Common

One thing about Five Songs that I always appreciate is that it always makes me stay in the habit of putting music on when I can. There’s just something about always thinking “oh, I could write a post” that sometimes decays into “oh, I could put on some tunes” that I appreciate.

Lungfish, “Descender”

I know what the Five Songs party line is on Lungfish (kinda boring), so I’m going to skip that and just kind of focus on a sense memory. Specifically, I can remember wandering around my college campus not long after getting this album. I was trying to develop a taste for it, so I wasn’t doing much other than listening to it and walking around. But it was a beautiful fall day, and I kept walking past groups of kids having a great time outdoors. Three different frisbee games were going on. A hacky sack circle. A volleyball game had broken out. The breeze was blowing, the sun was shining, I was bumping tunes, and I was just kind of watching people having a great time. So even though I am not wild about the album, an association with a perfect fall day from one of the happiest periods of my life still clings to it. This album sounds like youthful innocence and hope. And is also kinda boring.

The Queers, “I Like Young Girls”

There are a lot of questions raised by this blog, most of them unanswerable. Foremost among those questions is “why do I have so many damn albums from the Queers?”

American Music Club, “Patriot’s Heart”

After ten years apart, during which Mark Eitzel pursued a solo career, American Music Club got back together in 2004 for a new album, Love Songs for Patriots. Not only did they pick up where they left off, they really picked up earlier than that. I like it better than San Francisco, and maybe better than Mercury. I think it has a little more vigor than those two albums, although that’s always kind of a relative thing with a band this downbeat.

Alleged Gunmen, “Showdown at Sundown”

I don’t remember getting this, it’s apparently from 2004, so it wasn’t some random Bandcamp find. They don’t seem to have any links to other bands in Discogs, despite sounding very familiar. And, I’m sad to say, it’s a depressing thing to search for right now, so I guess I’ll leave it at that.

Common, “Be”

Be didn’t break open new ground, not really. But it’s such a good album from start to finish. It’s my favorite from Common because everything is just dialed in perfectly. This is just the intro song, and it goes incredibly hard thanks to that upright bass and the sweet strings, and Common just relaxing into it and slinging his verses. I listened to this twice while I was making this list.

Cypress Hill, “Hand on the Pump”

It’s kind of incredible that a song as weird as this one made as much of an impact on popular culture as it did. Not that it doesn’t smoke, it does, but everything from the odd vocal loop, to B-Real’s nasal vocal, to the squeaky noises all over, to the sing-song chorus is off-kilter. It’s fantastic stuff! Just odd.

Common, “Black America Again”

The title track from Common’s 2016 album, he used a lot of guest artists on the record, with the biggest one on this track. Stevie Wonder sounds great, as always, and Common in general turns in a fine performance across the whole album. I think it’s his best record since Be.

Pyrrhon, “Forget Yourself”

From Pyrron’s EP released after their second album, this is a good example of their hyperkinetic technical death metal. This is a short record, but they pack a lot into the thirteen minutes.

Common, “Go”

Common’s discography is uneven, but the high points are outstanding. I probably would take Be as my favorite, the Kanye West-helmed record which represented a bit of a comeback after the so-so Electric Circus. This was after Kanye West had become a star, but before he had become a megastar, and his ego didn’t get in the way here. The record is warm, full of soul, and has Common at the top of his form.

Y’all, I’ve listened to that Hello, Summer album three times since it popped up randomly here, and folks: it’s good. Real good! I love that my own blog is teaching me about music…from my own collection.

Less Than Jake, “She’s Gonna Break Soon”

What makes late model Less Than Jake work is that, yeah, it’s more or less just standard pop punk with horns. But it’s catchy, cheerful, energetic, and just the musical equivalent of comfort food. It’s not exactly ambitious, but there’s space in my world for well-crafted music like this.

Back in the swing of things, the ol’ muscles are starting to come back! And I 100% mail it in on a couple of these songs. It happens!

The Enemies, “Moesha”

I got nuthin’. Kind of a post-rock/math rock sort of thing going on here. I like it! Sometimes Past Josh makes good decisions!

Common, “Break My Heart”

I find Common to be a little uneven, with Finding Forever being one of the spotty records. There are high points to it, like the fat synths behind the verses on this song, for instance. But when you compare it to its immediate predecessor, Be, it just feels like it’s a half a step behind.

Today!

Dave Hillyard & The Rocksteady Seven, “Someone Else’s Love Song”

Dave Hillyard has been in a bunch of ska bands during his time, most notably as part of The Slackers from the beginning. He has his own solo project where he plays his own compositions and sings. He put out a new record this year, The Giver, and this song gives you an idea of what you’re in for.

Here’s today.

Benton Falls, “Trail and Terror”

I’ve always been a little fuzzy on the genre “emo”. I’m old enough that it’s come around multiple times as a genre label, being applied to bands ranging from Rites of Spring to Touché Amoré. And it seems like the only thing really tying all these various scenes is some kind of punk sensibility married to heartfelt lyrics. Benton Falls usually gets described as emo themselves, but to my ears, this is pretty much just post-punk. But it’s good post-punk! If this is emo, so is Jawbox, is what I’m saying. And I don’t think anybody has described Jawbox as emo. (OK, somebody certainly has.)

Rap heavy today.

Common, “The 6th Sense”

First appearance for Common here, this coming from his masterpiece, Like Water For Chocolate. With production from a bunch of underground greats, Common put everything together and made a landmark of underground rap that brought back the feel of the Native Tongues bands. While it might run on a bit too long, it’s still a huge pleasure to listen to, so smooth and assured.