Posts

Today!

Mr. Lif, “Jugular Vein”

A repeat! But still a good song.

Simon & Garfunkel, “Feuilles-O (Demo)”

I don’t think Simon & Garfunkel need an introduction, do they? Anyway, my copy of Bridge Over Troubled Water has a couple of demos whacked onto the end. They’re kind of pointless.

Merle Haggard, “I Can’t Hold Myself In Line”

OK, we’re doing quieter today, apparently. Cool, cool.

Mark Eitzel, “Gentle On My Mind”

Mark Eitzel was the main force behind American Music Club, and he embarked on a long a solo career as well. I always preferred American Music Club, but he’s a good songwriter, so his solo work usually has something to recommend it. This album, Music For Courage & Confidence, a mid-career record that is uneven. Another pretty quiet song!

Here’s today’s music.

The Apples In Stereo, “I. Her Room Is A Rainy Garden (Wallpaper Reverie Theme)”

The throwaway intro to Her Wallpaper Reverie.

The Wedding Present, “Cattle and Cane”

In 1992, the Wedding Present decided to release a single every month for the entire year. Normally, this kind of gimmick would indicate a band that was just trying to attract attention, but the Wedding Present in 1992 were at the peak of their powers, so these singles are all pretty great. They’re collected in Hit Parade 1 and Hit Parade 2, and both compilations are worth seeking out as companion pieces to their other albums from the early 90s.

Today!

Gaunt, “Duh”

Does any song ever need to be longer than the 1:36 of this song? Yeah, of course, why would you ask that question? But damn, this shit is EFFICIENT at getting the rock into your face. Gaunt ruled, y’all.

Gift of Gab, “Everything Is Fine”

This song features the legendary George Clinton as a guest, which is fun. And honestly, this beat sounds like something from The Streets, and now I kind of want to hear a collaboration between Gift of Gab and the Streets for real. And maybe George Clinton? Why not!

Today’s songs.

The English Beat, “I Confess”

We haven’t had very many second wave ska bands around here. That’s mainly because I was around with the third wave was a thing, so I know those bands well. And when I spend time learning about previous scenes, I mostly spend that time on the first wave of bands. The English Beat are one of the few second wave bands that I know reasonably well, with their poppy take on the genre standing in contrast to so many bands that mostly combine it with punk.

Took a few days off there. I’d apologize, but did anybody notice? If you Five Songs on a blog and nobody is there to hear it…

Anyway, cue the tunes, Amazon!

Melvins, “Laughing With Lucifer At Satan’s Sideshow”

We’ve discussed the Melvins getting dropped from their major label after a stellar run artistically, upon the discovery that the Melvins don’t actually sell any records. They found a home on Amphetamine Reptile Records, who apparently encouraged them to do whatever they wanted. So here, we have a little throwaway making fun of their time on their major label. And they called this record Honky. Why not!

Today!

Preston School of Industry, “Blu Son”

This is some straight-up They Might Be Giants shit right here.

The Fiery Furnaces, “Guns Under the Counter”

Indie duo the Fiery Furnaces were a sister/brother act, dedicated to playing singular art rock. Employing a wide range of instrumentation, often within the same song, and rife with literate, obtuse storytelling, the Fiery Furnaces could be equal parts fascinating and exasperating. This comes from one of their more challenging albums, Rehearsing My Choir, which is their collaboration with their grandmother. Centered around her memories of growing up in Chicago, it’s a meandering look into one family that can be interesting if you’re paying attention but isn’t something that you can just kind of throw on in the background.

Today!

Daft Punk, “Give Life Back To Music”

As a teenager, I took it for granted that disco sucked. Everybody knew it sucked, right? It was shiny and for dancing! I didn’t really interrogate the reasons why there was a cultural backlash against disco, it was just a thing that happened, and obviously it had to happen to pave the way for what followed. It took a while for me to really think about it. Why were so many people so dead set against disco? That they were willing to not just dislike a genre but adopt hating it as part of their identity. And, of course, the penny finally dropped one day: disco was a haven for people outside the rock mainstream, a place where gay folks, people of color, and just loads of diverse folks could be accepted and be themselves. It was a scene that wasn’t just welcoming of these differences, but embraced them. So, of course it had to go. People couldn’t just ignore it if they didn’t like it. That scene had to be destroyed.

Great stuff!

They Might Be Giants, “What Is A Shooting Star?”

You know, now that I’m doing this on a platform with a functional tagging system, I could have just tagged each of these entries with each band, and then I wouldn’t need the index. But we wouldn’t have the “previouslys” either, and I kind of like them? But this is also a hassle to maintain this. And, well, I don’t know if I want to convert everything over.

Nice one today.

Fugazi, “Break-In (version)”

Fugazi released First Demo in 2014, putting out a session from just a year or so into their existence. The songs here would appear on several of their proper releases in a different (and more polished) form. But as a Fugazi obsessive, it’s great to hear how these songs first started shaping up.

New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, “Nelson Mandela”

One of the great questions being debated by Five Songs scholars everywhere is whether I am, in fact, qualified to talk about the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble. It’s well-established in canon that I’m not qualified to talk about jazz, of course. But half jazz? The pro camp: clearly I know some shit about ska, right? The con camp: I’m demonstrably a terminal dipshit.

OK, let’s see if we can do better than that low energy thing yesterday. Whatcha got, shuffle?

Dawnbringer, “Nobody There”

Pure heavy metal revivalism, Dawnbringer has decided to see if they can just play this stuff totally straight and manage to not sound totally cheesy. Do they pull it off? Well…I don’t know. It’s reasonably well done, I guess, but by and large I’d pretty much rather just listen to Sabbath. Decent for an occasional change of pace.