Melvins

Took a few days off there. I’d apologize, but did anybody notice? If you Five Songs on a blog and nobody is there to hear it…

Anyway, cue the tunes, Amazon!

Melvins, “Laughing With Lucifer At Satan’s Sideshow”

We’ve discussed the Melvins getting dropped from their major label after a stellar run artistically, upon the discovery that the Melvins don’t actually sell any records. They found a home on Amphetamine Reptile Records, who apparently encouraged them to do whatever they wanted. So here, we have a little throwaway making fun of their time on their major label. And they called this record Honky. Why not!

Skip track 3.

NoMeansNo, “You’re Not One”

I was just listening to Wrong today, and was reminded of how awesome it was. Folks, check it out! In the meantime, here’s NoMeansNo kicking off the In The Fishtank project, which was a project where an independant label invited bands to record an album in just two days in the studio. Occasionally a couple bands at the same time! NoMeansNo are pros, so of course it sounds great.

Today!

Melvins, “Skweetis”

This is how Stoner Witch opens. I put this on when it came out, and just thought “holy shit, this is going to crush my head”. And it did. My head remains crushed to this day.

Chris Clark, “Don’t Be Too Long”

And then my head became uncrushed. Thanks, Motown!

Deathspell Omega, “Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Deathspell Omega turn out to be Nazi shitheads, and you should not in any way patronize them. I’m leaving the original text here, but fuck these guys.

All frequent fliers today!

Public Enemy, “Lost In Space Music”

This comes from Man Plans God Laughs, which is deep into the long run of somehwat undifferentiated albums that Public Enemy has been making for years and years now. They’ve lasted long enough and produced enough records that they have way more non-peak albums than they do peak albums. Which is kind of a bummer. It’s also hard for me to fairly evaluate most of these these records. They’re competing with such indelible memories.

A Motown artist! A fake Motown artist! Big Business playing with two bands!

Mayer Hawthorne, “The News”

We’ve heard from Mayer Hawthorne before with Tuxedo, but here he is with his solo act. Hawthorne, who grew up in Ann Arbor, Michegan, not far from the home of Motown, didn’t really intend to be a soul revivalist. He made some songs mostly as a goof, but attracted attention from them, with legendary hip-hop label Stones Throw initially thinking that they were authentic, lost 60s singles. A full-length album followed, with Hawthorne following through on the promise of authentic sounding soul. Only, you know, with swearing. As his career has moved forward, he’s moved away some from the pure Motown revival, but my favorite of his albums is the one this song came from, How Do You Do, which is very much a revival record.

Really excellent set today.

They Might Be Giants, “Whirlpool”

A b-side on the “Why Does The Sun Shine” single, I’ve always loved this song. I don’t think they’ve put it on anything else, so this counts as a little bit of a rarity.

Green Day, “409 In Your Coffee Maker”

A very early song from Green Day, this originally appeared on the “Slappy” EP, and was later included on 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours, the compilation that combined the LP 39/Smooth with “Slappy” and another EP, “1,000 Hours”. It’s a solid collection of songs, one that really showed the potential for the band that later turned into massive stars.

Nice set today!

Baroness, “Desperation Burns”

I mentioned last time around that everybody would have called these guys grunge if they had been around in the mid-90s. Tell me I’m wrong after listening to this!

Elvis Costello, “Pay It Back”

A jaunty little tune from his debut album, I’m not even entirely sure how to describe this. That’s because I’m shitty at writing about music. Good thing I go ahead and fail at it every day!

Al count for today: two.

Ministry, “Death & Destruction”

I was just making fun of the fact that Ministry just released a new record called AmeriKKKant with the Statue of Liberty doing a facepalm on the cover. That’ll teach me! Anyway, as I’ve mentioned in the past, I was big into Ministry in high school. In-your-face attitude! Super fast crunchy guitars! Edgy vocal samples! It pretty much hit 15-year-old Josh square where he lived. The thing is, I grew up. Ministry didn’t. The window in which I loved Ministry was only a few years.

Excellent set today.

Danger Doom, “Mince Meat”

This is a collaboration between Danger Mouse (Gorillaz, a bunch of his own work) and MF Doom. And, like basically all Doom projects, it’s a pleasure to hear him rhyming. His patterns are so fascinating, and Danger Mouse’s production is as solid as always. This is a really good album, is what I’m saying.

De La Soul, “Change In Speak”

Speaking of great production, Prince Paul did such an amazing job with Three Feet High And Rising. The album I’m maybe most looking forward to this year is Superblack’s album, as it’s a collaboration between Prince Paul and J-Zone. I’m fired up!

Some music for you!

Booker T. and the MGs, “Time Is Tight”

Always love it when Booker T. and the MGs show up. This is from early in volume 2 of the Stax compilations.

Melvins, “Magic Pig Detective”

Stoner Witch was one of the trio of albums that the Melvins made for Atlantic, as part of their most accessible period. So, of course, right smack in the middle of it is an abstract piece of pure noise leading off a track. Because Melvins. Anyway, Stoner Witch is magnificent, and I highly recommend it.