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.

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.

Top 10 Albums of 2012

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

You might have noticed there was no Work Tunes last week. That's because I was saving the surprise of my Top 10 Albums of 2012. My top 10 list has been my weekly soundtrack this week. 

The albums I've selected are not necessarily the same ones that would make my critical top 10 list. These are my favourite albums this year, the ones I have especially enjoyed listening to. The one that I have continued to play all year whenever the mood strikes. These are my top 10.

I've written a few words on each of them and listed them in reverse order - just for the suspense* (*suspense may not be actual). At the end of the list, you'll find the next ten albums in my top 20 and finally a mixtape of one song from each top 10 selection.

Check it out:

10. Paul Kelly - Spring and Fall

This year's release is among Mr Paul (poet and living legend) Kelly's best in a while. Spring and Fall is the sound of a man growing old and weary but comfortable in his own skin. As 'over the hill' as the narrator of every song is, he's still obsessed by the universal themes of love and sex and death. By the end of the album with Little Aches and Pains, we hear a man expressing how the heart is willing but the flesh is weak. At the Stories of Me event, PK told us that the song was written because he and his siblings have a rule that they can only talk for 5 minutes about their medical complaints when they meet up, or else they talk of nothing else. I am really glad to hear yet another great Paul Kelly album.

9. The Bamboos - Medicine Man

This is the first spot I had to think really hard about filling and I wrote this list from top to bottom. A few albums have slipped into the lower half of my top 20 to make way for this. In the end I had to include it on the strength of the Tim Rogers collaboration alone. Plus, it is so good to see Australians putting out this kind of soulful rock music. I think if it was a US release, it would make a lot of international Top 10 lists.

8. Beth Orton - Sugaring Season

As an Orton fan since Sunky hipped me to her, I was eager to hear the new album. It has been a while between drinks for the "tall glass of water" (as she is referenced in Ryan Adams' English Girls Approximately). Worth the wait. Sugaring Season seems a lot more organic than previous efforts; meaning not as electronic - though I know there are plenty of keys in it. BO has managed to weave her distinctive voice through some very smooth piano and string lines. There's a bit of sadness in the lyric content, but it doesn't get too morbid. 

7. Seapony - Falling

What can I say about Seapony? I loved their 2011 debut Go With Me, so I jumped at the next release. The two sound very similar, in that there is a sound that is distinctly Seapony. I hear it as a loud punk band playing behind a shiny piece of not-quite-soundproof glass. All the edge is taken off the crunch and fuzz and you get this dreamy kind of hum. I suppose that's why it's referred to as Dream Pop. It's good, anyway.

6. First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

Emmylou was all it took to get me to buy this album. The harmonies, the reference to country's veteran royal couples, the sweet, sweet melody. I was blown away when I found out these girls were Swedish. They sound like mountain folk - and I suppose they are, just Scandinavian and not Appalachian. There's other great tracks on the album too though and they are all as Americana as the one that got my attention.  

5. The XX - Coexist

When I first heard The XX with VCR, I expected more catchy pop tunes with a decidedly electronic backing. Listening to the whole album showed they were a little less shallow than they probably seemed at first. With Coexist, they've added a large ambient string to their bow and made a coherently whole album that sets a mood. Every song on it seems to have this ominous undertone like it’s the end of the world in a dance song – very fitting in these 2012 times, no?. I think it's just the keys, but whatever it is, it works and it definitely maintains a singular mood. I like it a lot.

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

Besides the unwieldy title, this is a very good release from JTE. I only discovered the man and his music with 2010's Harlem River Blues but have since acquainted myself with the back catalogue. This LP is as soul-searching and redemptive as Harlem, but it doesn't hide the sadness behind catchy jigs. Where Harlem was a bit of a romp, NGCTWYFAMN is subdued and lonely. Songs like Unfortunately Anna and Won't Be The Last Time sound like late night confessions and cries for help. He still puts a stomp in proceedings a little with Look The Other Way, but even that is a song about how his mother never recognises the good things he does, and only focuses on the many negatives. It seems that JTE is getting better with each release. Early stuff had a couple of good tracks, maybe one great one in Midnight at the Movies; while Harlem River Blues was outstanding and this album is superb in its own right. 

3. Best Coast - The Only Place

When The Only Place was released, I read a lot of good press, but just as many complaints by fans of their debut Crazy For You. The argument was that it was more of the same and that the repetitive choruses were now annoying. I'm of the opinion that this album is not more of the same, because the production of it and the ability of the band's lyricist and lead singer has exploded in a great way. Besides the deeper polish on the sound which gives it a 50s/60s feel, Bethany Constantino has developed a real voice. No longer the whiny LA surfy chick, she sounds more like Patsy Cline or Connie Francis on songs like Up All Night and How They Want Me To Be. This is a deserved Top 3 choice and I really should have bought the vinyl instead of the CD, but i cheaped out on the shipping. Silly me. Now I have to buy both anyway.

2. Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky

I'm probably a little biased here, because there isn't much I don't like from Dinosaur Jr. But I thought I Bet On Sky was better than Farm (2009), which I also enjoyed. What I prefer about Sky is the low end thump has been taken out of the sound, so it sounds less like Metallica and more like J Mascis lazily humming over a lovely warm and fuzzy guitar. So okay, maybe it all just sounded more like the 90s and I am a sucker for Slacker nostalgia. Whatevs. I really liked this album.

1. Hilltop Hoods - Drinking From the Sun

No surprises that probably one of the strongest releases from one of my favourite groups would make my Top 10 list. For me, Hilltop Hoods haven't put a foot wrong since The Calling. Since that breakthrough, they have been the undisputed high watermark in Australian Hip Hop, no argument. For me, the highlights on Drinking From the Sun are the massively hooky I Love It and The Underground; the out-of-left-field rapid fire rhythmic rhyming scheme of Rattling The Keys to the Kingdom, the awesome Joe Pesci sample in the Good For Nothing hook and the inclusive politics of Speaking In Tongues. 

Filling out my Top 20 were:

• Jack White - Blunderbuss
• Beach House - Bloom
• Mumford & Sons - Babel
• Wild Nothing - Nocturne
• Brother Ali - Mourning in America, Dreaming In Color
• Melissa Etheridge - 4th Street Feeling
• Menahan Street Band - The Crossing
• The Walkmen - Heaven
• Nada Surf - The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy
• Band Of Horses - Mirage Rock

2012 Mixtape Tracklist  

The Bamboos - I Got Burned (feat. Tim Rogers)

Dinosaur Jr. - Don't Pretend You Didn't Know

Seapony - Prove To Me

Justin Townes Earle - Look The Other Way

First Aid Kit - Emmylou

Beth Orton - Dawn Chorus

The xx - Chained

Paul Kelly - Cold As Canada
Best Coast - Up All Night

Hilltop Hoods - I Love It

Get the Mixtape

And that's my whole year. I'm on leave until January 7, so no Work Tunes until then. If I get a spare moment, I might post a review over at Make Films Not Movies, but most likely I'll just be 'maxing and relaxing'.

Have a great silly season. Whatever you do, be careful on the roads but more importantly in the shops - I've been there a lot lately and it is chaos! 

As always and forever - hasala malakim brothers and sisters. 

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:

• VA - Triple J  Hip Hop Show (Disc 1)
• Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Master and Everyone
• Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
• Angie Hart - Eat My Shadow
• Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded
• Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
• Michael Jackson - The Motown Years (Disc 1)
• Paul Kelly - Under The Sun
• Pearl Jam - Lost Dogs
• Kiss - Unmasked

Top Five Artists Last Week

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.

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 : March 28th - April 1st, 2011

Hey there Work Tunes peeps. This week I have got a couple of new albums (Iraho and Go-Go Boots), an old favourite or two (Let Love In and Pretty In Pink OST), an album by a band I've been meaning to hear more of for a while (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and a recommendation from a trustworthy Twitter source (The Felice Brothers). What it all looks like together is something like this:

• Awesome Dre - Can't Hold Me Back
• Iraho - Iraho
• VA - Pretty in Pink OST
• Justin Townes Earle - Good Life
• The Felice Brothers - Tonight At The Arizona
• Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty
• Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots
• Nick Cave - Let Love In
• Steve Tannen - Stopped at a Green Light
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz

Top 5 Artists

1. De La Soul
2. Uncle Tupelo
3. Bright Eyes
4. Mr. Bungle
5. The Velvet Underground

Song of the Week : The Buggles - Astroboy (And the Proles on Parade)

I stumbled across this album last week and my first thought was “OMG they had a whole album?!” ‘They’ being The Buggles, he one-hit-wonder extraordinaires who wrote Video Killed The Radio Star.

The other tracks on the album are fairly diverse. Sometimes they sound a bit like Madness, others you think it’s The Cars, but generally nothing else sounds like Video (which I still maintain is a superb pop song).

I thought I’d make a track SOTW just so you could say you’ve heard more than one The Buggles song. I chose this one because it’s about Astroboy and he’s pretty mint.

Adios Amigos

That's it for now. I will try and narrow down the whole month's list to maybe 5 albums for a proper review later in the week. Until then, keep a good head and always carry a light bulb.

Playlist : Top 10 Albums of 2010

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

This week, I have chosen my Top 10 of 2010. This list is not necessarily of the 10 best albums released all year, it's just my personal favourites released all year. I also have to stress, this is not in any kind of preferential order. If I had to pick the best album of 2010 from a personal point of view, I'd say Wake Up! is it.

On top of the list, I've made a mixtape of one track from each of the albums. You'll find a link at the bottom of the post.

This year for me has been a good year for discovering new artists, thanks largely to NPR and KCRW and their excellent album preview features. A few of these new artists made it to the list. And here it is:

• The Weepies - Be My Thrill : Two years on from the album that got them some well deserved mainstream attention, Hideaway, The Weepies released something a little less weepy and a lot more cheery. While Be My Thrill contains a few sad, sweet tunes, the title track and the catchy I Was Made for Sunny Days are a large slice of sunshine. ****

• John Legend & the Roots - Wake Up! : When I heard Compared To What from this set for the first time, my jaw dropped. I was stunned that so much old-fashioned funk and soul was coming off a track from an album released in 2010. The other tracks on Wake Up! are in the same mold. This is probably my album of the year. *****

• Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue : I must admit I've never read a Nick Hornby novel, but I have seen the excellent film adaptions of High Fidelity and About A Boy. It's obvious that Hornby writes good everyday type people well. Combined with Ben Folds' uniquely suburban heart and pop sensibilities, this colaborative effort makes for good listening. ****

• Best Coast - Crazy For You : Released in July, which is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere where I am, this album sounds exactly like Summer. You can almost smell the coconut oil and the sea breeze mixed with the smoke from the late night bonfire at the beach party where romances are born and hearts are broken. This is joyfully rowdy pop music for the Sun. ****

• Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs - God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise : The fourth album from raspy-voiced country/folk songwriter Ray LaMontagne was the very first one I heard. The bluesy, sweet melody of New York City's Killing me had me instantly sold on LaMontagne's style; and the rest of old-time roots record does not disappoint. ****

• Aloe Blacc - Good Things : It was I Need a Dollar that made me want this album. Like Compared To What on the John Legend and the Rootrs LP, Dollar stunned me with true 60s/70s soul and the groove behind it that really makes it bounce. 2010 saw soul music fans like me given a little taste of what was still possible with the genre. ****

• Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues : Another artist who has been around for some time whom I only discovered this year. Harlem River Blues is a collection of tunes that lend a little from everywhere; including rockabilly, bluegrass, folk, alt-country, blues and rock. It's a well-rounded album with the standout title track, One More Night in Brooklyn and the heartbroken Rogers Park. *****

• The National - High Violet : For me at least, and for a good number of music publications, 2010 was The National's year. The massive success of 2008's Boxer and a busy touring schedule meant High Violet was much anticipated. Things got even more hyped with the release of a new The National track on the $1m raising charity compilation Dark Was the Night. Something of a hit single relatively speaking, Bloodbuzz Ohio ensured High Violet got to #3 on the US charts where Boxer had peaked at #68. *****

• Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here : Released early February of this year, I'm New Here ended a 13 year absence of new material from the man some would call a proto-rapper. This is an album about redemption, about finding a way through a new and not always welcoming world. After a long life of drug problems, incarceration and hard living, Heron seems to be contemplating what lies ahead and how it all ends. Here is music from the very soul of a man with a lot of soul. *****

• She & Him - Volume Two : The very digable Zooey Deschanaul and indie songwriter M.Ward released a collection of simple pop that sounded like the 50s run through a Doris Day film filter in 2009. That was Volume One and this is Volume Two, which is more of the same. Deschanaul wrote the lyrics and her voice is well suited to the pop from another age. There were stronger tracks on Volume One, but this is by no means inferior. ****

So those are my very favourite albums from this year. Please, feel free to comment this post and tell me where you think I got it right and where you disagree totally. I'd love suggestions for better albums to listen to that I haven't caught yet.

In the meantime, here is the mixtape I promised you, made up of a track each from my Top 10. You can get hold of it here. Tracklist is as follows:

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here

John Legend & the Roots - Compared To What

Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar

The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio

Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Claire's Ninth

Best Coast - Bratty B

The Weepies - Be My Thrill

Justin Townes Earle - One More Night In Brooklyn

She & Him - Thieves

Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs - New York City's Killing Me

That's it for this week. I'm officially on holidays from Christmas Eve, so no Work Tunes for the next fortnight. You may find a review or two over at Make Films Not Movies.

Take care and have an outstanding break, you crazy cats. Peace man, right on.