WARMER MIXTAPES #1125 | by Eleanore Duggan of Eleanore & The Lost

1. Jeff Buckley | Lover, You Should’ve Come Over
The man who would later become my Music Producer introduced me to Jeff Buckley’s Music about 14 years ago. I’m really grateful he played it to me! There are several songs by Buckley that I considered before choosing this one such as Grace, Forget Her and So Real as he’s an artist I truly admire. I chose this one because I think the lyrics are beautiful and have the power to create scenes and images in my head, like a well-written novel can. Lines such as my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder combined with the quality of his voice conveys such emotion and longing and yet the melodies are also memorable and haunting. I’ve said many times before that Jeff Buckley is one of the artists who inspires me to work harder on my lyrics and make them as poetic as possible.

2. The Civil Wars | Barton Hollow 
I think I’d describe this song as dark Country Folk! It has that feeling of the Deep South to it and it also has a story, which is always a great thing for a song to have. The Civil Wars are the kind of act you know are always going to be good live; they’re natural musicians and the sound of them harmonising together combined with the rawness of the guitar is electrifying. This song always makes me listen right to the end and ponder the lyrics.

3. Evanescence | The Only One
I like several tracks on the album that this song comes from, The Open Door, as well as Evanescence’s most well known song, Bring Me To Life and these have had some influence on my first album. Part of me loves the darkness of this type of Rock, probably the same part of me that’s loved films and shows about vampires since my teens! I find the mix of Industrial beats with the heavy guitar and lightness of some of the other instruments and vocals creates something really exciting.

4. Bif Naked | Lucky
I was a huge fan of Buffy The Vampire Slayer as I was growing up and bought all the related soundtrack albums. This song was on there and captured me straight away with the darkness of the opening bars. I love the combination of the heavy drum hits with guitar and melancholy string lines. The climax with its seemingly out of control strings slide is brilliant. Due to how I discovered it, it still reminds me of my teenage years.


5. Björk/David Arnold | Play Dead (The Young Americans Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
I first heard this song on a car advert, the epic feel of the song being used to great effect! I absolutely love its orchestral nature and have a lot of respect for other pieces of work by both Björk and David Arnold. I think the wild sound of her voice is fantastic with the way the instrumentation builds and as a huge lover of strings, the little shimmers and flourishes sound gorgeous to me and work well with the Industrial beats. I find this such an exciting song to listen to. David Arnold was a good choice to work on the Bond films.

6. Lindisfarne | Lady Eleanor
I have to mention this song as I was named after it and somehow I feel it sort of suits me. The lyrics refer vaguely to an Edgar Allen Poe story and it has a slightly mysterious feel that I really like. I saw them perform it live once when I was little, but was too young to really remember.

7. Christina Aguilera | Fighter
I bought Christina Aguilera’s second album in my late teens, being as much a fan of R’n’B and Pop as I am of lots of other genres. I admired her vocal ability, and she and singers like her inspired me to explore what my voice was capable of and to challenge myself. Sometimes a song needs very little other than heartfelt emotion, but sometimes, as a singer, it’s very enjoyable to see just how flexible your voice is. I sang this song live years ago and loved the attitude required for performing it. It’s a great Pop-Rock track and good to sing along to.

8. Wojciech Kilar | Love Remembered (Bram Stoker's Dracula Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
There are many pieces of Classical Music I’d love to include in this, but I’ve chosen this piece from a Film Soundtrack instead. In a way, I consider Film Music to be the modern version of the Romantic era of Classical Music and have great respect for Soundtrack Composers. I have a few film soundtracks in my Music collection and would love to have a go at this kind of writing myself one day. This track is from Francis Ford Coppola’s film Dracula and is a beautiful, emotive piece. Kilar also wrote the soundtrack for The Ninth Gate, which is another brilliant soundtrack that captures the essence of a very atmospheric film.

9. Katy Perry | Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
To put it simply, it makes me want to dance every time I hear it! Great, fun Pop.

10. Nat King Cole | Nature Boy (The Boy With The Green Hair Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
For me, a combination of luscious instrumentation, a velvet-like vocal performance and a lyric line that really does say something worth remembering. I think I actually heard the David Bowie/Massive Attack version in Moulin Rouge or the George Benson version first and I like them as well, but this is by far my favourite. The song is originally from an old film called The Boy With The Green Hair.

+11. Led Zeppelin | Kashmir
In my eyes, this song is a perfect example of an epic piece of Music. It’s my favourite Led Zeppelin track. The main riff is fantastic and I know it’s been used a few times in other songs. I think I first heard it in my teens and wanted to write Music that had as big a feel as this.

+12. Dionne Warwick | This Girl’s In Love With You (Herb Alpert's 'This Guy's In Love With You' Cover)
I developed a real fondness for Bacharach and Hal David’s music thanks to growing up hearing it at my grandmother’s house whenever I stayed there. I always seem to prefer the Dionne Warwick versions of their songs as I know they’re how they would have intended them to be (as she was Bacharach’s muse) and I like the arrangements more. I consider Bacharach and David to be good quality Pop writers – their songs have stayed popular and they’re well put together. This song has a lovely understated quality that really sets off the lyrics and gets the meaning across. It reminds me of my grandmother.

+13. Erik Satie | Gnossienne No.1 (Played by Daniel Varsano)
I learned this piece on the piano when I was at School and absolutely Love the mysterious feel it has; it weaves a spell around you as you listen to it. It’s quite a mesmerising piece to both listen to and to play; there isn’t much direction on the score so the pianist can interpret it in quite a personal way.