Soundtrack for 05/02 -- 05/06.

05/02 – 05/06:
Paper Tiger, Made Like Us

Paper Tiger, one of the producers for the unstoppable Doomtree collective, absolutely enthralled me on his full-length debut last year. Heavily reminiscent of DJ Shadow in his prime, the haunting soundscapes and dark ruminations he conjures here are fantastic.

Paper Tiger, "2nd Day Back"


Atmosphere, The Family Sign
The rare rap group that seems to be aging gracefully, Atmosphere are back with an album that builds on the developments of their last outing. Slug's skills as a storyteller have gotten sharper even as his subject matter has gotten more mature (and not in the movie rating way, in the real life way). The inclusion of live instrumentation by members of their touring band really gives the album a unified sound. Most of it is pretty dark, but there are points of light, like single "She's Enough," which is remarkable not only for being so much happier than most of the album, but for being a happy relationship song from the notoriously disgruntled Slug.

Atmosphere, "She's Enough"


PJ Harvey, To Bring You My Love
Ah, 1997. Or was it 1996? Not being too hip as a teenager, it was "Down By the Water" making it to radio & Mtv that first brought PJ to my attention. But I'm a quick study when it comes to music, and soon had all the back catalog. I love that every PJ Harvey record sounds different. I really respect her desire to continually try new things. But I'll always have a real soft spot for this one.

PJ Harvey, "Down By the Water"


Candiria, 300 Percent Density
The last album before their van accident which had the baffling side effect of making them go in a weird, radio-friendly direction (and then break up), 300 Percent Density is probably the apex of Candiria's career. Fully integrating their love of hardcore, jazz, hip hop, and electronic music, it's everything that made them great.

Candiria, "Without Water"


Fear Factory, Demanufacture
Still the best Fear Factory album. Still one of my go-to records when I need to get my energy up.

Fear Factory, "Zero Signal"


Meshuggah, Obzen
The most recent Meshuggah record is still amazing. It sounds like it was being played by a factory, so complex and precise is the music presented. A very angry factory.

Meshuggah, "Combustion"


Tom Jones, Reloaded
One of the very few hits packages in my record collection. I'm not sure I (or anybody?) needs a vast selection of Tom Jones, but you got to have the classics. "Delilah" has always made me chuckle. It's such a weird song, and a weird song to be sung by him, and he just went for it.

Tom Jones, "Delilah"

Yup.

--D