Shape the Leather Seapony (June 24th - 28th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's been a bit of a hurried Saturday since we just got back from shopping and it's almost time for swimming lessons. Mrs coreyj just showed the girls how to open and eat fresh coconut - their first time. They want the shells for their Crazy Crabs. Now everyone is relaxing and I'm here with you. So, shall we?

Another mixed bag of things I love and haven't heard for a while along with a new album and an old remaster. In the old favourite basket, there's Gillian Welch, Seapony, Guns N' Roses, Dolorean and Prince. The new album comes from Justin Rutledge. The remaster is Bob Dylan's rock classic Highway 61 Revisited. Into the mix I've thrown an old Run DMC record and a compilation of radio friendly indie artists doing kids friendly songs. The crowning jewel is Ornette Coleman's brilliant free jazz outing The Shape Of Jazz to Come.

Check it out:

• Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
• Justin Rutledge - Valleyheart
• Seapony - Go With Me
• Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (Remastered)
• Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
• Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather
• Dolorean - You Can't Win
• Prince - 3121
• VA - For The Kids
• Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Bright Eyes
2. The WIld
3. Jason Isbell
4. U2
5. Surfer Blood

Song of the Week : Jason Isbell - Elephant

On Tuesday when I heard this song for the first time, it seriously busted my chops. I mean, I was choked up and everything over it. I knew it should probably be my SOTW, but I thought it was too morbid and sad to hang it on you all. Then James Gandolfini died which was awful news, and then worse, personally, I woke this morning to the news that I'd lost an Aunt (my Mum's sister) to a heart valve operation. It made me think that life really is a bitch sometimes and that if someone can take a little piece of grief and craft a song that can break the heart of someone they don't know with a couple of clever lines, that deserves recognition.

The instrumentation of Elephant is sparse and hushed. Lyrically, it is immense. Isbell shows us a drunken couple with the woman dying of cancer and he takes telling little vignettes - sweeping lost hair from the floor; her voice all gone for singing; gin in a coffee cup - and imbibes them with the sadness of grief and alcoholism and clinging to every tiny bit of respite. Then he places a giant Elephant in the room and gives death a foreboding presence that these drunks are ignoring.

I can't believe that anyone in these cynical times can write such raw and unbelievably emotional scenes with barely any words at all. I'm sorry if it makes you sad like it did me, but I have to admire the craft of it all. If anyone has little ears in the background, or clients/bosses, there’s a pronounced F bomb, so turn it down.

Arrivederci

Big Italian feast to cook tonight (well, bruschetta and sausage with fresh shaved Parmesan. What's that? Get some red wine you say? That's actually a good idea. I just might.

Alla prossima settimana. Hasala malakim.