Sunday, March 26, 2017
Danny Brown - XXX
:-( [This album is terrible. Not sure how Christgau can think this is an A-. More like a C-. And he gives None Shall Pass a "bomb"? Never been farther apart from him than this. Five listens.]
Thomas Mapfumo & The Acid Band - Hokoyo!
:-| [Only listened once (and only to 2 minute samples of each track) because it is not available for any other type of listening. He is obviously just beginning to get his feet on the ground. Very undeveloped.]
Brian Eno - Ambient 1: Music for Airports: 7 (B+)
I finally completed a close study of Eno's Ambient series and related works from the late 70s/early 80s. Even though I love Another Green World (probably in my top 10 or 20 albums of all time), I'd never really fully investigated these albums. After listening to each one three times, these are the ones I am skipping, right or wrong (Ambient 3: Day of Radiance is by Laraaji, merely produced by Eno -- see separate review):
Ambient 4: On Land -- Hard to latch onto
Music for Films -- Kind of in Ambient 4 territory; distinction not cost-effective
And I am also thoroughly familiar with the following, which are more or less in the same Eno category, and will maybe get around to grading them someday: Discreet Music, Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics, The Pearl, Ambient 2: Plateaux of Mirror (with Harold Budd), Apollo: Atomospheres & Soundtracks (with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno)
Music for Films -- Kind of in Ambient 4 territory; distinction not cost-effective
And I am also thoroughly familiar with the following, which are more or less in the same Eno category, and will maybe get around to grading them someday: Discreet Music, Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics, The Pearl, Ambient 2: Plateaux of Mirror (with Harold Budd), Apollo: Atomospheres & Soundtracks (with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno)
Makaveli [2Pac/Tupac] - The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory [honorable mention]
:-) [Lowered from 7 (B+) on a 4th listen. A guy I know who is a hip hop insider says that this is one of his favorite albums. I think he was in Vegas when the shooting occurred.]
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Pepe Kalle - Larger Than Life: 4 stars
Great Dally Kimoko album (and Pepe too, I'm not trying to minimize him, so to speak). Unbelievably thankful to have seen Pepe live in LA just before he died. One of the top three shows I have seen. I was so ignorant about Congolese music at the time, I'm not even sure I knew who was on solo. No reasonably priced physicals, and not printing out for the shelves, just not that essential, given all the great soukous out there.
Friday, March 24, 2017
Four Tet - Pink: 4 stars
Essentially digital only (I think there was a release in Japan?). Printed and shelved.
Leon Russell - Leon Russell: 3.5 stars
Not really my kind of music, but a dying friend gave this to me on vinyl from his personal collection, so I will keep it in memory of him.
Buddy Miller - Cayamo Sessions at Sea: 3.5 stars
Nice, but not exactly my type of thing, so not going on the shelves.
Kassa Overall - Stargate Mixtape: 4 stars
"Lose Control" is genius. The whole mixtape is very, very close to 4.5 star quality. Digital only (obviously).
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Bob Mould - Workbook: 3.5 stars
I don't really know what to do this this one. I like it okay, although many over-rate it. It's one of those albums you can listen to several times and nothing really stands out, and so nothing really annoys you either. I'm going to opt to put it on the shelves, given the number of people who love it and the importance of Mould generally. Chamber indie.
Buzzcocks - Spiral Scratch: 4 stars
Classic punk EP as you know. Remarkably hard to find in any original physical state. Domino has this on a CD in a slipcase, but only appears to be selling it as a part of a giant box set which is definitely for completists only. I bet they will eventually sell it as a single item, but I will have moved on and probably not notice it. What a waste. I would definitely buy one of those now if available. I will download this, print it out and put it in a slim case on the shelves.
Various Artists - Compilation Musique Congolo-Zaïroise (1972/1973): 4 stars
Physicals are basically unobtainable, and not printing this one out to put on the shelves. Love the cover though.
Curtis Mayfield - Curtis: 3.5 stars
Nice. But I do not want to buy this on CD with a bunch of crappy extra tracks stuck on (pet peeve), and vinyl copies and/or original issue CDs are way over-priced. With the three best tracks duplicated on his essential Anthology, I'm going to skip this, but it was a close call. I will also keep Super Fly, obviously.
Belly - Star: 3.5 stars
See review of their other album, King. I like this one a hair better, but not enough to up it to 4 stars and put it on the shelves.
Belly - King: 3.5 stars
Never been much into the Throwing Muses family, but this one is nice. Still, none of it will make it to the shelves.
Various Artists - I Am the Center: 7 (B+)
# [new age] [I think I bought this anyway at one point and have now de-shelved it?]
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Camp Lo - Uptown Saturday Night: 7 (B+)
Used copies prohibitively expensive. Also, might actually be only an honorable mention.
The Goon Sax - Up to Anything: 3.5 stars
Not surprisingly, sounds alot like The Go-Betweens. Might add it to the shelves, but not at import prices.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Saturday, March 11, 2017
The Band - Music From Big Pink: 5 stars
I have all their regular-issue studio albums (i.e., not including the covers album Moondog Matinee and the odds and sods Islands). In my view, this is their unqualified masterpiece.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Various Artists - Jeunes Orchestres du Congo/Zaïre des Années 70: 4 stars
Great compilation. No reasonably priced physicals though.
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
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