Phoenix

I wonder where the bursts of creativity comes from for me. There are times that I can make progress on writing here, move a programming project along, contemplate starting a new project, and even get a game moving ahead. And there are times where I do none of that. It’s unclear exactly what it is. Some of it is times of stress (or freedom from stress), of course. But work isn’t noticeably different now than it was six months ago, say. So, who knows?

Death From Above 1979, “Black History Month (Josh Homme remix)”

After the explosive success of You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine, a remix record was hustled out the door. I didn’t realize it was a remix record, I just saw it in Sonic Boom here in Seattle and thought “neat, a new DFA record!” Friends, it wasn’t a new record, not really, and is as pointless as any other remix record.

Touché Amoré, “Just Exist”

I sometimes find screamo to be a little bit tiring. Musically, it’s my jam, but the vocals wear me out sometimes. This seems like a stupid thing for someone who listens to as much metal with vocals that sounds like someone caught something important in a home appliance. But I am very stupid, so here we are.

Luscious Jackson, “LP Retreat”

You know, if Luscious Jackson had made this record another fifteen years later, I’ll bet they would have found a much bigger audience. It sounds pretty ahead of its time, and I’m not sure people in 1994 really knew what to make of it.

Dire Omen, “Malkuth”

I’m not entirely sure where this came from. Discogs says it was a 2018 release, and by then, I’ve been buying virtually all of my music on Bandcamp. But Bandcamp says I don’t own this. So, I dunno? Let’s listen together…pretty murky. Doesn’t particularly grab me. Oh well!

Courtney Barnett, “City Looks Pretty”

Everybody loved Barnett’s first album, your humble host included. Her proper followup, Tell Me How You Really Feel, doesn’t have quite the impact as the first one. It’s certainly still good, but it doesn’t have the same kind of outsider edge as the first album.

Phoenix, “Long Distance Call”

The alchemy on this song of the durms and that slow bleat on the keyboard is kind of magical. This entire album is chock full of fun pop rock.

Ruder Than You, “Misskaculation”

Does it get cornier than this? It does, once I tell you that this album is called Horny For Ska.

Little Otis, “Baby I Need You”

Early Motown here, from 1962. Pretty by-the-numbers, but pleasant enough. This was actually the B-side, so it makes sense that it’s not totally a barn burner.

Today!

J Church, “Bomb”

Camels, Spilled Corona, and the Sound of Mariachi Bands is a great name for an album, in this case the first of multiple singles comps that J Church put together. As befits a band as prolific as they were, J Church was constantly putting out songs on 7"s, random comps, splits, and other places. They had the good grace to collect that stuff together periodically, and the comps are really basically on a par with their normal albums.