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.

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)

Joni Mitchell - Blue: 9.5 (high A)

Lifers Group - Lifers Group [Hollywood EP, 1991]: 8 (A-)

Not always identified as an EP, but that's what it seems to be. Essentially only three unique tracks ("The Real Deal," "Belly of the Beast," and "Suckers" --  totaling 15 min 38 sec), the other six tracks all being radio or other edits, instrumentals, bonus and/or short tracks.

The Gothic Archies - The Tragic Treasury: Songs From A Series of Unfortunate Events [Nonesuch, 2006]: 8 (A-)

Motorhead - Overkill: 7 (B+)

As noted elsewhere, I consider this band to be at least as much punk as #metal, so I have a copy. The legendary Jimmy Miller produced, so I wanted to like it much more than I have ever been able to.

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell: disliked

:-(

Action Bronson - Dr. Lecter: disliked

:-(

Garland Jeffreys - Garland Jeffreys: 7 (B+)

#singersongwriter