Los Umbrellos - Flamenco Funk: 4.5 stars

Not only am I the only person who knows of this album, I am the only who loves it. They made it just for me. A minor masterwork of kitsch.

Sonic Youth - The Walls Have Ears: 7.5 (high B+)

Decent bootleg of very good live performance. Purchased when officially released.

Thomas Mapfumo - Ndangariro: 10 (A+)

Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city: 3.5 stars

Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly: 3.5 stars

Do not get the hype on this one or the prior one.

Sonic Youth - Confusion is Sex: 3.5 stars

I have the reissue with the Kill Yr. Idols EP.

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique: 10 (A+)

In my top three of all time.

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet: 5 stars

The Goats - Tricks of the Shade: 5 stars

Murs - The End of the Beginning: 3.5 stars

Thought about ditching this, but some critics I admire grade it at A minus level, and he has connections to Aesop Rock and Slug, so I'll shelve it.

Batata y Su Rumba Palenquera - Radio Bakongo: 4.5 stars

Keith Richards - Crosseyed Heart

😑

Delaney & Bonnie and Friends - Motel Shot: 3.5 stars

# [blues rock] [at least 4 listens]

Jon Langford & Skull Orchard - Here Be Monsters: 8.5 (high A-)

The Mekons - Ancient & Modern: 4 stars

The Bottle Rockets - South Broadway Athletic Club: 4 stars

The Bottle Rockets - The Studio Albums: 3.9 stars

In preparation for seeing the band live tonight, on tour for the new one (see adjacent review), I took the opportunity to revisit their entire catalog. In checking to see how my assessments compared with those of others, I found a lack of reviews. Here's how I would rate them though:

4 stars - Bottle Rockets (1993)

5 stars - The Brooklyn Side (1994)

4 stars - 24 Hours a Day (1997)

3.5 stars - Brand New Year (1999)

3.5 stars - Songs of Sahm (2002)

3.5 stars - Blue Sky (2003)

4 stars - Zoysia (2006)

4 stars - Lean Forward (2009)

4 stars - South Broadway Athletic Club (2015)

As you can see, in my view, their only completely undeniable album is The Brooklyn Side, which I consider to be essential. Most of their other studio albums are strong, although perhaps a little samey. In any event, the only alt-country band that I am behind.

Blaqstarr - Divine EP: 7 (B+)

# [electronica] [Sold back - probably more of an honorable mention. Not sure how Christgau gave this a full A. Hull gives it an A minus and files it under Techno/Electronica.] [at least 4 listens]

Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf: 7 (B+)

# [metal] [Go for Rated R, with more Gene Trautmann on drums instead of that Foo Fighters poser. I owned this once but I think I sold it back for some reason. If it ever shows up, I'll reshelve it though, because these are their two acknowledged classics, and Gene is on both of them.]

Animal Collective - Sung Tongs [honorable mention

:-) [Somewhat tiresome (by the time it hits the 45 minute mark, it feels like it's been on for twice that long).]

Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom: 10 (A+)

Young Fathers - White Men Are Black Men Too [honorable mention]

:-) [at least seven listens] [upped from neutral]

Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear

😑

Mothers of Invention – Freak Out!

😑

Sharon Van Etten – Are We There?

😑

The Clash - Black Market Clash [EP]: 10 (A+)

I'm probably one of the few people in the world who would name this as their favorite Clash album.

The Traveling Wilburys - Volume 1: 4 stars

The conceit's not clumsy, it's corny. But the concept ends up working. Not epoch-making, but solid and sweet.

Spacemen 3 - Playing with Fire: 7 (B+)

# [The Velvet Underground, made slightly boring. The first four songs are snoozefests and should definitely have been left off this overlong but intermittently exciting record.

James McMurtry - Complicated Game: 4.5 stars

I was foolish to dismiss this man simply on the basis that he is the son of a famous man. One of the best "Americana" albums I have ever heard, if not the best. After The Brooklyn Side, of course.

Archers of Loaf - Icky Mettle: 5 stars

Archers of Loaf - vs the Greatest of All Time [EP]: 10 (A+)

My favorite EP of all time, after Black Market Clash.

Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang - En Yay Sah: 4 stars

Maloko - Soul on Fire: 4 stars

The Magnetic Fields - "23 Love Songs": 5 stars

Playlist is below. I rate the full set 4.5 stars. If you want my other prime divisor, my top three songs are highlighted. Burned this one to disc and shelved it in a slim case.

1.  Absolutely Cuckoo
2.  I Don't Believe In The Sun
3.  All My Little Words
4.  A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
5.  I Don't Want To Get Over You
6.  The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be
7.  I Think I Need A New Heart
8.  Sweet-Lovin' Man
9.  When My Boy Walks Down The Street
10. No One Will Ever Love You
11. You're My Only Home
12. (Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy
13. World Love
14. Long-Forgotten Fairytale
15. Papa Was A Rodeo
16. Epitaph For My Heart
17. The Sun Goes Down And The World Goes Dancing
18. Abigail, Belle Of Kilronan
19. Busby Berkeley Dreams
20. The Death Of Ferdinand De Saussure
21. Yeah! Oh, Yeah!
22. I Can't Touch You Anymore
23. How To Say Goodbye

The Bottle Rockets - The Brooklyn Side: 10 (A+)

The Bottle Rockets - Bottle Rockets: 4 stars

Van Morrison - Common One: 7.5 (high B+)

After significantly more than three listens, I finally get this one. A good friend and mentor of mine recommended it to me around 30 years ago, and I've never forgotten his enthusiasm for it. I kept trying over the years until it clicked. Of course, now it's OOP and selling for seriously over-inflated prices.

Jerry Lee Lewis - The Knox Phillips Sessions: 7.5 (high B+)

# [rockabilly/prev uns] [4 listens]

Néné Tchakou - Soto: 4 stars

Dally Kimoko on guitar. Excellent underappreciated soukous record.

Protomartyr - Under Color of Official Right: 8 (A-)

El Hadji Faye with Étoile 2000 de Dakar - Cheikh Ibra Fall: 4 stars

Not printed out for the shelves. Too close to a possible B+, although some songs are great.

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground: 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition [Disc 4]: 4 stars

Not into all the different mixes etc. of this classic album, but I thought Disc 4 was worth checking out, so I did. Anything with "Foggy Notion" on it has to be worth a few listens. I also plan on listening to the two Live at the Matrix discs at some point. I realize they are from the same performances chronicled on the Quine bootlegs, the regular issue 1969 live album, and The Complete Matrix Tapes, but maybe I'll like this particular selection/presentation. I will probably only listen once though, since I've heard so many different versions of the Matrix performances so many times. Enough already. They are not that great.

Various - Champeta Criolla: A New African Music from Colombia: 8 (A-)

Digital-only [See post on volume 1]

Various - Champeta Criolla Vol. 2: Visionary Black Music from Underground Colombiafrica: 8 (A-)

Digital-only [Update 2024: This and the first volume are from the days when I would buy digital files and burn things which were digital only, which I stopped doing long ago.]

Afghan Whigs - Black Love: 5 stars

Withered Hand - New Gods: 8 (A-)

Shouldn't it be "New Goods"?

Withered Hand - Good News: 8 (A-)

Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers - batch review

# [folk rock] I would rate them each an honorable mention or 7 (B+):

Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers [four listens]

Back in Your Life

Serengeti - Dennehy (Lights, Camera, Action!): 10 (A+)

The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.: 10 (A+) plus

Best album ever recorded, in my view, and the greatest work of art of the 20th century that I am aware of.

Common Sense - Resurrection [honorable mention]

I'll keep the cover, because I originally graded it at 7 (B+) and then docked it a notch for over-staying its welcome. [4 listens]

Derek & the Dominos - In Concert: 4 stars

Mike Doughty - Stellar Motel: 8.5 (high A-)

Kate Tempest - Everybody Down: 4.5 stars

Group Inerane - Guitars From Agadez: 8 (A-)

Dieuf-Dieul de Thies - Aw Sa Yone Vol. 1: 8 (A-)