The Isley Brothers

Pile, “touched by comfort”

Quite a lovely build-up on this one. The urgency that PILE bring to this song, the climax they build towards, doesn’t at all pay off on the album, which lurches into a quiet instrumental that they call “fuck the police”. But it’s a good run-up for all that.

The Isley Brothers, “I Turned You On”

I’d say that this is an amazing period for the Isleys, but that’s honestly kind of silly to call out. Their career is made out of amazing periods. But, anyway, the late 60s albums, and especially the 1969 albums, are savage. The groove on this is absolutely vicious, just try and listen without at a minimum nodding your head.

Elvis Costello & the Attractions, “New Amsterdam”

Costello was in the middle of his 10/10 run of albums (ignoring the covers record), with Get Happy!! being maybe the most distinctive of the lot. It’s not my favorite (that’s probably This Year’s Model followed by Imperial Bedroom), but the soul focus of the record means that it stands out a bit more from the rest of the group. Although Imperial Bedroom is also pretty distinctive, with the lush, orchestrated songs. I’m really not strengthening my point here. Anyway, good record.

High on Fire, “Spewn From the Earth”

Matt Pike had a big 2018. In addition to Sleep emerging from a fifteen year, uh, slumber to produce the very good The Sciences, he also put out a High on Fire record, Electric Messiah. High on Fire is one of the more consistent bands around, and so it is with this record: you’re going to get a Lemmy-esque bark, you’re going to get those big stoner riffs, and you’re going to get some solos. Just a crunchy good time.

And now, happy birthday to me! This concludes birthday week here at Five Songs.

Seam, “Sweet Pea”

I think this 1993 EP, Kernel, is actually my favorite Seam release, pound-for-pound. I’m not really sure why that is, exactly. It’s not necessarily super differentiated from their other stuff. I just think the songs on here work really well for me. Pump it loud!

Silkworm, “Written on the Wind”

We’re still in Josh’s College Years here, my friends. It’s a cut from my favorite Silkworm album, although it’s tough to pick just one record. What I really like about Libertine in particular is that many of the songs have a tons of space in them to let Michael Dahlquist and Tim Midgett do their thing. Just a lovely record.

Crudbump, “Bite That Butt”

What can you say in the presence of true art?

Screeching Weasel, “Hey Suburbia”

I spend a fair bit of time kind of complaining about Screeching Weasel, and that’s probably a little unfair. This is from their second record, Boogadaboogadaboogada!, and it’s a lot of fun. Yes, very basic punk, but plenty of energy and it gets in and out.

The Isley Brothers, “Tell Me When You Need It Again, Parts 1 & 2”

An oddity of Go For Your Guns is that the first four tracks are all two-part songs. I’m not entirely sure why that was - formatting things for easier radio play, perhaps? We don’t have to worry about that, so we can just let the funk linger in our ears. Isn’t that nice?

STS, “All I Wanted Was A Caddy”

I’ve sung the praises of this record, but the STS and RJD2 colab from 2015 is such a gas. RJD2 is in great form, and STS is able to really bring it home on that platform. A really delightful record.

Sharon Jones, “Got a Thing On My Mind”

Hell yeah!

Lambchop, “The Daily Growl”

Lambchop’s Nixon was something of a breakthrough, gaining a lot of press attention and elevating the profile of the band. Their arrangements had been getting more and more elaborate, and Nixon is pretty busy (as Lambchop goes). So the question was, on their followup, would they keep going in that direction? No, as it turns out. Is A Woman is something of a retrenchment. The songs are pretty languid, and it’s clear at this point that Lambchop was going to just blaze their own path through music, being impossible to categorize but recognizable as just being themselves. From this album forward, Lambchop albums pretty much just always sound like Lambchop albums, and not a whole lot else.

Television, “Venus”

Television’s Marquee Moon is a landmark album for good reason. It’s a key album in establishing post-punk, with its sophisticated winding guitars and complex songs. But anybody who describes Television always makes it sound so much more clinical and cerebral than it really is. The experience of listening to the record is really just so pleasant.

craft, “The Cosmic Sphere Falls”

craft is a black metal band from Sweden that has been around for ages, putting out an album every five years or so. This is their most recent one, which I picked up for some reason, and it didn’t stick with me at all.

SNFU, “Reality Is A Ride On The Bus”

SNFU’s 1993 album, Something Green and Leafy This Way Comes, came out on Epitaph and marked a turn more towards pop punk as opposed to their earlier hardcore. And, honestly, it doesn’t suit them. This song, for instance, is really only good when it’s galloping.

Squarepusher, “Tomorrow World”

Having taken drum and bass to the pinnacle with Hard Normal Daddy, Squarepusher decided to head straight into jazz fusion with Music Is Rotted One Note. It’s a brilliant record, and a serious break with his past. On his next record, Selection Sixteen, he charted a middle course between the two previous albums, featuring some of the fusion as well as some of the drum and bass, albeit in a little less frantic form. It’s a tweener record - good, but not as good as his more focused albums.

Godflesh, “Pure”

Godflesh were pioneers in heavy music, bringing together the guitars of extreme metal with the rhythms of industrial, inspiring bands on both sides of the fence. Streetcleaner is considered a classic, and after an interim EP, they returned with Pure, after some changes in personnel. The drum machine and sampling was even more forward than in the previous album, and the results aren’t really as strong. It’s something of a transitional record, where you can see the seams between the industrial and metal, rather than merging together as a whole.

Five Songs is back from the holidays! I’m going to try and keep to a more regular posting schedule around here, rather than the very erratic one from the last several months. It would be nice to get three or four a week at a minimum, anyway. Let’s hear what we get for the first one of 2019!

Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off”

I’m sure I’ve posted this sentiment multiple times, but I’ll suggest it again: this might be the biggest hit we’ve had on here (a mere 2.7 billion views on YouTube!). I trust I don’t need to really introduce this song. But this is what an infectious pop song should sound like, and it’s delightful.