The Delgados

I’ve got bad news folks. You’re stuck with me again. Sad times! If anybody out there wants to have a whack at this thing, I guess just let me know.

Floor, “Downed Star”

This song, with the distant, buried vocals and deliberately thin drums, sounds a lot like an old Crystalized Movements track, which is something nobody else is going to care about. But I think it’s neat! And if you like this, hit up that link and see if you like their stuff.

The Delgados, “If This Is A Plan”

There are times when I kinda run out of things to say about a band. That’s not even interesting things, mind you, just things in general. I suppose I could just straight repeat myself, but the tags would betray that, if anybody cares. Besides, I’m sure I’m unintentionally repeating myself plenty as it is. I’ve written nearly a thousand of these articles, so nearly five thousand little stories. I haven’t had five thousand distinct things happen to me in my life!

Intronaut, “The Pleasant Surprise”

I’ve engaged in a fair bit of introspection around progressive metal around here. I suspect it’s because the music is sufficiently ambitious that it invites us to engage with it seriously and think about it. Today, instead, I’m going to take a step back and try and instead answer a different, much more visceral question with regard to this song, instead of the usual navel gazing: does it rock? Reader: this song rocks.

Future of the Left, “the male gaze”

This is a pretty straightforward song from Future of the Left, perhaps to kind of match the subject of the song.

The Delgados, “Accused of Stealing”

There’s another band that this is really reminding me of, and I’m totally unable to put my finger on it. That sensation, of a band or song remaining just outside of your grasp, is one of the most frustrating things for my brain. Super painful, and I don’t know how I can clear this one out.

Voodoo Glow Skulls, “[Hidden Track]”

There are some things I miss from physical media. Browsing through music stores, looking at cover art, reading through booklets for liner notes and credits, all that stuff was fun. But it’s nice not having to shuffle around CDs, it’s nice not to have to lug stuff around when I want to listen to something different, and it’s really, really nice not to have to deal with stupid hidden tracks.

Took a little break there. No worries, we’re back in business!

Wiccans, “Pageantry”

I mentioned last time that Wiccans kind of sound like an old Amphetamine Reptile act, and they really do. This kind of sounds like maybe old Cows, or perhaps something like the Cosmic Psychos.

UFO Or Die, “Kendo Machine Smokin'”

Well, uh, that’s a thing, huh?

Botanist, “Gleditsia”

The closer to VI: Flora, this is the coda to an excellent album, but this song doesn’t have a lot to say.

Hot damn, some great songs today.

Sleep, “Some Grass”

Sleep is one of the titans of doom metal, as we’ve talked about in the context of High on Fire. But, alas, this is just a little throwaway on Sleep’s Holy Mountain, so we’ll have to wait for another day to really bear witness to the majesty of their good stuff.

The Delgados, “Witness”

The Delgados came out of the same Glasgow scene that birthed Belle & Sebastian and Arab Strap. And, like Belle & Sebastian, their take on pop evolved from something more folk oriented to something much more orchestrated. This comes from The Great Eastern, the peak of their discography, although they were always good.