Mastodon

Mogwai, “Remurdered”

I dunno about this, man. I want some fury with my Mogwai, some big dynamics, something should howl. This is pretty cerebral and isn’t what I’m generally looking for from them.

Jean Knight, “Mr. Big Stuff”

A repeat of an all-time jam.

American Music Club, “If I Had A Hammer”

“Gratitude Walks” is the opener of this album, but this beautiful slice of melancholy in the second position was what got me sold on American Music Club. I bought this album and listened to it on the walk back to campus, and it was such a change of pace from what I was listening to at the time that it really stuck with me. It’s good to have some things in your music diet that aren’t just noise and wrath.

Calexico, “Heart of Downtown”

This comes from Calexico’s Christmas album, Seasonal Shift. The major concession here is that the guitar line is a little more filled out, and there’s a little bit fuller chorus. It’s a Calexico song otherwise, which is a perfectly good thing.

Mastodon, “Divinations”

Crack the Skye is Mastodon at its most Mastodon-y, with their prog-metal thing reaching a logical endpoint. They’d back off a bit from this sound later, but I kind of wish they hadn’t. I want a band to just keep getting more and more elaborate and decorated. I want them to get ten albums in and have the whole damn thing be totally unparseable by normal humans. Have it sound like it fell to Earth from outer space.

Stubborn All-Stars, “Lieutenant”

The first Stubborn All-Stars record definitely had their laid-back ska groove going, but I think they took it up a notch on the next record. That said, if you’re looking for something pretty traditional, bordering on rocksteady, you can do a lot worse.

The New Bomb Turks, “Never Will”

After an absolutely raging debut record, the New Bomb Turks followed it up the next year with another ripper full of garage punk. It’s pure adrenaline, with sawtooth guitars and snotty vocals leading the way. Alas, they’d land on Epitaph for their subsequent records, and the cleaned up version of the band isn’t quite as fun.

The Avalanches, “The Divine Chord”

A thing I admire about Johnny Marr (who guested on this song) is that he’s cheerfully helped on about a zillion things in his post-Smiths career, and they’re pretty all over the map. And he seems happy to do it. Good for him!

Mastodon, “Stargasm”

I’ve tried on multiple occasions to love The Hunter, and I just haven’t gotten there. It’s not that it’s bad or anything, but I dunno, I just want them to be more elaborate than this. Although it’s pretty funny to call this tune as not elaborate.

Hockey Night, “For Guys’ Eyes Only”

[don’t mention Pavement don’t mention Pavement don’t mention Pavement]

Hey, that doesn’t actually sound much like Malkmus! It’s more like Spiral Stairs.

[nailed it!]

Beck, “Sexx Laws”

Midnite Vultures starts off like this, letting us know that we are in for Party Beck instead of Sad Beck. I like Party Beck a lot more, personally.

Cannibal Ox, “Ox Out the Cage”

It’s always fun to hear a record that still sounds fresh more than twenty years later. El-P’s production on this record is so good that it still sounds futuristic even after all this time. A great record!

Mastodon, “The Motherload”

Once More Around The Sun is definitely a Mastodon album, what with all their stylistic tics being present. But for the most part, it’s all packaged in a much more accessible way. Much of this song, for example, really is just a half-step away from something like Soundgarden. I, of course, prefer the denser and more elaborate songs of their earlier albums, but this is still a decent listen.

A Forest of Stars, “A Prophet for a Pound of Flesh”

The rolled Rs are a bit much, don’t you think, A Forest of Stars guy? There’s always a line that metal bands walk, where if they go too far and seem like they’re taking themselves too seriously, they cross into Theatre Kid territory. Now, you can lean into the ridiculousness, of course, and that’s fine and good and not what I’m talking about. It’s just if you get too dramatic and don’t seem to be tongue-in-cheek at all, well, it gets extremely silly.

Atmosphere, “Lovelife”

A thing that strikes me about listening to early Atmosphere (this is from their second album, 2002’s God Loves Ugly) is how young Slug sounds on these tracks. He still sounds like the same person later, but there’s less weariness in his tone here as opposed to his latest work.

Mastodon, “A Commotion”

Medium Rarities is a compilation that Mastodon put out in 2020 to gather all the miscellany from their career. This track is a good example: it’s from a split with Feist where they each covered each others’ songs. Mastodon are a strong enough band that a comp of their random crap is still worth listening to.

Otis Redding, “Try a Little Tenderness”

One of Redding’s iconic hits, this is actually a much older song, more than thirty years old when he recorded what is by now the definitive version. The very slow build up throughout the song is such a delight, a masterclass in pacing.

Mastodon, “Steambreather”

After a couple albums of relatively accessible music in The Hunter and Once More ‘Round The Sun, where Mastodon kind of stepped away from their most elaborate tendencies, they made something of a return to the style with Emperor of Sand. Part of that is the return of the same producer who helped them make Crack the Skye, part of that is the desire to make a concept album again, but whatever it is, it’s my favorite of the latter-day Mastodon albums. Although I haven’t really fully digested the most recent one, so I don’t know about that record yet.

Mastodon, “Black Tongue”

I spent a bunch of time with The Hunter last year, seeing if I could really get to the point of appreciating the record. It was a really big break with their previous two albums, and my initial reaction when it came out was that I didn’t care for new path. After that time spent, I can say that I still prefer the big prog-y compositions, but there’s a lot to like in this leaner album. It’s probably the right on-ramp to begin listening to Mastodon, truthfully.