August 11th, 2008
1. Teenage Fanclub, "Is This Music?"
"Is This Music?" by Teenage Fanclub
Who knows—besides the members of the Scottish band themselves—what Teenage Fanclub were referring to with the title of the final song on the classic Bandwagonesque. Perhaps they didn't think it was music if it didn't have lyrics, or maybe it was just too cheerful and simple. Whatever the case, "Is This Music?" surely is music, a terrifically soaring way to end an album that holds up years later—if it didn't turn out to be as influential as 1991's other big hype, Nirvana's Nevermind.
2. Pavement, "Heckler Spray"
"Heckler Spray" by Pavement
Pavement had already released a pair of buzz-gathering seven-inch singles when they made the jump to 10 big inches for Perfect Sound Forever. And how to herald their leap into the semi-big-time? With a one-minute EP-opening instrumental in which Gary Young pounds his drums slowly in a modified Bo Diddley beat while guitarists Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg lay down twin riffs: one chugging, one stuttering. "Heckler Spray" is a grinding, spitting indie-rocker designed to shut the crowd up so the band can start the show.
3. Rush, "YYZ"
Instrumental tracks often seem like breathers for bands, but with Rush, nothing is ever that simple. "YYZ" takes its name from the airport code for the band's hometown, Toronto, and the song itself translates the letters into Morse code and uses that as the basis for its rhythms. But if you just want to listen to it rather than do the math, it still rocks pretty hard. (Also, this animated fan video—fanimation?—is amazing.)
4. Cake, "Arco Arena"
Most of Cake's music is about the funky, nerdy white-boy strut and John McCrea's chant-along vocals. McCrea's voice works almost like another instrument, establishing a choppy beat and rhythm fit to get stiff hipsters in '50s glasses pogoing along. Which is why the 91-second "Arco Arena," off the band's breakout album Comfort Eagle, is such a pleasant anomaly. A promo version with vocals was released as a single, but the album cut is an insinuating, creepy, slinky instrumental that sounds about as far off Cake's usual fare as George Harrison's sitar experiments were from The Beatles' early rock.
5. Fugazi, "Brendan #1"
"Brendan #1" by Fugazi
Fugazi dabbled in the occasional instrumental, and much of the Instrument soundtrack is dedicated to lyric-free bits, but the ones they occasionally chose for album inclusion are truly masterful. "Sweet And Low" from In On The Kill Taker is incredible, but it's edged out by the band-defining "Brendan #1," from Repeater, which essentially sums up Fugazi's energy with no yelping or shouting.
6. New Order, "Elegia"
Low-Life is New Order's most danceable, most technopop-informed album, but it also contains one of the band's saddest songs: the instrumental "Elegia," which runs mournful guitar plucking under synthesizers that sound alternately like a funeral mass and the stalker theme from Halloween. It's as powerful, evocative, and emotional a song as New Order ever recorded, and it was put to beautiful use in the Academy Award-nominated animated short More, where the song signifies the persistence of discontent.
7. Led Zeppelin, "Moby Dick"
Led Zeppelin albums featured instrumental tracks ranging from the memorable to the cringe-inducing, but none were mightier than this crushing number from Led Zeppelin II. Although a showcase for John Bonham's brawling drum solo, it's also got a killer blues-funk intro on guitar and bass.
8. The Who, "The Ox"
It didn't take long for The Who's John "The Ox" Entwistle to establish why he was one of the best rock 'n' roll bass players ever: The last track on the band's first album proves it as he cranks out a punishingly heavy bassline while a feedback-drenched guitar, Keith Moon's manic drums, and a crazed boogie piano go absolutely berserk.
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