Seaweed

Seaweed, “Punchy (The Clown)”

Not much to say about the song, but I do think it’s funny that Hollywood Records (a Disney label!) had Seaweed signed at one point.

DJ Vadim, “Your Revolution”

Damn, that drum resonating in this beat, that’s delicious.

Teengenerate, “Stink”

Perfect name for a band like this, perfect song title, no notes. Looks like a short one today!

No Use For A Name, “Exit”

Oh god, nine minutes. Nothing on Fat Wreck Chords should last nine minutes, unless it’s an entire release. I don’t remember if this is one of those CD things where they merged two songs together, with some silence in-between, to create a hidden track. Often a cover. Let’s find out together!

Curtis Mayfield, “Move on Up”

Curtis Mayfield was the leader of the Impressions, but when he went solo, he found another gear. This is the centerpiece of his first solo record, and it’s just incredible stuff. The urgency of the percussion, the punchy horns, just everything about this is a joy. This entire record is one of the greatest soul records ever made, and it along with Mayfield’s other early 70s records set a benchmark for other soul artists to try for.

Clinic, “Voodoo Wop”

Imagine having the confidence to open an album this way. A distant, chilly vibe, acutal ocean noises, a complete change a minute in in both mood and sound, no vocals until the last five seconds. Just bonkers. It was a true declaration of intent, though, as the whole album basically fulfilled the promise of this opening track.

Cursive, “Driftwood: A Fairy Tale”

One of the fun things about The Ugly Organ, if “fun” is the right word, is that they made great use of the cello in order to really fill out the sounds on the record. Tim Kasher’s songs are very good, as always, and the album is one of my favorites of theirs.

Dām-Funk, “Floating On Air”

One-man band Dām-Funk does a nice job of collaborating with a wide range of interesting folks, often to fine results. This cut is the first peak on Floating on Air, featuring Flea and somebody called Computer Jay. It wanders around a little bit, but I’m totally fine with that in my electro-funk.

Calexico, “Victor Jara’s Hands”

2008’s Carried To Dust was a return back to the sounds of their best album, Feast of Wire. (As an aside, it was super gratifying when the band themselves agreed with my opinion, proving that Five Songs is never wrong.) It’s actually super admirable that Calexico will try out different styles on their records, but I’m also not sorry to get a second helping of that super lush, dusty beauty either. As always, Calexico kind of sounds like they’re making a soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist.

Great stuff!

They Might Be Giants, “What Is A Shooting Star?”

You know, now that I’m doing this on a platform with a functional tagging system, I could have just tagged each of these entries with each band, and then I wouldn’t need the index. But we wouldn’t have the “previouslys” either, and I kind of like them? But this is also a hassle to maintain this. And, well, I don’t know if I want to convert everything over.

Today’s music.

La Luz, “I’ll Be True”

Seattle band that plays a combination of 60’s pop, surf, and a bit of garage rock. Everything is super reverbed out, is what I’m saying. It’s a lot of fun! I like the second album, Weirdo Shrine, the best of the two studio records.

Seaweed, “Turnout”

Another local band! Seaweed were out of Tacoma, WA, and were active on Sub Pop during the grunge explosion. Despite that, they were always more of a punk band than a grunge band, and consequently kind of got lost in the shuffle. The middle couple albums, Weak and Four, were excellent, and are worth digging up to try out.