Posts

Pretty good one today.

John Coltrane, “Mr. P.C.”

I’ll have you know that I tried to insert a big ASCII barphic here saying “Josh is not qualified to talk about jazz”, but this stupid editor kept mangling it, and I’ll only go so far for a throwaway joke.

The Black Keys, “Sinister Kid”

Is this the first Black Keys we’ve had? Brothers is the last Black Keys album I’ll have anything to do with. It’s a little strange - I like it quite a bit, there’s a lot of fun stuff on it, and I nevertheless didn’t even glance at the follow up to it. I’m not really sure why, exactly, but from reading reviews, it doesn’t seem like I’m missing much.

Not a ton to say today.

James Brown, “It’s A Man’s World”

So, uh, sometimes the sexual politics of Brown’s music wasn’t great. You know, it happens. I’ll just observe that Brown had a co-writer for this song, Betty Jean Newsome, which is kind of interesting.

(NB: on Star Time, this track has the above name, not “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World”))

Fugazi, “Public Witness Program”

I don’t want to take too much away from the majesty of this pure slab of punk, so just enjoy.

Here’s today!

Bruce Springsteen, “Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?”

Have I talked about Springsteen before? I’m not gonna look. And nobody is going to tell me!

Uh, I don’t listen to a lot of his stuff. I only own this album. I dunno, you can’t keep up with everything! Don’t tell me about him!

Hell yes, look at that insight.

The Skatalites, “Black Sunday”

After the second wave of ska fired up, led by Two-Tone Records, interest in the first wave bands increased. The Skatalites, the greatest of those first wave bands, got back together in 1983 and recorded an amazing live set, featuring their entire original lineup, minus the sadly deceased Don Drummond. While I think the outstanding compiliation Foundation Ska is probably slightly better on balance due to its historical value, the release of that live set (Stretching Out) is more coherent and is their best album that was recorded as an album.

PUNK AS FUCK TODAY

White Lung, “Kiss Me When I Bleed”

Been a little while since we’ve had any Canadian punk! I’ve missed it! They’re from Vancouver, it’s lovely to have some singing not from a dude, and the guitar work is righteous.

Sicko, “Kenny (Live)”

Yeah! More punk! Seattle is basically in southern Canada, I’m going to count it. The live stuff is inessential, but I’ll take any Sicko material I can get.

Today!

Girl Talk, “Ffun Haave To”

Before he became the best mashup artist around with Night Ripper, Greg Gillis was much more into noise. Yeah, you still have bits and pieces of recognizable songs floating in and out, but this stuff has much more in common with experimental artists like Negativland than it does with the kaleidoscope of party music that he would later create. In other words, don’t go back further than Night Ripper and expect to find more stuff like that.

Today!

Handsome Boy Modeling School, “Megaton M-Boy 2000”

Guest Alec Empire here was a big thing for a hot minute back in, what, 1996 or so. Critics feigned interest in his noisy, overdriven form of techno for a while, but that quickly passed. It lasted long enough for him to pop up in a few places, including on the iffiest track on the first Handsome Boy Modeling School album.

Steady Ernest, “Wear You To The Ball”

So, if he’s going to wear her to the ball, and he wants her to put on a dress, he…wants to wear a dress? I think that’s what we’re looking at here. Go for it, Dan Vitale! Nobody is going to mind!

Here’s today’s menu.

Leviathan, “-”

This is the intro to Scar Sighted, Leviathan’s 2015 album, a fearsome black metal album. Leviathan is the solo band of Jef Whitehead, who is also notable for starting one of the premier metal labels around, Profound Lore. This track is really just a build up to the start of the of the record, so I guess we’ll tackle it properly next time it comes up, along with maybe the controversy surrounding him.

Six songs!

Lostbone, “Destroy What Destroys You”

uhhhuhuhuhhuhuh…lostbone

Pretty sure I ended up with this as a result of a grab bag of some variety or another. Among all the ways of discovering music, grab bags are certainly one of them. I’m not sure I’ve ever actually discovered a band I love from one of them. I suppose I should try a bunch more just in case.

Also, this appears to be a repeat. Onward!

One of the most important songs in my personal history today.

Run-D.M.C., “Walk This Way”

Run-D.M.C. had already declared themselves the Kings of Rock before 1986’s Raising Hell was ever released, but it took “Walk This Way” being a massive hit on both the radio and, more importantly, MTV for Run-D.M.C. to really actually take that throne. This crossover song not only brought rap into countless homes in America for the first time, it also was responsible for resurrecting Aerosmith’s career, so it also has a lot to answer for.

Here’s today!

Skankin’ Pickle, “Hit My Brain”

Yes, the band is named Skankin’ Pickle. No, there are essentially no depths that the third wave wouldn’t sink to in terms of naming themselves. Yes, this kind of sounds like an outtake from an early Chili Peppers album. But, you know what? They had some good tunes! They really did! One day we’ll get them (today is not that day).

Mike Park of the band also went on to found Asian Man Records, who are, somehow, still going. So have some respect! Or at least as much as you can muster for an outfit named “Skankin’ Pickle”.