Dirty Projectors

Three months in the books, three months of Five Songs every day! And we’re still rollin’!

The Clash, “Remote Control”

Have we talked about the Clash’s debut album yet? What separated the Clash from so much of the rest of the new punk scene is that the Clash brought more than just energy and fury to their music. And while early punk should be lauded for how egalitarian it was, and for its emphasis on just getting out there and doing it, the Clash really demonstrated what happened when you took that DIY ethos and married it to some tremendous songs.

Lots of new folks today.

Clem Snide, “Accident”

For some reason, “alt-country” as a label always kind of irritates me, even though the thought it’s expressing (country music that stands distinct from the popular variation) is directly analagous to alternative rock, which doesn’t bother me. The lesson, as always: I’m dumb. Anyway, Clem Snide (named after the character from Naked Lunch) is absolutely alt-country. Propelled by Eef Barzelay’s passionate singing and Jason Glasser’s multi-instrumental prowess, Clem Snide cranked out five outstanding albums in the late 90s and early 2000s, starting with this record (You Were A Diamond) up through 2005’s End of Love. They started to lose some steam after that, but at their peak, they were incredible. I mean, just listen to this!

I don’t have a ton to say about these tracks, although there are a couple of truly great songs on the list. I figure, if I don’t have a ton to say, better to keep these things simple.

Kendrick Lamar, “The Blacker The Berry”

To Pimp a Butterfly was my favorite album of 2015, and this track is one of the hardest hitting songs on it.

Boss Hog, “Gerard”

Another scuzz rock track from Cold Hands, full of the same kind of distorted churn that that record is populated with.