Witchcraft, "You Bury Your Head"
If you're thinking to yourself "this damn thing sounds like it was recorded in a basement", congratulate yourself on your fine ears. It was recorded in a basement, proudly, using vintage equipment. Plenty of bands are out there trying to recreate Black Sabbath, but few go to quite these same lengths. Do you need to actually listen to this instead of just listening to Sabbath? What's the point of ce n'est pas Black Sabbath? Man, I dunno, sometimes I just like my noise to be different.
Fucked Up, "Raise Your Voice Joyce"
I should love Fucked Up, I really should. Ambitious punk rock with plenty of variety in their approach? Sounds great! Except that I don't like the vocals at all. And while I recognize the ambition, it also feels kind of flat to me. I dunno, it just doesn't quite work for me, and you have to feel punk in your gut.
Edward Holland Jr., "Leaving Here"
Motown in 1963, folks!
DJ Krush, "Anticipation"
I just never have a whole lot to say about ambient hip-hop. I mean, it's all kind of vibes. Writing about music is like dancing about architecture, writing about abstract hip-hop is like dancing about architecture, but you're hogtied.
Negativland, "Clowns and Ballerinas"
Negativland has used children singing on their recordings in several places, often really effectively. This comes from A Big 10-8 Place, their first great record, and this is one of the things that generates the surreal feeling on the album.