Wilco

Excellent one today.

Joe Lally, “Message From Earth”

I don’t know why I’m surprised at how minimal Lally is willing to get, given how even the most spare Fugazi songs still had a lot going on. But, it’s silly to get surprised by that, as Lally has always clearly been talented, and there’s no reason to believe he’d just make Fugazi Light once on his own.

J Church, “Chemicals”

We’ve discussed many times how J Church has put out a ton of compilations in their time, but when I look at their normal albums, I think Prophylaxis is my favorite of the bunch. It’s hard to pinpoint why exactly, as J Church didn’t really vary their sound much over the years. I suspect some of that is just that it was one of their earliest, so I spent more time with it. When you encounter an album at 19, it makes an impression! But, whatever, it’s my favorite! You can’t take that away!

Here’s today’s menu.

Leviathan, “-”

This is the intro to Scar Sighted, Leviathan’s 2015 album, a fearsome black metal album. Leviathan is the solo band of Jef Whitehead, who is also notable for starting one of the premier metal labels around, Profound Lore. This track is really just a build up to the start of the of the record, so I guess we’ll tackle it properly next time it comes up, along with maybe the controversy surrounding him.

Kind of wiplashing around today.

Art Brut, “Formed A Band”

This might be the platonic ideal of the Art Brut song, a song where you legitimately can’t tell if they’re putting you on or not. I think they’re doing both, it’s dead serious as well as an arch joke. Like, it’s many layers of put on that just wraps around itself. Putonception.

They Might Be Giants, “Destroy the Past”

You know, I never actually saw Inception.

WOAH. Kinda blacked out there for a little bit. But we’re back! We’re using a new service! This time it’s all running on all our own shit so it should be solid! I’m only at the mercy of the software! And the device it’s running on! And my home network! And…hang on, I’ll come in again.

Aw, who cares? The rock stopped, and now it’s going again. I think I even have most of my own music back. Let’s do this! HIT IT, PLEXASAURUS REX!

OK, let’s see if we can do better than that low energy thing yesterday. Whatcha got, shuffle?

Dawnbringer, “Nobody There”

Pure heavy metal revivalism, Dawnbringer has decided to see if they can just play this stuff totally straight and manage to not sound totally cheesy. Do they pull it off? Well…I don’t know. It’s reasonably well done, I guess, but by and large I’d pretty much rather just listen to Sabbath. Decent for an occasional change of pace.

Some great songs today.

Wilco, “ELT”

You know, this might be the first time I’ve had a song come up on Five Songs after I had listened to it by choice earlier that day. This is not an interesting fact.

Anyway, Summerteeth is fantastic. Tweedy made a basically clean break entirely from the alt-country that had been present on all of his albums up to this point, and made just a straight up pop record. And it’s so good! Lush and orchestral at times, slow and contemplative at others, it’s a tour de force.

Good stuff today.

Wilco, “Old Maid”

Fundamentally, I just like hearing Jeff Tweedy sing. I think it kind of comes down to that. This isn’t a revolutionary song or anything, but it’s a pleasant, the arrangement is nice, and Tweedy is great. That’s just the bottom line for me.

Guided By Voices, “Queen Of Cans And Jars”

Like a Wilco song, if half of the players were located in a different room from the mic and the singer was in a different house.

Less talk, more…rock? today.

Negativland, “Seat Bee Sate”

This is another track from an Over The Edge compilation, this time Volume 8: Sex Dirt. Still nonsense, of course.

Weezer, “Butterfly”

Pinkerton really is their best album, y’all. I still don’t know why I have four of their albums.

Broken Social Scene, “Lover’s Spit”

Another good song from Broken Social Scene. I guess I have to pay more attention to them, huh? We’re all learning around here! I’m learning I like bands I already own music to, and you’re all learning that Five Songs is run by a dumbass!

Here’s today’s list.

Wilco, “The Late Greats”

I’ve been kind of hard on this album (A Ghost Is Born), but that’s mostly due to the somewhat aimless wankery found on some of the songs. Outside of those, though, it’s a pretty sharp album.

The White Stripes, “Little People”

We’ve had Jack White pop up with The Raconteurs, but this is the first time we’ve had the band that made him famous. I’m not sure I need to introduce the White Stripes, do I? Stripped down blues-y rock that explored specific creative constraints, the White Stripes strike me as relatively unlikely stars. But stars they were, propelled by some anthemic hits. But this song comes from before they were huge, off their self-titled debut, when the primitivism of the songs was really at the forefront. I don’t think they really hit their stride until the following record, personally.

Well, we here at Five Songs Amalgamated managed to go two entire months without missing an entry! Not bad! Our ones of listener/readers must be pleased! Here’s today, and here’s to another complete month!

The Housemartins, “There Is Always Something There To Remind Me”

You know, the Housemartins should really be on my regular rotation of bands to listen to when I’ve got the kids around. I wish I wouldn’t forget this right after I finish this article.