Modest Mouse

Hepcat, “Marcus Garvey”

Y’all, it’s ska weather right now in Seattle. It’s still sunny, but not oppressive, and some breezy tunes to go with it is just perfect. I’ve had Hepcat on while making dinner a few times recently, and it’s going down niiiice. Right On Time is my favorite record from them, but Scientific (which provides this song) is excellent as well.

Mudhoney, “Twenty Four”

Mudhoney’s singles were pretty great, kind of across the board. They’d pretty consistently turn in either bruising performances, excellent covers, or fun larks. As a result, March to Fuzz, a collection of those singles, is a very good time. The guitar tone is just all-time on this song.

De La Soul, “Rap De Rap Show”

There’s a concept of a “difficult second album”, which is mostly just a farm for confirmation bias, but hell, let’s talk about De La Soul’s difficult second album. Their first album was a huge smash, a groundbreaking album, and an artistic statement that truly came from left field. But the flower power personas that De La Soul wore during that record began to feel stifling pretty quickly. They set out to break that mold on the next album, starting with the name of the album, and proceeding with rejecting the hippie approach throughout. The results are rough in spots, a little overly laden with filler and skits, but there are also some legitimately amazing tracks on the record. This, alas, is not one of them.

Next to the bass / turn up the radio!

J Church, “The Heroic Trio”

Cat Food is a quickie album that J Church threw together by recording some songs in a day, adding in a couple compilation tracks, and calling it good. But punk never really suffers from being a little slapdash, and the resulting album is pretty entertaining. Basically, Lance Hahn is good enough that most everything he does is worth listening to. This is how the album opens. It’s good! Listen to that solo!

Back to Five Songs!

Don Drummond, “Jet Stream”

I was actually listening to this album (the excellent Don Cosmic, a compilation of a bunch of his Studio One tracks) in the car today, and was marveling at the warmth of the record. There’s an alchemy in the way this stuff is recorded, the ambient studio noise enhancing the intimate feel of it. It sounds like Drummond and his band are just playing for you, right in your room. Or head. Whatever. I kind of poke fun at vinyl guys, because how could you not, but there is a legitimate thing to having some of the organic noise of the recording come through as you listen.

Good set today.

Modest Mouse, “Autumn Beds”

From a later EP from the band, No One’s First, And You’re Next, these are songs that were largely left off of Good News For People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. If you’re looking for more songs that would have fit into those albums, this EP is worth looking into.

Sleater-Kinney, “Oh!”

Another good song from Sleater-Kinney which I will undoubtedly totally forget the tune for after the song has finished.

Solid set today.

Two Fingers, “Not Perfect”

Another track from the self-titled Two Fingers album, featuring another collaboration with Sway. As before, this is just delightful.

Modest Mouse, “Tundra/Desert”

I wonder what Isaac Brock sounded like as a kid. Did he sound like, well, himself? Did he warble when he yelled at his siblings? Does he have siblings? I wonder if his parents thought “damn, listen to this kid, he’s gonna be a rock star, just listen to that!”

Today’s music.

Down By Law, “The Last Brigade”

Does it seem like Five Songs has been kinda punk lately? I think we’ve been kinda punk. No objections here!

We Were Promised Jetpacks, “Conductor”

Part of the indie rock underground, We Were Promised Jetpacks remind me of a bunch of other bands, like Band of Horses, say. There are some post-rock-ish elements to their music as well. It adds up to a formula that should probably grab me more than it does, but I find all their songs kind of slippery in my brain. Pleasant enough while they’re going, but I can’t pull up the tune later.

Every now and again, I catch myself thinking, “geez, this playlist really sounds like something I’d love!” And then I think, come ON brain, what are you thinking? But my brain has already moved on. Well, anyway, today’s playlist is pretty indie rock-y. And Haggard-y, I suppose.

The Wedding Present, “Big Boots”

I’ve always really liked the Wedding Present’s slower numbers. The contrast with the usual hyperactive pop really centers David Gedge’s lonely, weary lyrics. And sometimes you want that extra bummer, you know? This comes from Saturnalia, the last album from their first incarnation, before Gedge recorded with Colorama for a while. It’s an excellent album, as is everything that that version of the band put out.

Some titans of the rock underground today! I really like this set a lot. Shame it didn’t go one more song, Einstürzende Neubauten popped up next with “Vanadium-I-Ching”, which would have been a fun addition to the list. Oh well, can’t go changing the rules any time I like!

Pixies, “Alec Eiffel”

Here, we’re getting a track from the last pre-breakup Pixies album, Trompe Le Monde. At the time, I was pretty disappointed in Bossanova, for whatever reason, but really liked this one. At this remove, it’s not clear what my beef was with Bossanova and it’s pretty similar to Trompe. While both records are off from the peak of their first records, they’re still both excellent and well worth having.

It’s eclipse day! I hope everybody had a chance to check things out. I did here, and I thought it was pretty neat, but the boy didn’t seem to care very much. Ah well. In honor of the event, we have our first Five Songs Special! I searched for “moon” in my library, giving 261 tracks. I then used random.org to generate five numbers, picked those tracks, and got us this list! Enjoy it along with me, won’t you?