Revolutionary Spanish Destruction Rocks

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Happy Straya Day. If you're out and about celebrating, by all means be thankful you had the good fortune to be born into a beautiful natural landscape with a whole heap of privileges you can take for granted, but don't be a dick about it hey? Don't forget that the actual date represents an invasion of one nation over another and the subsequent oppression of the traditional owners. Owners who didn't even have a right to be counted in a census until as late as 1967. Maybe have a sensible discussion about moving it to the date on which we acknowledged the humanity of the people who lived and loved this land for over 40,000 years - the 27th of May; when we became one Australia and not when we were invaded by Britain. 

And so to the music. First up, I guess I know what it says about my state of mind at the minute, I have some hardcore stick-it-to-the-man music from Gil Scott Heron and a revolutionary jazz compilation. Both of those are multiple disc sets, so they'll be back next week. To fill the 'old favourites' spots, I have Ray LaMontagne, Tori Amos and Jesse Malin. Representing Hip Hop you'll find Q-Tip and Pharoahe Monch. Another compilation from Uncut, this time all new music, plus She's Spanish, I'm American thanks to last week's SOTW leaves only a new release from California X. 

Check it out:

• Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Begins (Disc 1)
• VA - Freedom Rhythm & Sound Revolutionary Jazz 1963-82 (Disc 1)
• Ray LaMontagne - God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise
• Q-Tip - Amplified
• Jesse Malin - The Fine Art of Self Destruction
• Pharoahe Monch - W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)
• Tori Amos - Boys For Pele
• California X - California X
• VA - Uncut Rocks Off
  
• She's Spanish, I'm American - She's Spanish I'm American EP

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Hilltop Hoods
2. Bruce Hornsby
3. The Autumn Defense
4. Datarock
5. JEFF the Brotherhood

Song of the Week : The Jam - Pretty Green

I am going with a The Jam song today. I had Sound Affects on this week's list and at the same time watched a two part BBC thing on Growing Up Poor. This song Pretty Green seems like it was made for a documentary like that - with talk about money and power and music and the whole English accent thing. 

I've never closely followed the catalogue of The Jam, beyond the odd track on a compilation, plus That's Entertainment has always been a favourite. But the Mojo book I was reading recently really talked up this album, so I thought it was worth a shot. It was.

Catch Ya Later, Mate

Have a great day wherever you are, but especially here in Australia. Just don't use it as an excuse to wave a flag at people who don't look like you, or believe in the same God as you. Use it as a day to be 'Australian' which is multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and hopefully forward thinking. We used to be the 'clever country', remember?

Hoo roo. Hasala malakim.

Jane's Sovereign Dogtown Tribe (January 21st - 25th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's been a bit of a mixed bag for me this week. Work has been great with a bunch of quick and easy new projects that went down well, but at home my phone and Internet have been more off than on. Much more off. Living in a renovated house more than 50 years old has it's charms, but tell that to the phone cables. Now though, everything is sweet again - for now. Let's have a look at the music, shall we?

To start with, I have two soundtracks, which I wouldn't normally do but these are so different and I only just bought both - The Hottest State (from Ethan Hawke's novel) and Dogtown and Z-Boys. I haven't listened to a whole ATCQ album in a while, so I'm remedying that, plus adding Lady Sovereign for some more rap. To dish up some classics, I have Bowie and The Jam; while some real soul comes from Solomon Burke and S.O.U.L. Lastly, two very different but equally important bands, Wilco and Jane's Addiction. 

Check it out:

• VA - The Hottest State OST
• A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm
• David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
• Lady Sovereign - Public Warning
• Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
• Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
• S.O.U.L. - What Is It
• VA - Dogtown and Z-Boys OST
• The Jam - Sound Affects
• Solomon Burke - Don't Give Up On Me

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Hilltop Hoods
2. Bruce Hornsby
3. The Autumn Defense
4. The Bamboos
5. JEFF the Brotherhood

Song of the Week : She's Spanish, I'm American - The Ocean Always Wins

I can’t believe I haven’t already pulled this one out. It’s from a collaboration that Josh Rouse did with his girlfriend Paz Suay (now defacto and reason for moving to Spain) called She’s Spanish, I’m American. Rouse is a bit of a folky as you all probably know, but the collaboration throws a bit of electronic elements in. This one has a real hip hop beat about it and Paz sings, so it’s a little more dreamy than forlorn.

I chose this song because it forms one part of my children’s safety lessons re: the beach. They know this song and they have been told what the title means – The Ocean Always Wins. I pulled it out today because on the weekend we spent a bit of time down at Port Beach, walking and combing (the weather was a bit bleh and we had to go into town straight after). While there I saw a number of people on the sand, heads buried in their iPhones while their small children swam in front of them, unsupervised. Occasionally one would stand in the water and take photos with said phone. Now, I might be overly cautious, but I never turn my back on my small kids while they are in the sea (and never take my phone into the water!). The ocean always, always wins. There were huge waves that day (the sea was angry that day my friends) and rips everywhere.

Of course, that is not what this song is about. It seems to be about going on a sea cruise early in a relationship and not knowing if it’s the right time to do it, or even how to swim. But I have told my kids that the chorus means you must respect the ocean; that if you don’t it will swallow you up. So the rules are have fun, but be careful. And my rule is never, ever take your eyes off them. Great song though.

Bon Voyage

Thanks for stopping by. If you're in Perth, the heat is ramping up again this weekend, so remember to slip, slop, slap. If you're somewhere that is cold and breezy, or snowing, or raining, or basically just not stinking hot - I hate you (okay, not really). 

Hasala malakim.

Darkness Never Moving Toto (January 14th - 18th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

The first working week of the year is done and dusted and it wasn't half bad. The usual administrative start led smoothly into the massive workload and busy bee of a the end of the week. Through it all of course was the music, just like next week.

For next week, I have a few musical equivalents of a warm cup of cocoa with 80s radio-friendly sets from Toto, Van Halen and The B-52s. I've got a Skip Hop contingent from a compilation and an album from The Herd; as well as more Australian music from the one and only Paul Kelly. I'm trying to rediscover the Ryan Adams & the Cardinals outtakes from III/IV and I bought a Sonic Youth album I haven't heard. Lastly, for a little bit of groove, I am including Jamiroquai. 

Check it out:

• Jamiroquai - Travelling Without Moving
• Toto - IV
• Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - III/IV
• Van Halen - 5150
• VA - Official: The Best of Australian Hip Hop Vol. 1
• Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge
• The B-52s - The B-52s
• Paul Kelly - Words and Music
• The Herd - The Sun Never Sets
• Sonic Youth - Murray Street

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Bruce Hornsby
2. The Autumn Defense
3. JEFF the Brotherhood
4. Datarock
5. Cotton Jones

Song of the Week : Joe "Bean" Esposito - You're The Best

Speaking of holidays, mine was great, thanks for asking and it inspired this week’s SOTW. It’s actually more like Song of the Month because we've hummed and sung and played it all holidays. 

As you probably know from Twitter, I got my girls a skateboard each for Christmas. I haven’t had a chance to take Miss 3 out because we kept her in the day care routine as best we could, but I taught Miss 6 the basics and she is doing well. She can now stand up and push and coast in a mostly straight line. I have taught her to lean turn but she can’t turn in a big arc yet. Still, a lot better than me at 6 when I used to basically sit on my plastic board and roll down our steep driveway. 

Because it was like a training montage of trying and failing, I happened to sing (for Mrs Coreyj's benefit) the Joe Esposito track from Karate Kid – You’re The Best. Big chuckles ensued of course. But the song hasn't gone away. It’s been stuck in all our heads for weeks. So now I’m giving it to you! The interesting thing about the track is how cheesy and comically-sincere it is, but at the time, it was completely serious. It’s a “hard rock” track with keys in the mode of a Journey or even a Toto, but with small and aborted attempts at Ian Gillan style vocal acrobatics. 

So, try to ignore the fact that this track is from the GREATEST MOVIE EVER MADE and just judge it on its own merits. 

Adieu

Thanks for stopping by. As always, happy musical trails to you all. Hasala malakim.

This Ocean Glowstream Explosion (January 7th - 11th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes for 2013.

So this is it. Just a stock standard weekend to go and I'm back at work for a new year. I've been spending my holidays here, there and everywhere, but not at any planned vacation. We did almost make the last minute decision to get out of the suburbs on NYE, but we stayed in and it turned out to be one of the quieter nights all year. Brilliant. 


As for the playlist for my first week at work, I can't really say I've put a lot of thought in. I just sort of browsed my iTunes library and put in whatever seemed like it could do with a listen. Doing like this, at first the whole list looks a bit of an eclectic and random mix, but look carefully and you'll notice it leans heavy on a couple of vibes. 

The first vibe is soul with Marvin Gaye, Syl Johnson and Frank Ocean (though the Sesame Street song One of These Things is Not Like the Others comes to mind). The second vibe is the twangy folky country thing from The Autumn Defense, The Rural Alberta Advantage and the This Is 40 soundtrack. That just leaves a little math rock from Datarock, some indie rock from JEFF the Brotherhood, some dreamy pop jangle from Cotton Jones and the FM radio mellow of Bruce Hornsby.


Check it out:

• The Autumn Defense - The Autumn Defense
• Syl Johnson - Total Explosion
• JEFF the Brotherhood - We Are The Champions
• Cotton Jones - Tall Hours in the Glowstream
• Bruce Hornsby - Greatest Radio Hits
• Datarock - Datarock Datarock
• Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE
• Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
• The Rural Alberta Advantage - Departing
• VA - This Is 40

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Beastie Boys
2. Hilltop Hoods
3. Melissa Etheridge
4. The Rolling Stones
5. Whiskeytown

Happy New Year

Thanks for stopping by. My hope for 2013 is to find and hear more great music, rediscover old favourites and buy more vinyl. I also promised myself I'd play more guitar, but so far the year is guitarless. I never said I had great resolve. Let's not forget, I promised in 2012 to never read the comments - and that didn't go so well. 

Stay golden pony boys and girls. Hasala malakim.