That's 11 month of perfect attendance. NOT BAD AT ALL. On the 29th, we'll celebrate a full year of Five Songs every day unless I totally biff it. Which I might! And we're getting pretty close to one thousand entries on this blog, so I guess I'll have another little celebration when we hit that. Or I'll forget.
Vulfpeck, "3 on E"
You know what? I wanted to hear this song, and I wrote this entry back-to-back with the previous one. Screw it! This place is random enough! Please write to the Five Songs ombudsman if you have a problem with our editorial decision here.
The Decemberists, "16 Military Wives"
I think I've mentioned it before, but Picaresque is my favorite Decemberists album. The presence of "The Mariner's Revenge Song" is part of that, of course, but I think it strikes the perfect balance between Colin Meloy's baroque tendencies and an essential pop tunefulness.
Mark Eitzel, "I Only Have Eyes For You"
Mark Eitzel, leader of American Music Club, started releasing solo records while still recording with the band. And like a bunch of other folks like this, it's not entirely clear what led him to release music under one name or the other. He's a reliably solid songwriter, so this is good stuff, if perhaps not at his peak.
Jungle Fire, "Cumbia Del Sal"
TIME TO WAKE UP! Jungle Fire hail from Los Angeles, and I'm not entirely sure how I found them, but it's not a big surprise that I like this a lot.
El-P, "Request Denied"
You hear that long buildup in an El-P song, and you start anticipating what kind of hard-hitting shit he's going to unroll. Given his track record, you just know it's going to thump. And then it hits, and it's great, but also it sounds very much like an old Meat Beat Manifesto song, both in the beat and the vocal sample. And now I want to go listen to some Meat Beat Manifesto.