Josh Doesn't Know Shit About Jazz

Well, that was fun. The RSS was goofed up (it wasn’t doing full text), which I fixed by updating the RSS template on the site. The email subscription was also goofed up, but that was the fault of the RSS feed being borked, because the email template is supposed pull the stuff from the “content” section of each post, and the RSS template lacked that section. I’ll only find out if those fixes worked after this publishes. Well, the RSS feed does work, I checked that. But the email, we’ll just have to find out.

Steakdaddy Six, “Sweaty Betty”

Indie rock out of Champaign-Urbana, Steakdaddy Six released two solid albums in the early 90s before ending their run. This is from the second of those records, Houstonia, but they’re pretty comparable. The most notable thing about the band is that they featured an extra drummer in the lineup, which distinguished them from most of their contemporaries. Not very many bands roll with two drummers, but more should.

Yazz Ahmed, “Bloom”

Yazz Ahmed is a jazz trumpeter and I have two albums from her that I really like. Wish I could describe them, but you know, I don’t know shit about jazz.

Death Grips, “Birds”

This is a great example of the unpredictability of Death Grips. Nothing about this song really makes sense, but it’s all intentional and hits the effect they wanted to achieve. That is, disorientation.

Can, “Mother Upduff”

I still kind of lament Unlimited Edition being the first record I ever heard from Can. It’s so scattered, as befits an outtake compilation, that it’s hard to really appreciate it without the context of already loving the band. I decided to just ignore Can for another couple decades at that point, and I could have been listening to them that whole time. Big mistake!

Knxwledge, “kometostai.aintreallynootherwaytoputitro”

Yes, I copied and pasted that from Plex. I ain’t typin’ all that!

Big Audio Dynamite II, “Rush”

Whe Mick Jones left The Clash, he started a new band, Big Audio Dynamite. He wanted to explore the use of dance music techniques, sampling, and the like. That band too broke apart, but he took another run at things with Big Audio Dynamite II, where he was the only member in common. This is the first album from that second incarnation, and “Rush” was a decent sized hit. It’s pretty charming in how eclectic and playful it is, and the “rhythm and melody” section is a serious jam.

Tar, “G7”

Well, I just mentioned Amphetamine Reptile Records the other day! Here’s one of my favorite bands from that label, but in their post-AmRep days. They put out two albums and an EP on AmRep and then left to put out some tunes for Touch & Go, producing the same amount of music (two albums and an EP). This comes from the first thing they put on Touch & Go, Clincher, the aforementioned EP. The notable thing about it was that the production was less murky than their earlier stuff, which allowed some of the grooviness that got lost to come forward. While on balance, I prefer the AmRep stuff, their final record for Touch & Go (Over and Out) is brilliant stuff. Tar was good! More people than me should remember them! I still have a shirt I bought at a show of theirs in 1992!

Mix Master Mike, “Positive Contact (Mario C remix)”

This is a remix of a track from Deltron 3030, the great left-field hip-hop classic featuring Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Dan the Automator. Mix Master Mike took that and turned it into this remix, which…isn’t as good as the original. Oh well!

Artie Shaw, “Frenesi”

When my oldest started playing the clarient, I decided to try and pick up something which might inspire her, so I grabbed this compilation (The Essential Artie Shaw). And while I don’t think she cared about it at all, it’s a perfectly enjoyable listen.

The Shins, “New Slang”

I sort of mentally lumped the Shins in with a bunch of other indie bands (like Death Cab) as being “fine, but not for me”. Who had the time to differentiate all these bands? It wasn’t actually until I found “For A Fool” on Rocksmith and had such a good time playing it that I paid more attention, and hey - turns out I actually really like the Shins. We wander into the music we like through a lot of different ways, and it always pays to keep your ears open.

Medeski, Martin and Wood, “Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho”

If my search is to be trusted, there are about 102 blog posts on this site indicating that I don’t know shit about jazz. Sad that I’m so ignorant, given that I actually listen to a fair bit of it.

Calexico, “Black Heart”

My favorite Calexico record. If this song doesn’t grab you, I’m afraid to inform you that you’re hopeless.

Therapy?, “Nausea”

Therapy? was a band that kind of got tagged with an alternative metal label during the early 90s. It kind of makes sense - this isn’t as gritty as grunge, and it’s not robotic enough for industrial metal, but it also doesn’t really have any markers of any of the genres of metal going at the time. This is from Nurse, a record that got them signed to a major label. It’s a decent record, although I’ll confess I haven’t thought about this band in ages.