Showing posts with label nirvana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nirvana. Show all posts

Saturday, October 19, 2013

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:

  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.
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Friday, July 26, 2013

Green Worker's American Swim (July 29th - August 2nd)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

 If you can believe it, I'm running ahead of time with my list this week. I've had it chosen since early in the week, to avoid rushing it. A few albums that I just haven't heard in a while managed to pop up.

 One of those albums that has slipped the Work Tunes net forever is REM's excellent Green. @sunky mentioned another Mazzy Star LP last week and it made me think of Among My Swan. Jay-Z has been all up in everyone's grill lately, so I had to grab Vol. 3. A Billy Bragg album I'm yet to hear makes the cut this week, as does the My Girl soundtrack thanks to @BreeMateljan's SOTW. The very latest pack of funky tracks from Orgone is here and the Italian horror rock of Goblin. Incesticide is another neglected LP that made my list this week. What's left is some jangly folk pop from The Whispertown 2000 and some darker alt country infused folk from A.A. Bondy.  

 Check it out:
  1. Bruce Springsteen
  2. Alice In Chains
  3. Nick Drake
  4. Van Morrison
  5. The Replacements

 Song of the Week : Alice In Chains - Angry Chair



 It has been some time since I listened to Dirt. It's a lot heavier than I remember it. When I look back on it though, a lot of grunge was fairly heavy - Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Tad, Dinosaur Jr. It was just Nirvana and Pearl Jam who brought that pop sensibility to it that crossed it into the mainstream. In any other circumstances, that would be called "selling out", but I'm really glad they did. Because let's face it, in 1991 in Perth, there is no way we'd have heard starving indie rock bands from Seattle if they hadn't sold out. 

 I chose Angry Chair because it was one of the releases from this album and because it is quite stereotypically "grungy". The apathetically depressed lyrics, the wall of deep fuzz and the pounding drums are all on the heavy side of the sound that I once knew and loved so well. Nostalgia may not be what it used to be, but some days a familiar tune can be a good warm hug. Enjoy.

Hooroo
I'm just finishing this all up on a Saturday afternoon. The wife and children are at swimming lessons and I am left here tasked with domestic duties because we haven't been home all day. We're unbelievably short on time today. A good thing I had this list planned early, wasn't it?

 Hasala malakim.
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Friday, October 12, 2012

Long National Underground Nightmare (October 15th - 19th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

 I'll be lucky if I get all the required albums tagged and rated in time for work this weekend. I have to set up a new PC and we all know what a hassle that is. I'm in that annoying half way stage of having to find spots for a bunch of data and make some tough decisions on what to ditch. I'll be happier when SSDs come in 2Tb size without having to take a second mortgage. 

 What I'll try and get together is a couple of rap classics from Big Daddy Kane and Brand Nubian. Somebody mentioned Teen Spirit online yesterday and I threw on Nevermind; loved it, so I have Bleach. A Jacksons album I may not have heard (though probably have) is here, as is a Velvet Underground set I definitely have. It seems like I am always choosing The National's debut, but it has been 2 years since it made a list. A record I keep meaning to play for the first time since I scored it, Brothers In Arms is here along with Suzanne Vega's debut which I also have in vinyl form. I have disc one from Triple J Hottest 100 vol. 13 here for compilation purposes. Last but definitely not least, I played Alice Cooper's Trash last week on songl, so I'm giving his bona fide classic Welcome To My Nightmare a spin this week. 

Check it out:

  1. Drive-By Truckers
  2. Dr. Dre
  3. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
  4. You Am I
  5. The Hummingbirds

Song of the Week : Elvis Costello - Good Year For The Roses




 My SOTW is Elvis Costello - Good Year For The Roses. I've been mulling over it all week. On Monday driving in, it came on a random playlist and I got enthralled with the lyrics. It's such a simple song, really. A couple of very short verses and a chorus. But I found the more I analysed the lyrics, the more it said. In actual fact, it paints an entire story full of history and sadness with just a handful of well-chosen words. 

 When you think about what it says, you can gather that the narrator is an almost obsessive gardener who is not much chop at expressing his feelings and who had a wife who picked up after him who has now left him. She wears lipstick, smokes and has clearly had enough of his crap, as she doesn't even speak. Their marriage has been a war of words for 3 years and has now ground to a silent halt. I would hazard a guess too that she has left the baby and he can't even get up to take care of it when it cries. 

 Listen to the little clues like "you haven't made the bed" and "there's so little left to say we haven't said" And meanwhile, marriage over, this guy is in shock or numb to it so much that he can only think of the roses in his precious garden. This is, I think, one of those timeless songs which will always be part of the collective musical conscious. I hadn't really thought so hard about the words until this week.  

Dosvedanya, Comrades

 I'm trying to plea bargain with the Universe to give me a fine weekend, even if the forecast says rain. I'd be okay with rain at night and sunshine during the day so I can take my girls out riding. Fingers, toes and any other spare appendages crossed.

 Hasala malakim.
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Friday, March 2, 2012

Faithless British Lambchop Sirens (March 5th - 9th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Well, I had an incredible time at the Ryan Adams concert. The man himself was in fantastic form, cutting up his stripped-back heartbroken songs with hillarious asides in between and a few insane improvs (about sneezing, about only being popular when playing and about the 'soft as fuck' Mr Cat.). Plus, the company I was keeping was just as hysterical and the crowd was 'diverse'. We had a cameo appearance by Warrant (couple in their 50s, both long white hair) and some guy who kept practicing his Werewolf call. There were a couple of young women who obviously won their tickets from Nova or something, because they never shut up whispering the whole concert.


But enough of all that. It's all about the music. That music this week is a hodge podge of what I feel like listening to. Besides the new one from Lambchop, there's some Jason Isbell that I got after enjoying his opening set for Ryan Adams; Nirvana, Judas Priest and Metallica, thanks again to the BBC; Noisetrade artist Chasing Summer to check out for free; some rap from Bias B and Talib Kweli; Whiskeytown for obvious reasons and The Smiths because the CD came in the mail this week.


Check it out:
  1. Ramones
  2. Palace Brothers
  3. Wilco
  4. Cowboy Junkies
  5. Jamiroquai

Song of the Week : Beck - Already Dead



While browsing @sunky 's latest iPhone album list, I saw Sea Change and it struck me that it would be a great album to listen to at bed time. So that's what I did, but I ended up laying there, headphones in, listening to the whole thing without being asleep.


I don't think I've ever listened so closely to it before. I took in the bass and the strings behind it as well as all the silence. I really love the overall feel of it. There's an atmosphere across the whole album that could be the soundtrack to floating silently in space; it's that quiet and vast. I'm only a casual Beck fan. I like his music and I have a few albums, but I think Sea Change is his masterwork. Without all the smart aleck irony and slacker posing of other albums, it is just a sublimely serious piece of art. ...And now I want the vinyl!


I could have picked any song, but I chose Already Dead because it is a good illustration of the atmosphere of the whole album and because it's short enough to leave a decent size file for download.

Toodle Pip

It's another long weekend this week, for Labour Day. I plan on digging out the lead to my Atari 2600 and maybe writing a review at MFNM. Whatever you do, do it safe and have fun. Thanks for stopping by. See you next time. 


Hasala malakim.
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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Playlist : October 3rd - 7th, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Well it was a big week in music for me last week; not so much in football. While the Eagles hardly showed up against the Cats, music gave me a screening of Nirvana Live at Paramount and the streaming of the brand new Ryan Adams release Ashes & Fire to make it quite an exceptional week.

This list contains both the Adams LP and the deluxe release of Nevermind which includes the Paramount concert. I've also got some new Feist and the Seu George Life Aquatic LP I've been meaning to hear since I saw the film. I also grabbed the only The National album I don't tend to play alot, Boxer and some Hip Hop for spiritual well-being.

Check it out:
  1. Ryan Adams
  2. R.E.M.
  3. Sly & The Family Stone
  4. Tori Amos
  5. Ice-T
    Song of the Week : Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire



    I wasn’t going to go with my first choice for Song of the Week because it’ too obvious. But song of the week is supposed to be about the song that’s been huge in your week right? And this is the track I have been digging on all week, over and over.

    This title track to the new release from young Grizzly Adams is an amazing song with the dual keys sound of Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde. There’s a honkytonk vibe and a bit of a country rollick about it. I’ve heard a solo acoustic version of the song and as you’d imagine, it sounds very different. I usually like a stripped down bare bones track, but I really dig the instrumentation on this one.

    TTFN
    Tah tah for now brothers and sisters. If you're watching the AFL Grand Final, I hope your team wins and you quaff alot of beers and party food. That's a pretty decent Saturday afternoon to my mind.

    Adios muchahos. Hasala malakim.
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    Wednesday, August 10, 2011

    Playlist : August 15th - 19th, 2011

    Good day to you Tunesters.

    It's been a sunny if uneventful week here in sleepy Perth. My only news is that Miss 4, my eldest child, is now officially Miss 5. The Michael Jackson - Thriller 25th Anniversary picture disc vinyl I bought her went down a treat. We haven't played it yet, but those zombies are going to look pretty awesome at 33rpm.

    So, on to the music. This week I'm spinning Gotye's Like Drawing Blood album just because I really love the new single and can't wait for the new Gotye album. Speaking of new albums, I have the hot new collaboration between Jay-Z and Kanye, a new one from the 'Gurge and Juliana Hatfield's most recent release. Also in there is Joan Jett & the Blackhearts because I've been looking for some 'girl' bands to get my daughters into. Finally, along with some other stuff, the 1992 AUS tour EP from Nirvana, Hormoaning. I probably should have bought this when I had the chance all those moons ago in Record Finder, Fremantle; it would have been a lot cheaper than it is now.

    Check it out.
    1. The Donnas
    2. Sound Providers
    3. Jay Farrar
    4. Neko Case
    5. Led Zeppelin
    Song of the Week : Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song

    This week I reaffirmed what of course everybody already knows. Zeppelin rules! I put Led Zep II on my playlist and it made sweet sweet love to my ears. Yesterday after a really hard day, I slipped into the office at home, hopped on the bike and pressed play on Remasters on CD. And then I cranked it. Me, the bike, the Xbox and Led Zep were all tucked in my man cave and everything outside wasn’t there anymore and I didn’t feel quite so stressed. I almost fell in love with rock all over again.

    This song, Immigrant Song, I realised is just about the heaviest god damn piece of rock on the planet. Now I’m not one for your Swedish Death Metal bands and the like, and I know there are bands that are like rotting corpses as far as black metal goes, but damn it if this Zep tracks doesn't make you feel Satan’s cold cloven hand on your soul as he pulls it out of your throat and it makes that Aaaaahhaaaahhhhhuuuuh sound that Plant sings.

    I also picked it for the title because I’ve been a little pissed off at online douchebags blaming immigration for the London riots. Bigots! Turn this up loud boys and salute the dark master of rock n roll \m/

    Adieu
    So there we have it. So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, adieu (sorry if that made you sing the song...).

    Until next week, asalaam alikum.
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    Thursday, January 20, 2011

    Playlist January 24th - 29th, 2011

    Hola punks. What’s happening in your world?

    This week my playlist has a distinctly 90s nostalgia feel about it. This is due almost totally to Portlandia; the opening sequence of which made me grin from ear to ear because of the way it completely nailed my version of the 90s. Not since The Simpsons put Homer in Sadgasm has any show reflected my 90s years to me so well. There’s a little bit of Australia in here too, because after all, it’s Australia Day (or more accurately, Invasion Day) on the 26th. I wish we’d move it to Federation, it wouldn’t be hard. But there you go… Anyway… here’s my list:
    • The Beatles - Let It Be (Remastered) : After a discussion with a workmate about all the old classics that have been remastered from Fleetwood Mac to Led Zeppelin, I grabbed some Beatles. The same discussion extolled the virtues of FLAC and lossless formats, so I'll be listening in Apple Lossless.
    • Nirvana - Incesticide : Two things conspired to have me listen to Nirvana this week. Firstly, my Miss 4 has decided to sing Sliver all the time and secondly the opening sequence of Portlandia. Portlandia is a new sketch show set in that other famously grunge city of Portland. When one of the characters discussed the 90s in the first few minutes ('you could sleep til 11am" "people encouraged you to be weird" "everyone taled about piercings and tribal tattoos") I was hooked. I remember wanting to go to Portland after reading about it's alterna-vibe in the fiction novel Bongwater (later a film featuring Jack Black). So forgive me my 90s nostalgia. Besides, this is after all a criminally overlooked set.
    • VA - Standing on the Outside - The Songs of Cold Chisel : With the death of drummer Steve Prestwich last week, I felt it fitting to include some Cold Chisel. While I've exhausted the extent of my official Chisel releases in other playlists, this is a compilation of fantastic Australian artists such as Paul Kelly, Sarah Blasko and others covering the songs of Chisel's great legacy. Well worth a listen if you get a chance. Plus, it's Australia Day this week and it deserves some homegrown tunes.
    • Paul Kelly - The A - Z Recordings (Disc Two) : The second disc of the A - Z boxset contains PK classics like Dumb Things, Don't Explain and Every Fucking City. I really enjoyed Disc One last week, in particular the songs I'd never heard (Behind the Bowler's Arm and After The Show). I'm really looking forward to more unknown tracks, which in this case are Emotional and Down To My Soul.
    • Das Racist - Sit Down Man : Last week's Das Racist mixtape was Shut Up, Dude. This, as promised, is the follow up. Despite not taking my beloved culture very seriously, or maybe because of it, I liked last week's set for its sense of fun. I think I actually laughed aloud when I heard the band rhyme "Twitter get" with "Internet." I'm looking forward to more from this week's selection. You can download it for free from the link.
    • Cowboy Junkies - Demons : This is a preview of the very latest release from Cowboy Junkies. I found last year's Renmin Park a little hit and miss. There were some terrific tracks in there and an overall cohesive feel to the album, but I felt like some songs weren't up to scratch with their usual output. I haven't played this yet, so I'm hoping it's an improvement.
    • VA - Golden Era Mixtape : A free download of collected Golden Era artists which dropped last week on the 16th. For what seemed like ages, everyone attached to the Hilltop Hoods managed label was teasing us all on Twitter with sneak peeks and previews. When it finally dropped, they just about broke the internet. I have deliberately held off listening, but I'm fairly certain it will be worth the hype. Again, you can download it for free from the Golden Era store via the title link and listen for yourself.
    • L7 - Bricks Are Heavy : More 1990s nostalgia brought on by Portlandia. The track Pretend We're Dead was on heavy JJJ rotation back in the day. You know, back when Triple J was the only place to go for your music unless you wanted to listen to pap. They are not the mighty beast they once were, but the still fight the good fight. Another highlight of this set is Shitlist. Judging by the anger of the song, you don't want to end up on L7s shitlist.
    • VA - Reality Bites OST : After a recent discussion with my sister about Reality Bites and its place in Gen X folklore (followed by a flood of hysterical quotes), I decided I clearly had to wacth the film again on the weekend. If you haven't seen it, it's basically a slacker monument. It's like the mainstream (but not quite) version of Slacker. Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zhane aren't the stars, but they steal the show from Wynona and Ethan. The soundtrack features Dinosaur Jr. The Indians, Crowded House and even Ethan Hawke for the Hey That's My Bike song Nuthin'. It goes perfectly with the rest of my 90s nostalgia.
    • Evan Dando - Baby I'm Bored: I got to the end of my playlist and there didn't seem to be enough twang. I thought I could spin two vibes with one LP and grab some Evan Dando. While Baby I'm Bored was released in the 00s, Evan Dando is pretty much a 90s icon. He was even in Reality Bites in an hilarious cameo at the end. Hard Drive and All My Life are the standouts here for me.
    So For those of us who were there, I hope you enjoy my little trip down 90s lane. For those of us who weren't, feel free to point and laugh at the geezer who's reminiscing about moshpits, tongue piercings, flannel and Docs.

    Be excellent to each other.
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    Friday, May 14, 2010

    Playlist : May 17th - 21st, 2010

    Busy weekend this week, so I'm posting my list early. I seem to have gone with mostly somber or smooth tunes that match the weather. So I deliberately added some ruckus at the last minute.

    This weeks list looks like this:
    • Son Volt - The Search - After I realised the chorus chords to one of my favourite ever songs, Methamphetamine, were DEADEADEAD (spooky) I tweeted it and promptly picked up a new follower who said "I started following you based solely on your mention of Son Volt." So I figured I'd spin the album.
    • Gil Scott-Heron - Spirits - I really enjoyed playing Glory last week. Also, the documentary I watched on Heron was excellent. I felt like more of old Gil <~ see what I did there? This album was the first released after the man served time for possessing cocaine. He was released in 1994, same as this album.
    • The National - Alligator - As I said last week, too much of The National is not enough right now. Their second to latest release, Alligator was a critical hit and the first real commercial success for the boys from Brooklyn.
    • Beck - Sea Change - An old favourite and one that always seems to make an appearance when it gets a little chilly. When it gets really, really cold, watch for Nick Cave.
    • Jackson Browne - The Very Best Of... - While listening to a 70s internet radio station last week, I heard a non-single Browne track and it felt right. I am going to look into the man whom I am told writes a mean song beyond those old chestnuts we're used to on 94.5 et al.
    • Eels - End Times - My boss today told me Mr E. likes to write and record in a closet. But this album sounds like it's recorded in the back row of a funeral. Haunted and cracked and fit for a stormy day. Even the guy on the cover looks like he's freezing.
    • Hole - Live Through This - Checking... nope, still not dated. This will always be one of my most treasured albums. Listening to the new Hole just reminded me how good this was. Polished and determined and hardcore rawk. Courtney Love : Had it, lost it.
    • Nirvana - Singles - The perfect compliment to Live Through This, I chose this increasingly hard to get box set in case the guys at my work wanted a listen and hadn't heard some of the B Sides here. Also, I wanted a nice 90s hug to slip into with Hole and Nirvana. Interestingly, that Amazon link is to a US$146.99 unopened copy. Not that I'd ever sell my open one.
    That's it then. It's almost 2am, time for bed. Off out to lunch with @2ompkins for Japanese tomorrow and out with my lovely wife @boobalee_ann to the movies Sunday. You crazy kids take care.
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