Music Library: Flying Lizards, Flying Luttenbachers, Follow For Now, Foo Fighters

The Flying Lizards - "Money (That's What I Want)." A Kraftwerkish cover by a British art-rock band.

The Flying Luttenbachers - Destroy All Music (1995), The Void (2004), and Cataclysm (2006). Skronky, hard-to-classify music (is it jazz? metal? no wave? minimalism?). As beautiful as it is aggressive, this music is the brainchild of a single man, one Weasel Walter, who recruits sidemen to flavor his albums. Wikipedia claims that the latter two are part of an apocalyptic narrative sweep with a sci-fi bent. That's not hard to believe, but completely unnecessary to my appreciation of the albums. Destroy All Music features avant-jazz saxophonist Ken Vandermark, and shreds in a more jazz-like way. The latter two have Walter in a trio with the same guitarist and bassist (although Cataclysm adds another guitarist) and they have a more spaz-metal feel. Except when they're droning or playing a Messiaen piece. Rewarding music, but it's not for the faint of heart.

Follow For Now - Follow For Now (1991). Atlanta's answer to Fishbone and Living Colour. I saw these guys play 2 or 3 times in 1990 and 1991, and they were show-stoppingly awesome every time. This album is pretty good, too, in the same way that Fishbone's Truth and Soul is pretty good. But I hear that the lead guy has gone on to play in such keepin'-it-real style punk-funk bands as The Dave Matthews Band and as a sideman for John Mayer. So there's that.

Foo Fighters - "In Your Honor." Poppy! But I don't get (and have never gotten) the hype.