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Today is not the most coherent set.

Wu-Tang Clan, “The M.G.M.”

A repeat! Six songs today, people!

Gorguts, “Nostalgia”

This comes from Obscura, a landmark album in death metal where Gorguts explored how dissonant and downright strange they could make a metal album. This kind of unhinged musical exploration is where I’ve always found my favorites in death metal, and this kind of spastic noise really has as much in common with the avant garde as it does with traditional metal. This kind of thing can take a bit to absorb, as it’s disorienting to listen to at first, but I find it all really interesting.

Music!

Raekwon, “Guillotine (Swordz)”

Now we’re talkin’. After a couple songs from his followup, we have a cut from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, which is on the short list for the finest Wu-related albums released. Really, what you’ve got here is basically just a great Wu-Tang track, as you’ve got several of the Wu MCs on here. Most of this album has Ghostface Killah on it, which is one of the things that makes it so strong. Really, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Some titans of the rock underground today! I really like this set a lot. Shame it didn’t go one more song, Einstürzende Neubauten popped up next with “Vanadium-I-Ching”, which would have been a fun addition to the list. Oh well, can’t go changing the rules any time I like!

Pixies, “Alec Eiffel”

Here, we’re getting a track from the last pre-breakup Pixies album, Trompe Le Monde. At the time, I was pretty disappointed in Bossanova, for whatever reason, but really liked this one. At this remove, it’s not clear what my beef was with Bossanova and it’s pretty similar to Trompe. While both records are off from the peak of their first records, they’re still both excellent and well worth having.

I have a new sweatshirt! I’m sort of really excited for it. Also, I come bearing music.

Fishbone, “End The Reign”

Fishbone played a mix of funk, punk, and metal, coming out of the same Los Angeles scene that birthed the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And for a while, until the Chili Peppers became one of the biggest bands on the planet, you really couldn’t mention one band without mentioning the other. I was never really that big into either of them, truthfully, although I gave them both a try. Anyway, this comes from Give A Monkey A Brain And He’ll Swear He’s The Center Of The Universe, an album that skews more towards the metal end of Fishbone’s sound (as you can hear).

Takes a bit to get going, but we close with a couple outstanding songs.

The Might Be Giants, “Can You Find It?”

This song, from Here Come the ABC’s, really doesn’t make any sense without the accompanying video. I mean, to the extent it makes sense. Or that anybody cares.

Johnny Socko, “Next Big Thing”

I think this is some kind of meta-commentary on trend hopping in music? From…a third-wave ska band? OK, Johnny Socko.

Happy Birthday, Megan! Today’s just about giving her songs that will make her happy. It’s super difficult to just limit this to five songs, for the record.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “Orange”

From one of the albums that we played the most after we first met, it’s difficult to pick just one song from the record. It’s really best enjoyed as an entire album, but I went with the title track mostly because I love the breakdown in the middle of the song so much. This marks the first appearance of the JSBX in this thing, but I’ll talk more about them during a non-special blog. Also, the version of this song I picked is not great quality, but fuck it, it’s still plenty filthy.

Super late night tunes for y’all!

They Might Be Giants, “Alienation’s For The Rich”

From TMBG’s first album, when they sort of put on different musical styles more like outfits than playing them with any real conviction. The album has some real gems on it, but there are also tracks that come across as just pure goofs. The goofs wouldn’t really go away, but got more sophisticated.

MC Frontalot, “Very Poorly Concealed Secret Track”

The standard bearer of “nerdcore”, MC Frontalot will give you a good idea of if the idea of people rapping about nerd shit is something you love. I think I own one nerdcore album, this one, which probably tells you what I think.

Music!

The Beautiful South, “The River”

Another relatively toothless song from the later period of the band. I can’t wait for some early tracks to show up.

Melvins, “The Mechanical Bride”

Another tune from the “double duo” years, when they had an extra drummer to augment their usual trio. This comes from (A) Senile Animal, a great album. One of the many thing I love about the Melvins is their use of space. Yes, they can just crank out headbangers, but they’ll often leave plenty of space for menace to build up, for the drums to breathe, for the compositions to evoke a mood beyond “GRRRRR”. (That mood is “GRRRR…(pause)…GRRRRRRRR”.)

Nice set of songs today. I am not posting this on Twitter today because I’m boycotting today in support of the #WomenBoycottTwitter protest going on.

Dumptruck, “Watch Her Fall”

Underground pop act Dumptruck was a favorite of college radio before I really listened to that sort of music, and I eventually gave them a listen after hearing so much about how great they were. They were made out to be The Band That Should Have Made It. And I like them, but I don’t have the connection to them that so many folks who were there seem to have. This comes from the only album I have, Haul of Fame, a retrospective compilation of their entire career that I recommend checking out.

Sorry I’ve been flaky a bit recently! I have tunes for today, though!

Yo-Yo Ma, “Suite for Solo Cello, 2 in D Minor, BWV 1008: VI. Gigue”

Nope, still don’t know nothin’. Nice to listen to, though.

Fake Limbs, “Stugots II”

What is this? I like this a lot! I don’t remember getting this! I suspect it must have been in a year-end round up last year, and I spaced listening to it. This sounds like it’s from Chicago. (looks) Yes, it’s from Chicago. Hell yes. I know what I’m listening to when I’m done here.