See! Two days in a row! Nice job team, let's take the rest of the month off.
Hattie Littles, "Conscience I'm Guilty"
Shuffle in a Motown mood! We're in 1965, and you can really hear how much Motown has upped their game. This song isn't that far from the previous one in terms of composition, but the arrangement and especially the production are so much more sophisticated. Of course, by 1965, Hitsville U.S.A. was really rolling, so it's not really a surprise. It's still fun to hear these back-to-back and hear the leap forward.
Well, I heard them back-to-back.
Morcheeba, "Blindfold"
Trip-hop's heyday didn't last very long, and unless I've missed something (possible!), it hasn't had a revival. Blue Lines came out in 1991, but the popular peak was very short and sharp, really just 1994 and 1995. And then most folks kind of moved on. So by 1998, when this album from Morcheeba came out, it didn't have much of an audience here in the US that I noticed. It's a shame, because trip-hop still sounds pretty great, with the cool strings and drums, the torchlight vocals, and all that. I guess what I'm saying is that a revival seems overdue.
Murmur, "Al-Malik"
The hell is this? I mean, it definitely sounds like something I'd try out, but I don't remember getting it. A lot of metal bands spend a lot of time blurring sub-genres, making it tempting to kind of describe bands kind of the way a dish is described on a menu. But, honestly, what else am I supposed to do? This is very black metal meets prog rock. There are actually some moments here where I'm reminded of the Mars Volta. The 11:32 running time doesn't hurt that comparison either.
Public Enemy, "Burn Hollywood Burn"
I've also been listening to a lot of Public Enemy since a friend linked me to the 2020 remix of "Fight The Power". This, of course, comes from the magnificent Fear of a Black Planet, and is a relatively rare PE track from the early days with guests. Cube and Kane both kill it, of course. Public Enemy were just the best.
Enya, "Caribbean Blue"
Yeah, sure, PE to Enya, that makes sense. This album might have been a gift? I'm not sure. Anyway, feel free to go back and listen to that PE song again.