No, most of these aren’t current tracks, but they were my favourite tracks during autumn this year:

1. “The Lady Don’t Mind” - Talking Heads (from Little Creatures, 1985)
2. “Refugee” - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (from Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
3. “Sledgehammer” - Peter Gabriel (from So, 1986)
4. “Down Under” - Men at Work (from Business As Usual, 1981)
5. “Trouble” - Lindsey Buckingham (from Law and Order, 1981)
6. “Waiting For a Girl Like You” - Foreigner (from 4, 1981)
7. “Rosanna” - Toto (from Toto IV, 1982)
8. “Original Sin” - INXS (from The Swing, 1984)
9. “Four Chords That Made a Million” - Porcupine Tree (from Lightbulb Sun, 2000)
10. “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2″ - Pink Floyd (from The Wall, 1979)
11. “Walking on the Moon” - The Police (from Reggatta De Blanc, 1979)
12. “Serengeti Long Walk” - Stewart Copeland (from The Rhythmatist, 1985)
13. “truenorth” - no-man (from schoolyard ghosts, 2008)
14. “Heroes” - David Bowie (from “Heroes”, 1977)
15. “Avalon” - Roxy Music (from Avalon, 1982)

There you go: tracks spanning 31 years!

*cough* (Mean: 1985, Median: 1982) *cough*

Okay, I just sat my first exam for this semester, which means there are only two remaining. Phew!

Of course, this was the easiest one of the lot. The real challenge begins on Monday…

Consider: the original Star Wars trilogy is about integrating the three so-called “ego-syntonic” functions of the psyche…

Star Wars (a.k.a. Episode IV: A New Hope) details the integration of the auxiliary function, symbolised by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ne).

The Empire Strikes Back gives us the positive depiction of the tertiary function and its role as a source of healing and retreat. Hoth, the Bacta tank, Dagobah and Yoda (Si) all symbolise this function’s role. Note that in Star Wars, this function is treated more negatively–it is only by integrating the auxiliary first that you can maturely handle the powers of the tertiary.

Return of the Jedi turns to the inferior function, represented by Leia and Endor (Fe). By learning of the true nature of his relationship to Leia, Luke is able to integrate his inferior function into consciousness.

26 years after first watching Star Wars (and 21 years after seeing the whole trilogy), these films still bowl me over with their insights.

In the early-to-mid ’90s, Peter Gabriel hosted gatherings of artists from around the world, presumably to create some sort of cross-cultural musical alchemy. Notable western contributors included Tim Finn and Sinead O’Connor, as well as co-”curators” Karl Wallinger (of World Party and Waterboys fame) and Gabriel himself. Now, finally, the result is seeing release this month as Big Blue Ball.

You can read more about the project here, which also features a nifty EPK with Gabriel and Wallinger talking about the experience. What’s quite telling is seeing both artists then and now in the video.

To give you an idea of how drawn-out this process has been, take the track “Burn You Up, Burn You Down”:

• released on Big Blue Ball in 2008
• earlier mix released on Gabriel’s Hit compilation in 2003
• even earlier mix initially scheduled for release on the Gabriel studio album Up in 2002 but dropped at the last minute
• a sample of a very early mix was used on the Gabriel CD-ROM Xplora1 in 1994!

Yes, I’ve been waiting a loooooong time for this—pretty much half my life, actually…

UPDATE: You can download a free MP3 of “Burn You Up, Burn You Down” here.

I’m loving the Mudcrutch album—it’s solid throughout and a real grower. It’s a definite change of pace to something like Highway Companion, however, which means its sound may initially be a surprise to some listeners, though definitely a pleasant one.

Anyway, here’s the EPK for the album, just to give you more of a taste. Some of the clips are from the outstanding documentary Runnin’ Down a Dream, itself something worth seeking out.

Well, I submitted my final assignment for the semester this afternoon, and what was my reward? Discovering that Devo are playing in Sydney in August!

Devo would have to be my favourite New Wave/post-punk purveyors of subversive irony—I prefer the music of Talking Heads, honestly, but in terms of attitude and approach, Devo reflect my own sense of humour to a much greater degree. They’re like a group of deadpan “Weird Al” Yankovics, where you’re never 100% sure where the joke stops and the serious side begins.

So yes, I’m going to see Devo, damnit. Because Bob demands it!