Vaz, “The 2nd”

Every now and again I encounter a record that I can’t seem to be able to buy on digital, but is available on physical media. Usually it’s some older release that nobody has bothered putting onto digital marketplaces, but sometimes there will be some new vinyl-only release by somebody. Or worse, cassette-only. Chartreuse Bull was one of those when I first bought it, although it subsequently showed up on Bandcamp. But included in the LP when I bought it was a code to download a digital copy, and I appreciate that so much, thank you to their label.

Calexico, “Heart of Downtown”

This comes from Calexico’s Christmas album, Seasonal Shift. The major concession here is that the guitar line is a little more filled out, and there’s a little bit fuller chorus. It’s a Calexico song otherwise, which is a perfectly good thing.

Mastodon, “Divinations”

Crack the Skye is Mastodon at its most Mastodon-y, with their prog-metal thing reaching a logical endpoint. They’d back off a bit from this sound later, but I kind of wish they hadn’t. I want a band to just keep getting more and more elaborate and decorated. I want them to get ten albums in and have the whole damn thing be totally unparseable by normal humans. Have it sound like it fell to Earth from outer space.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”

‘Scuse me while I fuck this blog!

Steady Ernest, “Roll On”

Didn’t we just have Steady Ernest? I wonder what the most frequent ska band we’ve had show up here is? Seems like it should be the Slackers, just going off the number of albums I have from them. 22 tracks from the Slackers. Geez. I don’t remember them showing up that much. I guess I’ve been doing this for a while.

The Miracles, “You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me”

1962, baby!

McKinley Dixon, “Chain Sooo Heavy”

I really enjoy the sax blowing while he’s rhyming, it really sets things off, and makes my ears kind of ping back and forth between what sounds like competing leads. That tension really provides a lot interest in the tune.

The Dead Milkmen, “Big Lizard (Live)”

Chaos Rules: Live at the Trocadero is sort of a live career retrospective by the Dead Milkmen, but I gotta say, it’s hard to recommend it. The live renditions don’t add a ton, and the sound quality isn’t great. Uh, as you can hear.

Logic, “YSIV”

There are a bunch of long songs on YSIV (Young Sinatra 4), but I’m not sure that it totally works for me. Goodness knows I don’t have a problem with long songs in general, but I really kind of want more evolution over the course of a track than this exhibits.

christian fitness, “Endless North London Police Helicopter”

See, now, this makes a point. Bellow through a bullhorn, pound away with some bass and drums, get the point across. Done.

Kowloon Walled City, “Diabetic Feet”

This is from the first Kowloon Walled City record, Gambling on the Richter Scale, where they are bringing back that Unsane sound. There’s something about that vocal style in particular that really reminds me of that band, which is of course a good thing.

Thou, “Corrupted Sanctum”

Thou contributed some songs to a video game soundtrack, which is kind of a funny phrase. I know absolutely nothing about the game except that it’s set in New Orleans, which presumably is how Thou got involved. Anyway, always happy to get new music from them, even if it’s a strange delivery like this.

Stubborn All-Stars, “Lieutenant”

The first Stubborn All-Stars record definitely had their laid-back ska groove going, but I think they took it up a notch on the next record. That said, if you’re looking for something pretty traditional, bordering on rocksteady, you can do a lot worse.

The New Bomb Turks, “Never Will”

After an absolutely raging debut record, the New Bomb Turks followed it up the next year with another ripper full of garage punk. It’s pure adrenaline, with sawtooth guitars and snotty vocals leading the way. Alas, they’d land on Epitaph for their subsequent records, and the cleaned up version of the band isn’t quite as fun.

Destroyer, “Every Christmas”

This is the earliest Destroyer record that I’ve heard, I haven’t gone any earlier than this one. This album is very much a Destroyer record, full of Dan Bejar’s elaborate melodic pop and winding lyrics. I think he’d largely keep getting better, as his style of music pretty much always benefits from additional craft.

Badly Drawn Boy, “This Is That New Song”

Meanwhile, despite mining a similar vein of music, Damon Gough’s stuff didn’t get better as time went on. So, I suppose it doesn’t always work that way, and the lesson as always is I’m an idiot.

Boogie, “Save Me”

God only knows how I heard about this, which is the debut from Boogie but was self-released. Therefore it’s a surprise that it found its way to my old, out-of-touch ass. It’s good, though, kind of sunny with the beats and with contemplative lyrics.

Webbed Wing, “Perfect”

I think this is a record that a friend told me about, maybe they knew someone in it? I’m having trouble recalling, but they’re from Philly, so it’s a decent bet. Anyway, assuming that that’s correct, you all should get this!

The Mortals, “Hangin’ On”

The Mortals played garage rock, like a lot of the Estrus Records bands, but with a little bit more of a greasy edge to things. The reverb and sneer on the vocals give things a twist from just playing it straight up.

Steady Ernest, “Promises”

There’s a live-in-studio feel to this tune that suits it well. There’s a presence to the horns, they feel organic, and it works well.