I'm going to start doing intermittent @mcc style "What I'm listening to today" type toots. I've really enjoyed her recommendations and writeups, and I want more of that kind of thing.
@ieure I remember downloading the album with this song specifically because it had been released as creative-commons and they made a really big deal about it on slashdot
What I was listening to last night: "Songs From Under the Floorboard - OFTS Teaser #1 and Much MUCH More"
This is the archived copy of the weekly post-punk/darkwave/synthwave/sometimes edging into industrial show that airs locally here on XRAY FM; it's one of my favorites, and I try to listen every week. They're all good, but last night's was notably great, especially the second half.
What I'm listening to today: "Harvey Danger - Wine, Women & Song (Demo)."
Remember Harvey Danger? They did that one song? This is another song, also by them.
This song was originally released on the "Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes)" EP, then rerecorded for the "Little by Little" album. I first heard it while rummaging through a friend's music library in 2006, in an album called "SXSW 2005 Showcasing Artists," a MP3-only promotional release of artists who played that festival.
The album version of the song is okay, but the demo is Great. The performance on the demo is perfect: great emotion, great phrasing, clever lyrics. Without drums, it's driven by the rhythm of the piano and melody of the vocals, not quite ballad, but not really a Rock Song either. The only real Production here is a bit of reverb on the piano. The minimalism really emphasizes the vocal performance, which has great tone and emotion. Just a fantastic take, absolutely nailed it.
What I'm listening to today: "Jams from the 80's: Recreated on Synthesizers"
This is just a delightful, super satisfying video of someone covering 80s synthpop songs on the same models of synths used to originally make them. Highly recommended.
What I'm listening to today: "The Feast" by Noorvik.
An absolutely epic instrumental prog metal banger from this German band. Fifteen minutes really lets this thing breathe its hypnotic, heavy, multilayered Thing straight into your brainholes.
I have no idea how this got onto my Bandcamp wishlist, but I'm glad it did.
What I'm listening to today: "Dead Meat" by Bolder Damn.
This is the closing track from this nigh unheard-of underground Ft. Lauderdale heavy psych garage rock band, and it's an absolutely epic banger.
There's not much info about them, and they vanished without a trace. The little info I've found is that this whole album was recorded live in studio, which tracks.
Fortunately, the album has seen two modern-day CD rereleases, so it's not as impossible to find as it could be.
This is the absolutely incredible song from their third album, Never Turn Your Back on a Friend, which closes the album out and makes up a quarter of its total runtime.
I love the guitar solo on this song so, so much. Just an incredibly sweet guitar tone, great phrasing, really tells a story. Just phenomenal.
Budgie was another of those really influential bands that never made it big.
> Burke Shelley has said that the band's name came from the fact that he, "loved the idea of playing noisy, heavy rock, but calling ourselves after something diametrically opposed to that".
What I'm listening to today: Rage Against The Machine - First Public Performance Full Concert (HQ)
This is a fixed-camera video of Rage's first concert, in 1991. For a show that happened before the first album was even cut, performed a few months after recording their first demo, everything is remarkably well-formed. These are some of the Rage songs you already know -- even a nascent version of Killing in the Name, which wouldn't get a complete release for five years -- and they absolutely rock. Rage had the chops from day one. What an amazing thing to just wander across these dudes playing at a college, right as they were on the cusp of superstardom.
What I'm listening to today: "Contaminant PCB" by Contagion.
This album is a thick slab of early 90s EBM by a relatively unknown band, even by the standards of the niche genre. This kind of raw & in your face industrial is definitely my jam.
What I'm listening to today: "No Anesthesia" by Stone.
Stone was a successful, short-lived, highly influential Finnish thrash band. This is the title track from their second album, an absolutely epic ten-minute thrash ripper.
None of their albums got significant distribution outside Finland, making them nearly unknown outside their home country, and their music is still difficult to find. They had the chops and timing to ride the same wave that pushed acts like Metallica into the mainstream, but I guess they didn't have the management or label to take advantage.
What I'm listening to today: "Do It Good" by Bill Withers.
This is a deep cut that closes out the A side of his first album. I really like the improvised in the studio energy of this track; the jazzy drumming; and the vocal style that's almost edging into rap territory.
And that "Mr. Jones, Booker T." he mentions in the middle? Yep, that's the frontman of Booker T. and the MGs, who produced it & played guitar and keyboards.
What I'm listening to today: "Cybotron - Cosmic Cars."
This is the second single from Cybotron. Along with their first single, Alleys of your Mind, the duo of Juan Atkins and Richard Davis created and defined the early techno sound. Techno music is pretty white these days, but... it came from Detroit in the late 70s and early 80s, of course it was created by Black artists. They were both influenced heavily by Kraftwerk and Parliament-Funkadelic, and both are readily apparent.
One can trace back a lot of the decline of Detroit directly to racism. Extensive redlining meant that 80% of all home deeds had restrictive covenants preventing their sale to non-whites by 1940. In the postwar era, this meant that returning white veterans could use the G.I. Bill to buy new homes, but Black veterans could not. The structural inequality and white flight decimated the tax base and set the city up for failure.
What I'm listening to today: "Martha and the Vandellas - Heat Wave."
An absolute classic, this song is an early example of the popular Motown sound and helped catapult the band -- and the label -- to fame. Heat Wave was an enormous hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B charts and staying there for over a month.
It's far from a deep cut, but it's one of my very favorite Motown songs, and its feel-good vibe feels perfect for a Friday.
What I'm listening to today: "Depeche Mode 1982-03-30 Rainbow Club, Oberkorn, Luxembourg (HQ video)."
The quality of this short live set from 1982 set has to be seen to be believed. It's a pro level recording, with multiple angles and audio right off the soundboard. It looks and sounds *incredible*, and captures a strange and important transitional era of the band. Vince Clarke had left, and the band was in the process of recording their second album (A Broken Frame) as a trio. And even though Alan Wilder was in the band (and performing with them here), he didn't participate on ABF, even though it wouldn't be released until the end of the year.
ABF is a terrific gem, one of my favorites, and this is a rare, uncommonly clear look into its era.
What I'm listening to today: "The D.O.C. - Return of da Livin' Dead."
The D.O.C. was a very promising Texas rapper, who nearly died in a car crash six months after his first album. The crash crushed his larynx and severely damaged his voice, but he went ahead and released two more albums. This is off the first, which is a pretty odd artifact. It's uneven and has some very weird stuff, but this song is amazing. It's experimental and grimy and hits super hard. His voice is an evil rasp that works perfectly in this context, and the lyricism and flow are astonishing, even before you realize how hard he must have worked to do it. It's a completely unique sound, and I love it.
What I'm listening to today: "Bloodywood - Rakshak."
This is a pretty bangin Indian folk-nu-metal crossover album. I'm really enjoying hearing some new takes on the genre as metal expands and mutates and becomes a more diverse & inclusive genre in the 21st century; this has a lot of that goodness.
What I'm listening to today: "The Panacea - Mortal Sin."
This is a fantastic drum & bass song. Takes a bit to get going, then cranks the intensity to the max.
This is a pretty rare track from Panacea, I first heard it on the Ad Noiseam label sampler/retrospective. I miss that label, they put out a ton of great stuff.