Buildings, "Smell the Pool"
I really kind of tend to think of noise rock as mostly a 90s thing, with it kind of falling out of fashion after that point. But, of course, it's alive and well, and bands like yesterday's Pile and today's Buildings are showing that there's plenty of excellent stuff being made. I miss you, Amphetamine Reptile, but there are plenty of bands keeping the sound alive.
Leprous, "Foe"
The interesting thing about this song is really the time signature. It's very slippery! I hear it as being in 7/8 time, which kind of constantly sounds like it's tripping over itself. That tiny slice off of a normal measure ends up giving things an urgency that makes me like the song quite a bit, even though I don't normally go in for this kind of prog metal.
The Mr. T Experience, "Psycho Girl"
The start of my favorite stretch of MTX, Making Things With Light has production that really does justice to the songs. This album just makes me happy, and this stretch from here up through Love Is Dead is such a fun stretch of music.
Blackalicious, "Shallow Days"
The first full length from Blackalicious, Nia, came out in 1999, a year when the rap underground really began bursting with so many great records. The late 90s were mostly pretty dreary for big rap records, but artists below the surface were all doing incredible stuff. Just as a quick list of 1999 releases: this record, Things Fall Apart, A Prince Among Thieves, Operation: Doomsday, Black on Both Sides, So...How's Your Girl? (how good was Prince Paul's 1999?)...that's an amazing list.
Green Day, "Basket Case"
I don't really know what to say about Dookie. I mail ordered Kerplunk! when it came out, and was super eagerly waiting for their new record when it was announced. I bought this album on release day (still have the sticker I got as a bonus on my microwave!), and absolutely loved it. Eventually, the punk intelligentsia would decide that this album was a big sellout piece of garbage, but you couldn't fool me. If you hate this because you think it's simple or saccharine or whatever, that's cool. If you hate this because it got huge, that's dumb.