Phono-Comb, "Grip 'n' Grin"
Phono-Comb is a successor band to the great Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, which you probably guessed if you're familiar with that band's work. Two-thirds of the band (Don Pyle on drums and Reid Diamond on bass) played in the band, and their lone LP (1996's Fresh Gasoline) is great. If you're not familiar with the Shadowy Men, I just found out that Yep Roc has brought their three outstanding records back into print, and you need to go check them out now.
J-Live, "How Real It Is"
One of the stars of the underground in the early 2000s, J-Live's All Of The Above is a very good record. Kind of nuts-and-bolts, but very well done.
Tortoise, "A Survey"
Millions Now Living Will Never Die is a masterpiece, with "Djed" as the best thing they've done. Given how incredible it is, it's easy to lose track of the fact that the rest of the album is excellent as well.
Mudhoney, "Into Yer Shtik"
We had a track from My Brother The Cow recently, so I won't recap that. You do read Five Songs every day, right? (You do not, I can see my server stats.) Anyway, this is such a Mudhoney song, nobody else really sounds like them.
Booker T. and the MGs, "Blue On Green"
We open with a great instrumental track, we close with a great instrumental track. Let the sweet sounds of Booker T. and the MGs take us out today.