Top 10 Favourite Albums of 2013

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Like I did last year, I chose to not post in my last week of work and use my top 10 list as my playlist.  

It seems like every year, I think there's been no monumental album releases until I reflect back and try and choose a top 10. This year saw the best Jason Isbell album yet, probably the best She & Him volume so far, a new David Bowie LP and a bunch of other releases that made my 20. 

Like lists past, these aren't necessarily the *best* albums of 2013, but certainly my personal favourites. A mixtape of one track from each of the top ten is again available for download.

Check it out:

10. Iggy and the Stooges - Ready To Die

Surprisingly just the 5th Stooges album, Ready To Die is just as raucously anarchic as anything they've made before with an added sly wink at the process of aging. The hilariously knowing title Ready To Dies says it all. There's Iggy on the front strapped in explosives with a cross-hairs on his heart. But hey, says the album, he's just a bloke who plays rock and roll for a living - and according to Job, "it doesn't pay shit!" Preoccupied with the same things as they were as teenagers - sex, death, money and drugs; this album has a great deal of energy for a bunch of old geezers.  

9. Camera Obscura - Desire Lines

Ever since I discovered Camera Obscura some time ago, I've been an avowed fan of Tracyanne Campbell's lyrics and voice and the band's melodies. 2009's My Maudlin Career is still on high rotation. This album was produced in Portland with Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Neko Case, My Morning Jacket) and you can hear the difference in the sound. There is much more of an Americana gloss to the songs than we usually get from the Scottish group - even if Tracyanne's vocals still drip heavy with her Glasgow accent. The subjects of every song are familiarly grounded though: I Missed Your Party is an account of what the subject was up to instead of going to someone's party; New Year's Resolution is a kind of apology for a thawing relationship. The title track is a sorrowful lament to a lost lover met in California. This isn't my favourite Camera Obscura LP so far, but it's cracker.     

8. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

I am a long-time, unashamed fan of The National. Their previous release, High Violet made my 2010 list. Trouble Will Find Me is a bit more subdued, but mostly more of the same. And more of the same is exactly what I wanted from The National. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Not that their sound hasn't changed at all, but Matt Berninger's voice and lyrical themes are so recognisably The National that they could never pretend to be anything else. For some highlights, Graceless kicks around with a swag of chaos interspersed with the odd fragile-sounding key riff, Pink Rabbits seems to threaten to be out of time but never quite is and Fireproof is an atmospheric and sweetly sad melody.   

7. Josh Rouse - The Happiness Waltz

Another year, another great Josh Rouse release (two actually, when you count the soundtrack to Spanish film LA GRAN FAMILIA ESPAÑOLA). The Happiness Waltz is the like an anti Blood On The Tracks. It's sweet sounds and sweeter words about the joy of living, loving and being. Julie (Come Out Of The Rain) is a romantic musing on the beginning of a relationship. It's Good To Have You is about living with the love of your life and forgetting all else. Start A Family is a pretty shuffle about, you guessed it, starting a family. What Rouse has done is make an album about all that grown up stuff and each song celebrates the joy of it all. This is a theme far removed from the lost, lonely, uncertain alcoholics and depressed people of his 1972 or Nashville LPs.  

6. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

This album was obviously massive this year and, in terms of global popularity, will probably make number 1 on a lot of lists. It is an enjoyable listen, particularly for those of us who still dig funky disco riffs. I personally don't feel it lives up to the critical acclaim it received  simply because it's just a nice bit of fun nostalgia and nothing at all new is going on here. No denying that it is a great listen though and deserves recognition for blowing up so large. Give Life Back To Music is a funky riff filled celebration. The massive hit Get Lucky is Nile Rodgers at his disco best with a groove and tons of repetition. Lose Yourself To Dance features Pharrell Williams' falsetto over the disco-est break since 1978.  

5. Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt

I've been waiting for a post No Code release from Pearl Jam to really grab me and none of them have. Lightning Bolt is the first release since the 90s that has made me consider myself a Pearl Jam fan. As soon as the opening track Getaway kicked in, PJ had my attention. Mind Your Manners kicked it up another notch again. It's got an energy that wouldn't be out of place on Vs, as does much of the album. Yet they're not afraid to end it with a slower, more contemplative track, Future Days. I hope Pearl Jam can keep this kind of quality coming for many years yet.

4. David Bowie - The Next Day

I have to admit that I didn't expect another album from David Bowie this year, let alone one so good. Another set of songs from an old timer which have a hardened edge (with a world-weary energy) - I'm looking at you Stooges and Pearl Jam. The Stars (Are Out Tonight) is a definite highlight and would have been so even without the brilliantly creepy film clip starring Bowie and Tilda Swinton (quite fittingly "stars" out and about in the suburbs). The Next Day is loud and cranky like much of the album. The softer Where Are We Now? sounds like a mash-up of old and new Bowie tracks. I was highly surprised by the depth of this album. Obviously taking so long to get it out was worth it.  

3. She & Him - Volume Three

There is something old world about She & Him. The good old world of class and sophistication and manners, not the bad old world of institutionalised racism, sexism and homophobia. Volume Three is probably the best of the Volumes so far. It's better because Deschanel and M. Ward's songwriting is evolving, maturing even; with more substance to the catchy 50s pop tunes. Never Wanted Your Love is a smart and wry attack on the cult of celebrity and the ever present tall poppy syndrome - something I think Deschanel knows all too well. I've Got Your Number Son is a bouncy warning not to try any bullshit on the narrator. Somebody Sweet To Talk To is a pretty little gem which is like whispered proclamations with a swinging chorus. The cover of Blondie's Sunday Girl is some great icing on a fantastic cake. 

2. Charles Bradley - Victim Of Love

The first time I heard Strictly Reserved For You, I was blown away. Blown away by the authentic soul of the song and by Charles Bradley's voice. I went right out and got all the Bradley I could - which turned out to be two albums and a documentary. Charles Bradley was a James Brown impersonator who was virtually homeless until the release of his solo debut in 2011. This year's release Victim Of Love contains the aforementioned Strictly Reserved For You, the pleading Victim Of Love, the very funky Hurricane and the instrumental Dusty Blue featuring members of the Dap Kings. The whole LP is right at home at Daptone Records who have a host of other Funk and Soul acts such as Sharon Jones, the Menahan Street Band and The Sugarman 3. This is music for what ails you.

1. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

Southeastern could have made my number 1 spot on the strength of Elephant alone. That track is the most raw and immediate window into the final stages of terminal illness that I have ever heard sung to a guitar. Every other song on the album is just as honest and real. Jason Isbell is becoming one of the great all-time songwriters in a genre known for songs that aren't throwaway. Songs That She Sang In the Shower tells the tale of lost love and the way that music becomes inextricably entwined with people and situations. Relatively Easy is a cautionary tale about being grateful for our first world privilege. New South Wales takes a stab at the kind of things travelling musicians hate on the road (the price of cocaine and the bad tequila) in the Australian state, but pays homage to the landscape as the best place ever to 'sit and think'. Every song is a story of pure poetry and Jason Isbell's finest hour in a career full of fantastic songs from Outfit to Cigarettes and Wine.

Filling out my Top 20 were:

• Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight,
  The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
• Paul McCartney - New 
• Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth 
• Local Natives - Hummingbird
• Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park
• Nick Cave - Push the Sky Away
• Elvis Costello & The Roots  Wise Up Ghosts
• Justin Rutledge - Valleyheart
• Telekinesis - Dormarion
• Mavis Staples - One True Vine

2013 Mixtape Track List  

Charles Bradley - Strictly Reserved For You
Josh Rouse - A Lot Like Magic

Pearl Jam - Mind Your Manners
Iggy & the Stooges - Job
David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight)
The National - Pink Rabbits
Daft Punk - Give Life Back To Music
Camera Obscura - I Missed Your Party
She & Him - I've Got Your Number Son
Jason Isbell - New South Wales

Get the Mixtape

Buon Natale. ¡Feliz Navidad. Frohe Weihnachten. С Рождеством. Merīkurisumasu. Maligayang Pasko. Joyeux Noël, Vrolijk kerstfeest

Be excellent to each other on the holidays. As always and forever: hasala malakim brothers and sisters. 

Fade a Bronzed Familia (October 21st - 25th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Bit of a late one this week, because the day just got away from me. I've been out with the fam into town at MYRE and the markets, plus the usual Saturday grocery run and then swimming so I'm only just sitting down. Better get into it then hey?

Besides the second disc of the Essential Bill Withers, there's a David Wilcox LP and some LCD Soundsystem. A few new ones make the list this week, with Best Coast's new EP, the soundtrack to a Spanish film from Josh Rouse and the enticingly titled (for me) Jazz Hop from Gas-Lab and Traum Diggs. Also new, kind of, is the 2013 mix of Nirvana's brilliant In Utero. Slotting in nicely with the noise of Nirvana, there's Dom and Sonic Youth. Finally, just a bit of Missy Elliott along for the ride.   

Check it out:

• Bill Withers - The Essential Bill Withers (Disc 2)
• Dom - Sun Bronzed Greek Gods
• Josh Rouse - La Gran Familia Española OST
• Gas-Lab & Traum Diggs - Jazz Hop
• David Wilcox - Home Again
• Sonic Youth - Goo
• Best Coast - Fade Away EP
• Nirvana - In Utero (2013 Mix)
• LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
• Missy Elliott - This Is Not A Test

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Ryan Adams
2. Soul Asylum
3. Pearl Jam
4. Devo
5. LL Cool J

Song of the Week : Wilco - My Darling

When my Brother in Law and Sister in Law had their first child, I made them a video using the footage I’d taken on our hospital visit and this song. At the time, Mrs CoreyJ and I didn't quite have children on the radar. When we did have our first, I used a different song than the one I used for her cousin because I didn't want them to be the same. I've always been bummed about that, because this is such a beautifully simple song and it just says so much with very little. If I’d used something else for my niece, I definitely would have snatched this one up for Miss 7. 

I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with it. It’s got that rickety honky tonk piano in the intro and throughout. The acoustic guitar strumming beneath is steady and plain, while the drums and the backing vocals are what ramps it up a little. What the lyrics are saying is universal, I think. Go to sleep, I’ll take care of everything, don’t grow up too fast, your parents love you and each other, we’re a family. It’s all so cheesy and yet isn't  because it’s a universal truth.

I’d really love to hear a remix with just that piano and Tweedy, because it would be a completely different song. I’d still want to have the original to listen to, but I would love to hear a different form. Garage band, get on it!    

Bye
No point waffling on then, I'm already late. I have to go prepare some tapas soon from a bunch of stuff we bought while out and about. I do believe it will go well with a beer and all. 

The best of the weekend to you and yours. Hasala malakim.

Like The Very Easy Dawn (October 14th - 18th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Just back from a charity breakfast with the Wilderness Society and a spot of shopping. Last week's relaxing day at the supermarket was more than made up for by the mad rush that was today. Ah well, the Universe is in balance now I guess. 

Speaking of balance, I'm not sure if I got this list right, but I'll give it a go. I've been meaning to stick Brother Ali's Us on again for a while and finally have. The same goes for Easy Tiger and Dressed Up Like Nebraska which I haven't heard in some time. A recent purchase from Soul Asylum gets a gig, as does the latest from Pearl Jam. For a bit of a crazy interlude, there's Devo and Pink Floyd. Another volume of Street Sounds Hip Hop is here and I've got some early Justin Townes Earle. Finally, disc one of a two disc set of the Essential Bill Withers will make for some nice soul. 

Check it out:

• Bill Withers - The Essential Bill Withers (Disc 1)
• Brother Ali - Us
• Josh Rouse - Dressed Up Like Nebraska
• Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
• Pink Floyd - The Piper At The Gates of Dawn
• Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
• Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt
• Soul Asylum - Playlist: The Very Best of Soul Asylum
• VA - Street Sounds Hip Hop 17
• Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. The Lemonheads
2. Justin Townes Earle
3. The Breeders
4. Slackwax
5. Pulp

Song of the Week : The Head and the Heart - Another Story

I had a song picked out on Tuesday and then one turned up yesterday and took its place. This is from the new The Head and the Heart album, which I streamed yesterday. I have their self-titled album (which I think is their first) and it’s far more upbeat and poppy than this song, as is the rest of this new album. This song, Another Story is introspective with a quietly beautiful melody. 

The way I interpret this song is it’s about tragedy and the way people respond to it. Not necessarily personal tragedy, but the abstract, ‘out there’ tragic stories of the day. A car bomb, a neglected child, plane crashes and the like. It’s about how we hear these things, we feel like everything has gone to hell, and then we quickly suck it up and go on. It also puts forth that nothing will change – not the propensity for tragedy to happen and not the fact that there’s also love in the world.  In the Soundcloud app I was streaming from, someone commented that it was about the Sandy Hook shootings. I don’t know if that’s true, but it makes sense. I think if it is true, it’s about Sandy Hook as part of a bigger metaphor for big tragedies. 

There’s a video on YouTube that I found and which sold me on this track as SOTW. Firstly because of the landscape and urban images in it and secondly because the lyrics are all over it, which helps highlight their importance. You can watch that here if you like

Farvel

We've decided to break the year long seal on the barbecue tonight and cook up a sizzle with some salad. Looks like it might be too cold to eat it outside yet though. 

And I've just realised you could care less what I have for dinner tonight. Just make with the music monkey man. Nah, just kidding, you're alright. 

Hasala malakim.

Yep Bowie Surreal Indeed (March 11th - 15th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Have you voted Western Australians? I was seriously contemplating not going to the polling booth and just paying the whopping $20 fine because a) I'm disillusioned with the state of State politics and b) don't nobody got time for that! But I did go; and thanks to the new "voting card" I was straight in and straight out. I actually didn't know too much about the independent candidates, but as I always do, I started with Family First last and worked my way to the top. 

Music-wise there's a whole stack of new stuff this week. First of all I have two free samplers from Yep Roc and Paste (their SXSW sampler). The other new albums come from diverse corners - there's folky hipster Josh Rouse; dead set legend David Bowie with a brand new classic; alt country heroes Son Volt and Thurston Moore's new band Chelsea Light Moving. For some hip hop I grabbed the John Legend and The Roots LP I haven't heard since I loved it in 2010 and an old favourite from Surreal & the Sound Providers. The Lemonheads get a guernsey and finally, so does Kathleen Edwards; both with favourites of mine. 

Check it out:

• VA - Explore Yep Roc Records
• Josh Rouse - The Happiness Waltz
• David Bowie - The Next Day
• Chelsea Light Moving - Chelsea Light Moving
• The Lemonheads - Car Button Cloth
• Kathleen Edwards - Back To Me
• Surreal & The Sound Providers - True Indeed
• John Legend and The Roots - Wake Up!
• Son Volt - Honky Tonk
  
• VA - HGTV/Paste SXSW 2013 Sampler

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Steve Miller Band
2. Bilal
3. The Pretenders
4. Ben Folds
5. Lou Reed

Song of the Week : Cold Chisel - Flame Trees

For my song of the week, my apologies that is so far out of left field, but it’s a track that only occurred to me on the way in this morning. 

The smart playlist I've made for the journey in picked Sara Blasko covering Flame Trees. Listening to it, I couldn't stop myself from hearing Chisel's original in my head. It made me realise that Flame Trees is a truly great song. I mean it. Really, really great. I think we disrespect it a lot for the bogan and ocker culture that has built up around it, but it is tremendous songwriting and probably the greatest vocal performance Barnes ever put down on tape. 

The suburban melodrama of the old home town pub and the footy mates and their reminiscing; plugged together with the domestic tragedy of a broken marriage puts the lyrics in the realm of workaday poetry. The grief in the song is given an extra injection of poignancy because it was Chisel's last mainstream hit (before the 'comeback' in the 90s). You take a part of the natural landscape, the flame tree, and you give that song a place; the feel of the open bush road and you make it uniquely small town Australia. The impassioned pleading in Jimmy’s vocal is not far off of Soul music and then he pushes it all aside with the broken down line of “who needs that sentimental bullshit, anyway?” 

As a nation, in general, Australia loves this song; and like a lot of the things we love collectively, we infuse it with a little bit of embarrassment and self-deprecation. Cultural cringe if you will. Not me. Not anymore. I've promised myself I will chase down the Tab for this on the weekend and give it a bash. I hope that my neighbours hear me and start swaying with their lighters in the air.

Cheerio

So, that's it, that's all, that's all there is. Have a cracking weekend and if you're a Perthie, may your guy win the election. Unless it's not my guy. Then, to hell with your guy. 

Hasala malakim.

Essential Post Country Hysteria (October 22nd - 26th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Pushed for time again this week. Still sorting out the computers - swapping hard drives, backing up files and what-not. So I won't waste any more time and instead jump both feet into the music. 

Thanks to @BreeMateljan, I'm visiting a friend I haven't seen since high school - Def Leppard! Another old friend, like a comfy blanket is Geffen Rarities (if you don't own this, you probably didn't live through Grunge). I sense a theme here, because another album that doesn't get any Work Tunes love is here, The Calling.  I went old school with my other rap choice and grabbed some Bam. I have some Bjork and some Josh Rouse. I had to slip on disc 2 from Triple J Vol. 13. For a bit of twang there's Son Volt. Also here I picked out a Hall & Oates compilation. And finally, my Sonic Youth addiction is taking over my life and I am not ashamed to admit I don't want to be saved - here's Rather Ripped.

Check it out:

• Def Leppard - Hysteria
• Son Volt - The Search
• VA - Geffen Rarities Vol. 1
• Josh Rouse - Country Mouse, City House
• Bjork - Post
• VA - Triple J's Hottest 100 13 (Disc Two)
• Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
• Hall & Oates - The Essential Hall & Oates
• Hilltop Hoods - The Calling
• Afrika Bambaataa - Looking for the Perfect Beat

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Brand Nubian
2. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
3. Dr. Dre
4. Nirvana
5. The National

Song of the Week : Dire Straits - Romeo & Juliet

This week’s song was inspired by the always enjoyable #Clay5 lists. In particular, the favourite Dire Straits song list. Mine is and forever shall be Romeo & Juliet; by a very, very long margin from Money For Nothing.

What I just can’t resist about this song is that million dollar riff and the production on it’s sound. You can hear the strings being fondled like Knopfler is warming up in your headphones. Plus, when the song really picks up, the drums just sound so good. 

Besides that, there’s the pure romance of “You and me babe, how about it?” What lady could resist that charm?!

Love, love, love this song. 

Adieu

Thanks for stopping by. I must be off to go and sort out my HDD and my codecs and all the other things that didn't cause us an ounce of hassle not 20 years ago.

Adieu. Hasala malakim.

Hardcore Haunted Jazz House (August 13th - 17th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

A momentous week this week with Miss 5 becoming Miss 6. She got to chose her birthday dinner and picked Dominos pizza including (her first) delivery. She seemed ok with the results but I could tell she was a little confused, being used to her Mum's homemade gourmets on stones from the bbq or at the very least woodfired from Blend down the road. 

But enough about cheese and dough and tasty, tasty bacon, you came for the music not food. What's on the menu this week? Lashings of American Hardcore punk; a second helping of both Trainspotting and Elton John; there's a cheeky new jus of Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti; the ever faithful Concrete Blonde debut features along with the familiar flavours of Josh Rouse; you'll find hints of Ornette Coleman, with a slab of AC/DC to drink, all topped off with a cleansing dollop of Brand Nubian and De La Soul for dessert. 

Check it out:

• VA - American Hardcore
• VA - Trainspotting OST (Disc 2)
• Elton John - Greatest Hits (Disc 2)
• Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
• Concrete Blonde - Concrete Blonde
• Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come
• Josh Rouse - Country Mouse, City House
• Brand Nubian - One For All
• AC/DC - Back In Black
• De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Elton John
2. Babes In Toyland
3. Big Star
4. Jay-Z
5. Neko Case

Song of the Week : AC/DC - Thunderstruck

This week's SOTW, believe it or not, is AC/DC - Thunderstruck. I know, I know, I'm so little of an Ackadacka fan that I copped an arse-whoopin' at high school for giving Who Made Who a bad review in the school paper. But like I said even then, Back In Black is great stuff! 

The story behind my choice is just that someone at work on thursday mentioned one of those SS thunder ute things, another guy starts singing the song and we've all got it stuck in our head. So he wants me to find him a copy to listen to and get it *out* of his head. I didn't have a copy, so I chased down a link on Grooveshark and I listened to it too. 

That relentless riff of squeally tapping, the chant aaaahahahahahahahaah! This song is the big dumb action movie of rock and roll - it's big, dumb and fun. In fact, I'm pretty sure it has appeared in several BDAMs by now. 

So crank this, enjoy it for what it is - sweaty, simple and honest hard rock from Straya.

Seeya

Thanks for stopping by. If you're in Perth, get outside before the rain comes because it is glorious yet again. We're just back from the beach and everything was magnificently smooth and clear. I was hoping for more of a stormy driftwood kind of a vibe, but it's actually quite warm. 

Until next week, be good to each other. Go Eagles. Hasala malakim.

Good Handwritten Passion Anthems (July 23rd - 27th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Not a lot to report this week. It was a big week at work with important presentations to be made and what have you. Oh and performance reviews (dun dun DUN!) Last weekend was the end of Rev and I managed to see Surviving Progress and finish it up with the locally produced Buff (congrats to Director, Gavin Bond on a really funny little documentary). That's about the whole week, so i suppose it's on with the music.


It's mostly new stuff this week. There's the solo effort from Angus Stone thanks to a workmate who hooked me up; I have some new rap from Nas and Public Enemy; American Songwriter put out a sampler for July and that is here; the latest from Passion Pit, Gaslight Anthem and Anaïs Mitchell are here; an old favourite from Josh Rouse; and finally there's the second disc of Neil Young - Decade and the best of Stevie Nicks.

Check it out:

• Josh Rouse - Nashville
• Angus Stone - Broken Brights
• Nas - Life Is Good
• Public Enemy - Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear On No Stamp
• VA - American Songwriter Muse July Sampler
• Stevie Nicks - Timespace - The Best of Stevie Nicks
• Neil Young - Decade (Disc Two)
• Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
• Anaïs Mitchell - Young Man In America
• Passion Pit - Gossamer

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Augie March
2. Neil Young
3. Ben Lee
4. Split Enz
5. JEFF the Brotherhood

Song of the Week :Wilco - Impossible Germany

This week's song is Impossible Germany from Wilco. I know, another Wilco track Corey, how novel. But this is one of those weeks where it couldn't have been anything else. 


Yesterday I finally managed to watch the DVD that came with my copy of Sky Blue Sky. Before a live in a lounge room performance of the song, Tweedy explained what it was about. It's about where you think you might be on the day you wake up out of denial and decide you have to fix what's wrong. For Tweedy of course, that was drugs. 


What I like most about this song is the extended instrumental break that closes it. In particular I like the solo which starts off so sweet and mellow and degenerates into metallic noise. Given the stated subject matter of the song, you could see the ending as representative of the journey of drug addiction; with the initial bliss of the drug at the beginning which takes a dive into nightmare by the end. 


Some comedian who I can never remember once said of Wilco something like 'Tweedy has deep and sensitive emotions that he tries to express through soft and gentle songs, but it's no good because someone always comes along and plays a solo with a chainsaw'. I think maybe they were listening to Impossible Germany when they wrote that. 

Bye Bye 

There's your tunes for another working week. Hopefully something sparks your interest and sets you on a new musical journey. Or not. Be excellent to each other. Peace be with you and all that good stuff.


Go Eagles. Hasala malakim.

Nasty Suburban Sea Songs (May 14th - 18th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


First up, I have to say I am still smarting from the passing of MCA. This week's Song of the Week was a special tribute edition and you'll see later on that it's quite long. It isn't just the tragedy of losing a great artist either, it's awful to see a man taken from his family and friends at such a young age. I am listening to To The 5 Burroughs and Hello Nasty this week to continue to pay respect and enjoy the music.


Besides the two Beastie LPs, I've grabbed my favourite Josh Rouse; there's the latest effort from Best Coast; Neutral Milk Hotel I am checking out thanks to Parks and Recs; I bought a bonus EP copy of Hand It Over on the weekend, so that's here; Australia's own Bob Evans makes an appearance; Suzanne Vega has been sounding great in the wetter weather; U2s monumental live album is along for the ride and finally a Bloodshot Records compilation. 


Check it out:

• Josh Rouse - 1972
• U2 - Rattle and Hum
• VA - Down to the Promised Land : 5 Years of Bloodshot
• Bob Evans - Suburban Songbook
• Best Coast - The Only Place
• Beastie Boys - To The 5 Burroughs
• Dinosaur Jr - Hand It Over (w/Bonus EP)
• Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty
• Suzanne Vega - Songs in Red and Grey
• Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Beastie Boys
2. Sonic Youth
3. 2Pac
4. The Lemonheads
5. Nirvana

Song of the Week : Beastie Boys - Right Right Now Now

The first time I saw the Beastie Boys was the film clip to Fight For Your Right. Being 14 / 15 at the time, these three brats from NYC talking about smoking and drinking and porno were the three coolest guys on the planet. (Side Note: I don’t know if you know or remember this, but kids actually used to steal VW emblems to hang around their neck like Mike D. I never did, but I remember trawling the streets of Koongamia looking for a Beetle to gank one off).


Part one of my multimedia tribute is the video on my tumblr (www.coreyj.tumblr.com) of an unaired live performance on Chappelle’s Show. This is how they were when I found them; raucous, NYC, precocious and wild. Part of them stayed exactly like that even as they matured.


After I saw the film clip for Fight, I immediately took some money from my Kmart job and bought the 45 of the song.  On the other side was Paul Revere. It was that song that for me established MCA as the “bad ass” of the three. Ad Rock was always the whiny brat and Mike D the smooth ladies man. MCA always came across as the tough guy, and that sort of has always carried on.

That’s why I chose Right Right Now Now from The 5 Burroughs as my SOTW. I think 5 Burroughs is unfairly underrated by even big Beasties fans. I have always loved it. This song shows beautifully how MCA was the counterpoint to the old school Beastie brattiness. As Simon pointed out, they still had fun while they spoke on important topics. Have a look at some of the exchanges of lyrics across the song:


Ad Rock:  With the sound delight we rock all night / And yes we're gonna party for the right to fight
MCA: What we do now is future moulding / Columbine bowling, childhood stolen / We need a bit more gun controlling


Mike D: I'm not here to fight, or incite  / I'm like the beach in the Bahamas make you feel alright 
MCA: I'm getting kind of tired of the situation / The US attacking other nations


When I watched Awesome! I F%#^n’ Shot That last night and saw them play as a live band, instruments and all, it drove home just how far they’d evolved from the hardcore punk band who wanted to be terrible at playing, through their rap pioneering and onto being accomplished instrumentalists as well as highly respected rappers. The band, the culture and the world will never be the same without MCA. It was a sad, sad day when we lost him.


Woah, long one. Sorry about that. But I think you know how I’ve dragged the Beastie Boys around with me like a security blanket from the age of 14; a constant touchstone to that part of my personality and culture. I sure am going to miss them – because I don’t think there’ll be any more output from the other two as a group. Hopefully there’ll be some lost tapes or something with MCA as star.

Nnnnnddroooop!

TTFN brothers and sisters. May your whole week be charged with new music and old favourites. If you're going out, play safe. Happy Mothers Day if you're a Mum in Australia. 


Go Eagles! (no chance) Hasala malakim.

Playlist : November 7th - 11th, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Well the week is over again and guess what your boy did? Only put $20 at 35 to 1 on the horse that came SECOND in the Melbourne Cup by the smallest margin in Cup history. Mugs. Game.

For the next week at work I'll be listening to a mix of old favourites from Josh Rouse, Wilco and Pink Floyd, some new tunes from Deer Tick and Veronica Falls and a few compilations; one being an 80s compilation I recently found on vinyl, another an Achtung Baby tribute and the third a brilliant old skool mixtape from Brooklyn Radio.

Check it out:

• Deer Tick - Divine Providence
• VA - Ahk-Toong Bay-BI Covered
• Josh Rouse - Subtitulo
• Wilco - Being There
• VA - Rocktrip '82
• The Three Sounds - Vibrations
• People Under the Stairs - Highlighter
• Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls
• Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds
• VA - Rubradio 1986 Mixtape

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Bob Dylan
   
2. Funkoars
3. Nightmares On Wax
4. Kool & The Gang
5. The Breeders

Song of the Week : Veronica Falls - Bad Feeling

I don’t know anything about Veronica Falls. I don’t know if that’s the solo artist’s name or a band. This song Bad Feeling was on the Spin Magazine playlist for November. You can still pick it up for free with a US iTunes account from http://www.spin.com/itunes What I do know is there is something I like about the track and the sound.

It calls up some early 80s UK post punk in a way, mixed with the indie pop that came later in the 80s. It’s a little bit Smiths, a little bit Joy Division. It’s a swirling wall of reverb and a steady hammered drum beat with female vocals. See what you think.

Farewell

Farewell sounds so final and morbid, doesn't it? I wonder why? At any rate, it's not farewell for good, just for now. I'll be back here next week listing out my listening for the 3 of you who are reading (Hiya!).

Until then, be excellent to each other, don't sweat the small stuff and all the rest of those snappy little clichés that you read and then roll your eyes at. Really, just do what you do with respect for others.

Hasala malakim.