Man Or Astro-Man?, “Organ Smash”

The debut record for Man Or Astro-Man? (Is It Man…Or Astro-Man?) set the template for the rest of their career. All reverbed out and surf-y, with a thick layer of retro science fiction. And they would cheerfully mine the same vein for their entire career, while still somehow basically managing to sound fresh. It’s a neat trick!

Melvins, “see how pretty, see how smart”

The Maggot was the first of a trio of albums that the Melvins recorded for Ipecac after getting bounced off their major label, following a brief tour with Amphetamine Reptile. All the albums were recorded at the same time, but with a different focus. The Maggot is the most Melvins-y of the three, being pretty much wall-to-wall sludge. It’s also tracked super annoyingly, with each song being divided in half (this, technically, is only the first half of this song).

Elvis Costello, “Just a Memory”

The deluxe reissues of Costello’s albums are mostly not worth it. There are some highlights from the bonus material, but you’re just better off listening to the actual album again.

Matthew Sweet, “Looking at the Sun”

This entire album is just so charming. It’s really hard to think about how it might possibly be improved, this is just power pop perfection.

Dead Kennedys, “Kill The Poor”

Now we’re talkin’! Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables is a singular achievement: deeply political, savagely sarcastic, fantastically well-written, and simultaneously both alien and incredibly familiar. It’s one of the albums that really kicked off hardcore, and judging by the kids walking around in Kennedys gear, it still resonates today.

Earl Van Dyke, “Soul Stomp”

We’re in 1964 here, with a well-named song, as this really is quite a stomp. The organ is just fantastic.

The Beastie Boys, “Fight For Your Right”

I think that more than half of the times in my life that I’ve wound up in some stranger’s car, aimlessly wandering towards or away from a party, either this album or Paul’s Boutique was playing. It’s basically the soundtrack to unfocused teenage ennui to me.

Gorillaz, “New Genious (Brother)”

Gorillaz, the band featuring Damon Albarn (Blur) and Dan “The Automator” Nakamura (Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030, others), is one of the weirder success stories in popular music. The icy, detached compositions don’t scream out “radio success”, and the big radio hit of “Clint Eastwood” was a particularly strange song to get huge. This song is a typical example of what you find on the record, which is interesting primarily by managing to not really sound like anything else.

De La Soul, “Rap De Rap Show”

There’s a concept of a “difficult second album”, which is mostly just a farm for confirmation bias, but hell, let’s talk about De La Soul’s difficult second album. Their first album was a huge smash, a groundbreaking album, and an artistic statement that truly came from left field. But the flower power personas that De La Soul wore during that record began to feel stifling pretty quickly. They set out to break that mold on the next album, starting with the name of the album, and proceeding with rejecting the hippie approach throughout. The results are rough in spots, a little overly laden with filler and skits, but there are also some legitimately amazing tracks on the record. This, alas, is not one of them.

King Crimson, “21st Century Schizoid Man Including Mirrors”

The early pinnacle of prog rock, In The Court of the Crimson King set a standard that a bunch of other bands would strive uselessly to surpass, including King Crimson themselves for a while. Now, prog is inherently ridiculous, but it’s also hard not to enjoy the unbounded artistic ambition here. I’m not a huge King Crimson guy, because I think a little of this can go a long way, but this is very easy to just sit back and listen to.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, “Hora Cero”

For those who are only recently tuning in to these things, I don’t always have much to say. And usually nothing significant. So, given that, here’s the tremendous insight we have for this song: I like the trumpet.

Wormed, “57889330816,1”

I’m told that Wormed lyrics are about, like, space and shit. An assertion that I can only respond to by tilting my head like a confused dog. This is a little interstitial track during the tech-death madness that is Krighsu. If this sounds intriguing to you, congratulations! You have brain worms!

WIFE, “Salvage”

WIFE is the new band started by James Kelly, after the sublime black metal band Altar of Plagues disbanded. He clearly wanted to pursue a different direction, focusing on electronics to make his noise. It does share some of the same oppresive atmosphere of Altar of Plagues at times, and What’s Between (the only album so far) is a very interesting record.

Fountains of Wayne, “Michael and Heather At The Baggage Claim”

After three great records in a row, Fountains of Wayne put out Traffic and Weather, which on the surface seems similar, but it’s just not in the same league. The songs are shallower, they’re not as catchy, they’re not as sly. It’s just a big step down, which is a shame. The record is OK, and I do listen to it occasionally. But mostly, I do that just to check and see if my opinion has changed. It has not yet.

Tame Impala, “Desire Be Desire Go”

Innerspeaker seemed universally beloved, so I went ahead and picked it up. And I like it fine, but it doesn’t really blow me away. It doesn’t really stick with me particularly, so I like it while it’s on, and then totally forget about it later. Like, this song: it sounds good, but it also kind of sounds like a billion Elephant 6 bands.

Polyrhthmics, “Lord of the Fries”

Track from the most recent Polyrhythmics album, Caldera, which is excellent as always. The compositions are getting more ambitious as they go along, which you can really hear on this song.

The Magnetic Fields, “Two Kinds of People”

There are two kinds of people: those with the patience to pick through 69 Love Songs to find the good bits, and those who cannot be bothered.

The Skatalites, “Woman A Come”

The Skatalites didn’t often have a vocalist working with them, but pretty much every case I can think of, it’s delightful. This comes from the Foundation Ska collection, which is the best single spot to get on the Skatalites train. And everybody should be on that train.