It's the curse of the blogger...what to write about. Even with a fairly targeted approach (good music) it's not always easy to find content that I haven't gone over before. As such I am indebted to those of you who suggest tunes, send links and also comments on what I've written. The other revelation is digital radio. For those overseas who have had the joys of satellite and/or digital radio for years I envy you. I was fortunate enough to be given a DAB receiver for Christmas and it sits on my desk at work. The fact that it simply displays the title and artist of the track being played is fabulous. It's certainly not playing all the time but I have to whip out my notebook and pen quite often to write down things that I want to go back and check out. That little black notebook is full of song titles and artists for me to get back to.
Here's the first of the bunch coming straight from my week's radio listening. Wikipedia calls it power-pop and that seems to be a fair description. Groovy tortured Telecaster tones abound.
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend - https://youtu.be/n12OBlcHx9E
The next track is arguably an iconic Australian tune. If it isn't then it should be. Rick Grossman who played bass on this one went on to be in the Hoodoo Gurus as well as The Divinyls.
Matt Finish - Short Note - https://youtu.be/iX6k9ZEbiKY
Our band has played a few songs by The Church in our time. You may also remember that H and I attended a gig by the band that almost resulted in sections of the crowd rioting when they refused to play anything other than their most recent album. This is an older tune that I hadn't paid much attention to before. It has all the hallmarks of a great Church song including that instantly recognisable voice.
The Church - Is This Where You Live - https://youtu.be/jihjWpQTlp8
Big Star are a band that I arrived at as a result of "That 70's Show". Although relatively short lived, their work is high quality stuff and deserving of more than a casual listen. Try this...
Big Star - Thirteen - https://youtu.be/pte3Jg-2Ax4
Fans of Americana would be well advised to seek out and chill out to Wilco's version of the above song. It's here for those of you who might be interested. The addition of the pedal steel guitar and sparse arrangement works really well.
If you like funk and soul then you may already be aware of Sharon Jones; she was nominated for a Grammy in 2014 after all so it isn't like she's unknown! For those of you, like me, who are on a continual voyage of musical discovery, this should be a real treat. I came to this track via Alabama Shakes which might be a bit backwards but it works for me. Just as Sharon starts singing on this track I get a very clear picture of Martha & The Vandellas, "Nowhere To Run".
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Long Time, Wrong Time (live) - https://youtu.be/V5plCvAIwMM
Martha & The Vandellas - Nowhere To Run - https://youtu.be/4jk-Ngm5kKQ
A lot of you may know Jarvis Cocker from his time in UK band Pulp and their hit, "Common People". I was vaguley aware of his solo work but didn't engage at all with it until I heard this song. It's a bit hard to describe but when I heard the studio version on the radio in the background I thought it was David Bowie. I've selected a live version here because it demonstrates that he can sing live and also because it was recorded in Australia.
Jarvis Cocker - Black Magic (live) - https://youtu.be/MBeQJH5d6yQ
DJ SlimHenry put me onto this next band. If you're a rock fan maybe interested in the journey to Prog Rock then this might be a very gentle start. There's plenty of standard rock and roll but just enough proggy moments to start tuning your ears in. If you choose to listen to the album that this track is from then I recommend you ditch tracks 1 and 2 as they're not really up to much. After that it's all good!
Baroness - Chlorine & Wine - https://youtu.be/DnYO7iQfQDQ
Next week I'll be coming to you from the hopefully sunny city of Geelong. I'm off there to ride in a 111km event and to do some work. Earlier this week I was rather stressed when I found out that I needed a new rear bike wheel and getting it in time for the trip looked to be an issue. Thankfully my local bike shop are awesome and I'll be good to go with a rather shiny new wheelset! I'll track down a couple of Geelong related tracks for you all over the next week.
RIP Glenn...another year goes by.
Miles Davis - Concierto De Aranjuez (Adagio) - https://youtu.be/tSGUPsAeL34
That's all folks,
Rob
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