WARMER MIXTAPES #1052 | by Tom Gould, Sashi Dharann, John Parkinson and Rhys Richards of World's End Press
SIDE A | by John Parkinson
1. Vangelis | Five Circles (Chariots Of Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
One of my first musical memories. I was 4 years old. It may even be the start of my memory as I can't recall anything happening before this. My family were all woken at 4am by the automated alarm function on our Hi-Fi unit, this was the song that came on. We were off to catch a flight to America and this heroic synthesised music was what we moved our luggage into the car to. It seemed like we were going off to another world.
2. John Lennon | Mind Games
This is once again one from really early childhood. Dad would always play John Lennon stuff, which I'm glad I was exposed to at an early age. It's not totally surprising that his music seems so familiar, but I think it has a lot to do with the honesty in his expression than his complete cultural saturation.
3. Kraftwerk | Radioactivity
I had a tape of The Mix that was mostly lodged in the tape player in Dad's car when I was growing up. He taught at the same school I went to, and we both had a one hour commute together morning and night. We'd listen to Kraftwerk most times. It was the sped up version of Radioactivity that I remember the most. I recall he drove a lot quicker when it was on.
4. Primal Scream | Exterminator
My friend Russ and I used to read Mojo magazine together and kind of obsess about British Music when we were younger. We saw Primal Scream all dressed head to toe in red when they toured this album. Bobby Gillespie at this stage was the snarliest, most vitriolic singer I had ever seen and I wanted to get angry about something. It was a phenomenal noise.
5. Underworld | Something Like A Mama
Beaucoup Fish was one of my favourite albums when I was growing up. I used to listen to this on all modes of public transport on a Discman. I found buses to be the most suitable. But a special mention goes to trains; especially with all the pad sweeps in this one (great with fast approaching/departing objects).
6. Spiritualized | Shine A Light
Rhys and I and a few friends from school went up to Melbourne one night to see Spiritualized. We were all majorly into the albums, but nothing really prepared us for the mind melt of seeing them live. The sudden transition from extremely loud walls of feedback into the very tender Shine A Light is one of the most incredible feelings I have ever had seeing a live band. I was carried very far away that night.
7. Faust | Jennifer
Just out of school. Doing stupid things, getting high, playing and listening to music a lot. This song gives me that bittersweet nostalgic feeling. Such a great time was had. I love the rainy day texture.
8. David Bowie | Subterraneans
I remember being in the passenger seat on a late night drive when the whole Low album was playing, when this track came on we were driving past road workers in full length welding suits, sparks were flying everywhere in the dead of night and it all seemed very otherworldly with the musical accompaniment.
9. Suicide | Touch Me
Walking around the city listening to Suicide's second album was one of my favourite pastimes a few years back and every now and then I like to revisit this phase.
10. Floating Points | Truly
I first heard this track on RRR, a Melbourne community radio station driving home from my Telemarketing job. Within a week I had converted to being full time on the dole, attempting to further my production skills. Everything Floating Points does sounds so perfect.
SIDE B | by Sashi Dharann
1. Prince | Strange Relationship
A true Prince fan can never pick a favourite song. A true Prince fan can't even pick a B-side to play without fear of being mocked for not choosing something obscure enough. I just picked this because it's a great synergy of instrumentation, groove, song writing and emotion from the tail end of his best creative period in my opinion. It represents a lot of his ideas at the time in one song.
2. Toro Y Moi | Say That
I got into Toro Y Moi by chance, reading that he was really into the first Babyface record... So am I, and you can hear it in this song, amongst other great influences. I love the sounds he always chooses and the simple but effective grooves he coaxes out of every instrument. He gets lumped amongst the Chill-Wave/slacker/bedroom/baseball cap guy scene, but he deserves so much more than that. He's a lot more dense, and enjoyable too.
3. Diana Ross | My Old Piano
Everyone that is into Dance Music knows they owe a lot to the Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards hit machine. This one is just an amazing example of them and drummer Tony Thompson locking in like no one else could. Rodgers gets all the credit he deserves, but Edwards' orchestral arrangement on this is so tight it gets me every time.
4. Grace Jones | Slave To The Rhythm
Ladies and Gentlemen... Miss Grace Jones. The end.
5. Paul McCartney | New
Paul McCartney has such an amazing, expansive solo career. This is the lead single from his new record. It's a nice hark back to the Revolver era. Calm down, I'm aware this is by far not his best, I'm just impressed that he's still managing to make well put together, engaging music. Unlike some of his contemporaries... Yes, I'm talking about David Bowie.
6. Ilaiyaraaja | Vikram (with Kamal Hassan)
This is the theme from the 1986 Tamil film Vikram. Written by the legend that is Ilaiyaraaja. My Dad used to watch these movies when I was a kid. I would tell him to call me downstairs when the fight scenes started, then go back to playing computer once the music started. Big mistake it turns out. Couple this with the title sequence from the movie, and you've got everything element that makes 80's Tamil culture so amazing. Before Prince's Batdance, before André 3000's Spread, before Missy Elliot's Work It... There was just... Ilaiyaraaja!
7. Booka Shade | Night Falls
This track has ended many a nights out for me. It's also started many nights out, and played in the middle too. It's just such a crisp sounding track, where each sound has been placed so perfectly. It amazes me how well it fits into pretty much any situation. The entire Movements album is that, really.
8. Tantra | A Place Called Tarot
It's amazing what DIDN'T get the time of day it deserved back in the 80's Boogie scene. I found this when on one of those Internet/Soundcloud trawling sessions you get stuck in on a winter night. I started with David Joseph, went onto Freez, and 2 hours later I had this on repeat.
9. Marvin Gaye | Got To Give It Up
Come on. You know this one. The one that gets over played at parties, but no one really rolls their eyes because it's that good. For a while it was one of my favourite grooves in the world. Such a good rhythm arrangement. Yes okay... Robin Thicke... I get it. I'd rather people not bring that up every time this song is mentioned though. It devalues it completely.
10. The Doobie Brothers | Dedicate This Heart
Once Michael McDonald joined the Doobies, he changed everything. The song writing became more nuanced, and the backing more R&B focused, like they always should have been. The way these guys play together is so amazing given they're not studio musicians. I'm not sure what makes me feel better, the playing, or the vocals, it's my go to anti-depressant. No joke, I ate breakfast to this song every morning for 2 months last summer.
SIDE C | by Rhys Richards
1. Can | Future Days
This album will forever find itself in my top 5. The opening track is the perfect way to start a mix tape. I’ve always imagined myself walking on a beach out to sea, and by about the 2-minute mark I’m beneath the ocean swimming. I’m not always really visual with music, but this song just trips me out.
2. Sylvia Striplin | Give Me Your Love
This song is nothing short of a masterpiece. When most people work with a time signature like this it doesn’t really work. The effect in the hands of Roy Ayer’s is the best hypnotic and mechanical Funk. Love the clav, sweet voice too.
3. Public Image Ltd. | Flowers of Romance
It’s probably blasphemy to favourite a PIL song that doesn’t feature Jah Wobble, but this in my mind is the winner. It’s dark, rhythmic and atmospheric, the vocal is complex yet seems so simple, and it all happens in under three minutes.
4. Miss Kittin & The Hacker | The Beach
I couldn’t tell you how many people have sampled Gary Low’s I Want You, but this version gets me every time. I remember one summer, a friend and I spent pretty much carrying this record around so we always had it on hand. Perfect summer soundtrack, and works in winter too. I hope there is new stuff from Detroit at the record shop when I’m back...
5. Deniece Williams | Cause You Love Me Baby
I’ve got a soft spot for Disco ballads - the song you usually find two in on the second side. Sometimes I can get really emotional listening to them. This one is a little bit more upbeat, but still has all the trappings. That magical electric piano introduction gets me every time, and the backing choir... So smooth.
6. Spacemen 3 | Take Me To The Other Side
I’ve always been one for favourite bands, and favourite albums, but choosing songs is a bit tricky. Like Can and PIL, Spacemen 3 are cemented in the top 5 favourite bands. I guess you can’t really go past the anthem. I still remember the first time John and I listened to this song together. In the middle of the song, where it just gets stuck on the pulse, we just looked at each other with the expression of how the fuck do we make music as transcendental as this?...
7. Liquid Liquid | Optimo
An obvious choice. This song really represents how amazing New York must have been in the early 80s. Liquid Liquid are also one of my favourite all-time bands. Music is all about the rhythm.
8. The O'Jays | Love Train
Philly International... Gamble and Huff... For me this song just represents the time when I was first discovering Disco. Such a happy time in my life.
9. The Utopia Project | File #1
+ #2, #3, #4... I’m choosing The Utopia Project 12” as a whole, all four songs. That’s the way I think it should be listened to. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking the Burrel Brother’s - in all of their productions - really did direct the future of House and Electronic Music. So forward thinking. Personally I love all the pads and softer drums in New York House from this era. It’s the sort of Dance Music I can listen to over breakfast.
10. Special Ed | I Got It Made
Everybody has a favourite rapper, mine is Special Ed. This is his finest moment. 16-years-old and got it made.
SIDE D | by Tom Gould
1. Elektro Guzzi | Affumicato
Elektro Guzzi are a three piece (guitar, bass, and drums) that make Techno Music. This band was introduced to us while we were recording our album. I have become a little obsessed with these guys ever since.
2. Kieran Hebden And Steve Reid | Brain
I first heard the record Tongues while living in Osaka. I used to listen to it while sitting on the tatami floor of my apartment, as I had no furniture at the time. Steve Reid’s drumming perfectly accompanies the more chaotic Electronic elements of Kieran Hebden’s work. Both artists are prolific in their genres and this collaboration brings together two masters of their craft.
3. Paul Simon | I Know What I Know
Graceland is an album that I have listened to all my life. My Dad used to listen to this album a lot when I was growing up. There is a huge sense of nostalgia when listening to this album. However, for me the nostalgic feelings are tied to the South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne rather than Africa.
4. The Avalanches | Close To You
The Avalanches remind me of summer. Those hot sleepless summer nights. Their album, Since I Left You, was on high rotation while hanging out with friends late into the night on the couches outside my house.
5. Omar | Feeling You (feat. Stevie Wonder) (Henrik Schwarz Remix)
This is a song that I heard out once and wanted to hear out most nights ever since. It’s so cheesy, but it’s sexy, and it works. Omar’s voice is amazing. Then when you think it can’t get sexier there is a sax solo. The End.
6. Funkadelic | Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
I feel the need to include a Funkadelic song in here. Funkadelic are one of those bands that I constantly revisit. Good for Sunday afternoons.
7. My Disco | You
My Disco are a band from Melbourne that have played a pivotal role in the Melbourne Music scene. I have been watching this band play for around 10 years now and they never cease to put on an incredible show. When I think of the Melbourne music scene this is the band that I think of.
8. Darkside | The Only Shrine I’ve Seen
This album makes me think of bounty hunters in Space. The unashamed use of Bluesy guitar riffs on a dance record is genius. This collaboration between Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington is really interesting and feels well ahead of its time (hence the bounty hunters in Space thing I suppose).
9. Daniel Avery | Drone Logic
This is for late at night or early in the morning. Or just to motivate you to stay out late at night and not come home until early in the morning. Smoke machines are good with this one.
10. J Dilla | Workinonit
Adding that siren at the start and some vocal samples to 10CC’s The Worst Band in the World was a pretty damn good move, J Dilla. Donuts is a classic record. R.I.P. Dilla.
1. Vangelis | Five Circles (Chariots Of Fire Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
One of my first musical memories. I was 4 years old. It may even be the start of my memory as I can't recall anything happening before this. My family were all woken at 4am by the automated alarm function on our Hi-Fi unit, this was the song that came on. We were off to catch a flight to America and this heroic synthesised music was what we moved our luggage into the car to. It seemed like we were going off to another world.
2. John Lennon | Mind Games
This is once again one from really early childhood. Dad would always play John Lennon stuff, which I'm glad I was exposed to at an early age. It's not totally surprising that his music seems so familiar, but I think it has a lot to do with the honesty in his expression than his complete cultural saturation.
3. Kraftwerk | Radioactivity
I had a tape of The Mix that was mostly lodged in the tape player in Dad's car when I was growing up. He taught at the same school I went to, and we both had a one hour commute together morning and night. We'd listen to Kraftwerk most times. It was the sped up version of Radioactivity that I remember the most. I recall he drove a lot quicker when it was on.
4. Primal Scream | Exterminator
My friend Russ and I used to read Mojo magazine together and kind of obsess about British Music when we were younger. We saw Primal Scream all dressed head to toe in red when they toured this album. Bobby Gillespie at this stage was the snarliest, most vitriolic singer I had ever seen and I wanted to get angry about something. It was a phenomenal noise.
5. Underworld | Something Like A Mama
Beaucoup Fish was one of my favourite albums when I was growing up. I used to listen to this on all modes of public transport on a Discman. I found buses to be the most suitable. But a special mention goes to trains; especially with all the pad sweeps in this one (great with fast approaching/departing objects).
6. Spiritualized | Shine A Light
Rhys and I and a few friends from school went up to Melbourne one night to see Spiritualized. We were all majorly into the albums, but nothing really prepared us for the mind melt of seeing them live. The sudden transition from extremely loud walls of feedback into the very tender Shine A Light is one of the most incredible feelings I have ever had seeing a live band. I was carried very far away that night.
7. Faust | Jennifer
Just out of school. Doing stupid things, getting high, playing and listening to music a lot. This song gives me that bittersweet nostalgic feeling. Such a great time was had. I love the rainy day texture.
8. David Bowie | Subterraneans
I remember being in the passenger seat on a late night drive when the whole Low album was playing, when this track came on we were driving past road workers in full length welding suits, sparks were flying everywhere in the dead of night and it all seemed very otherworldly with the musical accompaniment.
9. Suicide | Touch Me
Walking around the city listening to Suicide's second album was one of my favourite pastimes a few years back and every now and then I like to revisit this phase.
10. Floating Points | Truly
I first heard this track on RRR, a Melbourne community radio station driving home from my Telemarketing job. Within a week I had converted to being full time on the dole, attempting to further my production skills. Everything Floating Points does sounds so perfect.
1. Prince | Strange Relationship
A true Prince fan can never pick a favourite song. A true Prince fan can't even pick a B-side to play without fear of being mocked for not choosing something obscure enough. I just picked this because it's a great synergy of instrumentation, groove, song writing and emotion from the tail end of his best creative period in my opinion. It represents a lot of his ideas at the time in one song.
2. Toro Y Moi | Say That
I got into Toro Y Moi by chance, reading that he was really into the first Babyface record... So am I, and you can hear it in this song, amongst other great influences. I love the sounds he always chooses and the simple but effective grooves he coaxes out of every instrument. He gets lumped amongst the Chill-Wave/slacker/bedroom/baseball cap guy scene, but he deserves so much more than that. He's a lot more dense, and enjoyable too.
3. Diana Ross | My Old Piano
Everyone that is into Dance Music knows they owe a lot to the Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards hit machine. This one is just an amazing example of them and drummer Tony Thompson locking in like no one else could. Rodgers gets all the credit he deserves, but Edwards' orchestral arrangement on this is so tight it gets me every time.
4. Grace Jones | Slave To The Rhythm
Ladies and Gentlemen... Miss Grace Jones. The end.
5. Paul McCartney | New
Paul McCartney has such an amazing, expansive solo career. This is the lead single from his new record. It's a nice hark back to the Revolver era. Calm down, I'm aware this is by far not his best, I'm just impressed that he's still managing to make well put together, engaging music. Unlike some of his contemporaries... Yes, I'm talking about David Bowie.
6. Ilaiyaraaja | Vikram (with Kamal Hassan)
This is the theme from the 1986 Tamil film Vikram. Written by the legend that is Ilaiyaraaja. My Dad used to watch these movies when I was a kid. I would tell him to call me downstairs when the fight scenes started, then go back to playing computer once the music started. Big mistake it turns out. Couple this with the title sequence from the movie, and you've got everything element that makes 80's Tamil culture so amazing. Before Prince's Batdance, before André 3000's Spread, before Missy Elliot's Work It... There was just... Ilaiyaraaja!
7. Booka Shade | Night Falls
This track has ended many a nights out for me. It's also started many nights out, and played in the middle too. It's just such a crisp sounding track, where each sound has been placed so perfectly. It amazes me how well it fits into pretty much any situation. The entire Movements album is that, really.
8. Tantra | A Place Called Tarot
It's amazing what DIDN'T get the time of day it deserved back in the 80's Boogie scene. I found this when on one of those Internet/Soundcloud trawling sessions you get stuck in on a winter night. I started with David Joseph, went onto Freez, and 2 hours later I had this on repeat.
9. Marvin Gaye | Got To Give It Up
Come on. You know this one. The one that gets over played at parties, but no one really rolls their eyes because it's that good. For a while it was one of my favourite grooves in the world. Such a good rhythm arrangement. Yes okay... Robin Thicke... I get it. I'd rather people not bring that up every time this song is mentioned though. It devalues it completely.
10. The Doobie Brothers | Dedicate This Heart
Once Michael McDonald joined the Doobies, he changed everything. The song writing became more nuanced, and the backing more R&B focused, like they always should have been. The way these guys play together is so amazing given they're not studio musicians. I'm not sure what makes me feel better, the playing, or the vocals, it's my go to anti-depressant. No joke, I ate breakfast to this song every morning for 2 months last summer.
1. Can | Future Days
This album will forever find itself in my top 5. The opening track is the perfect way to start a mix tape. I’ve always imagined myself walking on a beach out to sea, and by about the 2-minute mark I’m beneath the ocean swimming. I’m not always really visual with music, but this song just trips me out.
2. Sylvia Striplin | Give Me Your Love
This song is nothing short of a masterpiece. When most people work with a time signature like this it doesn’t really work. The effect in the hands of Roy Ayer’s is the best hypnotic and mechanical Funk. Love the clav, sweet voice too.
3. Public Image Ltd. | Flowers of Romance
It’s probably blasphemy to favourite a PIL song that doesn’t feature Jah Wobble, but this in my mind is the winner. It’s dark, rhythmic and atmospheric, the vocal is complex yet seems so simple, and it all happens in under three minutes.
4. Miss Kittin & The Hacker | The Beach
I couldn’t tell you how many people have sampled Gary Low’s I Want You, but this version gets me every time. I remember one summer, a friend and I spent pretty much carrying this record around so we always had it on hand. Perfect summer soundtrack, and works in winter too. I hope there is new stuff from Detroit at the record shop when I’m back...
5. Deniece Williams | Cause You Love Me Baby
I’ve got a soft spot for Disco ballads - the song you usually find two in on the second side. Sometimes I can get really emotional listening to them. This one is a little bit more upbeat, but still has all the trappings. That magical electric piano introduction gets me every time, and the backing choir... So smooth.
6. Spacemen 3 | Take Me To The Other Side
I’ve always been one for favourite bands, and favourite albums, but choosing songs is a bit tricky. Like Can and PIL, Spacemen 3 are cemented in the top 5 favourite bands. I guess you can’t really go past the anthem. I still remember the first time John and I listened to this song together. In the middle of the song, where it just gets stuck on the pulse, we just looked at each other with the expression of how the fuck do we make music as transcendental as this?...
7. Liquid Liquid | Optimo
An obvious choice. This song really represents how amazing New York must have been in the early 80s. Liquid Liquid are also one of my favourite all-time bands. Music is all about the rhythm.
8. The O'Jays | Love Train
Philly International... Gamble and Huff... For me this song just represents the time when I was first discovering Disco. Such a happy time in my life.
9. The Utopia Project | File #1
+ #2, #3, #4... I’m choosing The Utopia Project 12” as a whole, all four songs. That’s the way I think it should be listened to. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking the Burrel Brother’s - in all of their productions - really did direct the future of House and Electronic Music. So forward thinking. Personally I love all the pads and softer drums in New York House from this era. It’s the sort of Dance Music I can listen to over breakfast.
10. Special Ed | I Got It Made
Everybody has a favourite rapper, mine is Special Ed. This is his finest moment. 16-years-old and got it made.
1. Elektro Guzzi | Affumicato
Elektro Guzzi are a three piece (guitar, bass, and drums) that make Techno Music. This band was introduced to us while we were recording our album. I have become a little obsessed with these guys ever since.
2. Kieran Hebden And Steve Reid | Brain
I first heard the record Tongues while living in Osaka. I used to listen to it while sitting on the tatami floor of my apartment, as I had no furniture at the time. Steve Reid’s drumming perfectly accompanies the more chaotic Electronic elements of Kieran Hebden’s work. Both artists are prolific in their genres and this collaboration brings together two masters of their craft.
3. Paul Simon | I Know What I Know
Graceland is an album that I have listened to all my life. My Dad used to listen to this album a lot when I was growing up. There is a huge sense of nostalgia when listening to this album. However, for me the nostalgic feelings are tied to the South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne rather than Africa.
4. The Avalanches | Close To You
The Avalanches remind me of summer. Those hot sleepless summer nights. Their album, Since I Left You, was on high rotation while hanging out with friends late into the night on the couches outside my house.
5. Omar | Feeling You (feat. Stevie Wonder) (Henrik Schwarz Remix)
This is a song that I heard out once and wanted to hear out most nights ever since. It’s so cheesy, but it’s sexy, and it works. Omar’s voice is amazing. Then when you think it can’t get sexier there is a sax solo. The End.
6. Funkadelic | Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
I feel the need to include a Funkadelic song in here. Funkadelic are one of those bands that I constantly revisit. Good for Sunday afternoons.
7. My Disco | You
My Disco are a band from Melbourne that have played a pivotal role in the Melbourne Music scene. I have been watching this band play for around 10 years now and they never cease to put on an incredible show. When I think of the Melbourne music scene this is the band that I think of.
8. Darkside | The Only Shrine I’ve Seen
This album makes me think of bounty hunters in Space. The unashamed use of Bluesy guitar riffs on a dance record is genius. This collaboration between Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington is really interesting and feels well ahead of its time (hence the bounty hunters in Space thing I suppose).
9. Daniel Avery | Drone Logic
This is for late at night or early in the morning. Or just to motivate you to stay out late at night and not come home until early in the morning. Smoke machines are good with this one.
10. J Dilla | Workinonit
Adding that siren at the start and some vocal samples to 10CC’s The Worst Band in the World was a pretty damn good move, J Dilla. Donuts is a classic record. R.I.P. Dilla.
