Make! The most! Of my! Toe toast! Hey, while we're giggling over this first Descendents track, a Five Songs correspondent pointed out the existence of this masterpiece, which is really breathtaking.
Descendents, "Enjoy"
A couple albums into the Descendents' snotty punk career, the casual observer might have wondered if they were ever ACTUALLY going to grow up, despite an album title declaring otherwise. With the opening track of Enjoy, the band gave a definitive answer. An ode to bodily smells of all types, "Enjoy" was defiantly sophomoric in a way that exceeded even the low maturity standards of their first few releases. I will say this, the little descending baseline is very memorable.
Amazingly, it wasn't even the most lowbrow thing on the album, that honor going to "Orgofart", which is just the band farting into a tape recorder. The rest of the album has some fun things on it, but by and large, you should just go ahead and flush this one.
Eddie Holland, "I'm On The Outside Lookin In"
Motown from 1963 here to clear out the stale fumes of that last track.
Kanye West, "All Falls Down"
From his solo debut, this song catches West in a self-conscious mood, and is one of the standout songs on that album.
Prince Paul, "The Call"
This is one of the narrative tracks from A Prince Among Thieves, a rap opera following the adventures of Tariq (Breezely Brewin') as he tries to get an album made and gets caught up in the drug trade. The album intersperses tracks like this one with songs that also advance the story, and has a deep and impressive roster of contributing guests. It's a truly fantastic record, and the fact that Prince Paul managed to make a concept album not sounds pretentious and ridiculous makes him one of the true heroes of music.
Dale Crover, "Tiny Sound"
Ooh, current! Dale Crover is, more or less, half of the Melvins. Sure, Crover and Buzz Osborne have played with tons of other people, but they're the two that have remained constant through the entire run. Crover just released a solo record a few weeks ago, The Fickle Finger of Fate, and it's pretty all over the map. I don't think I recommend it, exactly, but personally, I'll follow the Melvins wherever they go.