Short Beach Pixies Give Up (April 30 - May 4)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


I've got a biannual Record Fair this weekend and I'm looking forward to picking up a few great records at a bargain price - or a couple of hard to find classics at a premium. If I find anything especially great, I might just rip it to digital and whack it on next week's list. 


This week's list is a little heavy on the indie and the dinosaur rock. I've found a couple of bands I didn't previously know and dug up a Television album I haven't heard. Here's what I have to get me through week ahead. 


After getting quickly addicted to the What A Pleasure EP, I've got Beach Fossils' debut; Songl told me Spectrals were like Beach Fossils, so there's that; I have one of the last Bonnie Prince Billy albums I'm yet to hear; the best of the Pixies; The Postal Service's one and only album; some funky jazz hop from Ninety One; the second disc of Tupac's Greatest Hits; some Iron & Wine and U2's Boy.


Check it out:

• U2 - Boy
• Television - The Blow Up
• Tupac - Greatest Hits (Disc 2)
• Spectrals - Bad Penny
• Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
• Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Letting Go
• Ninety One - Short Nights
• Pixies - Wave Of Mutilation
• Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
• The Postal Service - Give Up

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Beach Fossils
2. Snoop Dogg
3. Brian Eno
4. Ambulance LTD
5. Ninety One

Song of the Week : Beach Fossils - Face It

I first heard this album (which is really an EP) half way through last year and it just sort of washed right over me. You know, I enjoyed it but it didn’t really make an impact. I think that’s because I wasn’t listening too close and because the music feels like a long lazy swim or somebody scoring your daydreams.


This track is Face It and it’s been stuck in my head all week. Not sure if it’s because we have been thinking about moving to Darlington (and the refrain says “I’d give up the city life”) or because my wife left the country for me (and it says “I’d give up the country life”) but I feel like I can relate to the song and I’ve been constantly singing and humming it. Plus, I’ve played the What A Pleasure EP at least three times since ANZAC night. 


I think if you took the massive reverb off the vocals and crunched up the guitars a little, the whole EP would pretty much rock out. But instead the sound has been filtered through almost a Vaseline lens.


I’ve since grabbed their debut to check it out and that will be on the playlist for next week. If you like the sound of this track, definitely check out What A Pleasure.

Arrivederci

So there you have it. From a personal stand point, not a bad list to take with me on another busy week. Hopefully there's something you haven't heard that you can check out and get into. I'll be at the record fair Sunday, looking for new gems. I'll let you know if I find any.  


Ciao for now. Go Eagles! Hasala malakim.

NY Teenanger Ambulance Jets (Apr 23 - 27)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


It's been another busy week at work and I was glad to have some good music to get me through. Next week is going to be just as busy and the ANZAC Day public holiday is smack bang in the middle. I have an Australian LP in the mix to honour the Diggers, but as a general rule, the records I chose are mostly older, either electronic, punk or rock with a slice of gangsta thrown in. 


I've got disc 1 of Tupac's Greatest Hits because the Coachella "hologram" (not a hologram) was so bizarre; which of course led me to pick a Snoop release; I've got a Mojo compilation of NY punk thanks largely to a doco I just watched on the New York Dolls; Van Halen's 1984 \m/, a compilation of civil rights inspired soul; some Brian Eno who I've only recently started paying attention to as an artist rather than a producer; Kraftwerk because they seem to be following me around at the moment; a new LP from Teenanger, punk band; Ambulance LTD thanks to @BreeMateljan and finally the aforementioned AUS LP from Tim Rogers' "side project" The Temperance Union.    


Check it out:

• Teenanger - Frights
• Ambulance LTD - Ambulance LTD
• VA - Mojo Presents I HEART NY Punk
• Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets
• Van Halen - 1984
• Kraftwerk - The Man Machine
• VA - Change Is Gonna Come: The Voice of Black America 1963 - 1973 
• Snoop Dogg - Tha Doggfather
• Tupac - Greatest Hits (CD 1)
• The Temperance Union - The Temperance Union

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Prince
2. Sonic Youth
3. Black Flag
4. Mos Def
5. The Far West

Song of the Week : New York Dolls - Jet Boy

Recently I watched a documentary called New York Doll on Arthur "Killer" Kane, bass player for the New York Dolls. Coincidentally, I watched a collection of Old Grey Whistle Test videos on DVD, one of which was the New York Dolls doing Jet Boy. You can watch the video on YouTube here.


Only the lead vocals are live apparently, which was the style at the time ;) What's at the end of the video is the presenter of The Old Grey Whistle Test snorting derisively at the end of the performance and scoffing " Ha. Mock rock". He is completely taking the piss and obviously thought they were too.


Clearly, what he didn't realise is he was witnessing a very early middle finger stuck up at the Rock establishment from the kids who'd come to be known Punks. I wouldn't call this my favourite song of theirs, but the incident live at the BBC was quite fascinating to watch. 


Listen to the song if you like, but for a bit more fun, try and check out the video and imagine you don't know about Glam Rock or the Sex Pistols or the Ramones or even the Stooges (who were around but wouldn't have been exposed to a British audience yet). And then watch the presenter’s reaction, because it’s priceless. And it’s not like The Old Grey Whistle Test was a stuffy old show – they were quite contemporary for the time. It’s just they were of the present and the Dolls were from years in the future.

Bye For Now

Thanks for stopping by. It's my 10th wedding anniversary on Saturday 21st, so I'll be pampering my lovely wife with diamond jewellery and a night out. If you're a couple, I hope your weekend is as romantic as I hope to make mine. Pity the WCE v HAW game is on the same night. DOH! (Go Eagles!).


If you're Australian, have a great and reverent day off on Wednesday. Being a left wing hippy socialist, I don't believe that war is the answer, but I am grateful to the men and women who go out and put their lives on the line for our country. I just curse the politicians who make it necessary. 

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you sit back and watch
While the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.

Lest we forget. Hasala malakim.

Kamaal the Sad Television Companion (April 16 - 20)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


I can't begin to tell you how busy my week has been, so I won't try. Suffice to say I shall be busy at work from now until, roughly... the END OF TIME! To get through this overwhelming metric ton of work for the foreseeable future, I'm going to need plenty of tunes. 


Which is why I have some smooth Hip Hop grooves from Q-Tip and Mos Def's Black on Both Sides; some anarchic and cathartic punk from Black Flag;  self-titled LPs from both The Far West and Television; The National's mostly overlooked second LP;  the latest from Counting Crows and M. Ward; the first album in the first Holy Trinity from Bob Dylan and a solid compilation from KCRW.


Check it out:

• Q-Tip - Kamaal The Abstract
• Black Flag - Damaged
• Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
• The Far West - The Far West
• Television - Television
• The National - Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers
• Counting Crows - Underwater Sunshine
• M. Ward - A Wasteland Companion
• Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
• VA - KCRW Sounds Eclectic 3

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Prince
2. Drive-By Truckers
3. Uncle Tupelo
4. A Tribe Called Quest
5. U2

Song of the Week : Prince - Nothing Compares 2 U

So now to my song for the week. I was bitterly disappointed (though not at all surprised) that Prince isn't coming to Perth. I could probably wrangle a work flight to Melbourne and see him there, but I don’t want to stay away from home to catch him. Besides, what was touted as “keeping with current tour prices” (which was as low as $25) has become, I’ve seen, as much as $850 a ticket. Ridiculous.


So I’m definitely not going to see Prince. But I can pick my favourite live Prince track for SOTW. This is the original and best version of Nothing Compares 2 U. A world away from Sinead O’Connor’s forlorn pop ballad version, this is heart wrenching Soul from the purple one and Rosie Gaines. Gaines’ voice is amazing and you can hear Prince smiling as he coaxes responses from her within the song lyric. 


Besides missing a moment like the legendary George Harrison tribute, I think what I upsets me most about missing the Prince tour is the chance to hear some of Pop music’s greatest songs done live by a living legend. C'est la vie. Enjoy.

Hoo-roo

Until next time, may your weekend be filled with music and the good kind of mayhem. If you find something new to listen to, don't be a selfish hipster and hide it away for yourself - hook a brother up.


And speaking of shared knowledge, I just got back from The Record Finder in Fremantle. I go there every chance I get, which is a lot, but now something is bugging me. The range is huge, no doubt; but the prices on new LPs are out of whack and the used vinyl is sealed up so you can't check it. I think why it suddenly bothers me is that Mills Record Bar up the road have beefed up their selection and cut the prices to very reasonable levels. The range may not be the same, but they do stock some of the best records ever made - from Bob Dylan to The National. So my advice if you're hunting vinyl in town is only check Record Finder for more left-field used vinyl and be prepared to ask to see it. 


Vinyl tragics unite! Hasala malakim.

Brighter Imitation Fire Theory (April 9th - 13th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's Easter this week and that means Friday and Monday off with a chance of picnic. It also means the same amount of work tunes in a smaller space of time. More music per square inch. 

So, what have I got? I have dived into the Drive-By Truckers back catalogue after enjoying Jason Isbell recently; there's an old favourite acoustic compilation from Triple M; Justin Townes Earle's latest LP that I've been waiting with baited breath for; I grabbed the rarities disc from both Ben Folds and Prince's best of 3 disc sets; because April 4 has just been, I grabbed The Unforgettable Fire; a bonafide Hip Hop classic from Tribe; a Something From Kate LP I haven't listened to yet and the acclaimed Pet Sounds.

Check it out:

• Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

• VA - Triple M Cordless

• Justin Townes Earle - Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now

• Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne

• Ben Folds - Best Imitation of Myself (Disc 3) Rarities

• Prince - The Hits, The B-Sides (Disc 3) The B-Sides

• A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory

• The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

• U2 - The Unforgettable Fire

• Something For Kate - Elsewhere for 8 Minutes

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
2. Lucinda Williams
3. U2
4. The Beatles
5. (RAS) Riders Against the Storm

Song of the Week : Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - The King

On April 4 1968, 44 years ago (4/4 44years… just realised that), MLK was assassinated in Memphis. The song I have chosen in respect of this tragic anniversary is Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – The King.


The song was released in 1983 on the On The Strength album, but it must have been ’87 or ’88 when I heard it on 100FM during their Scratch FM hip hop show. At the time, I am ashamed to say I had no idea who King was. I had been told about slaves (and I remember not being allowed to watch Alex Haley’s Roots even though it was a huge deal on TV at the time) and segregation, but I didn’t know the first thing about the Civil Rights movement. This song made me look King and Jesse Jackson up in the school library. That quickly led me to reading about Civil Rights in the US, about the Freedom rides, the marches, the bus boycott, the lunch counter sit ins and everything else. 


Since then I have read anything and everything I can get my hands on about the movement, I've watched countless documentaries and listened to a lot of music that references the same things (from the Staple Singers to Tupac). With this, I learned that the line from this song: "He wasn't scared of any man, didn't have no fear" was in no way whatsoever an exaggeration. King knew he was a target, knew his life was in danger everywhere he went, but continually put himself in situations that risked his life because it would further the mission he felt he was on. I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t even have an ounce of that man’s courage. 


So in celebration of a life not wasted, please enjoy. 

Hasta La Vista

Thanks for stopping by. Please have a safe and outstanding Easter if that's your thing. If you find any new music, hook a brother up. 


Go Eagles! Actually, if West Coast do for some reason lose to Melbourne today, I won't be overly distraught, as Melbourne deserves some positive karma for ditching a sponsor whose CEO made racist and sexist Facebook comments - regardless of the fact that doing so cost the struggling club AU$2M. So, Go Eagles! but congratulations Melbourne. 


Hasala malakim.