The Sunshine Fix

Here’s today’s music.

The Apples In Stereo, “I. Her Room Is A Rainy Garden (Wallpaper Reverie Theme)”

The throwaway intro to Her Wallpaper Reverie.

The Wedding Present, “Cattle and Cane”

In 1992, the Wedding Present decided to release a single every month for the entire year. Normally, this kind of gimmick would indicate a band that was just trying to attract attention, but the Wedding Present in 1992 were at the peak of their powers, so these singles are all pretty great. They’re collected in Hit Parade 1 and Hit Parade 2, and both compilations are worth seeking out as companion pieces to their other albums from the early 90s.

Kind of a mess today.

Negativland, “Proud To Be An American (Lip-Sync)”

Yes, we’ve hit a new low here. This live track is mostly Negativland lip-syncing to this song, which of course, we can’t see. Five Songs International apologizes for the inconvenience.

Crystalized Movements, “Close Your Eyes”

And let’s follow that up with 9+ minutes of psychedelic guitar wankery. The biggest problem the Crystallized Movements always had was that their vocals were mixed weird, often far too high in the mix. Also, this album has some of the worst cover art ever inflicted on the record buying public.

Today’s music.

Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, “They Don’t Call Them Chihuahuas Anymore”

I want to call to attention how immaculate this recording sounds. All three instruments just have so much space to operate in. At any moment, you can focus entirely on any instrument and really concentrate on it. Or, of course, you can just relax and enjoy the charming song.

Arctic Monkeys, “Do Me A Favor”

Honestly, the way this song starts, it could have been a Shadowy Men song. At least until the vocals kick in. British underground rock Arctic Monkeys became pretty big deals, propelled by the Internet, but it was pretty justified. The first couple albums were very much in the vein of bands like the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand, but done very well. I didn’t really follow them beyond the first two albums, though.

Five Songs today features the most skippable song we’ve had yet! Enjoy!

PDQ Bach, “Classical Rap (S. 1-2-3)”

Oh god, I’m sorry. This is from Oedipus Tex and Other Choral Calamities, the best (?) of the PDQ Bach releases, I think. Oh, this is credited to “Grandmaster Flab and the Hoople Funkharmonic”. He won a Grammy for this thing.

(NB: The video I’ve included here includes the introduction to the piece, which provides some important “context”.)

Today’s music. And, I recognize that people bitching about redesigns is the worst, but can I just say I hate the YouTube redesign? There, that’s out of the ol’ system.

The Sunshine Fix, “Everything is Waking”

The Olivia Tremor Control was a legendary indie pop band, producing Beatles-esque psychedelia that was beloved of basically every music critic. Will Hart retired from music to focus on art, and Bill Doss started The Sunshine Fix to continue in the same vein. And yeah, it’s very, very Beatles-y.