Critter Jams
@critterjams
I do mixes and mashups and whatnot as "Ratboy Slim" I also write about music (kinda) here:
YESSONGS I really have no idea how this cover is gonna show up on Bluesky. Just wanted to brag I got a nice cheap copy of this that was actually clean. Still can’t believe I got to see Jon and his new crew perform many of these songs just as well as they’re presented here.
WEEN - THE POD I never agreed with the notion that you have to be high to truly *get* an album, though I might make an exception for this one. Its brain damaged in a very specific way. If the way "Demon Sweat" falls apart midsong makes you laugh uncontrollably then you're probably there already.
THE HUMAN LEAGUE - DARE For a long time all I knew about this album is that it had "Don't You Want Me" on it, which they initially thought wasn't good enough for the LP. Sounds crazy but its not totally wrong!
BEASTIE BOYS - CHECK YOUR HEAD It's remarkable how different the first 3 Beastie Boys albums are. You don't see that a lot with bands that had success right out of the gate. I like the B&W cover because it's their least colorful album, but it rocks the hardest. Even the jazz stuff rips.
DECISIVE PINK - TICKET TO FAME This gets compared to Ann Steel and Laurie Anderson a lot, but to me it’s more like Dare by the Human League. Crazy amount of hooks, vocals sound great, and it gets adventurous often. Also feels like it’s custom tailored to my exact taste which is nice.
CARDIACS - ON LAND AND IN THE SEA One trick I've learned when you're in a conversation with another music nerd who you suspect may have different music taste than you: recommend this album. Either they love it or they think you're cuckoo bananas. Win/win!!
CAN - RITE TIME Reunion albums tend to be footnotes, often a sad one, but sometimes a pleasant surprise. This one on the other hand is a total wtf - is this really what Can would've sounded like in the 80's? Weirdly ornate, almost inhuman, and then there's Mooney doing Wesley Willis. Hilarious.
TOWA TEI - ZOUNDTRACKS I guess this is Towa's version of chamber music? Few beats, even fewer vocals, just pretty sounds. Dare I say he's trying to make an 80's Haruomi Hosono album. Good on him because he more or less nails it. Sure the tracks are short but you can always play it twice.
HARMONIA - MUSIK VON HARMONIA Talk about being ahead of your time. This album sold about 20 copies when it was released. Maybe this sounds way more alien when divorced from its era. It might actually be impossible to make something like this now. But their way of thinking feels so eternally modern.
CARDIACS - THE SEASIDE I find it so amusing that these guys were so hated in the 80s. There was so much intentionally wacky stuff out there that most can just ignore but with these guys it's so apparent that what they were doing was brilliant on some level, and maybe some just didn't like that.
STARCASTLE - FOUNTAINS OF LIGHT You can picture the members of Yes hearing this and saying "God, is this what people think we sound like?? We need to immediately make Going For the One!!" Except Jon, who probably really liked it. Well, I really like it too. The silliness actually sells it for me.
oh. but when you make shit that looks like this you probably think its very good. funny how that works
SOUL COUGHING - RUBY VROOM 30th anniversary reissue!! To think the New York hipster look is as old now as mod fashion was back in 94. This album’s dated weird. Sometimes it makes you cringe. Sometimes you swear they’re the second coming of Can. Right now I’m digging the shit outta it.
the members of Coldplay watching everyone turn the CEO affair scandal into endless memes about how Coldplay sucks: