Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.
Have you voted Western Australians? I was seriously contemplating not going to the polling booth and just paying the whopping $20 fine because a) I'm disillusioned with the state of State politics and b) don't nobody got time for that! But I did go; and thanks to the new "voting card" I was straight in and straight out. I actually didn't know too much about the independent candidates, but as I always do, I started with Family First last and worked my way to the top.
Music-wise there's a whole stack of new stuff this week. First of all I have two free samplers from Yep Roc and Paste (their SXSW sampler). The other new albums come from diverse corners - there's folky hipster Josh Rouse; dead set legend David Bowie with a brand new classic; alt country heroes Son Volt and Thurston Moore's new band Chelsea Light Moving. For some hip hop I grabbed the John Legend and The Roots LP I haven't heard since I loved it in 2010 and an old favourite from Surreal & the Sound Providers. The Lemonheads get a guernsey and finally, so does Kathleen Edwards; both with favourites of mine.
Check it out:
Have you voted Western Australians? I was seriously contemplating not going to the polling booth and just paying the whopping $20 fine because a) I'm disillusioned with the state of State politics and b) don't nobody got time for that! But I did go; and thanks to the new "voting card" I was straight in and straight out. I actually didn't know too much about the independent candidates, but as I always do, I started with Family First last and worked my way to the top.
Music-wise there's a whole stack of new stuff this week. First of all I have two free samplers from Yep Roc and Paste (their SXSW sampler). The other new albums come from diverse corners - there's folky hipster Josh Rouse; dead set legend David Bowie with a brand new classic; alt country heroes Son Volt and Thurston Moore's new band Chelsea Light Moving. For some hip hop I grabbed the John Legend and The Roots LP I haven't heard since I loved it in 2010 and an old favourite from Surreal & the Sound Providers. The Lemonheads get a guernsey and finally, so does Kathleen Edwards; both with favourites of mine.
Check it out:
- VA - Explore Yep Roc Records
- Josh Rouse - The Happiness Waltz
- David Bowie - The Next Day
- Chelsea Light Moving - Chelsea Light Moving
- The Lemonheads - Car Button Cloth
- Kathleen Edwards - Back To Me
- Surreal & The Sound Providers - True Indeed
- John Legend and The Roots - Wake Up!
- Son Volt - Honky Tonk
- VA - HGTV/Paste SXSW 2013 Sampler
Top Five Artists Last Week
- Steve Miller Band
- Bilal
- The Pretenders
- Ben Folds
- Lou Reed
Song of the Week : Cold Chisel - Flame Trees
For my song of the week, my apologies that is so far out of left field, but it’s a track that only occurred to me on the way in this morning.
The smart playlist I've made for the journey in picked Sara Blasko covering Flame Trees. Listening to it, I couldn't stop myself from hearing Chisel's original in my head. It made me realise that Flame Trees is a truly great song. I mean it. Really, really great. I think we disrespect it a lot for the bogan and ocker culture that has built up around it, but it is tremendous songwriting and probably the greatest vocal performance Barnes ever put down on tape.
The suburban melodrama of the old home town pub and the footy mates and their reminiscing; plugged together with the domestic tragedy of a broken marriage puts the lyrics in the realm of workaday poetry. The grief in the song is given an extra injection of poignancy because it was Chisel's last mainstream hit (before the 'comeback' in the 90s). You take a part of the natural landscape, the flame tree, and you give that song a place; the feel of the open bush road and you make it uniquely small town Australia. The impassioned pleading in Jimmy’s vocal is not far off of Soul music and then he pushes it all aside with the broken down line of “who needs that sentimental bullshit, anyway?”
As a nation, in general, Australia loves this song; and like a lot of the things we love collectively, we infuse it with a little bit of embarrassment and self-deprecation. Cultural cringe if you will. Not me. Not anymore. I've promised myself I will chase down the Tab for this on the weekend and give it a bash. I hope that my neighbours hear me and start swaying with their lighters in the air.
Cheerio
So, that's it, that's all, that's all there is. Have a cracking weekend and if you're a Perthie, may your guy win the election. Unless it's not my guy. Then, to hell with your guy.
Hasala malakim.
So, that's it, that's all, that's all there is. Have a cracking weekend and if you're a Perthie, may your guy win the election. Unless it's not my guy. Then, to hell with your guy.
Hasala malakim.
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