The Presidents of the United States of America, "We Are Not Going To Make It"
The Presidents were viewed as a novelty act, which is kind of inescapable when your hits are things like "Lump" and "Peaches". And, yeah, there's a lot of breezy nonesense in Ballew's lyrics. But there's some genuinely charming stuff in there, some real wit, and of course, some self-deprecation like in this tune. But, more importantly, the songs themselves were crisp, memorable, and catchy, and that means that their rock/pop/punk melange is just plain fun.
Prince Paul, "You Made Me"
Psychoanalysis: What Is It? is kind of a mess. It wanders around through a bunch of tracks, melding snippets of disconnected dialog to some very nice beats, and only occasionally really rises above to really grab attention. It's an experiment, and not an unworthy one, but it sort of feels more like a trial run for Handsome Boy Modeling School than anything else.
Mudhoney, "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown"
Mudhoney (and side bands) loved to experiment with pretty much every form of rock they could find, at least occasionally. A lot of those experiments aren't amazing, but they can be fun because Mudhoney is clearly having fun with it themselves.
Sufjan Stevens, "Come On! Feel The Illinoise!"
By all rights, I should love Sufjan Stevens. I mean, I love Badly Drawn Boy. I love Belle & Sebastian. I love Elliott Smith. Clearly, I like twee, and I like elaborate songwriting. So, do I love Sufjan Stevens? Reader, I do not. I enjoy him while I listen, and then I don't find myself reaching for it.
Squarepusher, "Time Borb"
"Time Borb"! What a great name!