Playlist : June 14th - 19th, 2010

Well it's my birthday on Wednesday. You can buy me gin if you like. Or I am quite partial to Apple bluetooth keyboards. Or not. Thanks for nothing, punks. The good news is we have a new coffee machine ready for pick up. So I don't have to grimace while drinking instant anymore.

This week's list is a bit all over the place. I have gotten a bit of inspiration from everywhere and it shows in a the mish mash of styles that made the cut. It looks like this:

• Okkervil River - Overboard & Down: Just a 5 track EP that @sunky recommended. I do like these guys; sort of melancholy drunk indie rockers with the slightest touch of country.
  

• LCD Soundsytem - This Is Happening: I first heard this band when I bought their Sound of Silver album for a workmate for Secret Santa. I don't know if she enjoyed it, but I really did. This is their new one.

• VA - I Am Sam OST: Good performance by Sean Penn and a great bunch of Beatles covers on the soundtrack. If anyone besides the Fab Four can play Let It Be and not sound like a try-hard douche, it's Nick Cave - and that's just what he does.
  

• VA - Juno OST: When I found I Am Sam, I saw Juno just under it in iTunes. Two soundtracks in one list? Why not. Such a quirky little film and a bouncy soundtrack. I really like The Moldy Peaches. I should track down more of their stuff.

• Thelonious Monk - The Definitive Thelonious Monk: After adding Miles and Trane to my list mid week and realising how good jazz was to work to, I've slipped some Monk in this week. This guy owns pianos like the ocean owns the ships that sail it.

• Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush the Show!: I needed a hip hop fix for the week. As well as possibly getting hold of Eminem's Recovery album, I've gone with PE's debut for the love of its beats and grooves. The rolling growl of You're Gonna Get Yours sounds like every great day I had in 1987.

• Ben Kweller - Changing Horses: Every good list for me needs a little alt country twang. Kweller's most recent is probably more country than alt, but still feels right.

• Otis Redding - The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959 - 1968: Earlier this week, my wife and I spoke with Miss 3 about the songs she would dance to when she was Miss 1's age. Songs like Love Train, Respect Yourself and Respect. She told us "I love those songs!" to which I replied "Me too. They're the only kind of songs that really matter." So, after the wife accused me of brainwashing our child, I decided to add a little Soul to the list. I took all the Otis singles off this 9 disc compilation.
  

• Patti Smith - Horses: I'm just going to say it, so brace yourself; Patti Smith's cover of Gloria is better than Them's original. There, now that's off my chest... This is a fine album. Punk as hell from 2 years before punk broke. Pity I was only 3 and my parents weren't cool or I would have grown up listening to this great album.
  

So that's it, that's all, that's all there is. Off to pick up the Manna... ah coffee... machine in a bit. If you hear a sigh, wherever you are, it's just me getting my first taste of machine coffee at home for a week.

Ciao amigos \m/