Isaac Hayes

The Beatles, “Let It Be”

When I find myself with no ideas / struggling to write a blog / I fall back on dumb jokes / mail it in

TWRP, “Only the Best”

OK, I don’t love those lyrics there, but in the spirit of of mailing it in, I’m not going to take another run at them. Pulling aside the curtain a bit here at Five Songs Agglomerated, I pretty much just write these entries in stream-of-consciousness as I listen to the music, go back and just do a quick edit pass to fix typos or any really duff wording, and then call it good. Revising the joke goes agains the spirit of the thing, I think.

Hoover, “Electrolux”

Hoover were a post-hardcore band with a single album on Discord in 1993 along with a few singles. There are a lot of forgotten gems in the Discord catalog, with albums getting overshadowed by the more famous releases on the label. Fugazi’s In On The Kill Taker released in 1993, for instance, which I think is the best post-hardcore record ever made. So it’s easy to see how this thing might not get noticed. And, yes, there is plenty of influence here from Fugazi. But, hell, that’s not a bad way to take your cues. There’s a little Drive Like Jehu here also, so yeah, this is good stuff.

Torche, “Reverse Inverted”

For how often I mention Torche, it’s nice to actually get the band in here. Always loud, always delightful.

Samiam, “Factory”

Just going full-on big rock today. With luck, everything we get will soar, and it’ll be a rare feel-good Five Songs list. But, knowing my library, we’ll probably get Einstürzende Neubauten mic-ing up a construction site and hammering on it with a ladle instead.

The Slackers, “Wasted Days”

Well, it doesn’t exactly soar, but it’s still a summery thing, so I’ll count it. The spare guitar in the opening, the gentle unison of the sax and the trombone, all leading to Vic Ruggiero’s plaintive question is one of my favorite moments by the Slackers. They’re willing to just let this languid bouncer cook, resisting the temptation to layer on too much, and it’s such a great tune as a result. The hottest it gets is Hillyard’s solo, but even there, the extra ornamentation is really just limited to some “oooooohhhs” in the background. And bonus points for Ruggiero’s tremendous delivery of the word “sober”. Great tune.

Yay for year end roundups! First one I’m looking at is The AV Club’s roundup and their ballots. So far, I’ve already picked up two records, Infinite Wave by Vagabon and The Incessant by Meat Wave. Fun! Today’s music!

Isaac Hayes, “Walk On By”

Oh my. With the untimely passing of Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes became probably the most important artist at Stax, writing and contributing to innumerable hits. He was also, of course, a tremendous performer in his own right, with songs like this being a great example. This appeared on the album Hot Buttered Soul, which is just tremendous.