A little bit of a slow burn, psychedelic number from Mudhoney here. This comes from Tomorrow Hit Today as well as appearing on the compilation March To Fuzz, which I believe I’ve sung the praises of before. I’m not going to check, as professionalism isn’t something we really go in for here at Five Songs. Which, you know, explains our love for Mudhoney.
[Read More]I wish I could bottle the first verse of this song, just so I could always have it handy when I need it. Just, absolutely nailed.
Here we have Isaac Hayes really sounding a lot like what I think people think of when they think “Isaac Hayes”. Well, OK, most people probably think of “Theme From Shaft”. But beyond that, the song in their head probably sounds like this. This is from pretty late in the Stax run, from the early 70s.
[Read More]Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant was Belle & Sebastian’s first real misstep as a band. Stuart Murdoch ceded a lot of songwriting control to the rest of the band, and the results were not super inspiring. There are some highlights on the record, and I still like it, but there are also too many so-so songs on the album. This song, the opener, is one of the highlights though.
[Read More]The last track from their self-titled debut album from a few years ago, Algiers combined furious post-punk with a whole host of other influences, fusing into a wholly original album. It was one of the very best albums of 2015, and proof that there were still surprises left in rock (of course, I’ve always thought that). They followed it up with another great album a couple years later, and are one of the bands that I really hope keeps going for a while. Hopefully we’ll hear plenty from them around here as well.
[Read More]All I can think about for the intro to this song is that this is authentic third-wave gibberish.
Well, it’s happened again: I have no recollection of how this metal album ended up in my collection. As I re-started paying attention to metal, about nine or so years ago, I ended up with a few grab bags and bundles, and I didn’t always digest every album in them. I think this must have been included in one of them.
[Read More]Last time we heard from PJ Harvey, we got “Sheela Na Gig” from Dry. That song smokes, of course. And this is the song right after it on that album! What I’m trying to say here is that this record is amazing.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but there was a period of time where I bought more or less everything Lookout Records put out. This wasn’t a great policy. Aside from ending up with considerably more pop punk than I needed, there was some pretty low wattage stuff down roster on that label. This album being a good exhibit. This is from a split LP, and as you can hear, this is just straight ahead vintage rock. It’s inoffensive, but also pretty unexciting.
[Read More]There’s sort of a darker edge to this song, with the horns especially, which is fairly unusual among the third-wave bands that were Mu330’s peers. Of course, this isn’t ska, this is rock with horns.
Mostly, I look goofy, funky Beck more than the other versions of Beck, so I’m more drawn to those albums where he lets that side loose. The Information is the followup to Guero (which is one of the ones I like), so I was clearly hoping for more of the same. And, it’s not really the same. It’s not as loose, as spontaneous. But, you know, some of it works. Listen to how beautiful the production on this song is!
[Read More]Hot damn, some great songs today.
Sleep is one of the titans of doom metal, as we’ve talked about in the context of High on Fire. But, alas, this is just a little throwaway on Sleep’s Holy Mountain, so we’ll have to wait for another day to really bear witness to the majesty of their good stuff.
The Delgados came out of the same Glasgow scene that birthed Belle & Sebastian and Arab Strap. And, like Belle & Sebastian, their take on pop evolved from something more folk oriented to something much more orchestrated. This comes from The Great Eastern, the peak of their discography, although they were always good.
[Read More]Three months in the books, three months of Five Songs every day! And we’re still rollin’!
Have we talked about the Clash’s debut album yet? What separated the Clash from so much of the rest of the new punk scene is that the Clash brought more than just energy and fury to their music. And while early punk should be lauded for how egalitarian it was, and for its emphasis on just getting out there and doing it, the Clash really demonstrated what happened when you took that DIY ethos and married it to some tremendous songs.
[Read More]Four new bands! And a reminder, if you have thoughts about the future of Five Songs, let me know!
There are endless great soul records out there from the 70s, and even with how many of these records have been revived by hip-hop artists, there are always still more to discover. J-Zone has mentioned several times that What’s Up Front That Counts by the Counts is one of his favorites, and goddamn, of course it’s great. Also, dig that bit that Dre flipped on “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?”!
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