WARMER MIXTAPES #694 | by Miles Uroshevich [Grow Horns] of Ann Weigel

1. Nurse With Wound | Ubu Noir
In the past few months I have begun to Experiment with LSD again. During one of my first recent trips, after taking a break from the drug for about 3 years, I must have listened to this track at least 40 times. The term raw power doesn’t even begin to describe the Stripped Down Majesty of this Somewhat Uncharacteristic NWW track. The Metallic Vocals, the Timeless Lyrics, the Overall Gut-Punch Simplicity of the song Blend to Create a Perfect Vision of Music at its Finest, Most Depraved. When I was tripping to this song on repeat, I saw myself Zooming Over an Alien Desert in some sort of Pod Racer via Star Wars Episode One. Burning Wreckage in my Wake, and Nothing but the Promise of Love Ahead of Me.

2. Country Teasers | It Is My Duty
From a very Early Age my aunt and uncle (who were Full Blown Punx in the 80’s, Blue Mohawks and all) always made sure that I was Hip to the Best Music on the Planet. By the time I was 7 years old they had me on a steady diet of Crass, Eater, and The Fall. I vividly remember taking a tape my aunt made for me back to my parents house. My mom caught me jumping on the bed screaming at the top of my lungs, I AIN’T NO GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH! ala the amazing Misfits track Where Eagles Dare, needless to say my mom was less than Thrilled. Then Naturally, both mine and my aunt/uncles tastes changed over the years, while still Retaining the Overt Punk Mentality that we all shared. I was about 15 y.o. when my uncle clued me in to the Country Teasers by way of this song, It Is My Duty. I remember falling in Love with them immediately, as they conveyed the same Punk Ideology that I was familiar with (Fuck the System and Do What's Right for You, even though the World is a Cruel Demon that will ultimately Kill You) but it was Wrapped in this Amazingly Low Brow Package Full of Twangs and Hollers in a Brilliant Lampooning of American Country Music. Very Unique and just the Right Brand of Bizarre, this band and this song in particular have remained an Integral Part of my Musical Outlook ever since.

3. Julian Cope | Waco-Pops
Back in 2009 I moved in with a friend of mine from High School named John K. John and I are Very Different in a Lot of Ways: He is Conventionally Attractive (Tall, Slim, and with good Bone Structure) where as I am the type of person you need to stare at for a few minutes to see that I am more than a Pile of Hair and Dirty Laundry. Also John is the picture of Health, he eats well, and ultimately he worked so hard that he is now a Yoga Instructor in California, far from our Mutual Hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. The difference there being that I am a Chain Smoking Alcoholic. Differences aside, John and I shared a lot of Common Ground in that we are both Major Stoners, we both Love Film, and most of all, we are Obsessed with Music. Our Favorite Way to Share this Common Bond was in the Age-Old Practice of Swapping our iTunes playlists back and forth. I’d have to say that One of the Biggest Musical Bombshells John ever dropped on me was introducing me to British singer/songwriter Julian Cope. Upon hearing him, I instantly imagined him as the Perfect Fusion of Syd Barret and Daniel Johnston. The Playful Nature of Daniel mixed with Syd’s Lyricism and Intrinsic British outlook. I really could have picked any number of Julian’s songs for this mixtape, but this one is just so Well Written and Simple. In my mind, Simplicity is One of the Best Qualities a Piece of Music Can Have.

4. The Mothers Of Invention | Lonely Little Girl
I was always into Frank Zappa the way a lot of people are into the Beatles or Led Zeppelin, I see him as an Old Standby who never lets you down. For one reason or another, I had never really heard much of the really old shit he did with his band Mothers (of Invention). That all changed in 2010 when my good friend Miguel got me Hip to their record We Are Only In It For The Money, the cover of which is a parody of the legendary Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. While we lived together, Miguel and I probably listened to that record over a hundred times. This was always my favorite track because of how it just sort of bounced around in your head as you listened to it. It also contains one of the best lines I have ever heard in a song which is, All your children are poor unfortunate victims of systems beyond their control...

5. Half Japanese | I’ll Change My Style
Half Japanese is an Enigma. How does One of the Greatest Bands of All Time spend a 30+ year long career in Relative Anonymity? I don’t see how its Possible, but I thank my Lucky Stars everyday for the fact that I was Able to Hear their Music. Half Japanese Set Me Free in many ways. Most Importantly they showed me that Music is Fun, which helped me not take myself so Seriously as an Artist, and that I didn’t need to be so Hard on Myself. When you see any footage of these guys playing you can tell that they are having a Blast, which is a Rare Thing to See in Music these days. I picked this track as a Challenge to the Reader, the Studio Version of the song is Fine, but when they play it Live in some random living room in the Jeff Feuerzieg documentary The Band That Would Be King you are allowed to hear the song in a More Primitive State. Seek out this version if you can, it is One of the Best Three Minute Audio/Visual Spectacles I have Ever seen.


6. Le Shok | She Prefers Whips
Here is Another Gem my aunt and uncle bestowed upon me at an Early Age. Le Shok was a Five-Piece Electro-Punk band that lived out its short life in California during the Early to Mid 90’s. They put out a handful of singles and EPs and only one Full Length record to my knowledge. At the time they were one of those bands that made me say, I have never heard anything like this before and that is why I love it. I chose this song because it is the Audible Interpretation of Sex in its Wildest Incarnations. You have to Grind and Bump with it. It Moves You.

7. Mika Miko | I Got A Lot (New New New)
Alas, this band broke up right as I started to get into them. Another California 5-piece consisting of four ladies (two vocalists, Guitar and Bass) and a dude on drums, Mika Miko made me wanna Dance with Reckless Abandon. This is by far my favorite track of theirs, Simple and Impossibly Catchy. Also, the video that they made for the song is the Cutest Thing I have Ever seen.

8. Pregnant | Uphill Divination
I feel like I have had to track down Pregnant’s Music over the years like a Bigfoot enthusiast, only in this case, my target is Real. Not unlike Bigfoot however, Pregnant sightings are Very Rare. I first found out about Daniel Trudeau (the man behind Pregnant) back in 2007 at the height of my obsession with MySpace through a now defunk record label called Absolution And Burial. From the beginning Pregnant was a standout on the label, and after it ended he kept cranking out some of the Most Bizarre and Complex Pop Music I have Ever heard. I can’t even begin to describe his sound, but try to imagine a one man version of Roxy Music as seen through the eyes of Harmony Korine, and you're sort of on your way to Understanding what this guy is all about. This is his Best Track in my opinion, whenever I hear it my Mouth Automatically Curls into a Jealous Smile, because it is just Too Good, Almost Too Good for Being Made by One Guy. Embrace yr new obsession, PREGNANT.

9. Rasputina | Holocaust Of Giants
Anachronism.

10. Black Pus | The Wise Toad
The work of Brian Chippendale has been a Keystone in my Artistic Outlook for the Past Decade. Whether it be as the drummer for Infamous Noise Rock Duo Lightning Bolt, solo as BLACK PUS, or as a member of Mindflayer (I stole the name Grow Horns from a Mindflayer song of the same name) the guy can do No Wrong in My Eyes. Ardently Experimental Fields of Alien Noise and Color have Hypnotized Me for Years, all Generated by This One Man. I chose this song because I attempted to cover it once in a band that I was in called Ann Weigel. We quickly abandoned the idea because we knew we just couldn’t Rock it the same way Pus did. Oh well...