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 26th - 30th, 2010

Hey cats, what's shaking? I'm on a post-Revelation come down this week. I saw a bunch of really great films and you can read how great they were over at MFNM The only bummer with this year's festival (and I really shouldn't complain about it) was that attendances were up 40% It felt like it too. It's great to see more Perth people getting along to decent cinema, but maybe leave the bourbons and beers at the bar hey?

To the Music!

• Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I : Maybe its the new full beard, but my mood has been increasingly 70s of late. Ok, so this cut is from 1969, but I wanted some Zeppelin. Led Zep I got me into University. Along with Pink Floyd - Obscured by Clouds, it was the only thing I listened to while I studied for the TEE (the second time at Canning College - there was no studying at Kwinana HS).

• VA - Jazz of the Beat Generation : It's no secret that I'm a beatnik sympathiser, if not a card carrying member. This exploitative compilation is a bunch of bebop tracks with a sprinkle of novelty songs. Every song sounds like it came straight out of a 50s afternoon matinee movie.

• America - The Complete Greatest Hits : More sweet 70s honey-dripped aural magic from sound-too-stoned-to-rock-out America. I have always had a very big soft spot for Sister Golden Hair and Ventura Highway. Expect more classic 70s rock next week.

• VA - Brooklyn Radio 1987 : An online streamed mixtape of classic hip hop tracks from 1987 compiled by Brooklyn's own Rub Radio. In little more than an hour, this excellent mix throws in Eric B & Rakim, Public Enemy, Doug E Fresh and a stack more first class acts from back in the day.

• Cowboy Junkies - Lay It Down : Among my favourite bands, Cowboy Junkies have been turning out great albums since the 80. This LP contains Bea's Song (River Song Trilogy) which with Sun Comes Up... is also my favorite CJs song.

• VA - Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine : Embarrassingly, the first I knew of John Prine was Evan Dando's cover of Sam Stone, even though I had seen him performing in footage of Newport and some protest rallies where I was watching for Dylan This compilation is a bunch o John Prine covers but doesn't include Dando's terrific cover. It does however have Old Crow Medicine Show, Conor Oberst, Lambchop, Drive-By Truckers and other notable indie, country-friendly acts.
  

• U2 - Zooropa : A long, long time has passed since I listened to this album religiously with Achtung Baby; headphones jammed in my ears on the three buses from Leda to Mt Lawley. I'm interested to know if it's held up well. I do still recall when U2 were kings of the world.

• Whiskeytown - Rural Free Delivery : Yes, I'm a total Whiskeytown tragic and if I could I would spin an album every week. This time though, Ive gone with something rare; the band's earliest limited release LP which features embrionic trcks that were later rewritten and some that were discarded. For me there is no bad Whiskeytown song. But I'm tragic, as mentioned.
  

• Sound Providers - Looking Backwards: 2001 - 1998 : A jazzy mix of horns, beats and breaks with some soulful rhyming and a squeeze of mellow. Yep, that's Jazz Hop all over.

• John Coltrane - Lush Life : To paraphrase the lovely Ms Dorothy Parker, I love bebop because its a bebop kind of town. Actually, Perth is very far from a bebop kind of town, but I wanted to make the Parker reference (which I can't make anymore without seeing Jennifer Jason Leigh drunk, sipping cocktails). Seriously though, I love bebop, you dig? And Trane is the boppiest. Wail man. Right on.
  

Until next week, let me leave you with piece of advice I've been giving myself lately :

Don't get hung up man. Stay cool.

Playlist : July 19 - 23, 2010

Just a quick post today. Still in the grips of Revelation fever. Two more films to see tomorrow and trying to get a few reviews together. A lot of what is on this list is inspired by one film from Revelation - The Family Jams.

• R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction : This fantastic R.E.M. album has recently been reissued in a special edition boxset, remastered and given the royal treatment. I thought I'd listen to the original.
  

• VA - Jazz In Paris Remixed : A sort of electronic chill remix compilation of some classic jazz standards. Good for ear / brain wallpaper sound.

• Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP : The new Eminem album, Recovery, is somewhat closer to the peek of Eminem's prowess, but still a long way from the absolute zenith that is The Marshall Mathers LP.

• Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Monster : The first of the albums on this list inspired by The Family Jams. Joanna Newsom stole the limelight of that film from Devendra Banhart and made me want to revisit this fabulously quirky disc.

• Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged : I haven't listened to Pearl Jam in quite some time. I felt this rarity was a good way to revisit them.
  

• Michael Jackson - Off The Wall : Talking of people at the height of their powers, this wasn't Michael's. But it was certainly the start of an upward swing of titanic proportions. Get your disco pants on, we're going dancing.

• The Pleased - One Piece From The Middle : Another band to appear albeit briefly in The Family Jams. I'd never heard of these guys, but they rocked, so I figured I'd check them out.
  

• Black Sabbath - Paranoid : Miss Nearly 4 loves, LOVES, Iron Man from this album. She was singing it all last week, so I'm listening to Paranoid to exorcise the demons of that song in my head...
  

• Uncle Tupelo - Still Feel Gone : Alt Country pioneers and Wilco spawners Uncle Tupelo lay down weary whiskey soaked tunes of resentment, self-loathing and distorted Americana.

• Vetiver - Tight Knit : The last of the bands from The Family Jams on this list. I hadn't heard of Vetiver either, but I was suitably impressed by the soulful acoustic performances shown. Well worth a spin.

As you were then, people. Election on August 21, hey?

Vote 1 GetStuffedTheLotOfYou

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?

Playlist : June 28th - July 2nd

Hey there cats. What a week it's been in politics, hey? Nevermind. To the music. This week there seems to be a bit of a Best Of thing happening. That's mostly a case of not knowing which album to chose and wanting a variety of songs from the artist. Anyway, it looks like this.

US3 - Broadway & 52nd
US3s debut album, the very cool Hand On The Torch was in last week's list. It was good to hear it again. This is the equally groovy follow up. By the third album, An Extraordinary Day in an Ordinary Place, something wasn't quite right with US3 for me.




The Whitlams - Truth, Beauty and a Picture Of You
Maybe it was the link to Gough Whitlam and his dismissal, or maybe it was Juli Gillard's 'aphrodesiac' red hair, but The Whitlams sprang to mind this week.A Best Of retrospective of Tim Freidman and co. I was late to The Whitlams, I'm ashamed to say. JJJ turned me on to them with No Aphrodesiac. It's a shame, because by that time they had already had several solid albums and told a great many tales of Australian suburbia.


Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
The self-titled solo album (as if there's much difference) from Mr Bright Eyes is more of the same, wonderfully whiney yet quirkily optimistic indie jewels. I can't get enough Bright Eyes. If there's a cooler song than Lua about drug and alcohol abuse, I haven't heard it. But I can't pass up an opportunity to point out that the Gillian Welch and Conor Oberst duet version is far superior to the Bright Eyes original.


James Brown - Sex Machine
Get on the good foot cats, get up off that thing and feel good. The Godfather of Soul. The hardest working man in show business. The amazing Mr Please Pleas himself, JAMES BROWN! Ow!!!
Every day can suddenly become a lot less stressful and a whole lot more energised with a dose or two of the Godfather. Warning - may cause severe Funkitis. If effected, perform an immediate Boogiectomy.


Van Morrison - The Best of Van Morrison
After disrespecting Van the Man last week by pointing out that Patti Smith does Gloria better than he does, I thought I'd pay penance and remind myself of all the songs the man does best. From the pure romance of Moondance to the sweet soul of Sweet Thing, you got to love Van.



Miles Davis - The Birth of the Cool
Nothing I could write about Miles Davis or this album would ever do either true justice. This is just what it says it is - The Birth of the Cool. The brand new cool jazz sound that took the genre out of bebop and exploded into the 1950s is here exemplified by Miles Davis and other exceptional talents including Max Roach on drums and Gerry Mulligan on saxophone.


VA - Uncut: The New Frontier
A collection of various alt-country tracks compiled by Uncut Magazine in 2007. I do love me some alt-country. This one has Bright Eyes - Lua, funny enough, as well as great tracks from The Dexateens, Sufjan Stevens and Josh Ritter. It's not often I put compilations on my list, but a good bit of twang is always appreciated early in the week.


The Stooges - Funhouse
Because I usually reach for The Stooges outstanding self-titled debut, I decided to go with the follow up for something a little crunchy. The chaotic swirl of the 1970 is in enjoyable contrast of the rockabilly roll of the previous album's 1969 - as if The Stooges were taking anarchy into the new decade. That's fairly befitting considering these guys were Punk as all get up before there was such a thing.


Grinderman - Grinderman
Again, this is not my usual Nick Cave related fare. I'm usually all about the sombre poerty of No More Shall We Part and The Botman's Call and such. So I grabbed another bit of crunch instead. I'm not sure whether Grinderman are ever bringing another LP out, but this one is a bit of fun.


A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
And finally, another album by an artist from whom I usually grab another. Ordinarily, I'd be listening to Midnight Marauders (as I think most casual Tribe fans would) so I am playing The Low End Theory this week, Just as jazzy and cool as Midnight with all the usual fun and games from Q-Tip and co. Brilliant for a Friday ot get the day started.


There we go for another week. Happy weekend you crazy kids.

Playlist : June 21st - 25th, 2010

First things first; what do you think of the new blog format? I didn't design it (shaaa, as if). Blogger offered a bunch of new templates (I suppose in an attempt to fight WordPress 3) and I picked one. I like it. It even made me change the way I do things and I've uploaded the artwork this week. I probably won't do that on busy weekends.

So to the list. There's a very odd retro vibe going on this week and I'm not entirely sure why. I've hit the 70s hard, but come up with some 80s too. Even an album from the 00s is called 1972 and sounds like the year.

Okay, so it's probably because I had my birthday last week. Shut up.

Josh Rouse - 1972
Well it was my birthday this week just gone and yes, I am that old. Either way, this album is smooth as freshly spun silk and Josh Rouse somehow finds a way to make music sound like a period of time without being the style of that period. I found Josh Rouse through this album that I only bought for the title. Sometimes, that really works. I'm still a huge fan of all he's ever done.




Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman
Yusef Islam was recently in the sleepy little hollow of Perth for a concert. I did not go and see the man, but many did and seemed to report only good stuff. What I found quite cool was that Mr Islam took the time out to take his family for a walk along Scarborough Beach. Of course they were spotted by the local rabble, but by all accounts he was accommodating in signing autographs and taking photos.




Bruce Springsteen - Greetings From Asbury Park N.J.
The other day I played a list of songs that haven't been played on my iPod since I had to restore it. One of them was It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City. It reminded me that before he was a bona fide dinosaur, corporate rock star, The Boss was, well, The Boss. And one thing about The Boss was, he sure could tell a story. This is the man of the hour's very first album and it's alive with cityscapes and shady characters of all manner - all meticulously fleshed out with Bruce's careful Jersey words. PS I have it on vinyl too.


Joni Mitchell - Hejira
This is among my favourites. I have the vinyl and the CD. I've been a Joni Mitchell fan since I heard Blue after it made the Rolling Stone 100 Best Albums of All Time list. I've since discovered that nearly every album from Joni Mitchell is a different style from the last. With Hejira, she has sculpted sparse landscapes of rolling sound like a cross country road trip in an old car. Jaco Pastorius' bass under Joni's jangling chords is the ebb and lull of a long dry highway. Much of the lyrics are small town, truck stop style vignettes and Refuge of the Roads sings to the freedom of open spaces and the insignificance of us all. Even the artwork shows an open road in transparency within Joni's clothes, even as she stands in an isolated landscape. This album right here, this is the business.


Hank Mobley - Soul Station
I got hold of this album after reading yet another fine article on my iPad. Whether it's Salon, The New Yorker, NPR, USA Today, The Observer or even Cool Hunting, I'm always finding great articles on my iPad that were obviously always there, but not so conveniently.
I don't even recall where it was, but I read a list of must-hear albums. I have a decent collection of jazz LPs and many were on the list, but I hadn't even heard of Mobley. I figured I'd better remedy that.

Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Does anyone over the age of 30 NOT have this album? Back in the day, nobody under 30 was without it. It's corny, it's camp, it's a little self-indulgent and over-produced - and that's just the good bits! You have to hand it to old "Bitch Tits Bob", he can belt out a tune like he means it. This is a rock classic and will always be good for a listen every now and then.




Devo - Freedom of Choice
There's a certain kind of music that for some reason sounds really good while working but just okay when out and about. Devo for me definitely fits the description. I'm not usually a big fan of synth style pop, but it sits well in headphones. This LP contains the biggest hit of Devo's career - Whip It. The stand out track for me though is probably Girl You Want.




You Am I - The Cream & The Crock
I needed something that would rock a lot to shake off some of the warm lustre of Hejira and the bubble gum corn of Meatloaf. This is my choice.
An unappreciated Australian treasure, if we don't hold on to them, they might leave for New Zealand - much like Tasmania. Stand out track on a great compilation is still the sparkling grunge of Berlin Chair.




Jakob Dylan - Women + Country
Wow. Someone sure looks like his Dad up on that horse. I haven't heard this album yet, but mini-Bob has teamed with the awesome Neko Case and Kelly Hogan on a T Bone Burnett production. The LA Times review said,"...the 11 tracks of “Women and Country” are similarly dressed with low-key Americana atmospherics." That and Neko Case were reason enough for me to give it a whirl.




Ro Spit - A Different Arrangement
I had never heard any Ro Spit when a Jazz Hop blog I read posted this album. It's actually being distributed for free and you can download it from the page to which the artwork is linked. Beyond even the cool of Jazz Hop, this album seems to be solid rhyming to Berry Gordy Motown arrangements - think The Supremes. It sounds like an interesting mix. I'm looking forward to a proper listen. Give it a try, it's free.




US3 - Hand On The Torch
While trying to pick another Hip Hop / Rap album, I constantly kept coming across this. I'm adding the persistent little devil to my list because it is an enjoyable listen. We all know the great hit from Triple J's Hottest 100, Canteloop (Flip Fantasia) which was a few bouncy rap rhymes and samples over a loop of Herbie Hancock's Canteloupe. The rest of the album is just as smooth, laid back and jaunty and I really like it.




Television - Adventure
The follow up to the scintillating perfection of their debut a year earlier, Marquee Moon, Adventure is often overlooked or not rated by fans and critics alike. After reading an indignant Aquarium Drunkard post admonishing the ignorance people had of this album, I realised I didn't even know it existed. What could I do, besides give it a spin? If it's half what Moon is, I won't be disappointed.



That's the list done. Until next time cats, be excellent to each other.