This is my first recommendation, so I will go easy on all of you. The following description is from my website. (it is the only way to do the song justice):
This can only be compared to something like "Retro-60's Upside-down Elevator Muzak".
(although it certainly draws from 20's/ 30's Big Band escapism)
The thing is, if this actually were playing in an elevator, the people there would certainly perform an odd ritual of alternately:
a. Merrily tapping their foot, and then
b. Looking up at the speaker, frowning and befuddled.
This is a song, which back in my partying days, we would use as a soundtrack for the following activity:
We would put our tiny baby Alligator Lizard, Festus
(who was an inch long, head to tail, and smaller around than a pencil)
...we would put him on this cheap little multi-colored fiber-optic "fountain" and put the clear cube back over it.
We would then watch as this "fountain" would very slowly spin around, Festus aboard, with this completely absurd (but oddly beautiful) music playing.
This produced near-catastrophic laughter because he would be looking up at you with this little tiny frown, as if to say;
"what the hell is wrong with you people?"
To this day, I cannot properly answer that question.
R.I.P., Festus.
Additional info:
The sax is not my favorite instrument, but it is perfectly utilized here. It wavers between slightly obnoxious and smooth as silk.
What really make the track sweet, however are the unique guitar stylings of Snakefinger.
from The Tunes of Two Cities (Ralph America See also: Cryptic Corporation), available on CD (Ralph America)
This is a truly unique song, from a beyond unique band. Mr. Bungle has a rabid, almost cult-like following, and songs like this are the reason why.
This band has always drawn on many different, widely varying influences, including ska, grindcore, jazz, and funky beats, to name just a few.
This track displays a whole new direction for the band, with dreamy, ethereal bass and piano interplay, retro-vocal harmonies, and an almost rapturous climactic sequence, followed by a melancholy fade-out.
This is a work composed by Bassist Trevor Dunn, (a true talent) and I feel it is more than worthy of a place on this list.
The album is a classic, I highly recommend it for people with just about any kind of musical taste.
I am providing a review/ option to purchase:
HERE
from California (Warner Bros. 47447), available on CD
Here is a prime example of the endless amount of creativity this band had.
They take a song/ concept from a broadway musical, and transform it into an unparalelled, irresistable rock classic.
(That you will NEVER F*#%ing HEAR on a "Classic Rock Station" - They choose stale ClearChannel Playlists over quality & taste)
Alice & the band (his best lineup ever, 1969-74) have created a masterpiece of imaginative rock music here.
The sequence beginning with:
"...Midnight/ Catfight/ Neckbite/ ...Die!"
...and the following interlude leading up to the
'Street Fight' and including the 'Jets Chant'
is one of my favorite pieces of music EVER, by ANYONE.
I get chills to this day.
I wonder if Leonard Bernstein ever heard this, and what he thought.
The "Hot Rats" album really set the notion in motion of FZ as a 'Composer'.
I remember as a child, seeing his band perform this on 'Saturday Night Live',
and how exciting it was to see Frank Zappa in action, and this band of virtuoso musicians tackling this unbelievably complicated musical work.
In my opinion, the use of a horn section in rock music had always added an element of cheesiness, but with this song it is a necessary element.
Besides, "Cheesy" was often Zappa's middle name, and nobody did it better.
He turned it into an art form.
The original version featured multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood who along with his wife,
the infamous Ruth, became fixtures in Zappa's lineup in the years to come.
This band is one of the tightest, most aggressive and imaginative 'hardcore' acts in modern music today.
This track would be a perfect introduction to NMN for the uninitiated listener.
If you like this one, you have about a dozen albums' worth of catching up to do.
Just marvel at the uninhibited pounding and tightly-woven rhythmic tapestries unleashed by bassist/ vocalist Rob Wright on 'Victim's Choice'.
NoMeansNo's style here can possibly be described as
'Devo Meets The Dead Kennedys'
...if one was so inclined to describe things.
This band just constantly and consistently manages to pour it on extra-tight, extra-heavy, and maniacally complex within the usually confining genre of 'Hardcore'.
(call it what you want, I am just attempting to simplify things here)
So don't be shy! This band will please a wide variety of listeners, from Jazz-Heads to Metal-Heads and many of the in-between-heads alike.