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Gettin’ ska-tastic in here today.

Steady Earnest, “Scrumpy”

Dan Vitale’s Steady Earnest, back with more straight ahead ska from Dr. Earnest’s Nerve Steadying Spirits. It seems like it’s been a while since we’ve had some ska around here, which seems unusual.

Meat Beat Manifesto, “10 X Faster Than The Speed Of Love [Radio Mix]”

This song was originally on the excellent 99%, but this version was on an interesting sampler, Tonal Evidence, put out by Mute Records. There was quite a range of stuff on that compilation, ranging from the dance of Meat Beat Manifesto and Renegade Soundwave, to tracks from industrial pioneers like Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire. It was a nice pickup at the time, and was my first exposure to several of these artists.

Today’s tunes.

The Nation of Ulysses, “Maniac Dragstrip”

There’s a search for authenticity in rock music that goes back decades, where bands are judged to be real or poseurs based on a variety of markers, many of which make no sense at all. And in this view of music, artifice is usually heavily discouraged. A band that is self-consciously trying to be different, to make art as opposed to just blasting raw emotion is seen as inauthentic. I get it, the drive for the visceral, particularly in rock. But clinging to this structure leaves out so much interesting experimentation, and ultimately can be so limiting, that you just want to sometimes embrace artiness.

I think this is my longest writeup yet. Sorry about that! Here’s the music for today.

Jawbreaker, “Face Down”

During the 90s, there was a gold rush as major labels were suddenly hunting down every underground rock act they could find and trying to sign them to contracts. The major labels figured they could all find the next Nirvana or Green Day, somewhere, and the upside for the major label was obvious. Pop punk, in particular, was a hot sector after Dookie sold a billion records.

In other music news, one of my very favorite blogs of all time is now a book. Go look at the outstanding Ruth & Martin’s Album Club! Also, here’s today’s music.

Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge, “Blood on the Cobblestones”

Another track from the cinematic Twelve Reasons to Die, which is just a fantastic album. The various Wu-Tang projects were always at their best when drawing inspiration from movies and other visual media, and this album is no exception.

Here’s today’s music.

The Four Tops, “If You Don’t Want My Love”

We’re visiting 1967 with this song from the legendary Four Tops, one of the breakout stars of Motown’s roster, becoming staples of radio. I’m not a Four Tops expert or anything though, so we’ll just enjoy this song.

Le Grand Miercoles, “Commin’ Home Baby”

A Bandcamp find via a gaming friend, Le Grand Miercoles play some kind of weirdo combination of surf, ska, and, like Ennio Morricone. So, of course, I love it to death. I know nothing else about the band.

A brief discussion popped up on Twitter, and I realized how strong 1989 was for albums. In no particular order: Bleach, 3 Feet High and Rising, Pretty Hate Machine, Doolittle, Energy, 13 Songs, Wrong, Bizarro, Paul’s Boutique, and Mudhoney were all released that year. And I’m sure I’m missing others. Although I’m sure I’d come up with similar lists for other years. I did look at 1990, and at first glance, it doesn’t seem as strong. Anyway, here’s today’s music.

125 entries in this series and counting. Is everybody still having fun? I am! Also: I have music for you!

Craw, “Drugs”

You know, I should really be backing more music on Kickstarter. The Craw reissue project is one of my very favorites among things I’ve backed on the site.

Elliot Smith, “Ballad of Big Nothing”

Indie rock genius Elliot Smith here with a song from his best album, Either/Or. Discussing his biography always makes me sad, given his tragic early departure at 34, possibly by suicide (it was never definitively ruled a suicide). And there I go, starting to discuss his biography. Well, Either/Or is one of the triumphs of the 90s, and is just a tremendous album front to back.

Happy birthday to my oldest! 10 years! Mind blowing. Let’s see what shuffle pulls up to celebrate!

Arsonists, “Backdraft”

One of the things to like about the Arsonists is the way MCs are coming into and out of this song, weaving their verses. I love that kind of thing.

The Adjusters, “It’s Like That”

A soul/ska act out of Chicago, the Adjusters were lumped in with the rest of the third-wave, which was a little bit of a mischaracterization. They were probably more reggae than ska, for starters. For second, the soul side of the band was substantial, and probably more of their songs would be soul songs than ska or reggae. When they were on, they were amazing, particularly when Joan Axthelm and Jessica Basta were doing the lead vocals. They also stood out for having an explicit political view for their music, as avowed socialists. This song comes from their third album, Otis Redding Will Save America, but I think their second album (Before the Revolution) is their best.

Today’s music. And, I recognize that people bitching about redesigns is the worst, but can I just say I hate the YouTube redesign? There, that’s out of the ol’ system.

The Sunshine Fix, “Everything is Waking”

The Olivia Tremor Control was a legendary indie pop band, producing Beatles-esque psychedelia that was beloved of basically every music critic. Will Hart retired from music to focus on art, and Bill Doss started The Sunshine Fix to continue in the same vein. And yeah, it’s very, very Beatles-y.

I try and mention it periodically: there’s an index of these posts. Just in case you want to go poking around in there. We also have music for today!

Rocket From the Crypt, “Strangehold”

I know I brought up the horns before, but it really is a shame that the sax is regarded as hopelessly cheesy in a rock context. We should reclaim the sax! Rocket From the Crypt did their part, anyway.