Ozomatli

Bathory, “Song To Hall Up High”

Black metal pioneer Bathory (which was pretty much just Quorthon) pivoted away from the pure black metal of their earlier albums towards Viking metal, more or less establishing that genre too. Hammerheart is one of the key albums of that genre, and if you wanted more bombast in your black metal, Bathory can help you out.

Nine Inch Nails, “Gave Up”

After Pretty Hate Machine, there wasn’t any new music from NiN for several years, due to label disputes. When the dry spell lifted, it brought a six-song EP (not counting the two bonus tracks that weren’t really connected) of fury. Broken sounded to my ears like a totally new direction for the band, which was actually OK with me, as I had really moved away from industrial dance. It really was a preview of what The Downward Spiral was, and is just an excellent set of tunes.

Well, not our best list from recent days.

They Might Be Giants, “They Got Lost”

Another cut from Long Tall Weekend, this is kind of a fun song, although I like the live version on Severe Tire Damage a lot more. You know you listen to a band too much when you have favorite renditions of songs.

Ozomatli, “Balloon Fest”

Ozomatli made a kids’ album. I bought it, because I was curious. Um, that’s about all I have to say.

Hey, the AV Club’s “The Year In Band Names” is out! Oh, and we have music for today.

Two Fingers, “High Life”

Side project of Five Songs favorite Amon Tobin, Two Fingers is a collaboration with another producer named Doubleclick, along with some assorted MCs. In particular, Sway appears on most of the tracks here, including this one. And, damn, but it all works great. Stuttery and spastic in all the right ways, with some fun vocal work, this is a very entertaining album.