As someone who prides himself upon fitting in, I am delighted to say that I am now on the iPod bandwagon. This is one sweet product, Apple have really done a bang up job. With more storage than I know what to do with, here are some of the works currently on my iPod:
Regurgitator — Unit (1997)
I just hate that I like this album; after all, it is the one that took my favourite rock band at the time and turned it into some kind of synth pop project.
This was a significant event. I had Regurgitator before I even had friends. Long before Wolfmother, around about the same time as Silverchair, Regurgitator was Triple J’s band du jour, and those first two angry EPs were amongst the first twenty-odd CDs I ever owned, and for awhile there may as well have been glued into the CD player. I was a teenager and that was what I wanted, angry music! The debut long player was somewhat more sedate, but essentially more of the same.
Then, Unit hit stores with its garish silver packaging and classy song titles such as I Will Lick Your Arsehole, and it seems they lost a few fans in the process. One such fan, when it was pointed out that the opening track, I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff, seemed to pre-empt such complaints, remarked “yes well, I know it’s all ironic and whatever, but the music is still crap”.
And that’s certainly how I wanted to feel, but once I put it out of my mind that this was a Regurgitator album, I realised that this was one awesome product, just track after track of pure gold—this is how I have approached every Regurgitator album since.
Tom Vek — We Have Sound (2005)
Where the heck did this guy come from? The 24-year-old Briton calls himself a multi-instrumentalist, and asserts he literally made this album in his parents’ garage. I must say I have no problems believing this—certainly the playing is not perfect, the slap bass on If You Want is a tad out of time, and so on. Despite all this, the suspension of disbelief is still there and the songs are thoroughly enjoyable. Highlights are C-C (You Set The Fire In Me) and If I Had Changed My Mind.
Terence Trent d’Arby — Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent d’Arby (1987)
Yeah, the eighties are overdue for a comeback, and I’m not talking about stock market crashes and Communism. I’m talking about guys like Phil Collins, Huey Lewis, and Terence Trent d’Arby. Start emulating them now and get rich beyond your wildest dreams. Highlights are Wishing Well and Sign Your Name.
Nativity in Black: A Tribute To Black Sabbath (1994)
Nativity in Black II: A Tribute To Black Sabbath (2000)
Unlike everyone else, I never got into Black Sabbath themselves, but I can’t get enough of these two volumes of Sabbath covers by bands like Primus, Sepultura, System of a Down, White Zombie, and Faith No More.
Speaking in Tongues
This is a bit different: a video podcast of episodes of the SBS television series, Speaking in Tongues, starring John Safran and “Father Bob” McGuire. I can’t think of when I would watch video on the iPod—I don’t spend a great deal of time on public transport—but it’s still cool that I could if I wanted to. This is an awesome development and I hope SBS will podcast some of its future shows.
Dane Cook — Retaliation (2005)
A friend recently introduced me to Dane Cook, the American stand-up comedian. The style of comedy is observational, about his own funny life experiences, as opposed to jokes. As is often the case with stand-up comedians, Cook’s comedy is greatly enhanced by his stage act, he has quite a formidable stage presence, so obviously you don’t get to see that, but this double album seems to make do without it.