The Magnetic Fields

ALL, “Long Distance”

A thing you can say about ALL is how incredibly consistent the sound of the band was across records. The guitar, bass, and drums all sound exactly the same across every record. They had the sound they liked, and they stuck with it.

Girl Talk, “Let It Out”

I know random verses from a bunch of songs just due to their presence on All Day, which is always a little jarring when I hear the songs removed from this context. There’s always a disorienting moment of “why do I know this song?”

Mary Wells, “My Guy”

We’ve had this one before.

The Magnetic Fields, “I’m Sorry I Love You”

One of the more memorable tunes from 69 Love Songs, probably due to the vocals, but I do like the guitar part on it as well.

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, “Slave Moon”

Ah, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. Say it soft, and it’s almost like praying. Say it loud, and there’s stoner metal playing. Anyway, here’s ten minutes of fuzz, enjoy!

The Magnetic Fields, “The Way You Say Good-Night”

You know, the only Magnetic Fields record I’ve ever heard is this one. There are a lot more, and I have no idea if this record is an outlier in their sound or not. When they started making records, I wasn’t into this sort of music, and I just never looped back to check it out. I guess I’ll just keep the mystery alive. They could sound like Meshuggah or whatever on their other records, and I’ll never know.

The Magnetic Fields, “Meaningless”

Pretty sure this is a repeat!

The National, “Afraid of Everyone”

This is also a repeat!

(That’s a lie, I just don’t want to figure out anything to say about the National. Don’t want to make people mad!)

La Gritona, “Jack Passion”

La Gritona were a noise rock band out of Boston, active in the second half of the 90s, who put out one album and some EPs before ending things. And they smoke, all heavy skronk and yelling, exactly the kind of stuff that’s up my alley. But I had no idea they existed, because by the time their album came out in 1997, I was out of college and slowly losing touch with music. Luckily, their entire catalog was compiled together into a re-release in 2010, where a postiive review brought it to my attention. And maybe this will bring them to someone else’s attention, because this stuff rules.

μ‐Ziq, “Iesope”

I can remember bozos complaining about electronic music back in the early 90s, claiming that it wasn’t “real music” and that it doesn’t take any skill to play the instruments. And, of course, that doesn’t really deserve any refutation, but I think about it sometimes when I listen to stuff like this, and consider how careful the composition is. And that some knucklehead might dismiss it just because nobody chugged through any power chords on a guitar.

Jurassic 5, “Gotta Understand”

Feedback is one of the most disappointing albums I can remember buying. I adored the first couple LPs from J5, and then this album just kind of thudded to the ground. It seemed so leaden and joyless at the time that I just listened to it a few times and shelved it. Honestly, it’s due for a re-visit, and this track is pretty good. Maybe I’m just a dope?

Renegade Soundwave, “Murder Music”

I will always group Renegade Sounwave with Pop Will Eat Itself in my brain, and it’s almost impossible to separate them. But, if you’ve heard both bands, I think you can hear what I’m hearing. If you cannot, don’t tell me! I don’t care!

Silkworm, “Garden City Blues”

My library of bands I could compare people to back when I picked up this album in 1994 was fairly limited, and my big thought when I listened to this was “geez, Pavement much?” And, I suppose in my defense, this song still sounds pretty Pavement-y to my ears. That description sells Silkworm very short, of course, but when this was the first song on the record, I’m going to go ahead and let Young Josh off the hook.

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.

BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah, “Stark’s Reality”

This tune is very like David Axelrod, especially in the engineering of the recording and the strings. I would have loved to hear Ghostface actually rhyme on top of it.

Oranssi Pazuzu, “Uraanisula”

Looks like the first time we’ve had Oranssi Pazuzu around here - they’re a Finnish black metal band that plays around a lot more with psychedelic stuff than a lot of other bands. They can sometimes feel pretty spacey as a consequence, which can be fun, or maybe a little proggy. I guess you can just listen to this! There are many variations of people howling over guitars out there, folks.

The Magnetic Fields, “Two Kinds of People”

There are two kinds of people: those with the patience to pick through 69 Love Songs to find the good bits, and those who cannot be bothered.

The Skatalites, “Woman A Come”

The Skatalites didn’t often have a vocalist working with them, but pretty much every case I can think of, it’s delightful. This comes from the Foundation Ska collection, which is the best single spot to get on the Skatalites train. And everybody should be on that train.