MIXTAPE: THE CLIENTELE
Does your summer sound something like this?
With four dream-psych pop albums under their belt—and a fifth, Bonfires on the Heath, out this October—the Clientele seemed like the perfect band to put together an end-of-summer mix for NYLON. Turns out, we were right. Here’s what bassist James Hornsey put together:
When the Clientele first formed, we used to make lots of mixtapes for each other. Nowadays, we take turns DJing from our iPods in the tour van while the rest of the band fall asleep in the back. A typical set from me might go something like this:
Marika Papagika – “Zmirneikos Balos”
One of the first rembetika songs I heard – an amazing piece of music, completely entrancing.
Pie Warmer – “Never Mention Eyes”
Back in 2004, I spent a month driving ‘round New Zealand listening to Edmund Cake on the car stereo and eating BP pies. Appropriately, Edmund Cake has now become Edmund Pie and calls his new band Pie Warmer. This song comes from their great new album, The Fearsome Feeling.
The Triffids – “Spanish Blue”
One of the favorite bands of my youth, this song somehow escaped my attention until this year, and it’s a gem.
Pearls Before Swine – “Snow Queen”
I never understood why Tom Rapp isn’t as famous as Bob Dylan, he’s such a great songwriter.
David Kilgour & Sam Hunt – “Everytime It Rains Like This”
Collaborations between musicians and poets don’t get much better than this. Actually I can’t think of any others, but this is a lovely song nonetheless.
Weekend – “Red Planes”
This sounds great on one of those long, late-night drives between cities that happen on American tours.
Anestis Delias – “O Ponos tu Prezakia”
Another Greek favorite from the ‘30s, one of only a few records he made before he died from a drug overdose at age 29 – the title translates as “The Pain of the Junkie”.
Felt – “Riding the Equator”
The band sounds amazing on this track. There aren’t too many guitar solos that I like, but this song has one of them.
The Puddle – “Southern Man”
A classic pop song from George Henderson, who the Clientele paid tribute to in the song “George Says” on our last EP.
The Byrds – “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”
When I was 16, Al leant me his Byrds tape whilst we were on a college trip to the WWI battlefields in Belgium. I probably never gave it back! Gene Clark was always my favorite.
The Feelies – “On the Roof”
Someone just told me the Feelies have reformed for a show in NY – I need to find a cheap plane ticket!
Damon & Naomi with Ghost – “The New World”
One of the best things about being in the Clientele has been playing shows with some of our favorite artists, none more so than Damon and Naomi.
Andonis Dalgas – “Sousta Politiki”
This guy had just the most incredible voice, and is in particularly fine form here.
Annie Hayden – “Starring in the Movies”
We toured with Annie for a month, and the highlight of every day was hearing this song.
The Chills – “Water Wolves”
All mixtapes I make have to include at least one Chills song – this one has an amazing Van Dyke Parkes string arrangement, which is pretty hard to follow…so this is the last song.
This story was published on August 20, 2009.
