Negativland

Spawn of Possession, “Where Angels Go Demons Follow”

I dunno, the vocals on this track are really amusing me tonight. Something about the cadence here is extra ridiculous.

Negativland, “Cityman”

Negativland, in their roles as cultural and social critics, were usually on their strongest footing when they took aim at consumerism. They would always have such rich vocal samples to draw from, and their pointed sarcasm always landed well. And it’s not like it’s super easy to nail this target. Yes, consumer culture in America is a giant blimp, but criticism can come across a smug or facile here because it is such a easy path. Negativland succeed because they mix the absurd in, and they also let our consumer culture speak for itself. The most powerful criticism can be just a simple mirror.

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.

PJ Harvey, “My Beautiful Leah”

Is This Desire? is the album that really completed PJ Harvey’s transition from kickass rock artist to just plain ol’ kickass artist. Yeah, broadly, this is still a rock record, but she started doing so much more. The arrangements incorporate so much more beyond just stardard rock instrumentation, the songs range much wider, and the whole thing is so much more sophisticated. That’s not to say that the first couple records aren’t brilliant, they are, but this is just a different beast.

Alejandro Escovedo, “Chelsea Hotel ‘78”

Escovedo is one of those artists that has had a long recording career, and someone whose name I’d seen in a bunch of places, but I didn’t really know anything about him. I picked up what was, at the time, his latest record…and still don’t really know much about him. It’s good, but didn’t really grab me all that much either.

Wilco, “One and a Half Stars”

Ode to Joy is the latest Wilco album, from 2019. It comes after two solo Jeff Tweedy records, which I thought were better than the previous couple Wilco records. So, is it more like Warm (good) or Star Wars (bad)? More good than bad, I think? It’s not top-tier, but it’s a solid record.

Therapy?, “He’s Not That Kind Of Girl”

Therapy? were kind of an industrial metal band, kind of an alt-metal band, kinda punk at times, I guess, sorta grungy…I guess they were just kind of heavy, you know? They were often pretty sardonic, which again sort of aligns them towards industrial metal, like the Revolting Cocks or Ministry. I guess there’s some Butthole Surfers here too.

Well, whatever - this is from a singles collection released in 2000, pulling together the usual grab bag of stuff. It’s not bad, but also pretty unnecessary.

Negativland, “Announcement”

You know what? We’re trying it again today!

Keep of Kalessin, “Dark Divinity”

Better! WE DID IT, FOLKS

All You Can Eat, “Family Matters”

Long forgotten Bay Area punk band, they put out a couple albums in the early 90s and then disappeared. I’d characterize their sound as, uh, early 90s Bay Area punk. It’s fine, I listened to a ton of these bands at this time and a lot of them were pretty undifferentiated. This band included.

Less Than Jake, “Bridge and Tunnel Authority”

This was a companion piece for Anthem, one of the best Less Than Jake records. They took a bunch of unused material from that record, polished it up, and released it as an extra album. And, honestly, there’s not really that much drop off between the two albums. As another set of tunes from their strongest period, it’s a welcome addition to the library.

The Adjusters, “Armstrong”

The Adjusters were a ska/soul act out of Chicago, who managed a couple albums before the ska scene imploded, but hung around with a couple more albums with much more narrow distribution. They also wore their left politics on their sleeve, and brought a lot of genuine passion to things. This tune comes from their most effective album, Before The Revolution, where their eclectic influences came together well.

Japandroids, “The House That Heaven Built”

Everything about Celebration Rock is just unabashedly turned up to 11. It was impossible for me to not be absolutely charmed to death by it. It was deliberately written to be full of songs that would be massive played live, so the songs were kept simple and pumped just full of big moments. It’s not sophisticated, but it absolutely works.

Neurosis, “Grey”

Maybe the most incongruous record on Lookout Records, certainly the one I think of when I think of something standing out. After a pretty standard hardcore record on Alternative Tentacles, Neurosis put out this album that finds them really transitioning from that hardcore band into the progressive metal powerhouse that would help shape the metal world in the mid 90s. It’s something of a curiosity, but if you’re a big fan of the band and are wondering where you first see their potential, it’s on The Word As Law.

Negativland, “I Am God”

It’s always kind of a difficult thing to categorize Negativland as music. Usually, they’re more performance art who happens to use audio as their medium. There are exceptions in their catalog, though. Escape From Noise has plenty of things on it that you can characterize as songs, fractured as most of them are. Free, their full album that followed up the whole U2 imbroglio, is maybe the most musical thing they’ve ever put together. Which isn’t to say it’s full of toe-tapping tunes. But hey, this song has a beat, and you can dance to it! Not bad for an album which is mostly a meditation on free will and freedom in general.