More Arkansas Spring Spaghetti (November 12th - 16th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Just back from a great bike ride on the river and up the hill to Heathcote. I'm scrawling this all together while my kids have lunch and before we take off again to the shops. Best get right into then, hey?

There's a bunch of funk in the trunk this week, with another MJ disc, the latest from The Menahan Street Band and Cody ChesnuTT's new one. I've lowered the risk of contracting funkitis by splashing liberal amounts of hipster from Mumford & Sons and folk from Michelle Shocked. There's a free sampler from Muse as well. Representing "Straya" I've got the second disc of the Hip Hop Show compilation and the new Paul Kelly. That just leaves some "classic" rock from Alice Cooper and GnR.

Check it out:

• VA - JJJ The Hip Hop Show (Disc 2)
• Alice Cooper - Trash
• Guns N Roses - The Spaghetti Incident
• VA - Muse November Sampler
• The Menahan Street Band - The Crossing
• Michelle Shocked - Arkansas Traveler
• Michael Jackson - The Motown Years (Disc 2)
• Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
• Cody ChesnuTT - Landing On A Hundred
• Paul Kelly - Spring and Fall

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Pearl Jam
2. Angie Hart
3. The Jackson 5
4. Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls
5. Kiss

Song of the Week : Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed and Delivered (I'm Yours)

In celebration of the victory of Good over Evil in the US, I am going to choose Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) for SOTW. This is the song that was playing when Mr Barack Hussein Obama walked out to give his acceptance speech. 

Nothing you can say about the song itself can ever do it enough justice. More soul than a New Orleans fried chicken restaurant and funkier than a plate of black eyed peas cooked by James Brown himself. Stevie Wonder's voice is always incredible, but this is one of his finest moments.Such a powerful delivery and he punches it like a horn section.

As for the Prez, well, I am certainly glad he got over the line against Karl Rove and Donald Trump and all the other right wing crazies who wanted Romney to deliver them a big win for greed.

Toodles

Thanks for stopping by. I'm off to the library and the shops now. You all be on your best behaviour until I get back. Or not. Whatever's good for you. Have fun, whatever you do.

Hasala malakim.

Purple Highway Sugaring Trees (October 1st - 5th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Big Saturday today with the AFL Grand Final on and the long weekend under way. I watched the Swans deservedly win an epic football battle and not long after my TV decided that it wasn't fixed any more. So I spat the proverbial and bought another one online. Free delivery in 4 to 5 working days. You have to love the Internet. It's 3D and all, so I threw a 3D Bluray player in for good measure. I look forward to hundreds of hilarious viewings of Piranha 3DD.

I have a whole bunch of new albums this week, namely from Ben Folds Five, Brother Ali, Beth Orton and finally, Mumford & Sons. For something old, there's Deep Purple's monster hit In Rock, as well as Devo's Freedom of Choice. I'm still on my latest Sonic Youth kick, so I grabbed a Thurston Moore solo effort from 2006. Cameron Crowe's grunge era pop culture zeitgeist, Singles, turned 20 last week, so the soundtrack is here. Paul Kelly (for like 2 minutes) on TV for the Grand Final is the reason why Foggy Highway is here. Rounding it all off with a dose of old skool nostalgia thanks again to Art of Rap, a Def Jam compilation from 2001.

Check it out:

• Ben Folds Five - The Sound of the Life of Mind
• VA - Singles OST
• Brother Ali - Mourning in America and Dreaming In Color
• VA - Def Jam 1985-2001: History of Hip Hop, Vol. 1
• Devo - Freedom of Choice
• Beth Orton - Sugaring Season
• Paul Kelly & the Storm Water Boys - Foggy Highway
• Deep Purple - In Rock
• Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy
• Mumford & Sons - Babel

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Sonic Youth
2. Eric B & Rakim
3. Pearl Jam
4. The xx
5. Band Of Horses

Song of the Week : The Replacements - Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out

For my song of the week, I'm going with the hysterically coincidental track from Let It Be - no, not that one, The Replacements' one. I had put Let It Be on my weekly list without remembering that there's a track on there called "Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out". 

As you know, my little 'Tommy' got her tonsils out this week too. I am happy to report that they were not "rip rip!" ripped out. The operation itself was over and done with rather quickly, but I'm sure all care was taken. This track is even in keeping with the car theme, because the doctor has his Cadillac running. 

You can hear in this song all the elements of LA Hardcore punk which was big at the time, but of which The Replacements aren't really exponents. I've chosen it for the coincidence and nothing more. I hope you get a giggle.

Onward to Victory

Thanks for stopping by. If you are a Sydney Swans fan (and not one of the Victorian bandwagon hoppers who refers to your team as "The Bloods"), congratulations. Hawks fans, commiserations; as an Eagles supporter, I know how it feels to lose to the Swans in a close one. Please, tell your team to rest on their laurels and not use their hunger for a flag to destroy us all in 2013. Thank you. 

Hasala malakim.