Mastodon, "The Motherload" Once More Around The Sun is definitely a Mastodon album, what with all their stylistic tics being present. But for the most part, it's all packaged in a much more accessible way. Much of this song, for example, really is just a...
A Forest of Stars, "A Prophet for a Pound of Flesh" The rolled Rs are a bit much, don't you think, A Forest of Stars guy? There's always a line that metal bands walk, where if they go too far and seem like they're taking...
Atmosphere, "Lovelife" A thing that strikes me about listening to early Atmosphere (this is from their second album, 2002's God Loves Ugly) is how young Slug sounds on these tracks. He still sounds like the same person later, but there's less weariness in his tone...
Otis Redding, "Try a Little Tenderness" One of Redding's iconic hits, this is actually a much older song, more than thirty years old when he recorded what is by now the definitive version. The very slow build up throughout the song is such a delight,...
Mastodon, "Black Tongue" I spent a bunch of time with The Hunter last year, seeing if I could really get to the point of appreciating the record. It was a really big break with their previous two albums, and my initial reaction when it came...
