Friday, June 29, 2012

Sunday Public Asylum Massacre (July 2nd - 6th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


A week of all work and no play make Corey J something something. Go crazy? Not quite, but it was touch and go there for a while. All enjoyable stress of course, but it does take its toll. Skagboys is going well. One good thing about being tired from work is getting to bed earlier and getting to read every night. Renton and Co. have just had a couple of tastes of Heroin and the book is mainly concerned at this stage with the rampant unemployment of Thatcher's Britain in the 80s. That's not a book report, that's just me making conversation. Okay, okay shut up monkey boy and make with the music. 


In this week's bag of treats, I have the kick-ass soundtrack to a cheesy 70s teen melodrama I just watched, Over The Edge; there's the Sonic Youth and Public Image Limited albums I bought courtesy of a carton of Becks; your funky education continues with disc 3 of Star Time; I threw in some 50 Cent and Cypress Hill coz I is well gangsta innit?; do you remember Soul Asylum? Dave Pirner dated Winona Ryder. You don't remember Winona Ryder? Me either. Queen are good though eh? For new sounds I have some old sounds by Silver Jews and the latest from Japandroids that some well-respected Twitter critics have raved about. I haven't heard them since Post-Nothing and I wasn't overly fussed on that album. I do trust my Twitter critics though, so we'll see.

Check it out:


  1. James Brown
  2. The Cure
  3. Eminem
  4. Circle Jerks
  5. The Police

Song of the Week : Wax Audio - Disturbing Practices (Overboard)

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Initially I was going to pick a vitriolic Elvis Costello song about Thatcher just to highlight how great some songs can be when they're so nasty. Then I remembered a song far more closely related to our own mess and just as nasty - only this time, the politicians' own words are used to hang them out to dry.


This is Disturbing Practices by Wax Audio, a remix of political propoganda from the time of the Children Overboard fiasco. The fact that people forgot Howard and Costello's lies and voted them back in, just illustrates how too many Australians have the derp derp deyturkarejarbs! mentality.


Problem is, the majority of voters seem to still be conveniently forgetting that people have died as a result of this veiled White Australia Policy, this attempt to rile up rednecks and make them feel 'secure' from those nasty desperate people. I'm disgusted in The Ranga for still playing the games with people's lives that got Howard elected. I can say with pride that I voted Greens and kept offshore processing out of the Senate.


I'm 5000

Thanks for stopping by. It is my nephew's first birthday bash this weekend. It's a
pirate themed party. So I thoroughly intend to burn copies of all my sister and brother in law's DVDs. Yaaaar! 


Be good to one another. Don't worry about a thing, because damn it, if you're reading this it means you have an internet enabled device and a connection. That's already put you in the richest 30 or so percent of people in the world. Share the wealth a little hey? 


Go Eagles. Hasala malakim.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Sugar Sweet Fables of Sea Police (June 25th - 29th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


What a busy week it's been at work. I've been busy on several projects at once and have barely had time to think about anything else. Which makes deciding what to listen to a bit trickier than usual. But never fear, because music inspiration is all around and eventually there's a list to be made. 


This particular list began with a bit of The Cure, because I've been reading Skagboys and obsessing over 80s music. The Police made it for the same reasons. I finally updated my cassette copy of REM Fables, so that's here. I'm continuing on with the Sugar Hill and James Brown compilations. I'm not over my hardcore trip yet, so I added the Circle Jerks. How long has it been since you heard My Name Is?! Slim Shady is here. For some new tunes, I've got the Bon Iver iTunes session and something from Daughn Gibson. Lastly, there's an old faithful compilation in Sweet Relief II.

Check it out:


  1. Meat Puppets
  2. Bad Brains
  3. Beck
  4. A Tribe Called Quest
  5. Get Smart!

Song of the Week : The Cure - Let's Go To Bed



This week I started reading Skagboys, Irvine Welsh's prequel to Trainspotting. It's set in the early to mid 80s where Renton has passed his punk phase and is tiring of his Northern Soul phase. There is a lot of music explicitly referred to in the book and it's mostly new wave. People like John Swan the drug dealer listen to 60s stuff like The Doors. Even before I started reading the book and found out how musical it was, I started doing this really nerdy thing where I make 80s genius lists to be the soundtrack to my reading.


So this week's song is one that turned up on one of those. I remember really loving this song, on this 80s compilation, as an 11 year old with no idea who The Cure were. While I was hip enough to dig on Grandmaster Flash, my music tastes were hardly refined back then, with me listening to the Top 40 on 6pm AM radio. All the kids in my class were into the 80s pop of the time (Wham!, Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls etc). So we all had these compilations and on this one, Let's Go To Bed was my favourite song. I didn't even understand it, I don't think. It just sounds great. 


When I read Skagboys, this UK 80s gothic sound is the overwhelming tone in my head. Even if the jukeboxes are playing songs like Too Shy and The Message.


Bye Bye

Thanks for stopping by. My birthday was fantastic, thanks for asking. It was good to see the fam and get some good nosh in together. My sister and brother in law were kind enough to slip me Mad Max 2 and Blow on Bluray along with the latest Best Coast. Saved me buying them. I also got some butterscotch schnapps, but the less said about that, the better.


That's it for another week. Where does the time go?! Be good to each other, kids.


Go Eagles. Hasala malakim.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Bad Orpheus Cave Mutations (June 18th - 22nd)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Okay, I'm going to come clean. I'm not really "firty-five" tomorrow. I was born in the great year of our Lord (whose name is Rock n' Roll) 1972. Therefore, that makes me 39. Which is where I am going to stay now, thanks very much.


So to get me through the post forty blues, I've upped the level of Funk to EXTREME with James Brown's Star Time compilation (just disc 1 for this week - can't overdo these things at my age). There's some Bad Brains which is ripped from vinyl to remind me that punk rock will never die. I've slipped in some Beck; Radiohead and Nick Cave for a little 90s flavour; plus there's disc two of the Sugar Hill box and some ATCQ for my Hip Hop fix. Lastly there's some 80s post punk from Get Smart! and some new stuff from Violens. .

Check it out:


  1. Young Marble Giants
  2. Wilco
  3. The Triffids
  4. Violent Femmes
  5. Beastie Boys

Song of the Week : The Ramones - I Don't Wanna Grow Up



I'm off work today and I took Miss 5 to school and hung out in her classroom before the siren. Some strange kid drew a picture of me. I looked pretty suave actually, but I'm not sure she captured my true essence. 3 stars kid.


After the siren, I went to get some fuel and that's when my SOTW came to me. At the bowser next to me, seemingly not interested in pouring fuel, two guys were talking. One of them looked about mid 30s and was wearing shorts, sneakers and a Ramones tee shirt. I was thinking to myself, I need a Ramones tee. Then I thought "Dude, you're f-f-f--firty five tomorrow and you probably should lay off the band tee shirts". Then, thankfully, my rational self kicked in and I thought "Screw that!"


So here is my SOTW. The Ramones' cover of Tom Waits' great song I Don't Wanna Grow Up. Because, damn it, I don't. And I don't care how old I am tomorrow. In the words of Homer J Simpson, I'm going to "keep on rockin' forever.. forever.. forever.. forever :( ..." And damn it, I'm getting a Ramones tee shirt.



Rawk On

Postscript: Some little kid when I went to get Miss 5 from school also had a Ramones shirt. I chose to see that as a sign that you're never too young or too old to rock n roll. Mrs coreyj chose to see it as a sign we needed to have a third child (a boy). I like my version better and so does our accountant. 


Thanks for stopping by, you crazy kids. Pleas pray for Mojo if you're reading this on Saturday. I'll be struggling to come to terms with my age and with just how much time has passed since I was unleashed upon the world. 


I have to admit that I have definitely lived in "interesting times". Only, isn't that an old Chinese curse?


Que sera, sera. Hasala malakim.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Colossal Walkmen Machine Mix-Up (June 11th - 15th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


A short week for me this week and next as I take the Friday off to prepare and the Monday off to recover from my f-f-f-f...firty fifth birthday. I've just had the Revelation Film Festival program launch, so expect me to be talking too much about film until at least early August. The festival itself is a month away, but that won't stop me going on about the films I want to see and bugging my friends and family with schedules. You see, I'm doing it already. On to the music.


I'm still not over the loss of MCA and good instrumentals are great to work to, so there's The Mix-Up. I recently purchased a 3 disc set of Sugar Hill tracks, so I'll add those one disc at a time. So damn funky, I'm frightened of the consequences of playing it at work, The Commodores are here. When I found out my favourite Hole song was a cover, I had to get the album that has the original from Young Marble Giants. There's some new ones from The Tallest Man On Earth and The Walkmen, some oldies from Violent Femmes and The Triffids; Alexi Murdoch's album where a few songs from Away We Go came from; and finally, can you believe there's a Wilco album I haven't heard yet? There is and it's the live set from Chicago, Kicking Television.

Check it out:


  1. The Avalanches
  2. Missy Elliott
  3. Elvis Presley
  4. The Birthday Party
  5. Leonard Cohen

Song of the Week : Young Marble Giants - Credit In The Straight World



I recently discovered that one of my favourite Hole songs is a cover. I say recently discovered, but I must have once known this and forgot. I distinctly remember pouring over the liner notes to Live Through This at the time of release searching for writing credits by Kurt Cobain. I don't think there is any, but at the time I thought he had to have had some kind of input. Hole haven't come close to that good since.


This track, Credit In The Straight World seems to be so obviously about Courtney's addiction and the way fame and fortune allowed her to continue the lifestyle without the downfall of your everyday regular junkie. It's always felt so raw and real coming from her. Knowing it's a cover doesn't change how real it feels though - I think it just makes it one hell of a well-chosen cover.


The original version by Young Marble Giants is very post punk pop with a slant toward electronic beats and keys. The voice of the lead singer is very English and quite reserved. Of course, when Courtney did it, she belted it out like a sneer. Both versions have a creepy undertone of the seedy world of drugs. Hole's just approaches it from a more aggressive perspective while Young Marble Giants sound a little more gothic and dark. I hope you enjoy it.



Ya'll Come Back Now

Thanks for stopping by. That's your lot for the week and I hope you see something you might have a listen to. If nothing else, if you're a Hole fan, check out Colossal Youth. 


I may very well be enjoying a Winter Wonderland and Dinosaurs this weekend, all going to plan. Whatever you're doing, behave - because if I have to, so do you.


Hasala malakim.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Old Batman Knights Stage Left (June 4th - 8th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Well, this week turned out even sadder than the last one, with our much loved cat Moses shuffling off his fluffy grey coil. Sadder still was Miss 5's little broken heart when I told her the news. It was her first taste of real heartache and it shattered us all to see it. Even Miss 3 who still hasn't quite grasped the cat dying, was upset to see her big sister hurting so bad.


It's a long weekend this week, so I'm going to spend it spoiling the girls and trying to take their minds off their loss. I spent this morning with Miss 3 playing Dora on PS2 while Miss 5 was out at a birthday party. Tomorrow it's Fox and the Hound on the big screen and Monday might be dinosaurs at Scitech. I'll do what I can to bring as much joy as possible to them. For myself, there's always the tunes.


It's a bit of a wildly mixed bag this week. There may be something similar aboout the new Leonard Cohen album and Charlotte Gainsburg's latest effort; Prince's Batman soundtrack would be nothing like Elvis' Sun Sessions. Add to that some Missy Elliott and Surfer Blood, plus Robert Glasper. Finally, more than a passing look at Australian acts with The Avalanches, The Birthday Party and Def Wish Cast all getting a gurnsey.


Check it out:


  1. Sam Cooke
  2. Plug 1 & Plug 2
  3. Drive-By Truckers
  4. AC/DC
  5. Dolorean

Song of the Week : Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set - The Thing About Grief

So, my SOTW is a bit of a sombre one. I'm going with Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set - The Thing About Grief. This morning when we told the kids about Moses, Miss 3 didn't really understand, but I just about heard Miss 5's heart break in two. She was inconsolable and I was instantly reminded of where I'd seen a girl cry that way before - my sister when my Mum died.


It really hurt that my daughter was feeling that and I just couldn't stop it. And then there's the realisation that this is just her first real broken heart and many more will follow. I've never seen her so deeply affected by anything and I hated that I just couldn't stop it for her.


I chose this song because the first time I heard it, I knew that Bowditch had been there. She knew all about the grieving process for young adults / kids. My sister did lose friends because she went through some issues and took a while to recover. I spent a year being stoic and strong but finally lost my shit on the first anniversary after a stressful day on Prac at Mandurah High. And early on in the process, you do get scared to speak their name in case everything bubbles to the surface and you're lost to sadness for weeks.

I hope you enjoy the song, even though the context sucks.

Adieu

Thanks for stopping by. Sorry for being a bit of a damp sponge; Captain Bringdown if you will. Onwards and upwards from here - although the dreaded milestone birthday whose name shall not be spoken, quickly approaches. Hey, at least there'll be paella and presents.



RIP Mosey boy. We miss you. I'll never forget you always standing with your paws up the side of the kitchen cabinet when we were cutting chicken - like you were just stretching and omg did we just accuse you of wanting our food?! And when you ran off and got lost somewhere for months and when we finally accepted you'd probably been run over, you waltzed back in the house - on Easter Sunday.
Best. Cat. Ever.


Go Eagles. Hasala malakim.