WARMER MIXTAPES #921 | by James Mulholland [Techniques]

1. Tom Vek | Things Are Here To Stay
I can’t help but Love everything this guy does. This song is a great introduction to Tom’s work; his inimitable Vocal Delivery and insanely moreish Distorted Synth Sounds. I first came across this song in the form of a 5” Promo Vinyl that was attached to the front of a magazine. It was the B-side for his forthcoming single and the song was etched over both sides. Side A was Things Are Here... and Side B was …To Stay. I’ve still got the Vinyl and it’s probably the best giveaway I’ve ever got my hands on.

2. The Juan Maclean | Dance With Me
Electronica, but no Laptops in sight. They’re the last Bastian of Organic-Electro-House-Synth-Pop. James Murphy used to be the Engineer for John from The Juan before DFA kicked off/John was signed to the label. This is 14.07 mins of Magic and the last song of his first album. Nancy Whang’s nonchalant Vocals kill me. Before the Drummer died (tragically falling down a lift shaft at a party in NY), the Live show was incredible. I saw them in Manchester at a small place called the Deaf Institute and they brought their own Tron-style Laser Lighting Engineer with them which was off the scale. It used to take them hours to set up for a show with all the Analogue gear and then it was like cross your fingers and hope that nothing fucks up. It never did.

3. Elvis Presley | Return To Sender (Girls! Girls! Girls! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
My dad really likes Elvis and this is a song that reminds me of being tiny. The version I Love most is the one that’s in the Film Girls! Girls! Girls! from 1962. I’ve remember being mesmerized by how in control of the Performance he seemed to be and trying to copy his moves. The Melody and Double Bass Action are great too.

4. Depeche Mode | Enjoy The Silence
This is an insane piece of Writing. It’s the perfect Pop tune for me. Again, reminds me of being tiny. Having a much older brother who was into all this stuff kind of filtered down into my collection. I remember constantly demanding it be played on his Record Player.

5.  Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band | Bat Chain Puller
Perfectly Mad. What’s Don Van Vliet on about? I’m still working that one out, but Love the Myth that the tune was based on the Rhythm of Beefheart’s car windscreen wipers.



6. The Smiths | Still Ill
The Morrissey/Marr allegiance is a strong as it ever was on this track. The serendipitous marriage of Morrissey’s Vocals and Marr’s Guitar is tough to beat. It reminds me of when I became obsessive about getting better on Guitar. I used to play this incessantly until I nailed the Riff, all the way through, without any mistakes. I was a tough taskmaster in those days.

7. Fischerspooner | Emerge
Their most Popular track by far, but for good reason. I virtually ran down to the Record Shop to buy it after I heard it. The Arpeggiated Riff in itself is simplistic, but it just has that special something. This track really opened me up to a lot of different Sub-Genres of Electro Music and Club Nights that I go to… And it also inspired me to go off and make my own Electronic Music.

8. !!! | Pardon My Freedom
This band blew my mind when I first found out about them. They came to the fore when all the Indie-Dance stuff was taking flight a few years back, but these lot had blazed the trail a few years previously. The Singer used to be in a Hardcore band before he turned to the Dance-side and it shows on record; sometimes he just lets rip Screaming over a Dance track. There’s so much going on in their tunes, but it's all tightly knitted together by an incessant Groove. I’ve spent hours trying to work out what the fuck was going on with their early Song Structures. I did a gig with these lot a few years back in Manchester and this song was their best Live.

9. The Strokes | Take It Or Leave It
The Strokes' first album is one that won’t go away. I was given this on a Tape Cassette by a friend at College to try out. I remember walking back home one day and this was the first track that came on. My Walkman was pretty knackered at the time so it sometimes played tracks at Half Speed. So my first Introduction to The Strokes was hearing Julian Casablancas singing 2 Octaves Lower than he should be… I could still tell it was a killer track though. I played with The Strokes some time ago which sort of cemented my Love of the band.

10. Nine Inch Nails | The Hand That Feeds (DFA Remix)
This is one of the Best Remixes. It’s everything that I wanna hear. I Love it when Remixers just take a great Vocal and completely Re-Write a New Melody around it. Reznor’s gutsy delivery combined with the DFA Production Ethics makes for some serious listening. You’d struggle to find a better Dance track that has Live Drum And Bass Recordings on it.

+11. Nick Drake | Road
I’ve always Loved my Acoustic Music. My first Guitar was a Classical and I Love trying to work out Nick Drake's crazy Tunings from the records. Road has a huge presence, but yet it still feels very vulnerable with Drake’s Soft Vocals. It’s one of those songs that no matter what I’m doing I just have to stop and listen to it when it comes on the Stereo.