Afraid of Wild Stone Angels (April 1st - 5th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Happy Easter! I trust your Good Friday is suitably good thus far. Mine has been full of driving around looking for a spot to park along the river in hopes of checking out a sculpture walk at Deep Water Point. No such luck though, as Perth loves their river on a holiday. So we've been to a playground or two and now we're back home in anticipation of fish & chips tonight - as you do.

A couple of cracking new albums this week from Wavves and Telekinesis. This Wavves set sounds like Nirvana but in a "geez I've missed this sound" way, rather than a "stop ripping off my idols" kind of way. I grabbed some Australian flavour from You Am I and The Waifs. The reading I've been doing about Gram Parsons helped me choose the Anthology and I'll be bringing the second disc next week. Gram put Gillian Welch in my head, so I grabbed her fantastic Time (The Revelator) album. Because too much alt country folk is never enough, there's a Paste sampler of some more twang. But don't worry, the soulful and funky side gets a spin too, with Sly & the Family Stone, Public Enemy and the soundtrack to Hip Hop culture touchstone Wild Style. 

Check it out:

• Wavves - Afraid of Heights
• Telekinesis - Dormarion
• The Waifs - Up All Night
• Gram Parsons - Sacred Hearts & Fallen Angels : Anthology (Disc 1)
• Sly & the Family Stone - Stand!
• You Am I - Hourly, Daily
• VA - Wild Style OST
• Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
• VA- Paste Magazine: Sounds Like Home
• Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Guns n' Roses
2. Billy Bragg
3. Joshua James
4. Radiohead
5. Gram Parsons

Song of the Week : Gram Parsons - $1000 Wedding

Lately I've been reading a bit about Gram Parsons, because there was a feature in last month's Uncut. That got me to finally get around to reading the 30 page booklet that came with my Gram Parsons Anthology CD box. Through this reading I have learned a few things I didn't know. Firstly, his real first name is Ingram, his father committed suicide by gunshot and $1000 Wedding is the saddest damn country song there ever was. 

I've always found it a little on the sad side, but that was when I just thought the groom in the piece had been left at the altar and his bride had run off. It turns out, the released version doesn't make it clear but the original (rejected by the Byrds) version does : the bride has killed herself the morning of the wedding,

So now when you hear it, know that's what has happened. The rumble of the guests builds slow as someone finds out and the notes begin passing. The groom notices that everyone looks sad and jokes about it being more like a funeral. Then when he finally hears what's happened, he goes on a self-destructive bender with his mates and confesses that his bride has had her problems - and the lies on their faces show him they already knew. Then comes the actual funeral with the preacher at the pulpit sermonising about the angels and devils. 

It's small town tragedy in a microcosm. Gram's voice is broken and wavy while Emmylou croons like the angels in the sermon - as if the ghost of the bride is singing along. 

I've always liked this song, but now I love it. Curse you David Crosby for rejecting the original! I also have an Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield duet of it on the Gram Parsons Tribute album, which is different but can't get close to Gram and Emmylou.  

Happy Easter

That's all there is for another week at work. Enjoy your holiday break whether you celebrate or even believe in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The important thing about that man is what he had to say; and he didn't say hate on everyone else who isn't like you. So cut that shit out. 

Hasala malakim.

Evil Drive-By Jacksonville Stooges (October 8th - 12th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's Saturday afternoon and I'm just now finishing off this list. I sat up late writing a review of The Town over at Make Films Not Movies, which I have been meaning to do for ages. Luckily, ideas for tunes weren't oo hard to come by this week. 

First up, I have a couple of favourite Australian albums. You Am I's Hi Fi Way has been a staple for me since release. Originally I had the cassette, which I still have, but it's a little worn out. The other is The Hummingbird's loveBUZZ. Another cassette that I bought purely because it was the name of the Nirvana song from Bleach. I didn't know The Hummingbirds at the time. 

A link from a friend made me think of this Prince album of unreleased songs. I couldn't go past the brand new Public Enemy and I slipped in a rap classic from Dr Dre to compliment it. 

A mid week beer and a spin of Jacksonville City Nights' drunken heartbreak put that on my list. After Jason Isbell made SOTW last week, I thought I'd have some Drive-By Truckers from when he was with them. Nicely going along with both of these is the timeless folk of Bob Dylan's first real masterpiece. 

Scoring a free sampler from Spunk Records for Laneway was a blessing and I picked The Stooges because I wanted something to put some dirt in the whole bag.

Check it out:

• Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin'
• The Hummingbirds - LoveBUZZ
• Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights
• Public Enemy - The Evil Empire of Everything
• Prince - Vault: Old Friends For Sale
• You Am I - Hi Fi Way
• VA - Spunk Records Laneway Sampler
• The Stooges - Funhouse
• Dr Dre - The Chronic
• Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Brother Ali
2. Mumford & Sons
3. Thurston Moore
4. Paul Kelly & The Stormwater Boys
5. Devo

Song of the Week : Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Cigarettes & Wine (Acoustic)

I was two seconds away from selecting Deep Purple for my SOTW and an instant of reflection on my day changed my mind. On exhausting days like this one, I have this rather effective internal reset button. I don't even use it consciously, but it always happens when I feel like I've hit a massive wall. What is it? One beer and about 20 minutes of guitar.

So Wednesday after work I found myself, Stella and 12 string in hand, searching the internet for the tab to this song. Like the sentiment of the song itself, the chords are simple. I like singing and playing this song because it's so raw in this format and so honest in the lyric with  perhaps the least romantic chorus ever:

She smelled like cigarettes and wine
She kept me happy all the time I know that ain't much of a line
But it's the God's own truth

The key change at the chorus is effective too. It makes it sound drunk and pleading. I think I'll need to find something to play tonight too, because the day wears on.


Ciao 

Thanks for stopping by. The next Work Tunes will be written on a new computer, so here's hoping it goes off without a hitch. Whatever you are doing this fine (in Perth, anyway) weekend, have yourself a merry little weekend-mas. Be excellent to each other.

Hasala malakim.

Good Handwritten Passion Anthems (July 23rd - 27th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Not a lot to report this week. It was a big week at work with important presentations to be made and what have you. Oh and performance reviews (dun dun DUN!) Last weekend was the end of Rev and I managed to see Surviving Progress and finish it up with the locally produced Buff (congrats to Director, Gavin Bond on a really funny little documentary). That's about the whole week, so i suppose it's on with the music.


It's mostly new stuff this week. There's the solo effort from Angus Stone thanks to a workmate who hooked me up; I have some new rap from Nas and Public Enemy; American Songwriter put out a sampler for July and that is here; the latest from Passion Pit, Gaslight Anthem and Anaïs Mitchell are here; an old favourite from Josh Rouse; and finally there's the second disc of Neil Young - Decade and the best of Stevie Nicks.

Check it out:

• Josh Rouse - Nashville
• Angus Stone - Broken Brights
• Nas - Life Is Good
• Public Enemy - Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear On No Stamp
• VA - American Songwriter Muse July Sampler
• Stevie Nicks - Timespace - The Best of Stevie Nicks
• Neil Young - Decade (Disc Two)
• Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
• Anaïs Mitchell - Young Man In America
• Passion Pit - Gossamer

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Augie March
2. Neil Young
3. Ben Lee
4. Split Enz
5. JEFF the Brotherhood

Song of the Week :Wilco - Impossible Germany

This week's song is Impossible Germany from Wilco. I know, another Wilco track Corey, how novel. But this is one of those weeks where it couldn't have been anything else. 


Yesterday I finally managed to watch the DVD that came with my copy of Sky Blue Sky. Before a live in a lounge room performance of the song, Tweedy explained what it was about. It's about where you think you might be on the day you wake up out of denial and decide you have to fix what's wrong. For Tweedy of course, that was drugs. 


What I like most about this song is the extended instrumental break that closes it. In particular I like the solo which starts off so sweet and mellow and degenerates into metallic noise. Given the stated subject matter of the song, you could see the ending as representative of the journey of drug addiction; with the initial bliss of the drug at the beginning which takes a dive into nightmare by the end. 


Some comedian who I can never remember once said of Wilco something like 'Tweedy has deep and sensitive emotions that he tries to express through soft and gentle songs, but it's no good because someone always comes along and plays a solo with a chainsaw'. I think maybe they were listening to Impossible Germany when they wrote that. 

Bye Bye 

There's your tunes for another working week. Hopefully something sparks your interest and sets you on a new musical journey. Or not. Be excellent to each other. Peace be with you and all that good stuff.


Go Eagles. Hasala malakim.

Playlist : January 30th - February 3rd, 2012

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


It feels like it's been one long tun of short weeks this year so far, but I have Tuesday off this week too. After a babysitting dilemma, I decided to stay home and take Miss 5 to see Hugo. I'm really looking forward to seeing what Scorsese does with not just the 3D, but his utter love of cinema and the early history of film-making. I can't wait.


For the soundtrack of my working week, I've got the self-titled LP from The Felice Brothers; the debuts of Iron & Wine and First Aid Kit; some James Taylor because I only just discovered Dolorean's Hey Mister, That's Me On The Jukebox was a Taylor cover; Fear Of A Black Planet because I just bought the vinyl; a Lost Highway compilation; classics from The Flaming Lips and U2; my favourite hot summer album, Crazy For You from Best Coast and finally Hilltop's State of the Art because I have a Hoods gig on Friday night.


Check it out:

• Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank The Cradle
• Hilltop Hoods - State of the Art
• Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
• The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers
• VA - Lost & Found Vol. 1
• James Taylor - Mud Slide Slim
• Best Coast - Crazy For You
• First Aid Kit - The Big Black And The Blue
• U2 - The Joshua Tree
• The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Bob Dylan
   
2. Nada Surf
3. Belle and Sebastian
4. Lil' Kim
5. Concrete Blonde

Song of the Week : First Aid Kit - King of the World

I had a tough decision to make between two songs that have stuck with me this week, so I chose the one I think you’ll all prefer. I only just discovered this band First Aid Kit through the NPR stream of their latest LP The Lion’s Roar. They are a duo of sisters from Stockholm who play kind of freak folk style tunes. Wiki says Fleet Foxes and Joanna Newsom are influences, but I heard a bit of Bright Eyes too. Lo and behold, there’s Conor Oberst on the final track of this album – King of the World.


King of the World sounds more like a Bright Eyes song than a First Aid Kit song, almost like Conor co-wrote it, but I don’t think he did. It’s a very wordy track with that rollicking hoedown style that Bright Eyes sometimes does (never, ever stop in the middle of a hoedown!). See what you think anyway. I dig the band a lot and will be checking out their debut album next week.


Enjoy. 

Congé

If you get the chance, check out the new Nada Surf. The song Teenage Dreams was almost my Song of the Week. They don't sound much like the guys who released Popular all those moons ago.


That's it for this week. Try and stay cool and happy for the rest of the week. I'll see you back here next week, no doubt still buzzing from the Hoods. Congratulations to Gotye on the most unsurprising JJJ Hottest #1 since Oasis - Wonderwall. It really is a great track and deserves all the attention it has had all year.


Hasala malakim.

Playlist : August 29th - September 2nd, 2011

Hello and welcome to a somewhat more normal edition of Work Tunes.

After last week's technology-related debacle, I am back to some semblence of normalcy at home in terms of my PC. The best thing was being able to overwrite the library for a brand new installation of iTunes with my old library file - instantly giving me back all my playlists and info. Yay! So picking a list to hear at work this week was a lot easier.

For listening duties this week, I've gone pretty heavy for the classic rock (*shock horror*) with a bit of Dylan, The Who, Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin and The Replacements as well as R.E.M.'s punchy rock set Monster. Representing my Hip Hop sensibilities, Public Enemy's Apocalypse '91 and the Native Tongue sounds of Black Sheep's Non-Fiction. Throw in some hipper vibes from Blitzen Trapper and Head and the Heart and you got yourself a playlist.

Check it out:

• Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing
• The Who - My Generation : The Best of The Who
• Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91 : The Enemy Strikes Black
• Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
• Velvet Underground - Loaded (Deluxe)
• Head and the Heart - Head and the Heart
• R.E.M. - Monster
• Black Sheep – Non-Fiction
• Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding
• The Replacements - Tim

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. The Throne
2. Thin Lizzy
3. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
4. Primus
5. The Autumn Defense

Song of the Week : Dolorean - Black Hills Gold

Dolorean - Black Hills Gold is a tribute to the late Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson. I knew Wilson had drowned, but the story about how is what the video for this song is based on and I did not know the story. Here is what Al James said about it:

In 1983, however, he gave into the darkness and drowned at Marina Del Rey, the dock where his beloved sailboat "The Harmony" was once moored. He spent that day drinking and swimming, discovering bits of his life that had been thrown overboard years before during an explosive argument with an ex-wife. Dennis dove into the ocean over and over retrieving memories of his love and his life that were buried at sea. Ultimately, he dove too deep and was washed out into the abyss.

That has stuck with me since I read it on Monday and watched the video:

The song itself is more about what it takes to pull the gold out of the ground and craft it into a ring and how throwing that ring away means more than just a betrayal of the relationship. Interesting and eternally deep. Hope you dig it.

Ciao Bambinos

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find something new and inspiring to listen to, or just enjoy the terrific Dolorean video. See you next week, same bat time; same bat channel.

Playlist : June 13th - 17th, 2011

Hey there tunesters. How's everybody doing? You comfortable? Good.

In music news for me this week, I snared a cheap Yamaha RX-550 amp at the Melville markets, along with some Hendrix and Blondie vinyl and some bargain CDs. A few of the CDs I bought have made it onto the list this week. Besides those from Beastie Boys, Ben Folds Five, Prince and the Friends soundtrack, there's the new Daisy, Kitty and Lewis for a bit of brand new old timey rock n roll, some Public Enemy because Chuck D himself now follows me on Twitter (squeeee...) and some other stuff. I added some David Bowie because I feel like my Bowie education is very poor, even though I appreciate much of what I do know.

So this week;

• VA - The Breakers '83
• Best Coast - iTunes Session EP
• Prince - The Black Album
• Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen (Reissue Edition)
• VA - Friends Soundtrack
• Beastie Boys - Solid Gold Hits
• Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs - Under The Covers Vol. 1
• Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow
• Public Enemy - Beats and Places
• Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Smoking In Heaven
• David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. The Herd
2. Mos Def
3. The Vines
4. Lucinda Williams
5. Dolorean

Song of the Week : REO Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You

So with my new amp, I have been spinning much vinyl. Besides the Hendrix and Blondie I bought, I have been reaching for 80s compilations that I still have from back in the day, or I got for $2 at various op shops over the years. I’ve rocked out to Duran Duran, Men Without Hats, Falco, Austen Tayshus, you name it.

But the one song that really still RAWKS for me is today’s SOTW; REO Speedwagon – Keep On Loving You. The subtle snake rattle, the grinding pick scrape, the blazing high solo and the cleanly rumbling rhythm crunch just make me want to do that thing Homer does when he throws horns and bangs his head going Yes! Yes! Yes! to Phish or someone.

This freakin’ song, for all its big hair and glam 80s pop juts kicks so much butt. Gentleman, in the words of the immortal Mr Bob Dylan “Play it fawkin loud!”

Ciao Bambinos

For now then, that's all I've got. Enjoy your working week and may Friday afternoon come with speed and precision. Don't forget to be excellent to each other. Stay kooky, kids.

Playlist : December 13th - 17th, 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like Festivus. Not that you'd know it from this week's list, as there is very little Christmas cheer in amongst this lot.

I suppose the brand new Cardinals set is kind of Christmassy, as I've bought it for myself to go with the turntable I bought for Christmas. But Chuck D and Will Oldham and Josh Ritter, even Ben Folds, they don't care for your 'holiday spirit'.

Check it out.

• Josh Ritter - The Animal Years : This 2006 release from Josh Ritter is a set of folk-infused melancholy tunes with some stunning lyrics. The standout for me is Girl In The War which seems to be about St Peter and St Paul complaining about God's infinite wisdom with one of them in love with a human at war.

• Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five : I haven't dusted off this classic debut in a while, and with Ben Folds announcing a tour to our fair city, it seemed appropriate. Undergorund was a great song of it's time when everyone was too cool for the mainstream - how quickly we were co-opted and exploited as an advertising market.

• Public Enemy - How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul : Speaking of Advertising - who stole the soul? With Mistachuck on rotation this week, I thought a bit of Public Enemy would go along nicely. This LP is far from the pinnacle of PE's best art, but it does have some halfway decent tunes to offer.

• Pearl Jam - Riot Act : I don't give a lot of playlist love to Pearl Jam; not a lot of love period these days. Not because I don't like any of their music, but I suppose they lost me after Vitalogy and I'm working my way back. This is a start.

• Mistachuck - Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin' : Only last week I discovered that Chuck D had finally followed up 1996's (to my mind) outstanding solo effort The Autobiography of Mistachuck.I haven't had more than a cursory listen to this so far, but from what I can gather, it is more of Chuck's hard rhyming, polemical, insightful, politically-aware word bombs. ...Excellent *rubs hands in Mr Burnsesque manner*

• VA - Q - Sounds of the New West : When I bought this compilation CD, secondhand from a hock shop, it was only because I'd recently gotten into Alt Country. Since then, it's introduced me to a whole bunch of my favourite acts like Silver Jews, Neal Casal and Josh Rouse. On top of that, Kate Campbell's superb slice of history on the civil rights march to Washington, Crazy in Alabama, has given my oldest daughter her favourite song and an abridged history lesson from me. It's one of the best things about music that a disc originally free with a magazine can do all that.

• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Unfinal Call : I hadn't heard of Will Oldham or his sometimes band Palace Music, when I saw Old Joy (2006) which screened at Perth Revelation Film Festival. That film had a soundtrack all by Oldham and it suited the chilly, sparsely populated landscapes of the film. Since then I've checked a few albums out and found them uniquely maudlin and forlorn. This is Oldham's very latest offering.

• R.E.M. – Murmur : An old favourite R.E.M. album and their debut LP. Legend has it the album took it's name from Micheal 'Mumbly Joe' Stipe's delivery and the way Peter Buck's strings were high in the mix, obscuring the lyrics of each song deliberately. Stand outs are the well-known Radio Free Europe, the jaunty Laughing and Talk About the Passion.

• Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – III/IV : It's no secret that I'm a Radams fan. That's why I have the brand new III/IV vinyl set on pre-order. That will ship on December 14th, but in the meantime, there's this. These albums were cut around the time of Easy Tiger, but they sound a lot more like Cardinology on preview. There's quite a bit of rock and/or roll going on, where as Easy Tiger had a little more jangle.

• VA – The Beavis and Butthead Experience : The MTV cartoon with the sniveling teenage metal-heads hasn't aged particularly well. Though, the far superior full length feature Beavis & Butthead Do America is still brilliant. What this is, when you get past the audio clips of the annoying duo, is a bunch of great bands (and Cher) and some hard rock. This compilation is well worth a listen if only for the obscure Nirvana track I Hate Myself and I Want to Die,

That's it for this week. Next week I'll be listening to my 10 Best Albums of 2010 list. There were a few that picked themselves, but it was difficult to cull the list down to just ten. Come back and see what I chose and leave me outraged comments if you like.

Until then, kick back with your own special brand of bliss and have a great weekend.

Free Julian Assange. Viva La Wikileaks.