Showing posts with label bonnie prince billy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bonnie prince billy. Show all posts

Friday, November 2, 2012

Under the Lost Motown Master (November 5 - 9)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's Friday night and I've been watching 56 UP with Mrs coreyj. Having come home determined to drink too much, I managed 2 beers, as usual. Nevermind, so I'm a cheap date. And speaking of dates, here's the music I'll be listening to from the 5th to the 9th. 

For starters I have two disc ones - one for JJJ's Hip Hop Show and the other for a 3 disc set of Michael Jackson / Jackson 5 Motown songs. There's more of Thurston Moore and old favourites from Justin Townes Earle and Boogie Down Productions. I have a solo effort from Frente's Angie Hart and a true Australian classic from Paul Kelly since I saw the Stories of Me documentary last week. Filling out the rawk portion of this week's slice of my working life, I have the first Kiss album I ever owned (I was 8) and the Lost Dogs collection from Pearl Jam. Finally, for some sombre reflection there's a set from Bonnie "Prince" Billy. 

Check it out:

  1. Hilltop Hoods
  2. U2
  3. Evil Eddie
  4. 10,000 Maniacs
  5. Joe Jackson

Song of the Week : Stephen Cummings - From St Kilda To Kings Cross



 After seeing the Paul Kelly doc, Stories of Me at the weekend, I have chosen From St Kilda to Kings Cross. However, I'm selecting the Stephen Cummings cover version. I chose the cover because I think it is more literal with the mood of the song.
The story the movie told was that after The Dots, Paul Kelly's writing dried up for two years. He had written one song and that was Water In The Well which is about not being able to write. So he left Melbourne for Sydney. The writing then came in a flood which led to Post, Under The Sun, Gossip and Comedy - all great albums.

So this song starts up in wonder of the Sydney landscape, face pressed in anticipation to the glass window of a bus. He describes everything as shining like a post card and how nobody stops to notice it with "everything goes on just the same". When the bridge comes in, he's suddenly talking of hungry 'fair weather friends'.

Finally, in the last verse it's Melbourne he is pining for and he wants to trade Sydney in for St Kilda pier even after acknowledging that St Kilda isn’t the shining pretty place that Sydney is  “Where the beach needs reconstruction / Where the palm trees have it hard”. 

 This is not an upbeat, happy and carefree song the way it sounds when PK sings it. It’s about a guy who has left his home on a 13 hour bus trip and come to a city where he doesn’t have any real friends. Which is why I chose Stephen Cummings and his exhausted, resigned and maudlin piano cover.

 Unfortunately, the cover is not on YouTube, so here's the Paul Kelly video.  

Checkyalater

It's just after midnight here now and I'm thinking of throwing on my Music Jamboree DVD before climbing into bed with Sickboy, Begbie, Renton and Spud in Porno. Whatever you do this weekend, stay safe and happy and try to cram as much music in as you can. 

 To our American cousins who are going out to vote next week, please do the right thing by the rest of the world and put Barry back in the big chair. Cheers.

 Bye for now. Hasala malakim.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Journey of the Dumb Naked Kings (July 9th - 13th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


It was another enjoyably busy week at work, with a Thursday off to see Miss 5 get her very first honour certificate. It was for writing, because writing and illustrating stories is what she likes to do in her spare time away from school. A tad proud? Yes. She also has a great appetite for reading which she is learning at a rate of knots. I learned a little too late in life that the best way to get smarter is read everything*. *Except the comments.


Revelation started Thursday night and I missed Opening Night for the first time in a while. I will be catching a stack of films this weekend and next though, including The Georges Méliès Project for which I can not wait.


As far as the music goes, I felt like I leaned a little hard on the noisy side last week, so I have deliberately toned it down. So, that's how I ended up with some Tracy Chapman, Rickie Lee Jones, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Gillian Welch and Ryan Adams all in the same list. Talk about a folk backlash. A folklash. To balance the folk, I have some funk from James Brown, some Soul from Alabama Shakes (on recommendation from @sunky) and some rock from the first Japandroids album. Got to have some hip hop too, so say hello to the third volume of Culture of Kings. Finally, I found out that one of my favourite Beck songs was a cover of The Korgis, so I have their album here. 

Check it out:

  1. 50 Cent
  2. Queen
  3. Japandroids
  4. Cypress Hill
  5. James Brown

Song of the Week : Cheap Trick - Surrender



This has been another week almost completely smothered in work. Except I took yesterday off to go see Miss 5 get her first honour certificate (yay!). She got it for being an 'independent writer' because she is always writing and illustrating stories in her own time. So it was great to do the selfish thing and see her collect the award and try and see who was prouder, her or me.


So this song Surrender, which featured on the soundtrack to a cheesy 70s teen melodrama I saw on the weekend (Over The Edge. Matt Dillon looked about 13!), is a tribute to doing the selfish thing. To surrendering yourself to the work you have to do, but never forgetting the things that are truly important. 


It's a decent song in its own right, but unfortunately I think it might be forever associated with this campy film for me now. Not a completely bad thing, but not Cheap Trick's intention, I'm sure.


Toodle Pip, What What!

Thanks for stopping by. If you're in Perth, try and get out to Revelation and catch a film or two. You won't get a better chance to see some of these terrific movies, unless they happen to be one of those that ends up popular and showing in the multiplexes. Who needs Hoyts though when you can get to The Astor and bask in all of its art deco glory.


Stay safe, warm and dry kids. Go Eagles, even if I can't watch the game because I'll be at the movies. Hasala malakim.


Post Script: Eagles won after clawing their way back from a 35 point deficit. It was kind of ironic today since I saw two films at Revelation where people fought against the odds, except the heroes lost. I came home and watched the second half of the West Coast match that I had recorded. The good guys prevailed. Suck it, haters. 
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, April 27, 2012

Short Beach Pixies Give Up (April 30 - May 4)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


I've got a biannual Record Fair this weekend and I'm looking forward to picking up a few great records at a bargain price - or a couple of hard to find classics at a premium. If I find anything especially great, I might just rip it to digital and whack it on next week's list. 


This week's list is a little heavy on the indie and the dinosaur rock. I've found a couple of bands I didn't previously know and dug up a Television album I haven't heard. Here's what I have to get me through week ahead. 


After getting quickly addicted to the What A Pleasure EP, I've got Beach Fossils' debut; Songl told me Spectrals were like Beach Fossils, so there's that; I have one of the last Bonnie Prince Billy albums I'm yet to hear; the best of the Pixies; The Postal Service's one and only album; some funky jazz hop from Ninety One; the second disc of Tupac's Greatest Hits; some Iron & Wine and U2's Boy.


Check it out:

  1. Beach Fossils
  2. Snoop Dogg
  3. Brian Eno
  4. Ambulance LTD
  5. Ninety One

Song of the Week : Beach Fossils - Face It



I first heard this album (which is really an EP) half way through last year and it just sort of washed right over me. You know, I enjoyed it but it didn’t really make an impact. I think that’s because I wasn’t listening too close and because the music feels like a long lazy swim or somebody scoring your daydreams.


This track is Face It and it’s been stuck in my head all week. Not sure if it’s because we have been thinking about moving to Darlington (and the refrain says “I’d give up the city life”) or because my wife left the country for me (and it says “I’d give up the country life”) but I feel like I can relate to the song and I’ve been constantly singing and humming it. Plus, I’ve played the What A Pleasure EP at least three times since ANZAC night. 


I think if you took the massive reverb off the vocals and crunched up the guitars a little, the whole EP would pretty much rock out. But instead the sound has been filtered through almost a Vaseline lens.


I’ve since grabbed their debut to check it out and that will be on the playlist for next week. If you like the sound of this track, definitely check out What A Pleasure.

Arrivederci

So there you have it. From a personal stand point, not a bad list to take with me on another busy week. Hopefully there's something you haven't heard that you can check out and get into. I'll be at the record fair Sunday, looking for new gems. I'll let you know if I find any.  


Ciao for now. Go Eagles! Hasala malakim.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, February 3, 2012

Playlist : February 6th - 10th, 2012

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Well, I must say, Hugo was spectacular. Scorsese used the 3D tech to bring the characters to life, more so than the action; and to add magical touches like snow in the theatre. If you're a film obsessive like me, you'll love details like seeing the iconic Moon scene from Le voyage dans la lune in 3D and you'll love Scorsese's complete affection for the art of movie-making. But enough Hugo plugging, let's talk about Sets baby. 


The Golden Era Mixtape for 2012 dropped this week, for free, so that's here and you can grab a copy. For the quiet moments during the long week at work, I've got some jazz from Coltrane and the sweet indie pop of the Away We Go soundtrack; more Bonnie 'Prince' Billy; another mixtape, this time from Rhymesayers' I Self Divine; some X, The Doors and Vetiver; as well as Dan Mangan who I only just discovered and The New Pornographers' 2003 effort Mass Romantic.


Check it out:

  1. Public Enemy
  2. Hilltop Hoods
  3. The Felice Brothers
  4. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
  5. James Taylor

Song of the Week : The Felice Brothers - Frankie's Gun!



This week I’ve got a track from The Felice Brothers’ self-titled LP from 2008. Frankie’s Gun! is a dirty country rock song which seems to be about a guy working as a bagman for criminals who is either shot by Frankie or is pretending that he was to justify a missing $30 meant for a girl named Lucille. The song is sung to Lucille explaining how Frankie shot the narrator.


What I love about the track besides its rollicking fun time jig is the rhyming scheme in the lyrics. Some lines almost make me laugh at the rhymes and the way the words get packed in – “My car goes / To Chicago / Every weekend to pick up some cargo” and “I saw a man hit my Mom one time, really / I hurt him so damn bad I had to hide in Jersey”. It’s just a lot of fun with a timeless vibe like it’s about the bootlegging era but could just as easily be about today.


I hope you dig it.

Ciao For Niao

So there you have it. If anything takes your fancy, go and check it out. Drop me a comment if you know anything you think I might want to hear. 


Be good to each other kids; we're all we've got. 


Hasala malakim.
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, October 7, 2011

Playlist : October 10th - 14th, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Almost ran out of time this week. Monday's dreaded lurgee returned yesterday and stole much of last night. It's still hanging around today and we're meant to be going to a party.

So this hurridly scrambled together list features and old 80s compilation favourite, some world music and The Drones recommended by friends, some new cuts from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Bjork, Spin's latest playlist and some funkier choices.

Check it out:
  1. Nirvana
  2. Digable Planets
  3. Violent Femmes
  4. The Whitlams
  5. Ryan Adams
    Song of the Week : Feist - Cicadas & Gulls
    This week I haven’t paid much attention to the tunes I’ve been hearing, but one album that made an impact was the new Feist – Metals. I didn’t mind their last album, but it was just your standard pop set with that solid 1 2 3 4 single. This one is very different. It’s very quiet and sparse and the songs are far less upbeat and hopeful.

    I picked Cicadas & Gulls because it’s even more raw than the rest of the album. This track and a couple of others sound like they’ve been recorded through an old four track mixer to cassette tape live. See what you think.

    Ciao
    That's it for another week. Off to that party, which is a 1 year old birthday.We've been given the all clear to bring our germs if we promise not to sneeze on the barbecue.

    Adieu until next time. Hasala malakim.
    Posted by at No comments:
    Labels: , , , , , , , ,

    Thursday, April 7, 2011

    Playlist April 11th - 15th, 2011

    What's shaking this week Hep Cats? This is my last week of work before I get some holidays for Easter, so no Work Tunes for a while.

    What I'll be listening to at work next week sounds a little bit country, a little bit hip hop, a little bit Australian and a bit of everything else; just like me.
    1. Digable Planets
    2. Radiohead
    3. Josh Rouse
    4. Fleet Foxes
    5. Jenny Lewis
    Song of the Week : Digable Planets - Nickle Bags
    I haven’t had a lot of time to think about SOTW. Nevertheless, I have chosen a track that I’ve been into all week. I recently took delivery of a Digable Planets record for which I paid far too much money due to a nasty eBay bidding war that I didn’t want to lose. Well worth it though, because darn this sounds eleventy billion kinds of funky on wax. The funky grooves of the record as a whole are why I chose this track. Nickle Bags is smooth as butter and funkier than I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter left in the sun. This album isn’t the one I bought, it’s basically a Best Of Digable Planets with a couple of new tracks, but the track itself is on my record along with half this compilation. Here’s a jam to kick your Friday into a smooth mellow good vibration kind of feel. Enjoy!

    Until May
    It's going to be a strange month because I'll be on holidays and there'll be no work for almost a fortnight. So after a two week break, I'll resurrect the old style just for May. Make sense? Too bad, that's what I'm doing.

    Until May, don't let the Man get you down. Power to the people. Right on.
    Posted by at No comments:
    Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)