WARMER MIXTAPES #471 | by Rameses Booth [Rameses B]
I find it difficult to pick any specific track. There is such a huge range of possible answers. All I can say is that any piece of music from Classical, Film Music to Electronic as long as it's emotionally inspiring then it is what I enjoy. I’ve always loved Sound, especially sounds I’ve never heard before, even if it was the distortion effect on an electric guitar or the electronic sound effects used dance music. So I’ll go back to some of my roots when certain tracks led me into new musical interests.
1. Alek Szahala | Alanamra
From what I remember, this was one of the uplifting Trance tracks that stood out to me. Despite the long two minute intros most Trance tracks have for mixing it was the epic breakdowns that really pulled the emotion from me. The chord progressions, melodies and the instrumentation really brought the Music to Life. Trance has to be the greatest influence towards my musical inspiration when it comes to writing emotional pieces.
2. Ecchi Trance | Ebony Angel (DJ Lee Remix)
This is another uplifting Trance track that caught me, similar instrumentation, same emotions, but with different melodies and progressions. It interests me how Music can have an affect on one listener but affect another in a different way.
3. Andy Blueman | Neverland
One of my favorite Trance producers. Bringing the uplifting sounds of epic Film Music into Electronic Dance music. Although the synths that have that interesting sound, it is the overall composition that this artist uses in his tracks that really captures my imagination. I’ve always loved how Classical/Film Music was integrated into Trance music but this guy really pulls it off well! It’s just too beautiful, how music should be - triggering thoughts, memories and emotion.
4. Barthezz | On The Move
Now onto the more Dance/Clubby stuff. I just love the synth in this. It’s really choppy with a unique rhythm and really does want to make you move. Good energy in this track!
5. Darren Styles | Save Me
UK Hardcore Dance music played a big role in my teenage life for around 4 - 5 years. Although not to many people’s taste it made me feel special and unique to be part of a dedicated community of Hardcore Dance music lovers. The fast 170+ bpm speeds really got me pumping (same with D&B), but on top of this it had great melodies... This genre also had some D&B influences that I discovered in the Bonkers compilation albums. It was everything I loved all in one. This track in particular had originality from the wonderful vocals of Darren Styles, it’s mesmerizing.
6. deadmau5 & Kaskade | I Remember
I know this a little more mainstream than my previous mentions but I just have to say this is the first track I heard from him and have been a fan ever since. Melodic vibes from the start progressing throughout the track. This artist got me into the more Progressive side of music. It made me realize it’s not all about crazy sound effects or epic breakdowns, but simplicity and a clean production can also win you over. The vibes this song gives off are so captivating, I always feel like I’m in a busy city traveling on a quiet coach watching the city lights blur past me. I don’t know if it’s just linked to my individual memories but every time I listen to this song it takes me to that place, ultimate nostalgia!
7. Hanz Zimmer | Time (Inception Soundtrack)
This composer is my hero of Film Music. He is an absolute genius and an inspiration in writing in a huge range of styles and genres. He has such a big catalogue of work behind him. To me, he is a better musician/songwriter than any Pop musician out there. I know it’s in a totally different league but Music is Music and what this composer can do to the human senses is beyond spectacular.
8. Dirtyphonics | Vandals
You may have noticed all the tracks I have mentioned so far are mainly melodic-based. I do love melodies because this is what identifies and gives a track personality. However, there are exceptions when the time has come to let your hair down and party! Sound design can make a track have the WOW-factor and this track has that. Clever tempo changes that seamlessly blend from D&B to breakbeat to D&B again with bass driven mechanical sounds. Variation with the bass sounds and synths, it makes this track interesting as well as one to blast out!
9. Excision & Downlink | Existence VIP
This is another bass driven, epic sound-design masterpiece but of the Dubstep variety. Also containing tempo changes from Dubstep to Drumstep, normal to syncopated Funky rhythms. With continuously changing sounds and synth variations this track is HARD. As a producer this technological achievement majorly impresses me, I can’t imagine how epic it must sound to the normal listener!
10. Nobuo Uematsu | Aerith's Theme
How can I not mention this genius Japanese Game Music composer. Final Fantasy 7 happens to be my all-time favourite computer game! The storyline, nostalgia and of course the Music. This music makes this game worth playing (as there’s no dialogue, mostly music and visuals) and when I hear this theme tune it really does take me back, remembering the emotional tension between Cloud and Aerith and the amazing story behind the whole game.
Music is indeed something to be amazed at. It is around us everyday and we accept it in our daily lives just like the Sun in the sky. Yet it is just as mysterious and powerful, affecting our moods, memories and helping us through our life’s journey. Music triggers a philosophical side to me, why and how does it affect us in the way that it does. Vibrations in the air that changes our mood and perception of Life, it is crazy to think something like that has that great effect on us. I have studied how sound affects the human mind and body, came up with an essay I had to write for a project... Even so, Music is still as awe-inspiring as the Universe itself.
WARMER MIXTAPES #470 | by James Rice [Stompbox]
When I first saw the message from Vlad about featuring in the Warmer Climes music blog I wasn’t very forthcoming as to giving my ideas away as to why I like these 10 songs as some of them have very personal meanings to me and are not always the things that you want people to read about on the Internet. It took sometime but after a lot of thought it came to me that if someone is listening to my music then they want to know what the background behind me as an artist is and what drives me to create music. So I opened up a LOT more… And here it is:
1. Burial | Archangel
This song is very important to me. It was the very first Burial song I heard and the reason that I started producing music, all of two years ago now. There is another reason why I am so fond of this song; it reminds me of my biggest inspiration, my girlfriend. A lot of the songs I create have some reference to her in one form or another. She is a massive support to me and constantly tells me that I can do it, which is exactly what I need most of the time. So, thank-you to Burial for creating this song, which has had such a massive impact on my producing and thank-you to my girlfriend for always being there to support me.
2. Supergrass | Alright
Supergrass - Alright is the very first song I ever remember listening to. Jumping around with my brother singing the chorus. That catchy piano riff that grabs you as soon as it starts playing, would still make me get up and dance around even today. It’s a feel good tune full of happy memories.
3. Nirvana | Smells Like Teen Spirit
The classic riff that I remember as a child. A tune that was played quite often in my house. Nirvana being my Dad's favourite band meant that I was exposed to the crazy distortions and coarse vocals very often and it is a song that always sticks in my head.
4. Chumbawamba | Tubthumping
A song that reminds me of some very old friends that I don’t see very often anymore but can only ever remember fond and happy memories of them and this song.
Here is where we sort of come out of the songs that have meaning and go more into the songs that I take massive influence from when I making music.
5. Burial | Forgive
This song is so simple in form yet manages to pack an unreal amount of emotion and feeling into its three minutes. I remember the first time I listened to this I was amazed at the way in which it made me feel. The piercing vocal sample and the amazing soundscapes blend to make such an incredible song. I have taken a massive amount of influence from this song but also from Burial as an artist. He is my absolute idol!
6. Mount Kimbie | Field
Again, another very simple song in form, but the way in which the song is put together and produced is amazing. The building of the filter at the start constantly keeps you guessing as to what is going to happen next and as the low end builds so do the anticipation. The guitar riff that comes in, in itself is ridiculous catchy and this, along with the high pitched (what I can only imagine to be a) vocal sample creates a tune that I could listen to over and over again. Mount Kimbie are the reason that I (from time to time) use live recorded instruments and samples within my tunes.
7. Kings Of Leon | Closer
This is one of my favourite songs at the minute. The pitched bass echoes completely surrounds you as you listen to the song being then main focus until the screaming guitar and Caleb’s piercing vocals combine with crashing drums to create a tune full of emotion and feeling. The way in which the song is built around a very simple bass riff really appeals to me as I’m not the best with the whole theory side of music and this really shows me that sometimes the simpler things can work the best.
8. deadmau5 | Strobe
I love deadmau5’s clean-cut synths, the way in which they cut through the mix perfectly constantly warping and changing. This song was a massive influence on my tune Flu, I tried to emulate the synth and the way in which the filter opens allowing the higher frequencies to properly shine through in the mix. I love how the song builds and builds until it can build no more and then it just explodes as the beat comes in. Great tune.
9. Koreless | MTI
Another of my favourite tunes. I love how Minimal it is but at the same creates such an atmosphere. The vocal sample catches you as soon as it plays and I love the change from the intro into the bass drop. It definitely gets my head bopping. I try emulate the space that Koreless creates within his tunes whilst at the same time maintaining interest and unbelievable atmosphere.
10. Skream | Rutten
I love the darkness in this tune. The Old Skool Dubstep vibes. I love the way in which the flute seamlessly flows at the beginning into that very Minimal yet effective bass drop. The thing I take most from this tune is how very Minimal it is. You don’t need four billion tracks to make a decent tune.
Photo by Chris Etges.
1. BT. | Dynamic SymmetryI'm generally not very fond of BT's dancier works, but this album from around 2006 was a complete life-changer for me. Before I had heard this song I was a fashionable cynic, never really enjoying the company of others because I suppose I thought it was cool to be loathing or to have a permanent grimace on my face. I forget exactly how I came across this album, but when I heard it I made a complete turnaround, like I suddenly valued the lives of others over mine. It still defines a lot of me today, really, and if I could get a song tattooed to me, this would probably be it. This was the first time I had heard beauty in a song.
2. Grizzly Bear | Easier
There's a part in this song about 40 seconds in where these dreamy vocals, simple guitar line, and this choir of flutes all crash together, and I still get goosebumps whenever I hear it. I find that there's nothing quite like listening to a song this heavenly, because it literally takes you to another world for a little over 3 minutes, like you're caught in a dream.
3. Björk | Hidden Place
I can only have endless praise for Björk. Not very long after hearing the BT album I listed above, someone recommended I listen to a few of her albums, so I grabbed Homogenic, Vespertine, and Medúlla. For the record, I don't think anyone should listen to those three albums in a row for the first time, because it's more than a little overwhelming. Each song, compared to what I had been listening to, was filled with so much innovation, and this song in particular struck me as special within these albums. Something about it sounded extremely familiar, like I had heard it before, yet everything was so incredibly different from what I had been used to, that same sort of divinity that I heard in Easier a few years later. The way she combined the choir vocals and the glitchy beats, it was something I tried to emulate for the longest time, but now I've learned to only let Björk make Björk's music. This was the first time I had heard divinity in a song.
4. St. Vincent | The Strangers
Annie Clark has an aesthetic in her music that I fell I can only describe as New York. It's very mechanic, very busy, but it's also stuck in its own beautiful little mindset. This song is something I would expect to hear on a romantic snowy night in a large, cultured city, like NYC or Paris. Along with this, I rank Clark's lyric-writing very very close to the top. Every word just feels so clever and purposefully used, it's perfect. This was the first time I had heard romance in a song.
5. Gang Gang Dance | Glass Jar
I realize this is a bit more recent, but this song is still absolutely amazing for me, and is an 11 minute song that I absolutely do not mind listening to over and over again. The way it progresses, the vocals, the melodies, I always find myself caught between wanting to cry, wanting to dance, and wanting to loudly sing along like an idiot. It's beautiful, almost like it's celebrating, but celebrating something like simply being content with your day-to-day life.
6. Deerhunter | Cover Me (Slowly)/Agoraphobia
Up until Microcastle came out I had been listening to only the happiest music I could find, like Animal Collective, Broken Social Scene, etc. When I heard these two songs together, it was like a punch to the chest, like that profound sadness that can't be dealt with by crying but only by spending endless time to yourself, just thinking. This was the first time I had heard sadness in a song.
7. M83 | 0078h
This is still my favorite album by M83, even in the face of their new album. Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is incredible, but it can't match the emotional depth that this album had. Something about this song is simultaneously powerful in the instrumentation and pacing, but deeply emotional in the way the melody is written. That and when it builds and explodes at the end, it feels like some kind of enlightenment, like something truly incredible just struck the brain. I've been listening to this song for about 4 years, and it still wows me every time.
8. Jon Brion | Phone Call
As short and almost out of place as this song is, it feels necessary to include it. I don't think being in love has ever been better written into a song than here. It's sad, it's incredibly happy, it's heartbreaking, it's so much in only a minute of sound. You could almost say my whole first album is inspired by this, because I was just trying to represent love in song as well as Brion did here.
9. Sufjan Stevens | Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run
I love how super-duper long song titles can only mean one of two things: Post Rock band or Sufjan Stevens. This is the only song I've found that can absolutely heal me from any emotional wounds I get. I can't think of more to say besides that, this is incredible.
10. Candy Claws | Starry Fighter Kite
More about being in love, the tail end of this song is a perfect example of that. I get this distinct imagery in my head when I hear it, of two lovers holding each other's hands, like they're forming a kind of pact, and walking through a door into the rest of their lives, forever entwined and in love. Being the hopeless romantic I am, I attached myself to this song when I first heard it, because I felt like I was in love with someone for those last two minutes.
WARMER MIXTAPES #468 | by Christian Fuchs of Bunny Lake
Photos by HORN NUSSBAUMER.
1. The Rapture | Come Back To Me
Their recent album is amazing. Songs about love, life and redemption that make your heart go boom and put your ass in shaking mode. This track, with its yearning accordion intro, the nearly Gospel lyrics and the Dance break in the middle is my favourite.
2. Lana Del Rey | Video Games
I found out about her relatively late as I don't read music blogs regularely. But then she appeared like an angel out of my dreams: David Lynch-references, a touch of Rockabilly, incredible sad songs, that are strangely uplifting at the same time. The only problem I have: I couldn't get this song out of my head for weeks. Besides Lykke Li, Lana's my favourite torch singer these days.
3. The Horrors | Still Life
I've experienced a lot of drama in my life lately, breaking up situations, death, trouble. But also some amazing moments happened. And out of these beautiful moments, with despair around, I tried to say goodbye to my old pitchblack worldview. Let the sunshine in and move forward. This song, with its glistening synths and the chorus when you wake up, you will find me accompanied my period of change.
4. Apparat | Black Water
Pulsating slow motion melancholia from Berlin. This is simply so beautiful it hurts. Radiohead haven't wrote such a great song since Amnesiac.
5. Zola Jesus | Avalanche
There are so many amazing women in music right now, kicking all the guitar rocking boys around. Nika Roza Danilova is the queen of Ultra-Bombastic-Neo-Noir-Pop, which is a very essential genre in my book. I would drive endlessly through the night to her sound, if I would own a driving license.
6. Kavinsky | Nightcall (feat. Lovefoxxx)
The title song of the best movie I saw in ages. Drive is an hymn about loneliness, chrome, steel, love, violence, it's all about redemption again. And about hardcore romance. When desire calls, you have to walk out into the night and follow your heart.
7. Wolfram | A Thing Called Love (feat. Haddaway) (Legowelt Remix)
Sometimes Italo Disco is the best music in the Universe. Especially if it is from Austria, composed by my favourite musician in our little country and featuring the golden voice of one Mr. Haddaway. The Legowelt remix adds extra sehnsucht.
8. Florence + The Machine | Shake It Out
It may sound a bit pathetic, but sometimes I've got a serious struggle with inner demons going on. They brought good fun to my life, but also destroyed a lot. So it's important to cleanse yourself from time to time. And what's better for an exorcism than a woman like Florence Welch screaming Shake It Out!, with tons of tribal drums and all the musical drama in the World in the background?
9. The Drums | Days
I will be honest. Even if I try to follow the motto Sunshine is the new black, I fall constantly back to my old pessimism. Now The Drums do a wonderful thing: they sound like the happiest summer-band on the surface and still sing about total hopeless situations. A genius song.
10. Washed Out | Amor Fati
I was never a follower of the whole Chillwave movement, right now I couldn't care less and less about all the microgenres that seem to change weekly. But Washed Out's Within & Without album blew me away. It's just incredible Pop music, without all the stuff I hate about Pop these days. I don't even know how Washed Out looks. Amor Fati is one big dreamy chorus, a melody to kill for, a soft hymn for dreamers like you and me.
+11. CSS | Hits Me Like A Rock
Imagine your band is in a coma, everything is fucked up and going downhill. Don't write songs drenched in self-pity. Do it like CSS, who got nearly destroyed by the music biz: fight and smile and be proud. A comeback that hit me like a very gentle, very friendly rock.
WARMER MIXTAPES #467 | by Joshua Hodges of Sexton Blake and Starfucker
1. Unknown Mortal Orchestra | Jello And Juggernauts
My words can't explain the intelligence and beauty of this song, it just has to be heard, preferably live.
2. Cass McCombs | County Line
I like the super mellow, contemplative vibe of this song. I also really like how the chorus mellows out from the verses.
3. Radiation City | Color Of Industry
Sweet harmonies, great songwriting.
4. Steve Wonder | Love's In Need Of Love Today
Just really great song writing and structure. Perfect harmonies. Also I think he played almost all of the instruments on this album, which of course is inspiring to me.
5. Neil Young | Till The Morning Comes
Simple, sweet and short.
6. Betelmire | My Mensa Dream
Clever and chill with a swingy Hip Hop beat. I'd like to maybe cover this song someday.
7. T.I. | You Know What It Is (feat. Wyclef)
I'm a sucker for a lot ot the beats T.I. uses. This one is just so slick. I love listening to the production in modern southern Hip Hop.
8. Metronomy | 1 String Strung
Instrumental music is usually my favorite.
9. Feelings | Home Alone
This dude speaks to me. It's really honest.
10. Cody Chestnutt | Enough Of Nothing
Chill, contemplative, sweet voice.
WARMER MIXTAPES #466 | by Jamie N Commons
1. Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band | Too Much Time
There’s a few real simple R'n’B gems that often get overlooked with this guy... It's tracks like this that make you realise how striking and expressive his voice is... I hear a lot of Howlin’ Wolf in his vocals, but he takes it somewhere completely different. Such a great premise as well... Too much time to be without love. See also I’m Glad.
2. Sam Cooke | A Change Is Gonna Come
Outstanding vocals, the arrangement with the orchestra draws so much out of a fairly simple chord sequence. Released the year of his death... Makes you wonder... When he got cut down in this sort of form... What would have come next?...
3. Blind Willie Johnson | Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground
This song is almost unique in the sense that it doesn’t have any lyrics, but tells you more than almost any other song out there... Such unbelievable presence in his voice... This track defines the Blues for me... And they sent it into space so you know it’s good.
4. Bobby Charles | I Hope
One of the best breakup songs, he finds a slightly different angle to most songs in this vein which is pretty hard to do when approaching such an age old subject. As on many songs on this list as well he says as much with his vocal tone as he does with his lyrics to convey the feeling of the song.
5. The Spencer Davis Group | Keep On Runnin’
Steve Winwood was something like 16 when he did this vocal... Unbelievable. This track still just jumps out the speakers almost 50 years later... Sign of a classic record I guess.
6. John Martyn | Over The Hill
I always seem to get more excited with guitarist’s strumming hand rather than what fancy fret work they’re doing. Unbelievable playing by everyone involved on this track... Made plans to make a pilgrimage to visit/stalk John Martyn in Ireland couple years back... Set the dates and everything... He sadly passed away a few weeks prior unfortunately...
7. The Allman Brothers Band | Midnight Rider
One of my favourite bands... Groove, melody, vocals, harmonies, song writing... Perfection.
8. The Doobie Brothers | Long Train Runnin’
This song’s got serious groove in a way you don’t really hear much in Modern Pop music... Just the sound of great musicians playing together...
9. Josh T. Pearson | Woman, When I’ve Raised Hell
Apparently Pearson didn’t initially want to release on the album this track on due to its highly confessional and personal subject matter (Last Of The Country Gentlemen)... Really glad he came around... The lyrics and content are pretty tough but there’s so much beauty and honesty with that though.
10. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | Into My Arms
Always hard to write love songs without them coming out too over the top and wet... Cave achieves such sentimentally with such poise on this song... One of the all time great songwriters in my opinion, and still very much at the top of his game with the new Grinderman stuff...
+11. Tom Waits | Down There By Train
Waits wrote this for Johnny Cash and Cash did a version on his first American Recordings album. This is the version for me though... Possibly my favourite lyrics in any song... I’ll have this one at my funeral please.
WARMER MIXTAPES #465 | by Julia Sanina of THE HARDKISS
1. Rachelle Ferrell | With Every Breath I Take
She is an amazing singer and also cool example for the beginners about how to combine vocal technique and expression.
2. Hurts | Illuminated
It's very pompous and epic! I've noticed this group on YouTube when they had only 5000 views, that moment I realized - it would be something unreal!
3. Gaelle | Give It Back
Very stylish song. It is catchy but it is not too Pop.
4. Morcheeba | Enjoy The Ride
I like singer's unique voice color and profound thoughts in lyrics. I'm always listening to the lyrics, it should include something mine, something for my soul.
5. Lissie | When I'm Alone
Lissie is so natural and sincere in this song. It makes me feel like I'm at home, this song is warm.
6. The Knife | Like A Pen
Kinda weirdo vocal, but the song has got the temper.
7. Portishead | Roads
This is certainly the song for deep relaxation. Very sensual.
8. My Chemical Romance | The Ghost Of You
Very strong work, and the video's got the hook, I can watch it again and again, even crying sometimes.
9. George Benson | Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You
This song is very special for me. I won my first vocal competition singing Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You. So Benson is my lodestar!
10. THE HARDKISS | Babylon
I guess you know why...
WARMER MIXTAPES #464 | by Joe Seaton [Call Super]
1. Boubacar Traoré | Dundobesse M'Bedouniato
People sometimes use the adjective vibes to describe music they are liking. Often I wasn't sure exactly what they meant as it seemed very vague. Then I heard this and I understood in very simple terms. A track for the eyes closed and for the eyes open. It makes everything more beautiful, even the dancefloor.
2. Gescom | Keynell A (Autechre Remix)
Melody and grit of the most sublime sort. A record that seems to encapsulate all that I feel for Boards Of Canada, Aphex Twin, Autechre and all those other UK Electronic musicians who have never dumbed any of their ideas down and hopefully never will.
3. Afrikan Sciences | Two As 36
I would happily pick any track of his album. This one is one my favourites. I came to this record this summer and have just been so happy to hear something so wonderfully all of the place and yet so coherent.
4. Cybotron | Clear
If I hear a record I don't like, or makes me depressed about music, I often put this on afterwards.
5. Julia Holter | Try To Make Yourself A Work Of Art
A record that is in thrall to sound and dynamics in the way the very best Techno is. Another musician who I find very inspiring this year. I get the impression she is a very curious person, and that is the best thing anyone can be.
6. Penguin Cafe | Finland
I grew up a few doors down from some dear friends who were ceramicists. My mum painted for them and I used to play around their studio. I have very fond memories of it, and of them, and this is a record that they used to play. I never knew what it was until a few years ago when I heard it and had such strong memories of those times I was overwhelmed. Now I listen to it a great deal and am happily transported back to Carlo and Eddie's.
7. Rachel's | Handwriting
The last track on an album given to me by my old flatmate Max Bondi, founder of the excellent Tartaruga Records. This is where I should not try to put into words what this makes me feel as the task is a little beyond me.
8. Marcellus Pittman | The Mad Underdog
Really Bloody Good House Music.
9. Shina Williams & His African Percussionists | Agboju Logun
I have played this in probably more than fifty percent of my DJ sets. Up until a couple of years ago I refused to tell people what it was. Now I do.
10. Choice | Acid Eiffel
A record that has soundtracked my conscience for almost half my life. Sometimes I forget what is going on in there so I have to check, and I realize this is still playing.
WARMER MIXTAPES #463 | by Jens Duvsjö [Duvchi]
Photo by Philippa Björnbom.
1. John Lennon | Mother
I sang this song a lot as a young one. There is no doubt it has had a therapeutic effect on me, and on John Lennon, of course. I can barely listen to it without a tear in my eye. An outrageously beautiful song.
2. Philip Glass | Spaceship
I was rushing to get to the studio on time, once I got there, one very special lady played me this song. That first time with this song and that lady was one of the absolute top 3 experiences of my life, so far.
3. Donovan | Get Thy Bearings
It was 2006, and no matter what, I was gonna create music, which is nearly all I need. This song helped out, it's such a huge track but with a calm/smoked approach.
4. Mobb Deep | The Learning (Burn)
Me and my musical fwends all sampled this snare that is left alone in the beginning of this track. Know why? Cos it's the best snare in the World.
5. Michael Jackson | Human Nature
The mood of Human Nature, aaah, it's an amazingly well balanced production. Michael was alone in the largest city in the World, singing the official post-sex-calm-song.
6. George Harrison | I'd Have You Anytime
The chord progression is remarkable. If someone ever wanted to be let inside another person's heart, this is the exact melody to sing.
7. J Dilla | No One Knows
Now, Dilla did not produce this particular song, but with his high understanding of music, he was a brilliant rapper too. When Dilla passed on, me and my Swedish beatmaking friends met to share our thoughts and to make a beat in his honor.
8. Paul McCartney | Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
Paul McCartney is a beast!! No kidding around, this song among many is like a respirator to me, musically.
9. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Symphony No. 4 (2nd Movement)
As I understand it, Tchaikovsky was miserable. The first time I heard this was on a early and deeply unsatisfying morning. He has been a huge inspiration to me ever since.
10. Nick Drake | Sunday
2007, Swedish autumn in the air and this album. This song does it all for me. Another one of those melancholic yet uplifting songs!
WARMER MIXTAPES #462 | by Benjamin Christensen [Bones]
1. Omar S | Psychotic Photosynthesis
One of my favorite tracks by one of my favorite local DJs. This track exists in a wonderful space between Detroit Techno and Krautrock. I love how the arpeggiator unfolds.
2. New Order | Turn The Heater On (Keith Hudson Cover)
I found a copy of this New Order Peel Sessions tape outside my friend's house. Best find ever.
3. Brian Eno + David Byrne | Help Me Somebody
I haven't stopped listening to this album since I got it in high school.
4. Erykah Badu | Gone Baby Don't Be Long
Luv dis, don't know what else to say.
5. Kyeremateng Atwede & The Kyeremateng Stars | I Go Die For You
I heard this a couple months ago for the first time and it blew my mind. Shaky english made this song a total gem.
6. Van Dyke Parks | The All Golden
Song Cycle is an amazing album. I like how dense it is. Really beautiful layers.
7. Fleetwood Mac | That's All For Everyone
The texture of the vocals is great. The production is amazing.
8. Laurie Anderson | Example #22
The mixture of samples and live instruments is wonderful. I love the structure of this song.
9. Allen Toussaint | Goin' Down
Off of one of my (and my brothers Sam and Matt's) favorite records. Amazing New Orleans Soul/Funk by the classiest human being ever...
10. Cluster | Hollywood
Music never sounded better when I listened to this track late one night with my best friend.
WARMER MIXTAPES #461 | by Carl Miller
1. Madvillain | All Caps
This was the first song I heard that made me want to make music. I heard it on one of Adult Swim's bumps and was automatically hooked. When I heard this shit, I was still listening to shit like Dipset and Ghostface Killah and had no idea who MF DOOM was. So all I could do was enter the first few lyrics of the song into Google search. Shit changed my life on real serious note. He's easily the greatest rapper of all-time and give a fuck how you fell bout it. No disrespect to the homie Jesus but I find myself thinking... What Would DOOM Do?
2. Jaylib | The Mission (Stringed Out Remix)
One of my favorite songs of all-time. It has such a classic tone to it and is fucking amazing to me. Shit is fucking beautiful. (And if you know me I don't use that word a lot) Like I'm not a suicidal person or anything but when I die I seriously want this to be played at my funeral. I put it in my will, but I don't think my mom would let me play Dilla in the church... But fuck it!
3. Earl Sweatshirt | Kill
This is the first song I heard from the Odd Future Collective. I heard this shit back in April of last year thanks to the homie Joe Moresi a.k.a Plaens. This song is tight as fuck to me and is easily one of the dopest joints I've ever heard. The beat is tight as shit and I've never heard lyrics like that from a kid. I was so used to hearing kids my age rapping about getting drunk and smoking weed so Earl blew my mind with this joint. I heard it when I was 17 and Earl was 15/16 so I was fucking amazed a kid younger than me could come up with lyrics like that. This specific song inspires me only because he's younger than me and could kill me lyrically anytime. Shit gives me incentive to make the best music possible.
4. James Pants | Shower Party
This song is tight on so many levels. The chord progression is crazy and I can listen to this all day if I could. This was my first encounter with James Pants, I heard it back in 2009 and I've been a huge fan of his ever since. One thing about this track is that is has this random ass sample of a dude cussing for no apparent reason. People might find this part of the song annoying or distracting, but I think it makes the song greater than it already is. When this shit plays I visualize a demented scientist playing a Casio keyboard and just screaming at the top of his lungs SON OF A BITCH! while lighting erupts behind him and he starts laughing like he's been inhaling laughing gas.
5. Toony TuneS | Zodiaction
This is one of those tracks that just puts you in a sick ass mood. When ever I hear this I feel like I'm a commander of a intergalactic journey to a planet full of Dominican bitches. I literally heard this shit by accident on YouTube. I pressed a wrong button and this shit popped up but I'm happy as fuck it did. Not only is the beat amazing but the lyrics are ridiculous. The flow is addicting and I dig how he's able to spit gritty ass lyrics with a somewhat sarcastic/funny approach. Uzi did the drums, we bout to get the funds. Megan Good has some really big thumbs...
6. Tyler, The Creator | French!
There's nothing better than a song that makes you want to fight. Everytime this shit gets played I ball my fist up and yell got all the black bitches mad cause my main bitch vanilla... Shit gets me so hype and I can't stand in one spot when I hear it. The way Tyler is blowing up I won't be surprised to hear this being played at NFL stadiums very soon. O, no, Mr. Stokes I don't like misters no. Don't tell R. Kelly where my little sister go...
7. Das Racist | Nutmeg
One of my favorite rap groups, not only right now but of all time. A lot of people like to look at them as sometype of gimmeck/jokey rap group but these kats can rhyme and this is a great example of that. The component that makes this song so tight is how the flow and rhyme off of word association. Half of the lines are witty as fuck while the other half you have to Google just to fucking understand all the references that they spit out. Shit is amazing to me but the original is amazing as well. Ghostface kills this shit and this is easily one of the dopest raps RZA has ever spit. Pass the crack to a niggarette, puff a looseleaf cigarette while your man search the internet for Bob Digitech. In Stereo, crazy as Shapiro multiply myself ten times standing next to zero. And snap my fingers like the Fonz and bag me a golden bronze skinned girl with the honey blonde, dip hair. Make a nigga flip in his chair, had the armpit shaved off perfect with the Nair. Stomach flat as a pancake for her man's sake. Used to fuck her when she menstruate, but it made her hyperventilate...
8. Flying Lotus | Sangria Spin Cycles
It's Flying Lotus... I don't really have anything else to say.
9. Sir Michael Rocks | Stop The Show (feat. Boldy James & Payroll Of DBCO)
The beat is addicting and the flow of the song is dope as fuck. Been a huge fan of Mickey and The Cool Kids but haven't been a fan of Boldy James until I heard Gettin Flicked on the Tacklebox tape. Boldy is sick as fuck and I've been trying listen to all his songs as of lately. Real shit tho the guy Payroll who raps at the end of the record is decent or whatever, but they really should have cut his ass out and let Boldy get another verse. CON-CREATERS!
10. Lil B | I Think I'm Based God
Word around town Based God bought a bitch today... Lil B is tight, I don't care what anybody says. His music is fun as fuck to listen to and it's entertaining as shit. His lyrics may not be like Nas but I'd rather hear an ignorant/irate tirade than listen to a dull ass J. Cole album. WOO WOO SWAG!
+11. Toony TuneS & Mr. Mockwell | CSOD
Song is absolutely amazing to me. It gets me hyped as fuck and just makes me want to punch an infant. Toony kills it on the rhymes as always, dude is one of my favorite rappers right now (right next to Danny Brown). But let's not forget the homie Mr. Mockwell who made this ridiculous eeriee/spooky/crunk type of beat. I have no idea how he came up with it but it's tight as fuck. O, yea, and Mr. Mockwell is only 15... Yea, I just blew your mind like Abraham Lincoln. Take that you old fucks. Mockwell is the future.
+12. Charles Hamilton | The N Word
Charles Hamilton is one of my favorites and I'm glad he's finally back at rapping. Honestly, lyrically I've heard better songs from him, but the beat is a fucking classic. He samples Mr. Rogers, for God's sake, how can you not love Sonic the Hamilton?
WARMER MIXTAPES #460 | by Thomas Schoolcraft [Schoolcraft]
1. Trentemøller | In Progress
I'm confident that this man is the Mozart of the 2000's. In Progress is one of the most well-produced, emotional, groovy, just all-around mind-blowing tracks I've been blessed enough to listen to. Every single second of this song is vividly beautiful and tremendously intelligent. I'm having a hard time thinking up more adjectives to describe this track, really. I'm not even gonna keep typing. Just listen to it. Trentemøller is a higher being.
2. Art Of Noise | Moments In Love (Quiet Storm Version)
Old but gold. It leaves me breathless every single time. A lot of people think of this song as something to have sex to, and while I agree that that might be the best idea ever, it doesn't have to be a sex song. It's an ode to love, not to sex. The Sun's setting outside my window as I listen to this track for the 3174823th time in my life, and it reminds me of how much I adore my closest and most cherished friends. What it doesn't do is make me start jacking off.
3. Tycho | Brother
Tycho is another humongous influence for me. I want to go out and spend $10,000 on some dusty vintage modular synth... Because that dirty analog sound is gorgeous. He makes the dreamiest music in the World. I'm a huge insomniac, and Tycho is usually a requirement for me to achieve sleep. Brother is one of my favorites. It's an excellent soundscape... It reminds me of being inside on a rainy, dreary day, and the TV's on, and the volume is low, and you're not really watching it, because you're too sleepy. You might be looking out the window and seeing how the droplets distort the streetlights in all sorts of beautiful patterns. You might start thinking about how much you miss someone.
4. Kaiori Breathe & Tripwire | The Shortest Distance Between Two Hearts
Kaiori Breathe makes some absolutely heavenly music. He's another huge influence for me... Everything he makes is so honest and emotional. This track that he did along with Tripwire is a HUGE favorite. It's got beautiful glass bell sounds and soft, warm echo-y melodies that are delicately beautiful. It sort of reminds me of a porcelain doll.
5. Sazon Booya | La Arana Negra (feat. Amy Douglas)
I absolutely ADORE the Moombahton movement. I've always thought that dirty Dutch and Reggaeton would go well together... It makes so much sense. La Arana Negra is one of the sexiest things in the Universe. I'm a sucker for vintage drums, which Sazon Booya use on the kick and dembow. The buildups and sirens are CRAZY, and most importantly, it's got that dirty groove that just makes people want to take their clothes off.
6. Cosmic Belt | Do You Feel Alright (feat. Ella Story) (Breakbeat Dub)
Cosmic Belt is so underrated that it's a tragedy. This track makes me feel like I can fly. It's got an excellent 90's Funk Break groove to it, which works so well on top of everything else. The melodies and echoes throughout the entire track (especially in the last two minutes) are just plain magic. This track really reminds me why I love Music so much... It's a six minute, twenty second journey that has been just as fun as I type this as it was all those years ago when I first heard it.
7. Bibio | The Ephemeral Bluebell
Bibio is one of my favorite musicians in the World. I value originality, and this track has it in spades. Like Mr. Sunshine, The Ephemeral Bluebell brilliantly mixes Folk and Electronica... Which aren't easy genres to combine at all. Not only is Bibio skillful in his production - he's also a poet. This track breathes. It's just gorgeous... It invokes so many warm emotions in me. It's lovely. I can't even describe it... It's just lovely.
8. Laszlo | Mr Sunshine
Mr. Sunshine was one of my anthems for this past summer. Within two seconds, I can't help but smile wide. This is one of the happiest songs ever made. The instruments used throughout the track are wonderful - the riff at the beginning of the track is gorgeous, the way you can hear the plucks and twangs of the guitar... It feels fresh and organic. It's a feeling that isn't usually present in Electronic music. The way Laszlo mixes the worlds of Electronic and Folk is absolutely flawless.
9. Uppermost | Funk
A lot of people hate on Uppermost and say he sounds too similar to pre-famous Deadmau5. The influence is certainly there, but I feel like Uppermost took the House Deadmau5 built and made it into a skyscraper. Uppermost's grooves are so forward-thinking and creative... It sometimes takes me up to 20 minutes to listen to an Uppermost track, because I'm constantly rewinding to listen to things I just can't believe I heard. Funk is just one example. It's got another mind-blowing groove once every 16 bars or so. I just can't help but smile every time I hear the voice You want it more exciting?! because I just don't believe that it actually does get more exciting.
10. Sulto | Banega
This is one of the most ingenious tracks I've heard. There are absolutely breathtaking Progressive House builds and sweeps mixed with sexy and subtle dirty Dutch bits. The final drop is absolutely perfect in every way - it's not overdone, and it's not underdone. It hits the sweet spot more so than almost any other House drop I've heard. It's perfect. And it's so thrilling; it just makes me want to jump up and kiss everyone around me. I've been working with Sulto for a while, and he's a genius and a huge influence for me.
1. Quixotic | Sitting In The Park (Billy Stewart Cover)
Wonderful cover of Billy Stewart I guess... I heard this song with my girlfriend in the back of a car of friends at night. The tightness and humbleness of this song shoot me directly in the heart... It was a special trip everyday... We woke up to climbing some mountains near the Mont Blanc surrounded by all these kilos of natures... Listening to music at night put you in a certain state of mind.
2. Sebadoh | Brand New Love
You won't be the first, your twisted change is normal... This band and Dinosaur Jr. and others from this era, got a special place in my mind, we were young, we were playing the drums, skateboarding, fucking around with no questions about the future. Now all I can see is Fukushima all over me... So when I don't want to explode I just looking back in this kind of song.
3. Dynamix II | Atomic Age
I discovered these dudes lately just before the 00's - pure Electro in the real sense of the term, no fuck around just Roland's lover and vocoder shit. It's a dark track but also very positive, when the drop kick, you're just hypnotised by the bass drum and you move your head. Thanks to this great label, Rephlex, who compiled those old tracks, I turned down Rock Music to dive into this new stuff made by computers. Kids don't know the legacy of Rephlex, I mean DMX Krew, Ovuca, Bogdan, Cylob... They were the future.
4. Arthur Russell | Planted A Thought
Such an intriguing one... You got the cello, this crazy haunted voice, and still a beat to dance to while crying... One of the good exemple of the CRYDANCE style I love.
5. Happy End | Natsu Nandesu
Before YMO Japan produced this fine Folk Pop band, straight from the early 70's - if Droopy can sing it would sound like that.
6. Rahsaan Roland Kirk | Black Root
Maybe the first Techno track ever. Using one bass drum kick and 2 saxophones. It is so mystic and at the same time so human. No other words to describe it.
7. Ennio Morricone | Come Un Madrigale
The genius of mankind, how can you think of these notes, and those vocals, how can you not fall in love with Music listening to this masterpiece...
8. Prince | Forever In My Life
My mentor when I was 11... I can't understand this guy... Where does he comes from?
9. Paul Williams | Old Souls
Phantom Of The Paradise is the movie of my life... Nothing more to say or too much.
10. Nick Lowe | So It Goes
Cuz music business is hard, this is a feel good song about shit happening.
