The Emotions, "My Honey And Me"
This comes to us from early in the third phase of Stax Records' life, after they reached an arrangement with CBS Records. This period still contains plenty of fantastic songs, but Stax was also on a slow decline. Luckily for them, they had plenty of space to decline in to.
The Jam, "Start!"
I wonder if I could play this on the bass? I should try. (I cannot.)
Belle and Sebastian, "It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career"
Among the many things to love about this song is the spacious production, which allows it to sound like Stuart Murdoch is in an empty room that gradually fills in.
Also, it has a vibraslap. Hell yeah.
Crash Test Dummies, "God Shuffled His Feet"
Still surprising to me that this band had any kind of big hit. The unusual (to put it mildly) vocal delivery and overall morose tone don't exactly scream radio hit, you know?
Shining, "I Won't Forget"
Don't confuse this Shining (from Norway) with the black metal band from Sweden. This is the one led by Jørgen Munkeby, who sings and plays saxophone, along with writing the songs and playing other stuff. They play what sounds to me like nothing so much as a modern revival of industrial, folding in enough jazz to really make it stand out. It feels fresh, and both this album (One One One) and Blackjazz are fantastic.