Tricky Southeastern Surfer Punk (June 17th - 21st)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's my birthday tomorrow and I'm feeling old as dirt, so forgive any grumpiness. Let's all try to forget that I'm turning 35 (again) tomorrow, shall we, and get on with it. I reached for a few old favourites this week. Maybe a touch of nostalgia from the stupid birthday thing? Whatever.

I grabbed U2's reinvention, Achtung Baby and Bright Eyes' (imho) best album, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. There's more favourites in Wilco's Sky Blue Sky and a Punk compilation of music from 1977. Volume 2 of one of my desert island compilations, Rare On Air is also here. There's a few new ones too though, from the magnificent Jason Isbell and from Surfer Blood. I got hold of The Wild because they were filed under Folk Punk and I had to hear what that was like. For something Trip and Hip Hop respectively, I grabbed Tricky's Maxinquaye and Tape Two from Young Fathers; who are believe it or not a rap trio from Scotland. 

Check it out:

• Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
• U2 - Achtung Baby
• Jason Isbell - Southeastern
• Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
• VA - Rare On Air Vol. 2
• Tricky - Maxinquaye
• VA - 1977 - The Spirit Of Punk
• Young Fathers - Tape Two
• The Wild - Dreams Are Maps
• Surfer Blood - Pythons

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Dolorean
2. The National
3. Sonic Youth
4. Concrete Blonde
5. Brother Ali

Song of the Week : The National - Fireproof

This week's SOTW comes from my LPOTW. You all know I dig on The National and their new album has done nothing to harm that fanboy relationship. It's full of solid songs, but the reason I chose this one is because I think it illustrates a lot of what I like so much about The National's sound. 

Fireproof is simple enough, with a consistent riff played throughout as the main backing music. There is a tightly constructed time sig about everything from the percussion to the guitar. And then you get Matt Behringer's vocals and lyrics which seem like a random ramble over the top, always seeming to threaten to get out of time with the track. When he starts singing "Jennifer you are not the only reason..." he sounds like he's mumbling to himself and there happens to be this tight riff under his thoughts. I've always liked the way he phrases a lot of words around a small bit of space.  

Enjoy!

Bye Bye Baby, Baby Goodbye, Baby 

I'm off to the video store (link included for those born after 1995) with the kids to get a bluray for tonight's viewing. I'm hoping Monsters Inc is available or I'll be stuck with The Lion King, or worse, Rio. 

Live long and prosper. No AFL for me this week, so I hope your team does well. 

Hasala malakim.

Old Batman Knights Stage Left (June 4th - 8th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.


Well, this week turned out even sadder than the last one, with our much loved cat Moses shuffling off his fluffy grey coil. Sadder still was Miss 5's little broken heart when I told her the news. It was her first taste of real heartache and it shattered us all to see it. Even Miss 3 who still hasn't quite grasped the cat dying, was upset to see her big sister hurting so bad.


It's a long weekend this week, so I'm going to spend it spoiling the girls and trying to take their minds off their loss. I spent this morning with Miss 3 playing Dora on PS2 while Miss 5 was out at a birthday party. Tomorrow it's Fox and the Hound on the big screen and Monday might be dinosaurs at Scitech. I'll do what I can to bring as much joy as possible to them. For myself, there's always the tunes.


It's a bit of a wildly mixed bag this week. There may be something similar aboout the new Leonard Cohen album and Charlotte Gainsburg's latest effort; Prince's Batman soundtrack would be nothing like Elvis' Sun Sessions. Add to that some Missy Elliott and Surfer Blood, plus Robert Glasper. Finally, more than a passing look at Australian acts with The Avalanches, The Birthday Party and Def Wish Cast all getting a gurnsey.


Check it out:

• Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
• Prince - Batman
• Charlotte Gainsburg - Stage Whisper`
• Elvis - The Sun Sessions
• The Avalanches - Since I Left You
• Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
• The Birthday Party - Prayers On Fire
• Robert Glasper - Black Radio
• Missy Elliott - Under Construction
• Def Wish Cast - Knights of the Underground Table

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Sam Cooke
2. Plug 1 & Plug 2
3. Drive-By Truckers
4. AC/DC
5. Dolorean

Song of the Week : Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set - The Thing About Grief

So, my SOTW is a bit of a sombre one. I'm going with Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set - The Thing About Grief. This morning when we told the kids about Moses, Miss 3 didn't really understand, but I just about heard Miss 5's heart break in two. She was inconsolable and I was instantly reminded of where I'd seen a girl cry that way before - my sister when my Mum died.


It really hurt that my daughter was feeling that and I just couldn't stop it. And then there's the realisation that this is just her first real broken heart and many more will follow. I've never seen her so deeply affected by anything and I hated that I just couldn't stop it for her.


I chose this song because the first time I heard it, I knew that Bowditch had been there. She knew all about the grieving process for young adults / kids. My sister did lose friends because she went through some issues and took a while to recover. I spent a year being stoic and strong but finally lost my shit on the first anniversary after a stressful day on Prac at Mandurah High. And early on in the process, you do get scared to speak their name in case everything bubbles to the surface and you're lost to sadness for weeks.

I hope you enjoy the song, even though the context sucks.

Adieu

Thanks for stopping by. Sorry for being a bit of a damp sponge; Captain Bringdown if you will. Onwards and upwards from here - although the dreaded milestone birthday whose name shall not be spoken, quickly approaches. Hey, at least there'll be paella and presents.

RIP Mosey boy. We miss you. I'll never forget you always standing with your paws up the side of the kitchen cabinet when we were cutting chicken - like you were just stretching and omg did we just accuse you of wanting our food?! And when you ran off and got lost somewhere for months and when we finally accepted you'd probably been run over, you waltzed back in the house - on Easter Sunday.
Best. Cat. Ever.


Go Eagles. Hasala malakim.