Thursday, September 26, 2013

Spike Another Carpenter Day (September 30th - October 4th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

I'm at home today (it's Friday, in case I don't finish this until tomorrow) looking after a swollen Miss 7 who appears to have either the mums or an infection in her lymph node on one side of her face. I'v used the time while she watches Mr Maker and before I have to make her lunch to get this list happening. And here it is. 

 Besides the second disc of Bootleg Series 10 to finish it up, I've just been hipped to the new Arctic Monkeys album through @sunky's Song of the Week. In other new releases, I've got the latest from Mazzy Star, Haim and also Yuck. I am giving Beezwax a long overdue spin, plus selecting the Golden Era Mixtape from 2011 which is great but I haven't heard in full since release. Also in overdue listens, Elvis Costello's excellent Spike (a choice inspired by enjoying latest collaboration with The Roots on my list last week) and Counting Crows' second album which came out far too long after their brilliant first. Lastly, from the early 90s, I have the Carpenter tribute featuring great bands like Sonic Youth, Shonen Knife and Babes In Toyland doing Carpenters covers.

 Check it out:
  1. Bob Dylan
  2. Brother Ali
  3. Talking Heads
  4. (Please) Don't Blame Mexico
  5. Van Halen
Song of the Week : Elvis Costello & The Roots - Wake Me Up


My SOTW comes from the unlikely pairing of Elvis Costello and The Roots. Who'd have ever thought that the jazzy nerd songs of Mr Costello would make such sweet sweet love to the groovy hip hop musicianship of Questlove and co. But it really does. 

I chose Wake Me Up because it's a track that is equal parts a standard EC song (with complex lyrics, historical references and Costello's iconic voice) and the solid funk soul groove of The Roots. I like the horn blasts and the little key riffs that punctuate Elvis' constant low jazz vocal babble and I dig that there's a clanging consistent guitar riff throughout that calls to mind an old train (and the words 'iron frame' are used in the lyrics, like it's deliberate). 
There's a lot to like about this coupling, not the least of which is renewed creative energy from Elvis Costello. The Roots have been the go to backing band for every two bit soul or r&b singer for years now, but this is the first time I've heard them play for an old fogey like EC. And I like what I hear.


Αντίο

 Well the big game is tomorrow; Hawthorn vs Fremantle in the 2013 AFL Grand Final. I'm not really supporting either team, because they're not the Eagles. On the other hand, there are good reasons for either team to win. The Hawks have been the best team all year, our family has an association with Lance Franklin that goes back a ways, plus if they win Clarkson may be more likely to leave for West Coast. As for Fremantle, Pavlich definitely deserves reward for years of staunch loyalty to the purple freaks, Ross Lyon deserves a flag for taking those same freaks from rabble to riot in 2 years and I am a Fremantle (the city) person to the core. So whoever wins, I'll be happy, but most of all I'll be glad it's over and the Eagles can start interviewing for coaches.

It's a long weekend this week for the Queen's birthday (in WA) so if you're doing anything nice, have a great time and play safe. 

 Go Hawmantle. Hasala malakim.
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Saturday, September 21, 2013

Another Wise Street Club (September 23rd - 27th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Almost didn't make this list today because it's been non stop since this morning. A doctor's visit followed by shopping and swimming lessons and then more shopping. It's about 5 minutes to beer o'clock right now and I'm just getting down to it.

 First cab off the rank next week is the excellent new collaboration between Elvis Costello and The Roots. Another great album I've already streamed is the first disc of Bob Dylan's sort of 'apology' for Self Portrait in Bootleg Series 10. Believe it or not, I haven't heard Led Zeppelin Presence in 25 years.s, so that's here. Also here is the soundtrack to the brilliant Beavis and Butthead Do America, plus *more* Van Halen because who can get enough?! From a few years back now, I've got (Please) Don't Blame Mexico and from even further back, the greatest Talking Heads album ever. Finally, in Hip Hop's corner, there's Nas' 'comeback' album, Stillmatic and the all-important Street Sounds Hip Hop compilation - this one, volume 18 is from a couple of years after I found rap; 16 and 17 were my jam.

 Check it out:
  1. Motörhead
  2. D12
  3. Real Estate
  4. Things Of Stone and Wood
  5. Body/Head
Song of the Week : Sebadoh - Beat


I've picked a track from the new Sebadoh album for this week’s SOTW. Sebadoh you probably know is Dinosaur Jr bassist Lou Barlow’s band. The album Defend Yr Self is an enjoyable listen, even if it doesn't really do anything new for music. That is probably what I’m enjoying about it though – the nostalgia of that grimy 90s fuzz sound that Dinosaur Jr do so well. 

 The song I picked is Beat, because a) it’s fuzzy and grimey and I dig it and b) it’s one of the only ones with a YouTube clip and I want to embed one on my blog. It’s a bit sloppy and stuttered and it feels like a busted cassette copy at times, but that’s what gives it a nicely authentic grunge sound. It’s also heavy on the bass levels and that’s what happens when the bass player is in charge I guess. 
Toodle Oooo

 Look, there is a lot of purple in my neighborhood right now, so obviously something is going on with the mob down the road. Not for me to say, but apparently they have been a well-disciplined football side all year and they probably deserve a grand final berth. 

 Damn if that didn't hurt like hell.

 Hasala malakim.
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Saturday, September 14, 2013

Real Silver River Ace (September 16th - 20th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Let's make this quick, shall we? I think I want to play some GTA IV while the kids are in the lounge watching The Little Mermaid for the hundredth time on a squally post swimming Winter's day. 

 There's a bit of noise this week; firstly from Motorhead, then from Kim Gordon's Body/Head project and finally from psychedelic lo-fi rock band Sebadoh. The last two albums are new releases. Also new is The Silver Gymnasium from Okkervil River. For some albums I haven't spun in a while, I have Things of Stone and Wood, Real Estate and Eminem's Encore (picked because the new Eminem album is coming soon). Another rap album added to the list is one of my top 10, Brother Ali's The Undisputed Truth. Last of all, because I've been reading all about their exploits in a Punk history book I have, The Velvet Underground and The Stooges are here. 

 Check it out:
  1. Nine Inch Nails
  2. Van Halen
  3. Dolorean
  4. Belle and Sebastian
  5. Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek

 Song of the Week : The Velvet Underground & Nico - Femme Fatale


This week's song could only have come from one ragtag mix of artists and visionaries - the gang at Warhol's Factory. I'm reading Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk and the seeds of punk music as we know it were sown by The Velvet Underground. I have a smart playlist on my iPod which randomly picks Velvets, Stooges, Bowie, Dylan and Lou Reed songs for a Factory vibe and that's all I've been hearing at night lately.

 Andy Warhol, lovable kook that he was, told the Velvet Underground that they needed a girl singer. Someone that the audience could fall in love with. Someone with an idiosyncratic voice that nobody could forget. He chose Nico. My SOTW is her and the Velvet Underground with Femme Fatale. I have seen footage of her looking gorgeous, but in this clip I don't see it.

 The song itself is one Lou Reed wrote about Edie Sedgwick at Warhol's request. The irony being that Sedgwick was Andy's golden girl until Nico took that muse mantle from her - and to hear the others tell it, Edie just quietly disappeared from the Factory crowd until in 1971 she died of a barbiturate overdose. 

 This is a classic melody and probably should be considered one of 'those' songs - you know, in the univeral lexicon of pop tunes. I've heard it covered a dozen times but you can always tell which is Nico - so I guess Andy got that bit right.


Auf Wiedersehen 

 Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope the weather where you are is more hospitable than it is in Perth at the minute. If you're a Perthie then yeah, good luck with that. 

 Hasala malakim.
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Friday, September 6, 2013

The Devil's Loaded Eye (September 9th - 13th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Well, as I stated on Twitter; I went. I voted. I sausaged. It is a sad day for Australian politics on the Left, when only The Greens have true left values, Labor are trying hard to be right-wing and everyone else is a greedy or xenophobic conservative. It is clear now that the LNP will govern Australia for the next 3 years; no doubt blaming the ALP for any failings long enough to get a second term. They come to power on a ticket that says Labor is incompetent; conveniently brushing aside the lowest cost of living increase in 25 years, record low unemployment and uninterrupted growth, not to mention superb management through the GFC all thanks to Labor. In the end, in any democracy, you get the government you deserve. So, what can you do. Rant over.

 The music looks like this: I've added the second disc of last week's Alt Country compilation. I am checking out the new Nine Inch Nails and the new Belle and Sebastian. Some old Van Halen gets a gig and so does some even older Velvet Underground. There's Arrested Development's one big album and D12's most successful. I have two EPs from Dolorean squished together to make an album and Tracy Chapman's debut classic. Lastly there's some jazz from Ornette Coleman whose The Shape Of Jazz To Come LP I *almost* bought last weekend. 

 Check it out:

  1. Gillian Welch
  2. Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek
  3. A Tribe Called Quest
  4. Van Halen
  5. The Donnas

 Song of the Week : Bad Company - Feel Like Makin' Love


I've recently developed a healthy obsession with 1970s US muscle cars and the whole big dumb decadent summer vibe that goes with them. For some reason, I associate this song with that same vibe. I must have seen it in a road movie or something, because it's inextricable.  But having searched IMDB I cannot find proof of this association.* 

 It has been stuck in my head for weeks while I've read muscle car mags and watched Death Proof (with Vanishing Point and maybe Cannonball due this weekend). Yesterday at work, listening to it, I could barely stop myself from stomping my feet. In fact, I didn't stop myself at all. I stomped. 

 An air guitar classic for sure, I think the genius of Feel Like Makin' Love is the tiny silence between "feel like makin' " and that tasty guitar riff. It all seems like a harmless wuss rock ballad until that guitar and then it begins to rawk \m/ So I hope you all enjoy a good old fashioned rock out.

 *(Postscript: I just found out it was in the Simpsons episode where the school is snowed in. It plays on the radio and Homer claims to have written it. For Lady Di!).


Vaarwel 

 Lefties, let us bow our heads in solemn (non-secular) prayer that there is some semblance of sanity in the Senate to ensure we can't all get shipped off to toil in Jabba Rinehart's underground salt mines to pay for the tax cuts to the wealthy and fund our own, gutted public services. 

 Hasala malakim.
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