Helium, "XXX"
Amazingly, despite having Mary Timony show up here with Ex Hex, Wild Flag, Autoclave, and even as a solo artist, we've never actually had her show up with the band she's most famous with, Helium. That ends today! If you couldn't tell with my following her career across five different acts (maybe the most of any artist in my library!), I'm a huge fan. And I really do love her later work, but Helium is my favorite of her bands. It's indie rock, yes, but the songs are really interesting and just so well done. I think this song speaks for itself, though.
Moodymann, "Got Me Coming Back Rite Now"
There's a rich tradition of electronic music in Detroit, with a recognizable subgenre named for the city and everything. And I just know absolutely jack shit about any of that, beyond that first sentence. So, here we have Moodymann, a house artist based in Detroit who has been making music for forever. I've just got this one album, and I like it fine, but it doesn't particularly make me want to chase a bunch of this stuff. Sorry, Detroit!
Here Lies Man, "Fighting"
Here Lies Man is members of Antibalas, playing a mix of West African music and hard rock. It's psychedelic and groovy and really pretty interesting stuff. They've also been really productive for a side project, with four LPs in the last four years. This is from the second, You Will Know Nothing, but I prefer the self-titled debut as a better intro.
P. Miles Bryson, "Symphonia Molto Colori A Manico-Depressivo Maximali-A Movement In Poka-Dot Plaid"
P. Miles Bryson is an experimental artist working in the sort of plunderphonics area, assembling compositions out of found sounds and stitched together bits of music from lots of places. It ends up coming across as something like Foetus, so of course, I adore this stuff. There's something about music like this that sits deliberately in the uncanny valley, adding that sense of discomfort to the proceedings to set you on edge. The unpredictability works for me.
Arsonists, "Intro"
Silly Arsonists, this is more of an outro, coming at the end!