Warmer Climes

WARMER MIXTAPES #572 | by Reilly Steel

Photos by Raynie Alexandria Vratari and Emmanuelle Saliba.

1. Billie Holiday | Solitude
Billie Holiday has a wonderful ability to capture Melancholy and it make it seem appealing. If this is what it feels like to be Lonely, I’d gladly be lonely for the rest of my life. Listen to it Alone by a warm fire on a rainy night.

2. Miles Davis | So What
This was my favorite song to play when I played bass in a Jazz band several years ago. That bassline… Uhg! It’s very playful without being at all cheesy. Plus, it’s all about nuance here—there’s little outright impressive virtuosity, aside from perhaps in John Coltrane’s saxophone solo. The virtuosity lies instead in the Subtlety with which the musicians play. The key change is great too—it’s in D Dorian, and it changes to Eb Dorian for eight bars and then back to D Dorian, throughout the piece. Really subtle but at the same time not at all subtle, because the key change is not one step away on the circle of fifths, like most key changes. Creates a bit of Tension. Who the fuck changes keys to the same mode but one half-step higher? Miles Davis.

3. M.K. | Burning (Vibe Mix)
Just a really well written Pop song masquerading as a House song. It’s simple and conventional but at the same time so weird. Not even that well sung, but that’s part of the appeal I think. I’ve never heard this song played in a club (except by me), but if I did, I would definitely go crazy.

4. Photek | Consciousness
Wow! The drum programming is just incredible. It’s so intricate and weird, but the drums are anchored by these fairly accessible chords. Truly timeless.

5. The Middle East | Fool’s Gold
This whole EP is great really, but this song in particular strikes a chord with me. It has definitely made me tear up on a few occasions. The harmonies and counterpoint are just so beautiful, and the simple orchestration—just guitar and voice—really allows that beauty to shine. Plus it’s great lyrically, and the lyrics sound pretty cool in Australian accents.

6. Burial | Fostercare
On the last day before winter break my senior year of college, I received an automated phone call from JetBlue informing me that my flight, scheduled to depart in five hours, had been canceled. Eventually, after plugging in my phone to the system of the party I was at and playing the message to everyone a few times, I went back to my room and listened to the 5: 5 Years Of Hyperdub compilation, which was pretty surreal considering the circumstances. There was no one else in my building, so I turned my monitors up to the max and just melted in the subbass. I’m not sure how to describe what I felt when this song came on, but it was something close to a religious experience.

7. Burial | Loner
Had to put another Burial tune here. I could list a lot more, really. Anyone who has seen my tattoos will know how I feel about Meaning (Meaning is a fiction), but I feel like this song gives meaning to Life... It makes me feel such a complex series of emotions, from Sadness to Hope, and somehow makes it all palatable.

8. The xx | VCR
Burial is the type of music that I want to listen to alone, but The xx is the type of Music I want to listen to with someone else. This song has 46 plays on my iTunes, and I’m pretty sure there was a girl in the room for almost all of them. There are few things better in Life than watching something on Netflix with a chill girl (because I don’t have a VCR) and then listening to VCR.

9. Aretha Franklin | Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel Cover)
The original by Simon & Garfunkel is great too, but Aretha gives it so much Soul. I’m love Gospel, despite being not at all religious, and the instrumentation and arrangement are Gospel as fuck.

10. James Blake | Love What Happened Here
This song makes me feel so happy. I’m dancing in my bed right now as I listen to it and write this. The chords are so warm, the melodies and samples so playful, and I just can’t listen to it without moving my body.

Honorable mentions: