Essential Listening

For the love of music. This isn't strictly about new music, or old music, or music of a particular style/genre. This is music that I think people will just enjoy. Either on a emotional level, a spiritual level, or a physical level. There are so many layers to music. I'm not just talking about the instrumentation or the timbre of the song. But as well, it's aesthetic, it's socio-political context, even the way it's created and produced. With this blog, I hope to expose you to stuff you mightn't heard before, to cater to your thirst for knowledge, and more importantly; to bring you the world of music.

[essential-listening]

Benny Goodman - Sing Sing Sing

One of the all time jazz classics. I love the opening kinda, blurr,fuzz of the trumpets. Great stuff

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Australian band Portal, with a track of theirs called 'Curtain', also one fucking intense film clip as well!

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From the soundtrack of Sound Into Blood Into Wine. Which is a collection of mostly Puscifer songs either re-mixed or re-arranged. This one is The Humbling River [Duet Mix]

Yet I'm helpless by the river.

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From Lee Hazlewood's album, Trouble Is a Lonesome Town

The Girl On Death Row

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Sydney alternative rock outfit The Ivory Drips.

Neither Seen, Nor Heard Solid track

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Daina Demillo is a local Sydney artist who effortlessly combines the classy of noir inspired electronic jazz of early James Bond, with the surf rock of a Quentin Tarantino film, to create a neo-noir soundtrack of her own This track is 'How To Leave An Impression'.  

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Splendora with their track, 'You're Standing On My Neck'.

Most commonly known as the theme song for TV's Daria

la, la, laaa, la, la.

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Elliot Wheeler's 'Baker Man', from his cinematic album 'The Long Time'. Also worked on The Great Gatsby music as well

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One of my favourite tracks from the new Nine Inch Nails album 'Everything'

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Sydney's fun loving guitar pop punkers, Bloods, have just dropped their EP Golden Fang. Some catchy as much music which shows the bratty musical three-piece, doing what they do best. Belting out tunes in their garage with a 'who gives a fuck I'm having fun' attitude. The video is also shot around various parts of Sydney, so enjoy!

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My apologies for being so lacklustre with the posts of late. Things have been chaotic of the past few weeks. But I want to get back to posting some incredible music. Those who follow the blog post by post (I'm sure there's at least 1 person) would of noticed that there's been a lot more Australian tunes of late being put up here.  It's kind of hard not to when all I do is listen to Australian music. I run an Australian music show called The Band Next Door which is on 2SER 107.3 which is an honour to do as there is so much incredible Australian music out there that people don't know about. Like this one for example.  Sydney band, Bell Weather Department, with the song 'Asterisk' off their debut self titled LP Enjoy!

[essential-listening]

Tindersticks - Chocolate.

This song is amazing. I remember when I first heard it actually, I was filling in for someone, and doing a breakfast radio shift, and I was so tired. It was about 6am, and this was the first track that I put on, and I was kinda unaware that it was about 9 minutes long. It tells the story of a gentleman on a night out, meeting someone and picking them up, then returning to his place to find something very strange. It's a beautiful song, the spoken word delivery works splendidly.  Tindersticks is an English band who mostly put together very spacious, slow driven tunes, usually with a elaborate orchestral backing with a large assortment of instruments.  This song is from their 2012 album, The Something Rain.

[essential-listening]

Link Wray - Fire & Brimstone

Came across this on a compilation from Light In The Attic Records, called 'Country Funk 1969-1975. Which as the name says, is a collection of hybrid country/funk tracks. It's great stuff The name Link Wray is usually associated with the film, Pulp Fiction, as Quentin Tarantino used 'Rumble' pretty much as the theme.  You can find this track on Link's self titled 1971 album 

[essential-listening]

Designer Mutts - Unrecognizable Blues Consisting of drums, baritone guitar, a few fuzz pedals and a stack of amplifiers, Designer Mutts started off as a two-piece Royal Chant side-project that was on the verge of slipping into neverland when the original drummer left Mark staring at an empty studio. Rather than admit defeat, Mark picked up the sticks and did the work himself, completing the debut Designer Mutts EP as a garage-rock polymath with a penchant for stories, fuzz, and hummable melodies. A Day At The Wauchope Races is a collection of vignettes from the edge of the modern world, influenced by English Literature, post-bop jazz drumming, & Andy Kaufman.

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The youngest of the formidable Afrobeat-pioneering Kuti clan, Seun Kuti returns with his Brian Eno-produced second record, accompanied by father Fela's former band Egypt 80

Seun Kuti & Egypt '80 - African Soldiers / Mr. Big Thief

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Australian post-rock three piece, hailing out of Sydney. Beautiful melodies with some very guitar when the occasion calls for it.

Their debut album, 'Are You My Brother?', is out on the Birds Robe Records label, which is home to some great other bands like Sleepmakeswaves and Toehider.

This is the last track off the incredibly blissful album and is an amazing sing along. 

Enjoy.

[r3mus3]

Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meatloaf

[essential-listening]

I can't stop listening to this Meatloaf track

That whole bridge/breakdown at about 3:16 is so fucking good, and that baseball play that happens ;)

Good stuff