Will we get a repeat artist again? I’d figure out the odds, but seriously, nobody has time for that. Will we get five songs? PROBABLY!

Mr. Lif, “The Unorthodox”

Boston MC Mr. Lif was one of the highlights of the early 2000s rap underground, along with others like Edan, who collaborated on this release, Emergency Rations. Concentrating on political and social commentary at a time when that was pretty rare, Mr. Lif was a breath of fresh air. After a long hiatus, he returned last year with another strong album and EP, which was a welcome development. I’d start with I Phantom for a first record, but he’s been strong all throughout.

More news about Fox in the Forest: official street date is July 19th! I’m so excited! Let’s listen to music!

Public Enemy, “I Stand Accused”

There’s always been a paranoid streak going through Public Enemy’s music, reflected in the claustrophobic beats and siege mentality lyrics. It goes back all the way to their first album, and certainly hasn’t eased off with later work. This is from the uneven Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age, an album rife with that paranoid feel, and which at least still had Chuck sounding authoritative in his rhymes.

Final rules are available for Fox in the Forest, if anybody wants to check them out. Reviews have started coming in and they’re very positive so far. I’m sure I’ll get clobbered soon, but it feels good right now.

Oh, you came for music?

Steady Earnest, “Wear You To The Ball”

Steady Ernest is a side project of an assortment of Boston-area area ska musicians, most notably Dan Vitale of Bim Skala Bim on vocals. Overall, with Vitale’s involvement, it sounds a lot like Bim Skala Bim - pretty straightforward ska patterned after two-tone bands like The Specials. I think Bim Skala Bim is great, and Steady Earnest is where you go after you’ve gone through their discography. Out Of Line is the album to start with for this band.

This is ostensibly a game blog still, so I’ll just mention that copies of Fox in the Forest are in people’s hands! We had a limited number available for sale at Origins, and people seem pleased so far. And by people, I mean my friends who have played it. Still, it’s a good start! Here’s today’s music. For the first time ever, every entry has a “previously” associated with it.

The Wedding Present, “Don’t Be So Hard”

The Wedding Present arrived as a more-or-less fully formed band, with all the frenetic pop and downbeat lyrics that would be their signature for years. This song is from their first album, George Best, which is fantastic. I first encountered it when a listener made a request on my radio show, and I picked a track randomly to play. I loved it instantly.

Quite a mixed bag today, with a smattering of electronics, a weird-ass rock band, and one of the foundations of funk. Sounds pretty good, right?

Diamond Fist Werny, “Fountain Head”

A Seattle band that got going in the early 90s, but not playing what you think. In particular, one of the founders played the bass clarinet, which is not an especially grunge instrument, let’s be honest. As you can hear on this song, they also added electronics to their sound as time went on.

Back in those music salt mines, bringing you more sparkling treats!

(NB: the last track is only on Bandcamp - I didn’t upload it to Youtube, because that seemed kind of dodgy.)

Conlon Nancarrow, “Study No. 2a”

Nancarrow is one of the most avant-garde artists in my entire collection. An American who fled the US fearing persecution as a result of his activities in the Spanish Civil War, he lived in isolation in Mexico. While there, he took to composing for the player piano, which enabled him to create incredibly complex compositions that a human player wouldn’t be able to perform. Many of his compositions strike you as alien when you listen to them, because he was able to create so many layers and strange patterns within his work. A bunch of his works were collected into a single volume, Studies For Player Piano, Vols. 1-5, which is what I have. I used to play his stuff on the air at WRCT occasionally, when I felt like my audience needed to be weirded out a little bit.

Just narrowly missed “Buffalo Soldier”, as played on a xylophone today. Dodged that bullet! Here’s what we do have today.

Taylor Swift, “Style”

I try to not be totally ignorant of current pop music, but let’s be honest: I usually am pretty ignorant. Every now and again, though, I’ll just pick up an album that’s been getting really good reviews, and I’ll often enjoy it as a break from the usual grim frowny stuff we typically have around here. All of which is a long way of saying that, yeah, this album is pretty good.

From noise nonsense to gangsta rap to classic soul, we’ve got you covered today!

OK, it’s just those three genres.

Sightings, “Chili Dog”

I originally mistyped this as “Chill Dog”, which is a title I like better. I like it when dogs are chill.

Sightings are an electronic rock-ish trio creating waves of noise on top of often primitive songs. It’s all designed to be difficult to listen to and punishing, and really needs to catch me in the right mood.

Queens of the Stone Age have released a trailer for their next record. I’m excited! Mark Ronson produced it, which might be really interesting. Here’s today’s tunes.

Helms Alee, “Revel!”

Could have sworn we had Helms Alee in here earlier, but the index says no, and I trust it. Helms Alee are a Seattle noise rock band, playing a sludgy and yet still poppy kind of heavy music with fun vocal harmonies. I’d recommend everything they’ve done, with Stillicide being my favorite of the lot. This comes from Weatherhead, put out by the gone and lamented Hydra Head Records.

No intro today, just tunes.

De La Soul, “Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin’s Revenge)”

I remember being pretty baffled by a lot of the slang that De La Soul used on Three Feet High and Rising. This is mainly because I was a sheltered 14-year-old boy living in Spokane, and the internet didn’t exist to sort things out for me (or misinform me, to be fair). I worked out the general gist of a fair bit of it, and it never really bothered me or stopped me from listening to the music, but I was nevertheless baffled. I think it was an album designed to baffle folks.