Augustus Pablo - Original Rockers: 8 (A-)

Augustus Pablo - batch review

I have had the following shelved for years and will post on them individually as I replay them:

     The Great Pablo [compilation]

     East of the River Nile

     King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown

Youssour N'Dour - batch review

I have had the following shelved for years and will post on them individually to the extent that I replay them:

     Joko (The Link)

     Nothing's in Vain

     Egypt

     The Rough Guide to Youssou N'Dour & Etoile de Dakar

     Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take)

Blackalicious - batch review

I have had the following for years and will post on them individually as I replay them, but they are all 7 (B+) to 8 (A-):

     The Craft

     Nia

     Melodica [EP]

I also have Imani, Vol. 1 on the final listen shelf.

Various - Tropicalia Essentials: 8 (A-)

Various - Third World Cop (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): 8 (A-)

Various - High Fidelity (Original Soundtrack): 8 (A-)

Ass Ponys - Some Stupid with a Flare Gun: 8 (A-)

Ass Ponys - Electric Rock Music: 8 (A-)

Unlike Christgau and his fanboys, I like this band better than Cleaver's next one, Wussy. I like Wussy quite a bit, just not as much as those guys seem to. I think this was the better band.

Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows: 7 (B+)

Idlewild - Hope is Important: 8 (A-)

Boredoms - Chocolate Synthesizer: disliked

Docked a notch for bloat.

Beats International - Let Them Eat Bingo [Elektra, 1990]: 8 (A-)

I admit to rebuying this. Took me a long time to catch up with it. I guess Norman Cook is a little ahead of me. The face of melomania.

Badly Drawn Boy - Have You Fed the Fish?: 8 (A-)

Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast: 8 (A-)

The Apples in Stereo - batch review

I de-shelved all of the following, as #indiepop, even though I at one point thought I should keep them, so they must have hit me as 7 (B+) or 7.5 (high B+), probably the former:

     Tone Soul Evolution

     The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone

     New Magnetic Wonder

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral: 7 (B+)

Docked a notch for bloat. Btw, normally this band would be #electronic, but since they are essentially a cross-over, I don't give them that designation and collect them at B-level grades.

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now: 7.5 (high B+)

#oldies/cabaret/covers

Peter Laughner - Take the Guitar Player for a Ride: liked

His best Dylan impersonation - as far as the solo tracks. The Friction, Finns, and Rocket from the Tombs tracks are a different story. Good cover of Richard Thompson's "Calvary Cross."

The Gothic Archies - The New Despair [Merge EP, 1997]: 8 (A-)

Vulgar Boatmen: Wide Awake: 8 (A-)

Dan Bryk - Lovers Leap: 8 (A-)

Golden Sounds Band - Swahili Rumba [Naxos World, 2003]: 8 (A-)

Not sure why this is so unheralded. An hour of excellent Kenyan soukous, essentially. Thanks, Muzikifan.

Joni Mitchell - For the Roses: 8 (A-)

Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark: 9 (A)