3 July 2025 - The D.O.C. - The Formula

When The D.O.C. was new and the best bud of all the guys in N.W.A., I didn't give him a chance.  

I should have.  No One Can Do It Better is a classic album that absolutely serves as a preview for Straight Outta Compton.  This is where they honed their G-funk sound that combined funky beats with hardcore rap.  

This particular song was written by The D.O.C. and contains significant Marvin Gaye samples.   

Because of an accident, The D.O.C. lost his unique voice early on, but his songwriting lives on.  

Oh, he's not dead, people.  He literally had a car accident that damaged his voice box.  

2 July 2025 - They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng

The opening song and opening single from TMBG's 2nd album, Lincoln, is possibly less goofy than people were expecting.  

What I wasn't expecting was the gated guitar riff throughout, which ties the whole song together.   

The unusual title comes from a browse of the New York City White Pages.  There were literally four pages of "Ng"s.  A common Cantonese last name, it is properly pronounced like the end of the word "song", but I have heard it pronounced as they do - which isn't quite the same Ng - and I have heard it pronounced "En-Gee".  

There ya go.  

Yes, the band is still touring, and yes, they do still play this song.  Here they are, performing it two months ago.  

The guitar is maybe even more impressive when you see the whole band.

1 July 2025 - Lights - How to Sleep When You're on Fire (The Full Album)

I mentioned back in March that Lights made a nighttime instrumental synthwave record during the pandemic to benefit Black Lives Matter Vancouver.  For Canada Day, here is the entire album.

That desciption, by the way, is hers, not mine. 

Over the last couple weeks of sleeplessness and learning and darkness and processing I made a nighttime instrumental synthwave record, it’s up at https://t.co/MYSW9C0K4o and all of the proceeds will go to Black Lives Matter Vancouver. pic.twitter.com/UqkZ8FAfqR

— Lights (@lights) June 11, 2020

If you enjoy this album, please go to Lights's Bandcamp page and throw some money at it. The proceeds are now going to the Black In BC Community Support Fund.