WARMER MIXTAPES #1351 | by Christopher Jack Touchet [t0uchet/ECCOWAVE/m0nt1ker/bitter glitter/alt-tab/Reva MP/Ash] of Oaksloth

1. Aphex Twin | Kesson Dalef
This is the song that made me want to get back into playing piano. It reminded me how beautiful the instrument is, and I actually learned how to play it from memory! More than that, Richard D. James has been a major influence on my Music. When I was 11 years old my step-dad had a demo copy of Fruity Loops 8. I think the Come To Daddy EP, Drukqs, and I had a summer of nothing to do. Those two releases probably influenced my musical tastes more than any ever.

2. Telefon Tel Aviv | The Birds 
I have a very distinct memory of listening to this on the way to set up the first and only practice of Little Big Bear, an almost Math band, just after it finished raining and the Sun was starting to peer through the clouds. I'm not sure why, but that memory has stuck with me since then, and every time it rains I just have to play it.

3. Boards Of Canada | Aquarius 
Not too long ago I was doing yard work, mowing, weed eating, and clearing as much as 20 acres of land, and I was not getting paid very well. I was however allowed to do all of that with headphones in, and when I was particularly fed up with everything going on around me and the sleep I wasn't getting, I'd play this and lose myself to the numbers... Looking back it makes me feel a little bit crazy, but that's cool.

4. Hikaru Utada | Sanctuary (Opening) (Kingdom Hearts II English Version Original Soundtrack)
I recently used this song in a remix released on Kingdom Hearts In Theory, and with very good reason: when I watch the opening to Kingdom Hearts II it gives me goosebumps and makes me sniffle a little bit. I remember getting it for my birthday when it came out, and I geeked hard. I played all day everyday for weeks, but this song is where all those memories are cradled.

5. BLCK RNBVV | Get Naked (I Got A Plan VVith Crim3s)
There are many musicians that brought Chillwave to my forethought, finding Washed Out, Toro Y Moi, Maelstrom, Okinawa Lifestyle, but it was Darkwave that I fell head over heels for, and this was the album that did it to me, and this is the song that sold me. The half speed vocals, the Funk appeal, the effects, it was just everything I ever wanted.

6. Gold Panda | Police 
I used to work at this pottery shop in the more historic town nearby, cheese shops and farmers markets mingled with old churches and stuff. When I wasn't working, I'd go out for a walk and just take everything in. I actually have a Lomo camera, I can't remember what type exactly, but I'd bring it with me and just take pictures of everything. 1 out of 3 rolls of film were able to be developed and only 5 of those pictures were of the pottery shop, but they turned out lovely and I actually used them as album artwork for my old project Reva MP.

7. FLYamSAM | Green Tea Power 
Flying Lotus is one of my single most favourite producers. What he makes is lovely, and FLYamSAM was just golden. I watch this video for Green Tea Power at least once a week. Flying Lotus heavily influences my Music, I can't exactly explain how, but I'm never not thinking about his Music.

8. J Dilla | High
I was raised on 4 things; Aphex Twin, Monster Magnet, Dungeons And Dragons, and A Tribe Called Quest. J Dilla's take on sample based beats changed my entire perception of Music. When I used to go to my friends' houses in the middle of the night, while it was raining, wearing my dark hoodie, baggy jeans, and a black backpack with my laptop in it, this is what I was listening to.

9. Clark | Herr Barr
Herr Barr blew my mind, it's a tough call between this and Night Knuckles when it comes to Clark, for me. Both songs showed me the absolute beauty of music boxes, bells, marimba's all sorts of percussive sounds. Clark also gave me a really good look at some really Glitch-y, Dance-y, sad-but-happy IDM/Drum And Bass that probably scaped the whole of what I make today.

10. Death Cab For Cutie | Brothers In A Hotel Bed 
No joke, this song is the song that always reminds me not everything's okay and makes me cry a little bit. But also, it makes me sad and I can only seem to play the piano in minor keys. I just like sad sounding notes, and this song really made me fall in love with it as a concept. Is it a sad song? Yes, but more than that, it's heavy. It makes me feel - physically - an emotion unrelated to my own life. At that point I am living the story, and that is just one of the most amazing things I could ever even imagine.

I know it was said more than 10 is fine, but I don't think I could justify that, I'd want to just keep going and going to no end. The thing is, all of the songs I've listened to are all attached to memories big and small, for the importance of what song was playing when I decided it was time to stop being sad all the time and just enjoy Life, to the smallest thing like the rush I get when I wake up thinking aw damn, I've got 10 minutes to get ready for work. Music is a breath of Life to the World around me, it gives all colours and sounds place, a rhythm to fit into. Even when it's just the sound of the train passing by to the pump of the kick in my headphones, it makes me melt a little. Every moment of my life, every beautiful note I've heard and every coarse one I couldn't stand has impacted my musical tastes in one way or another, and that fact alone makes every song special to me.