Stax/Volt

Hey! I think everybody reading this probably knows that I also design games. My most recent game got a glowing review from Shut Up & Sit Down. Pretty neat! Oh, we have music, also.

Unwound, “All Souls Day”

I just kinda want to hug the drums from this song. And then the guitars kick in, and goddamn, you guys, this is what I want in my ears.

Matthew Sweet, “Sick Of Myself”

This is from 100% Fun, his second best album after the magnificent Girlfriend. As with that album, he’s breaking no new ground here at all, but it doesn’t matter when you have just a shamelessly huge pop song like this.

Songs over here.

Mudhoney, “Make It Now Again”

It takes a bit for this to turn into a classic Mudhoney song, but once it gets rolling, it’s aboslutely vintage. This is from that rarities collection March to Fuzz, which really is a lot of fun.

Rogue Wave, “Publish My Love”

Underground pop band Rogue Wave kind of sound like an amalgam of about a half-dozen other underground pop bands from the early 2000s. It’s certainly well done, but it never really got me excited. I mean, I only own two albums!

Hell yes.

Black Star, “Definition”

We’ve had Mos Def, we’ve had Talib Kweli, but now it’s time for their collaboration. Black Star loomed large over the later careers of both men, and for good reason: this is easily one of the greatest hip-hop records ever made. Off the top of my head, there are only a very small handful of records I’d put ahead of it. The spare, precise, jazz-inflected beats married perfectly with the impossibly deft rhyming from Mos and Kweli. This album is basically perfect.

Excellent set today.

Recloose, “Permutations”

There’s something called “Detroit techno” that I only kind of vaguely understand, beyond knowing that Detroit is a city, and techno is a type of electronic music. I mean, there’s a Wikipedia page for it and all, but what does that tell you? Not much. Anyway, Recloose supposedly fits into this genre, for whatever that’s worth. To my ears, this combination of relatively minimalist beat, video game bloops, and slowly building melody is great fun.

Some music for you!

Booker T. and the MGs, “Time Is Tight”

Always love it when Booker T. and the MGs show up. This is from early in volume 2 of the Stax compilations.

Melvins, “Magic Pig Detective”

Stoner Witch was one of the trio of albums that the Melvins made for Atlantic, as part of their most accessible period. So, of course, right smack in the middle of it is an abstract piece of pure noise leading off a track. Because Melvins. Anyway, Stoner Witch is magnificent, and I highly recommend it.

Hey, let’s do another roundup! This time, it’s an aggregation of different metal lists. Useful! And, of course, some music for today.

Pegboy, “Spaghetti Western”

Yup, more or less hit the wall on things to say about Pegboy. It’s still the usual melodic punk sound that is perfectly pleasant to listen to. That’s more dismissive than I intend it to be.

Sebadoh, “Mean Distance”

This comes from Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock, the first album from Sebadoh to be released on Sub Pop, as they made the leap from the minor leagues to…well, the bigger minor leagues. But Sub Pop in the early 90s was a pretty big deal, and it was news that the slacker kings of low fi were making their way to the home of grunge. This album is itself a compilation of sorts, with bits and pieces of previous releases collected into an incoherent record. But all Sebadoh records were incoherent, mostly due to the three different song writers and how they approched things. This song is itself a bit of a microcosm of that, as it’s credited to all three and goes bananas with a minute left in the track.

Another year-end roundup, this time from Heavy Blog. I love this time of year. And here’s today’s music.

Outkast, “Infatuation (Interlude)”

A skit from Idlewild, a shaggy album that has some highlights, but is a mess and is the worst of Outkast’s career.

Public Enemy, “Son Of A Bush”

Somehow, anti-George W. Bush songs sound quaint these days. And he was a deeply terrible president! This is a track from Revolverlution, another later album from a Hall of Fame rap group that is also a mess.

Six songs today! Repeats are your best value here at Five Songs Incorporated!

Nitzer Ebb, “Higher (Barry Adamson Mix)”

This is from an obscure EP called As Is, a little four song thing with a grab bag of tracks on it. It was put out to precede Ebbhead, which was to be their major label debut, and was supposed to get people hyped up. It’s not a bad little EP, you know, if you’re into Nitzer Ebb.

Today’s music. Sometimes, while I’m assembling the play list, the next song that pops up is something I desperately want to add. And yet I resist. Why do I do that? The rules on this thing are dumb.

Cretin, “Mister Frye, The Janitor Guy”

I don’t feel like I acknowledge great band names enough when they come up here, so for the record: Cretin is a great band name. Playing something between death metal and grindcore, Cretin are either going to get you banging your head and wrecking stuff at your desk, or are going to seriously try your patience for the next couple minutes.

Today’s music!

Eddie Floyd, “I’ve Never Found A Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)”

I get itchy when we go too long without a Stax track. This is one of Eddie Floyd’s biggest hits, later covered by Al Green on his magnificent Let’s Stay Together.

400 Blows, “A Man of Many Words”

There have been multiple bands called 400 Blows (all named after the Truffaut film, one presumes), but this is the noise rock one from California. This song comes from Black Rainbow, and is full of this kind of start/stop fun and yelling. Good times!