Motown

Foetus, “Ramrod”

This track was originally the A-side of a single, and it was later pulled onto the compilation Sink. It’s a fantastic example of the mid to late 80s stuff that Foetus was up to, this kind of noir-inflected, orchestrated industrial noise stuff. There’s something familiar about this song, with gestures towards obsolete but recognizable types of music. But it’s all arranged in disquieting ways, like a musical Frankenstein’s monster, all bolts and dead flesh arranged in a groteque parody of life.

Gas Huffer, “Crooked Bird”

As Gas Huffer moved into the middle of their run, they added a little touch of sruf. A little more reverb takes us in a slightly different direction on their garage rock. Still very recognizable as Gas Huffer, mind you, but they didn’t just keep re-making Janitors of Tomorrow either.

Jr. Walker & the All-Stars, “Shotgun”

Goddam, listen to that recording. The compression on everything just adds so much to the urgency of the track. It’s so sweaty!

Mary Wells, “You Beat Me To The Punch”

Lots of Mary Wells recently, which is OK by me!

Olivia Tremor Control, “The Opera House”

Music From The Unrealized Film Script, Dusk at Cubist Castle is one of the key documents of the indie pop underground from the mid-90s. Although it hasn’t retained the level of enduring fame as In The Aeroplane Over the Sea, it’s very much a peer to that one. The record nerds who went nuts over Neutral Milk Hotel at the time were already nuts over Olivia Tremor Control.

Mary Wells, “My Guy”

It’s a trifle, but it’s a very sweet one.

Muddy Waters, “You’re Gonna Need My Help”

We like to goof around with me not knowing shit about jazz around here, but I know so, so much less about blues.

Pussy Galore, “Solo = Sex”

Those trash can drums, disorganized but confident vocals, and primitive grooves are all hallmarks of Pussy Galore that Jon Spencer would carry forward and refine in JSBX, but even the neolithic version is plenty of fun.

Stevie Wonder, “Pastime Paradise”

The capstone of maybe the best run of any artist, ever, Songs in the Key of Life is a sprawling double album covering an incredible amount of ground, both musically and lyrically. Wonder tackled social issues and spiritual ones, found time for some gorgeous pop songs, funk, just about everything under the sun. And he just pulls it all off with aplomb.

Spawn of Possession, “Apparition”

Symphonic tech death metal band Spawn of Possession had several albums, but I’ve only listened to this one. And mostly, it kind of drove home that this kind of symphonic stuff really isn’t my bag.

I never write checks, so this blog is the only thing that I write the wrong year on after the calendar filps over.

Marvin Gaye, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”

A stone-cold classic.

Polyrhythmics, “Cosimo”

A lovely EP from 2020, Fondue Party continues a string of winners from Polyrhythmics. That sax solo is delicious, I love that they gave it so much space.

Dr. Dre, “Still D.R.E.”

Damn, this album turned 20 today. I still think of it as the “new” Dre release. And there’s been a more recent Dre record!

Killdozer, “Pour Man”

Killdozer were not a joke band. But they were a band that was never really being serious, with Michael Gerald’s vocal delivery on this thing being a good example. Why is he singing like this? Because it’s silly. Does it make the song silly? Well, not really? Kinda?

Beck, “Guess I’m Doing Fine”

Beck, on the other hand, is clearly a joke act.

Smut Peddlers, “Stank MCs”

OK, I’ll let the listener decide if this is a joke act.

The Dillinger Escape Plan, “43% Burnt”

I dunno, I’m 100% burnt now!

Neutral Milk Hotel, “April 8th”

I learned about a podcast called Neutral Cider Hotel the other day, and I have to say, I was probably way more amused than I should have been.

Superchunk, “Break the Glass”

Despite being a huge fan of Superchunk from the release of No Pocky For Kitty, I never once managed to catch them in concert until the tour for this record, 26 years after I started listening to them. And you know what? It was a total delight. I was just entranced watching Mac do his thing up there. I wish I could have seen them more often, but at least I got there once.

STS, “All I Wanted Was A Caddy”

I’ve sung the praises of this record, but the STS and RJD2 colab from 2015 is such a gas. RJD2 is in great form, and STS is able to really bring it home on that platform. A really delightful record.

Sharon Jones, “Got a Thing On My Mind”

Hell yeah!

Lambchop, “The Daily Growl”

Lambchop’s Nixon was something of a breakthrough, gaining a lot of press attention and elevating the profile of the band. Their arrangements had been getting more and more elaborate, and Nixon is pretty busy (as Lambchop goes). So the question was, on their followup, would they keep going in that direction? No, as it turns out. Is A Woman is something of a retrenchment. The songs are pretty languid, and it’s clear at this point that Lambchop was going to just blaze their own path through music, being impossible to categorize but recognizable as just being themselves. From this album forward, Lambchop albums pretty much just always sound like Lambchop albums, and not a whole lot else.

Mantar, “Eternal Return”

I long ago ran out of stuff to say about Mantar, so let’s just have a close listen to this. The shift up to the double-time drums fifty seconds in is nice. And a nice change in the gallop shortly after the vocals kick in. There’s a restlessness here, where they’re refusing to totally settle into a groove, which is kind of nice. Although sometimes the fun of music like this is a nice punishing rhythm. Views differ, apparently even in my head!