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Zion I, “Radio”

Zion I always incorporates other styles of music into their hip-hop, and here, we’ve got something that kind of sounds kind of like conventional adult contemporary rock. Maybe there’s a reason other bands haven’t tried this sort of thing much?

Elvis Costello, “Party Girl”

From the extras on the deluxe reissue of Armed Forces, I sort of wish that the first bit here turned into the live version of “Surrender” from Cheap Trick. Or, uh, “Jimmy James”, which used the sample from the live version of “Surrender”.

The Regrettes, “Hot”

The Regrettes’ debut record from 2017, Feel Your Feelings Fool!, is a delightful slab of garage rock. Like any good garage rock, it’s full of energy, hooks, and attitude. This kind of record is perpetually welcome as far as I’m concerned, and I really recommend it.

The Birthday Party, “Figure of Fun”

Groundbreaking post-punk band The Birthday Party, featuring a young Nick Cave, in a lot of ways set the template for noise rock. While there are plenty of bands after them that kind of sound like them, or tried to, there aren’t really any predecessors that I’m aware of. One of the truly inspirational bands in music history, at least for the kind of stuff I listen to.

Tortoise, “TNT”

One thing I’ve always loved about Tortoise is their willingness to name songs things totally different from what they might sound like. A song called “TNT” should sound like, I dunno, an AC/DC knock-off, not a cerebral post-rock tune with a trumpet solo.

Secrets of the Sky, “V”

That’s the Roman numeral for 5, not the letter. All of the songs with Roman numerals on this record are little interstitials. I, uh, remember listening to this record several years ago, but that’s the extent of what I remember.

The Flaming Lips, “Assassination of the Sun”

We here at Five Songs are big fans of EPs, when bands treat them seriously. You get a good chunk of new material, enough to be satisfying, but they often come out as a surprise. It’s good stuff! This comes from Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, an EP that came out in the wake of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, so during their peak period. The remixes of songs from Yoshimi are fine, whatever, but getting four new tunes from this period is fantastic.

The Evens, “Dinner With The President”

After Fugazi went on hiatus (I refuse to say they’re broken up!), Ian MacKaye started a band with his wife, Amy Farina, on drums. They play as a duo, playing a stripped down indie rock that still has touches of Fugazi’s post-punk. It’s not as incendiary, but there are definitely pleasures to their records, so it’s worth checking out.

The Roots, “Stay Cool”

Flipping the same Al Hirt sample as De La Soul’s “Ego Trippin’”, this kind of call back to hip hop history is the sort of thing that the Roots did regularly, which was always a pleasure. And, of course, Black Thought kills it, providing one of the highlight tracks on The Tipping Point.

The Range, “1804”

The Range makes electonic pop, mostly, but the interesting bit is that the vocals are sampled off tracks from YouTube. It gives the entire album a little bit of a strange feel, but one that is welcome to offset all the shiny, shimmering music.

Ruder Than You, “Skahall Connection”

So, yeah, this is from an album called Horny for Ska. The management would like to apologize.

Clinic, “Welcome”

A cut from Clinic’s second album, it retains the same chilly, distant tone that the first record had, while kind of cleaning things up a little bit. It’s still a strange, off-kilter record. Especially the use of those vintage keyboards, which always lends an otherworldly feel to their songs.

Bullfrog, “Mark After Dark”

We’ve had Bullfrog here before, but as a reminder, this is one of Kid Koala’s many projects. Most of their album is pretty straight ahead funk, but they mix in some other stuff, such as the tune here which closes the album.

The Meters, “Running Fast”

Hell yeah, Meters! Fire On the Bayou is the last essential Meters record, as it was followed by a poor disco record and an OK funk record. While I tend to prefer their earlier, non-vocal stuff, this is still a great record.

Y’all, I’ve listened to that Hello, Summer album three times since it popped up randomly here, and folks: it’s good. Real good! I love that my own blog is teaching me about music…from my own collection.

Less Than Jake, “She’s Gonna Break Soon”

What makes late model Less Than Jake work is that, yeah, it’s more or less just standard pop punk with horns. But it’s catchy, cheerful, energetic, and just the musical equivalent of comfort food. It’s not exactly ambitious, but there’s space in my world for well-crafted music like this.

Voodoo Glow Skulls, “[Hidden Track]”

There are some things I miss from physical media. Browsing through music stores, looking at cover art, reading through booklets for liner notes and credits, all that stuff was fun. But it’s nice not having to shuffle around CDs, it’s nice not to have to lug stuff around when I want to listen to something different, and it’s really, really nice not to have to deal with stupid hidden tracks.

Announcement time! I suspect everybody reading this is aware, but just in case, my friend Grant and I have started a new blog over at Game and Tonic. We’ll be chatting about games, booze, music, all kinds of stuff. Just a warning: it’s entirely possible that I’ll end up posting here less, as I only have so much time to spend writing. Anyway, on to the music!

The Karl Hendricks Trio, “You’re The Man”

There aren’t that many people that were as good as Karl Hendricks at the quietLOUDquiet thing. It’s a combination of his aggressive guitar tone during the loud parts, his ability to project emotion in both sections, as well as a fine sense of buildup and release. He also recognizes that sometimes you turn up the guitars and stay even on the vocals.