Buzzcocks, “Lester Sands”

The Buzzcocks were one of the best of punk’s first wave, but unlike a lot of the other greats of that scene, they didn’t totally disappear. The went away for a while, but re-formed in the early 90s, and then started putting out an album every few years. This is from their self-titled 2003 record on Merge, a fitting home given how many Merge bands were inspired by the Buzzcocks (especially Superchunk). It’s pretty nuts-and-bolts punk rock, but Pete Shelly and Steve Diggle are always worth listening to.

Stevie Wonder, “Pastime Paradise”

The capstone of maybe the best run of any artist, ever, Songs in the Key of Life is a sprawling double album covering an incredible amount of ground, both musically and lyrically. Wonder tackled social issues and spiritual ones, found time for some gorgeous pop songs, funk, just about everything under the sun. And he just pulls it all off with aplomb.

Spawn of Possession, “Apparition”

Symphonic tech death metal band Spawn of Possession had several albums, but I’ve only listened to this one. And mostly, it kind of drove home that this kind of symphonic stuff really isn’t my bag.

ZGTO, “Remedy”

I don’t remember getting this, but I did pick it up on Bandcamp. It’s apparently a collaboration between electronic musician Shigeto and a rapper named ZelooperZ, neither of whom I’m familiar with. Probably bought this from a year-end roundup and didn’t give it a proper listen. Pretty good, though!

Hockey Night, “Greet the Dawn”

I long ago ran out of ways to say “this band sounds like Pavement” in a clever way, so: this band sounds a shitload like Pavement. Diet Pavement.

Goblin Cock, “Something Haunted”

I’m sorry, nothing I’m going to say is going to change anybody’s mind here. Either you were 100% in when you heard the name “Goblin Cock” or you were not.

Helmet, “Pure”

As Helmet moved further away from their Amphetamine Reptile days, their sound just progressively got cleaner and cleaner. I mean, it’s still distorted guitars and all, but it was all kind of clockwork stuff eventually. Whether it was triangulation to try and capture a bigger audience or not, I think it didn’t serve them too well. This song is a pretty good example, this would have been much noisier in earlier days, with maybe a big squalling guitar solo or some wild screeching or something. Instead, there’s just kind of a few yells from Page Hamilton, and that’s more or less it. I can’t exactly call it tame, not really, but it’s…domesticated?

I never write checks, so this blog is the only thing that I write the wrong year on after the calendar filps over.

Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”

A stone-cold classic.

Polyrhythmics, “Cosimo”

A lovely EP from 2020, Fondue Party continues a string of winners from Polyrhythmics. That sax solo is delicious, I love that they gave it so much space.

Dr. Dre, “Still D.R.E.”

Damn, this album turned 20 today. I still think of it as the “new” Dre release. And there’s been a more recent Dre record!

As I stagger out of 2021, this thing has been more challenging to keep as a daily thing. I suspect that at some point in 2022, I’ll probably miss an update and break my streak. And furthermore, I might have to step back the frequency a bit to provide some room for other creative projects. I still haven’t decided, but this is the time of year for reflection, I suppose. I would like to spend more time learning the bass. I’d like to make more progress on a game design. It’s hard to get too far with those when I keep up with this blog at this pace.

Serpent Column, “Pantheoclasm”

The other day, Plague Rages Podcast was complaining that there’s no great term for this sort of band, which isn’t really death metal, not tech death, just really out there, chaotic, and dissonant. I proposed “omnicore”, and honestly, that’s not such a bad term.

Queens of the Stone Age, “Tangled Up In Plaid”

Lullabies to Paralyze is a record that kind of ties together the strands of their previous albums. It kind of picks up the psych of Rated R, the musculature of Songs for the Deaf, the stoner vibes of the self-titled, and pulls it all together into a single record. It’s a consolidation of their skills that allowed them to kind of tie a bow on period of their career, allowing them to really go nuts with their next record.

Archers of Loaf, “Web In Front”

This is the version from Seconds Before the Accident, the posthumously released live album. Archers of Loaf always toiled in Pavement’s shadow, relentlessly drawing comparisons to them. But they were not imitators, and their four studio albums are all excellent work. “Web in Front” in particular is a masterpiece, just a tremendous rock song, and one of those songs that I need to listen to sometimes and nothing else will do.

Nitzer Ebb, “Control I’m Here (live)”

I mentioned the other day that I kept up with the proliferation of Nitzer Ebb releases for a while, and this is a good example of what a pain in the ass that was. When they started picking up some momentum after Nine Inch Nails brought a lot of attention to the genre, the label decided to try and pick up some buzz for Ebbhead by releasing a live EP. But did they just release a live EP? Oh my, no. They released it in two separate discs you had to buy, with the first one including a slip case that would fit the second one. Did they release both halves at once to make it easier to pick up? Of course not! I did find both halves, and frankly, it’s just a live EP and totally not worth tracking down.

Gift of Gab, “Rat Race”

You know a song is banging when I’m nodding this hard along with it, even just listening to it on one shitty earbud.

Wilco, “Either Way”

The opener of Sky Blue Sky, and it’s one of my very favorite Wilco songs. There’s that breezy organ in the background, the little chord change going into the chorus, there’s kind of a fakeout after the second chorus where he drags it out and it seems like it’s going to crescendo to a huge bit but turns into just a pleasant solo. It’s a bright, optimistic sounding song, but there’s so much subtlety to it, it rewards a close listen.