LEATHAL WEAPON 3 - DIE HARD 2

ARTIST: A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
ALBUM: THE LOW END THEORY
SONG: BUGGIN' OUT
DATE:  SEPTEMBER 24, 1991
STATUS: ACQUIRED

Listening to "A Peoples Too Damn Long Album Title" I can't help but feel that Phife Dawg was Robin to Q-Tip's Batman. The same can't be said for "The Low End Theory", and this track in particular. Phife comes right out of the box swinging. His jittering intensity and ability to channel Jamaican influences are dynamic. Q-Tip's style, though cool, is a little less interesting.

That's why Quest is great. Q-Tip and Phife Dawg have such different styles and each is capable of pushing out in front of the other on a track or two before the other responds and raises his game.  Buggin' Out is Phife's territory.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE AND NARY A DROP TO DRINK

ARTIST: NIRVANA
ALBUM: NEVERMIND
SONG: COME AS YOU ARE
DATE: MARCH, 3, 1992
STATUS: ACQUIRED

The second single from Nevermind is certainly darker than "Smells Like Teen Spirit", but lyrically it carries on in the same vain. Making sense isn't important, at least not in a literal sense, but poetically something breaks through, some sense of being pulled in multiple directions and a deep suspicion of being manipulated, but not knowing why, and an understanding that not taking a stand, not getting engaged is the only way to break free.

LIKE CLIMBING THE ROPE IN GYM CLASS

ARTIST: GEORGE MICHAEL
ALBUM: N/A
SONG: TOO FUNKY
DATE: JULY 12, 1992
STATUS: ACQUIRED

For a fifteen-year-old boy there are just way to many super models in this video to handle in any constructive and productive manner, and for any serious music critic there's just way to much fashion in this video to take Michael seriously. Add that complaint to the general flotsam and jetsam of Michael's life; drugs, sexuality, charity, and its hard for some people to see to the core of his talent. He's a really good R&B singer, and one that's not afraid to make a big club anthum.

REX STARDUST

ARTIST: TOAD THE WET SPROCKET
ALBUM: IN LIGHT SYRUP
SONG: GOOD INTENTIONS
DATE: OCTOBER 31, 1995
STATUS: NOT ACQUIRED

I think these guys met while jamming out in the teacher's lounge. That's the only answer that makes sense right?

We tend to forget how big Toad the Wet Sprocket was. "In Light Syrup" was an album of B-Sides. That's right, the world's lust for Toad was so strong that they put out an album of songs that weren't good enough to be on previous albums or released as singles, and you know what, they're pretty good songs. The album toped out at #37 on the charts, and "Good Intentions" made it all the way to 23.

BIRCHMOUNT STADIUM, HOME OF THE ROBBIE

ARTIST: BARENAKED LADIES
ALBUM: STUNT
SONG: ONE WEEK
DATE: SEPTEMBER 22, 1998
STATUS: ACQUIRED

I'm pretty sure the verses have nothing to do with the chorus. On one side you have a song about relationships, fighting and making up, and on the other side you have just some of the maddest lyrics ever written. Seriously, whose Bert Kaempfert?

Also, I really have no idea what's happening in this video. Did they each get to pick a theme? Its going to take a week, or two days, that's all we know for sure.

THEY CALL IT ROAD ROCK! GET YOUR SUMMER OFF.

ARTIST: URBAN DANCE SQUAD
ALBUM: MENTAL FLOSS FOR THE GLOBE
SONG: DEEPER SHADE OF SOUL
DATE: 1990
STATUS: NOT ACQUIRED

UDS was way ahead of their time; releasing their rap/rock pioneer efforts two years before Rage Against the Machine even got together, and they're Dutch, which somehow makes sense. They love rock, they love rap, both those things are American so they must go together right.

My friend Joe picked up this album when we were 13. Deeper Shade of Soul was the only song on the album we liked. It wasn't necessarily that the rest of the album was bad, it was just too far out.

This song, and this video are perfect for the start of summer.

MEMENTO MORI

ARTIST: MAZZY STAR
ALBUM: SO TONIGHT THAT I MIGHT SEE
SONG: INTO DUST
DATE: OCT. 5 1993
STATUS: ACQUIRED

Mazzy Star made it cool to be sad, even sexy. Never officially released as a single, "Into Dust" haunts and simmers just below a boil.

We never know what's coming our way, and its usually more epic than we understand, and like us it is already returning to from wence it came, and that's all kinds of beautiful.