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We here at Five Songs often find ourselves apologizing for our content around here. With the random nature of what shuffle coughs up, sometimes it’s not great.

Uh, in other news, here’s today.

clipping., “Taking Off”

The lesson of clipping., beyond any other, is how much space there still remains for rap to continue to stretch out across other types of music and how much there remains to experiment with. We’ve seen noise marry with rap with tremendous success, and that should indicate that there still remains so many frontiers left to conquer.

SIX SONGS WOOOO

The Temptations, “Hey Girl”

Goddamn, listen to those strings! With Cloud Nine, the Temptations laid down some of the building blocks of funk, as they departed from the traditional Motown sound and pointed the way to the 70s.

The xx, “Heart Skipped A Beat”

Indie pop band The xx kind of exploded out the door and were critical darlings right away with their electronic take on the genre, especially with the dual vocalists. And it’s here where I admit that a) I can never keep straight who The xx are and b) I clearly bought this at some point and I’m not entirely sure I’ve listened to it before. But I know I’ve read about them at various times! I totally didn’t have to look up stuff about them!

Two songs that I had to upload today! That’s when you know you’re getting the good stuff. And by good stuff, I mean “probably forgotten underground rock or C-list third-wave ska.”

Eric B. & Rakim, “I Know You Got Soul (Acapella)”

Paid In Full, one of the foundational albums of rap, was later reissued in a deluxe edition called the Platinum Edition. It featured a second disc of various rarities, including this tune. And all that is fine, but what made it awesome is that they went and photoshopped the gold jewelry on the original cover to be platnium. It’s that attention to detail that can really make a reissue. Anyway, the bonus junk is totally inessential.

Today!

The Exceptions, “Mean Ole Malley”

I come to you today with an important piece of information: buying records from a band based entirely on a particular comic artist doing the cover art has a pretty shaky track record. NEWS YOU CAN USE. Blah blah books and covers or something. Anyway, Evan Dorkin is really good!

Son Volt, “Windfall”

An underrated aspect of country, whatever the variety, is that it’s often a lot of fun to sing along with. Jay Farrar further has the advantage of being pretty reasonable to keep up with across his bands. I really only know Trace well enough among Son Volt’s work to sing along with, but it’s fun.

Good one today!

Queen, “The Prophet’s Song”

I’ve made the comparison before, but I don’t know if I’ve made it here or not: power metal is just Queen played fast. All the over-the-top theatrics and corn are there in spades. Sure, there are usually fewer elves in your average Queen song, and there are more wheedly-weedly solos in power metal, but nevertheless, they’re basically the same.

Sharon Jones, “Pick It Up, Lay It In The Cut”

The first Sharon Jones record was rawer than what would follow, which is A-OK by me. Not to say that all of her records aren’t great, but there’s something about the filthy sound of those drums that gets me going.

Just missed a Vince Staples song that I’m enjoying very much as I type this intro. But, sorry, rules are rules. Today is solid, though.

The Isley Brothers, “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) (Alternate Mix)”

Sort of low-key wondering exactly what the longest parenthetical is in a Motown song title. At any rate, we find ourselves in 1966 with this Isley Brothers track. At this point, the Isleys were already veterans, four albums in. And it turns out that their career was really just getting going, with many stylistic changes and lineup changes to come, not to mention just a bunch of great records.

Hooray, Five Songs!

Uncle Tupelo, “Graveyard Shift”

If you type the words “Uncle Tupelo” into a blog twice within an hour of midnight, it summons the band. Or so I’m led to believe by the worst horror story in the world, “Attack Of The Alt-Country Band That Apparently Was Bloodthirsty For Some Reason”.

You know, that dumb joke assumes that anybody read yesterday’s entry, and it occurs to me that that’s quite arrogant. Whatever, that joke owns. As does this song! It’s the opening track of the opening album from Uncle Tupelo, and while it’s a pretty straight ahead rock song, you can hear the lyrical themes that they would develop in their career.

Today!

Dave Hillyard & The Rocksteady Seven, “Someone Else’s Love Song”

Dave Hillyard has been in a bunch of ska bands during his time, most notably as part of The Slackers from the beginning. He has his own solo project where he plays his own compositions and sings. He put out a new record this year, The Giver, and this song gives you an idea of what you’re in for.

Strange mix today, but some great stuff.

The Meters, “Here Comes The Meter Man”

I hope one day to make a sound even half as cool as the noises that Ziggy Modeliste is making on the drums on this song. You get those ten hour loops on YouTube of every annoying noise on the planet, can I get a ten hour loop of the drum break on this song? (Answer: probably, yes.)

Today!

They Might Be Giants, “Last Wave”

They Might Be Giants released their 20th studio album, I Like Fun, this year, and it’s a solid entry into their discography. While not their best, it’s still a very good record, and I’m always happy for more music from them. They. Whatever.

Guided By Voices, “Cigarette Tricks”

Remember, Alien Lanes is the album where most people agreed that Guided by Voices seemed to be getting their shit together (graded on a curve, of course).