Botanist, "Nourishing the Fetus (Mandragora IV)"
This is from the third Botanist album, helpfully labeled IV: Mandragora. There's a I and a III, I just don't know what happened to II. Down the memory hole, I guess! The next album is a VI. Who knows?
King Crimson, "I Talk To The Wind"
I didn't really pay much attention to King Crimson for a long time, mostly because the dude I knew in college who was into King Crimson was way, way too into them. So, I just kind of ignored them, just sort of picking up little bits about them. I think I was surprised by how quiet a bunch of In The Court of the Crimson King was when I finally heard it. It really wasn't at all what I was picturing. It turns out I was really kind of picturing Discipline, but I didn't realize it yet.
Jack White, "High Ball Stepper"
I'm not sure I really love any of Jack White's post-White Stripes work. It's not totally obvious why that would be, but I think maybe he's playing a little too much with structure in some of this stuff, and it impedes the songs. There are certainly plenty of moments that rock on this record, but then you'll hit a transition or section that take you out of it. This song is a good example - plenty of fun stuff, but the vocal yelps are annoying.
Lard, "I Wanna Be A Drug-Sniffing Dog"
It was seven years after Lard's excellent debut record in 1990 that Pure Chewing Satisfaction came out. In that time, Ministry turned dreary, and the resulting Lard album is also kind of dreary. It's just too repetitive in most places, the same curse that Ministry was laboring under at the time as well. It's better than any contemporaneous Ministry albums, but that's not saying that much.
R.E.M., "Shiny Happy People"
Never heard this one before!