WARMER MIXTAPES #786 | by Chris Gallant [Gallant]
1. Toni Braxton | Breathe Again
The epitome of Nostalgia. Came out the year I was born, but whenever I hear it I remember it as if I were an adult in that era. Black & White furniture. Oversized suits. Beautiful women that look like they walked off the set of Mary’s I'm Goin' Down video.
2. The xx | Angels
I’m Claustrophobic. Sometimes it feels like I can’t breathe. This song has a ton of Air. Spin this record and you’re on a raft in the middle of the Ocean. Or lying on your back in a huge field in Ireland. Or alone with your thoughts in an empty cathedral. Pick one.
3. Brandy | Have You Ever?
Her voice sounds like my Childhood. Like UPN and a Yellow Game Boy Color. Like Fox Family and 9 different memory cards for that one system. Like the frustration of only being able to use AIM when your parents weren’t expecting any calls. Like the incorporation of holographic into your Social circle’s vernacular. Special.
4. Musiq Soulchild | Ms.Philadelphia
At the edge of the neighborhood I grew up in there was a long, winding wooded trail. Huge trees. Super green. There were two wooden bridges and one rushing-water creek on the way to my best friend’s doorstep. When I was 10 until about 14 I would bike that trail all the time. Not sure what happened but we lost touch. I left home and moved to New York a couple years later. In a crowded subway terminal I looked at the far end and saw my best friend standing there. We forgot why we lost touch. Last summer we both went back home. I walked that trail and this was the soundtrack. True story.
5. Girl Next Door | Gūzen No Kakuritsu
Before I heard this I would only listen to Ayumi Hamasaki or BOA’s Japanese stuff. Or I don’t know -- the Digimon soundtrack or something. Whatever. I liked J-Pop a lot. This song and this band knew exactly what sounds I wanted to hear. Triangle and Winter Crystal will send debilitating chills down your spine, too.
6. Billy Joel | The Longest Time
Heard this in an episode of Alvin And The Chipmunks when I was a kid. Looked up the real version eventually. Inspired. Most of the demos I do are totally A Cappella in this style. Oliver & Company also used to be my favorite movie. Billy Joel.
7. Monica | For You I Will
My mother used to play this all the time when I was an infant. Or maybe she didn’t. Either way, I think of her.
8. Newtimers | Falling
Found this on Soulbounce a couple months ago. How did they write such a money hook. Dude's voice is crack. It feels like the Future, but sounds like 25 years ago. The Chord Progression in the pre chorus is sick, the lyrics are ill and the stop right before the second verse puts me in a coma. Newtimers. Went to visit my best friend at Yale and showed it to him. He thinks it’s dope, too.
9. Solange | Some Things Never Seem To Fucking Work
They don’t.
10. Dionne Warwick | Heartbreaker
Argued with a best friend about the lyrics to this when we were both like 9. Or maybe we were 11, who cares. I thought the lyric was hot baker or something. She called me an idiot. I’ve gotten way better at using context clues.
+11. Jackie Wilson | Lonely Teardrops
Used to practice the part where he goes Just. Give. Me... Aaaahhh until I got the run right. Also been trying to cop that hairstyle for years now.
+12. Bon Jovi | You Give Love A Bad Name
I was obsessed with Pop bands from the 80s for a while. There was this girl in High School who was obsessed too. We sang this all the time. I remember it came on in her parents’ car one time and we went buck. I wish she would return my calls. I miss her a lot.
