Yautja, "for naught"
Kind of math-rock, kind of death metal, this kind of hybrid makes me happy. Which it probably shouldn't! This comes from the EP Songs of Lament, the followup to their excellent Songs of Descent. Both are worth looking into.
Bathory, "Shores in Flames"
Bathory were black metal pioneers, with the singer Quorthon's strangled croak setting the template for black metal vocalists that persists today. The primitive recording and washes of guitar noise also formed one of the pillars of the genre. But, not content to provide some of the building blocks for one type of metal, Bathory re-invented themselves. The album prior to this one started experimenting with breaking out of the template, but Hammerheart showed that the template was gone. This song is the opener of that album, featuring Quorthon actually singing, and the songwriting now was focused on the epic rather than the squalid. And, indeed, Bathory had now invented the subgenre of Viking metal which, yes, is a thing. Bottom line: there aren't very many bands that have ever been as metal as Bathory, and there aren't very many bands more influential on the genre.
Einstürzende Neubauten, "Letzes Biest (Am Himmel)"
Have I sung the praises of Halber Mensch yet? It's my favorite Neubauten album. It sort of lies at the perfect junction between their noise, their formal experimentation, and the occasional thing that could be described as a song.
Beastie Boys, "Rickie's Theme"
A repeat. Been a bit since we've had one!
Mogwai, "I Chose Horses"
I mentioned Mogwai the other day in discussing This Will Destroy You, but turns out, we haven't had them yet! Mogwai have been around since 1997, with the excellent Young Team, making post-rock with kind of a noisy, rock-based attack. Does that even make sense? Probably not. Anyway, this is from the thunderous Mr. Beast, probably my favorite album after their first.
Don Caballero, "punkgasm"
The closer of the album of the same name, this honestly just sounds like a dance punk song. Which is what they were going for, I'm sure! This is from the last Don Caballero album, one where they were experimenting with lots of different things (including lyrics!), so it doesn't really sound much like Don Caballero much. Probably only for completists.