Front 242

Funkadelic, “Into You”

The world is divided into two groups: those who think Mothership Connection is P-Funk’s finest moment, and those who think One Nation Under A Groove is. (I’m ignoring Maggot Brain perverts.) My opinion largely rests on whichever one I’ve listened to most recently.

No, but seriously, it’s Mothership Connection.

Front 242, “Television Station”

Official Version is the first good Front 242 album, the one where the menacing synths and icy vocals really came together. And I have to say, this stuff has largely aged better than a lot of their peers. There are elements of it that kind of presage the *wave bands of today.

Eddie Holland, “Take A Chance On Me”

Alas, no, this isn’t a predecessor of the ABBA song, but now I want to hear Motown style covers of ABBA songs.

The Pietasters, “Without You”

Seems like we’ve had a lot more of the Pietasters live than we have from their studio work, which is kind of a shame. A rational person might ask, well, why don’t I just remove the live record from the collection? To which I say to you, Rational Person, why the hell are you even paying attention to this dumb blog? Shouldn’t you be doing some imaginary figment business or something?

Some titans today.

Crazy Baldhead, “Funky Drummer”

A repeat! No regrets! Bring on the juice!

Rob Swift, “Hip Hop On Wax”

A member of the X-Ecutioners, Rob Swift is a turntablist from New York who has had a long solo career as well. Always rooted in the traditions of hip-hop, his records feature his pyrotechnic scratching, which is worth seeking out just on its own. The overall quality of his albums often tends to be driven by the quality of the guests he’s working with, with this being an example of one of his better tracks. If you like the sound of this, try out one of his early albums (this is from Sound Event).

Today’s music.

Presidents of the United States of America, “Blank Baby”

This song comes from Freaked Out And Small, by which time most people had long since moved on. The major labels certainly had, as the Presidents found themselves back on an indie label. But that’s fine, they were still putting together fun stuff. And maybe that’s what’s so enjoyable about the Presidents. They always legitimately sounds like they’re having fun, and it’s infectious. I don’t think this album beats their second one, but it’s still very good.

Superchunk was great! I can’t believe I didn’t see them until about 25 years after I first listened to them, but whatever, at least I got the chance. I’m really pleased that their second act has gone well. Today’s music!

Flop, “Sorry Henry Maartens”

Well, we’ve now gotten a song from all three of their albums. This one, Whenever You’re Ready, sort of is a classic demonstration of the “troubled second album” idea. It’s unfocused, and just doesn’t snap the way their debut album did. It’s not bad, exactly, but it just kind of feels diluted compared to the sugar rush of the debut.

One of these songs is not like the others.

Negativland, “Ain’t No Baby”

Another piece from Deathsentences of the Polished And Structurally Weak. This album was really more about creating a mood and atmosphere than it was about anything as conventional as songs. It’s a pure exploration of sound for its own sake, and as such, forms quite an interesting experiment.

Jan Jelinek, “They, Them”

From one experimental electronic artist to another. Jelinek works with small bits and pieces of sounds, up to and especially including glitchy noises and artifacts, and reassembles them into warm, understated songs. This track, from the magnificent Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records, is a great example of the kind of music he creates. Subtlety is an underappreciated skill for musicians.

Sorry about the second song in the playlist. You’ll see when you get there.

People Under The Stairs, “You”

From Stepfather, an album that featured some pretty experimental songs, distinguishing itself from its more straightforward predecessors. “You” is built around a nice, conventional funk sample, though.

Front 242, “Tragedy (For You) [Instrumental]”

To the extent Front 242 ever had a “hit”, it was this song, briefly a staple of a certain sort of dance club. And just in case you wanted to hear that industrial dance beat more clearly, they helpfully provided an instrumental remix on the inevitable 12" single of the song, along with six more versions of it. Say what you want about the purveyors of industrial dance, but they got their money’s worth out of any song that got traction.

I think it’s been a little while since I’ve mentioned it, so just in case: there’s an index of all these entries if you want to check it out. And here’s today’s music.

Wilco, “Let’s Not Get Carried Away”

And we’re back to Alpha Mike Foxtrot, that Wilco rarities collection. Seems like we’re hitting it a lot. So I checked: just a tiny bit under 40% of all the Wilco songs in my collection are from that rarities collection. This has been One Useless Fact to go with your Five Songs. Anyway, this song was originally on Sky Blue Sky in a different form.