Motown

Ulthar, “Through Downward Dynasties”

Periodically, I kind of take a step back and really try and focus on some of the stuff I listen to, and this is utterly ridiculous. Why do I like any death metal? This is bonkers!

The Beautiful South, “You Keep It All In”

The first Beautiful South record is the peak that the band hasn’t ever really approached since. The later records were certainly pleasant enough, and it’s all nice to listen to, but there’s enough of an edge to the songwriting on the first record that it stands out from the rest. That mix of sweet and sour is an important dynamic, and they manage it at times later on, but never as consistently.

The Hit Pack, “Never Say No To Your Baby”

A Motown track from 1965, the heavy horns here really sound a little more like Stax than like Motown, especially from 1965.

Rufus Thomas, “Funky Mississippi”

Yeah, see, those horns!

DJ Vadim, “Your Revolution”

DJ Vadim’s second album, U.S.S.R. Life From The Other Side, found the abstract hip-hop producer working with MCs on most of the tracks, which largely was an improvement. I think abstract hip-hop can sometimes get a little lazy, and having to make sure things will work with someone actually rapping makes sure that he tightens things up.

They Might Be Giants, “They’ll Need A Crane”

This song is a great example of how John Linnell is capable of writing a bouncy, charming song that nevertheless has a melancholy core to it. He usually bangs out at least one of those on each record, and there’s always some turn of phrase in them that really sticks with me. “There’s a restaurant we should check out / where the other nightmare people like to go / I mean nice people / Baby wait / I didn’t mean to say nightmare” just runs through my head all the time. Lincoln is real good, y’all.

Wolves in the Throne Room, “Permanent Changes in Consciousness”

This is what counts for an interstitial track for Wolves in the Throne Room. Only 1:54!

Gino Parks, “Don’t Say Bye Bye”

Meanwhile, Gino Parks cranks out an entire song with an actual structure in a tidy 1:51. It’s actually kind of funny to think about how far music has gone from 1960, and to think that you can actually draw a lineage between these two songs without much backtracking on the family tree.

DJ Logic, “Abyss”

My kids and I often joke about “dog logic”, where dogs try to reason about the world from their first principles, and it leads to some funny places. So now, I’m trying to figure out what are the axioms of DJ logic, and what the precepts you’d reach based on them. But it’s late, and my head hurts, so I can’t really follow this through to its conclusion.

Monobody, “Country Doctor”

Monobody is one of those bands that has a real mismatch of names. For whatever reason, I don’t think this should be a math-rock/post-rock kind of band. “Monobody” seems like it should really be a garage rock outfit, all galloping guitars, distortion, and sneers. No horns should be involved.

Quelle Chris, “Guns”

The title track to his 2019 release, this was one of the best hip-hop albums released that year. The sort of dream-like production really sets off against the serious subject matter of the lyrics. A great album.

Jungle Fire, “La Kossa”

Jungle Fire, out of LA, play Afro beat and funk, clearly heavily inspired by the usual folks like Fela Kuti and James Brown. Nothing wrong with that! Anyway, this is from their 2017 album on Colemine records, and I really appreciate the drama of this. There’s a lot of Kool & the Gang that I hear, and that works for me.

Lee Alan, “Set Me Free”

Look, not every single Motown put out during their heyday was a slam dunk. But even the goofier ones are still short, at least.

Pyrrhon, “The Invisible Hand Holds A Whip”

Every three years, discordant death metal masters Pyrrhon fire off a new album, and every three years, it whips. I first encountered them with their second record, The Mother of Virtues, and have eagerly followed them since then. While they were dropped by Relapse records after that masterwork, they haven’t slowed down. I recognize totally that this stuff is repellant and bizarre, but it’s compelling in ways I don’t totally understand.

Green Day, “Basket Case”

I know they became clownish and bad, and that continuing to like them is evidence of creeping Boomerism, but I don’t care, this album rules and this song rules.

Yves Tumor, “Romanticist”

I had my annual tour through the year end album lists a month or so ago, and this Yves Tumor album was one of the big winners. It’s very good! I’m not sure what I was expecting from a band named Yves Tumor, but I don’t think it was this. Among other things, Yves Tumor isn’t a band, it’s a person. Anyway, excellent album.

clipping., “Nothing Is Safe”

There was probably a time in my life when I would have regarded clipping. askance. I’ve long been OK with noise in my music, having picked up an affection for industrial as a teenager that continued forward with noise rock, various gnarly forms of punk, etc. And, of course, hip hop has been a staple of my listening for even longer. But for a long time, I thought I didn’t like pretension in music. It led me to avoiding things like prog rock, various forms of art rock, all kind of ambitious music for a long time. Or, at least, things that were ambitious in particular ways that set me off.