2012 marks the beginning of a new journey for human kind.

Chances are we’ll all be fine, but key events look to shift our idea of what it means to “live normally”.

Doomsday theories aside; 2012 also looks to be a year of many amazing new albums.

Mr. Warren Hildebrand definitely has a few surprises in store for lovers of Foxes In Fiction.

But I’ll let him tell you about that when the time comes.

This lovely mix is a collection of jams that have been getting Warren through long studio sessions, cold weather and his upcoming European adventure with Happy Trendy.

All the tour dates can be found here

And now, over to Warren.

Over 30 minutes of beauty awaits below.

Enjoy:

Mixtape for Diamond Atlas by Foxes in Fiction

Hey guys. Here’s a collection of some favourites that I’ve been listening to lately to help my minds transition into the colder weather and been alleviating insane mood shifts and this weird feelings of lingering loneliness that seems to be follow me around lately, due in part to this period of self-imposed studio sequestering, and also because of the sensation of being really far away from the people that I love. Definitely finding myself California dreaming more often than not. Music really heals, and I hope this does for you what it does for me.

1. Ricky Eat Acid – Turn into Flower

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Sam Ray of Ricky Eat Acid for Rebel Magazine. He is honestly one of the most talented, kindhearted and intelligent people I know making music today. He had this to say about this particular song off his events-and-places-into-songs album Seeing Little Ghosts Everywhere;

‘Dead Baby Bunny’ I recorded this one day when my cats accidentally killed a baby bunny when they were trying to play with it. They kept going over to it and nudging it and then looking up at me sadly and crying because they wanted it to wake up and play with them. It twitched for a while and then died, and I buried it in my garden, which is actually what the song ‘Turn into Flowers’ is about.’

2. Broadcast – Echo’s Answer

This song remains one of my favourite tracks by Broadcast and perfectly illustrates how a few key musical elements can really make a song into something incredibly striking. I really miss having Trish Keenan around. I only met her once after a show that Broadcast played in Toronto with Atlas Sound, but I was really touched by what a sweet and genuine person she was. I remember waking up and reading about her death earlier this year and crying for a long time afterwards.

3. Guided by Voices – My Valuable Hunting Knife

My rad-as-fuck friend Gary showed me this song a long time ago before I knew what good music was (actually I still don’t). Gary used to try to make fun of me because I like dick, but then I shot down his attempts to weird me out and now we’re great friends. We used to spend long hours trading YouTube links back and forth over MSN in between talking about ‘personal matters’ like porn on 4chan or how much pubic hair is too much. Why don’t we do that anymore, Gary?

4. Azeda Booth – First Little Britches

I don’t understand how this band doesn’t have more attention. This album is seriously one of the most wonderful things I’ve heard in so long and has been on constantly play ever since a friend tipped me off to them. There’s must be something amazing and nutrious in the water in Edmonton. I also don’t think I can logically or sensibly process the fact that it’s not a female singing, but in my mind that’s a good thing

5. Arthur Russell – Love Comes Back

The way that Arthur Russell was able to distill ideas and emotions into songs is something that totally humbles me. A secondary effect I’ve recently noticed of falling in love for the first time over the past few months is the way that songs about love seem to sound totally different relatable now, where they only had really light superficial effects before. The simplicity and beauty of this song is enough to evoke those kinds of feelings of devotion, longing and love a thousand times over. At a time of the year where there seems to be so much negative energy following me and fucking me up emotionally, songs like this remind me that stability and happiness aren’t always far off if I just try and find them.

6. Grimes – Weregild

I think Grimes is weird and cool because she kind of seems like a dork like me and doesn’t seem to care about what people think of her work. She is also doing what I really want to do with music, which is basically making pop music with legitimately strange and experimental elements to it, except she is a million times better at it than I am.

7. Balam Acab – Motion

This track is endlessly beautiful. I don’t even know what else to say? I wish I had made it.

8. Gem Club – Breakers

This is another awesome of how a few bare musical elements can coalesces through weightless empty space and form something beautiful and crystalline. This entire LP is incredible.

9. Benoit Pioulard – Patter

No mid-November seasonal-depression-laden mixtape would be complete without an obligatory track by Benoit Pioulard. I always come back to Thomas’s music around this time of year because of it’s obvious autumnal qualities and because everything he’s created has clicked with me right away. Whenever anyone asks me to recommend him or her music, the first thing I usually mention is Benoit Pioulard.

Words by: Max Mohenu

Mix, Album Artwork & Tracklist Summary by: Warren Hildebrand

xx