Army of Juan

Army of Juan, “Late Night Dining”

I wonder how many ska-punk bands put out one record in 1997 and were never heard from again? I’m sure there have been comparable fads in music, but it’s hard for me to think of something quite comparable in my lifetime, where a style peaked so hard and petered out so quickly. Grunge wasn’t the same - the peak lasted longer, and a number of the grunge bands continued being popular even post-peak (like Pearl Jam), not to mention important bands still being revered today (such as Nirvana).

Run the Jewels, “Early (feat. BOOTS)”

I still think Run The Jewels 2 is the best album from them. In fact, let’s do this!

Run The Jewels 2 RTJ4 R.A.P. Music (aka RTJ 0) Run the Jewels 3 Run the Jewels Meow the Jewels

Broham, “Nothing In Common”

Oh man, that is sweet. Listen to that bass! The horns!

Baby Elephant, “Turn My Teeth Up!”

Baby Elephant is eccentric genius Prince Paul teaming up with funk legend Bernie Worrell for an album of off-kilter funk. Worrell is incapable of not sounding like a million bucks, and Prince Paul is, as mentioned a sentence ago, a genius. So, this album rules.

The Roots, “Becoming Unwritten”

Rising Down is fantastic. But this song is just an interstitial thing.

Army of Juan, “Chicken”

We’re deep into Moon Ska’s bench here with this band, who released one album in 1997 and then disappeared. It never caught on with me particularly, and I’ve never heard anybody else mention it, so thank you for bringing this one up, shuffle.

MU330, “Ireland”

MU330, meanwhile, might be obscure today but at least put out multiple albums and I have actually seen them brought up by someone who isn’t me. This comes from Crab Rangoon, which was released right in the middle of their career, and is probably their best record.