Anything On Your Mind?
2006! I finally made a move in 2006 that I’d been needing to do for a while. I was working at a place that I really quite liked. The people I worked with were great, the location was impeccable (in the center of the Fremont neighborhood here in Seattle), my commute was fifteen minutes or so on a scooter, it was really an excellent spot. With the minor problem that the work itself was pretty boring. I was the mobile developer for an engineering team where the server and desktop folks were really driving all the technical decisions. So it was just porting the stuff other people were doing and making sure it worked on the stupid-ass smartphones we had back then (which was primarily terrible PocketPCs). Lots of standing around in the office in various spots to see what happened to the product (it was a wireless VPN) with assorted forms of bad network coverage. It was really uninteresting. So it was really a test of how much I was capable of enjoying a job where everything about the job was great except the work itself. Well, I expressed a desire to my manager to do something different, he didn’t do anything, so I ended up moving over to a friend’s company. My manager was just about in tears when I told him. Good guy! Good group of folks! I was dying!
And I know. Lots of people have incredibly boring jobs, that’s just how it goes, and there’s much people can do about it. So this was for sure an incredibly privileged thing to contemplate, but nevertheless, I could try to do something about it and I did. In the end, I did learn that I really do need some intellectual stimulation at work. You know, just some enrichment in my cubicle. If someone had tossed a peanut butter-filled toy in my office at the first place every now and again, I think it would have been fine.
Aside from finally moving on in 2006, I guess that I was still rock climbing at this point, which seems like a strange thing to have been doing. We also went out to an English pub on Tuesdays for so-so food (and terrible chips) and trivia. I miss the George & Dragon! Pretty nice time in life.
Musically, one of the high points of this job was that it was a block away from Sonic Boom, an excellent record store. I could head in there at least once a week, check out new releases, hear what they were playing, kick the tires on their listening station, all of that. I genuinely miss that ritual, and this was the last year where I had such easy access to a record store. I would, of course, continue going to them frequently, but there’s something different when you’re there every week checking things out. Looking at the chart from 2006, that kind of bears out, because I have 11 of these releases in my library. Huh, turns out it’s easier to stay in touch when you’re working to stay in touch. I don’t like that conclusion!
What Do You Listen To From 2006, Josh?
A sampling of albums from 2006 that are worth writing about.
Waiting For The Next End Of The World, Channels
A week ago, I mentioned a list of bands that J Robbins has led. One thing about his work being spread across so many different names is that I think it kind of hides his later stuff. You have to be aware that if you want to track him, you have to change band names every album or two. It’s not totally obvious to me why that happened, as they all are indisputably J Robbins bands. Maybe he’s a jerk to be in a band with? (Don’t tell me!)
Anyway, Channels is very much like late-period Jawbox, reminding me most of their final record. What makes them stand out a little bit from his other projects is that Janet Morgan’s vocals are a nice addition to the formula. Darren Zentek on the drums is fantastic, and it’s a wonderful J Robbins record, and one that might have flown under people’s radar, as this was his second post-Jawbox band. I think. Maybe third?
(A) Senile Animal, Melvins
The Melvins had kind of been in the wilderness for a while. After being dropped from Atlantic, their output for a while didn’t seem super focused. There are good records from that period, but there are also really messy records. You don’t record a cover of “Smells Like Team Spirit” with Leif Garrett if you’re really locked in. Coming off their records with Jello Biafra, a new incarnation of the band emerged in 2006, when Jared Warren took over the oft-replaced role of bassist. However, they didn’t just fill the bassist vacancy. They also added Warren’s Big Business bandmate Coady Willis on drums, forming what I call the “double-duo” lineup. Having Willis and Dale Crover on drums is a hell of a rhythm section, and they make great use of it. The three records they put out with this lineup are career highlights, and I heartily recommend all three (the other two are Nude With Boots and The Bride Screamed Murder).
Back to Black, Amy Winehouse
There’s a rule for understanding the world that I reference a lot. It gets brought up a lot in software, but it applies to most complex human endeavors. Hofstadter’s Law (from Gödel, Escher, Bach) states that things will always take longer than you expect, even when you account for Hofstadter’s Law. Once you become aware of this, you start understanding a lot of things in your life, and you start looking for ways to deal with it. Not defeat it! But just accepting it and not being surprised by it will help your life if nothing else.
Anyway, once you recognize that pattern, you find it also applies to other types of things, not just how long tasks take. Take Back to Black, for example. Yes, yes, I know this was a massive hit at the time. 20 million copies sold, 5 Grammies, the sales and accolades all agreed that it was special. And Winehouse managed another nifty trick, which is that even the specialist music press loved it, which was not guaranteed in 2006 (which was still early days for poptimism). But, I would argue that there’s a Hofstadter’s Law thing with this record. No matter how good you think it is, it’s better than that, even when you account for this law. I think every time I’ve played it, I’ve liked it more. So, consider this my argument for giving it another spin. It really is something special. I have to throw in these mainstream things every now and again.
Let’s Talk More 2006 Records
One day, we’ll get back to the new releases roundups. Today is not that day!
The Audience’s Listening, Cut Chemist
DJ records can be pretty hit or miss. Sometimes they’re so focused on the turntable pyrotechnics that they end up being a little non-musical. And that’s coming from someone that literally listens to noise sometimes. The turntablism stuff can be impressive, but also can be a chore to listen to. So it’s always super fun when we get a very musical DJ record. Cut Chemist was behind the turntables for Jurassic 5, has worked with DJ Shadow, and did some work with Ozomatli, all of which is up my alley. So when he released a solo record, I was eager to try it out. And it’s a lot of fun! Yes, there’s some pure turntable wizardry, but he also has lots of fun with his samples, there’s plenty of playful stuff, his taste with drums is impeccable, he’s got some great guest spots, it’s a very entertaining record. The key here is that he’s put a lot of variety into the album, which is what makes it seem like an album rather than a skills demonstration.
Fix My Brain, The Marked Men
This was the third album for garage punks The Marked Men, and this sort of melodic garage stuff is always delightful to me, and the Marked Men do a great job with it. This is also a record I had completely forgotten about. I had a copy of it back in the day, but it somehow never got ripped into the library, so it disappeared for me. See/Saw mentioned it several months back, I had an “oh yeah!” moment, re-bought the record on Bandcamp, and it’s still a charmer. So yeah, maybe you knew about them two decades ago and also forgot? Or you’re just now encountering it.
Use Your Confusion, Juggaknots
The Juggaknots are one of those underground hip-hop bands that every other underground artist seems to namecheck, but there’s precious little from them as far as recorded output. A self-titled album (often called Clear Blue Skies) in 1996, some scattered singles, and then a decade later, this record. Does it live up to all the hype I heard for the band? Well, for me, yes. I really love Breeze Brewin’ on the mic, and so getting a lot of him is definitely worth it. I suspect your reaction to the record will largely be conditioned on the same: do you enjoy his flow or not? Give it a whirl or two and see what you think.
Five Random Songs
Yes, it’s the “classic” five random songs format. It’s been told before on this blog many times, but basically, on an old forum, people would post the last five songs their shuffle pulled up. I liked it, so I made it into a blog. And now, here we are.
“Virtue”, Respire
This is from their 2018 album Dénouement, which is a combination of post-rock and black metal. I’m not entirely sure I buy the combination, truthfully. Post-rock kind of has some serious heavy lifting to do to get me on-board, and the post-rock bits don’t get there. So the metal parts will need to be awesome, and they aren’t quite up to that. It’s a combination that doesn’t quite gel for me. Maybe I’m not smart enough. This might also be the kind of record where if I had a fresh listen to it, maybe I’d change my mind.
“Re-Up”, Danny Brown
I’m smart enough for this, though!
“Zampano”, Einstürzende Neubauten
I keep wanting to write some kind of guide or retrospective to Einstürzende Neubauten. I’ve been on board since 1989’s Haus Der Luege, which I encountered when I started exploring industrial in high school, meaning I’ve been listening to Neubauten for more than 35 years. But despite being a close follower of them and a big fan, I don’t feel up to writing about them at all. I have a hard enough time describing bands who hew to genre boundaries! What do I do with Neubauten, who have been unclassifiable for literal decades. It’s just too big a topic for me to tackle. Listen to Neubauten. Just do it.
“State of the World / Apocalypse / War”, Lifesavas
Lifesavas were on Quannum Projects, the label best known for Blackalicious, but who also released stuff from related acts. As a result, the Quannum artists were all pretty aligned musically. Chief Xcel (Blackalicious) has a producer credit on this record, for example. So yeah - if you’re looking for more bands like Blackalicious, you can do a lot worse.
“Black Candles”, Young Hunter
At some point, I’m going to unpack what I mean when I say something has desert vibes. Or when other people say it. Is it just “sort of reminds me of ‘Cortez the Killer’”? Maybe that’s it. Hmm. I guess that definition would mean that Built to Spill has desert vibes. I’ll have to sit with that a bit.
Now I’m going to go listen to “Cortez the Killer”.
Josh, What Are You Doing Here?
I’m just writing about music. A structure like this blog helps me get my thoughts out, and it’s a way for me to explore my own music collection through various lenses. My sincere hope is that some folks out there find some new music they love. That’s all I’m up to. Sincere thanks to everybody who sends me feedback, with news that they’ve found a new favorite especially fun for me. There’s no monetization, no metrics, no ads, no nothing. Just some static web pages, some links, and my scribbling. If you want to support it, just shoot me a note! Thanks for reading.
Some Better Places To Learn About Music
Check these folks out, you’ll learn more for sure. In no particular order: To The Teeth, Wolf’s Week/Plague Rages, The Devil’s Mouth, Burning Ambulance, Lamniformes Cuneiform, Hex Records, See/Saw, Starkweather.