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It’s been true, over the course of Five Songs history, that I’ve posted “we’re back!!!” on multiple occasions. And, sometimes that’s true, sometimes less so. This time around, though, it’s more of a technical sense than anything else. My other blog, House of Slack Games was hacked, probably due to an old version of Ghost. I decided I was sick of dealing with that kind of thing, security updates, things of that nature, and rebuilt it using a static site generator. Well, I don’t really want to run two blog systems, so I rebuilt this site as well.

Well well well, if it isn’t my old blog. Sorry about the false start the other day, turns out I wasn’t quite ready to bring this thing back full time. I did kick around changing formats and even got as far as discussing things with another person, and that was enough to derail me. But enough of the Jim Anchower routine, I have business to get to! It’s time to look at 2025 releases and absolutely fail to rank them. Massive respect for all the writers out there who do produce a list, that shit seems really hard. No, I’m going to cop out, put some half-assed “awards” here, and mostly just write a little about the albums that have really stuck with me for this year.

Negativland, “[untitled]”

(track 1!) So, a quick primer on Negativland. They’re an avant-garde project that has used sound collages to make experimental pieces going back to their first album in 1980. They’ve always been closely associated with radio, having hosted a weekly radio show called Over the Edge on KPFA and experimenting with various sounds and approaches through that radio show. They’ve used the radio stuff to guide some of their studio projects and tours, taking some of the best bits and developing them further. I’m a big fan of the band and their projects, so they’ll crop up here from time to time.

The Dirty Nil, “Undefeated”

The Dirty Nil is one of those bands where I can’t really decide how much I like them. I usually enjoy them when I’m listening to it, with a kind of fun mix of hard rock and punk. It sounds pretty great! But then when I stop, I’m not sure I have a strong desire to listen to them. Then again, on the third hand, I have bought their last three albums, so I dunno, maybe that’s telling me something. (That something is that I’m a big dummy.)

I wonder where the bursts of creativity comes from for me. There are times that I can make progress on writing here, move a programming project along, contemplate starting a new project, and even get a game moving ahead. And there are times where I do none of that. It’s unclear exactly what it is. Some of it is times of stress (or freedom from stress), of course. But work isn’t noticeably different now than it was six months ago, say. So, who knows?

One thing about Five Songs that I always appreciate is that it always makes me stay in the habit of putting music on when I can. There’s just something about always thinking “oh, I could write a post” that sometimes decays into “oh, I could put on some tunes” that I appreciate.

Lungfish, “Descender”

I know what the Five Songs party line is on Lungfish (kinda boring), so I’m going to skip that and just kind of focus on a sense memory. Specifically, I can remember wandering around my college campus not long after getting this album. I was trying to develop a taste for it, so I wasn’t doing much other than listening to it and walking around. But it was a beautiful fall day, and I kept walking past groups of kids having a great time outdoors. Three different frisbee games were going on. A hacky sack circle. A volleyball game had broken out. The breeze was blowing, the sun was shining, I was bumping tunes, and I was just kind of watching people having a great time. So even though I am not wild about the album, an association with a perfect fall day from one of the happiest periods of my life still clings to it. This album sounds like youthful innocence and hope. And is also kinda boring.

No intro today, because I’m working on something Five Songs-related that will be fun, and I’m going to get back to that. So on to the tunes!

Tortoise & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, “It’s Expected I’m Gone”

Will Oldham hasn’t exactly had a conventional career, ranging from his frequent name changes, the prolific output, and the often odd direction of his music. But this collaboration with post-rock titans Tortoise is one of the oddest moves of the lot. For starters, the collab doesn’t make a lot of sense. The ultra-cool Tortoise, with their calm precision and sometimes cold affect, seems like an odd fit with Oldham’s often messy but human style. But even beyond that, they hooked up to make a covers record. And those covers are of songs from a huge range of artists, from superstars like Bruce Springsteen or Elton John, to international artists, to underground favorites such as today’s subject, the Minutemen.

I missed yesterday, which is going to happen. Unlike when I was trying to maintain a perfect streak of daily posts as long as I could, this go around, I’m going to write when I feel like it. Which should be most days, I think, but not every day. I’m doing this for fun!

Bedouine, “Nice and Quiet”

(track 1!) Nice and quiet, indeed. Bedouine is a Syrian folk singer who drew a ton of critical attention with this record, which is what led me to pick it up after appearing on a couple of year-end roundups. I don’t remember which ones exactly. It wasn’t Pitchfork or Stereogum. Nor The Quietus. Well, who knows. Anyway: this isn’t really in my wheelhouse, musically. But every now and again I do try and sample from well-regarded stuff from this end of the pool, because sometimes I’ll latch onto it. Did this one take? Ehh, not really. It’s fine, it’s pretty. I just don’t find myself seeking it out.