In which we tell you about awesome things that you must look into and enjoy.

“Left and Leaving” by The Weakerthans

The Weakerthans are a band that you probably have heard of from that one guy at work that you don’t like very much. He’s probably very skinny, wears superfluous glasses and has a perfectly trimmed mustache. I’m hopeful that you won’t let that put you off because this band is phenomenal. They are pensive, introspective and all the shit that normal, boring hipster bands are. The good news for you, however, is that there are two exceptions with this band. First of all, they were doing this shit before hipster was even a thing (not worth much, but it should give them some credit). Secondly, and far more importantly, is the fact that this band knows how to fucking crank out the jams when they need to. If you listen to an average Decemberists album you will find mostly docile tunes with words that are far too big to be cool. The Weakerthans take that mentality and jam the ideals of Propaghandi right into it. That’s right; this band was formed from a small part of the great Canadian punk band’s ashes. So the next time you want to write this band off because someone named Preston or Forest recommends them to you, take a step back and throw this album onto your iPod. Then punch those douches square in their sourpuss faces. – JRN

       BUTTER 08

Side projects are sometimes the most inspired projects. In 1996, Grand Royal released a self-titled CD from a group calling themselves Butter 08. The ensemble consisted of Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto, Russell Simins of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Rick Lee of Skeleton Key, and Mike Mills. Legend has it that they came together as one during a Cibo Matto recording session. It is the only album ever produced by this group of people. It contains one of the least uniform track lists I’ve ever heard. And it will rock your face off.

Butter 08 is a versatile, energetic, often noisy little album. It wastes no time in turning it up to 11. Its first track, the uneasy “9mm,” showcases Yuka Honda’s lovely, clear singing–and, after a few measures of that, her playground-style shouting, while Mike Mills (director of the film Thumbsucker) rips up the bass like a cat would a roll of toilet paper. But just as “9mm” is raw garage punk, so will another track be a solid lounge piece with swooning organ work by Miho Hatori (How Do I Relax?), or a danceable groove featuring a funk-infused bass line and the sexy depths of Russell Simins’s larynx (What Are You Wearing?), or a frenetic mambo (Dick Serious). The music is strangely timeless, however–it sounds like it could have been written at any time during the span of 1980 to yesterday.

This album is more than special, possibly due to its limited popularity despite being around for almost two decades. Maybe it’s because it turned out to be Butter 08’s only output. Or perhaps it’s because the Grand Royal record label of Beastie Boys fame has since vanished. Whatever the reason, there’s a sense of rarefied lore around this project. The listener gets the feeling that this album is something that could have only been created by this specific group of artists, in New York, in 1996 (though it sounds nothing like what you think of when you hear the phrase “90’s music”). To possess it is to experience a moment of strange, amazing musical history. Like accidentally catching a meteor shower you didn’t even hear about on the news.-EW