Just Atomic Desert Lemonade (November 25th - 29th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

I'm a little later than usual this week because yesterday was filled with super secret Christmas present purchase shenanigans. It's the wee hours of Sunday morning right now and I've just put this together.

I've been avoiding U2's 2004 effort since the first listen, so I figured it was time to try again. This Desert Life I haven't been avoiding, but have probably not listened to the whole thing in just as long. Yet another album that's been tucked away too long is Blind Pilot's sophomore effort. I recently gave a few Keb Mo albums a spin on Spotify - this is one of them. The latest album from Oz Hip Hop artist Illy is here and so is the newly released collaboration between Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day) and Norah Jones. After my recent obsession with the Downtown scene and the early days of Punk, I grabbed a CBGBs compilation exploring those bands. Another new one from White Denim is on the list along with the soundtrack to Imagine, a documentary about John Lennon. One of my favourite rap albums from the last 10 years from Nas is my final choice for next week.

Check it out:

• Keb' Mo' - Just Like You
• U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
• VA - CBGBs and the Birth of US Punk
• Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
• Blind Pilot - We Are The Tide
• Counting Crows - This Desert Life
• Illy - Cinematic
• White Denim - Corsicana Lemonade
• Billie Joe + Norah - Foreverly
• John Lennon - Imagine OST

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Motorhead
2. The Offspring
3. Jonathon Wilson
4. Tom Waits
5. of Montreal

Song of the Week : Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone

My SOTW is arguably the greatest rock song ever written. I chose Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone solely because of the interactive video that was released this week which blew my tiny mind. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t ruin it, but ostensibly it’s a bunch of film clips in an interactive player where you can “change channels” mid song. A simple enough idea, but it’s what has been done with it that’s really impressive.

http://video.bobdylan.com/desktop.html

The innovation behind the video reminded me that the song itself was a real rule breaker. A rock song that hit big on the radio that went for more than 6 minutes, let alone more than 3. It was the near perfection of the electric sound that had been played around with on Bringing It All Back Home and which had gotten Bob in trouble with the folkies who saw it as selling out. Those cracking drums, the double keyboard sound and the angry sneer of Bob’s voice changed popular music in a way that’s still being felt. We all know the Beatles were one kind of band until Rubber Soul which was not long after they met electric Bob.

Watch the video and have a play around. I will most likely watch each channel in it’s entirety this weekend to make sure I see it all. I think there’s about 10 channels. 

Adios

Now it's Sunday afternoon and I'm just back from Nedlands and Perth Upmarket at UWA. Now I'm running behind and have to get these tunes onto my work laptop for the week's listening.

Onwards and upwards. Hasala malakim.

Vanishing Feedback Farm Magazine (April 29th - May 3rd)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

You might have noticed (though probably not) that there was no Work Tunes last week. That's because I didn't take any music to work as ANZAC Day and a day of annual leave left me with just three days. So instead i streamed all the First Listens on NPR and a played a couple of 8Tracks mixes and shuffled my iPhone. With the extra time off, you'd think I'd had plenty of chance to collate a carefully calculated playlist. You'd be wrong; but nice try. None-the-less, I'm happy with what I've chosen. 

To set my Jazz Funk senses tingling, I've grabbed Herbie Hancock's classic Headhunters. To compliment it nicely, I've chosen two fairly jazzy Hip Hop albums from Jurassic 5 and Mos Def. Always mindful of not neglecting to slow it down, I've got some Justin Townes Earle and A.A. Bondy for a twang fix. Can't slow it down for too long though, so I have two new albums from alt-rock legends Mudhoney and Meat Puppets. With my recent subscription to Paste Magazine comes a 7 track sampler of new music per week; and I have the first two weeks worth here. The other compilation is Songs in the Key of X, which is music from and inspired by The X Files. Lastly, a soundtrack of sorts from John Lennon, with the music from the documentary Imagine. 

Check it out:

• Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
• Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
• VA - Songs in the Key of X
• John Lennon - Imagine OST
• A.A. Bondy - When The Devil's Loose
• VA - Paste Magazine April Pt. 1
• Mudhoney - Vanishing Point
• Meat Puppets - Rat Farm
• Jurassic 5 - Feedback
• Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Best Coast
2. A Tribe Called Quest
3. Patti Smith
4. Josh Rouse
5. Bruce Springsteen

Song of the Week : Charles Bradley - Strictly Reserved For You

I have some Soul for your soul. The April NPR sampler had a track from Charles Bradley who I’ve heard before playing with The Menahan Street Band. You know what a sucker I am for Soul music; and to get something that sounds this classic being released in 2013 is blowing my mind.

Bradley’s voice on Strictly Reserved For You is somewhere between James Brown and Otis Redding. The big horns and the crooning backup vocals are like the JBs playing with The Temptations. Did I die and go to 60s Soul heaven? I don’t know anymore. But there is no bad mood that doesn’t disappear when I play tracks like this. 

They don’t write ‘em like they used to – or DO THEY?! See for yourself.

Peace Out

There will be another week off at Work Tunes after this week, when I am on annual leave to take care of Mrs Corey J while she recovers from surgery (in my head I just heard Homer's critique of Ned Flanders' chilli in my favourite Simpsons episode - "a bland, timid entry, suitable perhaps for patients recovering from surgery"). I'll be back the week after though, with the second part of the Paste sampler and a bunch of other albums I haven't selected yet.

Hasala malakim.

Playlist : September 12th - 16th, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

A rushed entry and list this week as I've barely been near a computer all weekend. That of course is not a bad thing, but it makes it hard to find time to program the week's listening.

What I ended up reaching for is a few favourites and a couple of new ones I wanted to listen to. Here's what I've got:

• VA - Left of the Dial : Dispatches from the 80s Underground (Disc Two)
• Marvelous Mag - Soul City
• REM - Dead Letter Office
• Whiskeytown - Rural Free Delivery
• VA - Spin Magazine September
• Kidz In The Hall - The In Crowd
• Duran Duran - Ten Great Songs
• Concrete Blonde - Concrete Blonde
• Shonen Knife - Osaka Ramones : Tribute to the Ramones
• John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. A Tribe Called Quest
2. Patti Smith
3. Dennis Wilson
4. Sloan
5. The Herd

Song of the Week : Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit

It wasn't an easy pick to begin with, but given the impending Nirvana Live at the Paramount event in a fortnight (James get a ticket and meet me there! Carousel 7pm Fri September 23) and just for your enjoyment and collection purposes, I chose Patti Smith's cover of Smells Like teen Spirit.

Patti gives the song a bluegrassy funeral march sound and then uses the instrumental break to spout her unique brand of poetry over it. I'm not sure I agree with this sort of self-indulgence all over my generation's holy hymn, but hey, at least she isn't Taylor Swift right? And if anyone has earned the right to reinterpret a magical song from someone else's era, of the two I would say Patti has paid her dues. As far as Patti Smith covers go, this isn't Gloria which we all know she put a massive PS stamp all over, but it sure isn't Madonna doing American Pie either. Enjoy.

Toodles

Thanks for coming. Sorry to love you and leave you. Before you go, if you get a chance, make sure you see Cave of Forgotten Dreams on the big screen in 3D. I saw it today and on more than one occasion was mesmerised in quiet awe. It's an amazing use of the gimmicky 3D technology to be taken through the ripples and jagged edges of the Chauvet caves and stare in wonder at 35,000 year old paintings. Nothing this cool ever stays around for long in cinemas, so get out and see it now.

Once again, asalaam alikum brothers and sisters.

Playlist : January 17th - 21st, 2011

Hi and welcome to another week of Work Tunes.

This week's list features a couple of albums I've been meaning to get for at least 10 years, as well as some old favourites and one or two I've never heard. For me, that makes a good list, and it looks like this:

• Beastie Boys – To The 5 Boroughs : It hasn’t been that long since this album was on my playlist. I’ve put it on again because lately I’ve been hearing a lot of hate for it from people who are true Beastie Boys fans. I have always liked this album and maybe I’m not hearing whatever it is that puts people off it. I thought repeated listens might help me understand why it copped so much flack. For me, Open Letter To NYC is one of their better tracks, and the Hip Hop/New York history lessons scattered throughout the lyrics are like reassurances of our culture’s true place in the world. Sounds strange, I know, listening to an LP to see if I hate it, but I am intrigued by how little respect it’s given.

• John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Some Time In New York City : I’ve been on a little bit of a Lennon kick lately after reading the interview he did with Rolling Stone three days before his death. I’ve come to truly believe that he was the Beatles. Not only that, strange music aside, I have cemented my view that Yoko Ono is a decent and enlightened individual who had no direct part in the breakup of the Beatles. If anything, it was John’s fault and had to happen anyway. So this is Some Time In New York City; the third album Lennon made post-Beatles. Tell me anything good that McCartney ever did post-Beatles. Wings?! Pffft.

• The Decemberists - The King is Dead : The latest effort from Portland natives The Decemberists features guest appearances from Peter Buck of R.E.M. fame and Gillian Welch of Gillian Welch obscurity. Apparently the title is an homage to the Smiths classic The Queen Is Dead and you can hear a little Morrissey and Marr influence in past work by The Decemberists. Buck’s bright jangle, Conlee’s accordion and a fine dose of fiddle lends this LP a folk and country vibe.

• Das Racist - Shut Up, Dude : Released as a free download in March 2010, Das Racist’s first mixtape caught a lot of attention; mainly due to the video game created for the song Who’s That? Brooown! These guys basically use rap as a comedy vehicle, but they are at the same time very decent rappers. Fittingly, Playboy has called them a cross between “Hip Hop and Cheech & Chong”. In September, the duo released another mixtape, Sit Down, Man which I’ll play next week. Meanwhile, you can download this mixtape from the album name link.

• Ray LaMontagne - Trouble : I only recently found out about Ray LaMontagne with the excellent God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise album. Last week, a mix on 8tracks included Jolene from Trouble. It was stunning and I set about getting some back catalogue. Trouble is an impressively sparse and subdued set with some first-rate lyrics. Check it out if you liked the Pariah Dogs last year.

• Paul Kelly – The A – Z Recordings (Disc One) : I’m going to attempt to hear all of Paul Kelly’s sprawling and epic boxset one disc at a time. That will take 8 playlists to do, but I think it will be worth it. I’ve been a massive Paul Kelly fan ever since 1985’s Under the Sun which was on ultra-high rotation (in cassette form) during that summer for me. Since then I’ve bought virtually everything PK has released (including with Uncle Bill). Australia’s greatest living songwriter deserves every clichéd and exaggerated epitaph we can bestow upon him. Some highlights on the first disc are the cheeky Adelaide, the timeless Beggar on the Street of Love and the excellent Cake and the Candle which was given to Kate Cebrano to record. Tune in next week for Disc Two.

• Things of Stone and Wood - Junk Theatre : One of two albums I picked up last week after missing my chance to pick them up in the 90s, Junk Theatre is as far as i know, Things' second. Their debut, The Yearning, featured the massive hit Happy Birthday Helen and less successful but still popular Share This Wine. I was a big fan while at Uni (and the band actually played in our courtyard) of their folky brand of Melbourne song. They're somewhere between Noiseworks and the Mucky Duck Bush Band which makes it all a little dated. The only songs I know here are Wildflowers, a cautionary tale about right wing politics and Churchill's Black Dog about depression.

• Concrete Blonde - Group Therapy : My 90s obsession with Concrete Blonde pretty much ended soon after I saw Johnette Napolitano play live. That's not to say she turned me off them, she was great. I think it was probably because I discovered Eminem and got back into rap in a big way. Whatever it was, I bought everything Concrete Blonde ever did, but not Group Therapy from 2002 - which I picked up last week.

• VA - More Sounds of the New West : Another of last week's purchases, this is the sequel to one of my favourite compilations. The first Sounds of the New West is so important to me, because I bought it after discovering Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown when the whole Alt Country genre was new to me. Since then my original purchase has introduced me to the Hansom Family, Kate Campbell, Lambchop, Neal Casal, Hazeldine, Calexico and Will Oldham. So when eBay offered up the sequel in a one cent CD auction, I snapped it up. I haven't listened yet, but I hope to find a stack more artists.

• Pearl Jam - No Code : I'm still on a quest to get back into Pearl Jam. I don't understand why they lost me, I only know that No Code was when they did. This is the most recent Pearl Jam album I own. With any luck, the passage of time might make it sound a little better for me. That aside, There He Goes from this album has always been a good listen.

And there’s the whole list for this week. My best wishes go to the people of Queensland who are fighting against terrible hardship in the floods that have wreaked havoc upon their sunny state. If you want to donate, you can do so at http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html To all my people in the Q-L-D, stay safe and warm and dry.

Bye for now, but before you go, this week is your last chance to grab my Best of 2010 Mixtape. Until next time; Peace man, right on.