The Doors - Morrison Hotel: 3.5 stars

See my review of Strange Days.

Various: Now That's What I Call Tailgate Anthems: 7 (B+)

# [multi-artist comp]

Various: Now That's What I Call 90s Pop: 7.5 (high B+)

# [r&b; multi-artist comp]

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band: I'm Going to Do What I Wanna Do: Live at My Father's Place: 8.5 (high A-)

Very limited edition (I think I may have owned it once when it first came out). Anyway, kind of silly not to put it in general release. Plus it could fit on one CD if they just left off the terrible spoken word track "Well," or even just some of the dead air, or the Captain repeating that woman's name annoyingly 100 times. Instead, Rhino, in a feat of giant stupidity, put it all on one CD, except for two songs on a second disc. One day, I will get around to burning a single disc of this. Update (December 2025): I eventually did buy the digital tracks, and got rid of the dead air (or semi-dead air) on a number of tracks, so it just fit on a single disc. I also upped it a notch.

Broken Social Scene - Hug of Thunder: neutral

:-|

Various Artists - Afrocolombia Remix Vol. 1: 4 stars

Would definitely buy this if it weren't vinyl/digital only. So stupid. The track "Viviano Torres - Mini Kusuto (Rafael Aragon Remix)" is brilliant.

The Clash - Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg: notation

I'm not sure what people hear in this Combat Rock bootleg alternative configuration. Hardly improves on a great record, if at all. In fact, I'm inclined to think it's noticeably worse but am not going to spend anymore time listening to bootleg quality versions to make that determination.

Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves: 8 (A-)

Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West: 10 (A+)

Lee Ranaldo and the Dust - Last Night on Earth: 4 stars

Lee Ranaldo - Between the Times and the Tides: 4 stars

Mama Sissoko - Soleil de Minuit: 4 stars

Dawn Oberg - Nothing Rhymes With Orange

😐

Hard Working Americans - We're All in This Together: 7 (B+)

 # [folk/live]

Gang Starr - Daily Operation: 4 stars

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Safe As Milk: 8 (A-)

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - The Spotlight Kid/Clear Spot [2CD]: 8 (A-)

The grade applies to each individually.

Various Artists - American Epic: The Best of Blues: X (X)

Single-album distillation of blues tracks from the 5-CD "Collection." Vinyl-only, which is reason enough not to bother.

Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time: 7 (B+)

# [blues] I know this is her most-loved album, but I can't bring myself to buy it only because of that. Update: I found a near mint copy for about $5 shipped and couldn't resist. Then it turns out I already had it. Idiot. Double purchase, my specialty. It's one of the reasons I started this blog. :-)

Bopol Mansiamina - Serrez Ceinture: 8 (A-)

Great album, physicals too expensive.

Talking Heads - Fear of Music: 10 (A+)

Talking Heads - Remain in Light: 10 (A+)

King Krule - The Ooz

😐

Lord Echo - Harmonies

😐

Gang Starr - Hard to Earn: 3.5 stars

See immediately prior review of Step in the Arena.