The Marvelettes, “Please Mr. Postman”

“Please Mr. Postman” was the first ever number one hit for Motown, setting the precedent that so many other songs would later follow. And it’s easy to see, especially with that lead vocal performance. This is still a serious jam.

NxWorries, “Best One”

NxWorries is a delightful collaboration between Anderson .Paak and underground hip-hop producer Knxwledge, and it smokes. Knxwledge has always excelled at these kinds of dense, funky, kind of abstract beats, but working with .Paak gives them a purpose that showcases them better than his solo work. I’d love to hear a follow-up record to this thing.

Sleep, “From Beyond”

While doom metal in general traces back to Sabbath for inspiration, a lot of modern doom looks to Sleep’s Sleep’s Holy Mountain, along with a few other influences like the Melvins’ sludgiest work. This album really set the template though, which its ethos of staying exactly as slow and pounding as it wants to be. Much of metal had been getting faster and faster over the years, and the proof that you could be heavy while not trying to set any speed records really sunk in to a lot of bands. But even ignoring the influence, this stuff still smokes. But slowly.

Swans, “Half Life”

It’s stuff like this, from the early Swans career, that really drives home how appropriate the “no wave” label was for this. It just oozes nihilism.

Mos Def, “Mr. Nigga”

From Mos Def’s great first solo record, part of one of rap’s highest peaks, albeit a short one. This track is bolstered by Q-Tip appearing on it, driving home the song as a spiritual successor to A Tribe Called Quest’s “Sucka Nigga”.

Frank Black and the Catholics, “Bullet”

Frank Black went through a couple phases between v1 of the Pixies and v2 of the Pixies. After recording under just his own name, he apparently decided that his band rated a mention, and began recording as Frank Black and the Catholics. To my ears, this was the best phase of his post-Pixies career, and this record might be my favorite of the lot. There’s definitely plenty of the Frank Black madness here.

Andrew Bird, “Pathetique”

Bird Songs collects all three of Andrew Bird’s early records, when he was still recording as Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire. The first two records, Oh! The Grandeur! and Thrills, have a very old-timey feel, very similar to what the Squirrel Nut Zippers were making. The third record, The Swimming Hour, was really his breakthrough record, melding his older sensibility with more modern songwriting, with pretty special results. If you haven’t heard the records, this collection is a monster deal. If you, say, already have all three records and then pre-ordered this compilation without knowing what it was, it’s less of a bargain.

Witchcraft, “The Outcast”

Doom metal can sometimes just be code for “wants to be Black Sabbath”, and while that’s not such a bad thing, bands definitely have differing levels of skill at it. Sweden’s Witchcraft have been at it for a long time, and as a result, they’re pretty good at it. By the time they hit this album (2016’s Nucleus), the truth is that they’re actually channeling a whole lot of 70s rock and not just Sabbath. There are distinct notes of, say, Jethro Tull going on here.

Rockabye Baby!, “I Shot The Sheriff”

Oh god.

Mary Wells, “Bye Bye Baby”

MUCH BETTER

The Frames, “Headlong”

This is the only record I have from The Frames, and I have zero recollection of this band ever existing. I sometimes think Plexasaurus Rex is gaslighting me. At any rate, this DOES sound like something I would have picked up, and a little bit of research suggests that Steve Albini recorded this, which is another reason. I can’t judge the entire album (because I don’t remember ever listening to it), but this has a little bit of a vibe similar to the Wedding Present’s slower tunes. Not bad!

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

The vocal R&B band the Miracles are mostly known for launching the career of Smokey Robinson, but they had a long string of hits in their own right as well. I mean, this is basically irresistable.

Hammerhead, “Once Again…With Feeling”

Can I just re-iterate how delighted I am that Hammerhead got back together and recorded a bunch of new material? Coming across multiple Hammerhead records that I’d never heard before at once was such a delight. Listen to this! The urgency of the rhythm, the noisy grumbling of all the guitar and bass, the spacey breakdown, I’m just so happy.

The Fiery Furnaces, “South is Only a Home”

Brother and sister duo the Fiery Furnaces kind of epitomize a certain quirky, challenging strain of indie band. They’re restless, always searching for new sounds, and often end up being kind of difficult as a result. It’s all for good reasons, it’s not just experimentation for the sake of experimentation, but it does require some concentration to really pick up.

Mudhoney, “Magnolia Caboose Babyshit”

A lively instrumental from their debut self-titled LP, this is actually one of my favorite songs on the record. Not that I don’t love Mark Arm’s singing, but they’re just in and out on this one, getting the point across in a tidy 1:07. Great stuff.

Negativland, “Announcement”

You know what? We’re trying it again today!

Keep of Kalessin, “Dark Divinity”

Better! WE DID IT, FOLKS

All You Can Eat, “Family Matters”

Long forgotten Bay Area punk band, they put out a couple albums in the early 90s and then disappeared. I’d characterize their sound as, uh, early 90s Bay Area punk. It’s fine, I listened to a ton of these bands at this time and a lot of them were pretty undifferentiated. This band included.