Cave In, “Come Into Your Own”

If I told you that there was a band called Cave In, and that they were showing up on this blog, you’d probably have some picture of what they sound like that would involve one or more things howling. I doubt you’d picture something that sounds like this. Kinda feel like it’s false advertising.

El-P, “The Overly Dramatic Truth”

A thing you can’t often say about El-P’s compositions is that they’re pretty. It’s just not a goal he often shoots for, although he’s capable of it if he chooses. This beat, though, sometimes could be described as such. There’s a certain poppiness to it that doesn’t often show up in his work.

Idlewild, “These Wooden Ideas”

It’s not always clear ahead of time if an album or band will click or not. Reviews and comparisons can take you only so far, and until you sit down with a record and really try it out, you’ll just never know. On paper, Idlewild should have been up my alley. And this is fine, but there’s no spark for me. I suppose it’s good that surprises still happen in this process, otherwise it would be mechanical and dull, and those exciting times when something is perfect for you are worth seeking out. I mean, if our tastes were predictable, we could build ourselves big recommendaiton engines, and people would just sit around and listen to whatever the machines suggest. Thank god that’s not going to happen!

Otis Redding, “Love Have Mercy”

Man, Otis was really a force of nature.

The Presidents of the United States of America, “Froggie”

This insistent fever dream of a tune is an excellent example of why the Presidents were so much fun. It keeps barreling forward with on its rhythm section, and the lyrics don’t make any sense at all, but it takes those elements and transforms its nonsense into…not sense, but into something that rhymes with sense. It’s weird, but not for the sake of being weird. It’s weird because that’s how weird it needed to be to tell the story of a frog ruined by rock stardom. No weirdness is wasted.

Frank Black and the Catholics, “I Gotta Move”

A thing I admire about Frank Black is that his songs always sound so distinctly like him. Whether with the Pixies, as a solo act, with the Catholics or whatever, he always sounds like Frank Black. It’s not just the voice, either, it’s his guitar, how he constructs songs, everything. His records might vary in quality and inspiration, but they always sound like they came from him.

Murs, “Intro”

As usual, I don’t have a lot to say about intro tracks. This is just setting up the framing device for the album. I will say that if it’s going to come up, it’s fun as the first song in our playlist today.

The Sorcerers, “Cave of Brahma”

Hell yeah, Afro-beat. Nice choice to follow-up! This has a lovely kind of cinematic approach here that sounds sort of like it’s a soundtrack to something, which is a neat trick to pull off. Both Sorcerers records are a good time, I recommend them.

The Afghan Whigs, “Matamoros”

The Afghan Whigs wrapped up their first incarnation with 1998’s 1965, and Greg Dulli moved on to other projects - primarily the Twilight Singers, but other things like the Gutter Twins album with Mark Lanegan. It wasn’t that the band blew up, but they just decided to stop making albums. A reunion gained momentum in the early 2010s, and a new album eventually emerged from the band in 2014. Obviously, Dulli is the most important member, but John Curley rejoined him, meaning half of the original lineup was back. Good enough!

Mogwai, “Friend of the Night”

The other day, I mentioned that Rave Tapes wasn’t my favorite iteration of Mogwai. Mr. Beast is more my speed - it’s more conventional in a lot of ways, but it’s more lyrical. You know, in an instrumental kinda way.

The Fall, “Clear Off!”

Folks, this is the accessible version of The Fall.

Lustmord, “Dark Awakening”

There are two Lustmords on Metallum, neither of which appear to be this band. Looking closer, this is on Hydra Head Records, and so this must have been from the big grab bag that I bought from them. There was a lot of stuff in there, which I faithfully ripped, but there was so much of it all at once that I know I didn’t pay attention to all of it. So, no, I’m not certain I’ve listened to this before.

They Might Be Giants, “Ana Ng (Live)”

I adore this song, but damn, I have a lot of TMBG live material. But, I suppose I have 49 distinct releases from TMBG in the library (and two CDs upstairs that need to be ripped), so I just have a lot of stuff from them in general.

Inter Arma, “Bumgardner”

The opener to their magnificent Sulphur English, this song sounds like it’s gasping for breath. It’s struggling to stay above the water, gulping air, before a wave comes in to send it down to the bottom for good.

Don Caballero, “The Irrespective Dick Area”

Don Caballero came back after a six year absence with Damon Che once again leading things from his drum kit. This is the second of the studio records from this configuration, and while good, it doesn’t really reach the heights of previous Don Cab records. The pyrotechnics can be pretty fun to listen to, though.

David Bowie, “Suffragette City”

Maybe my most listened to Bowie song - either this or “Space Oddity”, probably. Why? Because both are available in Rock Band, so I’ve played them a bunch.

Propagandhi, “Laplante/Smith Song (Live)”

Where Quantity Is Job #1 is really an excellent title for a comp like this. Also, dig those Canadian accents!

Beck, “The Golden Age”

A little while back, we talked about Party Beck vs. Sad Beck. Please enjoy (?) peak Sad Beck here.

BADBADNOTGOOD, “Time Moves Slow”

I love the skittering drums here, they’re making me kind of jittery just listening to them. BADBADNOTGOOD, out of Toronto, sit somewhere between funk/soul, hip-hop, and jazz, putting out records that cheerfully wander back-and-forth between the genres as their muses take them. As anybody who has been reading Five Songs for any length of time can guess, that’s extremely up our alley around here.