WARMER MIXTAPES #812 | by Oscar Scheller [Oscar]

1. Big L | Da Graveyard (feat. Lord Finesse, Microphone Nut, Jay-Z, Party Arty & Grand Daddy I.U.)
This song is just great. Big L is my All Time favourite Rapper. I love how he mixes sick Humour with quick Wit and killer Rhymes. No one does it better. Off his debut LP Lifestylez OV Da Poor & Dangerous, probably my favourite 90s Rap album. Plus the Beat is MASSIVE. Best heard very loudly.

2. Ride | Here And Now
This song will always remind me of my foundation year at Camberwell Art School in London. Being introduced to Ride was a really notable chapter in my Musical Development. I'll never forget coming back from a party which was quite out of the way and involved a nearly empty double decker bus which I sat at the very front top deck at, speeding along the M1, and that Sound coming on my iPod and it summed up everything perfectly, the Hopefulness of Youth, the Desolate Winter, the Night and the Light. From the very opening of the Guitar Riff, Rolling, Repeating, to the Symphonic Harmonica (an instrument I was never fond of before this) and then the clitter clatter of the Drums, all swelling, swaying with the passing twilight trees and car headlights.

3. Alton Ellis | I'm Still In Love With You (feat. Hortense Ellis)
I found the most amazing Jamaican Record Shop in Harlesden (with a Café attached to it), got talking to the owner and eventually found Alton Ellis Sings Rock And Blues on 12". It's been on repeat all Summer with open windows.

4. Blur | Sweet Song
It was Spring time and I'd just left Secondary School. I was on this date, at least that's what I thought it was, with a rather Cold and Indifferent girl, and we sat on the Southbank and she gave me a list of Music I should listen to and this was my favourite on it. I think I listened to it about fifty times that day. I Love the Mellowness of this track, the little bit of Talking at the start, the Fading, the Hypnotic Groove. The beautiful Ascending Melody of the Refrain. It's off of my favourite Blur album Think Tank. Damon Albarn almost sounds like he's giving up on trying to stay Awake.

5. Lemon D | Manhattan Melody
I'm five years old, in my Godfather's Jeep, and he's be driving through London fast, blasting this track on his Minidisc player. I remember even then being really into it, head banging, and still to this day, it's goes harder than any track I've ever heard.



6. New Order | Ceremony
Can't remember the first time I heard this one, but there are so many memories attached to this piece of Music. It's got such a great Atmosphere and the decidedly Rough Production gives it a driving energy, those Clumsy and Constant hi-hats throughout. I really Love this song, especially when travelling on trains. It somehow always matches the rhythm of the passing pylons. I always feel like if I were ever to make a Film, this track would either begin it or end it.

7. Magic Arm | Outdoor Games
I haven't really listened to much else of Magic Arm's, but he seemed to have almost outdone himself on his first try. It can't get better than this. There's a Humble Beauty to this song, which may be down to the Lullaby Vocals, or the gently Guitar picking, or just the general warmth that as caught in the Recording. I have such a vivid memory attached to this one. I was in the Caribbean, sitting in a minibus, climbing up the twists and turns of those Island roads. The Sun was setting, and we were driving higher and higher and I could see so much Horizon, the glittering Sea and the Shadows of the Road and it was a Real Moment.

8. xxxy | Ordinary Things
This song is one of the first Electronic songs to really make me Feel (other than some Burial). The Vocal Sampling is so Perfect in this and the Progression and journey it makes is so satisfying. Heard it the first in Manchester. There is something so Resonant in theVocals, in the Mood of the song, that I connect with. Not sure what that something is and that's even better.

9. Slowdive | Alison
One of my Favourite Albums of All Time, Slowdive - Souvlaki, which I discovered when I was about 19. The first Shoegaze album I properly connected with (I admittedly had a hard time with Loveless to start with, although that relationship deepened and became very good). Anyway, this track Alison is my favourite cut from Souvlaki. Partly because of its Woozy and Fuzzy Headed Brilliance, but also because of the Feeling it evokes. There is something so Sad about the Lyrics, that summarises the Fleetingness of Youth, but also the feeling of something being so close, but so unattainable. She smiles, and tells me it's just fine, I guess she's out there somewhere.

10. The Wannadies | Someone Somewhere
Instant Gratification, Euphoric Melody, Grungey Guitars and the Good Old Melodica. It reminds me of the car mixtapes my Mum use to make, which would consist of the Radio Pop Hits of the Time, plus the Odd Gem, like, occasional Kraftwerk or The Slits. This track was one of the latter and is definitely a highlight.