WARMER MIXTAPES #611 | by Phil Barry [Mr Fogg]

1. Radiohead | Everything In Its Right Place
It's amazing to think that Kid A came out nearly 12 years ago. I remember the day it came out - the 2nd October - was also my first day at university in Leeds. I walked the 2 miles into the city centre to buy it first thing in the morning and listened to it on the way back. When EIIRP came on as Track 1 I was completely blown away by the Purity and Clarity of the sound. In some ways it's sad to think that this record is more than a decade old because so much Electronic Music has been made since then but so little forward progress.

2. The Beach Boys | Sloop John B
This song represents the moment at which it became apparent for the first time that I had some form of Musical talent. When I was a child I had a red plastic imitation electric guitar. Only two or three strings survived beyond a couple of weeks, but for some reason one night I taught myself to play this song on the ones that remained. To this day I couldn't tell you where I heard it, or why I was drawn to it, but even though I had no concept of what notes or frets were I taught myself to play the entire melody.

3. Psychid | Room 512
I first saw this band in 1997 (when they were called The Full Monty) and have been banging on about them ever since. I seem to be one of only about 5 people who has ever heard of them. They only made one album, but two of the band are now Hook And The Twin.

4. Mogwai | Christmas Steps
I think this is the only song that I have ever heard on the radio and immediately gone out and bought. I heard it as part of a live session on Mary Anne Hobbs' Breezeblock show on Radio 1. Halfway through there was a technical error and Mogwai's performance was interrupted somewhat incongruously by Bentley Rhythm Ace and Beats International. There's a great violin solo at the end of the EP version which for some reason only known to the band was barely audible on the album.

5. Eddie Cochran | C'Mon Everybody
When I was growing up 90% of car journeys were soundtracked by either The Best Of Buddy Holly or a cassette compilation called Then Came Rock 'n' Roll, which is where I heard this song. It's probably my favourite Rock 'n' Roll track.



6. Billy Corgan | ToLoveSomebody (feat. Robert Smith) (Bee Gees 'To Love Someody' Cover)
I think I'm one of very few people who got something out of Billy's solo album. Like most of the record, this song is drenched in layers of fuzz and you have to work quite hard to get to the gems hidden underneath, but when the chorus arrives it suddenly soars on to a totally new level thanks to Robert Smith's backing vocals and some inspired songwriting on the part of the Gibb brothers.

7. Godwits | Mapmakers
This is where I indulge in a bit of claim-to-fame-ing. When you play a lot of shows you quite often end up seeing bands early in their careers and it's sometimes difficult to predict which ones are going to be successful. I saw Godwits' second gig when I was DJ-ing for John Peel day in Reading nearly 6 years ago and thought they were brilliant. I was so convinced that I bought their CD and sent it to two A&R people I knew but neither of them paid any attention. Dry The River - the band they became - entered the UK top 30 earlier this year (5 and a half years after that gig) with their album Shallow Bed. It's a classic example of an overnight success.

8. Cantankerous | Flesh Roast
Bad language, good song. I heard this when I was working at a record label. New Music was always tested on the office stereo and I remember being immediately struck by this one. Feral, the singer, came in for a meeting and refused to remove her mask. Everybody was speculating that she must have been previously famous for something else. It turned out that she had guested on a Boy George record in 1988.

9. Michael Jackson | Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough
This song sums up to me the great songwriting talent of Michael Jackson. It's the only song that he wrote on Off The Wall and also the best song on the album. Anybody that hasn't it heard it should look up the demo version which features several members of the Jacksons playing different instruments. There's no doubt that Quincy Jones' brilliant production takes the finished version to another level, but the demo gives a real insight into the level of sheer talent behind it.

10. Björk | In The Musicals
Dancer In The Dark has to be one of the most depressing films ever made - it starts off dark and only gets darker. The only moments of relief are the songs that Björk's character sings in her imagination. One of the many great things about this song is the way she plays with Musical theatre instrumentation, even throwing in a tap-dance solo for good measure.