Five & Five on Friday 9/29/23
Happy Friday! Congratulations on making it to the end of the week. As you head into your weekend, here are five recommendations and then five micro reviews of albums from my high school CD collection. Maybe you’ll find something new to read, listen to, or do this weekend. See you next week!
If you’re reading this letter on the day that I published it and happen to live in New York, congratulations! You still have time to get your ticket to see me drum with Dan Rico at Union Pool tonight! We’re playing first, so come early and get ready to dance. If you want a taste of what we’re playing, check out Dan’s brand new single “Maybe I’m Scared”, out now!
I was psyched to see that the WGA strike is finally be drawing to a close, but the fight is far from over. Just like at the nonsense Google are trying to pull with their employees at YouTube Music. Since technical YouTube Music employees are contracted by Cognizant, Google is refusing to bargain with the YouTube Music Union. Of course Cognizant aren’t going to budge until Google does, so YouTube Music employees are stuck in a buck-passing game of catch between the two companies. I hope this strike helps knock some sense into both companies.
Speaking of music and YouTube, I appreciated this quick survey of the Melodic Minor Modes from our old friends at 8-Bit Music Theory. As a drummer I’ve never had any reason to get too familiar with any of the modes outside of the major scale, so this video works as a great piece of reference material in case I (or you!) ever decide to get real jazzy anytime soon. Some of these modes sounds Steely Dan as HECK.
Speaking of YouTube generally, I loved this short video of game designer Hideo Kojima raiding the Criterion Closet. Kojima’s most well known work (Metal Gear Solid, Death Stranding) draws a lot of inspiration from American cinema, specifically action movies an spy thrillers, so I was pleasantly surprised to see him instead highlight classic Japanese films from the 50s and 60s. I’ve only seen three of the films he picked (High & Low, Late Spring, and Woman In The Dunes) but if those are anything to go by, the guy picked nothing but bangers. Can’t wait to catch up on the rest of the selections!
And one last video, this time from YouTube’s Adam Neely about whether the Icelandic singer Laufey qualifies as a jazz musician. I’m no position to weigh in, having not heard Laufey (yet) and having no real experience playing jazz, but this video covers a lot of subjects that I find fascinating including: genre as a social construct, gatekeeping vs gateway artists, the material history of popular music, the musician’s strike of the 1940s and the effect of the pandemic on the music industry. Good job, Mr. Neely!
Now, onto the five micro reviews. Long time Lamniformes Instagram followers will recognize these from my stories back in late 2020, however they’ve been re-edited and spruced up with links so that you can actually hear the music instead of just taking my word for it.
Pornography by The Cure (1982) - Post-punk
After falling in love with Disintegration I wanted to hear the rest of The Cure’s “trilogy”. I was unprepared for how dark and cavernous this one was, but I was just as hooked. If you listen to my music you can probably tell what a profound effect the song “Cold” had on me. What I love is that even the uptempo tunes feel hollowed out and “un-lifelike”. The final two tracks merely expose the rot and violence that lurks beneath the tunes preceding them.
Mr. Beast by Mogwai (2006) - Post Rock
If pressured, I don’t think I could explain what makes me prefer one Mogwai record over another. Most of them are about as good as the others, they’re consistent in form if not in timbre, and none of any extra musical flavor to distinguish themselves. For whatever reason, I didn’t prefer this one for years. Not sure what my problem was, this is good Mogwai. Wistful and dry in equal measure. It’s very emotionally reserved for a record as loud as this one often is.
Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails (2007) - Industrial
A concept record about a dystopian American future with a sprawling ARG tie-in that musically stripped down the NIN sound to its ugliest and most abrasive parts. I thought this was the coolest damn thing in the universe when it came out, and it holds up great! Probably too well actually lol. It feels hack to call it prescient, let’s just say its appropriately descriptive of the world. All we’re missing is the alien intervention at this point. [Editor’s note: this one’s funny to re-read in 2023]
Guilty As Charged by Bitter End (2010) - Hardcore Punk
Another Deathwish Inc clearance sale pick up. I think I spun this once in college and forgot about it. Big mistake. This is rad. Straight to the point, tough as nails hardcore. Some cool class conscious lyrics, and a bit of surprising acoustic guitar. I bet this band kicks ass live.
The Eraser by Thom Yorke (2006) - Pop
Hard not to wonder what these tunes would sound like if given the full Radiohead treatment, if only to know what the real difference is between Yorke solo and Yorke with friends. One thing you might not expect is how slick some of these bass lines. Lots of sneaky stuff going on under all those micro-beats. “Harrowdown Hill” is the track of choice.