WARMER MIXTAPES #324 | by Cedric Engels of Hermanos Inglesos

Here are some tracks - chosen out of thousands - that bring back memories and feelings...

1. Flash And The Pan | Midnight Man
I got into this band thanks to Radio Nostalgie - my favorite (Belgian & uncool) radio station that plays mainly 80s (70s, 60s) classics. One day, on a Friday the 13th in 2009, a friend entered a contest broadcasted on this station. In the jackpot: the one and only Magnum P.I. Ferrari! The contest took several days and on the last day he got into the final together with one other candidate. My buddies and I were (really stressed) at his place to help him out with the final questions (on air), dreaming about a road trip with that red beauty. We had laptops, music encyclopedia's, our brains, Wikipedia page on Magnum P.I., ... and then... Destiny struck. He couldn't answer the last question and he (we) lost. Afterwards, he called some other friends to explain the whole story. We recorded the phone call and I made a track of it. It's on YouTube...

2. The White Stripes | Cold Cold Night
A long time ago I hiked through Colorado. Every trip I make has its theme song. I can't predict what the song will be when I leave, it grows on me during traveling. That summer in America, The White Stripes had just released Elephant. I bought the album in a small village when we pulled over by a gas station. I was immediately obsessed with it. When I came back home I played Seven Nation Army on a party with some friends. Everybody went completely wild on this new mystery song and wanted to know what it was. The feeling of sharing a new own musical discovery and seeing everybody go nuts on it is great! Unfortunately a few months later the track became a worldwide hit and lost its private character and precious meaning to me. I still like the track but I can never play it again in a DJ set. It has lost its value, as (drunk) people always start to sing it at the end of a party when the lights go on.

3. dEUS | Hotellounge (Be The Death Of Me)
This is the first song I ever got addicted to from the first album I ever bought (before this, I bought tapes: Thriller, Diamonds And Pearls and The Score). A few albums later (The Ideal Crash) I went to their concert in Brussels. It was a magical night. I was too young to have pimples, but old enough to sing along. Les Rythmes Digitales (Stuart Price, with red hair in that period) did the support, amazing. BTW, the Be The Death Of Me part in the title refers to The Velvet Underground's Heroin.

4. The Velvet Underground | After Hours
This song reminds me of my period in Paris. Together with Led Zeppelin (Baby I'm Not Gonna Leave You), Devendra Banhart (Now That I Know), Jacques Brel (Les Bonbons) and Serge Gainsbourg (Qui Est In Qui Est Out) I listened to this song almost every day. As I took the metro a lot in Paris, I killed time with music and really analyzing it. The track also reminds me of Edie Sedgwick because you see pictures of her on the YouTube version. You should see the movie Factory Girl.

5. The Beatles | Glass Onion
My true discovery of the Fab Four took place one year and a half ago, during 12 months in my car. Actually I was happy when I could Drive My Car because I knew I would have some private time with The Beatles. Of course I knew many of the songs already, but I wanted to study the albums. I was reminded again of the strength of an album and the negligible meaning of a Best Of. My favorite Beatles' track changes every day. Yesterday it was Tomorrow Never Knows, last week it was Honey Pie and next week it will be Fixing A Hole. Pay attention to the lyrics of Glass Onion, they refer to other Beatles' songs.


6. Wings | Band On The Run
I like the solo work of both Lennon and McCartney, but definitely prefer McCartney. This is a great song by him from the eponymous great album. I think he had A Day In The Life in his mind when he came up with the idea to have two totally different parts (songs) in one song. I have no specific story behind it, I just link Wings with The Beatles instantly. You should also check out Let 'Em In, which is on another album though.

7. The Rolling Stones | In Another Land
In Another Land is a psychedelic harpsichord/tremolo song featured on the Stones answer to Sergeant Pepper. It reminds me of the first track I made with a friend of mine. We started from a kind of 808 hip-hop version I had made and ended up with a Gorillaz-like track. A new project was born, Echo Park. Listen to the very end of In Another Land.

8. Eels | Guest List
One of the things I have in common with the friend I just mentioned, is E. Mark Oliver Everett is probably my biggest musical hero, as a person. Last summer we met him at Pukkelpop... And we just stood there, standing. It was the first (and only) time ever I asked for a picture with a musician. Now I'm frustrated that I read his book after meeting him and not before. I changed my perception and genuine fan-ness. I'll let him do the talking, read Things The Grandchildren Should Know!

9. Ohio Players | Love Rollercoaster
Prince covered this track during a concert in Belgium. There was electricity in the air... Like he has probably asked for it in his rider, it was raining cats and dogs during Purple Rain. Ok, it is really cheesy, but hard rain, only purple lights and Purple Rain during an outdoor Prince concert is quite epic. Another great cover is the Pop Life cover Soulwax did on their Much Against Everyone's Advice tour. I saw them perform it live in 1998 at Krakrock. After the show David Dewaele threw some stickers and mixtapes into the (small) crowd, while I was standing accidentally next to his dad.

10. Carrie Lucas | Dance With You
D.I.S.C.O. The effort to get my hands on this record was a big one. I remember I bought it together with Film 2 by Grauzone, the B-side of Eisbar. A family from Wallonia sent me the record, wrapped in nothing but old newspapers which was cute. They wrote a small text for me, something like: Enjoy this record, it's yours now. We loved it. This reminds me of how valuable a 12" can be and of the many hours I have spent in record stores and on gemm.com to discover vinyl. Every Friday after school I went to Music Man and every Wednesday afternoon I went to Vinyl Kitchen, both in Ghent. I miss this hunt.