Deafheaven

Palmistry, “In The Mountains…”

A mystery here. This is from a release just labeled Demo, and it doesn’t appear to be from Bandcamp. It’s from 2017 according to the metadata (and Metal Archives), but I don’t know where else I would have gotten it other than Bandcamp. Well, whatever. Let’s listen! Pretty basic doom here, not unpleasant, but not lighting me on fire either.

Hüsker Dü, “Something I Learned Today”

This opens one of the most impressive and important albums in all of hardcore, Zen Arcade. Hüsker Dü proved that hardcore could still be recognizable and even thrive in an environment of trying unorthodox things. That they pulled this off with a double album that was recorded in as much of a rush as the music itself makes it doubly impressive. Pound for pound, it’s probably not their best record, but for the ambition and impact, you can’t argue with it as a holistic piece of work.

Sweet Baby, “Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby Baby (I Love You)”

I wonder if there was discussion about the correct number of “baby"s in the title, or if they just went with the line from the song and called it good.

UGK, “Life is 2009”

I don’t normally list the “featuring” in the title lines here, but it’s important that you all know that this features Oakland legend Too $hort, so of course this rules. I suppose you could have figured that out on your own. Well, whatever!

ALL, “Honey Peeps”

By the time they hit 1997’s Mass Nerder, ALL was on their third singer across seven albums, but the band still basically sounded the same. This was finally the album where I realized that I was very much done with them. The previous record (Pummel) had some awful lyrics, and I really wasn’t sure why I picked this one up. Kind of force of habit, really. At any rate, with the Descendents also having been resurrected by this point, ALL really served no purpose.

Consolidated, “This Is A Collective”

You know, if Consolidated had gotten rolling now instead of back in the early 90s, there would have been some Serious Discourse about them. Not just engaging with the politics of the band, but also probably a bunch of stuff around if what they are doing is cultural appropriation. I’m making up this whole thing and still making myself mad!

Ryan Porter, “The Psalmist”

Given how much I like ska and the horns in soul music, it should surprise nobody that this kind of thing is absolutely my jam.

The Jesus Lizard, “Gladiator”

HELL YEAH MAN TIME TO GO BREAK STUFF FUCKIN’ LET’S GO GET DRUNK FUCK SHIT UP

Tha Alkaholiks, “Let It Out”

Tha Alkaholiks stood out from out other rap groups in the mid-90s in California by being mostly playful, in contrast to the dominant G-funk aesthetic at the time. E-Swift’s production also presented a different approach than the dense, deep funk jams of the time. This is from their second record, 1995’s Coast II Coast, which featured a whole bunch of fun guests (Madlib, Q-Tip, Xzibit, others), and is just a solid album.