The Black Light, the second Calexico album, is really where Calexico became Calexico. The dusty southwestern aesthetic reached full flower, with the rhythms and arrangements being incredibly evocative. I mean, I suppose this track explains it more than I could. They would eventually branch out more and more from this core sound, but never abandon it. But if this is why you love Calexico, this record and The Hot Rail should be at the top of your list.
[Read More]You know, there’s more than a little similarity between Uzeda and the Dog Faced Hermans. There’s no personnel connection between them, but there’s a shared space of a kind of arty noise rock. Excellent stuff.
No! Squirrel Bait, I just said nice things about you the other day. Don’t kick the cat!
When I worked at WRCT, there was shelf in the DJ booth with all the new releases that the program manager wanted us all to work into our shows. We were required to play a couple songs from that shelf each hour. You could choose whatever you wanted and there were always plenty of things across genres. To assist us with the task, every new release that came into the station was listened to by a member of the staff and we wrote up some quick notes on an index card to help DJs make good choices. A key thing to note on those cards was which songs were safe to play outside “safe harbor” - in other words, which ones didn’t have profanity.
[Read More]I’m of the opinion that the Pietasters really fell off hard after Oolooloo, driven among other things by Stephen Jackson’s vocals getting much more gruff and the band really starting to emphasize rock more and more. That said, there are still some fun tunes on their later records, such as this one from Awesome Mix Tape #6.
The Downward Spiral was a leap forward in complexity for Nine Inch Nails, as Trent Reznor really made use of a much broader set of tools. But I don’t think it’s his best record. I think that goes to The Fragile, the eventual follow-up that emerged as a double record and again makes another leap ahead. If nothing else, there’s more of it, and when the quality is this high, that matters. He wouldn’t ever quite hit these heights again, although there are plenty of excellent albums in the future.
[Read More]I spent a bunch of time with The Hunter last year, seeing if I could really get to the point of appreciating the record. It was a really big break with their previous two albums, and my initial reaction when it came out was that I didn’t care for new path. After that time spent, I can say that I still prefer the big prog-y compositions, but there’s a lot to like in this leaner album. It’s probably the right on-ramp to begin listening to Mastodon, truthfully.
[Read More]WOAH. Kinda blacked out there for a little bit. But we’re back! We’re using a new service! This time it’s all running on all our own shit so it should be solid! I’m only at the mercy of the software! And the device it’s running on! And my home network! And…hang on, I’ll come in again.
Aw, who cares? The rock stopped, and now it’s going again. I think I even have most of my own music back. Let’s do this! HIT IT, PLEXASAURUS REX!
[Read More]Some all-time greats today. And, I suppose, the Beatles.
I think Revolver is The Beatles’ best record. But can we talk about that cover? Terrible. And it won a Grammy for “Best Album Cover”, which is a thing they apparently hand out awards for! Apparently it wasn’t just the Beatles who were high all the time.
(NB: of course it’s impossible to find the original on YouTube. So, I picked Elliot Smith doing a cover.)
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