The Beautiful South, "The River"
Another relatively toothless song from the later period of the band. I can't wait for some early tracks to show up.
Melvins, "The Mechanical Bride"
Another tune from the "double duo" years, when they had an extra drummer to augment their usual trio. This comes from (A) Senile Animal, a great album. One of the many thing I love about the Melvins is their use of space. Yes, they can just crank out headbangers, but they'll often leave plenty of space for menace to build up, for the drums to breathe, for the compositions to evoke a mood beyond "GRRRRR". (That mood is "GRRRR...(pause)...GRRRRRRRR".)
Touché Amoré, "Crutch"
You know, I used to write more about these songs. Have I just told a lot of the stories I know about the bands, giving me less to say with later entries? Am I already reaching the limits of interesting (?) things I have to say about music? Am I lazy? Bored?
Is navel-gazing better than nothing?
Mr. Lif, "Jugular Vein"
Released around the same time as his tremendous I Phantom, this comes from his companion piece EP Emergency Rations. Allmusic says that Emergency Rations was released first, which doesn't match my memory, but eh, is probably right. While I Phantom was something of a rap opera chronicling one person's life, with their struggles with work, family, and their place in society, Emergency Rations posits a more fanciful world where Mr. Lif has been kidnapped, and the EP answers why that happened. It's paranoid and fascinating, and I highly recommend both.
The Fall, "And This Day"
The Fall are one of those bands that was continually name-checked in the music underground when I was a teenager, without any real way for me to encounter them outside of just buying an album. So after some research, I picked up This Nation's Saving Grace, and it did nothing for me. I just kind of decided that you had to be there, and left it at that.
Well, later, when Ruth and Martin's Album Club tackled The Fall covered them, I decided to give it another go. Maybe I just picked the wrong album? I'd heard about Hex Enduction Hour somewhere, and gave it a whirl. And, I dunno. Maybe The Fall just isn't for me? I mean, this song is kind of a fun bit of deconstructed pounding chaos, but it's hard to imagine wanting to listen to this too often. And you've seen some of the junk I choose to listen to!