Thursday, January 01, 2009

Hey read my lips/ 'Cause all they say is kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss

Oh hai and a very Happy New Year to you all.

This year has begun more or less as the previous one ended, as, halfway through typing this post, I hear a sound that my tired brain eventually recognises as a garbage truck, causing me to think "Oh it seems to be Thursday, this is not good" and sprint to the front door, pause to think for just a moment, sprint up the stairs to find some pants, rush back down the stairs, pause again to actually put on the pants, and run down to the street with two bins clanking noisily behind me.

Thankfully, that is not the sole point of this post.

I need your help. I got a $20 itunes card for Christmas so I have the opportunity to add some new material to my very well worn ipod playlist. My problem is that, as a dedicated public transport user with children who are too young to appreciate Triple J at home, I have been listening to far too much commercial radio and I have heard very few download-worthy tunes whilst doing so.

As a result, my list of songs that I am thinking about downloading looks like this:


1. Emiliana Torrini - Jungle Drum

2. The Choirboys - Run to Paradise

It is entirely possible that only one of those will make the final cut, so I need to think of about 10 more.

Since you all have excellent taste, please leave your suggestions in the comments section below.

10 Comments:

Blogger Femikneesm said...

Anything by Ryan Adams, but especially the albums Cold Roses or Gold. Anything by Neko Case, but particularly the album Blacklisted. If alternative country isn't your thing, how about Cat Power, Thea Gilmore or Uh Huh Her?

5:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Recommending music - one of life's hardest tasks. I've spent a couple of days ruminating on this one. It's especially hard because al I have in my head is 'Great Big Man In Red' by The Wiggles (feat John Fogerty.)

While I was spending 3 hours pulling out weeds and getting bitten by small spiders, my iPod served up a song by Bob Dylan called Po' Boy today that I didn't know I had on it and which I was quite taken with. Do yourself a favour!

You could also try 'She's A Bread Baker' by CW Stoneking - a local bloke somewhere about your/my age who sounds like he crawled out of a swamp in 1920.

I do like Lateralus by Tool, but I'm not sure it will float your boat, nor is it on iTunes.

10:09 PM  
Blogger Melba said...

Happy New Year!!

Do you remember me talking way back about a "youtube" musical project?

Well, it may or may not have involved either or both of the following, which I also render as my recommendations:

1. the Evita soundtrack, with Julie Covington, pretty much the whole of the first disc.

2. Jesus Christ Superstar, likewise the original.

I know, they are not edgy-modern, there is no hip-hop nowism, they are daggy and old.

You cannot go wrong.

x

1:05 PM  
Blogger I'm not Craig said...

Femikneesm
I only know one Ryan Adams song, which was the New York one. Are there other good ones I should know about?

I am partial to a bit of alternative country (assuming Wilco counts) so I will check out Neko case.

Having read your blog recently, I had already thought about Cat Power, but Thea Gilmore and Uh Huh Her are mysteries to me and I must research this further.

Grover
I assure you that the Wiggles will not be on the list, as there is quite enough Wiggling going on in this house already. I will look into Po' Boy and She's a Bread Baker, but I am sorry to say that you guessed right about Tool.

Tool is just one of those bands that are revered by musicians I respect but I just don;t get. They are in pretty good company there, since I would say exactly the same thing about Nick Cave, Bjork, A Perfect Circle, Soundgarden, Wolfmother and, of course, Nirvana.

Melbs
You know that I hold you in the highest regard and I consider you wise beyond measure, but there is simply no way anything involving Andrew Lloyd Webber will ever get within 18 miles of my ipod.

I don't think I have read about this youtube project. Please tell me more/send links immediately.

3:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You've got me going now!
Bjork and Wolfmother - I don't get either of them.
Soundgarden have their moments, Nirvana ditto.
A Perfect Circle I do quite like, although I struggle to maintain the angst.
But Nick Cave! I've been a late convert to Nick Cave (and Bob Dylan, and Augie March, all of whom I turned my nose up at for years) My path to appreciation was liking Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow (which I would recommend for the iPod) then getting a not free or in any way downloaded copy of B-Sides and Rarities before I owned any studio albums. From there I started to 'get it' and am now a big fan. The Lyre of Orpheus / Abbatoir Blues double album is also pretty accessible and worth a listen. Save Grinderman for later.

By the way, I'm flying to Ireland for 3 months next week. Any idea what one does with an infant on an international flight for 23 hours?

9:11 PM  
Blogger I'm not Craig said...

Grover
I have avoided all international flights since my children came along, so I can't be much help. Our friend Melba would know so an enquiry over at World Oyster Stage is probably your best bet.

The best tip I have heard is to leave late at night and hope that your child will sleep for the first half of the flight.

Apart from that, there are new painting books around where you use water to paint and colours appear, but then when it dries out the colour fades and you can then do the whole thing again. They cost $6.00. Unfortunately, I have only seen them in a craft shop in Rosebud but they are probably more widely available.

My four year old who has almost no interest in art recently sat and happily painted in this book for two hours straight.

For the other 21 hours, I suggest a laptop that plays DVDs and as many Dora the Explorer discs as you can tolerate. The musical featuring John Leguizamo as the captain of the pirate piggies' ship is particularly memorable.

7:02 AM  
Blogger Melba said...

Nick Cave is ace. I do like him. But I'm shocked at your Webber'ism, I always thought you a tolerant and open-minded person, INC.

Srsly, dude. Evita rocks. And JCS.

The youtube project, I'm sure you said to let you get on board, or was it someone else? I hadn't explained it at the time but basically I was inspired by those Chinese Backdoor lipsync boys that I featured on my blog a few years back, and wanted to do Evita songs, lipsync. Went nowhere though.

About travelling with young ones, I will do a post about this. It's brought back some memories.

2:06 PM  
Blogger I'm not Craig said...

Melbs

I tolerate Lloyd Webber music. I tolerate it with all my heart.

But it is still not going on my ipod.

I suspect I probably did say count me in for your lipsync project. I can't imagine that I could possible have known about it and not wanted to be involved.

You have my number. Call me.

9:46 PM  
Blogger Melba said...

The Great Lipsync Project went no where. You'll be the first person I call if it ever gets off the ground. Just as I expect to be invited to do back-up singing should you ever get a band together.

1:47 PM  
Blogger I'm not Craig said...

Melbs

After reading your diary posts, if I ever get a band together, you will be playing guitar.

Groverjones will be drumming.

7:18 PM  

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