The first track from the first album, here’s how Devo first planted their flag. And listen to how sharp they sounded right out of the gate! My god, this is such a tight song. For people of my age, who really only knew Devo as the weirdos who did “Whip It”, discovering that they had such great songs in their past was a real shock.
[Read More]A Motown artist! A fake Motown artist! Big Business playing with two bands!
We’ve heard from Mayer Hawthorne before with Tuxedo, but here he is with his solo act. Hawthorne, who grew up in Ann Arbor, Michegan, not far from the home of Motown, didn’t really intend to be a soul revivalist. He made some songs mostly as a goof, but attracted attention from them, with legendary hip-hop label Stones Throw initially thinking that they were authentic, lost 60s singles. A full-length album followed, with Hawthorne following through on the promise of authentic sounding soul. Only, you know, with swearing. As his career has moved forward, he’s moved away some from the pure Motown revival, but my favorite of his albums is the one this song came from, How Do You Do, which is very much a revival record.
[Read More]One of the greatest bands of the 80s rock underground, Hüsker Dü took a big leap forward with this album, the sprawling double album Zen Arcade. They went from a (great) hardcore band to a band that explored the limits of what hardcore was capable of. Along with their contemporaries and label mates the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü seemed capable of just about anything. By refusing to be constrained in any one style, Hüsker Dü inspired countless future bands to keep exploring and keep moving rock forward. Zen Arcade is one of the key albums in understanding the evolution of the American rock underground.
[Read More]Finally, we get some peak Beautiful South! This is the first song from their debut album, and my god, it’s such a good song. Paul Heaton’s sardonic lyrics are delivered so perfectly, the piano is gorgeous, I just adore it. This was a regular part of my high school rotation, and it just made perfect sense to play this right after the Dead Kennedys.
[Read More]Every now and again, I just sieze when a song comes on. I just have nothing to say. I like this song! I like this album! But, uh, here it is.
We’ve had Carl Newman before, with the New Pornographers and Zumpano, but here he is recording under his own name. And, frankly, it pretty much just sounds like the New Pornographers, but with less Neko Case.
[Read More]Au De La, the album by BIG|BRAVE that we’re listening to, is an odd beast. Mostly drone, kind of post-rock, sort of metal-y, it’s atmospheric and pounding and pretty different from most stuff out there. It’s not the kind of thing I always want to listen to, but it’s good stuff at times.
We’re discussed how Claw Hammer made their first album a full-length cover of Devo’s first album. Well, this is the first track on that album, before they launched into the thing. It kind of describes the idea. Oh, and they called it Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are NOT Devo!.
[Read More]Waxahatchee (Katie Crutchfield’s band that started as a solo project) appeared on a bunch of best-of lists for 2015 for Ivy Tripp. To my ears, it sounds very much like many of the underground pop/rock bands of the 90s, with lots of echo and jangle all over the place. This, of course, is totally OK with me, I loved the 90s underground! I haven’t had a chance to listen to her most recent album, Out In The Storm yet, but people seemed to really like it also.
[Read More]You know, this might be the first time I’ve had a song come up on Five Songs after I had listened to it by choice earlier that day. This is not an interesting fact.
Anyway, Summerteeth is fantastic. Tweedy made a basically clean break entirely from the alt-country that had been present on all of his albums up to this point, and made just a straight up pop record. And it’s so good! Lush and orchestral at times, slow and contemplative at others, it’s a tour de force.
[Read More]A collaboration between Coldcut (who we haven’t had yet) and a couple other guys, DJ Food sits between electronic music and abstract hip-hop. They’ve put out a bunch of records, and as befits the guys behind Coldcut, the ones I’ve listened to are good quality. I think I prefer the main act, but they’re still worth a go.
Kinda feel like this song name has aged oddly.
[Read More]Bought tickets to see Shellac today. Nice! Today’s music.
More old stuff from the Cows. This was originally on Daddy Has A Tail, when the Cows were still very much still figuring out what the hell they were doing. I’m not suggesting they ever figured it out, exactly, but they became more confident in their nonsense.
I hope that, one day, there will be some rapper or something who makes a song called something like “The Frozen Sword of Midnight” (it will probably be one associated with the Wu-Tang Clan). In the meantime, you’ll have to rely on metal bands to get your “somehow this sounds like a doodle on a Trapper Keeper” vibe. Does this song start with weather noises? You know it! Are there candelabras on the album cover? Fuck and yes there are! Is the track longer than nine minutes? GODDAMN RIGHT IT IS!
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