WARMER MIXTAPES #1618 | by Travis Marsh (Amanda & Travis)
1. Thelonious Monk | 'Round About Midnight
I still remember the first night I put on this record. I was attending Middle School and was just getting into Jazz. I had worn out Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis and was hungry to find that flash of Genius in Music once again. I used to have a subscription back then to Guitar World magazine and they had an issue that came out that spoke about old Jazz musicians and the Fathers of Bebop. The article had a photo of Thelonious and he exuded cool with his pork pie hat and hipster suit coat. I immediately bugged my mom to drive me to Target and I picked up my first CD by the Monk and stuck it in my boombox when we got home. 'Round About Midnight (later named just 'Round Midnight) came on and... If jaws really could drop - mine did. It sounded like organized chaos. Dissonant notes flying from speakers left to right, but all in a beautiful fashion. I was hooked and this record has grown and stayed with me ever since.
2. Third Eye Blind | Narcolepsy
From the shimmering clean electric guitars to the power chords smacking you across the head... This song has it all. Stephan Jenkins really has a way with words and I absolutely loved the guitar solo played by Kevin Cadogan. I Love when The Music really matches The Words, there is an amazing tempo change after the last chorus where everything slows down and the pick scratches and slides down the neck while Stephan sings Sliiddeee!. Very neat!
3. Townes Van Zandt | Waitin’ Around To Die
Townes has always played to my secret inner desire to be an outlaw cowboy. This dark tune travels through abusive parents, Drug Abuse, Prison, and fly by night women all under a haunting finger-picking guitar. His solemn voice howls at The Moon.
4. Van Morrison | Into The Mystic
Van Morrison’s voice warms like a lullaby. Tied to his deep imagery of Mother Nature, it sets you at ease. Into The Mystic is one of those songs that feels like home when you close your eyes and belt out I want to rock your gypsy soul. Just like way back in the days of old... Then magnificently we will float into The Mystic... Elliot Scheiner, the engineer for this track, is at the top of his game. He has the acoustic guitars strumming along to the horns, blowing air through your speakers like the angels' horns from up above.
5. Steely Dan | Do It Again
Not much has to be said about Walter Becker and Donald Fagen’s legendary writing duo. Donald Fagen sucks you right in from the top playing a groovy Wurlitzer riff behind syncopated Latin rhythms. I’ve always wanted to write Music that just grooves like this one. It can put you in a trance.
6. Nick Drake | From The Morning
We suffered a great loss with the suicide following shortly after this critically-acclaimed album Pink Moon by the English songwriter Nick Drake. In contrast to some of the darker songs on the album, like Parasite, From The Morning has this ounce of Hope that you can hear in his voice over the beautiful orchestral-like acoustic guitar. A day once dawned, and it was beautiful.
7. The Jackson 5 | I Want You Back
Michael’s voice on this track has the energy of Otis Redding and is undeniable. Just on that thought alone, I am completely dumbfounded every time I put this on. Wilton Felder just nailed it on the bass guitar for this track. This is definitely the most fun I’ve had learning a song on bass for the first time. I Want You Back is a quintessential tune and home run for the Motown band and writers. Props to Berry Gordy on this one!
8. The Doobie Brothers | Black Water
Some songs just ring with you in a way that can only be described as undeniable. Black Water is one of them. It makes you, wants you to witness some voodoo and eat some beignets down at the French Quarter with some Dixieland Jazz jamming in the background. I absolutely am mesmerized by the fiddle shredding over that simple little acoustic guitar riff. The A Capella section really makes the song. I love how the different members are hard panned left and right and the voices seem to just bounce back and forth between the speakers. This song must have been so much fun to mix!
9. Counting Crows | Sullivan Street
The electric guitar and piano dance with each other under Adam’s yearning voice in this song. This song has always evoked so much Emotion from me that sometimes it has become too hard for me to listen to and isn’t that what excellent Songwriting is all about? Unlocking all the emotions we drown throughout the day, but beg to be released. Adam Duritz paints these beautiful word pictures that are simple, but cut deep into the soul. He really touches on that moment when you know it’s over. When you are stuck in the same town with a broken heart, it can be hard to escape your emotions when everything reminds you of a different time. I Love the picture when he says, Where all the bodies hang on the air... If she remembers, she hides it whenever we meet. Either way now, I don’t really care...
10. The Avett Brothers | Murder In The City
I have always loved The Avett Brothers for their simplistic wholesome songs. I feel like I can always tell when songs are really from the heart and have some truth to the songwriter. This song is a great example. I have a very tight and close family and I relate to the deep Unconditional Love touched on in this song. In Murder In The City, Scott Avett speaks as if he was murdered and how he wants his family to deal with the aftermath. The song ends over one of my favorite quotes of all time, Always remember there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.
