Squarepusher, “Tundra”

Feed Me Weird Things is Squarepusher’s debut record, where he still hewed closer to jungle than he later would on subsequent albums. But even at this early date, when he was still working to define his approach, the fusion elements still shine through pretty distinctly. In the end, there’s nothing really very standard about this, one of the stronger tracks on the record.

Vaz, “Chartreuse Blues”

Vaz is two-thirds of noise rock legends Hammerhead carrying on with tunes very much in the same aggressive vein. All growling guitars and pummeling rhythms, this is the good stuff. Starting on this record, Chartreuse Bull, they added a second guitarist, giving a more layered sound than they’d ever had, either as Vaz or Hammerhead, so this is probably the record to start with. Or go back and listen to Hammerhead’s Into the Vortex first. I’ll always recommend that record.

Stugots, “Ooh Poo Pah Doo”

This is from an EP called Soupy Sales, a slab of fun, guttural noise rock. This tune, the closer to that EP, is different, as it’s a cover, was recorded live, and is just kind of a straightforward rock song. You can’t really tell that much about the band from this.

Skinnerbox, “I’ve Got To Know”

This is from the final Skinnerbox record, released after Moon Records imploded. It continues King Django’s approach of mostly playing it pretty traditional, although there are some punk elements here and there, some dub, some rocksteady, just lots of bits to keep things fresh.

Throbbing Gristle, “Walkabout”

As I was getting further into industrial and noise, around 1991 or so, a key thing I used to help out was Usenet. As I read newsgroups and learned more about bands, Throbbing Gristle would come up a lot as one of the critical pioneers of industrial. And I’m not sure why, as I was listening to Einstürzende Neubauten and Foetus and the like, but I found the idea of Throbbing Gristle really intimidating. I think I thought maybe I wouldn’t get them, that I would reveal myself to be an uncultured oaf incapable of appreciating a truly original band.

Young Hunter, “Nothing Shakes the Void”

Doom. Dooooooooooooom. very slow headbang Dooooooooooooooooooooom.

June of 44, “Of Information & Belief”

You know, I wasn’t paying attention, and this song started seamlessly enough that I didn’t even notice we switched. That probably says more about me than it does about the bands, but I’m going to willfully choose to believe that it says we’ve got a good playlist cooking today. Yeah, that’s it! I’m not just quarter-assing my way through this thing! I’m a professional!

Bitch Magnet, “Navajo Ace”

I wanted them to keep going with that stuttering thing they had in the first thirty seconds, but the rest of the song is plenty fun as well.

They Might Be Giants, “You Probably Get That A Lot”

I think I’ve made this point before, but that was probably a long time ago. There’s a lot of Five Songs, and nobody is really paying much attention to it. That includes the staff of Five Songs. Anyway, just think of it like how when you know a friend long enough, you’re going to hear the same stories a lot and even start to take comfort in them.

Cursive, “Bad Sects”

Cursive followed up my favorite album of theirs with Happy Hollow, which probably isn’t really a step back or anything, but I always think more highly of albums that are a breakout. Domestica is arresting, an unflinching look into divorce that can be downright haunting, but The Ugly Organ was a leap forward in the songs that causes it to really stick out in my head. At any rate, this is also a great record, I’m probably just an idiot.

Chris Farren, “Red Wire Blue Wire”

In a fine concept for an album, Death Don’t Wait (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is a soundtrack for a non-existent spy movie. I’m already a sucker for spy music, so I enjoy this quite a bit.

Melvins, “Night Goat”

There are definitely moments on Houdini where the idea of the Melvins breaking big in the wake of Nirvana and Soundgarden didn’t seem quite so crazy. This song, for instance, would seem to me to be perfectly palatable to the grunge crowd. The record didn’t really break big, because even its most marketable moments are pushing the boundaries for a mainstream crowd, but at least you can kind of see the outline of an idea here.

Dead Kennedys, “Soup Is Good Food”

This is the song that let me finally crack the Dead Kennedys. I think there’s an adjustment, for me at least, as music gets faster and more challenging to find something you can pick out that lets you understand it. This song, as a relatively slow one and one where it’s easy to understand what Jello is singing, is the one that let me kind of get what they were up to. And from there, now that I had a rosetta stone for the band, I was able to catch up to the rest of their catalog.

Tackhead, “Ticking Time Bomb”

Is industrial funk a thing? There are bits and pieces of Tackhead that remind me of industrial, but it’s also very electro-funk. At the time I encountered this, I wasn’t sure of the combination, and it sounds incredibly of its time at this point, but I think I might be better inclined towards it today. I dunno, maybe I’ll spend some time with the record.

The Aquabats!, “Robot Theme Song”

Yup, that’s a robot theme song.

clipping., “Story 2”

CLPPNG, the first full record from clipping., was a record with the band still kind of piecing together what they had. It would be on the next album (Splendor & Misery) that everything would come together perfectly, but there are still times on this album where things still seemed a little awkward. The individual pieces, especially Daveed Diggs, were often spectacular, but the best was yet to come.