That is some Saturday Night Live-ass horn work on this tune.
Oh, this is the first time we’ve had them, huh? The NY Citizens were a pretty early band in the third wave of ska, so this was all before some of the genre boundaries had settled down. As a result, they were much more English Beat than anything else, which wasn’t a popular referent for most of the other bands in the third wave.
[Read More]Don Caballero came back after a six year absence with Damon Che once again leading things from his drum kit. This is the second of the studio records from this configuration, and while good, it doesn’t really reach the heights of previous Don Cab records. The pyrotechnics can be pretty fun to listen to, though.
Maybe my most listened to Bowie song - either this or “Space Oddity”, probably. Why? Because both are available in Rock Band, so I’ve played them a bunch.
[Read More]I know that as an underground rock dork, and a fan of experimental music, I should really regard Heroes (or at least the Eno years) as Bowie’s peak. But I just can’t do it. Gimme the Ziggy Stardust stuff first, please.
Daft Punk’s first LP (Homework) took house music and brought it to disco, and by resurrecting that sound of the 70s, managed to sound fresh. I think they’d do a lot more with the formula later, but this is where it started.
[Read More]At this point, with the release of 9th & Walnut, the Descendents have now released as many studio albums after their breakup as pre-breakup (4). Does it even make sense to think of their career in two phases any more? I suppose it does, because during the 80s, they put out albums regularly, while these days it takes a while for them to pop up.
Maybe the best tune off of the second New Pornographers album, this is such a shiny song. This is a smile turned into music. I sometimes forget about this album, because I love the first one so much, but I really should spin it more.
[Read More]Hell yeah, that’s the stuff.
This is from a remix EP called Mixed By Fear, containing remixes of songs from Tyranny For You. It’s every bit as forgettable as that sounds, and is incredibly inessential.
This is a repeat! It smokes, but we’ll do a sixth song today.
We just had a Mombu track the other day, so enjoy another track of their chaotic drum and bari sax styling!
[Read More]Thou released a bunch of stuff in 2020. One of them was a compilation of Nirvana covers that they’d released in various other places, gathered together as Blessings of the Highest Order. This, of course, is the last song from Bleach, and it’s a real punisher here. The entire album is a good time.
Head of David is notable mostly for inspiring a bunch of other bands, not to mention being Justin Broadrick’s proving ground for the sound he would later refine as Godflesh. As for the band itself, a lot of their stuff sounds pretty leaden, but this track is pretty good.
[Read More]This song might be my favorite for making up bogus new lyrics: “Joshua Buergel / Sits on the couch trying to think of a bit / Noone reads iiiit”
Hot take time: Replica is real fuckin’ good!
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I’m being informed that this take is ice cold.
While The Exceptions are not remotely in the top tier of third wave bands, this is still plenty enjoyable, and you don’t have to just listen to the top bands in a genre. Well, you can do whatever you want. Except when you listen to this blog!
[Read More]I first encountered Homebody Sandman through his (excellent) collaboration with Edan. I liked it enough to pick up his next record, Dusty, which I also enjoy. Lots of jazzy loops providing a great backdrop for his flows, which are a good time.
I’m not a Bowie scholar (I find myself saying a lot what kind of scholar I am not around here!). I have tried to stick to just some of his essential albums. In practice, for Bowie, that means I have five albums, Low being one of them. I’m not sure what else to say about it, other than it’s one of his essential albums.
[Read More]We haven’t had very many second wave ska bands around here. That’s mainly because I was around with the third wave was a thing, so I know those bands well. And when I spend time learning about previous scenes, I mostly spend that time on the first wave of bands. The English Beat are one of the few second wave bands that I know reasonably well, with their poppy take on the genre standing in contrast to so many bands that mostly combine it with punk.
[Read More]A song from Low, the collaboration with Brian Eno that I brought up last time. A record jammed full of synths and ideas, this might be the most conventional and accessible song on the album. I’ll be honest, I kind of don’t feel totally qualified to talk about Bowie. I like a lot of his music, but I’m far from an expert.
This song gives a good idea of what Pussy Galore sounded like when they kind of had their shit together. To the extent their shit was ever together. Manic garage rock with atonal shouting was basically the order of the day.
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