Channels

The Decemberists, “The Perfect Crime #2”

My favorite Decemberists album really rotates around quite a bit, but it’s usually between this one, Her Majesty The Decemberists, and Picaresque. I suspect that if I could listen to all three with fresh ears with my current musical preferences, that I might land on this one permanently, as the most elaborate of the three.

Black Milk, “Deion’s House”

Black Milk is known for being as good on the mic as behind the boards, but this song actually has an outside producer on it. Still an excellent track, and this album across the board is outstanding.

Shuffle is trying to make me look dumb today. It probably succeeded.

Channels, “Mercury”

Channels is basically impossible to search YouTube for. Well, it was only a few days ago we first encountered them, so hopefully you all remember them well. This song is about as ballad-y as J. Robbins gets.

New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, “Naima”

A side project of a bunch of folks in the New York third-wave ska scene, this is basically what it sounds like: a bunch of ska artists getting together to play a bunch of jazz standards. It’s a pretty enjoyable listen. This, of course, is the John Coltrane song. I’d say more, but, well, you know the score.

Here’s today’s music.

Channels, “$99.99”

We’ve encountered J. Robbins before, with Jawbox and Office of Future Plans. Channels is yet another of his post-Jawbox projects, and occupies a very similar space. What all of his bands, from Jawbox on, share is a similar focus on the same fundamentals: tightly wound songs, melodic choruses, fantastic drumming, and a certain essential artiness. Personally, I love it, and a new album from him is always a treat.