Monorchid, “A Was For Anarchy”

Monorchid features two alumni from post-hardcore band Circus Lupus, which will be immediately obvious to anybody who listened to Circus Lupus. This comes from their second album, Who Put Out The Fire?, and it’s a solid chunk of DC post-hardcore. Post-harDCore? If I were to rank this against the Circus Lupus records, I’d probably put it behind Solid Brass and ahead of Super Genius.

Jan Jelinek, “Universal Band Silhouette”

Boy, some songs today that would have been really fast picks for me on “Name That Tune”. The glitchy warmth on the first part of this track is instantly recognizable as Jelinek, in the same way that Chris Thomson’s yelp is instantly recognizable.

The Solids, “Over The Sirens”

Guess how many people are in this band? Correct, two! That places them square in one of the major interests of Five Songs: Loud Rock Duos. They’re not as outre as someone like Lightning Bolt, they’re more towards the Big Business end of things. Only the one record from them, though.

Pavement, “Two States”

You ever wonder how often you’ve listened to albums you love? Slanted & Enchanted was released in April of 1992, and I bought it the day it came out. I think I probably listened to it a couple times a week for the first year or so, and then maybe once a week on average for the rest of my time in college, and then maybe every other week for the next decade. And then down to maybe…once a month? For the next fifteen years? Let’s add that up - have I listened to this album 400 times? Jesus.

NoFX, “The Longest Line”

This is from a 1992 EP, also called The Longest Line, so from the White Trash, Two Heebs, and A Bean era. This is basically my favorite era of NoFX, probably due to how old I was at this time. There’s no real reason for anybody to really care about this EP though.

The Slackers, “Stereo On”

This is from an EP also, the 2013 release My Bed Is A Boat. Unlike the NoFX EP, though, I can heartily recommend this. It’s not so much that it’s notably better than any other Slackers, but that basically everything they’ve released is good.

Monobody, “Raytracing”

Monobody is an instrumental math rock band from Chicago, with a couple of albums so far. This is from the second, Raytracing. Their music has more than a little bit of jazz fusion going on in things, and is definitely more towards the cerebral end of math rock.

Coalesce, “Cowards.com”

Hey, it’s the other end of math rock! Always enjoyable when songs from the late nineties have web references in them.

The New Year, “Half A Day”

We just had The New Year on, uh, the New Year, so I won’t go over it again. Slowcore! It’s pleasant!

Marlowe, “The Places We Stay”

Marlowe is producer L’Orange and Solemn Brigham on the mic, here with a little instrumental track from their first, self-titled album. It’s a solid record, recommended particularly if you like L’Orange’s production. It turns out there’s a second album from them, I’m going to pick that up right now.

Miles Davis, “Pharaoh’s Dance”

Bitches Brew didn’t create the category of jazz fusion, but basically everything in the genre after it builds on it.

Uh, or so I’m told.

The Men, “Dreamer”

Brooklyn quartet The Men returned to their earlier sound and approach with Devil Music, producing a ripping set of ten songs that clocks in at a little over a half hour. We’re softies around here for this kind of garage punk, so of course this is a delight.

The Jam, “All Mod Cons”

Title track of the first of their essential albums, and just a quick little gem. I wonder if I could learn this bass line?

Ice Cube, “The Bomb”

AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted is really a hybrid album, with the vintage Bomb Squad production married to Ice Cube’s flow. It’s a little bit of an awkward fit at times. Both artists are, of course, legends for a reason and some of the best ever at what they do. And it’s a great album, but I think Cube’s following couple albums bring things together a little bit better.

Television, “Venus”

Television’s Marquee Moon is a landmark album for good reason. It’s a key album in establishing post-punk, with its sophisticated winding guitars and complex songs. But anybody who describes Television always makes it sound so much more clinical and cerebral than it really is. The experience of listening to the record is really just so pleasant.

craft, “The Cosmic Sphere Falls”

craft is a black metal band from Sweden that has been around for ages, putting out an album every five years or so. This is their most recent one, which I picked up for some reason, and it didn’t stick with me at all.

Young Fresh Fellows, “Barky’s Spiritual Store”

There was a nine year break between 1992’s It’s Low Beat Time and 2001’s Because We Hate You, with Scott McCaughey spending time in the interim both touring with R.E.M. and spending time with his other band, the Minus 5. And when this album came out, it was actually a double album, with the other album from the Minus 5. So, all McCaughey, but with different people accompanying him.

Firewater, “This Is My Life”

One of the highlights on the best Firewater album, Golden Hour. It’s an album that attempts to answer the question “what if we just made the whole album out of highlights”.

Calexico, “Yours and Mine”

Hot damn, shuffle bringing the fire today! Garden Ruin was the follow-up to my favorite Calexico record, Feast of Wire. With this album, Calexico nudged slightly further away from the mariachi sounds being quite as dominant as prior records, with a little more country and folk creeping in to replace it. There are also no instrumentals on the album, another break with the past. That’s not to say there aren’t any southwestern sounds on the album, just that there is a little less influence. This song is a fine example, this is pretty much just pure country. But lovely!