WARMER MIXTAPES #254 | by Louise Quinn of A Band Called Quinn

1. The Jesus And Mary Chain | Some Candy Talking
I grew up in East Kilbride where The Jesus And Mary Chain are from. I went to a Catholic High School there; St. Brides but hung around with some students from Calderwood high. They were indie kids and friends of Linda Reid - little sister to Jim & William. They introduced me to her at The Ballerup Hall Disco - I put my hand out to shake her hand?! She either didn't see because of her fringe or was too cool to shake my hand. Recently William recorded with The Pastels in our flat - I was still a bit star struck!

2. T. Rex | Cosmic Dancer
I used to go to Paddy's Market in Glasgow on a Saturday - a big flea market that was great for vintage clothes shopping & picking up records. I bought a T. Rex record there & started wearing fringed clothing immediately. It reminds me of my best friend at the time Angela - we used to walk round East Kilbride late at night singing songs & riding around in shopping trolleys.

3. The Pixies | Gigantic
Kim Deal is a total hero of mine. I saw them there recently at The SECC and they were fantastic - even though they insisted on playing all their B sides first...

4. Portishead | Glory Box
Reminds me of coming home from The Sub Club in Glasgow & being in love...

5. Maxi Geil! & PlayColt | Message To My Audience
Met this Brooklyn based band through MySpace a few years back & got them to play at Club Tromolo in Glasgow. They are amazing & we are lucky enough to have vocalist Guy Richards Smit appear on our new album The Beggar's Opera. They have toured with the Scissor Sisters - why they are not as big or bigger than them completely confounds me...

6. David Bowie | The Cygnet Committee
I was lucky to have siblings who were more than a decade older than me & schooled me in the appreciation of music from the golden age of rock! My brother Peter used to make mix tapes & he played this over & over. He was very good with language - he writes poetry & bins it (a real shame) & used to dissect the lyrics...

7. MGMT | Time To Pretend
This was one of the opening tracks for the theatre production of The Beggar's Opera by Vanishing Point we were in last year so I have fond memories of that. I think it's a great album & I love the attitude of this song. We were fated to pretend is a line a lot of artists can relate to - you feel outside of that whole kids/ 9-5/ life insurance/ job security thing. The creative life is a risky one & you just have to accept it & roll with it...

8. Nico | I'll Keep It With Mine
Chelsea Girls is a beautiful album. My good friend Mr. Tich gave me Songs They Don't Play On The Radio to read which I thoroughly enjoyed & made me totally empathize with Nico. This record captures Nico's voice so well; it's so raw & you can hear all the rough edges in her voice and the beauty.

9. The Shins | Turn On Me
I love the melody in this song. I listened to it a lot when I came out of The Burnsong House - a songwriting house I was in for a week with Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub, Jo Mango, Nuala Kennedy, Roddy Woomble (Idlewild), Midge Ure, Ziggy Campbell (Found) and Lisa Marie. I like the theme of being a bit too trusting & naive around people & getting your fingers burned (ouch!)...

10. The Stranglers | Hanging Around
Inherited from my older brothers Peter & Shug again. They were punks & used to play this all the time. It was one of the first songs I learned to play on guitar & inspired me to wear a bikers jacket! This is my cop a 'tude song...