WARMER MIXTAPES #1357 | by Thom Wicks [Dead Seem Old]
1. Manu Chao | Me Gustas Tu
After watching his guitar player Madjid play guitar it made me pick up the Spanish guitar. I think Clandestino is one of my favourite albums, but Me Gustas Tu from Próxima Estación... Esperanza seems to encompass everything that’s great about Chao. Street Music mixed with surf guitar and his infectious vocal melodies. Whenever I need inspiration I listen to Manu.
2. The Revels | Comanche
I got into Surf Music when I was living in the Docklands in London and had to walk home miles at midnight after working at a cinema across the river. I’ve since become obsessed with rare 60’s instrumentals and this is probably the one that started that off.
3. Cab Calloway | St. James Infirmary Blues (Joe Primrose/Irving Mills Cover)
It was a where's this guy been all my life moment. I wish I could sing like Calloway. He had such a presence, a great performer.
4. Nina Simone | Sinnerman (Les Baxter's Version of African American Traditional Spiritual Song 'Sinner Man' Cover)
My favourite song. The live version is incredible. Reminds me of escaping for hours into the woods as a kid.
5. Jungle | The Heat
My collaborator and producer Javier Weyler and I have just gotten into Jungle whilst we were recording my single They Won’t Find Us. They have such a cool sound and if I could be the bass player in one band, it would be Jungle.
6. Barrett Strong | Money (That's What I Want)
I love how concise and simple this song is. My favourite songs tend to be the most simple.
7. Guillermo Portables | El Carretero
I love this melody so much, it's become my morning song. I think I heard the Buena Vista Social Club version before this one, but I find this more danceable. I love listening to Music where I don't understand the lyrics, it puts you in a place where you're left with emotion and melody.
8. Gabriel Rios | Broad Daylight
I saw the video to this in a Paris hotel room one night in 2004 and have been a fan ever since. The next month I moved to London and started writing songs. This would've been a big inspiration.
9. Free Agents Brass Band | We Made It Through That Water (Treme Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
I love gang vocals like this and the mixture of brass with rapping. It reminds me of a really productive period of locking myself away and writing song after song without thinking about it.
10. Gustavo Santaolalla | Iguazu
This man is an incredible musician and when I heard this song in the movie The Insider years ago on VHS, I kept rewinding to the part where this was played. Some songs just do something to you that you can't explain. I never learned to read Music, so I do everything by instinct and approach Music quite like a child. This leaves me in a place where I'm always in a place of wonder when writing songs, but I've never been so lost in a song quite like this one.
