Ian and I are horseback, riding a beautiful black stallion crossing the deserts of Africa in search of an immortal magician in a fabled land.

8. Jamie Principle & Frankie Knuckles | Your Love
One of the most romantic electronic music songs ever composed. The delicate synth pads and shy melody convey a sensitive and vulnerable heart. Jamie Principle's voice is a perfect combination of masculine and feminine qualities. If I ever get married, this song will be played at my wedding and I will probably cry a wedding on that day to this song.

9. Manuel Göttsching | E2-E4
It's so easy and wonderful to get lost in the trance that this song can induce. It's subdued melody tugs at your hear a bit, but keeps your passions at bay enough to achieve a feeling of heart, body, mind equilibrium. This song helps me let go of outside influences and reconnect with myself.

10. Orbital | Chime
This song makes me so happy. The chimes are as joyful as the early morning birds who herald the sunrise or as wedding bells. This is definitely a song I want to find myself dancing to in the early morning as The Sun begins to show its first light.

SIDE B | by Ian Hixx

1. Chris & Cosey | Driving Blind
This song will always remind me a of a day trip I took with a few friends out to this really bizzare full scale Stonehenge replica in rural Washington state. We were driving through the Columbia river gorge and it just started POURING, like to the point where it was probably not safe to be driving, luckily we had this track to guide us through. On that same trip I had an encounter with a 10 ft sturgeon name Herman at this sturgeon hatchery on the Columbia, apparently he was 75 years old, kind freaky but just an amazing example of the variety of life that exists on Earth.

2. Robert Wyatt | Ship Building
This is one of those songs that I really love but have a hard time explaining exactly why, sure the fret-less bass and the beautiful vocal performance help, but the whole song has this sort of nostalgic quality that gets me every time.

3. John Hassell & Brian Eno | Chemistry
It is really hard to pick a single song off this amazing album so I'll just go with side A track 1. Processed trumpet, repetitive simple bass line, and percussion provided by two ghatam players, it's like this weird mix of futuristic jazz and ambient music. I've played this record many a time at the hours just as night becomes dawn, so alien and beautiful!

4. Virgo | In A Vision
Kind of a spacier Chicago house track but one of my favs, the melody that the washed-out sounding synth is playing throughout really takes it up a few notches as far as textures go; gets stuck in my head for hours but never bothers me.

5. Bronski Beat | Smalltown Boy
The delicate interplay between the guitar, synths and soaring vocals in this track are just fantastic. There is also an amazing edit of this by Alexandra Parade called Ruchill Rumpus, I think the first time I heard the edit I turned it up so loud it distorted my vision into some sort of strobe light effect, all I needed was a fog machine.

6. Throbbing Gristle | Hot On The Heels Of Love
Argh, an obvious choice I know but I've been listening to this song for almost 15 years it seems...It has this amazing ability to always be relevant to whatever phase I'm going through, truly a timeless, classic piece.

7. Ministry | The Angel
I love all of the early Wax Trax stuff, there was just something really special going on in Chicago during that time, there was like a weird melding of italo, house and industrial. This track captures it for me, driving 80s digital drum machine beat, analog pads, male and female vocals, samplers chopping shit up...Ministry at their best.

8. Wipers | Just A Dream Away
The Wipers were a staple in road trip mix tapes for me when I was in high school and early college. This song totally reminds me of taking a trip up to Seattle with my buddy John and stopping at this decommissioned nuclear power plant. It was all drizzly and eerie out when we pulled up to the huge, oddly shaped cooling tower, the mood was perfectly matched by our dark proto-pop punk soundtrack. We got some sweet pictures but unfortunately they blew up the tower a few years ago.

9. Skinny Puppy | The Choke (IBM Edit)
I am a huge fan of Skinny Puppy's stuff until around when The Process came out. There's so much noise going on in this song that it's almost unbelievable that it works as well as it does. I really like how they described their early work as audio sculpture, like molding a song out of a bunch of chaotic synths, vocals, drum machines and samplers. On the edit Chicago's Steve Poindexter and Jamal Moss just extend the chaos and make it work on the dancefloor.

10. The Dave Brubeck Quartet | Bluette
My parents got me into Dave Brubeck, they gave me a tape of Time Out when I was 9 and I must've listened to it like 200 times on this little yellow Sony Boom Box that I had growing up. I can practically recite every note from that album by memory. This particular song isn't on Time Out, but it was one of my favorite pieces that I learned to play while taking piano in college. It was also the song that incited me to learn to play the alto sax, Paul Desmond's tone is just so amazingly dry but emotive at the same time. The little playful duet between the piano and sax near the end makes me simultaneously smile and tear up. People always say that Brubeck's piano playing is kind of blocky but I think its great; I'm always able to find inspiration in his experiments with poly-rhythms, multi-tonality and time signature.

WARMER MIXTAPES #162 | by Freddy Rupert (This Song Is A Mess But So Am I) of Former Ghosts

I can't really write about my top ten favorite songs RIGHT NOW as it seems to be in a constant flux forever and ever.
But I will write about ten songs that are attached to some kind of really specific memory.
Photo by Philippe de Sablet.

1. Skinny Puppy | Worlocked
This was it for me. I first heard this at the very end of my years in high school and I was hooked. I stopped playing guitar. I stopped being involved in guitar oriented bands. I invested my money in synthesizers and drum machines. The single version of this song is so much better than the Rabies album version. It has that amazing outro with Orgre's vocoded voice. This was the band that got me into making electronic music.

2. Babyland | Test Pilot
I had just graduated high school and I was doing a synth based project with my friend Josh called Masque Opera. Babyland were also a Los Angeles based synth duo that we extremely looked up to. The song Test Pilot is from their album Outlive Your Enemies. The song pushes forward this idea of just pushing forward despite still being at the bottom. My friend Josh and I went to go see Babyland live for the first time and brought a demo of our band Masque Opera to the show. I'm still friends with them. I was sad to see them break up. They have always been supportive of what I was doing musically, asked me to play the first Former Ghosts ever with them, and their music is amazing.

3. Talking Heads | This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
I was always just a kind of casual Talking Heads fan. I mean I would hear their songs and I would like them but it never really hit me and I never really got it until I heard this song. The first time I heard this song was when I was completely in love with someone and they told me that this song had a new meaning to them since we had met each other. I don't think a more perfect love song about the feeling of falling in love has ever, ever, ever, been written. This song still brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it today.

4. Kate Bush | Running Up That Hill
I was a fan of Kate Bush before but now whenever I hear this song it brings up a really specific memory. I am friends with someone who is involed in singing and dance and performance art. One time we had both been drinking in their living room and this person asked if I had wanted to see this dance that they had done for this song. I said sure. But then they got shy and changed their mind. And I said ok, I'm going to go to the bathroom and then when I come back, you can just be in the middle of doing the dance as if I'm not here. I came back and stood in the doorway watching quite possibly one of the most beautiful, painful, and honest things I'd ever seen to this song. At one point the person stopped in the middle of the song and said this song is so sad and then continued dancing.

5. The Smiths | Stretch Out And Wait
I was insanely in love with someone and we went to this Smiths/Morrissey dance night where they play pretty much exclusively the Smiths and Morrissey all night. We got there pretty early and the place was kind of empty so they were warming up the night with some slow songs. We got up and walked out to the middle of the dance floor and slow danced to this song with our eyes locked on each other. We stayed in that spot the whole night.

6. Michael Jackson | Bad
When my little brother and I were growing up we were really into Michael Jackson. There is a family home video somewhere of me and my brother dancing around and singing this song in our pajams with sun glasses on. And everytime I hear this song I think about that video and crack a smile.

7. Sibylle Baier | Forget About
On a U.S. tour I saw my friend Jeff in Iowa. I told him we needed a mix CD, something new to listen to in the car. This song came on driving at night with nothing but flat land on all sides of me. It was so haunting and beautiful. A beautiful song about someone getting you through past pain with their love.

8. The Smiths | I Know It's Over
There isn't a better song in the entire world. This song will always remind me of laying on the floor in an old apartment with no furniture slightly drunk playing this track over and over and over again. No song better describes the feeling of heart break by equating it to being buried alive.

9. Jolie Blon (Cajun traditional/classic song)
This song always reminds me of my mom. My mom was cajun and from Louisiana. This was one of her favorite cajun songs. Just a cajun classic. Whenever I hear this I'm reminded of her.

10. Tom Petty | Free Falling
This song always reminds me of my dad. It reminds me of being on family road trips as a little kid and him always blasting his Tom Petty CD. On a recent U.S. tour with Jamie, I was surprised and stoked to find that he had Tomy Petty Greatest Hits on his iPod. I don't know how many times I played it on that tour, but it was a lot. And every time it reminded me of my dad and those family road trips.

Facts & Figures | with Magnus Wahlström (Diktendo, My Life In Pixels, Etapp2, Etikett, Citylights) of Boat Club

Warmer Climes: That Slowdive cover comes so tender. Sounds like was created with no pressure. With no loud expressions of admiration (like I gave you several times). It captures a very sincere and intimate Magnus. Not even like Boat Club or Diktendo etc. I really want that to evolve somehow. But I guess you know best what your heart whispers. I'm pretty excited about that new Boat Club material and can't wait to hear also the Sally Shapiro remix. From a strongly hysterical Vlad, trying too much and acting weird maybe... I guess I've become something else today. Better. Overall... Stays this joy of knowing you and understading in so many flicks your music. It's still good to explore you. I'm proud to have a blog called from one of your songs. I guess you're as high as the sky and the fact you're into aeroplanes, piloting and such... Makes you even dreamier in my eyes. I learned to just enjoy and shut up. I've lost my closest uncle last thursday and this past week was a dark-funeral one. He was just 41. A heart attack. I saw in my eyes (once again) how short and unpredictable life is. If you're lucky you'll take much from it. But it doesn't matter. It's for a short time. Everything comes to pass and it's better to just breathe and smile and stop being so pretentious, forcing it. I felt stupid about how full-of-desire and desperate I've reacted during the last year about Sweden. But was a good experience. Now I'm here. With new eyes. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you last summer on our Black Sea as I planned. Dunno about the future. The most predictable one would be with me travelling somewhere around where you perform. Til then...Shine! You make me love myself more. I feel more patient.

Magnus Wahlström: That cover...It was a long time ago, but I liked it. I doubt I will have any time soon to do any music of my own though, obviously we don't even have time for BC. Hopefully we get the Sally remix out soon, and maybe new BC stuff too, we'll see. And about the Black Sea gig, we would probably not have been able to play anyways, we hardly play anymore, since we don't have any new songs.

Warmer Climes: You made me realize. You made me see the world and my life on a whole new level. I'm simply smiling only thinking on how many good memories I have with your sound. Don't ever let this dream die. This is SOMETHING SPECIAL. SPARKS THAT NEVER DIES. Don't care when it comes... It's a matter of moods, time and inspiration. A very strange combination of substances indeed. Let yourself into The Sun... You have the control... Boat Club was never about money or conditions. Or limits. At least this is how I always felt it. That's why is eternal. Cause it never forced anything. It's the purest form I know of fantasy voices swallowed by shoegazy guitars... It's the highest dream. So... With wings open! In our aeroplane! Into The Sun! Into the future! The perfect club. On Warmer Climes!

Facts & Figures | with Joel Karlsson of Air France

Warmer Climes: Tell me about a moment in your existence when life hurt.

Joel Karlsson: This is a difficult question, much too difficult really. I've naturally always felt more or less pain in different situations when I have been confronted with loneliness or loss of whatever. But it really took me many years before I really began to accept, in a earnest way, that life hurts and that's the way it is. I've always tried to fight it and couldn't accept that life isn't very understandable. It's full of many helpless situations. I guess the pain can help us make good choices in life. In the end. But of course, that's a question of context. However, I should probably not go deeper than that, I'm beginning to sound like a Guru, haha.

Warmer Climes: Where to find a perfect anchor of hope?

Joel Karlsson: Oh. Again a big issue, this is therapy for me. You should send an invoice to me! Well, I think honestly that the daily things in my life are worth the most. I love to just sit and look at my cat when she's playing, and I love it when I wake up and my honey smiles at me or when the chaffinch sits on the balcony day after day. Or the smell of strong coffee on a Saturday morning.

WARMER MIXTAPES #161 | by Jeremy Jay

1. Frankie Vallie | Princess
This is one of my most favorite songs ever...I found this 45rpm single in a bin in Portland, Oregon and I've worn this out. The label has these really cool designs of Castle Crests and the text is amazing. The b-side to this 45 isn't my favorite, but the A-side is a Dream...

2. The Orlons | Don't Hang Up
The Orlons are a really kool gang from the late 50's with one guy and 3 girls. The b-side is a cool song called The Conservative. It's about a girl at a dance who is sick of all the squares...Haha.

3. Dinosaur Jr. | Freak Scene
I once saw J Nascis backstage and I was too scared to talk to him. He was stringing his Jazzmaster guitar. He looks old now, but I would like to say hi to him one day. My friend Joe met Thurston Moore and had his photo taken with him, haha. He's one of my favorite musicians who's next on my list...

4. Sonic Youth | Shadow Of A Doubt
I once had a tape of this when I was a kid skateboarding and growing up in Monterey, California (where I'm from) and this tape changed my life. This too got worn out. One of the best records in my opinion from the 80's. The drums and the whole feel of the record has this layer of something in it that isn't as present in other Sonic Youth records. Something special happened here. Shadow Of A Doubt features Kim Gordon on vocals and in the video she is riding on top of a train thru the night singing her song. A very sereal image showing a different side of Sonic Youth...

5. Bauhaus | Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?
This song is probably my most favorite of the Bauhaus records.

6. The World Of Skin | Please Remember Me
Haunting. Too bad this record is hard to find. A true gem.

7. Big Moe | Barr Baby
This is a really amazing song. Full with chorus, then with Big M.O.E. singing his verses. High school...I was a fool...I was only 18. The story of the Barr Baby. This song lyricaly tells the story of a kid growin' up in South Houston, illistrating his life as he saw it. Trully amazing.

8. Nirvana | School
We played Chris Novoselics bass at the K Studio, they still have it there. It's a green guild hollow body. A beautiful sounding bass. I was always interested in the stories I would hear from Calvin about Kurt and Chris. The stories of when they used to live in Olympia.

9. Bikini Kill | Carnival
This band changed my life when I saw them at Pacific Groove High School when I was 15 or 16. In retrospect, who does that anymore, playing high schools changing people forever. I think it's a really cool idea to play shows in these situations, even if the shows aren't filled. This Bikini Kill show I saw only had like 50 or 60 people there. But wow, Kathleen Hanna is amazing.

10. Louis Armstrong | What A Wonderful World
I always like the idea of longevity. The slow paced long spanned carrers of artist like Louis Armstrong and Merce Cunningham (my most favorite chorographers of all time for is work on BI-POD 1998). This song is one of my favorite songs he sings from the latter part of his career. So beautiful...

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.

Facts & Figures | with Robert Svensson of Mixtapes & Cellmates

Warmer Climes: What happened in 1987 and 1991 in your life?

Robert Svensson: 1987: I was born. 1991: My sister was born.

Warmer Climes: What's the story behind Never song?

Robert Svensson: It's basically about that everyone is a liar and a hypocrite.

WARMER MIXTAPES #159 | by Christian Paga and Sebastian Bentler of Overthrill

SIDE A | by Sebastian Bentler

I've tried to exclude all the contemporary electronic-acts and -classics and focused on more rare and kinda oldschool tunes. Enjoy!

1. Fern Kinney | Baby Let Me Kiss You
When I first heard this song I was delighted that I heard the most sexy and funky voice on earth. Perfect song from beginning to the end. Heaps of style, soul and funk iced with a feeling of summer. One of my all-time favs.

2. Oma Heard | Mr. Lonely Heart
When I heard this rare tune from 1964 first in a very lo-fi version, it was hard to grasp any of the music at all. Despite the bad audioquality it was of such awesome musical quality I knew immediately that I had to get a better quality version. And the first impression held on till
today, I still think this is one of the best songs Motown ever put out.

3. Kula Shaker | Dr. Kitt
First time I approached this tune was in a soundtrack to an internet-video. It has such a classy and fleet-footed vibe I had to download it instantly. Great 60s feel but in a modern way. I certainly love Kula Shaker since then.

4. Bomb The Bass | Bug Powder Dust
When I heard this song long ago in a DJ-set from Liam Howlett (producer of The Prodigy) I couldn't believe my ears. Till then I didn't that tunes as this one even exist. It opened my eyes to the DJ-genius of Liam. It's sparkling with energy all the way through and still sounds cool today.

5. Eddie Holman | Four Walls
I was also introduced to Eddie Holman via a recent DJ-set I heard and was hooked instantly, especially on this song. It sounds so big...Has that soundtrack vibe and a voice filled with so much soul and funk that it is almost spooky. It gives me shivers...

6. The Seeds | Can't Seem To Make You Mine
I first heard a sample of song in a Spank Rock remix of Diplo and loved it although I didn't even know the original back then. Reminiscent of the psychedelic movement this one represents the strange and easygoing vibe from that era perfectly.

7. Holly Golightly | Slowly But Surely
Holly has always some kind of Tarantino coolness to her tracks. Every element she uses oozes of coolness let alone her sensitive and ear-piercing voice. This song is slow but oh so powerful and pounding.

8. Dusty Springfield | Sunny
This song comes in many forms and I love nearly all of them. But this interpretation of Dusty is something very special. It has this big orchestral soundtrack vibe and much more funk than many of the other interpretation. Always a good spirits song.

9. J Dilla | Red Light (feat. J. Davey)
Dilla creates such a dense atmosphere right from the beginning of the track. The lovely voice of Davey lifts the track immediately into an even cooler realm than the track would have be as instrumental. It evokes a mysterious but definitely forward pushing feeling that kinda puts you into
an old Tarantino flick instantly - thinkin of Jackie Brown when listening to it. If you haven't got the chance to listen to Dilla's genius I highly encourage you to dig out his works now. One legend of Hiphop, R.I.P.

10. L7 | Shitlist
This tune was given to me by a friend in a batch of other songs and actually I thought this was the only really good song of the whole batch. I think it's on the OST of Natural Born Killers and that fits it perfectly. It's bursting with subversive energy and easily conveys a I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude.

SIDE B | by Christian Paga

1. Run DMC | King Of Rock
One of the best rap tracks ever. Actually, it was this track that introduced me to hip-hop culture. Although I discovered this track eight years after it was released, it blew me away instantly.

2. Beastie Boys | Sabotage
My favourite Beastie track - whenever I listen to this song, it takes me back to when I was a kid spending my days hanging out in the skatepark. Quite stereotypical? Well, maybe, but it was a hell of a time back then.

3. Rage Against The Machine | Bulls On Parade
To me, Rage Against The Machine is one of the greatest bands ever. I have always been impressed with their loud and aggressive in your face sound of protest.

4. Raekwon | Ice Cream
This track always beams me back to those good old days instantly. It's a shame they don't produce such brilliant rap tracks anymore.

5. GZA | 4th Chamber/Shadowboxin'
I picked this set of track to represent my love for GZA's Liquid Swords album. Lyrically complex and musically on point, it resembles a timeless milestone of hip-hop history. To me it is one of the best Wu-Tang Clan solo albums.

6. Daft Punk | Da Funk
Well, well...To me this is THE song. Back in 1997, it proved to me that there was no need for electronic music to sound like that boring and monotonous stuff that was produced at that time. For sure this track (and the whole work of Daft Punk) has got a major influence on my contemporary musical understanding.

7. Funkstörung | Punk Motherfucker
This is one of my favourite Funkstörung tracks - quite impressively, it combines an acidish flavour with this contemporary FX glitch-type of style. Unfortunately, Funkstörung split up quite a while ago...

8. Aphex Twin | Come To Daddy
Aphex Twin is one of the artists who influenced me the most. With all of its destructive creativity, his music opened up a whole new world of sound to me.

9. Justice | Genesis
Honestly, everything that could be said about this tune has already been said; all the stories about this track have been told. Regardless of that, I simply had to include it in my personal top ten tracks because even today I can't find the appropriate words to describe how it blew my mind when I
listened to it the very first time.

10. Sébastien Tellier | L'Amour Et La Violence
In my opinion, L'Amour Et La Violence is one of the greatest songs of the last years. With this track, Tellier impressively shows that there is no need to pack a track with various turnarounds and tons of stacked instrument-layers to produce a breathtakingly deep song.

WARMER MIXTAPES #158 | by Will Wiesenfeld [Geotic/Baths]

These are some of my favorite songs ever, not so much favorites at the moment.
I already had most of this list ready to go on a playlist on my iPod...Had a lot of fun doing it.

1. Björk | Desired Constellation
This is my favorite song of all time. I'm pretty sure this won't change anytime soon. And it's not even so much her voice in this song, there are definitely better recordings of her than this, but it's the music behind her. There are all these micro-rhythms and notes fluttering in and out; It's complex and beautiful, but at the same time gloriously simple. It runs too deep for me to really be able to put it in words correctly...Something about its parallels to nature and growth? Simplicity? I dunno. It just fits. I feel like it was written especially for me, it's incredible. The magic in discovering Björk when I was like 13 was finding out about all of her collaborators, and being able to find extensions of the sounds I came across in her music. She was my gateway drug into the world of experimental electronic.

2. Nujabes | Silver Morning
This song was my emotional sustenance during the period of a couple of weeks where I slowly came out to my family and my friends. I feel like there's this confidence in how the beat barely changes through the entire song. It felt totally in line with my need to remain myself through the whole process. Or something. The string samples were what initially drew me in though...

3. Chicane | No Ordinary Morning
A very simple song that knows exactly how cheesy and moody it is. Very open sounding. This was one of those post-Björk songs I heard in 7th grade that stuck with me ever since. Can't ever get enough of it.

4. Dntel | Fear Of Corners
This song is unbearably perfect. A first impression gives this sort of hard, intense darkness, and honestly, doesn't really sound like anything special...? Then that pad synth rolls in. It feels like the fucking apocalypse. Like every sadness I've ever had has been re-awakened, and there's nothing left to do but die in a corner. At this point (like 3 minutes in) I saw the song title for the first time on my iPod, and I was done. Floored. Jimmy Tamborello is a fucking wizard.

5. Efterklang | Swarming
The complexities, timing, sounds, instrumentation, bizarre simultaneous male/female vocal delivery...This song has everything, but nothing you ever expected a pop song to be capable of. Upon re-visiting this song just now, I find myself a bit aggravated that I don't know of more music that's this relentlessly creative? Spectacular. The whole album Tripper is awesome.

6. Empire Of The Sun | Walking On A Dream
Perfect pop song. I knew it the first time I heard it, and 500 listens later, that opinion remains the same.

7. Ezekiel Honig and Morgan Packard | A Lake Of Suggestions, Pt. 1
This song is simple, beautiful, and haunting, and all those other verbs that I hope for in a song, but remarkably comes from an album where EVERY SINGLE SONG is as such. Early Morning Migration. One of the best albums I've ever had the time to get to know.

8. Mileece | Fern
Like Desired Constellation, this song is a complex web of little intricate notes and rhythms, but has a bit more of a build and resolution. To think that something that sounds (to me) so much like nature, and retains such an organic spirit, was made almost entirely via a text-based computer program...Amazing. Have a look at the interface for the program Super Collider to see just how incredible her process in making this song really was.

9. Unwed Sailor | Jubilee
The entire album The Marionette And The Music Box builds up to this song, and there is rarely as rewarding a listen as reaching Jubilee after all that time. It was almost too much the first time I heard it. Definitely cried like hell. As do most people (I think?), I like to pair music with important experiences or periods in my life, and I had just finished reading Maison Ikkoku (which is now one of my favorite things ever), and this song sounded exactly like the resolution in the story that took 15 volumes to reach. It was too powerful a thing. I was bawling.

10. Lali Puna | Bi-Pet
Another perfect pop song, this time from one of my favorite bands of all time. Subtle, simple, and bewilderingly effective. I still can't put my finger on why it resonates so well with me, but I guess that's what it is to make music if you're Markus Acher...But really, the whole lot of Lali Puna are extremely talented, and I totally adore everything they do.

+11. Husky Rescue | Caravan
By far the most underrated band I know of. They make me jealous that I'm not Finnish. It's the most admirable thing for a band/artist to be able to be so completely and thoroughly themselves...Caravan is the perfect example of this nameless, eerie sound that they've perfected, and they still remain the only band that sounds anything like them. And that fucking guitar part at 0:33 seconds. Melts my heart. In context, best guitar part I've ever heard. LOVE this band.

+12. Helios | Halving The Compass
One of the best produced pieces of music ever, in my opinion. The percussion. Unreal. It's like the woods are alive. Really, that whole album though...Eingya. One of my favorites. My most listened to album ever, as a matter of fact. This is the song that got me though, and I must've dreamed about a thousand different men falling asleep to this song. I default back to it whenever my emotions feel a bit displaced. Still feels fresh and beautiful, even after so many listens.