No intro today, because I'm working on something Five Songs-related that will be fun, and I'm going to get back to that. So on to the tunes!
Tortoise & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, "It's Expected I'm Gone"
Will Oldham hasn't exactly had a conventional career, ranging from his frequent name changes, the prolific output, and the often odd direction of his music. But this collaboration with post-rock titans Tortoise is one of the oddest moves of the lot. For starters, the collab doesn't make a lot of sense. The ultra-cool Tortoise, with their calm precision and sometimes cold affect, seems like an odd fit with Oldham's often messy but human style. But even beyond that, they hooked up to make a covers record. And those covers are of songs from a huge range of artists, from superstars like Bruce Springsteen or Elton John, to international artists, to underground favorites such as today's subject, the Minutemen.
Like all covers records, it's basically inessential. It's also a little hard to see who this is even theoretically for. The person who loves Oldham's Palace [Brothers/Music] albums isn't going to find anything like that here. The post-rock fan who loves Tortoise's records is going to find something much more conventional. Or, at least, lyrics. I suppose the target audience is, more or less, Five Songs, which has cheerfully posted music from both. And as the target audience, I declare this: inessential. I'd just rather listen to either artist on their own. The Minutemen rule, though.
Common Market, "Re-Fresh"
(track 1!) Seattle hip-hop, represent! Common Market is RA Scion along with Sabzi (Blue Scholars), making music that fits roughly with the other "conscious" artists from the mid-aughts, such as Blackalicious. It's hard for me to tell if I'm grading on a curve here, because as I oft say, I'm fully in the tank for Seattle people. But I think this is really fun stuff. Sabzi especially turns in a bunch of nice beats on this record, and it's worth checking out if you've never heard it.
Porridge Radio, "Back to the Radio"
Shout out to the record label here, Secretly Canadian. I really liked the 2020 release from Porridge Radio, Every Bad, so I was excited for their followup. This is pretty straight ahead indie rock (their artist bio for this lists indie pop, art rock, and post-punk, which, sure), but it's done well, plenty of emotional swells and crescendos, and it's just a nice listen. I think I prefer the previous album a bit, but that's probably entirely because it was the first one I listened to.
The Intelligence, "Evil is Easy"
Evil is easy, isn't it?
Wu-Tang Clan, "Chrome Wheels"
What is there to say about the Wu? If you're someone who has only listened to Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), there's lots more waiting for you.