A bit of a mixed bag today. Too bad we missed the Amon Tobin track that immediately followed these!

Arsonists, “Blaze”

Underground rap act out of Brooklyn, Arsonists are odd simply for the fact that they signed to legendary indie rock label Matador for their two records. The two turned out to be excellent, with the group itself doing all the production as well as the rhyming, which is always a pleasure. I can’t really think of any other rap artists who ended up on Matador off the top of my head, so this remains just a fascinating experiment for the label.

Yeah! Old Primus! Soul! Kid music?

Labradford, “WR”

The other day, we had Kranky labelmates Jessamine, but here’s the band I associate most with that label, Labradford. Post-rock-y, drone-y, sometimes very experimental, Labradford had a very interesting run of a half dozen albums on Kranky which were all very interesting. Most of the time, they were working with instrumental stuff, and I find it to be really pleasant stuff to put on when I’m working. That sounds like a backhanded compliment, but it’s not intended to be.

Should I mention when I buy albums here? I probably should. Maybe I’ll do that on future Fridays. Today’s music.

Andrew Bird, “Pathetique”

The first couple of Andrew Bird albums (officially credited to Andrew Bird and His Bowl of Fire) were more affected and more self-consciously arty than his later work. In a lot of ways, you can hear a lot of Squirrel Nut Zippers in this stuff. You can also hear some of the hallmarks of his later work, especially in the way he uses his violin to provide several different types of sounds, but the early stuff is definitely the sound of an artist finding his way.

From a musty 70s basement to the sound of future rap, today’s Five Songs has you covered.

Space Rock, “Dark Days”

So, here’s a true oddity for you. Numero Group, a record label primarily doing reissues (and doing a great job!), released Cities of Darkscorch, a fantasy board game where you’re playing as a hard rock band, traveling around the world defeating monsters and questing. It was accompanied by a double LP, Wayfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles, which was full of Sabbath and Zeppelin inspired heavy rock from a variety of acts. It all kind of tries to function as a time machine back to the early days of gaming, and ends up being a pretty unique package. I’m not sure it’s all good, exactly, but I’m sure glad I own it.

Some legendary names today.

Pixies, “Nimrod’s Son”

From their very first moment, the Pixies were already themselves. This song, from their debut EP Come on Pilgrim, already shows all the elements that people would come to love. What’s even more impressive was that this was just from a demo they recorded themselves. They sent the demo to 4AD, and 4AD turned around and released it. This EP used to be sold on the same CD as Surfer Rosa, making that one of the best single discs in my entire collection.

Punk rock, wooo! And, you know, a DJ track.

Dwarves, “Lesbian Nun”

Really, a song title of “Lesbian Nun” probably tells you everything you need to know about what you’re going to hear. Punk rock shock merchants out of Chicago, Dwarves were every bit as sophomoric as you might expect from a band that put blood drenched nude women on the cover of an album. I never actually ended up with any of their actual releases, but this song showed up on a Dope Guns-n-Fucking In The Streets compilation. It appears to be the only one of their songs I have.

Just to clarify the stance of us here at Five Songs Amalgamated: if it’s a single track, it counts as a song for the purposes of providing you with five of them. You’ll see why that’s relevant today.

Beck, “Round the Bend”

I’m not really sure I’m on board with sad Beck. I mean, Sea Change is clearly a good album, but I don’t really enjoy listening to it very much. Give me prankster Beck any day of the week.

I wonder at what point I start hitting diminishing returns on this thing. 200 articles? 300? 500? I suppose I’ll find out. Let’s fire up the music!

Yo La Tengo, “The Summer”

Well, personally, I remain resolutely un-fired up. This is from Fakebook, a quiet covers album that is the least noisy thing they ever made by a long ways. Yo La Tengo have always had two sides, and this album really only emphasizes the folk-ish side of the band.

Your music is over here!

John Oswald, “Way”

John Oswald, a composer, coined the term “plunderphonics” to describe the process of composing a new song using recognizable parts of existing songs. The “recognizable” portion was something he considered key. It involves the composer making using of existing associations in order to raise emotions in the listener that might otherwise not be possible. This can distinguish it from some of the sampling used in hip hop and the like, which might be considered plunderphonics or not, depending on how much the source is widely known.

Hey, if anybody is curious what stuff I’ve bought on Bandcamp, you can see my profile here. The top eight are the ones I picked up yesterday. Here’s today’s music.

Future of the Left, “Failed Olympic Bid”

Glitchy and bloopy at first, and then pounding, this song is delightful.

Jello Biafra with the Melvins, “The Lighter Side of Global Terrorism (Extended Space-Melt Version)”

After the breakup of the legendary Dead Kennedys, Jello Biafra has hooked up with a variety of collaborators for albums. He’s done pretty well picking those collaborators - Lard’s first album (with Ministry) was great, for instance, and I love everything Melvins. So, how is this album? Pretty good! It’s the Melvins with the usual unhinged Jello ranting on top. Both of their records are pretty fun. This track is actually an extended version of a song that appears on the other record, with a big ol’ freakout. I do love me some extended Melvins freakouts.