THROWBACK 2007 || Mishka Shubaly: "The Only One Drinking Tonight"

First off, a nod to Doug Stanhope, whose podcast is bookended by both this song and my last Throwback post. Good finds, and right up Stanhope's alley, whose belligerent questioning of all social mores and conformist values basically positions the comic as the nearest thing to Bill Hicks in the last 20 years. The man also has a penchant for beer and cocktails, which presumably makes Mishka Shubaly kind of his personal Elliott Smith.

THROWBACK 2003 || The Mattoid: "Party Time"

I don't know if Ville Kiviniemi a.k.a. The Mattoid is intentionally trying to sound like a Caribbean version of Arnold Schwarzennegar or not, but damn if it isn't effective. I don't know a lot about this guy, but he appears to be to Nashville what Moondog was to New York and Wesley Willis was to Chicago: an irascible outsider art guy that happened to choose music as his medium, and never really made it too clear whether he was in on the joke or not.

Carcass: "Captive Bolt Pistol"

In case you're wondering, a captive bolt pistol is the thingy Anton Chigur dispatched his victims with in No Country for Old Men. A little late on the reference, there, Carcass are, but you're talking one of the most eagerly anticipated studio reunions in years, so a forgiving eye is in order here. Judging from the fairly no frills songwriting here, I'm going to assume that the band are going the route that has become typical for metal bands these days... putting out the more simplistic, meat & potatoes track as first single and saving the more challenging shit for the more hardcore fans that buy the album. "Captive Bolt Pistol" is a pretty strong comeback effort, but for a band of Carcass' caliber it's going to require more than 40-50 minutes of this.

Lee Bannon: "NW/WB"

Ah, I miss drill & bass. I don't even think people call it that anymore, even in hindsight, but it used to represent the art contingent of drum & bass producers a la Richard James and Squarepusher. Mr. Lee Bannon brings it back strong here with an early dubstep-influenced banger, back when the latter meant sinister dub and a nod to grime instead of airraid siren nu rave.

Duck Sauce: "It's You"

You ever meet one of those middle-aged adults who somehow think they're being progressive by listening to LMFAO? "I like that they're having fun and not taking themselves seriously", is often the justification for such ill-conceived fandom. Yeah, well, that doesn't mean the fun is being conveyed to me, motherfucker. ICP look like they're having fun too, doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy feeding them and their whole crew to a tree shredder and oiling the gears with Faygo. Anyway, in a perfect world Duck Sauce would be the fun time, party duo getting blared from every stadium soundsystem instead of Berry Gordy Jr.'s trust fund kids.

Local Natives: "You & I"

The increased emphasis on nuanced, soulful singing as late seems to finally be putting a stake through the hearts of both one-dimensional emo singing and the flat, monotone singer-songwriter schtick (sorry, but having a shitty voice alone does not imbue your material with character). Local Natives are fresh out of Silver Lake, Los Angeles - a.k.a. Williamsburg West - and only two albums in they've already settled into a nice groove of accessible yet intelligently written indie pop. Basically the kind of thing you would expect given their origin (the cover of Hummingbird even plays on the uber-trend of 3D sidewalk art) though in practice they come off as more exceptional than typical.

Matia Aguayo: "Levantate Diegor"

The conceit for "Levantate Diegors"'s video is paper thin - Matia Aguayo attempts to rouse a lethargic sidekick to the English refrain of "get up!" - but the music itself is anything but, an affectionate blend of techno and Tropicalia that brings to mind Mala, though rhythmically a bit more hard hitting.

Majical Cloudz: "Bugs Don't Buzz"

"The happiest songs end with a smile", Devon Welsh croons, but the way he's singing it you know up front this isn't going to be one of those songs. "Bugs Don't Buzz" has to be one of the more unrelentingly bleak pop songs in recent memory, an insistent piano chord underscoring the austere drudge of humanity. It's kind of pretty, no?

Weekend: "It's Alright"

Interesting mix of period styles here, Britpop-inflected shoegaze with a martial-lite, industrial percussive backing. Somewhere in the intersection where Jesus & Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins and Cabaret Voltaire were meant to collide - and never did - resides this.

Part Time: "I Want to Go"

The weird thing about the intentionally damaged production on much of today's retro music is that, while it's clearly intended to resemble a worn cassette tape, it sounds just as much like the kind of bad MP3-encoding that was prevalent in the early days of Napster. Doesn't really matter, I guess, since I spent the turn of the millennium hunting down 80's one hit wonders that I hadn't heard in 10-15 years by that point. Hard to believe that an equivalent amount of time has passed since I first went self-consciously archival in my music collecting. Guess that's what listening to these throwback tunes will do for you.