How did the critical community at-large miss this one? Great guitar. Unfortunately, it's deeply out-of-print. I will definitely buy this if they ever re-release it.
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Mary Margaret O'Hara - Miss America: 4 stars
How did the critical community at-large miss this one? Great guitar. Unfortunately, it's deeply out-of-print. I will definitely buy this if they ever re-release it.
Warren Zevon - The Envoy: 7 (B+)
I think Hull and Christgau overrate this slightly at A minus. My grade is more in line with Rolling Stone Album Guide and AllMusic critics and users. [Ultimately ended up with this as part of the Original Album Series set. I love those things.]
Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing [honorable mention]
:-) [Dropped from 7 (B+) upon a 4th listen more than 5 years later (didn’t recognize a single song except the 4 from the singles comp)]
Dexter Gordon - Go: 3.5 stars
Again, my opinion of jazz is not valid. This might be higher than I give it credit for of course. In any event, I won't be shelving it as B+ or even A- jazz.
Lifter Puller - Fiestas and Fiascos: 3.5 stars
After several more listens, I am upgrading this from "honorable mention" to a "soft" B plus. This happened because I realized that I have all Finn's work, except this and his first solo album. And I am wavering on the first solo album and might buy it. This caused the insidious urge to completism to arise in me, and so I listened to this several more times and read some other reviews of it and ended up upgrading. However, I'm still not going to buy it, partially to fight the urge noted above, but also because it goes for $24 and is barely 30 minutes long. I think with Lifter Puller, I'll stay with the collection Soft Rock. [Note: when relistening, I played the digital-only rerelease, including the live tracks, which I note are fine and also at the B plus level.]
Samba Mapangala & Orch. Virunga - Mabiala [honorable mention]
Four songs, each averaging around 9 minutes. Selected this for evaluation because of a plug by Muzikifan (not top 50).
Gary Stewart - Best of the Hightone Years: 4 stars
Only three songs on here overlap with Gary's Greatest, which, while also on Hightone, includes material from his RCA catalog. So an easy way to think of these is that this is the Hightone best of, while Gary's Greatest is the RCA best of. Ie, you need them both, but the first one more. And then there's the two-fer of Out of Hand plus Your Place or Mine, which I will grade some other day. That two-fer is necessary because only 5 of the songs on those RCA albums are on Gary's Greatest (to make room for some of the Hightone cuts, obviously).
Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II: 7.5 (high B+)
First of all, I only actually listened to this once or twice. But unless you are a pre-teen, or older but lived under a rock all of your life, you've heard all of these songs dozens of times, so I'm just evaluating the gestalt. It's impossible to do that without noting at least subconsciously that this is the 3rd highest selling album of all time. But given that the RIAA counts each sale of this as two sales, it would drop off to below 50th in real life. Bottom line, I'm not going to shelve the fatbox my wife has in the house. Still not sure what to do about The Stranger, which I loved when it came out.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
The Gladiators - Symbol of Reality: 8 (A-)
Purchased Nighthawk re-release used. [upgraded to A minus]
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Lionel Benjamin & Les Freres Dejean - Lionel Benjamin & Les Freres Dejean
Too expensive on used vinyl. I have the digital version with several bonus tracks. A little bland and repetitive at times, and goes on a little too long, but sweet.
Imperial Teen - On: 3.5 stars
I've never been a big fan of these critics' darlings. I once owned Seasick and sold it back. I also played What Is Not to Love [honorable mention] and The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band [honorable mention] three times each, but this is the only one I shelved (mainly because both Christgau and Hull gave it a straight A).
Saturday, July 21, 2018
George Clinton - Hey Man... Smell My Finger: 7.5 (high B+)
Upped from honorable mention after numerous listens. I believe I purchased this around 30 years ago when it came out and then sold it off. That was probably a mistake. I do think it's bloated, but it's still a worthwhile release. Picked up a beautiful copy for peanuts in 2024 to rectify the situation.
The Donner Party - Donner Party [Cryptovision, 1987]: 3.5 stars
Another good one, but not buying used. There's also Complete Recordings 1987-1989, which has this, the Pitch-A-Tent release, and a third, previously unreleased album, all of which are good, none of which are great, and none of which is selling at a price that is worth the content. But a band worth knowing. I will listen the the third album another couple times, but doubt I will love that one any more than the first two. I like this one marginally better than the second one. Might even be an A minus.
The Donner Party - Donner Party [Pitch-A-Tent, 1988]: 3.5 stars
LP only. Worth keeping rare digital files, but not buying overpriced used vinyl or printing off for the shelves.
Dave Edmunds - batch review
Repeat When Necessary: 7 (B+)
Get It: 7 (B+)
Tracks on Wax 4: 7.5 (high B+) [out of print, too expensive, and I think I owned it once]
# [pub rock] Agonized over whether to buy the 5-CD set Original Album Series anyway, because it was dirt cheap when I was looking at it, and it contains all three of these, but I decided against it, and now it's very expensive. Repeat When Necessary is probably his key work, from what I can tell, but I like Tracks marginally better.
This also covers the 1981 best-of on Swan Song, which contains only songs from these albums, plus three from Twangin' ("The Race is On," "Almost Saturday Night," and "Singin' the Blues"). I played each of those 3 times and will not listen to the full album. [Eventually listened to the full album, see separate review.]
Get It: 7 (B+)
Tracks on Wax 4: 7.5 (high B+) [out of print, too expensive, and I think I owned it once]
# [pub rock] Agonized over whether to buy the 5-CD set Original Album Series anyway, because it was dirt cheap when I was looking at it, and it contains all three of these, but I decided against it, and now it's very expensive. Repeat When Necessary is probably his key work, from what I can tell, but I like Tracks marginally better.
This also covers the 1981 best-of on Swan Song, which contains only songs from these albums, plus three from Twangin' ("The Race is On," "Almost Saturday Night," and "Singin' the Blues"). I played each of those 3 times and will not listen to the full album. [Eventually listened to the full album, see separate review.]
Rodney Crowell - The Houston Kid: 3.5 stars
A little journeyman, and I tend not to collect B+ deep country at that grade level. Also listened to Diamonds & Dirt once and stopped there.
Pusha-T - Daytona [honorable mention]
Probably end up buying this when it ends up on the year-end best-of lists.
Kanye West/Kid Cudi - Kids See Ghosts [honorable mention]
:-) [Like Cudi way more than West, in general.]
Tierra Whack - Whack World: 3.5 stars
Digital-only novelty piece, on the music side. Really a video.
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa: 3.5 stars
Very slightly cheesy, but I would probably buy a copy if it were available domestically.
Sam Mangwana - The Very Best of 2001: 3.5 stars
Not sure why this is called what it is, but it's pretty good. Physicals impossibly overpriced, or perhaps even bootlegged. Ie, this may be digital-only.
Gregory Isaacs - More Gregory: 7.5 (high B+)
Might be an 8 (A-), but only available at import prices etc., so not worrying too much about that distinction. Night Nurse and a good best of are what is needed. [See later discovery of compilation Mr. Love.]
Habel Kifoto - Golden Voice of Habel Kifoto & Maroon Commandos
I might be overrating this. But it's so rare that it's not even on Discogs, so I'm not going to worry about it.
Steve Gibbons Band - Down in the Bunker: 4 stars
Frankly too marginal at this point to purchase used, as evidenced by the fact that even a good cover image is hard to come by.
Ornette Coleman - Body Meta: 8 (A-)
Would definitely buy this, but I read on the Hoffman forums that the only CD issues of this (1996) were from vinyl sources, although they state that they are "remastered." And vinyl copies cost a fortune. [6 listens]
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Khaira Arby - Tchini Tchini: 3.5 stars
Almost tempted to buy this, because there's a new copy on Amazon right now, and it's a rare 3 song EP that I'll probably never see again. But for a B+ I think I'll save my $9.
Monguito El Unico and Laba Sosseh - In U.S.A.: Salsa Africana: 3.5 stars
Not going to buy used salsa at the B+ level.
Various Artists - Generation Bass Presents: Transnational Dubstep: 3.5 stars
I am going to sell this off -- dubstep is just not my thing, but solid.
Sunday, July 1, 2018
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