Pink Moon Summerteeth Hideaway (February 11th - 15th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's a hot one this weekend in Perth. I'm enjoying the relatively mild 37 today before we hit 42 tomorrow apparently. I haven't cranked the airconditioner yet, but it is imminent. Right after I finish writing all this down.

This week I have a couple of selections inspired by some recent vinyl purchases - from Joni Mitchell and Television (Yes! they finally reissued Marquee Moon on vinyl and one of my long time white whales is GOT). There's the final disc of the Gil Scott-Heron compilation, as well as a Wilco favourite. A recent documentary viewing has inspired Wish You Were Here and I've slotted in Belly - Star for a hit of nostalgia. And speaking of nostalgia, there's Bat Out Of Hell II - don't you judge me! Finally, two bonafide classic albums from the greatest and probably the second or third greatest rapper ever - B.I.G. and Eminem.

Check it out:

• Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Begins (Disc 3)
• The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die
• The Weepies - Hideaway
• Television - Marquee Moon
• Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell II
• Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark
• Wilco - Summerteeth
• Belly - Star
• Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
  
• Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Gil Scott-Heron
2. Jurassic 5
3. Jesse Malin
4. José James
5. Veronica Falls

Song of the Week : Local Natives - Black Balloons

I don't know much about this band other than people have been raving about the album. So I decided to check it out and it is pretty good. 

The song I picked, Black Balloons is a bit much of a Bon Iver derivative, but Local Natives have infused that distinctive sound with a bit more rock by adding a bit of grunt on the drums. But the layered vocal harmonies and especially the main riff sound like a Bon Iver royalty cheque. Not everything on the album sounds that way though and it's a good listen if you haven't already. See what you think.

Toodles

There you have it. Thanks for stopping by. 

Enjoy your weekend people. Wherever you are, I hope the fun, the tunes and the laughs are free flowing. 

Hasala malakim.

Notorious Civilian Shadow Gang GRRR! (November 26th - 30th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Another busy weekend ahead, so I'm cramming as much of this post in as I can tonight (Friday). I may well wait until late Saturday afternoon to post, when I'm not so tired and prone to stupid typos. 

To keep the stupid typos away next week at work, I've got a mix of quiet and rowdy, old and new(ish) and some stuff I haven't heard yet.  

Serving up the alterna-noise this week, I've got the new Soundgarden and an old Mazzy Star. Clay5 has inspired me to grab Ben Folds & Nick Hornby, while Kurt Cobain's 50 Favourite Albums list gives me Gang Of Four. Disc one from the 50th anniversary Stones compilation is here, as is the first volume of the Dylan bootleg series. For my Hip Hop fix I have DJ Shadow and the one BIG album I haven't heard. I don't know why, but I have been singing Crazy by Icehouse all week, so I grabbed their biggest classic. Finally, I added Wye Oak for a smattering of indie sound.

Check it out:

• Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue
• Soundgarden - King Animal
• Mazzy Star - She Hangs Brightly
• DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
• Gang of Four - Entertainment
• The Rolling Stones - GRRR! (Disc 1)
• The Notorious B.I.G.- Duets
• Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Volume 1
• Wye Oak - Civilian
• Icehouse - Man Of Colours

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Wild Nothing
2. The Lemonheads
3. Michael Jackson
4. Us3
5. X

Song of the Week : Nada Surf - Teenage Dreams

In anticipation of the end of the year, which is flying towards us at a terrible speed, I've been going through my 2012 albums. One that was released relatively early and I haven't heard in a while is Nada Surf - The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy. It's an LP that probably won't make top 10, but could well sneak into top 20. I really dig that title though - like the universe does what it likes, no matter how much our Earth eggheads study and compartmentalise it. 

I was fairly certain I would have made this a song of the week already, but I did a search of all my old emails and it turns out I haven't. That's odd, because it's one of my favourite songs this year and probably the only track I listen to a lot from this album.

Teenage Dreams is an upbeat little gem with some nice fuzzy guitar and a catchy melody. I'm sure you understand why the line "moved to a tear by a subway break dancer" always catches my ear. 

If you're looking for a bit of inspiration to end the day with, you could do worse than this. It's never too late kids. Do it. Whatever it may be. 

Hüvasti, sõbrad

Thanks for stopping by. So here we are on Saturday afternoon after all. Almost Beer O'Clock and rather sticky and warm in Perth. Nothing for it but to partake in a frosty ale or two. 

I hope you get a nice relaxing dose of your poison this weekend too.

Hasala malakim.

Leave Magical Elbow Wheels Forever (April 2nd - 6th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Massive couple of weeks coming up, with Mrs coreyj's birthday, followed by Miss 2 becoming Miss 3 and then it's Easter. Not too long after that I will have been married for 10 years! I'm looking forward to spoiling both my wife and the little one with super dope presents (even if I lost one of them for a day...). Nevermind all that now, onto the music.


To get me through what seems like the eleventy billionth short week this year, I've got (I know, can you believe it) Grayson Hugh because Talk It Over came on the radio at Big W and I had forgotten I used to love that song. I have some Elbow; a Beatles remaster; the latest from Margo & the Nuclear So and So's; a B.I.G. album I didn't know existed (yes, I was late to 90s rap. I'm old school, yo!); Lucinda Williams' acclaimed Car Wheels..; more from Jason Isbell; a Soul band I found on bandcamp, The Revelations; Love's highly-rated Forever Changes and a U2 album that I haven't heard in at least 5 years.


Check it out:

• Grayson Hugh - Blind To Reason
• Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
• Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
• U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
• The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death
• The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
• The Revelations feat. Tre Williams - An Introduction to The Revelations
• Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Rot Gut Domestic
• Love - Forever Changes

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Uncle Tupelo
2. Creedence Clearwater Revival
3. Natalie Merchant
4. Hoodoo Gurus
5. MC Shan

Song of the Week : The Shins - Fall of '82

Today's tune is The Shins - Fall of '82. There's no real reason this is my song this week, except that I like the whole of The Shins new record and this track is uptempo, brassy and nostalgic.


For what it's worth, the 'Fall' of '82 was the year I turned 10. Always a big important time in a kid's life. I don't know that this song has captured any part of my tenth year, but there you go. 


Enjoy!

Ciao for Now

That's all folks! Shout out to the mighty West Coast for the start of the AFL season. Go you good things! 




Whatever you do, have fun and be safe.  Hasala malakim.

Hip Hop Appreciation Week Pt 4

Mixtape 4 of 5 Bling & Remebering

Welcome to part 4 of my tribute for Hip Hop Appreciation Week. At this stage in the game, I wasn't what you'd call a fan. I was off listening to Dinosaur Jr, Nirvana, Hole and Soundgarden etc, wearing flannel and 'slacking'. It's also when I got into folk and Dylan for the story telling. But when Eminem dropped Stan, something that I had forgotten somehow resurfaced as I realised rap told many a great tale. It was just that now most of the tales seemed to be of little importance.

• Snoop Dogg - Still A G Thang : With the popular G-Funk style of synthesized melody and deep bass lines reminiscent of the 70s funk stylings of Sly, Parliament et al, Snoop Dogg told tales of the life of a G and his harem of 'bitches' and yards of bling.

• The Notorious B.I.G. - Things Done Changed : Cali may have been the in sound, but the Bronx kept a stamp on rap in the form of Biggie Smalls, aka the Notorious B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace. Biggie talks here of how the streets aren't the place they used to be with kids punching on over territory. Using a sample from Dr Dre's Lil Ghetto Boy, BIG exerts "Remember they used to throw? But now they blast, right?" This is the violence and nihilistic attitude of gangbangers writ large

• Nas - N.Y. State of Mind : The West Coast v East Coast rivalry was in full effect by now and East Coast rappers had a penchant for burrough checking. Nas was very firmly in the East Coast camp having come up in Queensbridge. This song talks about the escalating violence of gang culture, as B.I.G. had, but without the swagger and with an added touch of disillusionment.
  

• Jay-Z - Izzo (H.O.V.A.) : An anthem of sorts with not much more to say than "I'm Jay-Z and I sell a lot of records but I used to be a drug dealer." A long way from the positive message of rap's 'founding fathers'. Famously, Jay-Z was involved in a feud with fellow NY local Nas and was later Nas' boss after he signed him to Def Jam in 2006.

• Eminem - My Name Is : Marshall Mathers aka Slim Shady aka Eminem burst onto the scene with this, for the time, controversial track which again had not much to say. It did later cost Eminem almost US$10M when later his own Mother sued him for the claim that she 'does more dope than I do'. While Eminem has a staggering talent for rhyme that helped suck me back into rap, he only occasionally has something important to say with his impressive tongue.
  

• 50 Cent - In Da Club : Many people may disagree vehemently with me, and that's fine, but as little as I paid attention to this kind of track, I think the new faux R&B / Rap reached its most vacuous low around about here. I have heard 50 Cent drop some tremendous flow, but this isn't it - and the dance track backing makes it all the worse. The backlash had to come, and it's coming still.

• Black Star - Definition : In 1998 two then little known MCs, Mos Def and Talib Kweli formed Black Star and released a self-titled debut. Much of their rhymes focused on reconciliation between the West and East coasts. This track talks about the inherent dangers of being a rapper and of life on Brooklyn's streets, while it takes a subtle swipe at the up and coming wannabe gangsters with "What a pity blunts are still Fiddy cents...".

• Missy Elliot - Wake Up : Just as guilty of the phony R&B but none-the-less starting to get on the positivity train, this track sees Missy Elliot and guest star Jay-Z reassure rappers and ghetto youth that "If you don't got a gun it's alright..."

• Common - I Used To Love H.E.R. : Telling the tale of a woman he once knew, Common lays down some soulful lamenting of how she went from a sweet young girl to a militant activist and eventually a drunken, crack-smoking gangster whore. The woman is of course Hip Hop. This was perhaps the most vitriolic track spat at Hip Hop culture up to that point.

• The Roots - Act Too...The Love Of My Life : The disillusionment turns to nostalgia and a longing for the long gone days of pure Hip Hop for the sheer joy of it. The Roots were proclaiming, it seemed in this track, that they would breathe life back into a dying art.

That's it for part four. In the final part, I'll take a look at how the ascendancy of 'Skip Hop' really sprung from the same thread of disillusionment that seemed to be running through much of the most important Hip Hop music coming from the States at the time. But it wasn't just Australia who wanted Hip Hop back, there were a number of Americans with the same idea.

Adios Amigos.