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IT STOPPED AT THREE DAYS, WHO COULD HAVE GUESSED? Eh, whatever, it’s not like I said I’m going to do these every day or anything. At least, not after I edit this place. NEW STREAK HERE!

Negativland, “Keep Rollin”

Negativland’s No Business is a meditation on copyright, art, and the nature of culture in general. Or, more succinctly, it’s a Negativland album. On the spectrum of experimental noise to something that could be described as music, it falls closer to the musical end, making it one of the easier Negativland albums to absorb. Which isn’t to say it’s easy listening. By the time they made this record, they had decades of experience in assembling these kinds of oddball things, so they had gotten very good at the sound manipulation required.

Three days, when will it stop? NOT TODAY! HIT IT, YOUTUBE!

The Microphones, “I Want To Be Cold”

There’s something almost shoegaze-y about this track from the Microphones, with the buried vocals and washes of noise. I love it when everything lays out about a minute in as well. It’s a short tune, but it packs a punch.

Kid Koala, “3 Bit Blues”

Kid Koala assembled the entirety of 12 Bit Blues out of layers and layers of samples of old blues, adding scratching over the top when everything was put together. It’s a fascinating experiment, as with just about everything he does, sounding ancient and dusty while simultaneously modern.

TWO DAYS IN A ROW

The Roots, “Proceed”

While it wasn’t really their debut album, Do You Want More?!!!??! feels like it SHOULD be their debut album. Organix feels more like a practice run or a demo, a band trying to find its voice, and several of its songs appear on the next album in re-worked forms. Anyway, this is the first full song on Do You Want More, and it really sets the template for the album and indeed their first couple albums, with the jazzy groove of the band revolving around Scott Storch’s keyboards and ?uestlove’s drums. I think Black Thought is better on the subsequent albums, but he’s certainly good on this record. Basically, this is where to start with the Roots in exploring their early career.

Five Songs is back from the holidays! I’m going to try and keep to a more regular posting schedule around here, rather than the very erratic one from the last several months. It would be nice to get three or four a week at a minimum, anyway. Let’s hear what we get for the first one of 2019!

Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off”

I’m sure I’ve posted this sentiment multiple times, but I’ll suggest it again: this might be the biggest hit we’ve had on here (a mere 2.7 billion views on YouTube!). I trust I don’t need to really introduce this song. But this is what an infectious pop song should sound like, and it’s delightful.

Today’s play list!

Otis Redding, “She Put The Hurt On Me”

There’s so much to love about this song. The rubbery bass especially on the chorus, the interplay between the horns and the organ, and of course Redding’s always great vocal performance. It’s hard to pick Redding’s best record, but I think I’d take Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary Of Soul as first among equals.

Your Old Droog, “Help”

One of my favorite discoveries from 2017 was Your Old Droog’s second album, Packs. Coming out of the East Coast, his vocals frequently are compared to Nas, which makes sense in terms of delivery, and the beats on his record have a sort of psychedelic feel to them. When I first heard it, it reminded me a lot of Edan, which turns out to be for good reason as he worked with Edan on a couple of tracks (including this one). The overall feel is just square in my wheelhouse.

Confidential to Megan: there’s a playlist on Plexasaurus Rex for today! For the rest of you, you have to first put up with my crap for about 25 years, and then you can have a private playlist. In the mean time, you can at least get the YouTube-ized version.

Pussy Galore, “Dick Johnson”

There are lots of moments, especially on Dial ‘M’ for Motherfucker, where Pussy Galore presented the vision which Jon Spencer would bring to full fruition with the Jon Spencer Blue Explosion. There’s a pretty straight line from this song to the tunes on the first JSBX album, for instance. Those are also invariably the most interesting Pussy Galore songs.

A bit scattered today.

Dog Faced Hermans, “Love Is The Heart Of Everything”

“Anarchist” is always kind of an interesting descriptor when applied to a band. For whatever reason, there are some bands where that’s called out for them, and I’m sitting here thinking that I’ve pretty much liked every band I’ve ever encountered that has been described as anarchist. The Dog Faced Hermans, for instace. I’m looking at this list of anarchist-punk bands from Wikipedia (of course there’s a list on Wikipedia), and it’s pretty bitchin’, even if I question the inclusion of some bands. Black Flag! The Dead Kennedys! Napalm Death! NoMeansNo! Propagandhi! That’s some good shit, y’all.

Today’s tunes!

J Church, “Lines”

One of the great things that punk is able to do when it’s on is produce a short song that nevertheless is complete and satisfying. This thing clocks in at 1:40 and you’d hardly notice that it’s not the usual three minute pop song. Lance Hahn was able to pull this off time after time, in way that should shame so many people out there writing rock songs.

I don’t have a ton to say today.

Game Theory, “Exactly What We Don’t Want To Hear”

You know, you should all thank me that I haven’t yet made a “it’s time for some game theory!” joke! Or “joke”, really. Uh, until now, I suppose.

The Spinanes, “Meridian”

There should be more rock duos, in my opinion. The Spinanes don’t suffer from the spare instrumentation at all. It gives more space to focus on the individual elements of the band, which is totally OK with me! I wonder what Rebecca Gates is up to these days? Probably shouldn’t look. Never learn anything, that’s my motto.

Took a little break over the holiday. Why not! Anyway, I’m back, let’s see what we get!

Tenement, “Crop Circle Nation”

Not bad! Tenement play melodic punk, I suppose you’d call it, although it’s really stretching the work “punk” pretty far. I guess it’s just kind of “rock” at this point. If you were to guess where they’re from, you might guess the Midwest, given the long pedigree for this type of music in that area. And you’d be right! You’re so smart, person who doesn’t exist!