This is the newly rebuilt Five Random Songs: chock full of posts, each featuring five random songs from my collection of music. Along with some other junk. Everything is tagged by artist. Poke around some, it’s been here since 2017. Starting in 2026, I shifted to twice-weekly posts with a little longer format. If you want to keep up, you can use RSS, sign up for email, or follow me on Bluesky.
Lots of music gets described as “anthemic”, and I’ve sometimes wondered what people mean by it. I think for me, it describes something that you want to shout along with, preferably with other people. Not sing, mind you. Shout. That’s an anthem, something to get you pumped up. The song has to ring, you know? Japandroids, of course, perfectly fit that template. How could you not want to shout along with this?
[Read More]A tasty drum loop here, and a nice lightweight structure up on top of it. Appropriate for a contemplative track like this one, this is just a solid song all around.
A project from a couple of guys from Front Line Assembly, the industrial act out of Vancouver, Delerium goes in an ambient direction, as I suppose you can hear. This sort of thing doesn’t make my wheels squeak, so I only have this one EP from them. Maybe their other stuff is banging? Probably not.
[Read More]The latest TMBG album finds them returning to their mixed-media approach, producing a combination album/book entitled, uh, Book. It’s a typical late-period TMBG album, with lush arrangements and plenty of hooks. At this point, they know what kind of album they want to make and are very good at it. It’s the sort of thing that those of you who are into this sort of thing will like.
[Read More]I don’t remember picking up this record, but I guess it’s not a huge surprise. Pure Noise Records might be how I found it? Anyway, pleasant enough.
But enough of that. Somehow Plex thinks that this album came out on something called “Ice Grill$”, and I really like an alternate universe where that was the only change, and thinking of baffled consumers on both sides encountering the album.
[Read More]Just a classic punk gallop here from the Melvins, with Jello’s warbling shout in fine form. Delightful stuff.
Those muted horns coming in at :32, that’s just lovely on top of this languid groove. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it agian: we need more horns in music. Gimme some grindcore with a trombone tearing it up. Some hardcore with someone on a trumpet blaring along beside it.
[Read More]Prince, yes please, take me with you.
The first JSBX was really very much a transitional record between Pussy Galore and what the JSBX would become. There’s just enough of the spastic, unpredictable energy in the proceedings to retain that gutter punk feel. Spencer would continue to draw on those sounds and attitudes throughout the JSBX run, but it’s nowhere as overt as on the first record.
[Read More]Another classic Motown tune. I wish I could set up all my music streaming to just inject periodic Motown songs into whatever I’m listening to. Having a Four Tops song pop up in the middle of some Neanderthal death metal record would be pretty excellent.
I like the choral bits in this, and the well placed additions to the piano. It’s a lovely piece.
[Read More]The Flavor Flav joint on It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back is the scar that sets off the perfection of the rest of the album perfectly. As a little goof, it’s fine, but it’s a trifle compared to the rest of the thing. It’s not inevitable that Flav’s songs will always be like this, not in a world with “911 Is A Joke”, but he’s just goofing on this one. I mean, he just starts making mouth noises on it.
[Read More]Corniest song we’ve had on here? Quite possibly!
This is from an early Bim Skala Bim album (Tuba City), from before they kind of settled down into a more traditional groove and started making their best tunes. It’s not a bad album, but it’s one of the last I’d go for from them as well.
Oh my god, that beat absolutely melted my brain. Sorry, can’t type more, it’s hard to see the screen nodding my head this much.
[Read More]Two two twenty two. Neat date!
Bee Thousand, the Guided By Voices breakthrough record, isn’t really notably different from their previous records. It’s as ramshackle and distracted as their previous albums, with the same penchant for memorable melodies floating in as frequently as they stagger out. Just as soon as a tune gets going properly, it’s on to the next. The hit rate on this album is higher than the previous records, so it’s probably the apotheosis of their early approach. After this, they’d slowly start getting more professional, so if you want the raw shit, this is your starting point, and then you can work backwards as far as you can stand.
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