Introduction
Five Songs, 6/28/2018
Five Songs

Five Songs, 6/28/2018

Pretty good one today.

Public Enemy, "Give It Up"

Pretty sure I've talked about how uneven Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age is, and it really is. It's the album that marks the sharp decline of PE from the legendary band to the often baffling outfit that's still out there still making stuff. But the album really has some peaks. This is one of them. The beat is dense and bouncy, Chuck kicks several different flows, and they basically capture their glory days. The verse that kicks off "I never did represent doin' dumb shit" is one of my favorite verses from him ever.

Swingin' Utters, "Tied Down, Spit On"

It's probably an indictment of future generations of punks that mostly they all aped the Ramones and not the Clash. I don't have any beef with the Ramones, but let's face it: the Clash were way more interesting. I suppose it's too much to ask of our punks for them to be wholly original, isn't it?

Run-D.M.C., "Walk This Way"

So, yeah. Kind of have mixed feelings about this song. On the one hand, after hearing this song on the radio and on MTV, I went out and bought this album, the first one I can recall buying with my own money. And I'm so glad I did, as it's the album that set me on a track of loving rap music which remains with me to this day. I mean, hearing "Peter Piper" for the first time just completely blew the top of my head off. I owe this album, and therefore this song, a lot.

On the other hand, arguably this song revived Aerosmith's career, not to mention providing the template for crappy rap-rock crossovers which plague us to this day. So, you know, this song also has an awful lot to answer for.

Amon Tobin, "Marine Machines"

We just had that ridiculous and cinematic PIG song the other day. This song is like its spiritual cousin. While it doesn't have the over-the-top vocals, it still has the same sense of drama about it, and is equally charming. Amon Tobin is amazing.

The Flaming Lips, "March of the Rotten Vegetables"

Another track from Zaireeka, one of the least convenient albums ever created. As a recap: the Flaming Lips decided to release this album as four CDs, designed to be played on four different CD players in order to give a spatial element to the proceedings. Mostly, what people learned is that CD players play at slightly different rates.

Joshua Buergel
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