Vanishing Feedback Farm Magazine (April 29th - May 3rd)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

You might have noticed (though probably not) that there was no Work Tunes last week. That's because I didn't take any music to work as ANZAC Day and a day of annual leave left me with just three days. So instead i streamed all the First Listens on NPR and a played a couple of 8Tracks mixes and shuffled my iPhone. With the extra time off, you'd think I'd had plenty of chance to collate a carefully calculated playlist. You'd be wrong; but nice try. None-the-less, I'm happy with what I've chosen. 

To set my Jazz Funk senses tingling, I've grabbed Herbie Hancock's classic Headhunters. To compliment it nicely, I've chosen two fairly jazzy Hip Hop albums from Jurassic 5 and Mos Def. Always mindful of not neglecting to slow it down, I've got some Justin Townes Earle and A.A. Bondy for a twang fix. Can't slow it down for too long though, so I have two new albums from alt-rock legends Mudhoney and Meat Puppets. With my recent subscription to Paste Magazine comes a 7 track sampler of new music per week; and I have the first two weeks worth here. The other compilation is Songs in the Key of X, which is music from and inspired by The X Files. Lastly, a soundtrack of sorts from John Lennon, with the music from the documentary Imagine. 

Check it out:

• Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
• Herbie Hancock - Headhunters
• VA - Songs in the Key of X
• John Lennon - Imagine OST
• A.A. Bondy - When The Devil's Loose
• VA - Paste Magazine April Pt. 1
• Mudhoney - Vanishing Point
• Meat Puppets - Rat Farm
• Jurassic 5 - Feedback
• Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Best Coast
2. A Tribe Called Quest
3. Patti Smith
4. Josh Rouse
5. Bruce Springsteen

Song of the Week : Charles Bradley - Strictly Reserved For You

I have some Soul for your soul. The April NPR sampler had a track from Charles Bradley who I’ve heard before playing with The Menahan Street Band. You know what a sucker I am for Soul music; and to get something that sounds this classic being released in 2013 is blowing my mind.

Bradley’s voice on Strictly Reserved For You is somewhere between James Brown and Otis Redding. The big horns and the crooning backup vocals are like the JBs playing with The Temptations. Did I die and go to 60s Soul heaven? I don’t know anymore. But there is no bad mood that doesn’t disappear when I play tracks like this. 

They don’t write ‘em like they used to – or DO THEY?! See for yourself.

Peace Out

There will be another week off at Work Tunes after this week, when I am on annual leave to take care of Mrs Corey J while she recovers from surgery (in my head I just heard Homer's critique of Ned Flanders' chilli in my favourite Simpsons episode - "a bland, timid entry, suitable perhaps for patients recovering from surgery"). I'll be back the week after though, with the second part of the Paste sampler and a bunch of other albums I haven't selected yet.

Hasala malakim.

Reasonable April Mothership Shambles (April 15th - 19th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

It's a comparatively chilly Saturday in Perth today and over in Melbourne it's just gone half time at the MCG  in the Melbourne V West Coast match. All I can say about West Coast's game so far is WTF! So let's get on with the music.  

First up, courtesy of NPR, I have a 10 track sampler of new music for April. Also new are the latest from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Dawes. Some Australian flavour this week too, from punk pioneers The Saints, indie rock heroes Jebediah and unofficial poet laureate, Paul Kelly. Speaking of Punks, I've got a Greatest Hits from John Lydon's PIL. Thanks to Amazon's amazing new retrospectively active AutoRip feature on vinyl (and some creative getting around a geotardation) I have the digital version of one half of my Led Zep Mothership vinyl. Finally, in the Hip Hop corner, jazzy consciousness from De La Soul and gangsta swagger from the King of New York, Jay-Z.

Check it out:

• VA - NPR April Sampler
• Jebediah - Of Someday Shambles
• De La Soul - Buhloone Mind State
• Dawes - Stories Don't End
• Paul Kelly - Ways & Means
• Led Zeppelin - Mothership (LP 1 & LP 2)
• Saints - Know Your Product
• Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt
• Public Image Ltd - The Greatest Hits, So Far
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Beach Fossils
2. Counting Crows
3. Ryan Adams
4. Elvis Costello
5. Gram Parsons

Song of the Week : Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow

First up, let me apologise up front for the total cheese of this week's choice. However, I found myself in a situation where it has been the ear worm every single day of the week so far and I thought I'd share the love :)

This is Kacey Musgraves – Follow Your Arrow from an album called Same Trailer, Different Park. That should clue you in to how whitebread and country this girl is. I hadn't heard of her until NPR streamed her album and I thought I'd give it a listen for giggles. Most of it is a Dixie Chicks bluegrass hybrid and pretty bland overall. But this one song, as cheesy as it is, won't let go of my eardrums. 

I suppose I like the sentiment, I quite like her voice and the melody is very catchy. It’s also a little bit of an insight into some contemporary issues for grrrrls, I suppose. See what you think, but don't blame me if it takes hold of your brain too - in the way that annoying jingles can do.

Toodle Pip

Thanks for stopping by. With any luck you'll find some new music this week that changes your life - or just some annoying song you can't get out of your head. It's all good. 

Hasala malakim.

Same Jazzmatic Rock Anthology (April 8th - 12th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

My list and the subsequent blog post are a bit of a rush this week. I've spent my Saturday running around trying to fix a problem with shoddy merchandise and terrible customer service. There's a losing battle in Perth if ever there were one.  

Given the rush, I probably leaned too heavy on old favourites, but strangely enough, two of my desert island discs have never made a Work Tunes list - August and Everything After and Paid In Full. Another couple of favourites that made the cut are Ryan Adams' Rock n Roll and U2's Zooropa (which I've not listened to in forever). I also grabbed a few CDs I only recently bought in the Divinyls, Cowboy Junkies and Shrek soundtrack. I am playing disc 2 of the Gram Parsons Anthology and, also in the Country vein, an artist I just discovered, Kacey Musgraves. The final selection comes from Funky DL and it is a free download from Bandcamp featuring Jazz remixes of Nas tracks. 

Check it out:

• Counting Crows - August and Everything After (Deluxe Edition)
• VA - Shrek OST
• Divinyls - Divinyls
• Kacey Musgraves – Same Trailer Different Park
• Cowboy Junkies - Lay It Down
• Funky DL - Jazzmatic (Nas Remixes)
• Gram Parsons - Gram Parsons Anthology (Disc 2)
• U2 - Zooropa
• Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full
• Ryan Adams - Rock n' Roll

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Counting Crows
2. Gillian Welch
3. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
4. Aphex Twin
5. Joni Mitchell

Song of the Week : Telekinesis - Lean On Me

To the music and it’s one of those times where I picked my song last minute after having some other idea all week.

If I had an Album of the Week, it would have been Wavves- Afraid of Heights. As a whole, it sounds like a Nirvana and Weezer supergeroup fronted by Nathan of Wavves. I was going to pick a song to illustrate that, but when I went to choose, nothing sounded like song of the week. I think because I'm in too good a mood for Wavves whiny grunge soup today.

Instead, from the new Telekinesis album, Dormarion, I've picked the upbeat, Friday friendly and spiritually uplifting Lean On Me. Jangly guitar and that dream pop Telekinesis sound with a fun little melody make this a great song to keep my good mood going all day. I will probably slip it on later this afternoon again just to recharge. 

If it elevates or sustains your moods, it will have done it's job. Enjoy!

Au Revoir

I just finished watching Before Sunset in anticipation of Before Midnight coming soon, so I'm feeling all French and stuff. 

Looking forward to a trip to AQWA in the morning for Miss 4's birthday outing. It will hopefully make her forget about not getting a working bouncy castle today to replace the faulty one we were given when we bought it. Oh geez, don't get me started on that this close to bedtime. 

Hasala malakim.

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.

Build the Underground Temple (March 25th - 29th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

What's the good word? Everything is a little bit same ol' same ol' around these parts. It is Mrs coreyj and Miss Nearly 4's birthdays next week, so that will be exciting. Among the craft and lego stuff, we got her a KISS t-shirt and her very own inflatable jumpy castle.  Miss Nearly 4, not Mrs coreyj (she's not a huge KISS fan). If the power adapter for the compressor ever gets here, I'll even be able to inflate that jumpy castle. Stupid Australia Post. And on to the music.

Just one new one this time, from Billy Bragg. I have to thank a workmate for In Rainbows this week as he reminded me how long it's been. The second volume of Use Your Illusion is here thanks again to Clay5. Grunge super-group Temple of the Dog pops in for a slab of tracks, as do 70s pioneers The Runaways. And speaking of pioneers, Velvet Underground are here along with an Uncut compilation of artists who inspired Gram Parsons. Beat Street is like a heartbeat - and it's here on my list. That just leaves all the Js - Jamiroquai and Joshua James. 

Check it out:

• Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog
• Billy Bragg - Tooth and Nail
• Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusion II
• Radiohead - In Rainbows
• The Runaways - The Runaways
• Jamiroquai - Synkronized
• Joshua James - Build Me This
• VA - Uncut : Honky Tonk Heroes
• VA - Beat Street OST
• Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Josh Rouse
2. Guns n' Roses
3. Green Day
4. The National
5. Black Prairie

Song of the Week : Stevie Nicks - You Can't Fix This

Recently I got hold of the soundtrack to Dave Grohl's documentary on Sound City music studio. You might remember Paul MacCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear 'reunited' Nirvana for Hurricane Sandy relief on a song called Cut Me Some Slack. That is on the soundtrack, but it's not what I chose.

The song that has blown me away completely is Stevie Nicks' effort You Can't Fix This. It's an angry and brooding song about the perils of rock n roll decadence. The thumping bass drum and the subtle smoldering growl on the guitars are a building indignation while Stevie screams about going too far and never being able to turn back once you bring the Devil to the party.

This for me has got to be her greatest song since Fleetwood Mac. The first time I played the album, I was working away to it and I literally stopped what I was doing about 5 seconds into Nicks' vocal. If you haven't already heard it, I hope it has that same effect on you.

Adieu

I finally gave up fighting with my internet connection and bought a 3G pocket WiFi with 5GB on it to last until Telstra comes and *does their job!*. Our phone line is down, but the net seems to just drop in and out all the time. Of course, as soon as I got home and set up my WiFi modem, the internet stopped dropping out and hasn't gone down yet. Typical. 

Hasala malakim.

Cold Elephant Alligator Illusion (March 18th - 22nd)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Well, not having learned my lesson from doing my knee to One Direction on the Kinect last week, I have just returned from town where I bought the Michael Jackson Experience. Obviously I am already an expert moonwalker, but I am looking forward to learning the entire Thriller routine. Look for me in flash mobs near you soon (as long as you live in 2010). 

Anyway... This week I have reached for a couple of old favourites. First there's The National with the one album of theirs I haven't flogged to death. Then we have Green Day's Dookie - a staple for any 90s Discman. Then there's The White Stripes - a Noughties iPod staple. After seeing the excellent Searching For Sugar Man documentary recently, Rodriguez is here. Another selection thanks to @Clay5 is the first volume of Use Your Illusion. Volume 2 will get a go next week. I finally got hold of The Raincoats, so that is here along with Black Prairie and Jurassic 5. Two compilations this week; one the soundtrack to Dave Grohl's Sound City doco and the other a sampler of a larger box set called Say It Loud! Black Music in America.

Check it out:

• The National - Alligator
• VA - Sound City : Real to Reel
• Guns n' Roses - Use Your Illusion 1
• Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers
• Rodriguez - Cold Fact
• The White Stripes - Elephant
• The Raincoats - The Raincoats
• Black Prairie - A Tear in the Eye Is a Wound In The Heart
• Green Day - Dookie
  
• VA - Say It Loud! Black Music In America

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Josh Rouse
2. The Lemonheads
3. Son Volt
4. David Bowie
5. Chelsea Light Moving

Song of the Week : Chelsea Light Moving - Groovy & Linda

In the past, I think I've made my pro-Sonic Youth agenda pretty clear. The band is on hiatus (for retooling?) at the moment, but Thurston has a new side project - Chelsea Light Moving. 

Something to love or loathe about Thurston Moore in equal measure is that he has never grown up. He's really a bit of a brat when you take the music into account. This album is no different. While I could have chosen the song Lip which is just a tantrum with the refrain "too fucking bad!" to illustrate my point, I've gone with Groovy & Linda because it's a better song. 

I like the album and it’s good to have what is basically just new Sonic Youth material missing Kim and adding instead an edge of old Metallica style metal bass and rhythm guitar. This song is exactly like that. 

Adieu

See anything you don't know this week? Check it out and maybe it will lead to something else and something else and something else and soon you'll become as roped into buying music all the time as I am. MWOOOHAHAHAHA! 

Ahem. Hasala malakim.

Yep Bowie Surreal Indeed (March 11th - 15th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Have you voted Western Australians? I was seriously contemplating not going to the polling booth and just paying the whopping $20 fine because a) I'm disillusioned with the state of State politics and b) don't nobody got time for that! But I did go; and thanks to the new "voting card" I was straight in and straight out. I actually didn't know too much about the independent candidates, but as I always do, I started with Family First last and worked my way to the top. 

Music-wise there's a whole stack of new stuff this week. First of all I have two free samplers from Yep Roc and Paste (their SXSW sampler). The other new albums come from diverse corners - there's folky hipster Josh Rouse; dead set legend David Bowie with a brand new classic; alt country heroes Son Volt and Thurston Moore's new band Chelsea Light Moving. For some hip hop I grabbed the John Legend and The Roots LP I haven't heard since I loved it in 2010 and an old favourite from Surreal & the Sound Providers. The Lemonheads get a guernsey and finally, so does Kathleen Edwards; both with favourites of mine. 

Check it out:

• VA - Explore Yep Roc Records
• Josh Rouse - The Happiness Waltz
• David Bowie - The Next Day
• Chelsea Light Moving - Chelsea Light Moving
• The Lemonheads - Car Button Cloth
• Kathleen Edwards - Back To Me
• Surreal & The Sound Providers - True Indeed
• John Legend and The Roots - Wake Up!
• Son Volt - Honky Tonk
  
• VA - HGTV/Paste SXSW 2013 Sampler

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Steve Miller Band
2. Bilal
3. The Pretenders
4. Ben Folds
5. Lou Reed

Song of the Week : Cold Chisel - Flame Trees

For my song of the week, my apologies that is so far out of left field, but it’s a track that only occurred to me on the way in this morning. 

The smart playlist I've made for the journey in picked Sara Blasko covering Flame Trees. Listening to it, I couldn't stop myself from hearing Chisel's original in my head. It made me realise that Flame Trees is a truly great song. I mean it. Really, really great. I think we disrespect it a lot for the bogan and ocker culture that has built up around it, but it is tremendous songwriting and probably the greatest vocal performance Barnes ever put down on tape. 

The suburban melodrama of the old home town pub and the footy mates and their reminiscing; plugged together with the domestic tragedy of a broken marriage puts the lyrics in the realm of workaday poetry. The grief in the song is given an extra injection of poignancy because it was Chisel's last mainstream hit (before the 'comeback' in the 90s). You take a part of the natural landscape, the flame tree, and you give that song a place; the feel of the open bush road and you make it uniquely small town Australia. The impassioned pleading in Jimmy’s vocal is not far off of Soul music and then he pushes it all aside with the broken down line of “who needs that sentimental bullshit, anyway?” 

As a nation, in general, Australia loves this song; and like a lot of the things we love collectively, we infuse it with a little bit of embarrassment and self-deprecation. Cultural cringe if you will. Not me. Not anymore. I've promised myself I will chase down the Tab for this on the weekend and give it a bash. I hope that my neighbours hear me and start swaying with their lighters in the air.

Cheerio

So, that's it, that's all, that's all there is. Have a cracking weekend and if you're a Perthie, may your guy win the election. Unless it's not my guy. Then, to hell with your guy. 

Hasala malakim.