Originating from the sulphurous city of Rotorua, Marty Jones spent many a year working in the local music store before moving to Auckland. In his time in Auckland he has produced and presented shows for the likes of ALT TV and Kiwi FM and worked at the long running local distributor Border Music, before a brief stint in London at Warp Records. Presently he works at SKY Television looking after the publicity for their factual and lifestyle channels while in his spare time he is one half of Bones & Woods, DJs under the name Marty Bones and also contributes to The Corner with the regular Real Talk series. Here are five albums he’s loving right now…

1 – A$AP Rocky, Long.Live.A$AP: I was a bit late to the party with A$AP Rocky’s acclaimed mixtape Live.Love.A$AP but since wrapping my ears around it in early 2012 I’ve been eagerly awaiting his next release. He was once described to me as ‘Shoegaze rap’ and lives up to that title with some very hazy sounding new age tracks on Long.Live.A$AP. I don’t know if it just me, or is Enigma becoming the production reference point en vogue at the moment?! Standout tracks for me thus far are the Danger Mouse produced Phoenix, album closer Suddenly and censorship nightmare Fucking Problems.

2 – Kate Bush, 50 Words For Snow: This album was a slow grower for me, but as time goes on I find myself returning to it time and time again. Most recently I’ve been listening to it because I was reminded of it by the new David Bowie track. I find that the new work from both Bush and Bowie has a simplistic elegance to it. It’s almost like that in their maturity they’ve decided they have nothing to prove and as a result are releasing some of their purest works. Also Snowed in at Wheeler Street is without a doubt one of my favourite duets of all time, ranking above another Kate Bush favourite of mine, her duet with Peter Gabriel from his album So.

3 – Cream, Disraeli Gears: As a young music listener I never really gave Eric Clapton much thought, he was always the guy that played Tears in Heaven and looked slightly like my best mate’s dad. But the image of the ‘Clapton is God’ graffiti has always haunted me and in the last wee while I’ve finally experience the masterpiece that is Disraeli Gears. While I’m not so sure about some of his more recent work, albums like Disraeli Gears and John Mayall’s Blues Breakers certainly remind you why Clapton is held in such high regard. Disraeli Gears for me evokes a similar kind of feeling that I get from watching Withnail & I, it has that late 60s, slightly drug-addled and mystical yet quintessentially English feel to it. Clapton may not be god, but he certainly was once King.

4 – Elvis Costello, Armed Forces: A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be offered a ticket to Elvis Costello’s gig at The Civic. It was one of the best performances I’ve seen in quite some time and as a result has made me revisit some of Costello’s back catalogue. The length and breadth of Costello’s work is phenomenal and in recent years he has produced some truly wonderful work. Although I have to admit i’m still taking stock of the news that he is going to record an album with The Roots! My favorite Elvis Costello album of all time has to be Armed Forces, as it has the youthful energy of his earlier releases yet with an added level of maturity to it. It was a real treat to see songs like Oliver’s Army and What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding performed live by a true gentleman of the stage.

5 – The Reduction Agents, The Dance Reduction Agents: I was really excited about the new Lawrence Arabia album in 2012, but for some reason The Sparrow was a bit of a miss for me. I liked it, but I simply didn’t love it. So recently I’ve been listening my way through some of Mr Milne’s previous releases before I give it another go. The Dance Reduction Agents album is a particular favorite for me as it came out around the time that I first moved to Auckland. During my first couple weeks I was lucky enough to see the all-star band live, ever since that moment the album has cemented itself as a fond favorite, worthy of many a repeat play.