WARMER MIXTAPES #640 | by Julian Jaschke [Jimbo Matsumoto/MtMt]

1. Prinz Pi | Der Rand
Okay, back then when the song came it in 2008 or something, I used to listen to Rap a lot. But only from the States, the ignorant and Mainstream one, all the hipsters and heads out there would hate me for, but, hey, I was 15/16 or something, don't blame me, I still listen to it for the old days sake, but anyway. The song Der Rand feels like the first German Rap song, which I really liked and Pi's lyrics are pretty good as well. After I really got into his album in 11th grade, I got to know a dude named Max and I was sitting next to him and he was rocking a Prinz Pi hoodie, so I just said Prinz Pi, huh? I dig his music... And since then me and him were kind of best friends, which sounds corny as hell but it was like that. Now he is doing his thing, living in London and in Berlin and everywhere he wants to be, while I dream of leaving this place too someday soon. Even though were not as much in contact as we used to be I really think that he is the best friend I ever had and I went to the first Rap concerts with him and we went to every concert in the area, we had to drive like 8 hours sometimes, had to hurry to make it to class in time. I reminisce about those days, and everytime I visit him, there's no awkward silence or anything. The point is though, that I pretty much introduced him to lots of Music and he introduced me to lots of Music and if it wasn't for him I would have never started making Music, because I never had the selfconfidence to show my shit to others. Even if you don't get the lyrics as a non-German, the music in this track is Melancholic and Warm and you think of good times and if you get what he says, the song is actually kind of Dark and Sad, but you're sad in a Happy and beautiful way, which has nothing to do with the story behind it, but listen carefully, 2008 Rap Song with such an unusual beat. Inspiring in many, many ways.

2. Truth Hurts | Ready Now
In 6th grade we had a new girl in the class and after a year I finally got the nerve to talk to her on some weird ass German social network and it was the most awkward communication ever, because none of us had the balls to talk to each other in real life. After a few years, she went to Australia for a year and I didn't even know, but after she came back we spoke again, or let's say we had to because we had to do a presentation together and I told her how I never understood why we never hung out. Then we started to hang out on the regular and kind of stuck in the friendzone for another 3 years. 2 months before she moved to the UK I found the guts to tell her about the way I felt for her and all that cheesy and corny stuff you tell a girl when you're drunk at 3 in the morning. Funny thing is, I never drink so I was drunker than you might expect at the amount of shit I drank. Anyway, we got together after 9 years of an awkward friendship in which we both were in Love with each other. Lots of shit happened but, man, it's weird enough to talk about it without the details. We love each other and share lots of stuff. Were the most embarrassing couple out there, man, shout out to my lady, to our story and the relationship were blessed with, deuces! Oh, yeah, right, and the track was kind of stuck in my head when I got to know her so I associate it with her, even though it's not that deep track. Gotta love the 808 kick in the song, I'd love to remix it. It fits so perfectly into the time it came out, when I used to rock Karl Kani and Fubu and dur-ags and fake gold chains, I still laugh at pictures of my 12-year-old me. I think I would be my own best friend now.

3. Big Boi | Shutterbug (feat. Cutty)
In 2010 I've been outside Europe for the first time of my life. Since I can remember I was attracted by the States, for so many reasons, but mainly because of its Hugeness. It has been the place where Innovation happened and where all our culture came from. I was tired of living in Germany, to be at a place that slow, where people get everything they get, but years later and all that. So I went to visit a friend of mine in Los Angeles for a month. It was raining in Germany, so when I got at the airport it was hot as hell, I was standing there in a sweater and it was like 35 degrees. After waiting for an hour my friend picked me up with a friend in his dope ass Mustang and I was so shocked and stunned on the way to his place, all the palm trees, the garages, Tattoo shops, 300000 Fast Food chains, all the stuff you really know that they're just Materialistic and Foolish, but I couldn't get my jaw up. Shutterbug was the first track I've heard when I left the airport and since then I associate it with Los Angeles, the coolest place I've ever been to so far. Plus it really fits the first impression. Listen how Glamorous the synthesizer-pad kind of sound feels, it really wants you to put on some ray bans and act all cool and stuff.

4. Ras G | Eunice in White
A year after I visited my friend Jouls in Los Angeles, who is working on his career as a Club-promoter and Film-director, my brother (which he not really is but he was kind of the big brother I never had) had to do businesswork for his father's company in Chennai, India. When I arrived at the airport I was shocked to see how families had to live in garbage and in tents as small as my toilet back home, with little children. I was scared to death in the traffic, 5 kids and some weird dude on one bike and what not. In India, I learned a lot about Humbleness and about so many things, but one thing I really learned was how to entertain myself. As my friend had to do lots of business I had to go and explore India on my own. Everyday I just started to walk without any goal but I was surprised by India's beauty every step I took. The Ras G's Brotha From Anotha Planet was the only music I had on my iPod, and I listened to Eunice In White a lot. I made over 1200 pictures and edited some videos too. I've traveled to Bangalore and Hampi to people I met on the plane, it was adventurous to travel almost 24 hours within 3 days on my own. Sleeping at weird places, seeing temples older than everything I've ever seen so far. The song Eunice In White is Experimental, beautiful and kind of expresses the Curiosity I felt in India and all the random sounds that are thrown on the track really merged with the sounds of Chennai itself. I wish I had a field recorder, it would have been even more amazing than all the pictures I took. ( I was so happy that Ras G commented on some Facebook post of mine, starstruck).

5. Toro Y Moi | Rose Quartz
I love the music of Toro Y Moi for so many reasons. I love how he can make you want to go Surf and Dance and Cry all at the same time. He had one song 109, which was about him failing at class or something, it's so random but listen to the melody and the chords and all that. I know that the track Rose Quartz hasn't been released yet, but there's this video of him performing it on YouTube. It was the first time my girlfriend (as my girlfriend) has been to my apartment and we kicked it, watching movies and stuff. Later that day I heard the song and now the melody and the feel the song has reminded me of that day. Sometimes I listen to Toro Y Moi and think This dude doesn't even sing that good, but he is the most talented and creative dude in the business. If you have listened to Underneath The Pine you will know what I mean.

6. Flying Lotus | Putty Boy Strut
I've been to Manchester a few weeks ago to check out Flying Lotus at the Warehouse Project. I can tell you that events like that are never the same anywhere else in Europe except for festivals maybe, but not even that. This event has changed my view on Electronic Music when it comes to Performance. It's a whole different world. You had all the different genres, all tempos and everybody just wanted to Experience New Music. I never take drugs, but I like being surrounded by high people in concerts, people who act crazy and spaz out and get really hyperactive. When Flying Lotus dropped this song I really lost my mind, I was starting to swing my arms around and turn my eyes inside out and what not. I was in first row so if you turned around you couldn't see where the crowd ended and it took me 45 minutes to get out. Since then I knew I needed to get out of Germany and perform at some other places, where people judge Music by its content. Sometimes I'm tired of playing Music in front of Hip-Hop heads only. You have the choice here: go to a Jazz-Hip-Hop-J-Dilla ceremony or to a Techno party. Sometimes you're lucky and see some new stuff, but I want to be surrounded by what's New. Flying Lotus, live, Putty Boy Strut opened my eyes for how sick a performance really can be.

7. Robot Koch | Death Star Droid (fLako Remix)
No real Sentimental reason kind of, but fLako was one of the first Live Beatmaking shows I've ever seen, or at least I can remember as the first one. His music inspired the scene a lot and I've seen him performing a lot and I got to say that he is a Genius Rythmic wise. I even got to play at two of his shows, which was an honor, but at the same time he wasn't even aware of it. No bad feelings though I'm still his number one fan, and there's always a story about me hanging out with the coolest people I know, when it's about a fLako performance. This remix, reminds me of the energy you feel when you see someone playing agressive rythms, he is a good compromise between Hard Beats and Beautiful Music, which is very hard to find sometimes.



8. Maxwell | This Womans Work (Kate Bush Cover)
This was the song of me and my first crush. I admit, I was embarrassed, because I didn't even know her in person, I just knew her from the Internet. I felt like I wasn't able to find somebody who would fall in Love with me in real life, but I kind of knew that person very well at that time. Kind of changed later on, but I was way too shy to admit feelings if had them for anyone. I always feel awkward when I tell someone how I feel and all that stuff, which is also why this feels kind of weird to write about it that openly. I was like 13 or something and we had to talk on the phone secretly at night, so my parents wouldn't know. We talked about a bunch of things like Sleepwalking, ideas and dreams. I used to want to be a professional Basketball player and I'm 1,64 m tall, which is basically… Nothing? Was hard for me to give that dream up, but now that I got different goals I'm much more happy than I used to be. But, hey, man, it is what it is, this song will always get me, it's a reinterpretation of an original song from Kate Bush or something. It was on the movie Love And Basketball which used to be my favorite movie, when I was younger. Maxwell is really talented with his voice, and in every relationship I had until now there was a moment I had to listen to it. Except for my relationship now, it's a new chapter (yeah that's what every relationship is, right?... I feel different about this one, I know you don't believe me, don't you?...

9. Ahmad Jamal | Spartacus Love Theme (Alex North Cover)
Spartacus Love Theme by Ahmad Jamal reminds me of how beautiful the Piano is, and when I listen to it, it really makes me want to play the piano everytime. To me it represents Beauty. Ahmad Jamal didn't write the song, he just improvised and played around with it, which to me, was sampling. Taking something which exists already and reinvent it. It legitimated what I did and still do sometimes and as a Musical Piece I really can think about pretty much everything: places I've traveled, people I've met, feelings I had, conversations I had, whatever there is to think about voluntarily. Listen to the end real close. It really helped me out.

10. Mieux! | Boccia
I had my first show in 2010 or something and it was in a lowkey spot where everybody was able to show their music and all. The night there were 30 people or something and most of them were Hardcore Rap fans. I had my MPC 1000 with me and had to play each beat apart and had to switch cards and what not. The dude who ran the spot told me I was dope and wanted me later to play as a warmup for fLako. It was okay, I just thought the people weren't diggin' my music that much though, so I thought fuck that. Then a few months later there was this huge Beat Battle going on (Beat Battles are bad concepts in my opinion) and I wasn't too crazy about it, but it felt like the whole World was. You had to be invited so I thought I wouldn't be able to play, but then some participant couldn't play and I had 1 week to get my beats ready. I was interviewed for some magazine you won't know afterwards and I won the first round against Feux (of Mieux!) and I knew how good he was. It wasn't about winning at all, but it was great that some people liked my music and I got compliments by people I used to hear about. But what I enjoyed mostly was that all my real friends were there, everybody who meant something were kicking it with me, it was like my birthday or something. Mieux! are making some of the dopest tracks right now and they are so superior to what I do, that's why I think Beat BATTLES are stupid, but it was that much exposure of my beats, so many friendly people. 500+ people in the crowd are not bad for the third liveset I've ever played.

+11. Tracy Chapman | Fast Car
I think most people got the urge to leave their usual environment at some point, because being a stranger somewhere else is a pretty cool feeling sometimes, being outside of your comfort zone and all…The more messed up your situation is, the more you wanna leave I guess. Me, I had the best childhood, the most supportive parents and what not, I want to see new stuff too though. I know a handful of people though, who had to leave home because of very sad reasons and all and I guess this song appeals to every person out there who has the urge to see new things in order to be in a better position. I like how she talks very practically about getting jobs, promotion, and all. She describes her plan of leaving and how those plans work out and fail at the same time, because the expectations are way bigger than the results, hope that is what she meant. It's a sad story I think. No matter how played out the song is, it's still beautiful. Heard the song a few years ago, skipping through my father's old vinyl and I didn't knew it was that popular, because I didn't know anything at all kind of.