Pinback

Pinback, “How We Breathe”

Well, that’s very pretty.

Here Lies Man, “Collector of Vanities”

A side project of Antibalas folks, Here Lies Man plays a meld of Afrobeat and psychedelic rock, often to pretty solid effect. This is from their latest, Ritual Divination, which pushes a little more towards the rock end of things, so depending on your preferences it’s either the place to start or the place to end up.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, “Cowboy Coffee”

The Bosstones’ second album, More Noise and Other Disturbances, is really where the band hit their stride. The ska and punk were really in balance on this album, with plenty of both livening things up.

The Game, “Intro to the Documentary”

Yup, that’s an intro.

Two Inch Astronaut, “At Risk Student”

Last time they came up, I thought to myself: dang, this is a good song. And I’m pleased to say that I picked up another record from them in the interim, including this song. Still good! Put one in the win column for Five Songs!

Ministry, “Just One Fix”

Psalm 69 represents the last time Ministry was fun and not just a repetitive mess. “Jesus Built My Hotrod” is the highlight, but the album is chock full of similarly punishing industrial metal. I think the way to approach Ministry is to probably start with this album and then work your way backwards until it stops appealing, and just pretend that this is their last album.