Two songs that I had to upload today! That's when you know you're getting the good stuff. And by good stuff, I mean "probably forgotten underground rock or C-list third-wave ska."
Eric B. & Rakim, "I Know You Got Soul (Acapella)"
Paid In Full, one of the foundational albums of rap, was later reissued in a deluxe edition called the Platinum Edition. It featured a second disc of various rarities, including this tune. And all that is fine, but what made it awesome is that they went and photoshopped the gold jewelry on the original cover to be platnium. It's that attention to detail that can really make a reissue. Anyway, the bonus junk is totally inessential.
Stuntman, "Take It Wrong"
There's an certain sound to the production of many underground rock albums from the mid-90s that is homogeneous, without my really being able to point to exactly what makes it so. But, nevertheless, this stuff sounds like a very specific time to me. Sounds like home!
Trumans Water, "Soar Ossinaxx At Long Last"
There was a time in my life when I would go out and deliberately look for rock bands that could be described as "random". It's not something I'm proud of, and it resulted in my listening to a bunch of records that I probably shouldn't have. Trumans Water were briefly the flavor-of-the-month a long time ago, and while their spastic records had their moments, none of it has stuck with me at all.
Claw Hammer, "Air Plant"
We are working the 90s rock underground HARD today! The final Claw Hammer record, with the band moving to a new producer, resulted in a more rock-forward record than their previous blues-flecked meandering. Jon Wahl's bizarre wail was still present, of course, and the songs were still plenty discursive. It's not their strongest record, but Claw Hammer was unique, and so if you want more from them, you'll take what you can get.
Farside, "Lollapalooza"
90s woooo! I blabbed about digging up old EPs recently, and here's another fine example. Farside were just well-done melodic punk, the sort of thing that I found compulsively listenable back in the day, and still enjoy today. This comes from a 1995 EP called Farside and, look, originality isn't exactly this band's strong point.