Sunday, August 11, 2013

Handsome Blind Horrowshow Mystery (August 12th - 16th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

After a solid day of blood tests, grocery shopping, birthday party preparation, swimming lessons and korma making, I'm drafting this post at midnight while casually watching an episode of Drunk History. The good news is I had the list thrown together earlier in the week.

Besides the second disc of Biograph, there's an old favourite from Blind Pilot, the new Civil Wars and Ariel Pink's Before Today. From the grimiest depths of the 90s comes Mystery Machine and Prince's Diamonds & Pearls. Too much Orgone has been not nearly enough lately, so I've got Killion Floor from 2007. I read some interesting things about Kip Moore recently, so I thought I'd check him out. Two more new albums round out this week's list, from AUS rapper Horrorshow and alt country veterans The Handsome Family.

Check it out:

  1. Laura Marling
  2. Bob Dylan
  3. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  4. Sex Pistols
  5. Charles Bradley

Song of the Week : Beth Orton - Concrete Sky



From Beth Orton’s Daybreaker album this track Concrete Sky was written by Johnny Marr and features backing vocals by the one and only Ryan “Sean Hannity Hates Me” Adams. 

I think the fact that Marr wrote it is well on display. The sparkling melody and the brittle jangle of acoustic picking is signature. Ryan and Orton were an item when this was recorded (I think, or shortly after) and she is of course the “Tall drink of water” in English Girls. 

As far as the lyrics go, I like the image of a ‘concrete sky falling from the trees’. It’s one that paints a picture of heavy burden and pressure. Yet the melody completely betrays the ‘heaviness’ of the subject because it’s so sweet and catchy.  The harmony between the voices is not quite perfect and that makes it beyond brilliant. There’s weariness and heaviness in them. 

Five Thousand

If you know why Five Thousand means goodbye, you and I are tight, son. And that being the case, you should definitely check out Orgone, because everybody deserves a proper funking.

Hasala malakim.

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