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.

Cold Elephant Alligator Illusion (March 18th - 22nd)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Well, not having learned my lesson from doing my knee to One Direction on the Kinect last week, I have just returned from town where I bought the Michael Jackson Experience. Obviously I am already an expert moonwalker, but I am looking forward to learning the entire Thriller routine. Look for me in flash mobs near you soon (as long as you live in 2010). 

Anyway... This week I have reached for a couple of old favourites. First there's The National with the one album of theirs I haven't flogged to death. Then we have Green Day's Dookie - a staple for any 90s Discman. Then there's The White Stripes - a Noughties iPod staple. After seeing the excellent Searching For Sugar Man documentary recently, Rodriguez is here. Another selection thanks to @Clay5 is the first volume of Use Your Illusion. Volume 2 will get a go next week. I finally got hold of The Raincoats, so that is here along with Black Prairie and Jurassic 5. Two compilations this week; one the soundtrack to Dave Grohl's Sound City doco and the other a sampler of a larger box set called Say It Loud! Black Music in America.

Check it out:

• The National - Alligator
• VA - Sound City : Real to Reel
• Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusion 1
• Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers
• Rodriguez - Cold Fact
• The White Stripes - Elephant
• The Raincoats - The Raincoats
• Black Prairie - A Tear in the Eye Is a Wound In The Heart
• Green Day - Dookie
  
• VA - Say It Loud! Black Music In America

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Josh Rouse
2. The Lemonheads
3. Son Volt
4. David Bowie
5. Chelsea Light Moving

Song of the Week : Chelsea Light Moving - Groovy & Linda

In the past, I think I've made my pro-Sonic Youth agenda pretty clear. The band is on hiatus (for retooling?) at the moment, but Thurston has a new side project - Chelsea Light Moving. 

Something to love or loathe about Thurston Moore in equal measure is that he has never grown up. He's really a bit of a brat when you take the music into account. This album is no different. While I could have chosen the song Lip which is just a tantrum with the refrain "too fucking bad!" to illustrate my point, I've gone with Groovy & Linda because it's a better song. 

I like the album and it’s good to have what is basically just new Sonic Youth material missing Kim and adding instead an edge of old Metallica style metal bass and rhythm guitar. This song is exactly like that. 

Adieu

See anything you don't know this week? Check it out and maybe it will lead to something else and something else and something else and soon you'll become as roped into buying music all the time as I am. MWOOOHAHAHAHA! 

Ahem. Hasala malakim.

Waiting for Hummingbird Power (February 4th - 8th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

I trust you had an unforgettable long weekend just gone if you're an Australian, or just an amazing regular length one if you're not. Last week at work was again flat stick. I don't think I paid my playlist selections the attention they deserved. I'll try to make up for that this week, even though I'm sure to be even busier again.

What I've got to listen to is disc 2 of Gil Scott-Heron and Freedom, Rhythm and Sound. I have a Dylan masterpiece and a Pearl Jam also-ran, because it's been ages since I heard either. There's new stuff from Jose James and Veronica Falls, as well as old favourites Jenny & Johnny. I've got the Local Natives album everyone's been raving about and up to bat for Hip Hop this week is a Jurassic 5 album and the hotly anticipated (by me) 2013 Golden Era Mixtape. 

Check it out:

• Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Begins (Disc 2)
• VA - Freedom Rhythm & Sound Revolutionary Jazz 1963-82 (Disc 2)
• Veronica Falls - Waiting For Something To Happen
• Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
• Local Natives - Hummingbird
• Jose James - No Beginning, No End
• Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now
• VA - Golden Era Mixtape 2013
• Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers
• Pearl Jam - No Code

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Tori Amos
2. Gil Scott-Heron
3. Q-Tip
4. Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs
5. California X

Song of the Week : Jesse Malin - Brooklyn

This SOTW is hard to choose because I’ve been so overwhelmed with work I have barely heard what I’ve been listening to. What I’ll do is select one of my favourite tracks from an album that just happened to be on my playlist this week; one I know I haven’t used before. 

Jesse Malin is a Ryan Adams produced act and you probably know that. I actually discovered Malin and Ryan about the same time through that Uncut compilation that introduced me to Come Pick me Up. This song was also on there – Brooklyn. It’s about the inner city living of a struggling artist and the tol the city took on his relationship, to the point where she moved from their Manhattan place to the relatively calmer burg of Brookyln.  

The bridge on this song is one of the best things about it. It’s such a stand in line for 20-something artistic/professional ennui 

“I sometimes lie awake until sunrise / Wondering have we become what we despise”

Au Revoir

I'm between outings at the moment, with a spot of shopping this morning and a jaunt to the West Coast Eagles Fan Day on the cards now. My brainwashing program for my daughters is almost complete mwoohahahaha! 

Have fun and stay safe people. Be excellent to each other, always.

Hasala malakim.

Playlist : November 1st - 5th, 2010

I've gone a bit heavier than usual on the compilations this week. There's also an 80s vibe as well as some classic Beatles and the usual Skip Hop.

The soundtrack of my life for the next week will be;

• VA - KCRW Summer Mix : Another excellent and free compilation from the outstanding San Franciscan radio station that gave us Rare On Air and Sessions at West 54th Street. This mix features Eels, Moby, Iron & Wine, Sonic Youth and a stack of lesser known indie artists.

• VA - Hitwave '81 : Whatever happened to the kind of awesome compilation tapes we had in the 80s? The most recent compilation I can recall was sponsored by Mentos or something, Not to mention the featured artists were not a patch on Adam & the Ants, Visage, Split Enz, Elton John and Men At Work. Plus, this has Loverboy - Turn Me Loose \m/

• Ryan Adams - 29 : The last of Grizzly's 2005 output and the one he didn't put the Cardinals on. I remember on first listen of this, @sunky and I, who'd both been awaiting it's release impatiently, were convinced Ryan Adams was going to be a suicide within the year. With lines like "Can you still have any famous last words if you're somebody nobody knows" and the cover art showing Death approaching what looks a little like the house on Ryan's Freightwhaler Sessions bootleg, can you blame us?

• The Beatles - Rubber Soul : I bought this album on vinyl at the Melville markets last weekend for $10. Ten dollars. Bargain. There are some classic tracks on Rubber Soul, one of the LPs considered part of The Beatles' psychedelic output. As well a Drive My Car, there's Michelle, Norwegian Wood and Nowhere Man. All good to have on vinyl.

• VA - Soundtrack - Singles : I have been away from the brilliance that was the early to mid 90s lately. When they were new, this soundtrack and the movie were frequent places to visit for me. If you haven't seen the film, you're not missing too much, but its well worth it to see Eddy Vedder acting along side Matt Dillon.

• Flowers - Icehouse : Yes, that's the right way around. Iva Davies' band Icehouse was originally called Flowers and they changed their name based on the name of this LP. Two Icehouse tracks everyone knows appear on this album; We Can Get Together and Can't Help Myself.

• The Herd - An Elefant Never Forgets : A bit disillusioned with the more xenophobic elements of our online community lately, I have listened to the brilliant 77% a lot in the car. While the rest of this album doesn't come close to the vitriol that Ozi Batla spits in that track, it's overall a decent listen. "Wake up! This country needs a fuckin' shake up."

• Jurassic 5 - Quality Control : I've had this album for quite some time now and probably only heard it twice in total. Given I'm usually hearing the Jurassic's as part of the Dino 5 children's compilation I bought Miss 4, its only right that I give their main work a fair go.

• Kathleen Edwards - Failer : The very first time I heard Kathleen Edwards was an Uncut magazine compilation. That was a song called 12 Bellevue which appears on this album. I'm grateful to Uncut for the introduction, because other songs on this album are even better (Hockey Skates and One More Song The Radio Won't Like). Plus, Old Time Sake from the Back To Me LP is in coreyj's Hottest 100.

• VA - Uncut - Only Love Can Break Your Heart : And here is that Uncut compilation that introduced me to Kathleen Edwards, as well as Jesse Malin and Tim Easton. Malin's fantastic tale of hipster ennui, Brooklyn, is another of my 100 favourite songs. Tim Easton's Watching the Lightning was once a Song of the Week and I am convinced it is about Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain. Find a copy and let me know what you think.

That's another list done and dusted. I'm looking forward to bunkering down inside my headphones with a ton of editing and review to do next week.

Stay golden, Ponyboy.