WARMER MIXTAPES #1069 | by Edward Griggs [Ted Zed]

Photo by Pattie Boyd

1. David Bowie | Oh! You Pretty Things
I love this song because even today it sounds young and vibrant; it’s a 70's gem. I love David Bowie and this was my favourite period of his career, creating alien Pop songs for the androgynous Martian in all of us!I love the suggestion of humanity’s insignificance when the golden race comes down to a younger generation, implying homo-sapiens have outgrown their use. My mum introduced me to David Bowie, her first ever vinyl single was Life On Mars?… It's a cool first buy if you ask me.

2. Justice | Phantom Pt II
When I was 14 I got a laptop and discovered Music Programs like Logic and Cubase and how useful they were for making interesting sounds and recording my ideas. Justice were already hugely popular by the time my best friend and I decided to start writing Electro Music, which consisted of cheesy synths and 4 to the floor beats. But all the weird noises and cheesy dance songs we made actually taught me a lot about Production! Phantom Pt II is raw, and Rock And Roll, even though it's made on a laptop, that’s what made Justice so great… They made dirty Electro Music that sounded wrong, but so right.

3. Neil Young | Old Man
Every summer this song blasts through the car speakers, it's so soft and well constructed it's just perfect; you can tell Neil Young gets the vibes of the times and change perfectly. I live in Somerset, the West of England. It’s real farming country and in the summer, when the sun actually shines, it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s proper English countryside, the fields are gold and green and there's this real sense of optimism, which Old Man has too. I've taken hundreds of walks down the rickety lanes listening to it. Now it’s become an integral part of the summer for me.

 4. Bullion | Get Familiar
This song came to me at a time when my own musical experimentation was at a high point…Perfect timing. I was at Music College in Bristol where everybody was listening to Drum And Bass whilst I was listening to Jimi Hendrix. I wanted something different. This song was playing in my friend’s car on a late night returning from College. It was extraterrestrial and the synths were slightly abstracted from the drums. It was green and menacing and became the soundtrack to a dark space in time on my commute back to civilisation on a late night in Bristol. I stared out the window watching the other travelers scurry along, there was a businessman on the phone blowing steamy breath into ice cold air and the roads seemed like dark portals to another planet. This song created the blueprint for my own track Alien Monday. Get Familiar is a truly evil alien piece of Music, beware!

5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience | Hey Joe 
This was another track I became obsessed with at College. I would listen to it on the train home over and over again. I just love its feel and groove… Hendrix is a genius. He really got me into guitar and the whole idea of the sonic wizardry that goes with it. Even though the guitar is relatively understated on this track, he makes it sound so epic. And there’s something amazing about the contrast between the female backing vocals on the Hey Joe’s and Hendrix’s edgy delivery.

6. Daft Punk | The Son Of Flynn (TRON: Legacy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
What a great film, but the music was even better! Daft Punk have become Electro stars and this track turned me on to the sound, the arpeggiators and the ambience they create. The clean digital darkness of their soundtrack made the film explode out of the screen. I always use this track as a basis for any space sounds for my own music.

7. Todd Rundgren | International Feel
For anyone with an open mind and an interest in wizardry, check out the album A Wizard, A True Star, it's a real trip! Todd Rundgren is a clever man… His experimentation with synths is mind blowing! And he does everything himself including playing the instruments, producing, engineering, vocals, etc. and I relate to this as I work this way too. It's all about the madness in artists for me. International Feel is really catchy and really crazy. It's true Space Rock.

8. Nirvana | Lithium
Kurt Cobain was one of those guys who were rooted in vibe and angst, but there's a chilled humour in Lithium that's great. This song is the antithesis of giving a shit… A perfect example of a great melody that gets heavy exactly where you want it to, and that’s what I love about Nirvana.

9. The Flaming Lips | Do You Realise??
I was lucky enough to see them perform this track at the Glastonbury Festival in 2010… It was incredible! The sky was as black as ink and there was this epic Floydian finale that just exploded the atmosphere and everybody knew how crazy it was! They're nuts. I have so much respect for the authenticity they bring to everything they do. Their performances are a spectacle and Wayne Coyne is a hero of mine. Do You Realise?? is 100% Psychedelic positivity.

10. Michael Jackson | Earth Song
I was just two years old when it came out and it was the first song that made a real impact on me. It's still etched in my memory and had a real effect on kick starting my love of performing. The song may have a glitzy 90's production, but as a child I couldn't get enough of it. There was a painting in our living room I’d stare at for hours listening to Jackson wailing what about the trees and the howling Gospel choir responding what about us with this sense of unified angst. It’s Hollywood, but it IS epic Shamone.

+11. Pastor T.L. Barrett And The Youth For Christ Choir | Like A Ship
I love the positivity and Spirituality of this song... It's truly out this world and whenever I want to feel good and empowered I stick this on. I find that there's this idea with a lot of artists that to make great Art, it has to be a painful, brooding experience. But with Gospel Music you realise that, even when things are rocky, there’s always a silver lining. That’s why I love this song.