Playlist February 14th - 18th, 2010

Hello fellow travellers, welcome to Work Tunes.

This week’s list is a little retro (*shock*) with the 60s, 70s and 80s well represented. That probably makes it sound like a middle-of-the-road radio station, but these are quality albums, alright?! Here, have a look for yourself:

• Paul Kelly - The A to Z Recordings (Disc 5) : Here I am, half way through listening to an 8 disc box set from Australia's greatest living legend. I was impressed last week with the solo version of Jandamarra/Pigeon and with I Don't Know Anything Anymore which I'd never heard. This disc features the wise advice of Little Boy Don't Lose Your Balls and the shameful tale of Maralinga (Rainy Land).

• Belly - Star : In 1993, the track from Belly that made the inaugural JJJ Hottest 100, Feed The Tree was a huge hit. Featuring Tanya Donnely of Throwing Muses, The Breeders and now solo fame, Belly released just two albums and this was the first. Star swings between angsty grunge fuzz and gentler indie pop twang for 13 fairly good tunes. Feed The Tree really is the stand-out though.

• Wavves - King of the Beach : I only found out last week that the 'boyfriend' in Best Coast's reverb-soaked, garage pop track Boyfriend is supposedly Nathan Williams of Wavves. This is Wavves third album and recently the band made a dual EP with Best Coast called Summer is Forever. I'm really into Best Coast at the moment, so I'm giving Bethany Cosentino's 'boyfriend' a spin.

• Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers : My latest obsession with the Stones continues, but I still haven't bought any vinyl. I am hoping to fix that at the markets this Sunday morning. Sticky Fingers contains the excellent and timeless Brown Sugar and Wild Horses.

• The Beatles - Rubber Soul (Remastered) : Another Beatles remaster as recommended by a work mate. Revolver and Rubber Soul have always been my favourite Beatles albums. I don't know if it's because of the drugs they were taking, or just Bob Dylan's influence, but this music sounds less like they are writing for radio and more like art.

• VA - Billboard Top 100 of 1984 : I don't know why, but this week felt like it was missing the 80s. I've chosen a bunch of tracks I like from the Top 100 Billboard songs of 1984. In 84 I was in my last year of Primary School. In '84 I was into Breakdance. In '84 I was into Wham! and Madonna...

• Dire Straits - Making Movies : I've gotten into a new habit of playing a record every afternoon while riding for 15kms on the exercise bike. While I ride, Miss 1 watches Miss 4 play Feeding Frenzy on XBox and we all listen to the record. Miss 4 is fond of saying "I love listening to records." Brainwashing complete. Wednesday we listened to this album. The stand out track is of course Romeo and Juliet, but the whole set of serious 70s rock from 1980 sounds so damn good under a needle. I think tracks from that era were just mixed with vinyl in mind.

• Germs – G.I. : It's been a while since I played some real LA Punk Rock. This is the one and only studio album ever released by Germs, just like that other famous punk band, who were they, the Sex something...? I'm hoping to watch the Darby Crash (Germs lead singer) biopic What We Do Is Secret at some stage in the coming weeks, so this is good preparation. I might play some more LA Punk next week.

• Pegz – Burn City : I had to give this album a spin this week, because last week I won a signed copy of it from Pegz himself (along with Axis and Gully Platoon) via Twitter. A heap of Australia’s best Hip Hop artists are using Twitter now (@hilltophoods @Bias_B @whoissyntax @blissneso) and Pegz has just recently got on board as @PegzOne. I’ve been a Pegz fan since I heard one of my favourite songs of any genre, Back Then from Axis. This LP features a stack of guests from Suffa to Muph and the brilliant meditation on the important things in life, Ali Shuffle.

• Dolorean - Not Exotic : I discovered Dolorean some time ago now, via 8 Tracks I think, fell completely in love with them for a month and then promptly forgot about them. Until now. Their quite blend of indie shoe gaze type tunes are just the thing for a Monday morning before coffee.

I was hoping by this week I’d be able to sign off with talk about the upcoming fair and democratic elections in Egypt. Well it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Let’s hope the revolution has prevailed very soon.

Thanks for visiting. Please remember to take your belongings when you go. Ya’ll come back now, ya hear?

PS Happy Valentines Day for Monday to my beautiful wife who has the patience of a saint and the mercy of a biblical King to continue being my best friend and loving wife.

Post Script : As I put the finishing touches on this post, early Saturday morning February 12th, Hosni Mubarak has resigned and passed control of Egypt to the military. This is a momentous occasion and I am glad I awake to see the celebrations live. As a teenager, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 wasn't something I completely understood or paid attention to. The liberation of Egypt will have no such neglect from me.

Congratulations to the people of Egypt. Power to the people. Right on.