Buford O'Sullivan

Lollipop, “7 and 7 Is”

There’s a real danger in over-intellectualizing a lot of rock. Something like this, pure garage punk, run on attitude, energy, and racket. That’s not to suggest it’s poorly constructed, or that Lollipop didn’t know what they were doing, or anything like that. They knew what kind of music they wanted to make, and they were very good at it. It’s just that deconstructing this further is a waste of time. Can you feel the energy? Does it get you amped up? Does it make you want to throw a chair through a window? Mission accomplished!

Talib Kweli, “The Proud”

Black Star underwent a slow disintegration after their one and only record, one of the best hip-hop records ever. Mos Def pursued a solo career, leaving Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek to make a record together. Then, Kweli broke from Hi-Tek and made his first solo record without any of his Black Star collaborators, Quality. It’s my favorite of his pure solo records, although it doesn’t rise up to Black Star. Kweli has made a lot of records of a relatively consistent level of success, but I really only consider the records he’s done with Hi-Tek to be essential.

The Mr. T Experience, “Bridge to Taribithia”

Thoroughly enjoyable instrumental from Our Bodies Our Selves, one of the stronger mid-career MTX albums.

Claw Hammer, “Uncontrollable Urge”

This song is a serious jam, even when it’s a very straightforward cover of the song. I’ve decided that I really like having Claw Hammer’s album length cover of Devo’s first album in the library just to increase my chances of hearing the tunes.