WARMER MIXTAPES #8 | by Rob Verrecchia [Ghost Hunter]

1. Susumu Yokota | Secret Garden
I visited Thailand recently and went to this really great complex of temple ruins called Sukhothai. I was on my own so I hired a bike a cycled around listening to The Boy And The Tree by Susumu Yokota. The eastern instruments, percussion and vocal samples providing a sound track to this impressive destination was intense! I developed a fever over the day and ended up having a little nap under the gaze of one of the biggest Buddhas in the park, subsequently having these really trippy fever dreams.

2. Liars | There's Always Room On The Broom
I wanted to go see these guys soon after I moved to Sheffield a few years back and tried to find some friends to go with me. They all wanted to listen to it first though, so I played them this track...It must have been a bit too scary because they all said no. Eventually I talked one guy into coming, pretending that I didn't have any of their stuff. The gig was incredible, it was just before Drums Not Dead came out. At a couple of points I did worry I was in some kind of freaky evil ceremony with the chants of Blood! Blood! Blood!...The band got booed a lot by the lame Sheffield crowd.

3. The Future Sound Of London | Papua New Guinea
I read once that FSOL saw electronic music as a way to show off just how much you had travelled. This song though, has got such a cheesy 90's faux-ethnic vibe to it. The vocalist sounds so western. It's like a really naïve image of Papua New Guinea...There's no way they ever went there. Still, it is totally badass.

4. John Coltrane | Peace On Earth
When John Coltrane died, he had a load of unreleased recordings. His wife, Alice Coltrane, re-imagined these tracks, putting on her own lush harp and string arrangements. She was apparently slated for this but it's one of my favourite Coltrane albums. You get this incredible sense of John communicating with his wife from beyond the grave.

5. Forest Creature | Edit 2
Forest Creature are probably my favourite Sheffield band. We swapped demo CDs a while back. They used to be really noisy but if this track is anything to go by then they've turned an awesome new corner. Its all synths and heavy bloopy analogue drums. There's not all that much exciting stuff going on in Sheffield really, considering it's the home of Warp Records but these guys are a breath of fresh air.

6. Gang Gang Dance | Egowar
I went road tripping a few years ago around Europe and pretty much all we listened to was GGD and the Cocteau Twins, apart from when we were on the Autobahn when we stuck strictly to Kraftwerk. I still kind of think GGD and Cocteau Twins sound kind of similar even though they probably don't... This track totally reminds me of that trip...The weird campsite next to an empty swimming pool; the beautiful wooden woodcutter's house's which turned out to be brothels; playing our toy keyboard late into the night...Nice.

7. Oneohtrix Point Never | Betrayed In The Octagon
It's hard to stand out if you make ambient music...But this guy sure does. One of my favourite artists at the moment. All arpeggios and warbling synths working their way around in the loveliest of melodies.

8. Munch Munch | Flashbangmicrowavestory
I'm good friends with Tom from Munch Munch and the music he makes has always inspired me a lot. This is from their original demo EP a few years ago. At the time I was just beginning to get my head round producing on my laptop and this track definitely set the bar for me. It sounds pretty rough now compared to their latest stuff but I still love it.

9. Stag Hare | Holy Quinn
This guy takes me on journeys through forests, past lakes and over mountains. From beautiful sunny mornings to dark nights round a campfire. Some of the most mystical, dreamy music I've ever heard. Someone sign this guy up! I want to get his stuff on vinyl!

10. The Beatles | Strawberry Fields Forever
Everyone knows how awesome this is...Do I really need to write anything? I'm dead into The Beatles at the moment, working my way through the anthology on DVD. I was brought up listening to them as my dad plays in a tribute band and used to go to all his gigs when I was growing up. When I was older I even played at a few of them, when his George Harrison was ill. I wore a wig and everything! I'm not sure how many people know, but the famous version of this track is actually two different takes of the song (which are at different keys and different speeds) spliced together. Lennon liked the beginning of one and the end of the other and left poor George Martin to make that work for him. George Martin was an incredible producer.