WARMER MIXTAPES #655 | by József Iszlai [Signal Shot]

1. Dorothy Ashby | The Essence Of Sapphire
This one is kind of a more recent discovery of mine but I consider it as an ideal composition in terms of Chord Progression, Chorus and Technique as far as Popular Cool Jazz goes. I’ve heard it in a Floating Points mix and immediately fell in Love with it. What’s even more important than the technical aspects in this case is the mood and atmosphere of the song which I find incredibly fascinating. It’s the apex of Optimistic, Joyful Music, really.

2. Ryoji Ikeda | data.flex
The whole dataplex album is quintessential for any Music afficionado in my opinion. Fortunately we live in a time when labels like Raster Noton are recognized as Unique and Highly Important curators for Contemporary Music. This tune called data.flex is not as disturbing as many other tracks from the album would be and defines itself as an interesting take on Musical Language. Ikeda is an Audio-Visual artist that uses sounds that are small as artifacts and he always challenges the listener with really interesting compositions. I am a big fan of him and imagine his music as a perfect soundtrack for a society built around Technology.

3. The Bad Plus | Flim (Aphex Twin Cover)
I consider The Bad Plus a fantastic Contemporary band among many other Jazz ensembles. I’ve chosen an Aphex Twin cover because it represents the respect that they have for Electronic producers. There’s always a great debate over Acoustic versus Electronic performances and I am fond of this particular cover because it shows that both can exist together in peace. Oh, and by the way the drums are amazing just as on any other Bad Plus recording.

4. Burial | Spaceape
Early Burial, yes. And it’s awesome. I love the culture of Bass Music, I tend to read about it quite a lot. Spaceape is a fantastic MC, his voice (even though it is processed a lot) is amazingly unique, it fits Burial’s sonic identity really well. I could go on forever talking about Burial’s tunes, I love how he disregards Beatmaking conventions and builds his own language from forgotten pieces of Sound. There’s this famous quote from Miles Davis when he says that musicians should play what’s not in there. Well, this is actually that. Off Beat rhythms, instruments out of tune, and Field Recordings. It shows great character and an inspiring Creative Confidence.



5. Radiohead | Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box
First song off the Amnesiac LP. The only band I can say that I’m a fan of is Radiohead. This track shows their mastery of Sampling and the amazing ideas of the band and the production skills of Nigel Godrich (for example listen to the guitars mixed into the tune). I love their processing of sounds embedded into Alienating Contexts, I’m a massive fan of this song from every possible point of view.

6. Led Zeppelin | I Can’t Quit You Baby
It’s pretty hard to find words when it comes to praising Led Zeppelin. I have grown up on their music and I consider Jimmy Page the first and last original Guitar Icon in terms of Recording and Playing Style. Listening to Page’s guitars I learned that just because you are a guitarist does not mean that you have to play the instrument as a guitar. This recording is awesome and I love everything about it: the vocals, the guitars, the rhythm, everything. When the second guitar solo kicks in the kick drum goes absolutely wild, I couldn’t love this tune more even if I tried to.

 7. MF Doom | Hoe Cakes
Hoe Cakes is something really special, the Beatboxing sample just makes me smile every time I hear it. Plus I love the whole concept of this album entitled MM Food. I don’t necessarily believe in Music being a vehicle for Humor but somehow Doom pulls it off quite all right. Love the lyrics and the flow as well. I used to listen to a lot of Hip-Hop and from most of the producers and MCs I look up to I think this one really stands out.


8. Can | Vitamin C
This groove is quite Anachronistic in its own unique way. Still up to this day almost none of my friends believed that this song was written in around 1971. I’m a big fan of the Krautrock movement and Can because almost every band was thinking ahead of its time. Sort of similar to the before mentioned Modernism, really. Vitamin C clearly represents that in my opinion. I particularly love the end of the song, it’s an absolute mindbending experience.

9. Miles Davis | All Blues
Even though people tend to think that this tune is fairly Simple and Straightforward compared to other works released under the name of this Musical Genius, I absolutely beg to differ and rejoice greatly in the piece’s Simplicity. The thing that made me fall in Love with this tune was the piano arrangement by the great Bill Evans. When I first heard it I was completely awestruck by his ideas on the recording. It’s an essential listen, that’s for sure.

10. Charles Ives | The Unanswered Question 
In terms of Historical Context and perceiving Music as a Textural Art form I must say that nothing ever fascinated me more than 20th Century Modernism. I tend to believe that there was a definite breach as far as Diatonic Melodies, Classical Structures went in Musical Arrangements. This is a great American example for Modernist composition. The Unanswered Question does not only adress Dissonance as a Philosophical Concept but it shows great character from its composer (Charles Ives) and it proved to me that Music doesn’t necessarily need to have Creative Boundaries. You can basically write anything your heart dictates and you can easily bend the rules of Classical Composition.