Ari Lennox, “Whipped Cream”

I really know very little about modern R&B, and mostly I just kind of randomly stumble on albums from year-end reviews or whatever. And then even when things come up here, I’m not sure I can say a whole lot. This is good?

U-SCO, “high and rising”

oh hell yes goddamn fuck yeah gimme that shit i need it i wanna deliberately concentrate and inhale this

Rocket From The Crypt, “My Arrow’s Aim”

There’s a non-trivial amount quality in rock that is just purely in how things sound. The tone of the instruments, the production, the arrangements - there’s an alchemy there that works extremely well, and nailing the formula of the sound can propel a band a long way just on its own. And RFTC always sounded great, one of the reasons they were always a ton of fun.

Coil, “Dark River”

Coil is one of the most interesting bands to emerge from the original industrial scene, where they quickly went off in their own direction. By the time we get to their third proper album, Love’s Secret Domain, there wasn’t really anything industrial left. Instead, we’re left with creepy, gothic, atmospheric stuff that filters electronic music through a cracked mirror. It’s one of their essential records, and there’s nothing else really like it.

Pile, “touched by comfort”

Quite a lovely build-up on this one. The urgency that PILE bring to this song, the climax they build towards, doesn’t at all pay off on the album, which lurches into a quiet instrumental that they call “fuck the police”. But it’s a good run-up for all that.

The Isley Brothers, “I Turned You On”

I’d say that this is an amazing period for the Isleys, but that’s honestly kind of silly to call out. Their career is made out of amazing periods. But, anyway, the late 60s albums, and especially the 1969 albums, are savage. The groove on this is absolutely vicious, just try and listen without at a minimum nodding your head.

The Baseball Project, “¡Hola America!”

Baseball Project, yes, yes, very good, love ’em AS OF THIS WRITING THE MARINERS ARE IN THE LEAD IN THE AL WEST AND WOULD BE THE AL’s #2 SEED IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY WOOOOOO

Poster Children, “Evidence”

There was a very good scene in Champaign-Urbana in the late 80s/early 90s, with Hum being probably the best known these days, but at the time the Poster Children probably were a little more famous. It’s hard for me to tell for sure, of course, but I seem to remember more buzz around them. They ended up on Reprise before Hum was on a major label, got some MTV play, and generally were pretty prominent for a little while for an indie rock band. I hardly see any mention of them any more, though, and honestly had kind of forgotten them myself. Probably should remind myself about their records, I’m enjoying this track.

Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, “Whip the Blankets”

Fuck yeah, Neko Case doing a convincing June Carter impression here, great stuff.

One Eye Open, “Blue Gene Blues”

This is from a split LP with Janitors Against Apartheid, the final track, and it’s…look, it’s not good. I mean, even if you skip all the silence from the CD fuckery, this is still just fuckin’ around. This record also got Dill Records flattened in a lawsuit over the cover art, so it’s just a bad scene all around.

Stone Temple Pilots, “Big Empty”

I was going to say that this is the only STP track in my library, their contribution to The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack which I bought because it had a new track from Nine Inch Nails and Helmet. Anyway, I was wrong: they also contributed to a Led Zeppelin tribute album, a covers album notable mostly for David Yow getting together with Helmet for a fun “Custard Pie” and not a lot else. Anyway, STP are and always were boring, flannel wallpaper for people who thought that the only thing that the old hard rock hegemony on raido needed was more grunting.

Destroyer, “Painter in Your Pocket”

It’s too facile by half to just talk about Bowie when you talk about Destroyer, but for real: that’s the reference point here. Obviously, it’s not just replication or anything, but there’s really so much Bowie in Destroyer that it’s hard not to at least acknowledge it.

Badly Drawn Boy, “The Shining”

It is my curse that any time I see the phrase “The Shining”, this is the inescapable result in my brain.

The Slackers, “Sabina”

To start off on the right foot here, the Slackers don’t have any bad records. But they have ones I love more than others. The Great Rocksteady Swindle didn’t totally resonate with me initially, so I didn’t listen to it much. But I decided to rock it hard for a week or so, playing it every night, for reasons that are unclear to me. Great decision as it turns out. The record is a banger, an upper tier record from them, up next to Wasted Days and Redlight.

Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra, “When The Saints Go Marching In”

It’s been a while, so a quick reminder of one of our ground rules around here: I am not qualified to talk about jazz.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Purple Haze”

Geez, got some real warhorses here today!

Michel Anoia, “Nigredo”

We’ve got another Total Dissonance Worship record here, and another banger. This is black metal, but it’s unmistakably French. And not just from song titles or whatever, there’s something about the guitar tone here that strikes me as particularly French. I’m not entirely sure why, perhaps it reminds me of Deathspell Omega? Anyway, fun stuff. Can I call this fun?