Death Cab For Cutie, "No Joy In Mudville"
This song comes to us from We Have The Plans And We're Voting Yes, which I think is the first album I picked up from Death Cab. And...hang on, I stopped paying attention there for a bit. Hey, it's the next song!
Nine Inch Nails, "The Warning"
Year Zero represented a return to form for Nine Inch Nails. The Fragile had restless experimentation, but the quality was uneven. With Teeth was better constructed, but also felt kind of paint-by-numbers at times. The artist that had made The Downward Spiral seemed to be gone, but Year Zero proved that that was emphatically not true. There are even times that I think it's Trent Reznor's best record. Paranoid and angry, the whole thing hangs together extremely well.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, "Strung Like Lights At Thee Printemps Erable"
After three albums including the post-rock masterpiece Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, Godspeed went on hiatus for ten years before 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! appeared. As per usual for the band, there wasn't a lot of information about what would appear. Turns out, their second best album! Pretentious and portentious in equal measure, there's nothing quite like the thundering majesty of GY!BE in full gallop.
The 411, "Self Help"
There have been a handful of bands called 411 over the years. This is the punk band from California that made one record (This Isn't Me) and then disappeared. There's not a whole lot to say about this album, honestly - it's just your basic punk record.
Oh, and please don't confuse this band with 311.
Dr. Dre, "Bitch Niggaz"
I mentioned it before, but it remains true: for songs on 2001, you're best off concentrating on the beats. Although Snoop sounds pretty good here on his verse. Dre's "Compton is the city I'm from / can't never leave the crib without a murder weap-on" line...well, this beat is really good.