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.

OutKast, “Chonkyfire”

The conclusion to the classic Aquemini, the record where OutKast fulfilled their promise and delivered one of the greatest hip-hop records ever. That assertion is not diminished at all by the observation that it’s not entirely clear if it’s their best album. The number of artists who can make a legitimate claim to having made two all-time albums in their genre is a tiny number indeed.

James Brown, “The Payback”

I see what you’re doing shuffle, trying to slyly put forward a titan in a particular genre to imply that maybe there are lots of artists in the “two all-time albums” category. But here’s the thing: I don’t think it’s true of Brown. Obviously an incredible artist, and his work is foundational to funk and all. But his albums were a real mixed bag, with filler frequently padding things out. His live albums were generally his best work, because they tended to be greatest hits records. Or a comp like Star Time. But I don’t think it’s fair to include that in a greatest album discussion, so Brown kind of misses that criteria.

The Slackers, “Like a Virgin”

Several times in the past (no, I’m not going to look it up), I’ve talked about how mostly ska covers do nothing for me. The major exception to that are the Slackers, who consistently kill it. But I’d also listen to Vic Ruggiero sing a menu.

Mix Master Mike, “U Know the Name”

Legendary DJ Mix Master Mike has a few albums out under his name, where he often brings along various guest rappers to tear it up in-between instrumental tracks. Spin Psycle is the best of that bunch, off of a very good guest roster.

MC Frontalot, “A Skit About Robots”

Unfortunately for me, I’m exposed to probably an unhealthy amount of what would be described as geek media. That’s largely a consequence of being as into tabletop gaming as I am, and staying on top of new releases and things will inevitably lead to reading about adjacent culture stuff. I’m not proud of it. At any rate, at some point, I had read enough about the existence of nerdcore hip-hop that I decided I should probably listen to at least something. The lead nerdcore guy was MC Frontalot, so I picked up what was his latest album at the time.

The Beatles, “Let It Be”

When I find myself with no ideas / struggling to write a blog / I fall back on dumb jokes / mail it in

TWRP, “Only the Best”

OK, I don’t love those lyrics there, but in the spirit of of mailing it in, I’m not going to take another run at them. Pulling aside the curtain a bit here at Five Songs Agglomerated, I pretty much just write these entries in stream-of-consciousness as I listen to the music, go back and just do a quick edit pass to fix typos or any really duff wording, and then call it good. Revising the joke goes agains the spirit of the thing, I think.