Squarepusher

Here is today’s music. Some real ugliness, in the cover art of the first album and the lyrics of the last one.

Unsane, “Organ Donor”

I could have sworn we had hit Unsane before, but the theoretically infallible Five Songs Index says otherwise, so here we are. Unsane were a noise rock trio from New York, part of the same general underground as bands like Helmet, Cop Shoot Cop, and others. I was huge into that entire scene, and really liked Unsane a lot. That, however, wasn’t really what they were known for with most people. No, what they were known for was the cover art on their debut album, depicting a decapitated person on subway tracks. They would continue with the violent album covers, covers which set the mood for the dark music within. And that dark tone affected the band as well, with their original drummer dying of a heroin overdose.

Here’s today’s music.

Bola Johnson & His Easy Life Top Beats, “Ezuku Buzo”

This song comes to us courtesy of the compilation Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump, an exploration into the funk and afrobeat coming out of Nigeria. I don’t really know that much about the scene, but this compilation is excellent.

Mule, “Mississippi Breaks”

Midwestern band Mule were veterans of several previous bands, and came together to play something that sounds something like Midwest punk combined with Southern rock. I like most of the music on this album, but never really got along that well with the vocals, so I never really listened to it all that much. Oh, and looking at this record, the second song is called “What Every White Nigger Knows”, so, yeah. Didn’t remember that.

Pretty angry set of songs today, mostly.

Ice Cube, “I Wanna Kill Sam”

Here, we have Ice Cube from one of his peak albums, in full-on fury at the state of America. I love the break in the middle of the song. At any rate, when Ice Cube was at the top of his form, there wasn’t anybody better.

Jesus Jones, “Your Crusade”

There was a brief boomlet in “Madchester” music, centered around the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, which combined alternative rock with dance music, giving an interesting hybrid. Technically, being from London instead of Manchester, Jesus Jones weren’t actually part of that scene, but spiritually, they were. Doubt, their second album, was a massive hit, thanks to “Right Here, Right Now”. Their followup record, Perverse, is impressive in one way: they could have basically made a carbon copy of their huge breakthrough album, but they chose instead to make some big changes to their style. In particular, they pushed the electronic stuff to the fore, rather than leaning more in the rock direction.

Let’s get started! I assume everybody has read the intro, because I posted it right below, but briefly: I’m going to listen to the five random songs from my collection, link them as best I can, and write about whatever comes to mind while I’m listening. You can listen to a playlist of the songs on YouTube.

Kid Koala, “Page 165: The Date”

Aaaand we’re off to an inauspicious start. This is a little atmospheric piece, which is an accompaniment to a graphic novel, Nufonia Must Die. He’s a turntablist and electronic artist, mostly, and towards the playful end of the spectrum. There’s not much to talk about with this song withouth the graphics, so instead, I’ll just talk about how Kid Koala is one of these infuriating people who is a talented artist in multiple media. In lieu of linking to this song, which doesn’t make any sense, I’ll instead just bring your attention to another of his songs, “Nerdball”, from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: