WARMER MIXTAPES #1210 | by Ed Riman [Hilang Child]

1. Nic Jones | Clyde Water
A phenomenal Folk song that makes a tragic story almost feel like a beautiful thing. It's about the events leading up to two lovers drowning in the river Clyde. Nic Jones was a brilliant guitarist back when he was playing and had such a distinct voice, he delivers this so nicely.

2. Sigur Rós | Glósóli
I love how this song takes you from one extreme to the other - it starts off as a soft dreamy pulse then over the course of 6 minutes it slowly grows and grows and never stops growing until by the end it's absolutely smacking you around the head with screeching distortion and smashed cymbals. I don't understand any of the Icelandic lyrics but I think the way the song goes from being sleepy to euphoric really makes you feel something. I wish I could write a song like this.

3. George Harrison | My Sweet Lord 
I wanted to put a Beatles song on the list, but I've been listening to My Sweet Lord so much recently that it had to be this. It's my favourite of any of the fab four's post-Beatles stuff, so uplifting. I think Harrison is my favourite Beatle in terms of his songwriting, it's a shame more of his output didn't make it onto the group's records.

 4. Fleet Foxes | The Shrine/An Argument 
This is just an awesome piece of Music that feels as if it takes you on a journey through a dark and ethereal world. To me a lot of Robin Pecknold's songwriting is so evocative, almost like it's from some ancient lost time and Fleet Foxes are one of my favourite bands for that reason. My live band and I recently opened for the excellent Peter Matthew Bauer of The Walkmen and his guitarist was none other than Fleet Foxes' Skyler Skjelset - when we were hanging out with him beforehand I was trying SO hard to hide how much I was losing my shit to be talking with a member of one of my favourite bands.

5. The Beach Boys | Heroes And Villains 
Brian Wilson is a musical genius in every sense of the word. So much of what he has written is so complex and full of counterpoint yet still never feels like anything other than a catchy Pop song and Heroes And Villains epitomises that I think. Listening to The Beach Boys was the first time I ever really thought about how powerful harmonies can be and whenever I have their stuff playing I always find myself singing along with the harmonies rather than the main vocal. Few other songwriters can make you do that.



6. The Carpenters | (They Long To Be) Close To You (Richard Chamberlain Cover)
I chose this one for pure Childhood nostalgia. When I was tiny the only cassette tape my parents ever kept in the car was by The Carpenters and on long journeys it became a tool to send me to sleep when I was playing up. Whenever I hear this song now I just think of Peace and Childhood. And Alan Partridge too, I guess.

7. Paul Simon | Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes 
Or 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover... It's a toss-up between these two songs but I definitely wanted to get Paul Simon onto this list. As well as being a great song, Diamonds is another one for Childhood nostalgia - when I was about 7 or 8 years old my parents had Graceland on cassette and I often used to put it on and just stand next to the Hi-Fi listening through it. I was fascinated by all the African stuff on that album, back then I had never heard anything like it. The reason I want to put 50 Ways on there too is mainly because of Steve Gadd's sweet drumming. Such a groove.

8. Bat For Lashes | Travelling Woman
Bat For Lashes' stuff often feels like the soundtrack to something dark yet beautiful, she's really great at creating these otherwordly atmospheres around her music that goes beyond just the bones of the song. I never like to think too technically about the production of songs I hear because I feel it stops you from simply feeling the Music on an emotional level, but pieces like Travelling Woman are really boosted by great production.

9. Nobuo Uematsu | Let The Battles Begin! (Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack)
I could really have chosen anything from the Final Fantasy videogame series. As a child I was one of those antisocial kids who spent most of his time indoors playing videogames and my two childhood best friends and I bonded over a mutual love of the Final Fantasy series, particularly 7 and 9. Back then there weren't many games that used any kind of voice acting so in story-based games like Final Fantasy the Music was the only real way emotion and atmosphere could be conveyed. And the composers were often limited to using dodgy Midi sounds rather than real instruments, so the Music itself had to be great as it couldn't always rely on production. FF composer Uematsu did and still does a phenomenal job of really making you feel the story as it's happening.

10. Joanna Newsom | '81 
Joanna Newsom is another of those songwriters whose Music feels like it comes from some ethereal old world, or the soundtrack to a fairytale. Hard to pick a favourite by her but I think this one has such a great mysterious quality to it that certainly sticks out, at least on that album.