Donnas Exposed Monster Beats (September 2nd - 6th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

After a terrible rookie mistake, I am spending my late Saturday afternoon recovering deleted TV shows from an external disc. There's a reason we invented confirmation prompts and unfortunately I didn't take the time to really consider my response. Do you really want to permanently delete your TV shows Corey? Do you really? So now, one folder at a time, I'm running a recovery program on it. HandyRecovery - I can't recommend it enough, obviously. But never mind all that now, to the music.

It has been so long since I heard Monster that I'd forgotten the track list. I recently bought an Alt Country double compilation, so disc one is here; and I dragged Gillian Welch along for the ride to compliment it. I can't ever get enough Tribe and I think it was Harry Allen who recommended Talib Kweli & Hi Tek's LP. Just the one new album this week, but what a new one, from the gorgeous Neko Case. More ol friends on the bill come from Dinosaur Jr, The Donnas and Paul Kelly. Finally, because I couldn't stop humming Feel Like Makin' Love complete with air guitar riffing (I think that's a complex part of my current 70s muscle car fascination), I have the best of Bad Company.

Check it out:

• R.E.M. - Monster
• VA - Exposed Roots - Best of Alt Country (Disc 1)
• Gillian Welch - Revival
• Talib Kweli & Hi Tek - Reflection Eternal
• Paul Kelly - Deeper Water
• A Tribe Called Quest - Beats, Rhymes and Life
• The Donnas - Spend the Night
• Bad Company - 10 from 6 (Greatest Hits)
• Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
• Neko Case - The Worse Things Get...

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Giorgio Moroder
2. Björk
3. The Cranberries
4. Savages
5. Steve Earle & The Dukes (And Duchesses)

Song of the Week : Pond  - Hobo Rocket

I've never paid much attention to Tame Impala, so when I found Pond on NPR, I wasn't aware of the connection or that Pond had already had albums out. All I knew was there was a Perth band getting noticed in the US even if it was by public radio. 

The album Hobo Rocket is an enjoyable listen and I picked the title track because it's a bit of fun. The vocals are done by some guy named Cowboy John who is meant to be a Perth fixture (I'm sure one of you will be able to fill in the uninitiated?!) 

His singing sounds like Eddy Vedder pretending to be a bum. The song is a psychedelic freak out of a jam session with a sort of homeless grunge rap. 

अलविदा

A Happy Father's Day for us breeders in Australia for tomorrow. I hope there's some quality family time and some vinyl involved - well for me at least. 

Hasala malakim.

Jane's Sovereign Dogtown Tribe (January 21st - 25th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's been a bit of a mixed bag for me this week. Work has been great with a bunch of quick and easy new projects that went down well, but at home my phone and Internet have been more off than on. Much more off. Living in a renovated house more than 50 years old has it's charms, but tell that to the phone cables. Now though, everything is sweet again - for now. Let's have a look at the music, shall we?

To start with, I have two soundtracks, which I wouldn't normally do but these are so different and I only just bought both - The Hottest State (from Ethan Hawke's novel) and Dogtown and Z-Boys. I haven't listened to a whole ATCQ album in a while, so I'm remedying that, plus adding Lady Sovereign for some more rap. To dish up some classics, I have Bowie and The Jam; while some real soul comes from Solomon Burke and S.O.U.L. Lastly, two very different but equally important bands, Wilco and Jane's Addiction. 

Check it out:

• VA - The Hottest State OST
• A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm
• David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
• Lady Sovereign - Public Warning
• Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
• Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
• S.O.U.L. - What Is It
• VA - Dogtown and Z-Boys OST
• The Jam - Sound Affects
• Solomon Burke - Don't Give Up On Me

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Hilltop Hoods
2. Bruce Hornsby
3. The Autumn Defense
4. The Bamboos
5. JEFF the Brotherhood

Song of the Week : She's Spanish, I'm American - The Ocean Always Wins

I can’t believe I haven’t already pulled this one out. It’s from a collaboration that Josh Rouse did with his girlfriend Paz Suay (now defacto and reason for moving to Spain) called She’s Spanish, I’m American. Rouse is a bit of a folky as you all probably know, but the collaboration throws a bit of electronic elements in. This one has a real hip hop beat about it and Paz sings, so it’s a little more dreamy than forlorn.

I chose this song because it forms one part of my children’s safety lessons re: the beach. They know this song and they have been told what the title means – The Ocean Always Wins. I pulled it out today because on the weekend we spent a bit of time down at Port Beach, walking and combing (the weather was a bit bleh and we had to go into town straight after). While there I saw a number of people on the sand, heads buried in their iPhones while their small children swam in front of them, unsupervised. Occasionally one would stand in the water and take photos with said phone. Now, I might be overly cautious, but I never turn my back on my small kids while they are in the sea (and never take my phone into the water!). The ocean always, always wins. There were huge waves that day (the sea was angry that day my friends) and rips everywhere.

Of course, that is not what this song is about. It seems to be about going on a sea cruise early in a relationship and not knowing if it’s the right time to do it, or even how to swim. But I have told my kids that the chorus means you must respect the ocean; that if you don’t it will swallow you up. So the rules are have fun, but be careful. And my rule is never, ever take your eyes off them. Great song though.

Bon Voyage

Thanks for stopping by. If you're in Perth, the heat is ramping up again this weekend, so remember to slip, slop, slap. If you're somewhere that is cold and breezy, or snowing, or raining, or basically just not stinking hot - I hate you (okay, not really). 

Hasala malakim.

People's Official Wild Dummy Trick (September 10th - 14th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Just a quick one today. I'm at home looking after Miss 3 and I am sick as a fully chrome set of mags. I thought about not posting this weekend, but since my target audience is me, I'm the only one who misses out. So, let's get into the music shall we?

A couple of kitschy sets this week in a compilation of Journey's best and Fastway's soundtrack to the long forgotten 80s horror film Trick Or Treat (starring Skippy from Family Ties with a cameo from Ozzy Osborne). There's a few old favourites from Something For Kate, Kathleen Edwards and A Tribe Called Quest. The new Meliisa Etheridge album is here - she seems to have gone back to her rock roots and is playing all guitars on every song. Also new is Dylan's dark Tempest and Wild Nothing's Nocturne. Because I've been listening to a bit of electronic music lately, I decided to get on someone who does it right, so I added Portishead. Rounding it all off, Ozi Batla's solo album is here because I recently heard the new Evil Eddie song and it reminded me. 

Check it out:

• Fastway - Trick or Treat
• Something For Kate - The Official Fiction
• Portishead - Dummy
• Journey - Greatest Hits
• Wild Nothing - Nocturne
• Melissa Etheridge - 4th Street Feeling
• Bob Dylan - Tempest
• Kathleen Edwards - Failer
• A Tribe Caled Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
• Ozi Batla - Wild Colonial

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Ice-T
2. Tracy Chapman
3. Digable Planets
4. Sex Pistols
5. Pegz

Song of the Week : Digable Planets - Dog It

As for my favourite track this week, it's a cut from one of my 5 or 10 favourite Rap albums, Digable Planets - Blowout Comb. For my weekly work list, I try to avoid playing the same things all the time and keep it fresh every week. That leads to me deliberately avoiding great albums like this one and Pneumonia etc. Thing is, when my brain told me to slip Blowout Comb on this week's list, I checked back and found that August 2010 was the last time it made the cut. 

I chose this song, Dog It because it is "hella" funky. The brass and the bass on the track are as cool as can be and the whole thing puts me in the New York groove (won't Kiss be pleased!). The other reason I chose it is because all week I've had a bar of lyrics from it stuck in my head - because it's a catchy rhyme and because it's clever:

"Now, I'm making bacon,

Still saying wa assalamu alaikum" 

It's a good groove for a Friday afternoon. I hope it gets you dancing.

Okey Doke

Thanks for stopping by. That's it then. I best go away and try hard not to shrivel up with dehydration and die. I'll see you all next week, with a good deal more energy I hope.

Go Eagles. Because if you don't 'go', that's it for 2012. Hasla malakim

Bad Orpheus Cave Mutations (June 18th - 22nd)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Okay, I'm going to come clean. I'm not really "firty-five" tomorrow. I was born in the great year of our Lord (whose name is Rock n' Roll) 1972. Therefore, that makes me 39. Which is where I am going to stay now, thanks very much.


So to get me through the post forty blues, I've upped the level of Funk to EXTREME with James Brown's Star Time compilation (just disc 1 for this week - can't overdo these things at my age). There's some Bad Brains which is ripped from vinyl to remind me that punk rock will never die. I've slipped in some Beck; Radiohead and Nick Cave for a little 90s flavour; plus there's disc two of the Sugar Hill box and some ATCQ for my Hip Hop fix. Lastly there's some 80s post punk from Get Smart! and some new stuff from Violens. .

Check it out:

• James Brown - Star Time (Disc 1)
• VA - The Sugar Hill Story : To The Beat Ya'll (Disc 2)
• Radiohead - Kid A
• Bad Brains - Bad Brains
• Get Smart! - Action Reaction
• Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II
• A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
• Violens - True
• Nick Cave - The Lyre of Orpheus
• Beck - Mutations

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Young Marble Giants
2. Wilco
3. The Triffids
4. Violent Femmes
5. Beastie Boys

Song of the Week : The Ramones - I Don't Wanna Grow Up

I'm off work today and I took Miss 5 to school and hung out in her classroom before the siren. Some strange kid drew a picture of me. I looked pretty suave actually, but I'm not sure she captured my true essence. 3 stars kid.


After the siren, I went to get some fuel and that's when my SOTW came to me. At the bowser next to me, seemingly not interested in pouring fuel, two guys were talking. One of them looked about mid 30s and was wearing shorts, sneakers and a Ramones tee shirt. I was thinking to myself, I need a Ramones tee. Then I thought "Dude, you're f-f-f--firty five tomorrow and you probably should lay off the band tee shirts". Then, thankfully, my rational self kicked in and I thought "Screw that!"


So here is my SOTW. The Ramones' cover of Tom Waits' great song I Don't Wanna Grow Up. Because, damn it, I don't. And I don't care how old I am tomorrow. In the words of Homer J Simpson, I'm going to "keep on rockin' forever.. forever.. forever.. forever :( ..." And damn it, I'm getting a Ramones tee shirt.



Rawk On

Postscript: Some little kid when I went to get Miss 5 from school also had a Ramones shirt. I chose to see that as a sign that you're never too young or too old to rock n roll. Mrs coreyj chose to see it as a sign we needed to have a third child (a boy). I like my version better and so does our accountant. 


Thanks for stopping by, you crazy kids. Pleas pray for Mojo if you're reading this on Saturday. I'll be struggling to come to terms with my age and with just how much time has passed since I was unleashed upon the world. 


I have to admit that I have definitely lived in "interesting times". Only, isn't that an old Chinese curse?


Que sera, sera. Hasala malakim.

Brighter Imitation Fire Theory (April 9th - 13th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's Easter this week and that means Friday and Monday off with a chance of picnic. It also means the same amount of work tunes in a smaller space of time. More music per square inch. 

So, what have I got? I have dived into the Drive-By Truckers back catalogue after enjoying Jason Isbell recently; there's an old favourite acoustic compilation from Triple M; Justin Townes Earle's latest LP that I've been waiting with baited breath for; I grabbed the rarities disc from both Ben Folds and Prince's best of 3 disc sets; because April 4 has just been, I grabbed The Unforgettable Fire; a bonafide Hip Hop classic from Tribe; a Something From Kate LP I haven't listened to yet and the acclaimed Pet Sounds.

Check it out:

• Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

• VA - Triple M Cordless

• Justin Townes Earle - Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now

• Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne

• Ben Folds - Best Imitation of Myself (Disc 3) Rarities

• Prince - The Hits, The B-Sides (Disc 3) The B-Sides

• A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory

• The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

• U2 - The Unforgettable Fire

• Something For Kate - Elsewhere for 8 Minutes

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
2. Lucinda Williams
3. U2
4. The Beatles
5. (RAS) Riders Against the Storm

Song of the Week : Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - The King

On April 4 1968, 44 years ago (4/4 44years… just realised that), MLK was assassinated in Memphis. The song I have chosen in respect of this tragic anniversary is Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – The King.


The song was released in 1983 on the On The Strength album, but it must have been ’87 or ’88 when I heard it on 100FM during their Scratch FM hip hop show. At the time, I am ashamed to say I had no idea who King was. I had been told about slaves (and I remember not being allowed to watch Alex Haley’s Roots even though it was a huge deal on TV at the time) and segregation, but I didn’t know the first thing about the Civil Rights movement. This song made me look King and Jesse Jackson up in the school library. That quickly led me to reading about Civil Rights in the US, about the Freedom rides, the marches, the bus boycott, the lunch counter sit ins and everything else. 


Since then I have read anything and everything I can get my hands on about the movement, I've watched countless documentaries and listened to a lot of music that references the same things (from the Staple Singers to Tupac). With this, I learned that the line from this song: "He wasn't scared of any man, didn't have no fear" was in no way whatsoever an exaggeration. King knew he was a target, knew his life was in danger everywhere he went, but continually put himself in situations that risked his life because it would further the mission he felt he was on. I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t even have an ounce of that man’s courage. 


So in celebration of a life not wasted, please enjoy. 

Hasta La Vista

Thanks for stopping by. Please have a safe and outstanding Easter if that's your thing. If you find any new music, hook a brother up. 


Go Eagles! Actually, if West Coast do for some reason lose to Melbourne today, I won't be overly distraught, as Melbourne deserves some positive karma for ditching a sponsor whose CEO made racist and sexist Facebook comments - regardless of the fact that doing so cost the struggling club AU$2M. So, Go Eagles! but congratulations Melbourne. 


Hasala malakim.

Playlist : July 25th - 29th, 2011

Holla. How's everybody doing?

Revelation is now in full swing and I had a marathon 4 film day on Sunday. This coming Sunday is the end of the festival and my secret screening. I'm very much looking forward to it.

As it did last week with the reggae cuts, Rev14 has in fact inspired a choice on this week's playlist; namely Pentagram's First Daze Here (the band being the subject of the entertaining Last Days Here).

Along with this rawkus metal offering, I bring you some classic Soul from Earth, Wind & Fire, my favourite Beck album, a remastered version of INXS' impressive debut, the ever-popular O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack and more. Check it out.

• VA - O Brother Where Art Thou
• Pentagram - First Daze Here
• Midlake - The Courage Of Others
• Earth Wind & Fire - Last Days and Time
• VA - Newermind
• INXS - INXS (Remastered)
• Beck - Sea Change
• A Tribe Called Quest - Beats, Rhymes and Life
• Guns n Roses - Appetite For Destruction
• The Stooges - The Stooges

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. R.E.M
2. Pink Floyd
3. Brother Ali
4. Peter Tosh
5. A.A. Bondy

Song of the Week : Ohio Players - Skin Tight

I was torn between a great cover of a 60s classic and this funky gem from 1974. I may send you the cover later because it’s worth a listen. Last night I cleaned up a 70s record I bought for maybe $2 at an Op Shop and found it had a lot of scuffing across the surface. There was hardly any depth to the grooves, but no real scratches. I put it on anyway, not expecting much quality. From the minute the needle went down, there was a crackle and hiss that wasn’t particularly fun. But then the music kicked in.

Something about 70s funk/soul just seems to sound better when your record has had a life. I wish I could have found the time to rip it straight to mp3, but then I’m not sure it would have accurately captured the feel anyway. So this track from Ohio Players, the title song for the album Skin Tight is a funkeriffic rampage of horns and bass and drums. The sexy 70s vibe is all encompassing. Sit back, relax and get your funk on.

Arrivederci

That's all for now. I'll let you know what the secret screening is next week or over at MFNM when I review it. Be sure to have an outstanding weekend and love the ones you're with. Thanks for stopping by. Asalaam alikum.

Playlist February 28th - March 4th, 2011

Howdy pardners, welcome to what may be the last Work Tunes.

After reading a blog about simplifying your life and finding more time for what you love, I realised that I could probably stop this blog and focus on Make Films Not Movies. Though I do enjoy talking music, I prefer movies and I’m not finding enough time to watch and review them.

There are other things I can cut out of my schedule though, so I have some decisions to make.In any case, for this week I’m listening to :

• Paul Kelly - The A to Z Recordings (Disc 7) : With just two more discs to go, I should probably make next week the last week for Work Tunes. Disc 6 of this epic box contained a humdinger of a ditty in Shane Warne. With a swinging summer horn and calypso rhythm, the track was a great bit of levity in a fairly serious set of songs. This disc features mostly S and T songs, including perhaps two of PKs best known in To Her Door and Sweet Guy.

• Rolling Stones – Rolled Gold (Disc Two) : The second part of the Rolled Gold Best Of compilation features some of the Stones' meatier tracks including Sympathy For The Devil, Wild Horses and You Can't Always Get What You Want. There are more of the early 70s songs here than on Disc One, which had several very early tracks from when the Stones thought they were Mississippi Bluesmen. I prefer this side of the band.

• Dolorean - You Can't Win : After hearing the latest effort from Dolorean last week, I was reminded why I really dig this band. Simple chord progressions, quiet twang and thought out lyrics will always be high on my list of things-i-like-in-music. Dolorean does all of that so well.

• Digable Planets - Reachin (A New Refutation Of Time And Space) : Lately, the Native Tongues style of jazz beats and positive, conscious lyrics has been sounding pretty good to me. I flip out over Blowout Comb by Digable Planets, but this is another great album. If only they were still around. Maybe they could resurrect Black Star while they were at it.

• Thom Yorke - The Eraser : Last week, I slowly but surely became in awe of The King of Limbs, Radiohead's brand new release. One thing I liked about it is the layering of electronic sound, which is the same thing I like about The Eraser. The King of Limbs is superior to Thom Yorke's solo debut, in my opinion, but this is still worth a listen.

• Radiohead - OK Computer : A lot of listeners would agree that OK Computer is Radiohead's finest hour. It has made countless critics' lists of the best albums of all time, or of the 90s of the UK and so on. The critical response to The King of Limbs has been mixed, to be polite. I wanted to play this album this week to get a better gauge on the difference. I bleieve TKOL will someday get a little more love than it does now.

• Sonic Youth - Goo : Goo was Sonic Youth’s seventh release, but got them a good deal of attention from further mainstream than usual thanks to the Seattle ‘scene’ that broke around them. The album after this, Dirty, got even more. Though it was released in 1990, Goo contains much of the sound everybody went crazy for not long after. It is the start of a more cohesive, less experimental Sonic Youth sound and a decently fuzzy and rocking album. The biggest track on the album is Kool Thing. We of course all know how cool Kim Deal is, thanks to the Dandy Warhols.

• Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians - Ghost of a Dog : Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians' 1988 release Shooting Rubber Bands at the Stars has always been one of my personal favourites. I have only ever had a cassette copy of this, it's follow up, until recently when I bought the CD. Stand out tracks are the title track and the jaunty Black and Blue.

• A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm : More Native Tongues, which is good for what ails Hip Hop. This Tribe album has two of the groups few hits in Bonita Applebum and Can I Kick It? But you can't go past the smooth grooves of Youthful Expression and the played-for-comedy I Left My Wallet In El Segundo.

• Marcy Playground – Marcy Playground : Remember Sex and Candy? Yeah, me too! But that's about all I ever knew of Marcy Playground. So when I saw this CD on ebay for 1c, I thought "why not?" I haven't listened to it yet. Fingers crossed.

Regardless of whether I decide to give this blog away, I will be making a playlist every week. I may just blog here once a month a list of the albums I enjoyed most and try to review a movie a week for MFNM.

Thanks to those who come to read. If I’m here next week, I hope you will be too.

Ciao for now.

Playlist : October 25 - 29, 2010

A new artist (for me), some old favourites and a couple of classics make up this week's list. It's probably just a tad funkier than usual with the compilation and some roots rap on board.

Here's what will be playing in my ears;

• A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders : A little bit of Native Tongues always goes down a treat. A friend told me she'd been hearing a bit of rap lately and it was full of the F and N words. Groups like Tribe and De La Soul were always and still are against that sort of garbage. Long live true Hip Hop.

• The Roots - Phrenology : More positivity to go with Tribe. It was great to hear The Roots as a full on Funk and Soul band on the recent John Legend collaboration. I'm going back to The Roots (haw haw) to keep up my fix, otherwise I'd just keep playing Wake Up! (the Legend collaboration) over and over.

• VA - 70s Funk n Soul Classics : A really great compilation which dishes up exactly what it promises - classics from the 70s. Some of the best tracks include The O'Jays - Love Train; Curtis Mayfield - Superfly; Kool & The Gang - Jungle Boogie and The Staple Singers - Respect Yourself. Get yo funk on.

• Something For Kate - The Official Fiction : It's been quite some time since I heard this album. It was the first I had heard of SFK. It's a solid set with stand outs like Deja Vu and Light at the End of the Tunnel. They probably should have done an Australian Classic Albums doco on it. I think it's in that lofty company, anyway.

• Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights : I've decided to play each of 2005's Radams releases. Last week I played the brilliant double that kicked off the year in Cold Roses. JCN is a lot more traditional country than Cold Roses. It's got a lot of pedal steel and it sounds more like a drunken moan in some bar.

• S.O.U.L. - Can You Feel It : With the rise of new Soul this year, I have been wanting to relisten to all the old stuff I have. SOUL are a sort of jazzy half instrumental collective heavy on the flute and the sprawling solos with some honey smooth vocals and a bit of politics for good measure.

• Paul Kelly - Live May 1992 : PK is the man. Since I'm not going to see him when he plays here soon, I'm going to listen to and enjoy this double LP live set from 92. This is the album I used to get my wife into Paul Kelly. We played it at our wedding. It came with a VHS of the concert that I still have somewhere at home. I really enjoy it, every listen. If you're Australian and you haven't heard it, be like Molly and 'do yourself a favour'.

• Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde : As the final chapter in the holy trinity, I had to give Blonde a spin this week. Last week's Highway 61 Revisited was a blast. Blonde features what I consider one of the best, lyrically, songs ever in Visions of Johanna, as well as the tracks everybody knows Just Like a Woman and Rainy Day Women Nos 12 & 53 (even if a lot of people call it Everybody Must get Stoned after the refrain).

• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call : This album was a last minute inclusion on this list because a clever twitter friend (*waves fondly at @a_musedly) quoted (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For? this morning - reminding me of one of the main reasons this is my favourite Nick Cave release.

• Fyfe Dangerfield - Fly Yellow Moon : The first I had heard of Fyfe Dangerfield was this week when I came across the Billy Joel cover (Always a Woman). I quite liked that, so I went looking for the album. The cover is not on this set, but it's all I could find. Fairly dreamy indie pop.

I hope something there turns you on to a new musical journey. As always, be excellent to each other and remember the words of Edward Furlong's Danny in American History X : "Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time."

Peace man, right on.