Μ-Ziq

Lupe Fiasco, “The Emperor’s Soundtrack”

There’s something so grandiose about Lupe Fiasco’s stuff. The beats are so layered, and they’re structured in a way to feel really huge, and the production of the rest of the track reinforces that massive impression.

Sebadoh, “Junk Bonds”

A Jason Loewenstein song from Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock, which is a comp of tracks from a couple import EPs. Like a lot of material from them at this time, it’s a schizophrenic record, but that’s also part of the appeal of the band. Tracks like this threw the tender material into even sharper relief.

μ‐Ziq, “Iesope”

I can remember bozos complaining about electronic music back in the early 90s, claiming that it wasn’t “real music” and that it doesn’t take any skill to play the instruments. And, of course, that doesn’t really deserve any refutation, but I think about it sometimes when I listen to stuff like this, and consider how careful the composition is. And that some knucklehead might dismiss it just because nobody chugged through any power chords on a guitar.

The Fiery Furnaces, “South is Only a Home”

Brother and sister duo the Fiery Furnaces kind of epitomize a certain quirky, challenging strain of indie band. They’re restless, always searching for new sounds, and often end up being kind of difficult as a result. It’s all for good reasons, it’s not just experimentation for the sake of experimentation, but it does require some concentration to really pick up.

Mudhoney, “Magnolia Caboose Babyshit”

A lively instrumental from their debut self-titled LP, this is actually one of my favorite songs on the record. Not that I don’t love Mark Arm’s singing, but they’re just in and out on this one, getting the point across in a tidy 1:07. Great stuff.

East of the Wall, “Naif”

Hmm, some research shows that I bought this five years ago…and I don’t really remember it. It’s easy to see why I picked it up, though. Seems kind of up my alley. I guess it probably slipped through the cracks, and I should give it an honest spin.

Has-Lo, “Everything Is”

A delicate song here from Has-Lo, in a contemplative mood. He’s good in this mode, though.

Jawbreaker, “Boxcar”

After Jawbreaker broke up in the wake of their sole Geffen record, there were a couple more releases to tie up the band’s catalog. In addition to a live record we got Etc., a collection of rarities, outtakes, and singles. Jawbreaker were great enough that even though this collection of stuff isn’t coherent, it’s still a good overall release. Some things I could probably do without, like this alternate take of “Boxcar”, but I’ll forgive those sins to have the rest of the material all in one place.

Steely Dan, “Change Of The Guard”

Steely Dan has such an interesting reputation. Unlike so many of their contemporaries, they’ve retained a cachet among music fans, and continue to be talked about in positive terms by so many folks. It’s not that it’s not deserved, it’s just not entirely clear why they haven’t just been thrown away as old fart music like so many other bands.

A Tribe Called Quest, “Electric Relaxation”

One of my forever bands and forever records.

Nine Inch Nails, “The Beginning Of The End”

Year Zero marked the fastest followup that Trent Reznor had produced to date, with the album appearing a mere two years after With Teeth. At least five years had separated studio albums up to this point. Perhaps as a result of the relatively short gestation of this album, it’s not a lot different musically from the predecessor. It’s a theme album of sorts, examining a dystopian United States in the near future. It was marketed with an augmented reality campaign, which was genuinely new in 2007. The music itself is solid, but isn’t one of NiN’s essential albums.

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!

Today’s music.

μ-ziq, “Johnny Mastricht”

Electronic artist μ-ziq is the moniker of Michael Paradinas. Designed not for clubs but for headphones, μ-ziq had a great run of really interesting, inventive albums. The prize record is the fantastic Lunatic Harness, but the follow-up Royal Astronomy is great as well. This album, Bilious Paths, is very good but is a little off his peak.

Einstürzende Neubauten, “Mei Ro”

This track is from The Jewels, a compilation of a series of tracks that Neubauten posted on their site. The tracks themselves were the product of a series of formal experiments, with the band participating in games to generate constraints, and the songs were all put together very rapidly, a day or so. The results are interesting but not always super gripping.