Takes a bit to get going, but we close with a couple outstanding songs.

The Might Be Giants, “Can You Find It?”

This song, from Here Come the ABC’s, really doesn’t make any sense without the accompanying video. I mean, to the extent it makes sense. Or that anybody cares.

Johnny Socko, “Next Big Thing”

I think this is some kind of meta-commentary on trend hopping in music? From…a third-wave ska band? OK, Johnny Socko.

Happy Birthday, Megan! Today’s just about giving her songs that will make her happy. It’s super difficult to just limit this to five songs, for the record.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “Orange”

From one of the albums that we played the most after we first met, it’s difficult to pick just one song from the record. It’s really best enjoyed as an entire album, but I went with the title track mostly because I love the breakdown in the middle of the song so much. This marks the first appearance of the JSBX in this thing, but I’ll talk more about them during a non-special blog. Also, the version of this song I picked is not great quality, but fuck it, it’s still plenty filthy.

Super late night tunes for y’all!

They Might Be Giants, “Alienation’s For The Rich”

From TMBG’s first album, when they sort of put on different musical styles more like outfits than playing them with any real conviction. The album has some real gems on it, but there are also tracks that come across as just pure goofs. The goofs wouldn’t really go away, but got more sophisticated.

MC Frontalot, “Very Poorly Concealed Secret Track”

The standard bearer of “nerdcore”, MC Frontalot will give you a good idea of if the idea of people rapping about nerd shit is something you love. I think I own one nerdcore album, this one, which probably tells you what I think.

Music!

The Beautiful South, “The River”

Another relatively toothless song from the later period of the band. I can’t wait for some early tracks to show up.

Melvins, “The Mechanical Bride”

Another tune from the “double duo” years, when they had an extra drummer to augment their usual trio. This comes from (A) Senile Animal, a great album. One of the many thing I love about the Melvins is their use of space. Yes, they can just crank out headbangers, but they’ll often leave plenty of space for menace to build up, for the drums to breathe, for the compositions to evoke a mood beyond “GRRRRR”. (That mood is “GRRRR…(pause)…GRRRRRRRR”.)

Nice set of songs today. I am not posting this on Twitter today because I’m boycotting today in support of the #WomenBoycottTwitter protest going on.

Dumptruck, “Watch Her Fall”

Underground pop act Dumptruck was a favorite of college radio before I really listened to that sort of music, and I eventually gave them a listen after hearing so much about how great they were. They were made out to be The Band That Should Have Made It. And I like them, but I don’t have the connection to them that so many folks who were there seem to have. This comes from the only album I have, Haul of Fame, a retrospective compilation of their entire career that I recommend checking out.

Sorry I’ve been flaky a bit recently! I have tunes for today, though!

Yo-Yo Ma, “Suite for Solo Cello, 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: VI. Gigue”

Nope, still don’t know nothin’. Nice to listen to, though.

Fake Limbs, “Stugots II”

What is this? I like this a lot! I don’t remember getting this! I suspect it must have been in a year-end round up last year, and I spaced listening to it. This sounds like it’s from Chicago. (looks) Yes, it’s from Chicago. Hell yes. I know what I’m listening to when I’m done here.

Fun batch of stuff today.

NoFX, “Louise”

Have we had a lot of NoFX lately? Feels like we have, even if the “previously"s tell me that we haven’t. Well, anyway, here’s some more.

Radiohead, “Backdrifts”

Well, there’s always NoFX’s opposite, Radiohead. I never got along that well with Hail To The Thief, although I suspect that’s at least partially because I haven’t really given it the sustained attention it probably needs. Anyway, I’m enjoying this song.

Today, honestly, is kind of a mess.

Fuck The Facts, “The Wrecking”

Fuck The Facts are mostly grindcore, although there are some death metal tendencies in spots. This song, for instance, is more towards the death metal end of things. I mean, this track is over four minutes long!

Frank Black, “Hang On To Your Ego”

Oh, Frank. “Hang On To Your Ego”? Anyway, yes, this is a cover of the Beach Boys song.

Can you tell the Voodoo Glow Skulls and Suicide Machine apart? Most people can’t.

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators, “Blues Downtown”

Soul revivalist Willis leans more towards the Motown end of things than the Stax/Volt side, although obviously there’s still plenty of Stax influence here as well. And my god, those drums at the start of the song. Anyway, this album (Keep Reachin’ Up) is fantastic.

Voodoo Glow Skulls, “Thrift Shop Junkie”

Voodoo Glow Skulls are usually at their least interesting in their generic hardcore mode. This is, um, a pretty generic hardcore song.

Here’s today’s music.

Bola Johnson & His Easy Life Top Beats, “Ezuku Buzo”

This song comes to us courtesy of the compilation Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump, an exploration into the funk and afrobeat coming out of Nigeria. I don’t really know that much about the scene, but this compilation is excellent.

Mule, “Mississippi Breaks”

Midwestern band Mule were veterans of several previous bands, and came together to play something that sounds something like Midwest punk combined with Southern rock. I like most of the music on this album, but never really got along that well with the vocals, so I never really listened to it all that much. Oh, and looking at this record, the second song is called “What Every White Nigger Knows”, so, yeah. Didn’t remember that.