WARMER MIXTAPES #1538 | by Brian Hancheck [The Arctic Flow/Newport Sailing Club]

1. Horse Shoes | Changing Winds
Quite possibly the most important song of my life. Until that time in 2009 when I received a fateful email, I was listening to mostly Shoegaze bands. When I started The Arctic Flow in 2008, all I knew was Chapterhouse, Slowdive and Cocteau Twins. After discovering Horse Shoes, and particularly this song, my entire life changed. I looked at Music and Writing from an entirely new perspective and it was so exciting. I've often said this was my favorite song for a number of reasons. It came at the right time when the World was full of Possibility and the Future was Bright. Dare I say the World was more innocent back then? I know I certainly was, maybe a bit too innocent... And naive. Yes, much too naive.

2. New Order | The Perfect Kiss
I was recovering from motion sickness in the back seat of a car the first time I heard this song. It was on some camping excursion I took with my brother and cousin. The lyrics are terrible, but that CHORUS!

3. The Field Mice | When Morning Comes To Town
I had never even heard of The Field Mice until a certain someone introduced them to me. We used to chat a lot back then and send each other mp3s of songs we liked. One day there was an mp3 in my inbox of The Field Mice song Between Hello And Goodbye and I remember being intrigued enough to want to hear more. Eventually, I heard this song and it was pretty much over after that. I can only listen to it on cold, winter days. It doesn't work any other time. Believe me, I've tried.

4. The Field Mice | Emma's House
This song! The most perfect song in The Universe. I don't do drugs, but I'm quite certain the rush I felt the first time I heard Emma's House is similar to taking drugs. It must have been exciting to follow Sarah Records back in the day and hear The Field Mice for the first time. What does all this have to do with anything? Why do I feel the only things in Life that matter to me is my family and sad Pop songs? I wish I cared about more things. But the truth is, I don't.

5. Erasure | I Love Saturday
So maybe this is the most perfect Pop song ever recorded! Like most bands that changed my life, I whole heartily embraced Erasure at a time when I was vulnerable. I Love Saturday is the feeling of falling in Love, the feeling of Freedom, the feeling when the girl in the front of class passes you a note saying she likes you. I'm trying to be all sentimental. I can't help it. I can only be honest.



6. Acorn Boys | Walkin' Under Trees
One of my absolute favorite things ever was when Holiday Records did their Singles Club. It was the coolest thing! I'm not just saying that because I had a few singles released by them. The whole aesthetic was perfect, releasing something new every Friday. Do you remember anticipating Friday nights? It's like you literally wished your whole week away because you knew on Friday night there would be an amazing new single, or EP to download and discover and bring meaning to your life. Isn't that what Indie Pop is all about? I live in the past sometimes. Well, actually a lot, and it keeps me from having a future. I think I cried the first time I heard this. Why can't I write songs like this? And you were the one thought that happened to be stuck in my head when I fell asleep.

7. Blueboy | So Catch Him
I didn't know much about Blueboy when I heard this. I still don't know much about Blueboy because I could never get myself to listen to any other song but this one. I wish I could say more about it. What else needs to be said about it? I'm happy for once and that's worth celebrating.

8. The Smiths | I Know It's Over
My word! What is there to say about The Smiths? I discovered them my Senior Year in High School when I was a lot more extroverted and had lots of friends. Every word Morrissey sings in this song is like he's reading from my diary from when I was 17. And as I climb into an empty bed... Oh well, enough said.

 9. The Tough Alliance | Silly Crimes
Like a lot of things in Life, I was a late comer to The Tough Alliance. They had such a knack for melodies. I discovered them the same time I first discovered The Embassy, Boat Club, Air France and countless other amazing Swedish groups from the mid to late 2000's. I only listen to this song in Summer. It's perfect Beach Music, without being typical Beach Music, you know what I mean?

10. Starflyer 59 | I Drive A Lot
I was miserable and lonely and the girl I loved was 500 miles away. The only solution was sleep. Lots and lots of sleep. I think that's why I was so heavily into Shoegaze back then, it was like a sedative to help me sleep. That's all I had to get me through those dark, dark days. What would I have done without Starflyer's The Fashion Focus album, or any of their albums? They are 100% responsible for my guitar playing. Without them I might have spent my nights at parties, pursuing the fleeting, and often meaningless passions of youth. Instead I spent my nights sat alone, crossed legged on my bedroom floor, teaching myself how to play guitar like Jason Martin and writing songs about Love and Loss... The same kind of songs I still write today.