Art-folk humourist THE BEDROOM PHILOSOPHER (aka Justin Heazlewood) is a curious creature. A charming geek with a unique ’70s aesthetic, he’s the proud owner of more than 300 vintage neckties and has a collection of more than 500 cassette tapes. Ahead of the launch of his second album, 'Brown & Orange', he selects 10 of his favourites – from an acid house classic to some novelty singles from the mid 1990s.

1. Alf Plays Detective (1989)
A spoken word narrative featuring some great ’80s sitcom synths and Alf action. Includes all your favourite Alfisms: “Ha!”, “No Problem” and “I kill me.”

2. Crayfish Creek (1993)
I have a vast collection of field recordings of my family as a kid. This is the OK Computer. My entire family in a caravan in Crayfish Creek on the north-west coast of Tasmania, all in top form. Best bits include Nan going crazy about the mossies and Pop trying to locate the doonas.

3. Infinity – Guru Josh (1990)
For about 15 years, I declared this my favourite song of all time. “1990s, time for the guru”, it hasn't dated at all. I'm still heavily in love with the arpeggiated synth breakdown of minor chords. I love how whenever DJs play it, the floor is instantly cleared except for me.

4. Social Life In The Psychiatric Unit (1977)
I found a collection of tapes in a Canberra op-shop that belonged to a young man called Charles. These were similar field recordings to my own of his family and spoken letters to and from friends. On this tape he is a patient in a psychiatric unit in the UK wandering around asking patients if they know any good jokes. Samples from this tape appear on my album.

5. University Of Tasmania (?)
I found this tape in an op-shop, this was all it had written on it. It's a dubbing of a hypnotherapy course to help you quit smoking. The guy talking has an impossibly deep American voice and it's a bit wobbly so it sounds like a Boards of Canada thing.

6. Spankees Moods (1999)
I’ve been a closet techno head since Tokyo Ghetto Pussy happened. While procrastinating at uni, I made a DJ megamix of all my favourite Chemical Brothers/Air/Daft Punk-ish beats all dubbed on tape. It goes for half-an-hour and you only notice the joins in a few places.

7. Fawlty Towers Al A Carte (1978)
There's something heartwarming about having your favourite British comedy on tape. It's a nice workout for the imagination to listen to a whole episode. The only downside is the device of Manuel writing a letter to his mother to explain all the visual jokes.

8. Triple J Hi 5 (1996)
On March 1, 1996, when I was in Grade 10, they played my favourite five songs of all time on triple j's “Hi 5” segment hosted by Michael Tunn. This hilarious recording features a very bogan-sounding me, when asked who will win the election tomorrow declaring, “John Howard - I think he's a pretty good bloke.”

1. ‘Killing In The Name Of – RATM
2. ‘Jesus Was Way Cool’ - King Missile
3. ‘Rock N Roll Is Dead’ – Lenny Kravitz
4. ‘Epic’ – Faith No More
5. ‘Infinity’ – Guru Josh (would have been number one but I was worried they wouldn't have it!)

9. Joe From Aleks And The Ramps Mix Tape (2004)
I've been friends with fellow Tasmanian Joe (Extreme Wheeze) from Aleks And The Ramps for about five years. Once he slipped me a mix tape, a cassette wrapped in paper with a tracklisting written on it. I've included this to earn back the indie cred dissolved in the previous story [Triple J Hi 5].

10. Smart E's – Sesame's Treet (1996)
A cassette collection wouldn't be complete without some seriously trashy mid-’90s novelty singles. Remember the Sesame Street theme with a dirty breakbeat under it? I do like the synth-drenched arpeggiated bit managing to make The Count’s “ahahahaha” sound profound.

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SONGS FROM THE 86 TRAM

Melbourne International Comedy Festival
April 2-25
European Bier Cafe, Melbourne, VIC