Sleater-Kinney

The Mighty Mocambos, “The Spell of Ra-Orkon”

Well, isn’t that just a party? Those horns, baby. And the bari sax solo!

Sleater-Kinney, “All Hands on the Bad One”

A thing I just noticed: I own four Sleater-Kinney records, and it’s the four Kill Rock Stars ones. Is that because of some label affinity or something? I think it’s a coincidence, but if I were more of a bullshitter, I’d spin some yarn here about that label giving them the right support and freedom to be at their best. But, no, it’s just dumb luck. OR IS IT

Mac DeMarco, “The Way You’d Love Her”

Like a lot of people, I first encountered DeMarco with Salad Days, which is a charming, reverb-soaked album full of ringing guitar tone and low-key songs. It’s really enjoyable in the right mood, but I have to say that for me, the rewards declined pretty quickly. It’s not that Another One is bad or anything, all the charms of the other album are present. It’s just that I don’t really listen to it much, it’s sort of redundant for me.

Devin the Dude, “Do What You Wanna Do”

You’re never going to guess what this song is about! (It’s weed.)

The Pixies, “All the Saints”

23 years passed between Trompe Le Monde and Indie Candy, time where Frank Black spent a lot of time making records with a whole lot of people that weren’t the Pixies. But by the time he got around to making records with them again, it was only a partial reunion. Kim Deal didn’t return to the band, and as much as I like Santiago and Lovering, the first record really sounded like yet another Frank Black project and not the Pixies.

Wolves in the Throne Room, “Ahrimanic Trance”

Wolves in the Throne Room are one of the biggest bands in black metal, by showing a path that could take the aesthetics of the music but apply a different frame. They merge an ecological consciousness and an atmospheric approach at times that is not just pure fury. It’s hacky to say that their music evokes the distant, misty forests of the Pacific Northwest, so I definitely will not do that.

Joe & Barbara, “You’re Astounding”

This comes from very late in the Stax run, from 1975, just before the label’s bankruptcy brought things to a close.

Aceyalone, “Five Feet”

Aceyalone was one of the founders of the Freestyle Fellowship, which we just had the other day. He went solo and had a string of albums ranging from solid to excellent. This comes from his 2001 album Accepted Electric, which is probably my favorite solo album of his.

Goin’ with a theme today!

Sleater-Kinney, “Buy Her Candy”

Now, seriously, what’s the point of a Sleater-Kinney song without Janet Weiss?

Andrew Bird & His Bowl of Fire, “Candy Shop”

Very early material from Andrew Bird, when he was still recording with a band credited as His Bowl of Fire. This version lasted for three albums, with the first two albums staying pretty close to a hot jazz formula like you hear on this track. The third album found the band adding some more rock influence, to great effect, leaving the first couple albums as just sort of a fun dead-end. He does have many of his strengths on display here, though, especially his great vocal delivery, the maserful violin, and the dynamic songwriting.

Well, it’s been an interesting seven months, I guess. I stopped updating Five Random Songs because I was doing another blog (Game & Tonic) and that was taking up my time. And then, uh, a global pandemic hit (you may have heard about it!), and my creativity just went to shit.

So, yeah. Without any fanfare, I’m back. I wanted to listen to more of my music, simple as that.

Good set today.

Modest Mouse, “Autumn Beds”

From a later EP from the band, No One’s First, And You’re Next, these are songs that were largely left off of Good News For People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. If you’re looking for more songs that would have fit into those albums, this EP is worth looking into.

Sleater-Kinney, “Oh!”

Another good song from Sleater-Kinney which I will undoubtedly totally forget the tune for after the song has finished.

Just missed “Scentless Apprentice” by Nirvana. I guess we’ll have to wait for another day for my indisputable Nirvana album rankings. Alas. Well, here’s today’s music, anyway.

Sleater-Kinney, “All Hands on the Bad One”

Sleater-Kinney is a little bit of a strange one. I always enjoy them thoroughly while they’re playing, and then everything disappears from my brain afterwards. Sitting here, I can’t really call up the tune for any of their songs, despite having listened to them a lot. I like them! I’ve listened to them a bunch! And yet, they’re still invisible inside of my brain. Strange.