SINGLE SPOTLIGHT

i dont listen to a lot of new music, especially from big artists, because 90% of the time all that shit sounds the exact same. that said, i do have my exceptions. you know, they might be giants, smaller artists, and recently chemical brothers. i think they've absolutely held up over the years, and No Reason is an excellent example of that. i really love the bass here, its such an earworm and i can't get enough of it. i also really love the implementation of marching snares, i think marching band pecussion is super underrated and should be used wayyyy more. (shoutouts to War Season from Lisa The Painful, in that regard.) speaking of which, the music video here is excellent. i like how the choreographers are sorta imperfect, you can see them falter at certain points and it makes you wonder if they only had like, a day to record this. but because of that, it reminds me a lot of the old days of music videos, stuff like Here it Goes Again by OK GO, the main effects and gimmicks here are pretty simple here. it's just a neon filter, but it's super effective.

can't believe it's taken me this long to talk about Soul Coughing. one of my favorite discoveries ive made in recent times, i really love Mike Doughty's unique vocal performances, it's the main draw for me. funnily enough, these guys actually worked with TMBG for Mink Car, on songs like Mr Xcitement and Your Mom's Alright. as luck would have it, though, there's another collaboration that caught my attention even more. Propellerheads! MAN those guys get around. they dip their toes into EVERYTHING. Super Bon Bon was already a song i really liked, and the big beat flair Propellerheads bring to the table is excellent. i love the keyboard in the main chorus, that with the drums added on is absolute class. the increased tempo also adds a ton, Super Bon Bon was originally a pretty slow song and making it faster was genius. this is what every remix should be, it has the same core parts, while still adding a unique twist.

i found this song as a diamond in the rough. ie, i found it through the Wipeout Fusion soundtrack. let it be known, that game is pretty whatever, but apparently the people deciding on the soundtrack didn't get the memo because every song is awesome. Bassheads is such an addicting track, it was the only thing i was listening to for the three days or so after i found it. the main lyrical loop is so simple and short, but it worms its way into your head so fast, and never leaves. i should really listen to more of Cut La Roc's discography sometime... future Mot, if you ever end up doing that, update this.

i'll admit it, i'm no Weezer expert. i've always had a passing affinity for them because of my dad, but i've never delved into their discography all that much. only recently did i listen to all of Pinkerton for the first time, and i thought it was pretty good. that was spurred on by my discovery of this song, though. I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams, besides being a MOUTHFUL of a title, is only on the deluxe version of Pinkerton, so you'll have to excuse the ugly ass album art above. it's so weird hearing a vocalist that isn't Cuomos, but i think it adds a ton to the track, so i don't mind. the typical Weezer signatures are here, that one synth they love using, lyrics about generic love stuff, all that jazz. even so, however, this track is SO catchy, and i couldn't get it out of my head for the longest time. it makes me wonder why they didn't put it on the normal version of the album... it feels like it fits in perfectly with the rest of the songs. ah well, i'll never understand how this band works. either way, i originally found this song through an animation i got recommended on youtube, and that shit was awesome, so i recommend checking that out. it's got such old flash animation vibes, it's kinda janky but i think that really adds to it.

i really love Rage Against The Machine, and Zack de la Rocha is a huge part of that. i think his vocal performance is super unique and powerful, i can't get enough of it. but lesser known is his offshoot duo with Jon Theodore, One Day as a Lion. they only did one release, their eponymous EP, and Wild International is the highlight for me. just like Rage, the powerful, driving force of the heavy, distorted guitars, Zack's fast-talking, aggressive vocals and the overpowering drums all come together to make something really great here. if you like Rage, ODAL is like a nifty little secret collection of songs that have a very similar flavor.