Crucial Track for November 16, 2025

"Jacking the Ball" by The Sea and Cake

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Music in the age of streaming is sometimes best experienced as a rabbit hole to scurry through. Today, I was reading the CrucialTracks weekly releases and came across a bit about the new Tortoise album. Ah ha! I haven't listened to Tortoise in a long time! After Tortoise, I spy at the bottom of the page that the particular album was a Thrill Jockey release. Click the link. A series of familiar albums appear, including the eponymous 1994 release by The Sea and Cake. Click the link. The first track? Jacking the Ball, the bouncy first tune I'd ever heard by the band, arrived at the same way I'd discovered it years ago: going down the rabbit hole.