Prefuse 73, “Eve of Dextruction”

Way, way back in probably 1995, I remember making fun of some prehistoric website where someone clearly wanted to be a music reviewer but had no idea how to approach it. He attempted to a bunch of songs, but after writing a sentence or two for the first couple tracks, he just devolved into saying “CLUB BANGA” for the rest of the songs. And that simple phrase, all-caps, CLUB BANGA, has stuck with me now for twenty seven years or whatever. A friend and I used to just text that phrase to each other sometimes, and it never failed to hit.

Public Enemy, “LSD”

Flavor Flav belting out “cancer!” in the first verse always kills me. Also, I always appreciate it when rappers Remember A Guy, with Nick Van Exel getting name checked here.

The Grifters, “Spaced Out”

I’m pretty sure that I’ve lamented this before, but it’s a real shame that the Grifters managed to get to Sub Pop, the relative big time, and only released one record there before breaking up. I suppose they didn’t exactly fit into the general grunge aesthetic (grunty guitars and gruntier singers), but they at least fit pretty well alongside both Pond and the Afghan Whigs, both of whom made the majors. Well, anyway, all five of the Grifters records are worthwhile, with this one being the most polished of the bunch.

Uzeda, “Female”

You know, there’s more than a little similarity between Uzeda and the Dog Faced Hermans. There’s no personnel connection between them, but there’s a shared space of a kind of arty noise rock. Excellent stuff.

Squirrel Bait, “Kick the Cat”

No! Squirrel Bait, I just said nice things about you the other day. Don’t kick the cat!

N.W.A, “Express Yourself”

When I worked at WRCT, there was shelf in the DJ booth with all the new releases that the program manager wanted us all to work into our shows. We were required to play a couple songs from that shelf each hour. You could choose whatever you wanted and there were always plenty of things across genres. To assist us with the task, every new release that came into the station was listened to by a member of the staff and we wrote up some quick notes on an index card to help DJs make good choices. A key thing to note on those cards was which songs were safe to play outside “safe harbor” - in other words, which ones didn’t have profanity.

Elvis Costello, “Turpentine”

I have largely ignored Costello’s work past his salad days. Imperial Bedroom is more or less the last of his records I regularly listen to. No real reason for it, honestly, I just kind of feel like I have enough Costello. I broke that rule of thumb with Momofuku, his 2008 release, after I heard it was banged out in a matter of a few weeks. I thought the urgency might be fun to listen to. And, it’s fine? It’s a Costello record, there’s nothing wrong with it. But I still just go back to his earlier records.

Cap’n Jazz, “Little League”

Analphabetapolothology gathers together Cap’n Jazz’s one LP with their non-album releases onto one delicious record, capturing the entire work of one of the great but forgotten bands of the mid-90s underground. Like Squirrel Bait, they’re more known for their successor bands than their actual work, as both Joan of Arc and the Promise Ring came out of Cap’n Jazz. But also as with Squirrel Bait, ignoring the parent band’s output would be a huge mistake, as it’s bursting with ideas and energy. This comp really is one of the highlights of the 90s, and if you haven’t listened to it, my goodness, you’re in for a treat.

David Bowie, “Heroes”

I know that as an underground rock dork, and a fan of experimental music, I should really regard Heroes (or at least the Eno years) as Bowie’s peak. But I just can’t do it. Gimme the Ziggy Stardust stuff first, please.

Daft Punk, “Revolution 909”

Daft Punk’s first LP (Homework) took house music and brought it to disco, and by resurrecting that sound of the 70s, managed to sound fresh. I think they’d do a lot more with the formula later, but this is where it started.

We’re still trying to clear the dust from the emergency remodel around here. Still lots of work to clean up the visuals, and the posting schedule is likely to be a bit erratic for a while. Apologies!

Jonathan Coulton, “Still Alive”

Yes, the song from “Portal”. But even though some of the worst dudes you know get far too excited about this, it’s a fun tune. Don’t let the nerds ruin shit!

Hockey Night, “For Guys’ Eyes Only”

[don’t mention Pavement don’t mention Pavement don’t mention Pavement]

Hey, that doesn’t actually sound much like Malkmus! It’s more like Spiral Stairs.

[nailed it!]

Beck, “Sexx Laws”

Midnite Vultures starts off like this, letting us know that we are in for Party Beck instead of Sad Beck. I like Party Beck a lot more, personally.

Cannibal Ox, “Ox Out the Cage”

It’s always fun to hear a record that still sounds fresh more than twenty years later. El-P’s production on this record is so good that it still sounds futuristic even after all this time. A great record!

Overwhelming Colorfast, “Coming Down”

It’s another largely forgotten mid-90s underground rock band! Overwhelming Colorfast put out three records, all of them pretty solid exercises in Hüsker Dü-esque melodic loud rock. That comparison, by the way, is pretty much required due to Bob Reed’s singing so strongly resembling Bob Mould’s. Although, truthfully, this is more like Sugar than it is like Hüsker Dü. Anyway, it’s decent stuff if you’re into this sort of thing.

WE’RE BACK, BABY! The historical record of this blog won’t show anything, but for the record: on the 18th, I blew this damn thing up so thoroughly trying to update it that I had to re-install it from scratch, and then remember all the custom modifications I did to get a music player in here. It was a mess, but we’re back. And we have a new logo! Kick off the tunes, Plexasaurus Rex!