The Pixies

Today!

Ashanti Afrika Jah, “Onyame”

One of the tremendous things about today’s music scene is that we have so many quality reissue labels that are looking through the past and finding great stuff to bring back to light. This comes from the Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump compilation which is just a delight to listen to all the way through.

De La Soul, “Church”

De La Soul seemed pretty done after the second Art Official Intelligence record came out. However, The Grind Date turned out to be an excellent record, proving they still had plenty left in the tank. First Serve was also good (although, technically, it was only two-thirds of De La Soul), so they ended up having a bit of a late career renaissance.

Today!

Mu330, “Around You”

There’s sort of a darker edge to this song, with the horns especially, which is fairly unusual among the third-wave bands that were Mu330’s peers. Of course, this isn’t ska, this is rock with horns.

Beck, “Strange Apparition”

Mostly, I look goofy, funky Beck more than the other versions of Beck, so I’m more drawn to those albums where he lets that side loose. The Information is the followup to Guero (which is one of the ones I like), so I was clearly hoping for more of the same. And, it’s not really the same. It’s not as loose, as spontaneous. But, you know, some of it works. Listen to how beautiful the production on this song is!

Some titans of the rock underground today! I really like this set a lot. Shame it didn’t go one more song, Einstürzende Neubauten popped up next with “Vanadium-I-Ching”, which would have been a fun addition to the list. Oh well, can’t go changing the rules any time I like!

Pixies, “Alec Eiffel”

Here, we’re getting a track from the last pre-breakup Pixies album, Trompe Le Monde. At the time, I was pretty disappointed in Bossanova, for whatever reason, but really liked this one. At this remove, it’s not clear what my beef was with Bossanova and it’s pretty similar to Trompe. While both records are off from the peak of their first records, they’re still both excellent and well worth having.

Tons of new releases that I picked up this week!

• Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Luciferian Towers
• METZ, Strange Peace
• The Du-Rites, Greasy Listening
• Wolves in the Throne Room, Thrice Woven
• Moses Sumney, Aromanticism

I think that’s it? Sometimes I get confused about what releases when, because I pre-order things when I hear about them. I haven’t had a chance to listen to them all yet, but that Du-Rites record is tight, and the Moses Sumney record is fantastic. Meanwhile, it’s all rock of various stripes today.

Some legendary names today.

Pixies, “Nimrod’s Son”

From their very first moment, the Pixies were already themselves. This song, from their debut EP Come on Pilgrim, already shows all the elements that people would come to love. What’s even more impressive was that this was just from a demo they recorded themselves. They sent the demo to 4AD, and 4AD turned around and released it. This EP used to be sold on the same CD as Surfer Rosa, making that one of the best single discs in my entire collection.

When I started doing this, my only real hope was to find and remember some great music from the dusty corners of my own collection, and maybe help somebody else discover a new favorite. Well, mission accomplished on the second point! Feels pretty good. Here’s today’s stuff, maybe you’ll find a new favorite too?

The Blue Meanies, “Camaro Man”

You know what would make ska punk better? A bar band vibe! At least, that’s the conclusion the Blue Meanies reached before recording this song. Also, note that there’s so very little ska left in this track that coming into it cold, you’d never guess that this is ostensibly a ska punk band. I’m moving on.