Xasthur

The Orb, “Blue Room [Edit]”

The Orb’s U.F.Orb was a big hit for ambient house, which is still a relative measure, but still. Like all electronic albums that got big, there were a host of remix singles and things that were put out. This comes from one of those singles, and is a tidy 3:12 mix of the song. This same single includes a 40:00 mix of the song, in case you wanted more. You can simulate it by playing this track thirteen times in a row.

Xasthur, “Purgatory Spiral”

Another track from Xasthur, the weird experimental metal act that I ended up with courtesy of a Hydra Head grab bag. It’s not really, uh, my bag.

Converge, “Sadness Comes Home”

All We Love We Leave Behind is my favorite Converge record, where their hardcore reached a pinnacle of bananas complexity that it ends up being compulsively listenable. It’s sometimes the case that hardcore bands lose their edge as they go, as increased polish starts exposing simple songs and reveals all the flaws. It’s a rare hardcore band that gets better as they go, but Converge managed that.

Two Fingers, “Moth Rhythm”

Most of the tracks on the Amon Tobin side project feature Sway rapping on them, but this is one of the two songs that does not. As a result, this just sounds like an Amon Tobin song. Contemplative for him, sure, but still a Tobin song. Not that that is a bad thing.

British Sea Power, “Be Gone”

British Sea Power play pretty nuts-and-bolts indie rock. This is from their second album, which doesn’t show a ton of evolution from the first record. It’s good, but I’m not sure it’s super memorable.

Sorry we’ve missed a couple days around here. I’m gonna lie and say it’s not going to happen again. All good now! Here’s today.

Tricky, “Demise”

We’ve heard from Portishead and Massive Attack, and now it’s time to hear from the other giant of trip-hop, Tricky. Tricky’s debut, Maxinquaye, ranks up there with Dummy and Blue Lines as one of the masterpieces of electronic music from the early to mid 90s. Alas, this does not come from Maxinquaye, but from the much later Angels With Dirty Faces, which is only so-so.

Meanwhile, happy birthday to me! I’m going to see what shuffle got me.

Steady Earnest, “Rumors”

From Take It! Take It! TAKE IT!, this is a great horn line in this song. I’m OK with my present so far, shuffle!

KC Bowman, “Matterhorn”

We’ve had a couple of Lawsuit songs recently, and now KC Bowman will make more sense. You can really hear the similarity in the songs (Bowman was one of the songwriters of Lawsuit). I do miss the rest of the band, but I’m happy that Bowman made another album.