Introduction
Five Songs, 11/5/2018
Five Songs

Five Songs, 11/5/2018

Just missed a Vince Staples song that I'm enjoying very much as I type this intro. But, sorry, rules are rules. Today is solid, though.

The Isley Brothers, "This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) (Alternate Mix)"

Sort of low-key wondering exactly what the longest parenthetical is in a Motown song title. At any rate, we find ourselves in 1966 with this Isley Brothers track. At this point, the Isleys were already veterans, four albums in. And it turns out that their career was really just getting going, with many stylistic changes and lineup changes to come, not to mention just a bunch of great records.

The Housemartins, "Pirate Aggro"

The Housemartins were not afraid of leavening their pop records with things that broke the mold, ranging from a capella tracks and ballads to the occasionally perky instrumental. While Paul Heaton's impassioned voice and delivery were one of the things that made the Housemartins work, it was still a nice little break to hear songs like this.

Frameworks, "Interlude"

I haven't the foggiest what this is, other than it's from an album called Smother and it's a minute of non-descript tunage. Folks, you can't just get this kind of analysis just anywhere!

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, "Strange Baby"

There were eight years in-between Damaged and Meat and Bone, and the hiatus apparently allowed Spencer to re-focus on what made the Blue Explosion great: stripping everything back to basics, fuzzing everything the hell out, and rambling over the top in his inimitable stream-of-consciousness style. It's a little strange to call this a throwback, as peak Blue Explosion was itself a throwback to garage rock, but I'm going to go with it. As it turns out, this record kind of was the Extra Width to Freedom Tower: No Wave Dancy Party 2015's Orange imitation.

Uh, that's an unreadable sentence. Sorry about that.

Future of the Left, "Fuck The Countryside Alliance"

The combination that Future of the Left are using here, of a pounding, distorted bass line with a bit of an unhinged noisy guitar line over the top, is one that's been paying dividends for rock bands for decades now. And it works here!

Joshua Buergel
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