Five on Friday: Michael Cornelius (JFA, Jr. Chemists, Father Figures + more)

(Ed. note: Michael's band with Brendan deVallance, Cornelius deVallance, will be dropping some new songs soon, and we'll be chatting with them about it - stay tuned.)

'The Sweat Descends' by Les Savy Fav

This is obligatory since Les Savy Fav is one of my all-time favorite bands and I won't miss a chance to say so. If you know them, great; if you don't, listen to the album Inches immediately.

'Street Pulse Beat' by Special Interest

New Orleans birthed this unrelenting punk band. Their formula of a drum machine turned up to 11, grinding bass lines, and glass-cutter guitar puts down the perfect base for Ali Logout to sing over. The video for this song is a manifesto that can't be denied.

'Post American' by Dead Pioneers

I'm angry. But I feel a little better knowing that I am not alone. Sometimes you need to hear someone say all the things right out loud.

'Colors Fly' by The Smile

I often wonder why Thom Yorke has already done everything in music that I'm still trying to do. Oh well, I'll just listen and enjoy.

'Nature Boy' by Nat King Cole

Listen to this song and think about how this was recorded before stereo, before multitrack recordings, and before overdubs. This is a singer and an orchestra together in a room making this magic happen and being captured by audio engineers that worked with the precision of NASA. Not only is the song magical, but the origin of the song is even more interesting. There are many accounts of the story online, so I won't recount it here. Just know that Nature Boy was a real person who wrote the song and helped launch Nat King Cole's career by gifting the song to him.