WARMER MIXTAPES #1148 | by Bryan Whellams [Flying White Dots]
1. BADBADNOTGOOD | Can’t Leave The Night
A very recent discovery for me, I love the beats and the bass on this. Sounds a bit like DJ Shadow when he used to make atmospheric tracks with great big drum sounds, only this is a live band.
2. Brian Eno & John Cale | Spinning Away
Such a lovely tune. Makes you want to climb trees and fly kites. Or possibly curl up into a ball and cry.
3. This Mortal Coil | Song To The Siren (with Elizabeth Fraser) (Tim Buckley Cover)
An amazing song and one of my favourite cover versions of all time. It still gives me the chills. Elizabeth Fraser’s vocals are incredible. Of course she was a huge fan of Tim Buckley and a few years after this was recorded had a relationship with his son Jeff. The shortest track I’ve picked but arguably the most epic.
4. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds | Stagger Lee
I see Nick Cave around town because he lives down the road from me. I’d never know what to say to someone who could come up with something this good. Maybe I’d tell him about the time I saw a woman on the train start reading The Death Of Bunny Munroe and watched the look on her face change to sheer horror until she gave up on page 12 or so!
5. The The | Gravitate To Me
I love this spooky epic by this often overlooked band. Johnny Marr plays guitar on this and you can hear how much he’s enjoying playing Funky, totally lost in it. The harmonica makes my hairs stand on end. One of two tracks I’ve picked that mentions a lighthouse.
6. Serge Gainsbourg | Variations Sur Marilou
One of those tracks that no one bought or liked at the time which was discovered by the next generation and hailed as work of genius. Serge’s voice is very loud in the mix and I think this is a statement that his Love for his girlfriend is more important than his Music. There’s a fantastic video of this track on YouTube with subtitles, which makes the track make much more sense.
7. Aphrodite’s Child | The Four Horsemen
Vangelis and Demis Roussos doing Prog Rock in 1972. Such power, such energy! The album is a hoot, with some truly breathtaking moments.
8. Todd Terje | Johnny And Mary (feat. Bryan Ferry) (Robert Palmer Cover)
I love the Cosmic Disco sound that Todd Terje and Prins Thomas have been producing for the last few years, so I was pleasantly surprised when the former put out such a varied, interesting and fun album. Here he teams up with the guy my parents named me after to do a stunning cover version of Robert Palmer (!). Wonderful.
9. Transit Kings | The Last Lighthouse Keeper (with Simon Day)
This track demonstrates how sampling can be used creatively to tell a story and invoke an atmosphere. The Transit Kings feature Youth, Jimmy Cauty and Dr. Alex Paterson and you can bet your boots it was the latter who found the interview that is used as the centre piece. The music is fabulous too and complements the sample so well, or should that be the other way 'round?
10. Yosi Horikawa | Gull
A beautiful and inspirational track by my favourite Japanese producer. Equally suitable for listening to on long cold winter nights or on a beach surrounded by palm trees. Yosi’s album Vapor was my favourite album of last year and I can’t wait to hear more from him.
