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I’m considering doing the occasional “Five Songs Special”, where I choose an artist I love and pick five songs from them that best tell that artist’s story. Good idea? Bad? Totally fail to let me know! Today’s music is over here.

Another note: when we have an artist that has appeared before, I’m going to skip basic background stuff. I think that makes sense, because I provide the “previously” links if anybody jumps into the middle and wants to know more about an artist.

If I’m counting this right, this is number 50 for these articles. Not bad! Now then, let’s do some math, that means…250 songs? Except, of course, there are two extra tracks in there due to the Dillinger Four being unpostable on Youtube. So, 252 tracks! NICE ROUND NUMBER. Here’s today’s tunes.

Black Tusk, “Walk Among The Sky”

Out of Savannah, Georgia, Black Tusk play a murky take on stoner metal which isn’t dissimilar from fellow Georgians Baroness. As always with all of this sort of music, it’s all about the riffs, and this record has them in spades.

Time to check in on analytics. It says here I’m consistently above 10 people a day. Not bad! If you’re one of those 10 people, feel free to let me know down below. Or not, it’s cool, I love talking about music to myself. Speaking of music…

Built to Spill, “The Weather”

The closer for Ancient Melodies of the Future, this almost sounds more like a Belle and Sebastian song at times instead of a Built to Spill song. Compared to monumental closers like “Broken Chairs” or “Untrustable Pt. 2”, this song comes off as limp. In fact, the lack of epics like those two songs are one of the reasons Ancient Melodies is not as great as the preceding albums.

It’s D-Day! Let’s listen to music!

Samiam, “You Looking At Me”

Bay Area pop-punk that was part of that lively scene, best known for producing Green Day. At their best, during the Billy/Clumsy/You Are Freaking Me Out peak, they wrote great anthem-like songs that were just flat out fun to listen to. This is a song from their first album, before they were really fully polished, but you can hear their later potential.

Sorry I get sloppy on the weekends sometimes. I need to figure out the automated post capability on this thing. Or, not. Nobody looking through the archive is ever going to notice! And nobody is going to look at the archive! Whatever, here’s some songs.

Superchunk, “Not Tomorrow”

The attributes that made Superchunk one of the truly great bands were all present on the debut album. The catchiness, the energy, the tight songs, and the sheer fun were all there, and showed what the band would turn into. But it’s all just a little sloppier, and a little muddier, and just not quite firing on all cylinders yet. The next album would be the big step up, but the debut album is still a worthy listen.

I recognize that saying you listen to everything is kind of a lame move. It’s a refusal to put a stake in the ground and express your preferences, and mostly seems to be used by people who aren’t really that into music. What this project really brings home, though, is I really am kind of into everything. I feel good about that. Today’s tunes!

Kool and the Gang, “Jungle Boogie”

If you’re my age, there’s a good chance the first thing you think of when somebody says “Kool and the Gang” is “Celebration”. And that’s a damn shame, because for years, Kool and the Gang were an amazing funk band. Records like Live at PJ’s, Spirit of the Boogie, and this one, Wild and Peaceful, were just filled with incredible tunes. This song is actually the one that really brought Kool and the Gang to my attention, as it was used in Pulp Fiction, and I had to figure out what it is. It took some time before I could find some of their albums, but it was worth the wait.

As certain part of me wonders what I’m doing with these descriptions. Should I ramble about whatever? Talk about the artists? Historical context? Recommendations? I have no idea. Well, here’s some more dancing about architecture.

We just dodged a super long rap skit, by the way.

R.L. Burnside, “Alice Mae”

Longtime blues guitarist Burnside didn’t really start getting much attention until the early 90s, when his albums first started appearing on Fat Possum Records, despite playing since the 60s. I first noticed him when he worked with Jon Spencer for A Ass Pocket O’ Whiskey, which is where this track comes from. If you like Jon Spencer, then this is an easy buy.

I think there’s something goofy about the shuffle algorithm they’re using at Amazon. I’ve seen it pick the same song from the same band multiple times, and for now, I’m treating that as a glitch and reloading things. I don’t consider that cheating. I have to bring you all novel stuff!

Forest Swords, “Panic”

Hey, something pretty new! This was released less than a month ago. Forest Swords makes atmospheric music that invariably sounds like a soundtrack pretty much at all times. I haven’t had that much time to delve too deeply into this new album yet, but I like what I hear so far. The horn at the end of this song in particular sounds great.

Should I re-think the policy of putting in Bandcamp links instead of the Youtube videos? It occurs to me that maybe I should put in both? I dunno. Feel free to let me know down below or on Twitter. Or email, because frankly, anybody reading this probably has my email. Today’s tunes are here, by the way.

Mudhoney, “Inside Out Over You”

Mudhoney was grunge. Nirvana might have been the band that everybody knew, but it was Mudhoney that really laid down the template for the scene. Fuzzed out and beer soaked, they combined elements of punk, metal, and garage rock to form the sound that would come to define Seattle music in the early 90s, and indeed much of rock music. Not only that, but the extended Mudhoney family tree includes other huge Pacific Northwest bands - Mark Arm and Steve Turner were in Green River with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam), and Matt Lukin was in the Melvins, to choose two examples.

I didn’t quite make it all the way through May without missing a day. I didn’t put anything up for 5/7, and I kind of wish I’d managed to hit every day. Well, June is coming up, and maybe I can nail every day in that month! As always, there’s music around here.

MU330, “Around You”

At this point, third-wave ska band MU330 has to be the most obscure band that’s been on here three times. It’s pretty funny, I haven’t listened to most of this stuff for a long time, but it’s all come right back to me upon listening again. I can still whistle a fair number of the horn lines. And for that, I’m sorry for anybody near me.