WARMER MIXTAPES #814 | by Alessia D’Andrea/Andrea

1. Fiona Apple | Sleep To Dream 
When I heard Sleep To Dream for the first time I was blown away by Fiona’s Dirty, Masculine and Croaky Voice moving into that Dark Groove. I was very young and still in Love with the beautiful and perfect Singing Voices I was used to listen to… But that Sound was new to my ears. I think it was the first time I started seeing all the other elements that let a Song being Able to Touch You Deeply. Communicating is more important than just Singing.

2. Neil Young | Don’t Let It Bring You Down
To be honest I have more than just one favorite song from Neil Young. I consider him like one of the Best Songwriters Ever. In my mind this song is associated to the moment in which I started Composing Music by myself. I was in a very Seventies period, dressing like a hippie with long braids in my hair and I was just discovering how much Beauty and Art has been so massively created in those past years. This was a very Special Cultural moment, I’m still waiting for a New Wave like that to come back again.

3. Tori Amos | Pretty Good Year
That’s one of my favorites from Tori. Intimate, Delicate and with an Explosion towards the End. This song reminds me of the moment in which I did Crossover my approach to the Piano, passing from Classical Studies to a more Modern way of playing it. Tori’s amazing talent really changed my Conception of Playing Piano and Keys, she has been a crossroad in my Music Journey.

4. Sheryl Crow | Strong Enough 
Those Lyrics. That Sweet and Strong Female Attitude in telling the things, the Truth. Sheryl is definitely another one of my Female Favorite Artists. This song always put a sweet smile on my face: the Life of an Artist is quite Different from the other ones, it’s like a Mission, your Heart has made for Music, Notes flow into your veins and you can feel ready to let your mind Fly High only with the right person, the strong enough man. Too Romantic? Mmhh… My idea was more like OK, are you sure to bear this cross being with me?...

5. Jeff Buckley | Lover, You Should’ve Come Over 
I remember when I bought that CD: Grace. It was because I didn’t find the one I was looking for, so I did fall back on it – one of the best choices I could do! From the first Notes of that album I was raptured by that Fallen Angel Poet. And when I played the track 7 of that CD I was completely in Love with his voice, Forever.

6. Jethro Tull | My God
Strange, but True story. I was nearby the garden of my aunt together with my sister. We were walking the path leading us to her house when I found an old, dirty tape on the street. I took it and kept it in my bag, when at home I cleaned it up and played it in my cassette player: it was Aqualung from Jethro Tull, one of the milestone of Rock Music History. It has been Love at First Sight, that Magic elf playing the Flute did put me under his spell. The weird thing is that only one year later I did collaborate with him! My dream became True: I did record a single with Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull and he personally invited me to share the stage with him as a special guest in some of his Solo concerts and Jethro Tull ones too. Sometimes Life can be so beautiful.

7. Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush | Don’t Give Up
One Song, two Music Icons I’ve always loved. Peter and Kate are two of the most Visionary and so Complete Artists I’ve ever listened to. In Don’t Give Up there’s like a perfect Fusion between the Black and the White, the Male and the Female, the Yin and the Yang, the Sun and the Moon.

8. Ani DiFranco | Shameless 
Funk, Rock, Folk, in a word: Energy. This is what comes into my mind when I thought of Ani DiFranco. She loves what she does and this is absolutely Perceivable. Shameless is one of the songs I literally consumed in the player of my car, as the whole Living In Clip double CD. When I hear this song I always remember a period in which I was travelling with my band, singing in the car while reaching a new place where to gig.

9. Björk | Hyper-Ballad
I already knew Björk, she always fascinated me with her Unique style, but Hyper-Ballad came to my ears together with a Love declaration from a guy I knew. Sweet. I remember that I could play that song for hours. While listening to it I can really see all the “car parts, bottles and cutlery” falling down by the top of the Mountain, as Björk says. A beautiful Metaphor to express the Desire to feel Alive Again.

10. Tanita Tikaram | Poor Cow
It’s a very short, nice song. Easy Lyrics, like a breath of Fresh Air in a Sunny day. I remember that only one month after I recorded a Cover version of Poor Cow I was attending a festival in which she was there too. Unfortunately I didn’t meet her personally, but I knew her manager to whom I said that I was a huge fan of her. After one hour or so, he reached me somewhere in the backstage area and gave me Tanita’s pass: she wanted me to take it as her personal gift for me.