Diary of a Melomaniac

Before 11/2020, grades range from 5 to 3.5 stars. After that, grade range is: 10 (A+), 9.5 (high A), 9 (A), 8.5 (high A-), 8 (A-), 7.5 (high B+), and 7 (B+). Ungraded albums are noted as liked :-) (honorable mention), neutral :-|, and disliked :-(. At least 4 listens per graded album and 3 listens per ungraded album. Search "Grade Post" for more info. I sold/shelved ~10,000 albums after at least 3 or 4 listens, respectively, before starting this blog and will add entries for those as they arise.

Saturday, August 8, 2026

The Jelly Bishops - Kings of Barstool Mountain: 8 (A-)

Langford/Mekons/Three Johns side project. My copy skips on the first track on both sides, but I got it sealed for nothing, so.... What am I going to do, return it? I just deal.

Four Tet - [Wingdings album, 2026]: liked

:-)

NOFX/Rancid - BYO Split Series, Vol. 3: liked

Only reason it's not an EP, at 26 min 57 sec, is because it has 12 tracks.

Friday, August 7, 2026

Chicks on Speed - Will Save Us All: 8 (A-)

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Los Lobos - The Ride [Mammoth/Hollywood, 2004]: 8.5 (high A-)

It was the four-star review in the last Rolling Stone album guide that opened me up to this one. Slipped somewhat under the radar, I think.

Various - Black Label: Hip Hop 101 [Tommy Boy, 2000]: 8 (A-)

I filed this one under "H" because some sources drop the "Black Label" part of the title.

The Chemical Brothers - Loops of Fury [EP]: liked

:-)

Laurie Anderson - Let X=X: 7.5 (high B+)

With Sexmob [Sex Mob]. This is #live, but I may reconsider if it starts getting more attention over the coming months. Also, a little overlong (1 hr 34 min) for a show (for me), but also for an album. Also, very large portions of this are spoken-word. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I do really focus on music. And on the tracks when the band gets going, they really rock out. I wonder what this would sound like boiled down to only the more musical tracks? Two-disc physicals are available though, so we shall see.

The Three Johns - Volume: notation

Has Atom Drum Bop, The World by Storm, the Brainbox EP, and singles. I have The World by Storm on nice vinyl. I will grade these all separately as time permits. This also contains everything that's on (Crime Pays… Rock and Roll in the) Demonocracy - The Singles 1982-1986.

I would also like to hear Eat Your Sons [Tupelo, 1990], but there are no digital copies or streams that I can find, and I'm not paying the prices being asked for a physical sound unheard, considering that the admittedly limited number of reviews I can find of it (Hull, AllMusic) are not encouraging. I did sample the few tracks I could find on YouTube.

I also thought I had The Best of the Three Johns [Dojo, 1996] on CD somewhere, but now I can't find it.

Dim Subooteyo - Lakeside: notation

I'd love to hear this one day, but prices are just too high to hear sound unheard. A Jon Langford (Mekons) "side project." Apparently this was the only release under this band name.