Song of The Day #104

"Wake Up, Niggers" by The Last Poets

The Last Poets were the coolest cats in town back in the day, progenitors of hip-hop hellbent on both subversion and equality. Their "Wake Up, Niggers", a well-written call to blacks everywhere to stand up and fight for themselves and to whites everywhere to back the fuck off, is especially cool and radical--radical as in maverick/revolutionary, not as in "that's rad, bro!" Although it is pretty rad, bro.

Song of The Day #103

"Ladyflash" by The Go! Team

I think most of us kind of pushed The Go! Team to the back of our hard drives and forgot about them a year or so after Thunder, Lightning, Strike came out. It was a great album, a fun album, a relatively unique album. And while this might just be my own personal experience, the hype for the group seemed to die a pretty quick death. That said, when I heard "Ladyflash" yesterday for the first time in probably two years, I swiftly remembered why I loved the band for a (brief) period of time. Sounding almost like a live version of an Avalanches song, "Ladyflash" goes through several stylistically unique parts deftly and enthusiastically. It's fun, it's happy, it's different. Though I maintain that the band as a whole is (was?) nothing too earth-shaking, this song is.

Song of The Day #102

"Church of The Poison Mind" by Culture Club

Cool fact: Boy George and I share a birthday. That might be why I think Culture Club is criminally underrated. While I'm yet to really explore their discography, I must say, I love their hits--and I think "Church of The Poison Mind" is my favorite. It's catchy and it's surprisingly complex musically; the song has a lot of different, diverse parts, and they work together quite nicely.

Poll Results: Cities, Dance Music, etc.

This past poll asked you which city's indigenous style of dance music you like best. Was it Detroit's techno, Chicago's house (or perhaps juke), Berlin's minimal, London dubstep/wonky/other, or something else (such as B-more club or Miami bass or something)? We had a tie at the top between Chicago and Detroit, which both earned 40% of the votes. I'm glad those two were at the top because, well, those are both cities close to my heart, and Detroit techno and Chicago house have informed much of the dance music I listen to.

Berlin, with its minimal techno aesthetic, pulled in the remaining 20% of the votes while London and its ever-changing scene based around dubstep failed to receive any votes. Poor London. It's a nice city, but I agree that some of that wonky and whatnot is pretty lame.

So that's that. This next poll asks you, in anticipation of Pitchfork's 200 Best Tracks of the '90s, what your favorite '90s one-hit wonder is. I'm giving a handful of choices to pick from, but there are about a million one-hit wonders from that decade, so feel free to choose "other"--and if you do, please leave a comment.

Song of The Day #101

"Virginia Reel Around The Fountain" by The Halo Benders

A latecomer to The Halo Benders, I was kinda shocked at how freaking good they are. Sounding like the cross of Beat Happening and Built To Spill that they are, their music is complex and juvenile at the same time. It's funny, it's weird, and, I gotta say, I prefer them--I think--at least to Built To Spill overall. This song, especially, is a gem. With its sprawling post-rock guitarwork and double vocal performance (sometimes reminiscent in the best way possible of "Lady Godiva's Operation") "Virginia Reel" is really, truly awesome.

Song of The Day #100

"Schizophrenia" by Sonic Youth

Yes, we made it. Song of The Day number 100. Il Buono's centennial. What a glorious day. Truly though, I'm guessing you didn't think I would keep this up like I did--I know I didn't. But here we are: at number 100.

I thought it fitting to commemorate the big one-oh-oh with one of my favorite songs of the day ever by one of my favorite bands ever, Sonic Youth; none of the previous 99 songs are by the band. And "Schizophrenia" is a true masterpiece. The opening track from Sonic Youth's work-of-genius, Sister, "Schizophrenia" is a cool, relaxed bit of noise-rock that's at once chaotic and beautiful, wild and peaceful, unruly and collected. One might venture to call its constant mood swings--both lyrically and texturally--schizophrenic.

Anyhow, I've decided to include a listing of all the songs of the days, listed 1 through 100. They are blocked off in 80-ish minute chunks in case you want to burn all of them onto CDs and make a collection of 8 super-awesome mixtapes. See them all after the jump:

Pitchfork's Top Music Videos of the 1990s

I don't know about you, but I'm always in the mood for a new Pitchfork staff list. (Especially when it involves videos and I'm sitting here on my couch on painkillers 'cause I just got my wisdom teeth out.) The site's most recent list counts down their 50 favorite music videos from the glorious decade that was the '90s--a list that comes complete with one of their best gifs ever.