Posts

This Friday, 8/4/2017, Bandcamp will be donating all their revenue to the Transgender Law Center. I’m planning on buying a bunch of stuff from them that day, I hope you join me in supporting both human rights and musicians at the same time. Here’s today’s music.

Astronoid, “Trail of Sulfur”

In the wake of Deafheaven’s Sunbather, I’ve noticed more bands that are working in that same area: incorporating elements of black metal, but removing some of the ugliness that’s usually associated with the genre. It’s sort of partway between the old genre of shoegaze and black metal. Astronoid (and this track) is a good example. You have some of the hallmarks of the genre in terms of the tempo and drumming, but none of the shrieks or noise that you might otherwise get. It’s an interesting hybrid.

As we head into August, I’m probably going to start throwing in the occasional special now. Focus on an artist, random Bandcamp albums, I dunno. We’ll see. Today, though, the usual.

NxWorries, “Intro”

NxWorries is Knxwledge and Anderson Paak, putting out one album so far along with an EP. I think it’s great, and I wish you had a real track to listen to here.

The Beatles, “Birthday”

Well, now we get to discover if I have anything to add to the millions of words already written about the most famous of bands. I have a scattering of memories associated with the Beatles, and I suppose I’ll just dole those out as the Beatles come up.

Nice grab bag today. Also, have I mentioned my game is out? It is! Pick up Fox in the Forest from any good hobby store, or online, or wherever! OK, ad is over.

Joanna Newsom, “Cosmia”

Joanna Newsom made a lot of waves in the indie music community with Ys, a folk album driven by Newsom’s harp work and her bizarre vocal style. I picked it up to check it out for myself, and I couldn’t ever really get past the vocals. Listen for yourself, this track is a good example of what’s going on with her music.

Shuffle is continually reminding me of things that I had forgotten about, and occasionally never knew about in the first place.

Medeski, Martin & Wood, “Just Like I Pictured It”

Jazz artists who add in more than a little soul and funk, Medeski, Martin & Wood have been around for a long time, but I only bought this one album. I think it was mentioned somewhere that there were some hip-hop touches on the record, but it’s been long enough since I bought this that I can’t really recall exactly what the original attraction was. I have to say, I’m really enjoying this song a fair bit.

Music!

The Sea and Cake, “There You Are”

Chicago band featuring Sam Prekop and various other post-rock folks, working in a similar vein as Tortoise and Gastr del Sol. Like most other post-rock outfits, you’re in for a pretty wide variety of influences, and as time went on, you get more and more stuff added in to the sound. Still, due mainly to Prekop’s vocals, they’re more grounded than some of their peers in that scene.

I’m a little surprised that shuffle will permit two songs from the same artist in a row. I guess we all learned something today? Something totally useless. Here’s your music.

Zumpano, “Let There Be Girls”

Rap albums have skits. The rock equivalent is the fuckin’ around track, like this one.

Foetus, “Kreibabe (Pan Sonic mix)”

Blow is an album that’s just filled with remixes of Foetus by various producers. Bucking the tradition of most guest remixes, this version of the original “Kreibabe” (from Flow) is actually a lot shorter than the original. It also bears very little resemblance to the original track. Overall, Blow is inessential.

We’re majority rap today, which is totally ok with me. Hopefully it happens more often!

Devin the Dude, “Highway”

Here we find Devin in a rare contemplative mood, examining the sociopolitical origins of…naw, he’s rapping about women and weed. HIGHway, geddit?

De La Soul, “D.A.I.S.Y. Age”

Some seriously old De La Soul here, but still somehow sounding fresh. This was the proper album closer, although most versions of 3 Fee High And Rising have a second version of “Plug Tunin’” after it in the track list.

No intro today, just tunes!

Coheed & Cambria, “Island”

Prog rock is a bit of a weird category for me. There are times that I really want to listen to it, and then the reality is often disappointing. Songs far too often take a back seat to just demonstrating technical prowess. Still, sometimes you just want something over the top, and prog rock goofballs Coheed & Cambria aren’t a bad choice. They spent more than a decade and seven albums making some big ol’ conceptual rock opera thing that frankly never made any sense to me. This track is from their first album after all of that, The Color Before the Sun, which is honestly more of the same, but not weighed down by as many pretentious trappings. This song is actually a relatively straightforward rocker.

Back in town, so hopefully I’ll be able to start posting these during the day again. Today’s tunes!

Melvins, “Your Blessened”

What gives a band longevity? How are some bands able to just keep going for forever, while most flame out after only a few albums (or even one)? It’s not just creativity, although the Melvins certainly have shown plenty of experimentation. They also have a certainly Melvins-y formula that they’ve applied plenty. Tt still manages to sound fresh and interesting. You listen to a song from Bullhead and a song from, I dunno, Hold It In, and you hear so many things that are similar. But I’m still happy to listen to them. What is the formula that King Buzzo and Dale Crover have discovered?

Still on the road! Still posting music!

Smashing Orange, “All Girls Are Mine”

Part psychedelic pop, part shoegaze, Smashing Orange are a largely forgotten act which probably deserves better. If you’re looking for washes of fuzzy guitar and pop melodies, you can do a lot worse. Apparently few enough people have ever written about them that I actually got a random person writing to me a while back, referencing a review I wrote for a Usenet group ages ago, asking if I had any bootlegs or live performances or anything. Alas, I did not.