On The Record

ON THE RECORD... with Jack Bourke, City Calm Down

Jack and the rest of his City Calm Down bandmates.

City Calm Down’s lead singer Jack Bourke shares his favourite tunes over the years.

THE BEST OF VAN MORRISON: This was the only CD we had in the car growing up. It’s a pearler. My brother, Jim, would sing along and I’d yell at him to shut up. I just wanted to listen. Sensing some enthusiasm for Van ‘The Man”, dad took me to see the full cut of The Last Waltz when I was about five or six-years-old – despite Van’s impressive appearance in purple, four plus hours proved a little much for an inattentive child.

AMERICAN BEAUTY: The Grateful Dead I think Dad had this on a double cassette. It’s still one of my favourite records and when I listen to it I’m instantly transported back to my childhood. It doesn’t prompt memories so much as a feeling – a feeling that everything’s going to be alright. The emotional connection to time and place is one of things I love about music.

ANIMA - Thom Yorke: I was a bit dismissive of this record when I first listened to it. Not because I wasn’t impressed with the writing and production, but because it felt like a collection of Radiohead offcuts. But then I watched the short film by Paul Anderson and the record made a lot more sense. It’s more emotionally distant than most Radiohead records, but when combined with the abstract choreography of the film and the romantic undertones it’s a captivating listen.

SAM’S TOWN – The Killers: Like American Beauty, this record is able to transport me back in time. I listened to it a lot in the summer after finishing high school. I still think it’s their best work – it’s ambitious stadium-sized pop music that doesn’t put a foot wrong and it has certainly aged well, particularly compared to some of their other work.

STRANGEWAYS HERE WE COME - The Smiths: This was the first record by The Smiths I listened to. I think a friend gave it to me. It’s a strangely addictive listen. Morrisey’s morose sense of humour and the way it twists and turns in the most unexpected ways was a revelation on first listen. It doesn’t contain any of their more well-known hits, but this might be because they released it after they broke up and they never played any of the songs live. That makes the record somewhat tantalising, because some of the songs on there are the best in their entire discography (Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me) – it feels like if they had toured it and the band kept on that these songs would be among their biggest hits.

MIDNIGHT OIL -Midnight Oil: Mum and Dad gave me the Oils debut self-titled record for my 15th or 16th birthday. I was a mad Oils fan during my teenage years (I still am to be honest) but this was still an obscure choice by my folks. It paid off though, because I had those seven tracks on repeat for a long time. Being more familiar with the Oils more popular songs, this record gave me a greater sense of why the band was so vital - they sounded (and still sound like no one else. They remain the benchmark for Australian music in my opinion.

ELECTRIC WARRIOR - T. Rex: Bolan's strut on this record is mesmerising. From the slinky vocals to the crunchy guitars and dull timbre of the drums, everything is in its right place. And then you get to the songs! The aloof wit of the lyrics on ‘Cosmic Dancer’ are the highlight of the record for me and seem to best capture Bolan’s essence as a musician and songwriter. I wish I was alive when this record came out…

FURTHER – The Chemical Brothers: I’m not sure that it’s their best record – it would be hard to top Surrender in terms of its musical impact – but it’s certainly my favourite. I’d listened to The Chemical Brothers on and off for a while before Further came out, picking songs here and there, but had always struggled to see past some of their more odious hits (Salmon Dance and Galvanize for example). This record enabled me to see them in a new light and encouraged me to explore their earlier fantastic releases.

Catch City Calm Down at The Rosemount, Perth on October 19, 188+. Visit oztix.com.au