Frank Black

Stone Temple Pilots, “Big Empty”

I was going to say that this is the only STP track in my library, their contribution to The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack which I bought because it had a new track from Nine Inch Nails and Helmet. Anyway, I was wrong: they also contributed to a Led Zeppelin tribute album, a covers album notable mostly for David Yow getting together with Helmet for a fun “Custard Pie” and not a lot else. Anyway, STP are and always were boring, flannel wallpaper for people who thought that the only thing that the old hard rock hegemony on raido needed was more grunting.

Flop, “Regrets”

I sometimes think about what band I would wave a magic wand and just make famous. The bands that have the widest gap between my love for them and the wider perception of the band. At this point, if you’re a close student of Five Songs, first: what are you even doing? Why? But, you can probably guess some of these bands. Hammerhead, for instance. Pond (the one from Portland). The Slackers. Bands that I adore that never really moved the needle. Well, add to that list Flop, who tossed off pop rock as effortlessly as anybody ever has.

A couple of sweet hip-hop beats today.

Quasimoto, “Blitz”

You can just hear the dust on the vinyl on that drum loop. And that sax! My god, for a short track, this is just great. Madlib is a genius.

G.E. Smith & The Saturday Night Live Band, “Sloozy”

I can just picture the faces G.E. Smith is pulling while playing this song. Which led me here, for pictures of guitarists making faces. Also, apparently G.E. Smith is a big Trump supporter, as I learned from the search “G.E. Smith making faces”.

Hey, let’s do another roundup! This time, it’s an aggregation of different metal lists. Useful! And, of course, some music for today.

Pegboy, “Spaghetti Western”

Yup, more or less hit the wall on things to say about Pegboy. It’s still the usual melodic punk sound that is perfectly pleasant to listen to. That’s more dismissive than I intend it to be.

Sebadoh, “Mean Distance”

This comes from Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock, the first album from Sebadoh to be released on Sub Pop, as they made the leap from the minor leagues to…well, the bigger minor leagues. But Sub Pop in the early 90s was a pretty big deal, and it was news that the slacker kings of low fi were making their way to the home of grunge. This album is itself a compilation of sorts, with bits and pieces of previous releases collected into an incoherent record. But all Sebadoh records were incoherent, mostly due to the three different song writers and how they approched things. This song is itself a bit of a microcosm of that, as it’s credited to all three and goes bananas with a minute left in the track.

Today, honestly, is kind of a mess.

Fuck The Facts, “The Wrecking”

Fuck The Facts are mostly grindcore, although there are some death metal tendencies in spots. This song, for instance, is more towards the death metal end of things. I mean, this track is over four minutes long!

Frank Black, “Hang On To Your Ego”

Oh, Frank. “Hang On To Your Ego”? Anyway, yes, this is a cover of the Beach Boys song.

As certain part of me wonders what I’m doing with these descriptions. Should I ramble about whatever? Talk about the artists? Historical context? Recommendations? I have no idea. Well, here’s some more dancing about architecture.

We just dodged a super long rap skit, by the way.

R.L. Burnside, “Alice Mae”

Longtime blues guitarist Burnside didn’t really start getting much attention until the early 90s, when his albums first started appearing on Fat Possum Records, despite playing since the 60s. I first noticed him when he worked with Jon Spencer for A Ass Pocket O’ Whiskey, which is where this track comes from. If you like Jon Spencer, then this is an easy buy.