Stax/Volt

Today!

Mono Men, “Don’t Know Yet”

Garage rock revivalists Mono Men, from Bellingham, WA, were dedicated to the proposition that back-to-basics rock was all anybody really needed. They were sufficiently dedicated to the idea that not only did they put out a ton of albums on their own, but they formed Estrus Records to put out records by like-minded bands (like The Mortals). In one of the bummers of indie rock, the building where they kept the masters for all of the Estrus records releases burned down, although I suppose that matters less in the digital age than it might have in previous eras.

All frequent fliers today!

Public Enemy, “Lost In Space Music”

This comes from Man Plans God Laughs, which is deep into the long run of somehwat undifferentiated albums that Public Enemy has been making for years and years now. They’ve lasted long enough and produced enough records that they have way more non-peak albums than they do peak albums. Which is kind of a bummer. It’s also hard for me to fairly evaluate most of these these records. They’re competing with such indelible memories.

Today!

BIG|BRAVE, “Look At How The World Has Made A Change”

Au De La, the album by BIG|BRAVE that we’re listening to, is an odd beast. Mostly drone, kind of post-rock, sort of metal-y, it’s atmospheric and pounding and pretty different from most stuff out there. It’s not the kind of thing I always want to listen to, but it’s good stuff at times.

Claw Hammer, “The Spawning Of A New Error”

We’re discussed how Claw Hammer made their first album a full-length cover of Devo’s first album. Well, this is the first track on that album, before they launched into the thing. It kind of describes the idea. Oh, and they called it Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are NOT Devo!.

Today’s music.

DJ Food, “Cookin'”

A collaboration between Coldcut (who we haven’t had yet) and a couple other guys, DJ Food sits between electronic music and abstract hip-hop. They’ve put out a bunch of records, and as befits the guys behind Coldcut, the ones I’ve listened to are good quality. I think I prefer the main act, but they’re still worth a go.

The Stingers, “Do The Cissy”

Kinda feel like this song name has aged oddly.

Some titans today.

Crazy Baldhead, “Funky Drummer”

A repeat! No regrets! Bring on the juice!

Rob Swift, “Hip Hop On Wax”

A member of the X-Ecutioners, Rob Swift is a turntablist from New York who has had a long solo career as well. Always rooted in the traditions of hip-hop, his records feature his pyrotechnic scratching, which is worth seeking out just on its own. The overall quality of his albums often tends to be driven by the quality of the guests he’s working with, with this being an example of one of his better tracks. If you like the sound of this, try out one of his early albums (this is from Sound Event).

I don’t have a lot to say today.

Man Or Astro-Man?, “Lo Batt”

Man Or Astro-Man? made (mostly) instrumental rock, in sort of a surf rock vein, but with this kind of retro-future 50’s thing going on. Their records were pretty similar and uniformly good, so you can just start with one at random and it’ll work out fine. This is from Made From Technetium, for the record.

The Drapels, “Wondering (When My Love Is Coming Home)”

I think the bit where soul artists would name a song something short and pithy and then whack on some big ol’ parenthetical to the name is adorable. More bands should do that.

Today!

Jurassic 5, “Sum Of Us”

I wish I could bottle the first verse of this song, just so I could always have it handy when I need it. Just, absolutely nailed.

Isaac Hayes & David Porter, “Ain’t That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)”

Here we have Isaac Hayes really sounding a lot like what I think people think of when they think “Isaac Hayes”. Well, OK, most people probably think of “Theme From Shaft”. But beyond that, the song in their head probably sounds like this. This is from pretty late in the Stax run, from the early 70s.

If I wanted to point to a “lol random!” kind of playlist, today might be the day.

Minutemen, “Tension”

This song, from The Punch Line, really shows off what made the Minutemen so great. Listen to that rhythm section! Listen to D Boon hanging back on guitar until he can come in for maximum effect! And it’s only 1:20! That this is from their debut album makes it all the more impressive.

This was so close to being great today.

Sam & Dave, “I Thank You”

I was wondering when we’d get Sam & Dave, one of the top acts from Stax and reliable hitmakers for the label. The drought is over! This comes to us from 1968, an Isaac Hayes song, and goddamn, listen to that.

Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, “Heat Wave”

Hell yes, shuffle, keep it going!

For a long time, I’ve always thought that at some point, the rats in one of the Muppet movies sang a little bit of this song. Well, my memory was only a little right, the scene had just a little echo of this song.

Here’s today.

Temprees, “Dedicated To The One I Love”

Old Stax track here, from the mid-point of their Atlantic years.

Atmosphere, “She Don’t Know Why She Love It”

This is a bonus track from the deluxe version of Southsiders, which is probably my second favorite Atmosphere album (after Seven’s Travels). There are some missteps in Atmosphere’s discography, with the records between those two being pretty uneven, but those are excellent.