Playlist : October 11 - 15, 2010

You might have noticed there was no playlist last week. Yours truly was struck down with a scorching case of tonsillitis and spent all week off work. Friday I wasn't all that sick, but it seemed silly to go in for one day - plus I had to look for a new car to replace my hail-damaged bucket - so I took annual leave. I managed to get out with my wife and see Inception too, so that was a good end to a lousy week. So, anyway, I rolled last week's playlist into the week just gone and here we are.

As for this week's list, it has made me realise that the best thing about keeping this blog is that it gives me a simple way to see what I'm listening to and by default, what I'm not. It helps me choose something different each week that I may not have heard for a while, as well as keeps me on the lookout for new music. This week, the forgotten nuggets are by Things of Stone and Wood and by The Lemonheads.

It looks like this:

• Grinderman - Grinderman 2 : The first Grinderman album was a bunch of musicians who won't grow up having a wow of a time and making a ruckus in the process. I hope this is more of the same.

• Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue : A collaboration between Ben Folds, who's always liked to tell a story, and writer Nick Hornby. The result is a wealth of majestic piano melody, Ben Folds intense sincerity and a nice dose of the words.

• Bob Dylan - Bringing it All Back Home : The LP that started the holy trinity. I chose it right after a discussion I had with @sunky about the new You Am I album which has been described as Dylanesque. I recalled how damn good Blonde on Blonde is. But since it got a play not long ago, I go back to where the trilogy began. What followed this first listen on wax of an electric Dylan were two of the greatest rock records ever released - Highway 61 Revisited and then Blonde on Blonde.

• The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray : Fingers crossed I'm hoping to catch The Lemonheads at the Rosemount Hotel in December. That gig will be the band playing this album in its entirety. I haven't heard it in a good long while, so I'm hoping to refamiliarise myself with it.

• John Lennon - The John Lennon Collection : The same discussion with @sunky that brought up You Am I and Dylan took a sidestep to discuss Lennon solo vs The Beatles (and the class of Ms Yoko Ono). Which is why I enjoy talking music with @sunky. I chose the compilation because it gives me a broad spectrum of solo work that I can listen to in order to reinforce what I already believe - some solo Lennon is better than some The Beatles tracks and better than anything the others did solo.

• Surreal & the Sound Providers - True Indeed : Just a little bit of jazzy hip hop groove to wind down the working week. I may be working away from the office on Friday though, so it could be getting a play earlier on - which isnt when I normally like the laid back tunes.

• Oasis - Definitely Maybe : Noisy, brash, grinding and difficult to listen to at times - and that's just the Gallagher brothers. ZING! I like this album. It's Oasis when they thought they ruled Rock n Roll but before they actually did for a time.

• Things of Stone and Wood - The Yearning : This album got such a playing from me at Uni. The band even played my Uni one lunchtime. Right up until I swapped CDs for an iPod, the CD was on high rotation. It's Australian violin and mandolin soaked folk music with a taste of Melbourne. I realised just a week or so ago that it wasn't on my iPod for some reason and I don't know how long it's been since I heard it.

• Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry : Listening to a KCRW podcast of Billy Bragg live at Newport Folk Festival a couple of weeks back, I remembered what I've always liked about him. He has something to say that he cares about - and too many performers these days don't. What Billy Bragg says in an 'ugly' way (with a jangling guitar that doesn't always sound tuned and a voice like a drunken yob at the pub) is easier to listen to than all the meaningless pop sung by pretty girls and boys with 5 octave ranges.

• Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs - God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise : I don't know if this has anything at all to do with Spike Lee's follow up to When The Levees Broke (called If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise) but it sounds pretty good.
  

If anything strikes your fancy, remember : See something, play something. Take care cats and remember to keep a good head and always carry a lightbulb.