WARMER MIXTAPES #1114 | by Jonathan Miller [Hand Sand Hands]
1. The Zombies | Care Of Cell 44
This song is perfect. From the point of view of writing to a girlfriend in prison to the chorus of a lifetime, Feels so good you’re coming home soon. I want to scream those lyrics just typing them.
2. The Beatles | Tomorrow Never Knows
I rented Revolver from my public library repeatedly. I couldn’t believe it was recorded in 1966. Lennon’s vocals sound like a shaman and combining that with the insanely hard and groovy rhythm section, lack of traditional structure and Experimental tape loops made this one of my favorites immediately and drove me further into Experimental Music.
3. Brian Eno | The Big Ship
There still isn’t a song that uses a drum machine so beautifully. It’s simplicity and beauty is what first made my mind click and dig into Eno. The drones of the organs and synths pushes you until it fades effortlessly away at the perfect moment.
4. Animal Collective | Winters Love
Winters Love was one of the first songs I heard from Animal Collective. That experience combined with seeing them on tour supporting Feels cemented how great and strange they were. My friend and I listened to this album non-stop out to Montana and that road trip always comes back to this weird, perfectly mixed yet beautiful song.
5. Sam Amidon | Prodigal Son
There isn’t a better rendition of a song about remorse and guilt, the momentum carrying him home in an act of desperation. Nico Muhly’s arrangements carry and overwhelm without distracting from the root of Sam’s Folk strumming. It makes me feel like I am in a field in Nebraska; broken, hitch hiking, down and discouraged in the best ways possible.
6. The Kinks | Strangers
If I Live Too Long I’m Afraid I’ll Die. My friend has that tattooed on his shoulder. I get this song’s simple drumbeat stuck in my head at random times throughout the day. I have goose bumps listening to it right now. I will get married to this song someday. Enough said.
7. Modest Mouse | Heart Cooks Brain
My favorite Modest Mouse song is a burner. No flair for the dramatic, just simple intensity. It doesn’t build to some apex, but rather lulls you into understanding while also showcasing Isaac Brock’s interesting use of language. I worked on the levees in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and listened to this album the entire drive there from Minnesota. I still think of my first time seeing sprawling bayou and devastated neighborhoods when I put this track on, which is quite frequently.
8. Harry Nilsson | Think About Your Troubles (The Point! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
My friend and fellow musician C.S. Luxem first introduced me to this song. He was playing it on his guitar and ended it by saying, Harry Nilsson is the coolest guy ever. He is and didn’t care about anything, including putting out this kids album immediately after his most commercially successful album.
9. The Beach Boys | God Only Knows
Prettiest song I have ever heard. The way the Wrecking Crew plays it and the vocal arrangements in the last third are absolute creative genius. Listening to the studio banter of those sessions gives an even bigger appreciation for the insanely brief peak of Brian Wilson. Tony Asher helped fill in the blanks, but Brian was an absolute ambitious force at that time.
10. Radiohead | Everything In Its Right Place
I had never heard a song up until this point that grew so big in your ears with just vocals, keyboard and a bass drum. I knew friends that were disappointed in this particular Radiohead album, but this song marked the beginning of my total and unflinching interest in Music.
