WARMER MIXTAPES #1559 | by Mauricio Herrera of Altazores

1. Los Jaivas | Sube A Nacer Conmigo Hermano
So you like Pink Floyd? Hahaha... Then you should listen the album Alturas De Macchu Picchu of the Chilean group Los Jaivas. The lyrics are a poem by Pablo Neruda included in his book Canto General. It talks about the glorious Indigenous past of Latin America. Another of its key albums is: Mamalluca.

2. Los Tres | La Vida Que Yo He Pasado
Los Tres were the first Chilean Rock band who recorded an MTV Unplugged where they played some of the songs in the style of Chilean Folk Dance called Cueca. The band’s guitarist Angel Parra was my guitar teacher while I studied Music in College and teached me to play Cueca and many other styles. He encouraged me to independently record my first album with my band Altazores and helped me to compose Eclipse De Sol song that gave me then some money for several years when I was poor and had no job. Thank you, Angel!

 3. Violeta Parra | El Guillatún
The most important Chilean artist of all time, one of the major Latin American folklorists, Angel Parra’s grandmother. She played guitar better than Jimmy Hendrix and composed more visceral songs than Kurt Cobain. She was the first Latin American artist to exhibit her works in The Louvre Museum in Paris in 1964. She committed suicide in 1967 by a gunshot to the head… Mainly because Chile failed to understand her genius.

4. Los Prisioneros | We Are Sudamerican Rockers
This was the most important band of my country. Their songs written by the genius Jorge González were the anthems of protest against the Military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in the 80s, influenced the thinking of the Chilean youth since. Nothing more to say. There was their reunion concert in 2001, I was there, I was 16 years old. Some years later the guitarist Claudio Narea gave me a guitar when I won a competition for young bands called Balmaceda 1215, I was only 19 years old.

5. Los Prisioneros | El Baile De Los Que Sobran
Written by Jorge González, this song is an anthem in Chilean Popular Music, the title translation would be like The Dance Of The People That Are Leftover, it’s about the issue of Social Inequality that starts with Education for different economic classes in my country. The original studio version sounds like Depeche Mode, but just listen to this mind blowing live version…

6. La Ley | Prisioneros De La Piel
La Ley is one of the most popular Latin American bands, they are also Chileans. Their leader and founder, Andrés Bobe, died in a motorcycle accident. The band went on, they recorded an MTV Unplugged, won Grammys, some of its members formed another band called Saiko. This song influenced the way I play guitar, similar to The Edge of U2. On April 10 of 2012 I was in the rehearsal room of Saiko preparing a solo concert of their vocalist Denisse Malebrán, I didn’t have the strap of my guitar, then I look among the guitar cases that were saved there, I opened one... And there it was... Andrés Bobe’s guitar! (which appears in the video)... So I used it during the rehearsal! Then, when it finished and I was just about to go back home, I heard on the radio news: Today marks 18 years of the death of Andrés Bobe. Again, I was shocked. That day I chose to go home walking and not driving...

7. Saiko | Lo Que Mereces
This is a song composed by Denisse Malebrán of the Chilean group Saiko formed by members of the group La Ley. I was lucky to be her guitarist when she embarked on her solo career. We went on tour in Chile, I learned a lot from her leadership, professionalism and the tremendous strength of women. I admire her and I will always be grateful to her, I listened to her songs when I was just 16 and inspired me to be a musician. In 2012 we played this song at the Velodrome of the National Stadium Of Santiago De Chile in a tribute to the victims of the Pinochet dictatorship, this place which besides being the main sports stadium was also a torture center… That day I listened 35 thousands people singing this song so loudly that it gave me the willies! Denisse these days works for the government of Michelle Bachelet.

8. Lucybell | Cuando Respiro En Tu Boca
Another of the most recognized Chilean bands, I was lucky to play guitar for a while during the solo career of Francisco González, drummer of this group. Good song.

9. Tiro De Gracia | Melaza
This song comes from one of the best Chilean records ever: Ser Hümano!! (Being Human!!). It's an album of Hip Hop, one of the most developed styles in our Popular Music.

10. Ana Tijoux | Somos Sur (feat. Shadia Mansour)
Ana Tijoux is a chilean Hip Hop MC. It's one of my main influences, I admire the way she writes her lyrics about Social Justice and the sound she creates in her albums with the sound of traditional South American instruments.

+11. The Verve | Bitter Sweet Symphony
1997, no Internet on those days, hearing the Wolrdwide Top 300 on the Chilean radio was the only way to discover New Music. Suddenly the violins came in and before 10 seconds my mind was fucking blown away! What a masterpiece! It sounded so expressive and exciting! This hymn will transcend Time.

+12. Altazores | Todo Tiene Un Final 
Everything Has An End... The first radio hit of my band Altazores included in our album Secreto Detrás Del Caos (The Secret Behind The Chaos). I wrote it as a birthday present for my girlfriend in my recording studio in Santiago, she suffered from bipolar disorder and she was very depressed over the death of his grandmother, we had no jobs, we had no money to pay the rent or for buying food. It was a very sad and difficult time for us. Although composing this brilliant hit took me just one hour, the royalties from the song were so abundant that gave me money for four years and a record deal... I'm a genius!