Vanishing Feedback Farm Magazine (April 29th - May 3rd)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

You might have noticed (though probably not) that there was no Work Tunes last week. That's because I didn't take any music to work as ANZAC Day and a day of annual leave left me with just three days. So instead i streamed all the First Listens on NPR and a played a couple of 8Tracks mixes and shuffled my iPhone. With the extra time off, you'd think I'd had plenty of chance to collate a carefully calculated playlist. You'd be wrong; but nice try. None-the-less, I'm happy with what I've chosen. 

To set my Jazz Funk senses tingling, I've grabbed Herbie Hancock's classic Headhunters. To compliment it nicely, I've chosen two fairly jazzy Hip Hop albums from Jurassic 5 and Mos Def. Always mindful of not neglecting to slow it down, I've got some Justin Townes Earle and A.A. Bondy for a twang fix. Can't slow it down for too long though, so I have two new albums from alt-rock legends Mudhoney and Meat Puppets. With my recent subscription to Paste Magazine comes a 7 track sampler of new music per week; and I have the first two weeks worth here. The other compilation is Songs in the Key of X, which is music from and inspired by The X Files. Lastly, a soundtrack of sorts from John Lennon, with the music from the documentary Imagine. 

Check it out:

• Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
• Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
• VA - Songs in the Key of X
• John Lennon - Imagine OST
• A.A. Bondy - When The Devil's Loose
• VA - Paste Magazine April Pt. 1
• Mudhoney - Vanishing Point
• Meat Puppets - Rat Farm
• Jurassic 5 - Feedback
• Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Best Coast
2. A Tribe Called Quest
3. Patti Smith
4. Josh Rouse
5. Bruce Springsteen

Song of the Week : Charles Bradley - Strictly Reserved For You

I have some Soul for your soul. The April NPR sampler had a track from Charles Bradley who I’ve heard before playing with The Menahan Street Band. You know what a sucker I am for Soul music; and to get something that sounds this classic being released in 2013 is blowing my mind.

Bradley’s voice on Strictly Reserved For You is somewhere between James Brown and Otis Redding. The big horns and the crooning backup vocals are like the JBs playing with The Temptations. Did I die and go to 60s Soul heaven? I don’t know anymore. But there is no bad mood that doesn’t disappear when I play tracks like this. 

They don’t write ‘em like they used to – or DO THEY?! See for yourself.

Peace Out

There will be another week off at Work Tunes after this week, when I am on annual leave to take care of Mrs Corey J while she recovers from surgery (in my head I just heard Homer's critique of Ned Flanders' chilli in my favourite Simpsons episode - "a bland, timid entry, suitable perhaps for patients recovering from surgery"). I'll be back the week after though, with the second part of the Paste sampler and a bunch of other albums I haven't selected yet.

Hasala malakim.

Reasonable April Mothership Shambles (April 15th - 19th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's a comparatively chilly Saturday in Perth today and over in Melbourne it's just gone half time at the MCG  in the Melbourne V West Coast match. All I can say about West Coast's game so far is WTF! So let's get on with the music.  

First up, courtesy of NPR, I have a 10 track sampler of new music for April. Also new are the latest from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Dawes. Some Australian flavour this week too, from punk pioneers The Saints, indie rock heroes Jebediah and unofficial poet laureate, Paul Kelly. Speaking of Punks, I've got a Greatest Hits from John Lydon's PIL. Thanks to Amazon's amazing new retrospectively active AutoRip feature on vinyl (and some creative getting around a geotardation) I have the digital version of one half of my Led Zep Mothership vinyl. Finally, in the Hip Hop corner, jazzy consciousness from De La Soul and gangsta swagger from the King of New York, Jay-Z.

Check it out:

• VA - NPR April Sampler
• Jebediah - Of Someday Shambles
• De La Soul - Buhloone Mind State
• Dawes - Stories Don't End
• Paul Kelly - Ways & Means
• Led Zeppelin - Mothership (LP 1 & LP 2)
• Saints - Know Your Product
• Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
• Public Image Ltd - The Greatest Hits, So Far
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Beach Fossils
2. Counting Crows
3. Ryan Adams
4. Elvis Costello
5. Gram Parsons

Song of the Week : Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow

First up, let me apologise up front for the total cheese of this week's choice. However, I found myself in a situation where it has been the ear worm every single day of the week so far and I thought I'd share the love :)

This is Kacey Musgraves – Follow Your Arrow from an album called Same Trailer, Different Park. That should clue you in to how whitebread and country this girl is. I hadn't heard of her until NPR streamed her album and I thought I'd give it a listen for giggles. Most of it is a Dixie Chicks bluegrass hybrid and pretty bland overall. But this one song, as cheesy as it is, won't let go of my eardrums. 

I suppose I like the sentiment, I quite like her voice and the melody is very catchy. It’s also a little bit of an insight into some contemporary issues for grrrrls, I suppose. See what you think, but don't blame me if it takes hold of your brain too - in the way that annoying jingles can do.

Toodle Pip

Thanks for stopping by. With any luck you'll find some new music this week that changes your life - or just some annoying song you can't get out of your head. It's all good. 

Hasala malakim.

Same Jazzmatic Rock Anthology (April 8th - 12th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

My list and the subsequent blog post are a bit of a rush this week. I've spent my Saturday running around trying to fix a problem with shoddy merchandise and terrible customer service. There's a losing battle in Perth if ever there were one.  

Given the rush, I probably leaned too heavy on old favourites, but strangely enough, two of my desert island discs have never made a Work Tunes list - August and Everything After and Paid In Full. Another couple of favourites that made the cut are Ryan Adams' Rock n Roll and U2's Zooropa (which I've not listened to in forever). I also grabbed a few CDs I only recently bought in the Divinyls, Cowboy Junkies and Shrek soundtrack. I am playing disc 2 of the Gram Parsons Anthology and, also in the Country vein, an artist I just discovered, Kacey Musgraves. The final selection comes from Funky DL and it is a free download from Bandcamp featuring Jazz remixes of Nas tracks. 

Check it out:

• Counting Crows - August and Everything After (Deluxe Edition)
• VA - Shrek OST
• Divinyls - Divinyls
• Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer Different Park
• Cowboy Junkies - Lay It Down
• Funky DL - Jazzmatic (Nas Remixes)
• Gram Parsons - Gram Parsons Anthology (Disc 2)
• U2 - Zooropa
• Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full
• Ryan Adams - Rock n' Roll

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Counting Crows
2. Gillian Welch
3. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
4. Aphex Twin
5. Joni Mitchell

Song of the Week : Telekinesis - Lean On Me

To the music and it’s one of those times where I picked my song last minute after having some other idea all week.

If I had an Album of the Week, it would have been Wavves- Afraid of Heights. As a whole, it sounds like a Nirvana and Weezer supergeroup fronted by Nathan of Wavves. I was going to pick a song to illustrate that, but when I went to choose, nothing sounded like song of the week. I think because I'm in too good a mood for Wavves whiny grunge soup today.

Instead, from the new Telekinesis album, Dormarion, I've picked the upbeat, Friday friendly and spiritually uplifting Lean On Me. Jangly guitar and that dream pop Telekinesis sound with a fun little melody make this a great song to keep my good mood going all day. I will probably slip it on later this afternoon again just to recharge. 

If it elevates or sustains your moods, it will have done it's job. Enjoy!

Au Revoir

I just finished watching Before Sunset in anticipation of Before Midnight coming soon, so I'm feeling all French and stuff. 

Looking forward to a trip to AQWA in the morning for Miss 4's birthday outing. It will hopefully make her forget about not getting a working bouncy castle today to replace the faulty one we were given when we bought it. Oh geez, don't get me started on that this close to bedtime. 

Hasala malakim.