Brian’s Mixtape #20: The Big Freeze

Brr… it’s cold. Being a sensible sort of chap, Brian’s not going outside until all this horrid weather is over. You might think it’s better for owls, what with their ability to fly and all, but our poor mixtape maker faces the daily threat of having his wings frozen together and falling from the sky. Plop. Quite apart from being sore, it’d be awfully undignified, and Brian has a reputation to protect.

Instead he’s going to stay in with a delicious bowl of mouse soup and listen to the lovely tunes he’s cobbled together. Some about the cold and a couple that are just songs he’s discovered and loves.

Album: Tune Yards – BiRd-BrAiNs

There’s a lovely moment at the start of BiRd-BrAiNs when Merrill Garbus and a child, possibly her son, discuss the merits of blueberries. They’re “fresh”, they conclude. So is this album, given a deserved UK release by the rejuvenated 4AD…