Introduction
Five Songs, 3/29/2021
Five Songs

Five Songs, 3/29/2021

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Labi Siffre, "I Got The..."

This is from the 1975 album Remember My Song, a record that became famous due to sampling (especially in Eminem's "My Name Is"). As with so many of these great old funk records, it's a delight that it was resurrected by interest in the source material, because it's absolutely incredible. I mean, yes, the break that Dre flipped is astounding, but listen to this entire thing. The temperature in this room dropped about ten degrees when this kicked on, it's so cool. And, for real, look at this album cover. Goddamn!

Chune, "Magnus"

There was some good shit going on in San Diego in the early 90s. Drive Like Jehu and Rocket From The Crypt were the headliners, of course, but some lesser known bands like Fluf and today's band, Chune, were active at the same time and kicking ass. I mean, listen to this shit! This is leaning more towards the Louisville sound, with the big emotional stuff and especially the tone of everything. If you slipped this onto a Bitch Magnet record, people might not notice. All of which is to say, Burnt is excellent.

(Oh, and relevant to yesterday's navel gazing: it also doesn't seem to be available on Spotify. Sorry about that, I guess it doesn't exist any more!)

Wu-Tang Clan, "Rules"

Meanwhile, we're back with the Wu-Tang. This is from Iron Flag, their fourth record and one where they showed they were well past the second album malaise. This is just a straight-up banger. Whatever words I have are woefully inadequate for the Wu-Tang Clan.

Don Caballero, "Belted Sweater"

Because I am a big dummy, I'd never before really connected Russian Circles with Don Caballero, but having listened to them on adjacent days? Yeah, there's a lot of connection there. It's not just about both being aggressive instrumental bands. There's a fundamental variety to their approach that keeps them from sounding too repetitive, and a lot of instrumental bands don't manage that.

De La Soul's Plug 1 and Plug 2, "Must B The Music"

This is not quite a De La Soul album, as it's missing a plug. It's Dave and Pos, teaming up with a pair of French DJs to make a concept record. In it, Dave and Pos are playing an up-and-coming new hip-hop group called First Serve. The record itself is pretty fun, and the De La Soul folks sound pretty energized. The record sort of sank without a trace, without much promotion, but it's a fine entry in their discography (kinda).

Joshua Buergel
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