WARMER MIXTAPES #522 | by Charlie Abbott and Samuel Fisher of Countless Others
SIDE A | by Samuel Fisher
1. The Postal Service | Clark Gable
I am heavily and geekily obsessed with the combination of Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard. Gibbard is really catchy with his vocal melodies but also supremely nonchalant. Tamborello makes the snappiest drum machine parts and synthesizer hooks that I think I've ever heard and puts it all into really sparse, careful arrangements. There's a certain soooo-rightness to every detail in every dimension of the Postal Service's song-writing that I've only just begin to appreciate fully.
2. Peter Bjorn And John | Up Against The Wall
Speaking of bare Pop-melodic beauty, super catchy lines, and patient musical grace - Peter Bjorn And John are great. I could honestly listen to the 3-note guitar and bass riff of this song all day. The lyrics tell a really visceral story that I can get deeply into over the song's 7 minute duration.
3. Say Anything | Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too
Another song that is catchy to the maximum. The arrangement is totally stripped down and completely based around hooks and a groove. I hear the lyrics of this song as being totally honest but totally humorous at the same time. It's a feel-good song talking about angsty, dumb things while recognizing how angsty and dumb those things are. I take a similar route to enjoying stuff like Panic! At The Disco. It's just wonderful how playful Pop-Punk can be.
4. Reptar | Houseboat Babies
Reptar are some of my hometown Athenian friends who are up and coming in a huge way now. The high-energy electronically-augemented Indie-Pop that was starting to happen in Athens, Georgia while I was in high-school was a huge influence on where my taste is now. During that time I was doing the synths and drum machines and what-not for the band Wowser Bowser - who are also doing really well and are about to release a debut album. Anywaaaay, this an utterly fantastic and energetic song that I'm really proud to put on here because of how close to home it's origin is.
5. PEPEPIANO | Perfect Lives
PEPEPIANO is one of the most talented musicians I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and this is my favorite song of his. His music is stuffed with an unspeakable amount of life and detail that most Electronic producers wouldn't even think of approaching. Within these involved and rapidly shifting sound collages is brilliantly constructed Pop Music. While he definitely takes cues from the sunshiny sample-based Psychedelic jams of other California-based producers, PEPEPIANO's is a completely unique style that can only be attributed to one dude and must be heard in order to be believed.
6. Underworld | Two Months Off
Underworld has this brilliant way of expressing pure happiness and energy through their music. This song is full of a sense of genuine wonder and beauty. It's full of heavy movement but has a slow fluid development. Underworld have been a profound influence on the way that I write music. I don't have the right words to express how perfect they are.
7. Four Tet | Ribbons
Departing rom energetic Pop Music, I also listen to a lot of very Minimal Electronica that tends to put you in that blissful trancelike state. And when it comes to that kind of vibe I think Four Tet is king. The way he uses really organic sounds with little bits of warm distortion and the amount space you feel in the mix is totally wonderful. I could go on forever but you should just listen to it. He's a master.
8. Savath Y Savalas | Paths In Soft Focus
Don't even try to make me try to put the mastery of Prefuse 73 aka Savath Y Savalas into words. This track contains the best drum machine work in the history of Electronic Music right around 2 minutes in when the Reggae guitars fade out and cut-up cello part enters. Every time I play that for a musician they poop in their pants.
9. Drake | Dreams Money Can Buy
Dreams money can buy. Everybody yelled surprise, I wasn't suprised. Simple enough. This song is full of really satisfying hooks. Drake does sound like an asshole but you gotta look tough for the Rap game, right? We all have our obligations... My dream is that he reads this and then insults me in one of his raps.
10. Deastro | Kurgan Wave Number One (Solvent Remix)
I heard this song in a trendy little Surf shop in San Diego but neglected to ask who it was and then later had a hell of a time trying to figure out what it was purely based off the lyrics Where were you when I needed you. Eventually I traced it to Deastro's original version at which point I was like The vocal melody is still great but... Maybe I don't like this instrumental as much as I thought I did... But it was different before!... After a little more searching I found this remix on Ghostly International's Horizon Lines compilation and bought it. This is definitely a gem of Electronic Pop Music. The drum machines are right in your face and the arrangement is really Minimal but full of really wonderful little synthesizer lines and drum hooks which perfectly offset's Deastro's introverted, baritone vocal. I feel like this remix does a lot more for his vocal style than his straight-forward Rock guitars and lots of spacey layers approach does - it gives the melody space and lets it speak for itself a lot more.
SIDE B | by Charlie Abbott
1. Wax Monsters | Neo Kobe City
These dudes are way cool. Their tunes are so so so so so killer. Neo Kobe City grooves real hard. Wax Monsters fo lyfe. For real, give it a poopload of listens.
2. The Sound Of Animals Fighting | Skullflower
Super good, super strange. One of my favorite bands ever ever ever, they push a tonnnn of limits on all of the stuff they've written and I love it.
3. Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip | Waiting For The Beat To Kick In...
Nobody does it like Scroobius Pip. His storytelling abilities are out of this World, all the imagery in the song is so vivid. Also Dan Le Sac makes a super super tight theatrical backdrop, filling a whole ton of space with only a couple instruments, accenting certain words and phrases in the lyrics and shit.
4. Eleven Tigers | Made Of
Perfect to listen to on a winter day. So precise and focused, and each of the sounds are so defined and totally baller. Funtimes.
5. The Fall Of Troy | Tom Waits
Always loved The Fall Of Troy since I was a young'un. Thomas Erak has a pretty bad voice but they mask it pretty well on this album. Instrumental parts are crazy and fucked up, supercool.
6. Idiot Pilot | Sparkplug
Idiot Pilot is the bees knees. Around 0:16 Sparkplug hits with this HUGEEEE wash of sound that is sooooooo powerful yet controlled. They also use this awesomely tasteful screaming that complements the rest of the mix realllllly well.
7. Ludacris | One More Drink (feat. T-Pain)
Greatest song of all time. Superb beat, Luda is on point. T-Pain destroys shit, it's awesome.
8. D'Angelo | Playa Playa
Every song D'Angelo has done has been s0s0s0s0s0s0s0 Funky, Groovin, sexy, and incredible. Alas I had to pick one song. Playa Playa is the first song on Voodoo and was the first D'Angelo song I listened to. It's soooper good.
9. Tera Melos | Last Smile For Jaron
What can I say. Tera Melos is one of the most original, totez ballin, groups out there. This song gets me errytime. I <3 it a lot.
10. Weezer | Say It Ain't So
Funtimes. Koolsong.
+11. The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza | Yippie-Kay-Yay Motherfucker
This was the primary influence for June 10th Motherfucker. Butforrealz, Danza is real heavy, real fun, and the end of this song in particular is nut.
1. The Postal Service | Clark Gable
I am heavily and geekily obsessed with the combination of Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard. Gibbard is really catchy with his vocal melodies but also supremely nonchalant. Tamborello makes the snappiest drum machine parts and synthesizer hooks that I think I've ever heard and puts it all into really sparse, careful arrangements. There's a certain soooo-rightness to every detail in every dimension of the Postal Service's song-writing that I've only just begin to appreciate fully.
2. Peter Bjorn And John | Up Against The Wall
Speaking of bare Pop-melodic beauty, super catchy lines, and patient musical grace - Peter Bjorn And John are great. I could honestly listen to the 3-note guitar and bass riff of this song all day. The lyrics tell a really visceral story that I can get deeply into over the song's 7 minute duration.
3. Say Anything | Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too
Another song that is catchy to the maximum. The arrangement is totally stripped down and completely based around hooks and a groove. I hear the lyrics of this song as being totally honest but totally humorous at the same time. It's a feel-good song talking about angsty, dumb things while recognizing how angsty and dumb those things are. I take a similar route to enjoying stuff like Panic! At The Disco. It's just wonderful how playful Pop-Punk can be.
4. Reptar | Houseboat Babies
Reptar are some of my hometown Athenian friends who are up and coming in a huge way now. The high-energy electronically-augemented Indie-Pop that was starting to happen in Athens, Georgia while I was in high-school was a huge influence on where my taste is now. During that time I was doing the synths and drum machines and what-not for the band Wowser Bowser - who are also doing really well and are about to release a debut album. Anywaaaay, this an utterly fantastic and energetic song that I'm really proud to put on here because of how close to home it's origin is.
5. PEPEPIANO | Perfect Lives
PEPEPIANO is one of the most talented musicians I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and this is my favorite song of his. His music is stuffed with an unspeakable amount of life and detail that most Electronic producers wouldn't even think of approaching. Within these involved and rapidly shifting sound collages is brilliantly constructed Pop Music. While he definitely takes cues from the sunshiny sample-based Psychedelic jams of other California-based producers, PEPEPIANO's is a completely unique style that can only be attributed to one dude and must be heard in order to be believed.
6. Underworld | Two Months Off
Underworld has this brilliant way of expressing pure happiness and energy through their music. This song is full of a sense of genuine wonder and beauty. It's full of heavy movement but has a slow fluid development. Underworld have been a profound influence on the way that I write music. I don't have the right words to express how perfect they are.
7. Four Tet | Ribbons
Departing rom energetic Pop Music, I also listen to a lot of very Minimal Electronica that tends to put you in that blissful trancelike state. And when it comes to that kind of vibe I think Four Tet is king. The way he uses really organic sounds with little bits of warm distortion and the amount space you feel in the mix is totally wonderful. I could go on forever but you should just listen to it. He's a master.
8. Savath Y Savalas | Paths In Soft Focus
Don't even try to make me try to put the mastery of Prefuse 73 aka Savath Y Savalas into words. This track contains the best drum machine work in the history of Electronic Music right around 2 minutes in when the Reggae guitars fade out and cut-up cello part enters. Every time I play that for a musician they poop in their pants.
9. Drake | Dreams Money Can Buy
Dreams money can buy. Everybody yelled surprise, I wasn't suprised. Simple enough. This song is full of really satisfying hooks. Drake does sound like an asshole but you gotta look tough for the Rap game, right? We all have our obligations... My dream is that he reads this and then insults me in one of his raps.
10. Deastro | Kurgan Wave Number One (Solvent Remix)
I heard this song in a trendy little Surf shop in San Diego but neglected to ask who it was and then later had a hell of a time trying to figure out what it was purely based off the lyrics Where were you when I needed you. Eventually I traced it to Deastro's original version at which point I was like The vocal melody is still great but... Maybe I don't like this instrumental as much as I thought I did... But it was different before!... After a little more searching I found this remix on Ghostly International's Horizon Lines compilation and bought it. This is definitely a gem of Electronic Pop Music. The drum machines are right in your face and the arrangement is really Minimal but full of really wonderful little synthesizer lines and drum hooks which perfectly offset's Deastro's introverted, baritone vocal. I feel like this remix does a lot more for his vocal style than his straight-forward Rock guitars and lots of spacey layers approach does - it gives the melody space and lets it speak for itself a lot more.
1. Wax Monsters | Neo Kobe City
These dudes are way cool. Their tunes are so so so so so killer. Neo Kobe City grooves real hard. Wax Monsters fo lyfe. For real, give it a poopload of listens.
2. The Sound Of Animals Fighting | Skullflower
Super good, super strange. One of my favorite bands ever ever ever, they push a tonnnn of limits on all of the stuff they've written and I love it.
3. Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip | Waiting For The Beat To Kick In...
Nobody does it like Scroobius Pip. His storytelling abilities are out of this World, all the imagery in the song is so vivid. Also Dan Le Sac makes a super super tight theatrical backdrop, filling a whole ton of space with only a couple instruments, accenting certain words and phrases in the lyrics and shit.
4. Eleven Tigers | Made Of
Perfect to listen to on a winter day. So precise and focused, and each of the sounds are so defined and totally baller. Funtimes.
5. The Fall Of Troy | Tom Waits
Always loved The Fall Of Troy since I was a young'un. Thomas Erak has a pretty bad voice but they mask it pretty well on this album. Instrumental parts are crazy and fucked up, supercool.
6. Idiot Pilot | Sparkplug
Idiot Pilot is the bees knees. Around 0:16 Sparkplug hits with this HUGEEEE wash of sound that is sooooooo powerful yet controlled. They also use this awesomely tasteful screaming that complements the rest of the mix realllllly well.
7. Ludacris | One More Drink (feat. T-Pain)
Greatest song of all time. Superb beat, Luda is on point. T-Pain destroys shit, it's awesome.
8. D'Angelo | Playa Playa
Every song D'Angelo has done has been s0s0s0s0s0s0s0 Funky, Groovin, sexy, and incredible. Alas I had to pick one song. Playa Playa is the first song on Voodoo and was the first D'Angelo song I listened to. It's soooper good.
9. Tera Melos | Last Smile For Jaron
What can I say. Tera Melos is one of the most original, totez ballin, groups out there. This song gets me errytime. I <3 it a lot.
10. Weezer | Say It Ain't So
Funtimes. Koolsong.
+11. The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza | Yippie-Kay-Yay Motherfucker
This was the primary influence for June 10th Motherfucker. Butforrealz, Danza is real heavy, real fun, and the end of this song in particular is nut.
