Think Tree, "Everything Is Equal" This is extremely college radio circa 1991. If you wanted to know what that sounded like. (Nobody should.) Portishead, "The Rip" Portishead put out an absolute stone-cold classic in Dummy and a fine follow-up, Portishead, before disappearing. Nobody really sounded...
Swans, "Half Life" It's stuff like this, from the early Swans career, that really drives home how appropriate the "no wave" label was for this. It just oozes nihilism. Mos Def, "Mr. Nigga" From Mos Def's great first solo record, part of one of rap's...
The streak is alive! New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, "Low Blow" This is from the second New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble record, Low Blow. To recap, the NYSJE was assembled from a bunch of folks from various bands in NYC, including the Toasters, the Scofflaws, and one...
Altar of Plagues, "Feather and Bone" Altar of Plauges didn't last very long, producing three albums, but the last two of those are masterpieces of metal. Fusing black metal with post-rock aesthetics, rooted in a willingness to let a song stretch out and breathe, I'd...
Blue Scholars, "Cornerstone" The lead-in to the The Long March EP, this really tells you what to expect on this record. And, honestly, this is an extremely generous EP - 9 tracks, 35 minutes, that's plenty of material for a full LP. Blackalicious, "On Fire...
