Steady Earnest, “Skin It Up”

Steady Earnest is an all-star band of Boston ska bands, most importantly featuring Dan Vitale of Bim Skala Bim on vocals. Because he fronts it, Bim is the closest comparison, and if you like one band, you’ll like the other for sure.

James Brown, “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”

After complaining about not being able to remember if we’ve had songs before, I can say: we definitely had this one. It’s too distinctive to not remember.

Fifteen, “The End of the Summer”

Fifteen is one of the descendent bands of the legendary Crimpshrine, one of those bands that helped spawn an entire scene. Fifteen is where Jeff Ott ended up, and they kept going in the same vein, playing the melodic pop-punk that the Bay Area would soon become internationally famous for. If you love the style, you should check them out as one of the early bands in the scene.

Miles Davis, “Bitches Brew”

Woo, I am seriously unequipped to comment on this. Kinda feel like I should call it a day.

Butthole Surfers, “Human Cannonball”

We’re with Locust Abortion Technician here, part of the great Surfers run prior to ending up on Capitol Records, somehow. It’s a record that just wanders wherever the band chooses with no particular regard to genre boundaries or anything else, something that can be very difficult to pull off but I wish more bands did.

Dasher, “We Know So”

Here’s a rarity: Dasher is led by Kylee Kimbrough, who sings and plays drums. Pretty neat! It’s sorta post-hardcore, sorta noise, and is a fun record.

Swans, “The Wolf”

So, this little song leads into the centerpiece of double-album The Seer, the 32-minute epic “The Seer”. Michael Gira manages to capture drama in a way very, very few people manage in music. He doesn’t sound cheesy or overwrought, because his music can carry the weight he places on it. This stuff is best experienced in album form, but it’s an amazing record.

Vaselines, “Bitch”

Eh.

New Bomb Turks, “Professional Againster”

The New Bomb Turks arrived on Epitaph with Scared Straight, and immediately things got more professional. And that’s not a good thing when you’re dealing with this sort of thing. Listen to this - it’s certainly not bad, but there’s a certain theatrical edge here that really cuts against the proper energy of the band. I just don’t think we need the Jerry Lee Lewis thing going on. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy this record, it’s just not as much fun as the earlier stuff.

Fluf, “RK Wins”

At some point, I stopped being able to keep track of which songs have already appeared in this thing. It’s been five years? 6,000+ songs, anyway, and I’ve just lost the ability to be sure if we’ve heard something. Part of me thinks this was a repeat, but I don’t want to check. So we’ll just enjoy it again. Or for the first time?

Run the Jewels, “Call Ticketron”

One of the things about Run the Jewels 3 is that it sometimes feels a little more distant than some of the other records, 2 and 4 especially. Both of those feel visceral and immediate, and 3 seems a bit more cerebral and chilly. Still a great record, of course, but it’s just not quite at the same level as those two.

Haggard Cat, “Life and Limb”

Silence is a Dangerous Sound: A Tribute to Fugazi is a huge comp, featuring a bunch of bands each doing one Fugazi tune. The interpretations range from pretty faithful to pretty decomposed, as is de rigueur for this sort of thing. I think you have to be a pretty big Fugazi dork to enjoy something like this, but I am one of the biggest, so it’s fun. Most of the pleasure is in doing the Leonardo DeCaprio pointing meme at the songs (metaphorically speaking), but whatever, stupid fun is still fun.

Witchcraft, “You Bury Your Head”

If you’re thinking to yourself “this damn thing sounds like it was recorded in a basement”, congratulate yourself on your fine ears. It was recorded in a basement, proudly, using vintage equipment. Plenty of bands are out there trying to recreate Black Sabbath, but few go to quite these same lengths. Do you need to actually listen to this instead of just listening to Sabbath? What’s the point of ce n’est pas Black Sabbath? Man, I dunno, sometimes I just like my noise to be different.

Shudder to Think, “Baby Drop”

Your Choice Records was a DIY label that mostly (entirely?) released live records by established bands. I’ve got several of them, and they’re all very good records. Here, Shudder to Think is in fine form, and this album almost functions like a greatest hits record.

Colossus, “Tsunami”

Colossus is a collaboration betweeen Ayatollah and Widowmaker, with an instrumental hip-hop record coming out of the partnership, which was created using Kickstarter. The compositions are pretty big, and they feel more like full songs, not just beat demos. It’s a nice one to check out if you like this track.

Yo-Yo Ma, “Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: III. Courante”

I don’t know shit about any of this, but I have to say: that song title looks like something from a prog-metal band’s record.

Built To Spill, “Aisle 13”

If I played the first ten seconds of this to you, I wonder how long it would take for you to guess that it’s a Built to Spill song? By a minute, of course, it’s obvious, but still.