Firewater

We’re a couple of weeks away from the first birthday of Five Songs. I’m thinking about changing up the format a little. Anybody have any thoughts? Here’s today’s music.

Freeway, “Hear The Song”

While I think Freeway usually has great beats, this is not one them. This song just feels kind of disjointed.

The Dead Kennedys, “I Am The Owl”

This comes from the second Kennedys full-length, Plastic Surgery Disasters, which is probably the album in their discography that I hear the least about. It’s not the debut, which was the most purely hardcore of their albums, and it doesn’t have as much of the baroque strangeness of their later releases. But, like all their albums, it’s still very good, and worthy of listening to.

Should I mention when I buy albums here? I probably should. Maybe I’ll do that on future Fridays. Today’s music.

Andrew Bird, “Pathetique”

The first couple of Andrew Bird albums (officially credited to Andrew Bird and His Bowl of Fire) were more affected and more self-consciously arty than his later work. In a lot of ways, you can hear a lot of Squirrel Nut Zippers in this stuff. You can also hear some of the hallmarks of his later work, especially in the way he uses his violin to provide several different types of sounds, but the early stuff is definitely the sound of an artist finding his way.

Nice grab bag today. Also, have I mentioned my game is out? It is! Pick up Fox in the Forest from any good hobby store, or online, or wherever! OK, ad is over.

Joanna Newsom, “Cosmia”

Joanna Newsom made a lot of waves in the indie music community with Ys, a folk album driven by Newsom’s harp work and her bizarre vocal style. I picked it up to check it out for myself, and I couldn’t ever really get past the vocals. Listen for yourself, this track is a good example of what’s going on with her music.

Sorry about the flakiness in posting over the past week. I’ll try not to make a habit of it. Today’s playlist!

The Dead Kennedys, “D.M.S.O.”

This, from the Kennedys’ final album Bedtime for Democracy, is a pretty atypical track from them. Far from their usual blazing hardcore attack, we’ve instead got something that sounds more like a noir-ish song. Of course, Jello Biafra’s usual sarcasm and unique delivery are still present. The Kennedys were a staple of my high school years, and a lot of their work has held up pretty well over the years, but this is their least essential studio album.

Just narrowly missed “Buffalo Soldier”, as played on a xylophone today. Dodged that bullet! Here’s what we do have today.

Taylor Swift, “Style”

I try to not be totally ignorant of current pop music, but let’s be honest: I usually am pretty ignorant. Every now and again, though, I’ll just pick up an album that’s been getting really good reviews, and I’ll often enjoy it as a break from the usual grim frowny stuff we typically have around here. All of which is a long way of saying that, yeah, this album is pretty good.