Pholk Tape #2

Winter is now fully upon us, I can tell as my right hand has been frozen to my mouse for the last hour or so and it's taking a while to get enough sensation in it to type this. The rain is tapping down on my window as it has been for near enough the entire day, making the thought of a hosepipe ban summer nothing more than a distant memory. But even if I had no window in my room, had not ventured outside into the murky (and damp) cold that is Plymouth City Centre and I had the circulation of an olympic gold winning long distance runner, I could still tell you the season. The key comes from the music, a mirror that reflects the changing of the seasons more effectively than even Michael Fish could dream of and every bit as well as the wind, rain and ever shortening days themselves.

Ok, so maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration and my 20 years of exposure to music and the collective work of thousands and thousands of seemingly tireless musicians, bloggers and music media types, shouting "winter" at me through their songs, blogs and articles would still lead me to believe the sun had risen on another beautiful Mid-Summers day. But with what I know in mind, I've certainly found the majority of new music I've come across to be... well.... for lack of a better word "Wintery". This in turn has led me to dig up some old winter classics to enjoy while drinking another cup of hot tea/coffee/squash late into the night, or whenever, I lose track of time after dark.

That said there still have been melodies from warmer climes swimming round my head as I try to add another couple of hundred words to an essay with an ever-shortening deadline. Case in point: Kelis' song Millionaire that she did with Andre 3000 back in 2004, a song that passed by almost unnoticed to me until it re-emerged on a blog 2 weeks back. With the aim of these mixes to serve as a memory for me (and others) to see what I was listening to each fortnight for what I hope to be years to come, I had to put some of these more 'summery' tracks in the mix. These tracks, however, come at the start of the mix before it descends into winter tones around 20 minutes in with Peter, Bjorn & John's aptly named "The Chills".

From there it moves through some icy electronica in the form of Phoenix's "Fences", A Burial remix of Bloc Party's "Where Is Home?" which true to from is formed of dark pulsing bass tones, shivering strings and an echoey vocal motif (easy to get lost in) and a complete reinvention of Erol Alkan & Boyz Noise's "Waves" in which the piano takes the lead and forms a piece reminiscent of the short animated film "The Snowman". After a short interval from soul classic "California Dreamin'" the music changes to a more folk(y) feel with tracks from two Lauras (Veirs & Marling) both offering fragile vocals and wistful guitar patterns to bring things to a close.

The final track, as in the first mix, is something a little different, an encore if you will. Ellie Goulding and Erik Hassle team up to cover Robyn's "Be Mine" and do a beautiful job of it. I hope this leaves you ready to continue with your day feeling a little more positive about this time of year.


Track Listing:

01: Alice Russell - Let Us Be Loving (KidKanevil Remix)
02: How You LIke Me Now? - The Heavy
03: Kelis - Millionaire ft. Andre 3000
04: Souls Of Mischief - Proper Aim
05: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - By The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth
06: Peter, Bjorn & John - The Chills
07: The Notwist - Boneless (Grizzly Bear Remix)
08: Taken By Trees - Watch The Waves (Memory Tapes Remix)
09: Phoenix - Fences (Def Starr Version)
10: Bloc Party - Where Is Home? (Burial Remix)
11: Erol Alkan & Boys Noize - Waves (Chilly Gonzales Piano Remix)
12: The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin'
13: Laura Veirs - Sleeper In The Valley
14: Laura Marling - Goodbye England
15: Erik Hassle & Ellie Goulding - Be Mine (Robyn Cover)

Download: Soundcloud | Mediafire (Basic) | Mediafire (Podcast)

(Please support Artists featured, and all Artists, by buying their music from a reputable source wherever possible.)