Playlist : October 10th - 14th, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Almost ran out of time this week. Monday's dreaded lurgee returned yesterday and stole much of last night. It's still hanging around today and we're meant to be going to a party.

So this hurridly scrambled together list features and old 80s compilation favourite, some world music and The Drones recommended by friends, some new cuts from Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Bjork, Spin's latest playlist and some funkier choices.

Check it out:

• VA - Spin Magazine October Playlist
• The Drones - Havilah
• Bjork - Biophilia
• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Wolfroy Goes To Town
• Horse Feathers - Thistled Spring
• Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth
• Fela Kuti - Anthology 1
• Toy Box Scholars - We Got The Love
  
• Superstar Quamallah - Invisible Man
• VA - 1986 Just For Kicks

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Nirvana
2. Digable Planets
3. Violent Femmes
4. The Whitlams
5. Ryan Adams

Song of the Week : Feist - Cicadas & Gulls

This week I haven’t paid much attention to the tunes I’ve been hearing, but one album that made an impact was the new Feist – Metals. I didn’t mind their last album, but it was just your standard pop set with that solid 1 2 3 4 single. This one is very different. It’s very quiet and sparse and the songs are far less upbeat and hopeful.

I picked Cicadas & Gulls because it’s even more raw than the rest of the album. This track and a couple of others sound like they’ve been recorded through an old four track mixer to cassette tape live. See what you think.

Ciao

That's it for another week. Off to that party, which is a 1 year old birthday.We've been given the all clear to bring our germs if we promise not to sneeze on the barbecue.

Adieu until next time. Hasala malakim.

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:

• Seu George - The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions
• Nirvana - Nevermind (Super Deluxe)
• Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire
• Counting Crows - August and Everything After: Live At Town Hall
• The National - Boxer
• The Whitlams - Undeniably Whitlams
• Violent Femmes - Viva Wisconsin
• Superstar Quamallah & Deqawn – Talkin’ All That Jazz
  
• Feist - Metals
• Boogie Down Productions - Ghetto Music : The Blueprint of Hip Hop

Top Five Artists Last Week

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.

Playlist September 26th - 30th, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Sad news on the band front this week with R.E.M. announcing they've broken up. I put the first Best Of compilation from IRS in this week's list because it is my number 1 desert island disc. When Out Of Time was huge, I was riding buses to Uni with that and this almost permanently stuck in my ears. R.E.M. were a great band who did everything their own way. Fame and fortune took a long time because they refused to play by the rules. While they probably represented dinosaur rock in their later years, they were at heart Indie as hell.

I was also saddened that I couldn't connect with the latest offering from Tori Amos. Maybe I just don't dig the classical vibe. I've added Little Earthquakes so as not to forget what's so great about our Ellen. Along with disc 4 of Left of the Dial, I've added two other compilations; the soundtrack from a great film I saw recently, Once, which features the band The Swell Season, as well as Live On Letterman, a collection of Late Show performances.

A dose of Camera Obscura and the last Brother Ali album, plus some Sly to keep it funky and here's what you get:

• VA - Left of the Dial : Dispatches from the 80s Underground (Disc Four)
• Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
• Sly & The Family Stone - A Whole New Thing
• VA - Live on Letterman : Music From the Late Show
• Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
• Brother Ali - Us
• VA - Once OST
• Gram Parsons - GP
  
• REM - The Best of REM (IRS)
• Bjork - Telegram

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Iron & Wine
2. Tori Amos
3. Sad Dracula
4. Talib Kweli
5. Marvelous Mag

Song of the Week : R.E.M. - (Don't Go Back To) Rockville

The best bands will always be an integral part of your life for a time or for always. Your favourite songs will always resonate with a moment of your life whether by being the soundtrack or by having lyrics that feel custom written. The really, really loved songs will always have a story. This one’s got two.

The first comes from the REM bio I have called It Crawled From The South. The story goes that Rockville was originally a faster, almost metal thrasher and the producer for the album really wanted it to make the cut. So REM being REM decided to switch it to this style and put it on.

The second story is about a guy who was chasing the object of his unrequited high school affections. Every year something would delay this guy and his intended from getting it together. When the perfect time came to make a case and ask her out, she decided she was going to go teach in the country.

Cue boy on bus to Uni playing Rockville over and over… “Don’t go back to Rockville and waste another year.” Cue the sour grapes of “It’s not as though I really need you.” Cue the empty threats of “Walk home to an empty house, sit around all by yourself”. Cue the insulting “I believe you’ll be coming back before too long.” This song is not the only REM song to have meant something so personal to me over the years, but it’s my favourite of all of them.

Over and Out

There's another week worth of listening for you. Thanks for stopping by.

Earlier tonight I caught a special event screening of Nirvana Live At Paramount to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Nevermind. If you're a fan of the band, or even just of good and raw live music, I highly recommend you head over to getmusic and grab a copy. It was an amazing concert and the sound in the cinema was incredible, so grab the bluray and use your swanky home theatre system.

Good luck to my football team this weekend. I am sorry to say that they will very much need it. Regardless, you will not hear me complain about their effort and dedication this year. Well done Eagles, I forgive you for 2010.

Until next week, all power to the people and hasala malakim.

Playlist : September 19th - 23rd, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

In a really tiresome task, I am still dealing with transferring my music from my iPod, CDs and dodgy hard drive onto my shiny new 2TB drive alotted just for tunes. Not having access to everything is limiting my lists more than is ideal. Regardless, I've grabbbed a stack of tracks and they should see me right.

I'm continuing on with Left of the Dial, with disc 3 up next. There's a few new ones from old favourites Wilco, Tori Amos and Blind Pilot; plus a few I haven't heard in ages like Silverchair's debut. I'm spinning random Ryan Adams side project Sad Dracula, because I'm so excited about Grizzly's new album out soon. Ice T gets a guernsey because I have that classic rap album on order in nice shiny wax form.

Check it out.

• VA - Left of the Dial : Dispatches from the 80s Underground (Disc Three)
• Tori Amos - Night of Hunters
• Wilco - The Whole Love
• Talib Kweli - The Beautiful Struggle
• Ice T - The Iceberg / Freedom of Speech (Just Watch What You Say)
• Blind Pilot - We Are The Tide
• Sad Dracula - Fasterpiece
• Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo – Songs of Mirth and Melancholy
  
• Iron & Wine - Around The Well
• Silverchair - Frogstomp

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Concrete Blonde
2. Whiskeytown
3. Shonen Knife
4. John Lennon
5. Kidz in the Hall

Song of the Week : Shonen Knife - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker

Today’s SOTW is brought to you by those kick ass little ladies from Japan called Shonen Knife. It comes from their latest release Osaka Ramones : A Tribute to the Ramones. I’ve always enjoyed Shonen Knife’s brand of high energy pop punk and on this album, sprinkled liberally all over 13 great Ramones tracks, it is even more amazing than usual.

The best thing about this tribute album is it instantly gives me an all-girl group doing accessible, mostly family-safe songs for my girls to enjoy. I chose Sheena Is A Punk Rocker because the Ramones version is already one of their favourites. They often sing it as Daddy is a Punk Rocker. I like that.

Bye

So that's another working week done and dusted with the weekend in the bag. If you're a West Coast fan, you'll want to be at the game or in front of the tv tonight cheering on the mighty blue and gold. If you're not, you probably want to watch anyway and seethe with bitterness while willing them to lose. Either way, bring it on.

Until next week, don't get hung up man, stay cool. Hasala malakim.

Once again, asalaam alikum brothers and sisters.

Playlist : September 12th - 16th, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

A rushed entry and list this week as I've barely been near a computer all weekend. That of course is not a bad thing, but it makes it hard to find time to program the week's listening.

What I ended up reaching for is a few favourites and a couple of new ones I wanted to listen to. Here's what I've got:

• VA - Left of the Dial : Dispatches from the 80s Underground (Disc Two)
• Marvelous Mag - Soul City
• REM - Dead Letter Office
• Whiskeytown - Rural Free Delivery
• VA - Spin Magazine September
• Kidz In The Hall - The In Crowd
• Duran Duran - Ten Great Songs
• Concrete Blonde - Concrete Blonde
• Shonen Knife - Osaka Ramones : Tribute to the Ramones
• John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. A Tribe Called Quest
2. Patti Smith
3. Dennis Wilson
4. Sloan
5. The Herd

Song of the Week : Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit

It wasn't an easy pick to begin with, but given the impending Nirvana Live at the Paramount event in a fortnight (James get a ticket and meet me there! Carousel 7pm Fri September 23) and just for your enjoyment and collection purposes, I chose Patti Smith's cover of Smells Like teen Spirit.

Patti gives the song a bluegrassy funeral march sound and then uses the instrumental break to spout her unique brand of poetry over it. I'm not sure I agree with this sort of self-indulgence all over my generation's holy hymn, but hey, at least she isn't Taylor Swift right? And if anyone has earned the right to reinterpret a magical song from someone else's era, of the two I would say Patti has paid her dues. As far as Patti Smith covers go, this isn't Gloria which we all know she put a massive PS stamp all over, but it sure isn't Madonna doing American Pie either. Enjoy.

Toodles

Thanks for coming. Sorry to love you and leave you. Before you go, if you get a chance, make sure you see Cave of Forgotten Dreams on the big screen in 3D. I saw it today and on more than one occasion was mesmerised in quiet awe. It's an amazing use of the gimmicky 3D technology to be taken through the ripples and jagged edges of the Chauvet caves and stare in wonder at 35,000 year old paintings. Nothing this cool ever stays around for long in cinemas, so get out and see it now.

Once again, asalaam alikum brothers and sisters.

Playlist : September 5th - 9th, 2011

Hello and welcome to another Work Tunes.

This week's list is fairly diverse and includes some new selections as well as old, Oz Hip Hop, 90s alternatunes, ATCQ inspired by Michael Rappaport's documentary, 60s/70s cuts and disc one of an 80s underground compilation.

Let's get right into it.

• VA - Left of the Dial : Dispatches from the 80s Underground (Disc One)
• Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue
• Patti Smith - Outside Society
• The Herd - Future Shade
• Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan
• Sloan - Select Singles
• The Sundays - Blind
• Josh Rouse and the Long Vacations - Josh Rouse and the Long Vacations
• Gotye - Making Mirrors
• A Tribe Called Quest - The Love Movement

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Velvet Underground
2. Bob Dylan
3. R.E.M.
4. Blitzen Trapper
5. The Replacements

Song of the Week : Nas - Not Going Back

On the drive from Rockingham to Kwinana on Saturday, I saw some of the dodgiest people and places I’ve seen in a while. I pulled up into my old local petrol station to fuel the car and there’s six blokes squeezed into a beaten up SS Commodore, smoking at the pump, mind. And of course, giving me the absolute death stares.

It made me think about a time when I would have asked them wtf they were staring at. But I just don’t have that mentality now and I can’t believe that anyone does. But it’s everywhere you look down there. It’s some kind of pre-emptive defense mechanism where they just treat everyone who isn’t their own as if they mean to do them harm or should be harmed.

Shit goes deep but it probably stems from feeling like you’re backed into a corner and there isn’t a way out. I used to feel it and I don’t anymore. My song is Nas – I’m Not Going Back. And though it’s all about not going back to being a criminal, for me it’s about how I just don’t belong down there anymore.

Goodbye for Now

Enjoy the tunes. Happy Father's Day to all the Australian Dads for Sunday. I hope your is as good as mine.

As always, asalaam alikum.

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.