Thou released two covers collections in 2020, with Blessings of the Highest Order being all Nirvana covers, and A Primer of Holy Words being miscellaneous tracks from other artists. This, of course, is the Shellac tune, a feel-good ditty from 1000 Hurts. Pretty much everything Thou does is worthwhile, so I recommend this album.
Is frat-boy funk a genre? Seems like it should be.
[Read More]I wonder if Dave (this rapper, who is from the UK and is excellent) is frustrated by Dave, the guy from the TV show?
The most recent album from Afro-beat/soul/funk band Ikebe Shakedown, who differentiate themselves from some of their peers with a bit more of a cinematic approach to these things, driven mostly by the horns. By this point, four albums in, their approach is very refined.
[Read More]I sincerely wish that Rancid made more songs like this. It’s just such fun! Who is against this? Other than Rancid, I mean.
Have we had a lot of Mudhoney recently? It seems like we have. I’m not going to check, though, that would be against the Mudhoney Creed. Which I just made up.
Anyway, not going to analyze this one too deep, this is just a pure ripper in the classic Mudhoney mode. I’ll shut up and you enjoy it.
[Read More]As an unabashed Operation Ivy guy, I was always a little disappointed with Rancid. They always just seemed a little more dour, a little less tuneful, and a little less fun. That said, the album of Rancid’s that I like enough to listen to pretty often is …And Out Come The Wolves. Just listened to it earlier today, actually!
This song is from The Meat Of Life, which I think is the better of the two albums from the second incarnation of Clem Snide (the other being Hungry Bird). It’s a warm, comfortable album, with the usual sweet (and subtly dark) songs from Eef Barzelay. It’s not the album to start with, but it’s a solid record.
[Read More]From what I can tell, 2004’s The Pretty Toney Album didn’t seem to go over that well with critics. Perhaps because it’s an album where Ghostface started really pulling away from the Wu-Tang Clan. However, I think it’s really good - Ghost seems to be pretty loose, and while the album is sloppy in parts, it’s nevertheless really fun. After the relatively dreary Bulletproof Wallets, it was a relief for him to get back on track.
[Read More]Something special for today! Our first Reader/Listener Q&A! All of the questions here are actual questions from reader/listeners of Five Songs! Let’s get started!
Q:
OK, that was great! If you’ve got a question for me, eh, that seems unlikely. Here’s some music, though.
This is one of the most irritating albums (Decks, EFX & 909) in my collection. Not because of the music, mind you - it’s techno, sometimes pretty minimal, mixing together a whole bunch of stuff. No, because of the tags on the songs. Because this is kind of a compilation (and kind of not), the tags on the songs on the album are credited to something like 20 different artists, instead of just Richie Hawtin. In particular, the featured artist on a track is listed as the primary artist. It’s really annoying, and because of how Amazon handles it, means I essentially cannot listen to this album in one go.
[Read More]Driving on through Sunday! Even though I’m actually writing this on Friday! Time is confusing! Music is forever!
We haven’t hit Neubauten proper yet, although we did encounter Alexandre Hacke with his work with The Unsemble. Einstürzende Neubauten (literally, “collapsing new buildings”) is sort of the prototypical industrial band, as opposed to industrial dance. They make use of noise, atypical percussion, and the sounds of industry to make challenging music. Early in their career, it was about noise and chaos. Towards their mid-period, there was a steer towards more recognizable rhythms and even, yes, some danceable stuff. Later on, things moved more towards ambient compositions. Always, though, their music and art has had an edge, and they’ve always been one of the most interesting bands working. They even did crowdfunding way before the crowd did, way back in 2002.
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