Dig Your Motherland Circus (July 8th - 12th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It seems like every week I am having to rush through picking a playlist these days. I've just returned from the usual shopping expedition and have forgotten a bunch of stuff, so I'll be off out again soon. While I am at home though, let's see what we have.

Before Portlandia and Wild Flag, the lovely Carrie Brownstein was in Sleater-Kinney, so check them out. Thanks to my SOTW this week, Raw Power gets a gig. Thanks to Jamie's SOTW from a couple of weeks ago, so does Dave Brubeck's immortal jazz classic Time Out. For a helping of newness, there's Editors and Bliss n Eso. Representing classic Australian rock, I've got the Easybeats only disc of Easy Fever, a tribute album. On old favourite from two or three years ago from Beach Fossils is here. From Hip Hop DJ Steinski, there's a retrospective. Natalie Merchant steps up with an album I haven't heard yet. Finally, what playlist would be complete without a good 80s compilation?

Check it out:

• Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
• Natalie Merchant - Motherland
• Editors - Weight Of Your Love
• VA - Eighties Complete Vol. 1 (1980-1982)
• Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power
• Steinski - What Does It All Mean? (1983 - 2006 Retrospective)
• Bliss n Eso - Circus In The Sky
• The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out
• The Easybeats - Easy Fever 
• Beach Fossils - What A Pleasure

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Josh Rouse
2. The Lemonheads
3. Son Volt
4. David Bowie
5. Chelsea Light Moving

Song of the Week : Iggy & the Stooges - Gimme Danger

Last night I went to Opening Night at Rev and watched Burn; a documentary about the Detroit Fire Department. There are something like 80,000 vacant homes in Detroit and parts of it look just like a war zone a la downtown NY in the 70s. There are also a lot of arson attacks in Detroit, on vacant and occupied homes.

My SOTW is a tune the doco makers used in the opening scenes of Burn, to great effect - Gimme Danger by Iggy & The Stooges. Its abrasive fuzziness and the dark bass undertone really went well with footage of firemen standing inside burning buildings, shooting water OUT! These guys love a good fire and the starting salary is just 30k! I wouldn't push trolleys for 30k let alone put my life on the line. And there are dangers I didn't even think of - such as second story floors burning through, dropping giant bathtubs and air conditioners on their heads, or being trapped under collapsed facades.  

I'm sorry I only have a low bitrate version on my iPod of the track off Raw Power as the CD is at home. The only other version I have is from the Iggy Pop Nude & Rude compilation and that's a whole other mix. Somebody polished all the edges up so it sounds hollow. This original version has all the crunch and attack of a five alarm fire. Turn it up!

Paalam

It's almost time to head off out again. If you're in Perth this week, don't forget that Revelation Film Festival is on. There's a bunch of great films, including music documentaries like the one on Big Star and one on Muscle Shoals. Get down and support independent filmmakers, indie cinemas and film nerds like myself. 

Hasala malakim.

Playlist February 14th - 18th, 2010

Hello fellow travellers, welcome to Work Tunes.

This week’s list is a little retro (*shock*) with the 60s, 70s and 80s well represented. That probably makes it sound like a middle-of-the-road radio station, but these are quality albums, alright?! Here, have a look for yourself:

• Paul Kelly - The A to Z Recordings (Disc 5) : Here I am, half way through listening to an 8 disc box set from Australia's greatest living legend. I was impressed last week with the solo version of Jandamarra/Pigeon and with I Don't Know Anything Anymore which I'd never heard. This disc features the wise advice of Little Boy Don't Lose Your Balls and the shameful tale of Maralinga (Rainy Land).

• Belly - Star : In 1993, the track from Belly that made the inaugural JJJ Hottest 100, Feed The Tree was a huge hit. Featuring Tanya Donnely of Throwing Muses, The Breeders and now solo fame, Belly released just two albums and this was the first. Star swings between angsty grunge fuzz and gentler indie pop twang for 13 fairly good tunes. Feed The Tree really is the stand-out though.

• Wavves - King of the Beach : I only found out last week that the 'boyfriend' in Best Coast's reverb-soaked, garage pop track Boyfriend is supposedly Nathan Williams of Wavves. This is Wavves third album and recently the band made a dual EP with Best Coast called Summer is Forever. I'm really into Best Coast at the moment, so I'm giving Bethany Cosentino's 'boyfriend' a spin.

• Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers : My latest obsession with the Stones continues, but I still haven't bought any vinyl. I am hoping to fix that at the markets this Sunday morning. Sticky Fingers contains the excellent and timeless Brown Sugar and Wild Horses.

• The Beatles - Rubber Soul (Remastered) : Another Beatles remaster as recommended by a work mate. Revolver and Rubber Soul have always been my favourite Beatles albums. I don't know if it's because of the drugs they were taking, or just Bob Dylan's influence, but this music sounds less like they are writing for radio and more like art.

• VA - Billboard Top 100 of 1984 : I don't know why, but this week felt like it was missing the 80s. I've chosen a bunch of tracks I like from the Top 100 Billboard songs of 1984. In 84 I was in my last year of Primary School. In '84 I was into Breakdance. In '84 I was into Wham! and Madonna...

• Dire Straits - Making Movies : I've gotten into a new habit of playing a record every afternoon while riding for 15kms on the exercise bike. While I ride, Miss 1 watches Miss 4 play Feeding Frenzy on XBox and we all listen to the record. Miss 4 is fond of saying "I love listening to records." Brainwashing complete. Wednesday we listened to this album. The stand out track is of course Romeo and Juliet, but the whole set of serious 70s rock from 1980 sounds so damn good under a needle. I think tracks from that era were just mixed with vinyl in mind.

• Germs – G.I. : It's been a while since I played some real LA Punk Rock. This is the one and only studio album ever released by Germs, just like that other famous punk band, who were they, the Sex something...? I'm hoping to watch the Darby Crash (Germs lead singer) biopic What We Do Is Secret at some stage in the coming weeks, so this is good preparation. I might play some more LA Punk next week.

• Pegz – Burn City : I had to give this album a spin this week, because last week I won a signed copy of it from Pegz himself (along with Axis and Gully Platoon) via Twitter. A heap of Australia’s best Hip Hop artists are using Twitter now (@hilltophoods @Bias_B @whoissyntax @blissneso) and Pegz has just recently got on board as @PegzOne. I’ve been a Pegz fan since I heard one of my favourite songs of any genre, Back Then from Axis. This LP features a stack of guests from Suffa to Muph and the brilliant meditation on the important things in life, Ali Shuffle.

• Dolorean - Not Exotic : I discovered Dolorean some time ago now, via 8 Tracks I think, fell completely in love with them for a month and then promptly forgot about them. Until now. Their quite blend of indie shoe gaze type tunes are just the thing for a Monday morning before coffee.

I was hoping by this week I’d be able to sign off with talk about the upcoming fair and democratic elections in Egypt. Well it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Let’s hope the revolution has prevailed very soon.

Thanks for visiting. Please remember to take your belongings when you go. Ya’ll come back now, ya hear?

PS Happy Valentines Day for Monday to my beautiful wife who has the patience of a saint and the mercy of a biblical King to continue being my best friend and loving wife.

Post Script : As I put the finishing touches on this post, early Saturday morning February 12th, Hosni Mubarak has resigned and passed control of Egypt to the military. This is a momentous occasion and I am glad I awake to see the celebrations live. As a teenager, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 wasn't something I completely understood or paid attention to. The liberation of Egypt will have no such neglect from me.

Congratulations to the people of Egypt. Power to the people. Right on.

Playlist : August 9th - 13th : The 1980s

After handing last week's list over to the 1970s, it seemed only logical to have an all 1980s week this week. When I was choosing this week's list, what struck me as funny about the 1980s was how there was a stark dichotomy of music style going on. I suppose all decades are that way, but the difference between say , WHAM! and Pixies is insane. I've tried to grab a little bit from both sides.

• Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction : Everybody in my high school had this album; girls and boys. Slash was a guitar hero then too, just nobody made a video game. And of course, Sweet Child O Mine was a massive hit that every kid and his Fender copy wanted to play.

• Pixies - Doolittle : The fuzzy indie pop riffs and catchy melodies of Pixies is a world away from the 1988 best seller George Michael's Faith, or Kylie Minogue's self-titled set. Did anyone guess that the Pixies would go on to influence my generation's Beatles and Stones in Nirvana and Pearl Jam (and indeed much of the Seattle sound).

• Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground : Another band who sounded very little like the era's mainstream bubble gum pop and who have never followed the crowd. Something about the happy tragic tunes and jaunty rhythms of the Violent Femmes really works for me.

• INXS - INXS : This was INXS before the XS made them no good. Arguably Australia's most successful musical export next to AC/DC, INXS were then less the rock stars and more the geeky synth pop hipsters without a sax player.

• AC/DC - Who Made Who : A true bogan classic but not as good as Back In Black - despite what my critics said about my review in my Year 10 school paper! I got a smack in the chops for my troubles, but I was right. It's not a bad album, but its no Back... I put it in here instead because I've not heard it in a while.

• The Smiths - The Smiths : More music from (comparatively) another planet. Despite the mopey Moz lyrics and whiney vocals, I find The Smiths rather good to work to. I couldn't tell you why.

• The Psychedelic Furs - Mirror Moves : I added the Furs to compliment The Smiths and Violent Femmes. Furs have the same intelligent music as they do and the sound is a complimentary style. I reckon if iTunes Genius put them together, I wouldn't mind at all.

• Various Artists - Breakin' : Breakdance, the dance and the movies, was a big part of the 1980s for me. The first Breakin' film I saw with my older cousins at Piccadilly in Perth. There were hundreds of kids around our ages there for a Saturday matinee session. You'd never see so many people at Piccadilly these days - which sucks, because its a magical old place.

• Various Artists - 1984 Shakin' : Another big part of the 1980s was the compilation. There must have been 3 or 4 a year. My now sister-in-law's mother used to buy every single one on vinyl and slip us a cassette copy (my SIL and me) to play in our tape decks. Home taping sure didn't kill music for me - it kept the passion up and showed me new bands til I earned money to buy things. Anti-torrent types should remember what mixtapes and dubs were all about.

• Jimmy Barnes - For The Working Class Man : Barnsey! Another ubiquitous classic for us flannel and DB wearing Kwinanaites. This album was everywhere. From Mandurah to Koongamia, I couldn't have escaped it if I wanted to. And I didn't. Why would I? It's Barnsey!

• Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back : This is truer to my own personal sound of the 1980s. In 1987 I had heard Run DMC and the Beastie Boys and along came these guys, Public Enemy with Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Already sounding dangerous and angry, when they dropped Nation, they were harder than hard militant rap soldiers who had something to say. So you best listen.

• U2 - The Joshua Tree : When Joshua Tree was still quite popular, I remember when Rattle and Hum came out. Along with INXS dropping Kick, I don't think I've seen as clear an illustration of when a band goes from being popular to being monumental. U2 blew the hell up from there on until they lost it somewhere after All That You Can't Leave Behind. Joshua Tree is still awesome.

• Madonna - Madonna: Speaking of blowing up, this is another LP that came before the crucial moment. After this self-titled and solid set of likable pop, Madonna gave us Like A Virgin and you all know the rest. Can I just take this time to suggest Lady Ga Ga find another vault to violate.

• Wham!- Make It Big : If you want the 1980s, you have to take the cheese that goes with it. Two blokes with hair like girls and delusions of soul who wrote some pretty good tunes as it happens. And then filled every Blue Light Disco, classroom party and rollerskating rink with it until 1986 when they split and George Michael went solo. Then his songs took over.

I hope you get a nostalgic giggle from some of the tracks in this list. For the good stuff, I hope it you haven't heard it you will check it out.

Have a mintox week. Push pineapples, grind coffee. Happy birthday for Monday to my clever chops oldest daughter who turns 4.