Playlist : January 17th - 21st, 2011

Hi and welcome to another week of Work Tunes.

This week's list features a couple of albums I've been meaning to get for at least 10 years, as well as some old favourites and one or two I've never heard. For me, that makes a good list, and it looks like this:

• Beastie Boys – To The 5 Boroughs : It hasn’t been that long since this album was on my playlist. I’ve put it on again because lately I’ve been hearing a lot of hate for it from people who are true Beastie Boys fans. I have always liked this album and maybe I’m not hearing whatever it is that puts people off it. I thought repeated listens might help me understand why it copped so much flack. For me, Open Letter To NYC is one of their better tracks, and the Hip Hop/New York history lessons scattered throughout the lyrics are like reassurances of our culture’s true place in the world. Sounds strange, I know, listening to an LP to see if I hate it, but I am intrigued by how little respect it’s given.

• John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Some Time In New York City : I’ve been on a little bit of a Lennon kick lately after reading the interview he did with Rolling Stone three days before his death. I’ve come to truly believe that he was the Beatles. Not only that, strange music aside, I have cemented my view that Yoko Ono is a decent and enlightened individual who had no direct part in the breakup of the Beatles. If anything, it was John’s fault and had to happen anyway. So this is Some Time In New York City; the third album Lennon made post-Beatles. Tell me anything good that McCartney ever did post-Beatles. Wings?! Pffft.

• The Decemberists - The King is Dead : The latest effort from Portland natives The Decemberists features guest appearances from Peter Buck of R.E.M. fame and Gillian Welch of Gillian Welch obscurity. Apparently the title is an homage to the Smiths classic The Queen Is Dead and you can hear a little Morrissey and Marr influence in past work by The Decemberists. Buck’s bright jangle, Conlee’s accordion and a fine dose of fiddle lends this LP a folk and country vibe.

• Das Racist - Shut Up, Dude : Released as a free download in March 2010, Das Racist’s first mixtape caught a lot of attention; mainly due to the video game created for the song Who’s That? Brooown! These guys basically use rap as a comedy vehicle, but they are at the same time very decent rappers. Fittingly, Playboy has called them a cross between “Hip Hop and Cheech & Chong”. In September, the duo released another mixtape, Sit Down, Man which I’ll play next week. Meanwhile, you can download this mixtape from the album name link.

• Ray LaMontagne - Trouble : I only recently found out about Ray LaMontagne with the excellent God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise album. Last week, a mix on 8tracks included Jolene from Trouble. It was stunning and I set about getting some back catalogue. Trouble is an impressively sparse and subdued set with some first-rate lyrics. Check it out if you liked the Pariah Dogs last year.

• Paul Kelly – The A – Z Recordings (Disc One) : I’m going to attempt to hear all of Paul Kelly’s sprawling and epic boxset one disc at a time. That will take 8 playlists to do, but I think it will be worth it. I’ve been a massive Paul Kelly fan ever since 1985’s Under the Sun which was on ultra-high rotation (in cassette form) during that summer for me. Since then I’ve bought virtually everything PK has released (including with Uncle Bill). Australia’s greatest living songwriter deserves every clichéd and exaggerated epitaph we can bestow upon him. Some highlights on the first disc are the cheeky Adelaide, the timeless Beggar on the Street of Love and the excellent Cake and the Candle which was given to Kate Cebrano to record. Tune in next week for Disc Two.

• Things of Stone and Wood - Junk Theatre : One of two albums I picked up last week after missing my chance to pick them up in the 90s, Junk Theatre is as far as i know, Things' second. Their debut, The Yearning, featured the massive hit Happy Birthday Helen and less successful but still popular Share This Wine. I was a big fan while at Uni (and the band actually played in our courtyard) of their folky brand of Melbourne song. They're somewhere between Noiseworks and the Mucky Duck Bush Band which makes it all a little dated. The only songs I know here are Wildflowers, a cautionary tale about right wing politics and Churchill's Black Dog about depression.

• Concrete Blonde - Group Therapy : My 90s obsession with Concrete Blonde pretty much ended soon after I saw Johnette Napolitano play live. That's not to say she turned me off them, she was great. I think it was probably because I discovered Eminem and got back into rap in a big way. Whatever it was, I bought everything Concrete Blonde ever did, but not Group Therapy from 2002 - which I picked up last week.

• VA - More Sounds of the New West : Another of last week's purchases, this is the sequel to one of my favourite compilations. The first Sounds of the New West is so important to me, because I bought it after discovering Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown when the whole Alt Country genre was new to me. Since then my original purchase has introduced me to the Hansom Family, Kate Campbell, Lambchop, Neal Casal, Hazeldine, Calexico and Will Oldham. So when eBay offered up the sequel in a one cent CD auction, I snapped it up. I haven't listened yet, but I hope to find a stack more artists.

• Pearl Jam - No Code : I'm still on a quest to get back into Pearl Jam. I don't understand why they lost me, I only know that No Code was when they did. This is the most recent Pearl Jam album I own. With any luck, the passage of time might make it sound a little better for me. That aside, There He Goes from this album has always been a good listen.

And there’s the whole list for this week. My best wishes go to the people of Queensland who are fighting against terrible hardship in the floods that have wreaked havoc upon their sunny state. If you want to donate, you can do so at http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html To all my people in the Q-L-D, stay safe and warm and dry.

Bye for now, but before you go, this week is your last chance to grab my Best of 2010 Mixtape. Until next time; Peace man, right on.

Playlist : 10 Albums I Missed in 2010

Hello and welcome back to Work Tunes for 2011.

Last post last year was a collection of my favourite albums of 2010. Naturally, I wasn't the only one who wrote down my Top 10 list. For my first week back at work this year, I have decided to listen to a few albums that others chose and I hadn't heard. Mostly these are collected from music blogs and news sites, as well as from the recommendations of friends.

My 10 albums I missed in 2010 looks like this;

• We Are Jeneric - Animals Are People Too : With a sort of freak-folk sound and tracks that don't take themselves too seriously (how could they with titles like A Sister and Brother in the Kitchen Trying to Fly like Eagles by Jumping Off of Counters), this is an enjoyable set that sounds like a few friends jamming at a late night party. It is a concept album of sorts, with all the songs about animals.

• Jackie Greene - Till The Light Comes : A recommendation by @poopsiegirl of Twitterati fame. This is the first I've heard of Jackie Greene. My twitter buddy was right to assume I'd dig him; he sounds like Josh Rouse and Ray LaMontagne had a baby with John Cameron Mitchell. That is a very good thing in my mind (as disturbing as the literal image is o_O )

• Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today Ariel Pink, one-time Animal Collective collaborator and notorious eccentric has released a more cohesive and less lo-fi album under the new moniker. This is indie-as-all-hell, electronically grimy rock-pop that grooves just a little.

• Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - I Learned The Hard Way : I was introduced to Ms Jones through the awesome 100 Days, 100 Nights album a few years back now. Recently, at work, I heard one of our Melbourne managers was into her and was bigging her up to a visiting Perth staffer. It made me realise I had totally missed her latest effort. So here it is.

• Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks : A little bit of countrified folk and a good dose of songwriting chops made me take notice of Karen Elson on previewing this album. I don't know if this is a debut or not, but I think I'll be doing some homework based on the strength of these songs.

• Cotton Jones - Tall Hours In The Glowstream : There's something of a 50s/60s revival going on in music at the moment; have you noticed? Bands like She & Him, Best Coast and Kitty, Daisy and Lewis are tapping either a bit of a go-go inspired, or else folk-revival vein. Cotton Jones do it too. These songs sound like popular country from the late 50s. Even the album cover shows a beach scene from that era. Could all this nostalgia be the result of the Global Financial Crisis?

• The Walkmen - Lisbon : Apparently The Walkmen have been releasing albums since 2002 with Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone. News to me. Regardless of how these guys slipped under my radar, this is a decent set. Their somewhat jangly indie pop is well worth a listen. They may have a new fan.

• Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy : Everybody has always loved or hated Kanye. Not me, I have ignored him, mostly. This album was on nearly every Best of 2010 list I read. I don't understand the fuss about the man; okay, he's Kanye and we're not, but what little I have heard has not inspired me. In fact, Kanye's "George Bush hates black people" line is imho his greatest lyric ever. But I will none-the-less give this LP a spin.

• Beach House - Teen Dream : Heavy on the keys and the sentiment, Teen Dream sounds a lot like its title. Beach House have added a bit of pop to their usual whispy synth scape and it works.

• The Black Keys - Brothers : Another album that made every Top Ten list but mine. Good bluesy tunes with a little bit of crunch in the bottom end. I quite like it, but it definitely wouldn't have been one of my ten personal favourites from last year. Possibly number 11.

So that's my listening schedule for my first week back. To ease me on into a whole new working year, my employer has generously provided a lunch and pistol shooting day on Friday. We like to call it Om Nom Nom Pew Pew Pew! I'm looking forward to it.

Hang loose bro; rock n' roll \m/

Playlist : October 25 - 29, 2010

A new artist (for me), some old favourites and a couple of classics make up this week's list. It's probably just a tad funkier than usual with the compilation and some roots rap on board.

Here's what will be playing in my ears;

• A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders : A little bit of Native Tongues always goes down a treat. A friend told me she'd been hearing a bit of rap lately and it was full of the F and N words. Groups like Tribe and De La Soul were always and still are against that sort of garbage. Long live true Hip Hop.

• The Roots - Phrenology : More positivity to go with Tribe. It was great to hear The Roots as a full on Funk and Soul band on the recent John Legend collaboration. I'm going back to The Roots (haw haw) to keep up my fix, otherwise I'd just keep playing Wake Up! (the Legend collaboration) over and over.

• VA - 70s Funk n Soul Classics : A really great compilation which dishes up exactly what it promises - classics from the 70s. Some of the best tracks include The O'Jays - Love Train; Curtis Mayfield - Superfly; Kool & The Gang - Jungle Boogie and The Staple Singers - Respect Yourself. Get yo funk on.

• Something For Kate - The Official Fiction : It's been quite some time since I heard this album. It was the first I had heard of SFK. It's a solid set with stand outs like Deja Vu and Light at the End of the Tunnel. They probably should have done an Australian Classic Albums doco on it. I think it's in that lofty company, anyway.

• Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights : I've decided to play each of 2005's Radams releases. Last week I played the brilliant double that kicked off the year in Cold Roses. JCN is a lot more traditional country than Cold Roses. It's got a lot of pedal steel and it sounds more like a drunken moan in some bar.

• S.O.U.L. - Can You Feel It : With the rise of new Soul this year, I have been wanting to relisten to all the old stuff I have. SOUL are a sort of jazzy half instrumental collective heavy on the flute and the sprawling solos with some honey smooth vocals and a bit of politics for good measure.

• Paul Kelly - Live May 1992 : PK is the man. Since I'm not going to see him when he plays here soon, I'm going to listen to and enjoy this double LP live set from 92. This is the album I used to get my wife into Paul Kelly. We played it at our wedding. It came with a VHS of the concert that I still have somewhere at home. I really enjoy it, every listen. If you're Australian and you haven't heard it, be like Molly and 'do yourself a favour'.

• Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde : As the final chapter in the holy trinity, I had to give Blonde a spin this week. Last week's Highway 61 Revisited was a blast. Blonde features what I consider one of the best, lyrically, songs ever in Visions of Johanna, as well as the tracks everybody knows Just Like a Woman and Rainy Day Women Nos 12 & 53 (even if a lot of people call it Everybody Must get Stoned after the refrain).

• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call : This album was a last minute inclusion on this list because a clever twitter friend (*waves fondly at @a_musedly) quoted (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For? this morning - reminding me of one of the main reasons this is my favourite Nick Cave release.

• Fyfe Dangerfield - Fly Yellow Moon : The first I had heard of Fyfe Dangerfield was this week when I came across the Billy Joel cover (Always a Woman). I quite liked that, so I went looking for the album. The cover is not on this set, but it's all I could find. Fairly dreamy indie pop.

I hope something there turns you on to a new musical journey. As always, be excellent to each other and remember the words of Edward Furlong's Danny in American History X : "Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time."

Peace man, right on.

Playlist : September 20th - 24th, 2010

This is our weekend and it's ending, one second at a time. But not to worry, sit back and relax. Play some tunes. Dig yourself, man.

These are the songs that I'll be taking with me on my working week next week :

• Shonen Knife - Rock Animals : Looking at a list a bit full of alt-country, I went looking for something with some crunch. Shonen Knife rock my socks off. They are a Japanese all-girl punk rock band I first heard on the fantastic If I Were A Carpenter compilation, doing a superior cover of Top Of The World. On Rock Animals, the almost maddeningly catchy Catnip Dream is a gem.

• VA - Culture of Kings : An early skip hop compilation for hardcore Diggaz like me. Featuring Aussie hip hop luminaries like Koolism, Matty B, Suffa of Hilltop fame and the Hoods themselves. Mass MC's popular track The BBQ Song also features.

• Gram Parsons - Greivous Angel : After being moved by Gillian Welch's lyric from I Dream a Highway last week ("Now you be Emmylou and I'll be Gram") I felt like some Gram Parsons magic. Emmylou of course is Emmylou Harris, Gram's long-time friend and singing partner whose sweet harmonies make this great record even better.

• Eric B & Rakim - Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em : Usually when I reach for Eric B & Rakim, I go straight for Paid In Full - 1987's seminal golden age album. This time, I made a conscious effort to choose something I don't normally play. It's been a while, but I know this album to be a little jazzier than Paid and just as lyrically inventive.

• A.A. Bondy - When The Devil's Loose : Last week at work was kind of a drag and when things get a little low, alt-country always sounds it's best. A.A. Bondy are folkier and lonlier than a lot of the stuff I listen to, but this album is good for a spin.

• John Legend and The Roots - Wake Up! : I heard this album last week on stream from NPR. It's a really solid set of old Soul covers with a political bent. It sounds like music from a greater time with a modern day traveler on the mic. It also taught me that The Roots are a tight Funk band with some really tasty bass grooves. Going to get this album on vinyl as soon as I can find it.

• The Police - The Best of the Police : I felt like a little bit of classic rock and I haven't heard The Police in quite a while. I have this album on vinyl and few songs in my record collection benefit from the sound of wax quite like Roxanne. With The Police and me, the rule seems to be the earlier the better.

• VA - Music from the Motion Picture Crooklyn Volume II : One of my all time favourite Spike Lee joints, Crooklyn is a partly autobiographical tale of living in Brooklyn in a large family in the 70s. The soundtrack is packed full of some of the coolest Soul tunes ever made. Spike is brilliant, Crooklyn is fantastic and the soundtrack is killer.

• John Cale - Paris 1919 : I don't know a lot about this album, but I've always wanted to hear it. Ever since a 1997 issue of Uncut magazine published a list of the most depressing albums of all time, I have been slowly acquiring them all. John Cale was a member of Velvet Underground until 1968 when he went solo. Paris 1919 is his most famous album and Uncut said if you listen close you can hear Cale weeping at the mixing desk in the middle of a breakdown. Good times.

• Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz : Having only discovered Ornette Coleman tunes last week, I have quickly found out that Free Jazz is widely renowned as wholly original and as fine a jazz album as you'll find outside of Trane. Sounds good to me.
  

It would be great if you found something new in amongst all of that. Get the John Legend album if you dig Soul, because it is totally ace. I'm off to Beat Route tomorrow for a little vinyl and turntable shopping. Hopefully I'll have something I can add to next week's list.

That's it from me. Go safe my anonymous friends. Don't forget how blessed you are.

Playlist : September 13th - 17th, 2010

Happy Saturday to you, cats. May your weekend be filled with perfect moments and dazzling insights. Otherwise, at the very least a beer or two and some pizza.

Here’s what I’ll be listening to at work next week:

• Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator): After reading something recently that said Ms Welch was working on a new album, it struck me that I hadn't heard Time for quite a while. On further investigation, it turned out that was because it hadn't made it back onto my iPod yet since I had to restore it a year ago. This bum deserves all the critical praise it gets.

• The Weepies - Be My Thrill : As mentioned last week, I was hoping to get my new The Weepies CD in time for this week's list. Lucky for me, it showed up Friday afternoon at work. I've listened to it via stream recently and I'm looking forward to giving it another spin.

• Justin Towns Earle - Harlem River Blues: Having just discovered the old time folk bluegrass of JTE, and having played 2009's Midnight at the Movies last week, it seemed a good idea to play the new album. This is another set I've heard via stream, except I've been back t it several times since. Keeps getting better.

• Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tapes : This is the album that was meant to be the brilliant and timeless Blood on the Tracks. The story goes that Dylan came to the studio and poured out the brutally autobiographical songs quickly with a personally collated session band. Later, right before the album was due for release, he rearranged the mix, changed words around to obscure their meaning and dropped some tracks. It is believed he modified the album to hide the naked pain of these fantastic songs. This bootleg is widely available so you can judge for yourself.

• Tori Amos - Boys For Pele : Since 1992's Little Earthquake until probably Scarlett's Walk in 2004, I was a big Tori Amos fan. She has lost me a little with her changing incarnations, but Iyou can't help respect her piano paying and her live performances. Maybe what has changed is her honesty - she doesn't feel open and truthful anymore. I guess you can't keep the scars open forever. Little Earthquakes was a gaping wound and Boys For Pele bleeds.

• Josh Rouse - Dressed Up Like Nebraska : Like The National for me, too much Josh Rouse is never enough. 1972 is usually my addiction of choice, but Nebraska has whole bunch of great songs including the title track and the tuning Late Night Conversation. It also contains Suburban Sweetheart, which is the first I ever heard of Josh Rouse and a few alt-country artists in fact on the Uncut compilation Sounds of the New West.

• Dinosaur Jr - Without a Sound : The first Dinosaur Jr album I ever bought. J Mascis and co have been rewarding me ever since as I plowed through their back catalogue at a rate of knots. Stand out tracks the JJJ hit Feel The Pain and the subdued dark-hearted beauty of Outta Hand. Mix in the sarcastic Yeah Right and the slightly psychedelic Mind Glow and you have a fine batch of tracks worthy of a listen,

• De La Soul - Stakes Is High : After adding a little rap as an afterthought last week, I figured I'd make up for it with some hip hop gems. De La Soul's jazzy, acclaimed, widely plundered Stakes Is High ought to be a good start. A guest appearance by Common and the popular Itsoweezee are highlights.

• The Fugees - The Score : Most people who know me know I fell off hip hop for a while when I went grunge and then folk. During that time, Tupac happened, B.I.G. happened, Snoop happened and the Fugees happened I know this album is well regarded. I know it was an important milestone in the 'big ass story' that is Hip Hop, but I have never heard it. I figure it was time to remedy that.

• Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill : See my comments on The Fugees. All I know about this album is a) it sold a squillion copies and b) the name comes from Carter G Woodson's 1933 book The Mis-Education of the Negro. I haven't ever heard it. I m unsure that I'll like it, given it is most likely going to be neo-soul/ fake R&B, but it deserves a listen.

I hope you discover something in there amongst the sounds that will be my working week. Some of it is new to me too.

Have an ace week. Right on. Oh didn't I tell you? I'm bringing the word 'ace' back. Tell all your friends. It's ace.

Playlist : August 29th - September 3rd, 2010

Now that the decade themes are out of my system, apart from a still beating passion for 1970s rock, I've gone back to your regularly scheduled programming of something old and something new.

• Jay-Z - The Blueprint : I've always associated The Ruler's Back from this LP with Ben Cousins "Charges don't stick to dude, he's Teflon. I'm too sexy for jail like I'm Right Said Fred I'm not guilty now give me back my bread." Given this is Ben's week, here's Jay Z. Plus, I hear Jay-Z is supporting U2 and may be coming to little old Perth.

• Best Coast - Crazy For You : Read a few things about these guys in Rolling Stone and Spin. They seem to be everywhere at the moment. The album sounds like summer holiday tunes with a hangover. Just perfect for chilly Perth mornings.
  

• Arcade Fire - The Suburbs : All I know of Arcade Fire is their decent album, Funeral. Everyone everywhere seems to be raving about their new cut. I thought I'd like to see what all the fuss is about.

• The Weepies - Say I Am You : The Weepies fourth record Be My Thrill is due out at the end of August aka Now. In preparation and because I didn't pre-order it, I am giving Say I Am You a spin.

• Ted Nugent - Great Gonzos - The Best of Ted Nugent : I know next to nothing about Ted Nugent. Except that while digging around for 70s albums, I came across a few tracks that made me smile. This is balls and all cheesy rock from the decade that gave us mission brown and lime green. Check out the cover art for an obvious giveaway of what you're in for.
  

• Cowboy Junkies - Renmin Park : I'm a big Cowboy Junkies fan, and this is their new one. It is a little more electronic sounding in parts than I'm used to from the Junkies; and my first listen didn't take my fancy. But I do like this band, which is why I'm willing to give it a fair second listen. You should always afford bands a second listen when they've done some excellent work in the past. Governments too...

• Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III : I'm still not over my 1970s music kick, even as I continue my 50s culture obsession. Led Zep I was on a list a little while ago and II has never been a big favourite for me, so III comes next. Besides... Zeppelin Rules! \m/

• Ozi Batla - Wild Colonial - Another album I probably haven't given enough of a chance. Not that I disliked this the first time, but that was the only listen so far. Time to take it for another turn. If nothing else, Batla has taught me that a good word for Aussie rappers/heads that sounds like Hip Hop's worst N word, is Digga.

• Digable Planets - Blowout Comb : I'm not sure it's been that long since I heard this album, but I have been meaning to hear it in it's entirety. Quite a few songs end up on high rated playlists, but it feels a long time since heard it all. Brooklyn smooth Jazz Hop beats all.

• Bruce Springsteen - The River : My renewed interest in vinyl has meant I've been listening to albums I own on record. One of them is The Boss' double LP The River that sounds impressive on wax. I wanted to listen to the CD for contrast. Nothing would beat the gate-fold artwork and lyrics printed on the record sleeve though.There's a scene in Jerry McGuire where Jerry, drinking, slips on Drive All Night and now it's all I can think of when I hear it.
  

• Eli Paperboy Reed – Come And Get It : Blue eyed soul might sound like a total misnomer, but I have read some good reviews of this album (again from RS and Spin). A quick scan through and it sounds like classic Motown or Stax remixed with a white session singer. Which isn’t entirely terrible, but still not a patch on the original. Except these are original songs, they just don’t sound like it.

Well, that's it. Until next week, be excellent to each other and all that good stuff. As I noted to @geoff9cow after he recently quoted Dr King about hate, "Life's too short to be pissed off all the time." And Edwrad Furlong said that, so it must be true.

Don't get hung up man, stay cool.

Playlist : August 16th - 20th : The 1990s

For my 1990s week playlist, I wanted to stick as close as I could to what my personal 90s sounded like. That meant 90s albums I only discovered later (by Notorious B.I.G., Josh Rouse, Digable Planets) had to miss out. It also meant that albums I haven't gotten into for a while made the cut. I'm looking forward to catching up with old friends.

Special mention has to go to Guns & Roses - Use Your Illusion I & II which were giants of 1990/1991. Then, along came a bunch of slack greasy kids from Seattle WA and made them seem archaic overnight.

< axl_god >< BAM >< teen_spirit >< /cock_rock >< grunge >

• VA - Triple J's Hottest 100 Vol. 1 : For me at least, it just wouldn't have been the 90s without JJJ. Mikey Robbins and Helen Razer played me my first taste of grunge in the thunderclap that kicked off the already rumbling Seattle storm; Smells Like Teen Spirit. If you listened to anything else, you were behind the curve for at least 3 months, being that the ABC was a 'taste-maker'.
  

• U2 - Achtung Baby : I originally bought this album on cassette. I'd been huge into Rattle & Hum and U2 were the biggest thing since Elvis at the time. I must have played Achtung a billion times on the Walkman on the bus to and from Uni. Eventually I bought the CD and now even that collects dust for my iPod. Achtung was a narrow winner over Pop for the U2 sound of my 90s. I saw the Pop tour at Burswood Dome, so it was a really close second.
  

• Nirvana - In Utero : While Nevermind had been arguably the biggest Nirvana release, In Utero probably got more airplay from me by the end of the 90s. I remember an interview with Kurt who said that a lot of fans wouldn't like In Utero because it wasn't like Nevermind at all. Being it was released not too long before Kurt's demise, I think a lot of fans held onto it tight while it got a fresh crop of followers with the cult of celebrity death.
  

• Tori Amos - More Pink : I was in awe of Tori Amos in the 90s. I saw her play live at the Perth Concert Hall in 1994. This album was the bonus Australian Tour disc that came with Under The Pink - which meant at one stage I owned two copies of the official release.
  

• Hole - Live Through This : An album that defined a period of time for me and forever and always one of my very favourite albums. That would be why it makes it to so many playlists. I still don't know if Kurt Cobain had a bigger role in this LP than Courtney lets on. Hole never did surpass it's brilliance. And while Celebrity Skin has its merits, it isn't anywhere close to this good.
  

• Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call : If I recall, I actually won this album for free from the SDA Union magazine. The funny thing is, the only other Nick Cave I owned at the time, Let Love In, I'd got for free for subscribing to Rolling Stone. I'm now what you'd call a Nick Cave fan and have since bought some CDs; proving that free music does increase sales.

• Pulp - Different Class : I have a confession. When this album came out, I rushed right out to buy it on the strength of Common People. It was a wise choice. However, it came with a glittering Pulp t-shirt transfer and I proceeded to put it on a black skivvy. This was not a wise choice. I thought it looked alright. Turns out, it didn't. An easy assessment in hindsight. Now let us never speak of it again.
  

• Melissa Etheridge - Your Little Secret : I saw Melissa Etheridge play the Perth Concert Hall in 1996. I've never seen so many lesbians in one place. In the 80s, people told me I was judging her on her voice when I said Melissa was gay. Good on her for her tireless dedication to equal rights. And I'll tell you a secret, that concert and this album proved to me that this girl can really rock out. I've never seen anyone else play guitar on their back for 10 minutes of relentless rhythm. Just sayin'

• The Cranberries - Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? : Not intentionally, but I seem to have chosen artists I got to see play live. REM Monster only narrowly missed out too. I saw The Cranberries play Metro Freo right after Zombie took over the world. But I have fond memories of singing Linger drunk on the streets of Northbridge when only JJJ listeners knew who they were.
  

• J Mascis - Martin & Me : Another high rotation album for me and a big part of the way the 90s sounds in my head. As someone who plays and appreciates acoustic guitars, the things that J could make them do just astounded me. When I first heard the live acoustic version of Quest from the EP of the same name, I renewed my passion for playing for a while.
  

That is my 1990s in a nutshell. There are albums that missed out on this list and some which were there but best forgotten *cough* Bel Biv Devoe *cough* Until the 00s next week folks, don't get hung up - stay cool.

Playlist : August 9th - 13th : The 1980s

After handing last week's list over to the 1970s, it seemed only logical to have an all 1980s week this week. When I was choosing this week's list, what struck me as funny about the 1980s was how there was a stark dichotomy of music style going on. I suppose all decades are that way, but the difference between say , WHAM! and Pixies is insane. I've tried to grab a little bit from both sides.

• Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction : Everybody in my high school had this album; girls and boys. Slash was a guitar hero then too, just nobody made a video game. And of course, Sweet Child O Mine was a massive hit that every kid and his Fender copy wanted to play.

• Pixies - Doolittle : The fuzzy indie pop riffs and catchy melodies of Pixies is a world away from the 1988 best seller George Michael's Faith, or Kylie Minogue's self-titled set. Did anyone guess that the Pixies would go on to influence my generation's Beatles and Stones in Nirvana and Pearl Jam (and indeed much of the Seattle sound).

• Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground : Another band who sounded very little like the era's mainstream bubble gum pop and who have never followed the crowd. Something about the happy tragic tunes and jaunty rhythms of the Violent Femmes really works for me.

• INXS - INXS : This was INXS before the XS made them no good. Arguably Australia's most successful musical export next to AC/DC, INXS were then less the rock stars and more the geeky synth pop hipsters without a sax player.

• AC/DC - Who Made Who : A true bogan classic but not as good as Back In Black - despite what my critics said about my review in my Year 10 school paper! I got a smack in the chops for my troubles, but I was right. It's not a bad album, but its no Back... I put it in here instead because I've not heard it in a while.

• The Smiths - The Smiths : More music from (comparatively) another planet. Despite the mopey Moz lyrics and whiney vocals, I find The Smiths rather good to work to. I couldn't tell you why.

• The Psychedelic Furs - Mirror Moves : I added the Furs to compliment The Smiths and Violent Femmes. Furs have the same intelligent music as they do and the sound is a complimentary style. I reckon if iTunes Genius put them together, I wouldn't mind at all.

• Various Artists - Breakin' : Breakdance, the dance and the movies, was a big part of the 1980s for me. The first Breakin' film I saw with my older cousins at Piccadilly in Perth. There were hundreds of kids around our ages there for a Saturday matinee session. You'd never see so many people at Piccadilly these days - which sucks, because its a magical old place.

• Various Artists - 1984 Shakin' : Another big part of the 1980s was the compilation. There must have been 3 or 4 a year. My now sister-in-law's mother used to buy every single one on vinyl and slip us a cassette copy (my SIL and me) to play in our tape decks. Home taping sure didn't kill music for me - it kept the passion up and showed me new bands til I earned money to buy things. Anti-torrent types should remember what mixtapes and dubs were all about.

• Jimmy Barnes - For The Working Class Man : Barnsey! Another ubiquitous classic for us flannel and DB wearing Kwinanaites. This album was everywhere. From Mandurah to Koongamia, I couldn't have escaped it if I wanted to. And I didn't. Why would I? It's Barnsey!

• Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back : This is truer to my own personal sound of the 1980s. In 1987 I had heard Run DMC and the Beastie Boys and along came these guys, Public Enemy with Yo! Bum Rush the Show. Already sounding dangerous and angry, when they dropped Nation, they were harder than hard militant rap soldiers who had something to say. So you best listen.

• U2 - The Joshua Tree : When Joshua Tree was still quite popular, I remember when Rattle and Hum came out. Along with INXS dropping Kick, I don't think I've seen as clear an illustration of when a band goes from being popular to being monumental. U2 blew the hell up from there on until they lost it somewhere after All That You Can't Leave Behind. Joshua Tree is still awesome.

• Madonna - Madonna: Speaking of blowing up, this is another LP that came before the crucial moment. After this self-titled and solid set of likable pop, Madonna gave us Like A Virgin and you all know the rest. Can I just take this time to suggest Lady Ga Ga find another vault to violate.

• Wham!- Make It Big : If you want the 1980s, you have to take the cheese that goes with it. Two blokes with hair like girls and delusions of soul who wrote some pretty good tunes as it happens. And then filled every Blue Light Disco, classroom party and rollerskating rink with it until 1986 when they split and George Michael went solo. Then his songs took over.

I hope you get a nostalgic giggle from some of the tracks in this list. For the good stuff, I hope it you haven't heard it you will check it out.

Have a mintox week. Push pineapples, grind coffee. Happy birthday for Monday to my clever chops oldest daughter who turns 4.

Playlist : August 2nd - 6th : The 1970s

Hello and welcome to the 1970s. After a visit to Planet Video and to a record fair, I have had my love for vinyl renewed. I have decided I'll be looking at upgrading to a better turntable soon and shopping for more records. In the meantime, getting back into vinyl has sparked a taste for the 70s and great albums of that decade. So I'm doing an all 70s list this week and probably an all 80s next week and so on until the 00s.

• James Brown- Black Caesar : Not too long ago on a Friday night, I put this 70s Blaxploitaton flick on and marveled at the mission brown fashion, the funky pimp hats, the broken up bricks of Harlem and the killer James Brown soundtrack. Why can't films have whole funky LPs made especially for them anymore instead of throwing in 60s music or the hip tunes of the day? I blame The Big Chill and Quentin Tarantino.

• Joni Mitchell - Blue : I am an unashamed Joni Mitchell fan and this is one of her very best. Blue made Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time and has been heaped with similar accolades by a ton of critics - such as the NY Times who put it amongst the 25 pivotal turning points in popular music. The lyrics alone are laudable while Joni's expert playing of piano, imaginatively tuned guitars and dulcimer is exemplary.

• Fleetwood Mac - Rumours : Honestly, putting aside why anyone would want to be in a band with their lover, who exactly makes the greatest album of their career (and possibly the entire 1970s) while in the middle of a breakup? Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, that's who. When Homer Simpson said 'rock achieved perfection in 1975', I choose to believe he forgot about 'Dreams' in 1977.

• Ramones - Ramones : America's answer to the Punk explosion from the UK. Except Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee were already playing ramshackle, blisteringly paced gigs at CBGBs while John Lydon was shoplifting from Malcolm McLaren's shop. This album was released a full year and a half before Nevermind the Bollocks.... took Punk to the world.
  

• Miles Davis - On The Corner : The legendary Miles takes it to the street and switches up his signature cool post bop jazz for something a little funkier with a load of bass and a feel for disco-esque rhythm. Critics panned it while Miles went looking for new fans more into Funk than Jazz. The record is a challenging but rewarding mix of both styles and then some.
  

• Pink Floyd - The Wall : Besides getting One Of My Turns stuck in my head on Friday, no 1970s list would be complete without the decade's biggest seller (even if most of its multi-million sales occurred in the 80s and beyond). Really a little bit of a self-indulgent, wank-rock concept album, but damn if it doesn't make for a good listen - and are Dave Gilmore's solos in Comfortably Numb and Hey You not among the best of all time?
  

• Billy Joel - The Stranger : To paraphrase Sickboy of Trainspotting fame 'Billy Joel : Had it. Lost it. The Stranger is a well-crafted, intricately lyrical album with million dollar melodies and jauntily upbeat or at times solemn piano playing. It's a broken bottle against a Jersey shore wall of an album. Everything Joel ever did in the 90s and beyond... not so much.

• Bob Dylan - Desire : Coming just six months after the release of The Basement Tapes and a year after the scorchingly brilliant Blood On The Tracks, Desire is part of arguably another Holy Trilogy for his Bobness (the original trilogy encompassing Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde). Dylan released this gypsy-tinged storyteller and then embarked on the Rolling Thunder tour with a swag of guest stars including Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Roger McGuinn.

• David Bowie - Hunky Dory : Released in 1971 as Bowie's fourth studio album, Hunky Dory is a trademark dose of androgynous, now classic rock from the Granddaddy of Glam Rock. Hunky Dory offers everything from the anthemic Changes to the pleading fanboy croon of Song For Bob Dylan. The album peaked at number 3 in 1972 and was followed by the career-defining Ziggy Stardust...
  

• Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town : The Boss' biggest offering in the 70s was of course the massively successful Born To Run, but Darkness has a darker heart and more introspective lyrics. Where Born was full of stories about the colorful urchins and hustlers of the Jersey streets, Darkness is more about the man himself.

• Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel : Dying of a drug overdose just two months before his 27th birthday in 1973 (and so saved from joining 'that awful club'), Gram Parsons was a fast-living rock star who happened to play country. Giving American country music a much needed jolt of hard rock and blues, Gram Parsons and band The Flying Burrito Brothers were the precursors to Alt Country and are owed much by Ryan Adams, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Whiskeytown and any number of country flavoured rock acts.

• Iggy Pop - The Idiot : Once head of embryonic punk act The Stooges and then seen as largely a pet project of David Bowie, Iggy released this, his debut solo cut, in 1977. Featuring the co-written China Girl, which Bowie later went on to have a huge hit with in the 80s, The Idiot had a a strong influence on a lot of electronic acts to come. Standout track Nightclubbing is apparently inspired by the nightlife of David Bowie.

• Van Morrison - Moondance : Van the Man is what my memories of the 1970s sound like. I'm most definitely painting everything with broad strokes of rose-coloured nostalgia, but things seemed eternally like lazy Spring days and quite a bit more laid back. I blame the Internet. There are quite a few grooves of mellow sunshine and sugar here, including the titular hit Moondance, Crazy Love and Into The Mystic.

• Carol King - Tapestry : Again, a sound of the 1970s come to life. Was it just me that heard I Feel The Earth Move and You've Got A Friend a million times as a child? This is a monstrously popular and pervasive LP, has sold more than 25 million copies, is the best selling album by a solo female artist and was still in the Billboard charts as of June 2010. Why? King's fantastic tunes and heartfelt lyrics. One song, the wonderful (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman was stolen by Aretha Franklin the way she stole R.E.S.P.E.C.T. And that's the highest compliment there is, in my book.

• Lou Reed - Transformer : Rounding out the David Bowie and Iggy Pop albums nicely, Lou Reed's Transformer was produced by Bowie and released in 1972. This is the LP that contains Reed's most well known song, Walk On The Wild Side, but also the superior Satellite Of Love and Perfect Day - even if the movie Trainspotting has tainted every listen of Perfect Day for me.
  

So that's my 1970s list. I will most likely also try and hook up with some Boston, ELO and T-Rex on the recommendation of several friends. Next week I'll look to the 1980s for musical inspiration, so get your dweely-boppers and your flouro socks ready to do the Huckelbuck.

Don't get hung up man, stay cool.

Playlist July 12th - 16th, 2010

Exciting week ahead for me. Apart from taking Miss 3 to her first film on Friday, the Perth Revelation Film Festival began in earnest this week with the Chris Rock narrated documentary Good Hair. I'm armed with a mini-pass of 6 tickets over the course of the festival which runs until Sunday July 18th. I'm hoping to review each film I see over at Make Films Not Movies.

But for now, there's the music. A little heavy on the twang this week. Must be the cold.

• Wilco - A.M. : It's no secret I'm a Wilco fan from way back. My Wilco fix usually comes in the form of Being There or Summerteeth. AM has some great tracks on it too. Passenger Side is not only good, it's funny. It's Just That Simple features Jay Farrar on vocals and is another stand out.

• AM - Soul Variations : Yes Wilco AM made me think of Am the band. This is another often overlooked album I have. AM are nicely alt country with a generous slice of indie pop.
  

• Beth Orton - Trailer Park : This is the album that introduced me to Beth Orton. Sadly, it's been missing from my iPod ever since I had to restore it. I've only just gotten to the T titled albums because I've been spending the time to get everything tagged, rated and art worked properly before putting it back on. Beth is a 'tall drink of water' with a sweet knowing voice.

• Randy Newman - Harps & Angels : Earlier last week, a song from this album came up on shuffle. I was floored by how good it was and I realized I obviously hadn't listened to the album properly. The track was so good, in fact, I'd like to use it to make a video postcard for my wife. Shhhh don't tell her...

• Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted : My favourite Pavement cut is probably Wowee Zowee. But get this, I heard such a great story about this one that I had to hear it. This guy right, he has his car broken into and the jerks who did it got away with nothing except the CD case to this album. This just happened to be an absolute favourite of his lovely wife, who treasured the album; its liner notes and artwork included. SO this guy, he takes a long lunch break, goes into the city and buys Slanted & Enchanted from Da Das... on Vinyl! That's when liner notes and artwork really meant something. Two really fantastic people and one pretty decent band.

• Freddie Hubbard - A Soul Experiment : Bebop trumpeter Freddie Hubbard has played with everyone from Coltrane to Herbie Hancock and has lead several bands himself. This funky late 60s vinyl rip is a recommendation from a Jazz blog I follow; and who am I to argue?

• Sex Pistols - The Spunk & Spedding Demos : I picked up a special edition of Nevermind the Bollocks... last weekend and it was packaged with a bonus disc of demos. I've put just the bonus on my playlist because I played Bollocks a few weeks back.

• Wax Audio - WMD and Other Distractions / Mediacracy : These two mashup discs contain sound bytes from the War on Terror and the shameful Tampa episode of Australia's political history set to some tight electronic beats. If you haven't heard George Bush Jnr. singing Imagine, or Allan Jones swearing like a wharfie with a broken toe, you need to check this out.

• Prince - Musicology : After declaring the Internet was 'dead', Prince has suddenly popped up into the public psyche again not long before a new LP release. He might be strange, but he's not stupid. Besides, when Prince says the Internet is dead, what he really means is 'I'm too freakin' cool for the Internet'. Regardless what stupid comments he makes, this man is a funk god. Listen to Musicology and get a lesson - coz he's bloody Prince and you're not. Alright?!

• Pegz - Axis : Melbourne Skip Hop legend and Obese Crew member Pegz is a knockabout bloke with a love for Hip Hop (rap and graffiti in particular) as well as VB and cars. Back Then is in my list of 100 favourites and it's track by a man who knows the culture. Every rhyme is true to Hip Hop in Australia. This is a great album full stop.

And there you have it; my listening menu for next week. Have a great time out there and stay safe, cats.

Playlist : July 5th - 8th, 2010

Hey hey kids. Short week this week for me, but not a short list. Short because I have Friday off while the school holidays are on (Mrs @coreyj is an educator) to take Miss Nearly 4 to see her first ever film at the cinema. We're taking her to Toy Story 3, which from what I hear is a good place to start your movie journey.

Speaking of movies, I moved Make Films Not Movies over to WordPress and I am thinking of taking Work Tunes there too. Mainly because I can blog from my iPad with the WordPress app, much easier than I can to Blogger with Safari. I'll let you know.

So the week's list, that I might not get through, looks like this:

• The Roots - How I Got Over
The latest from The Roots and featuring, it seems, a whole mess of artists as diverse as Joanna Newsom and Monsters of Folk.

• Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Since I like my indie twangy, I figured it was time I discover Band of Horses. Where better to start than with their latest, so I don't get in the 'I like your old stuff better' mindset off the bat.

• Beastie Boys - Sounds of Science
Two disc best of compilation from the Buddhist boys from Brooklyn. I just recently bought this collection but have been a Beasties fan since Licensed to Ill never left my tape deck back in the day.

• Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman
It's been a while since I dusted this one off. Still in my opinion Ben Folds' strongest work, including the Ben Folds Five stuff.

• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part
Grinderman last week gave me a taste for Nick Cave, so I've popped on one of my two equal favourite albums from the man (the other being The Boatman's Call that may make it next week).

• Cold Chisel - East
I was admonished on Twitter last week by a friend not to forget my bogan roots. I told him I would always have Cold Chisel around somewhere. I also have a flanell shirt somewhere. Chisel. Barnsie! Noice.

• VA - Sweet Relief II - The Music of Vic Chestnutt
The Sweet Relief project was created to raise money for alt-country songwriter Victoria Williams who had health problems that needed treatment. A bunch of alterna-acts like Pearl Jam (who did the excellent Crazy Mary) covered Williams' songs. This follow up was to raise funds for Vic Chestnutt, eccentric songwriter and brother in law of Madonna (who appears here with Darius Rucker). Stand out tracks from REM, Garbage and Soul Asylum are why I still play this CD.

• Van Halen - 5150
Another nod to my bogan roots. I wouldn't call myself a Van Halen fan, but this particular album has always been top shelf for me. Wether it's just the memories that I associate it with now, or I genuinely like the music, doesn't really matter. It's enjoyable.

• Charlie Parker, Miles Davis - Blue Bird, Legendary Savoy Sessions
I am really starting to appreciate good jazz at work. This is some of the best jazz there is, led by two of the four or five greatest ever jazz musicians. Miles and Bird were not even human, let's be honest. Even the word Genius is selling short these two Gods of jazz. Superb.

If anything there catches your eye, I say check it out. If you like it, pay me back with a recommendation of your own. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?