The Story So Far, "Line"
I don't remember picking up this record, but I guess it's not a huge surprise. Pure Noise Records might be how I found it? Anyway, pleasant enough.
But enough of that. Somehow Plex thinks that this album came out on something called "Ice Grill$", and I really like an alternate universe where that was the only change, and thinking of baffled consumers on both sides encountering the album.
Chance the Rapper, "Same Drugs"
As always, it's a delight to hear Chance show up here. I often think about Stevie Wonder when I listen to him. I think the willingness to directly reference spirituality and gospel is probably the big thing for me, even if they're using different musical ideas.
Guided by Voices, "Quality of Armor"
We had a track from Bee Thousand the other day, and like everybody talking about Guided by Voices, I just couldn't shut up about what a mess they were, especially as you go backwards. And, yeah, they were sloppy as hell a lot of the time. But this is two records backwards from that one (Propeller), and this is just a charming slice of raw pop rock. It's easy to see why people got into them, they weren't always a wreck.
The Flaming Lips, "Hit Me Like You Did the First Time"
Meanwhile, the Flaming Lips were still in their fairly primitive period when they made Hit to Death in the Future Head for Warner Bros. This is some of the most expensively produced guitar fuzz in music history. It's funny to hear these two songs back-to-back, actually, since they reside on far ends of the lavishness of their production, but there's nevertheless a ton of kinship between them.
Chain Reaction, "Twinge"
This was a pickup from a music Humble Bundle, and, it's not really my thing. Maybe it's yours? (Probably not.)