Posts

Here’s today’s list.

Wilco, “The Late Greats”

I’ve been kind of hard on this album (A Ghost Is Born), but that’s mostly due to the somewhat aimless wankery found on some of the songs. Outside of those, though, it’s a pretty sharp album.

The White Stripes, “Little People”

We’ve had Jack White pop up with The Raconteurs, but this is the first time we’ve had the band that made him famous. I’m not sure I need to introduce the White Stripes, do I? Stripped down blues-y rock that explored specific creative constraints, the White Stripes strike me as relatively unlikely stars. But stars they were, propelled by some anthemic hits. But this song comes from before they were huge, off their self-titled debut, when the primitivism of the songs was really at the forefront. I don’t think they really hit their stride until the following record, personally.

Here’s today.

Temprees, “Dedicated To The One I Love”

Old Stax track here, from the mid-point of their Atlantic years.

Atmosphere, “She Don’t Know Why She Love It”

This is a bonus track from the deluxe version of Southsiders, which is probably my second favorite Atmosphere album (after Seven’s Travels). There are some missteps in Atmosphere’s discography, with the records between those two being pretty uneven, but those are excellent.

Today’s tunes.

Death Cab For Cutie, “No Joy In Mudville”

This song comes to us from We Have The Plans And We’re Voting Yes, which I think is the first album I picked up from Death Cab. And…hang on, I stopped paying attention there for a bit. Hey, it’s the next song!

Nine Inch Nails, “The Warning”

Year Zero represented a return to form for Nine Inch Nails. The Fragile had restless experimentation, but the quality was uneven. With Teeth was better constructed, but also felt kind of paint-by-numbers at times. The artist that had made The Downward Spiral seemed to be gone, but Year Zero proved that that was emphatically not true. There are even times that I think it’s Trent Reznor’s best record. Paranoid and angry, the whole thing hangs together extremely well.

Pretty happy with today’s set. La Gritona is exactly the kind of band I had hoped to highlight here.

Atmosphere, “When The Lights Go Out”

Atmosphere with Doom and Kool Keith guesting? That sounds amazing. Does it live up to it? Well, Doom is great! Solid song, overall.

Samiam, “Mr. Walker”

Been a few months since we’ve heard from melodic punk rockers Samiam. This song comes from their fifth album, You Are Freaking Me Out, the last of what I consider to be their peak albums (along with Billy and Clumsy). This stuff is just musical comfort food to me.

Kind of a mess today.

Negativland, “Proud To Be An American (Lip-Sync)”

Yes, we’ve hit a new low here. This live track is mostly Negativland lip-syncing to this song, which of course, we can’t see. Five Songs International apologizes for the inconvenience.

Crystalized Movements, “Close Your Eyes”

And let’s follow that up with 9+ minutes of psychedelic guitar wankery. The biggest problem the Crystallized Movements always had was that their vocals were mixed weird, often far too high in the mix. Also, this album has some of the worst cover art ever inflicted on the record buying public.

Today!

Labradford, “Sliding Glass”

More of Labradford’s drone-y version of post-rock, with that lovely build up during the song.

The Mad Lads, “Whatever Hurts You”

No, this isn’t actually a Motown song, this is actually from Stax, from 1968 even. Usually, it’s easier to spot which label we’re dealing with.

Frankly, the fact that a band appearing on here called “The Mad Lads” turned out to be old soul and not some fifth-tier third-wave ska band is a massive upset.

Still hanging in there on my streak. It’s been close for a few days!

Hattie Littles, “Here You Come”

I know nothing about Hattie Littles, but this song is such an exemplar of that early Motown sound, it’s hard not to smile. This comes from 1962, by the way.

Jets to Brazil, “Chinatown”

After Jawbreaker imploded, at least partially due to the pressure of their major label contract, Blake Schwarzenbach thankfully didn’t hang up his guitar for good. His next band, Jets to Brazil, continues in the same vein. While I think Jets to Brazil is a little more polished (and therefore I’m not sure I love them quite as much), they’re a worthy successor, and all three of their albums are worth looking up.

Lots of new folks today.

Clem Snide, “Accident”

For some reason, “alt-country” as a label always kind of irritates me, even though the thought it’s expressing (country music that stands distinct from the popular variation) is directly analagous to alternative rock, which doesn’t bother me. The lesson, as always: I’m dumb. Anyway, Clem Snide (named after the character from Naked Lunch) is absolutely alt-country. Propelled by Eef Barzelay’s passionate singing and Jason Glasser’s multi-instrumental prowess, Clem Snide cranked out five outstanding albums in the late 90s and early 2000s, starting with this record (You Were A Diamond) up through 2005’s End of Love. They started to lose some steam after that, but at their peak, they were incredible. I mean, just listen to this!

Some good stuff today.

Crackerbash, “Trinkets”

Sub Pop rock artists out of Portland, Crackerbash were part of the very prolific Pacific Northwest scene in the early nineties that still flew below the radar. While they only made one self-titled album and one amazing EP (Tin Toy), they were excellent for their short run, and don’t deserve to be totally forgotten. There were several bands out of Portland from that time frame that deserved to be bigger - these guys, Pond, the Spinanes.

Well, we here at Five Songs Amalgamated managed to go two entire months without missing an entry! Not bad! Our ones of listener/readers must be pleased! Here’s today, and here’s to another complete month!

The Housemartins, “There Is Always Something There To Remind Me”

You know, the Housemartins should really be on my regular rotation of bands to listen to when I’ve got the kids around. I wish I wouldn’t forget this right after I finish this article.