Superchunk - I Hate Music: 3.5 stars

Morrissey - Years of Refusal [honorable mention]

:-)

Superchunk - Majesty Shredding: 3.5 stars

UB40 - Present Arms: 8 (A-)

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: 3.5 stars

UB40 - Rat in the Kitchen: 4 stars

Shamir - Ratchet [honorable mention]

:-)

No Age - batch review: 3.5 stars

I admire this band way more than I like listening to their albums. I've listened to them all many times, trying to like them, thinking that I'm missing out on this generation's Sonic Youth or something, and I just can't get there. One thing's for sure: I don't like or dislike one album any more than the others. So whatever grade I give them, it would be the same for all. As is apparent from the title of this post, that would be a B plus, giving them the benefit of the doubt. I admit that I don't like the vocalist's voice. Also, I think electric rock "duos" are always ultimately a little thin and uninspiring. I even think trios, where there is only a drummer, bassist and guitar player, fall short in sound (yes, this includes Nirvana). I realize that No Age's studio albums are probably multi-tracked etc, but I think the rock duo shortfall comes through in the aesthetic. Anyway, for searching purposes, the grade applies to:

Weirdo Rippers
Nouns
Everything in Between
An Object
Snares Like a Haircut

I own all of these in physical, other than Snares Like a Haircut, which is when I realized that they are just not for me. Weirdo Rippers I would sell, only because it is their first and has The Smell on the cover, which I went to when I lived in Silver Lake, a couple years before this came out. An Object I would definitely sell, except I already have it, and people with better taste than mine like it.

Orchestra Super Mazembe - Mazembe @ 45RPM Vol. 1: 4 stars

Aurlus Mabele - Africa Mousso: 4 stars

Diblo Dibala on lead.

Pistol Annies - Annie Up: 3.5 stars

Normally, I wouldn't buy country at this level, but I have it, it was cheap, and I like their other two albums a notch better than this, so on the shelf it goes.

James Carter - Chasin' the Gypsy [honorable mention]

# [jazz] [Downgraded from 7 (B+), but kept cover]

Various Artists - Zanzibara 5: Hot in Dar - The Sound of Tanzania 1978-1983: 8 (A-)

Atmosphere - Mi Vida Local [honorable mention]

:-}

Superchunk - "Slack Motherfucker" b/w "Night Creatures": 3.5 stars

Rarely review true, two-song singles (if ever?), but the A-side here is seminal enough that I thought I should. At prices exceeding $30 used, I'm clearly not buying this.

Superchunk - What a Time to Be Alive

:-| [Not sure what Christgau (#12 of 2018 and full A) hears in this. I'm with Tom Hull on this album. I do note that people who have given it good reviews (like the silly one on Allmusic) all do seem to like the fact that it's overtly "political," by which they mean neoliberal. Even so, I listened to it 4 times. Triangulating between Christgau, Allmusic user and critic reviews, and AOTY I'm sticking with I Hate Music and Majesty Shredding, neither of which I like all that much, but I already have them. They really do need someone else to try vocals.]

Morrissey - Vauxhall and I: 9 (A)

The Coup - Sorry to Bother You: The Soundtrack: 4 stars

Digital-only ridiculousness.

L7 - Pretend We're Dead: 3.5 stars [Japan-only maxi-single]

Really an EP (Japan only) with two non-album songs and 5 live tracks recorded at Finsbury Park on June 6, 1992. The live tracks are strong, but all-in-all not going to spring for full CD price for used copies, plus it's a bit of a hodgepodge.

BKO - Mali Foli Coura: 7 (B+)

# [desert blues]

2019 Single Listens (unless otherwise noted)

Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog [twice]
Bob Mould - Sunshine Rock
Dandy Warhols - Why You So Crazy
Aceyalone & DJ Fat Jack - 43rd & Excellence
Czarface & Ghostface Killah - Czarface Meets Ghostface
Alan Vega - Dujang Prang [a Henry Rollins favorite]
Matthew Shipp - Harmony and Abyss [abstract piano jazz beyond me]
The Mighty Diamonds - Ice on Fire
Various Artists - African Scream Contest ["psychedelic" 70s sounds from Benin/Togo] [twice]
Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna [embarrassed to say I thought a couple of the hits were FM songs]
Gil Scott-Heron - Real Eyes; Reflections
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson ‎- Secrets; From South Africa to South Carolina
Lou Reed - Animal Serenade [live, drummer-less, with cello and "Anohni"]

Lou Reed - The Raven [theater piece/dramatic readings]
Dizzy Gillespie - Night in Tunisia: The Very Best of Dizzy Gillespie
Atmosphere - Sad Clown Bad Summer 9
John Parish and Polly Jean (PJ) Harvey - Dance Hall at Louse Point
The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys
Dave Alvin - The Best of the Hightone Years
Control Top - Covert Contracts [two listens]
Si Kahn - New Wood [proxy for Home, which got A- from Xgau and B+ from Hull - reverse of this]
Jason Ringenberg - Stand Tall
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Nightingales and Bombers
Lee Scratch Perry - The Black Album [twice]
Moby - Ambient
Neil Young - Tuscaloosa
Mica Levi - Under the Skin [soundtrack]
Twinkle Brothers - Rasta Pon Top
Ray Charles - The Genius Sings the Blues [Leonard Cohen fave]
Matthew Sweet - Earth [Robert Quine/Richard Lloyd on guitar]
Amazing Rhythm Aces - Too Stuffed to Jump
The Alpha Band - The Alpha Band
Big Youth - Isaiah First Prophet of Old [with the great Tony Chin on rhythm guitar]
Jesse Malin - Sunset Kids
Tool - Fear Inoculum
Tropical Fu*k Storm - Braindrops
Black Uhuru - Tear It Up--Live [so terrible on first listen + Xgau's C- = I’m done]
Black Uhuru - Liberation: The Island Anthology [alternate tracks (ie, about 1/2)]
Car Seat Headrest - Commit Yourself Completely

Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981
Grace Jones - The Best of Grace Jones: The Millennium Collection [2 listens]
Joyce Manor - Never Hungover Again [#90 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
Wu Lyf - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain [#199 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
Fatima Al Qadiri - Genre Specific Xperience [#197 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
Ratking - So It Goes [#200 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
Downtown Boys - Full Communism [#195 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
Waka Floka Flame - Flockaveli [#110 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile [#103 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
Meek Mill - Dreamchasers 2 [#163 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
Rick Ross - Rich Forever [#141 on Pitchfork’s 200 Best Albums of the 2010s]
The Exbats - E is 4 Exbats
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly - Maze featuring Frankie Beverly (1977 debut)
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly - Silky Soul
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly - Live in Los Angeles
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly - Live in New Orleans [like this a hair better than the LA set]
Mike - tears of joy
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
Darkside - Psychic
Whitney - Light Upon the Lake [two listens]
DJ Shadow - Reconstructed: The Best of DJ Shadow [two listens]
DJ Shadow - Live in Manchester
Earl Sweatshirt - Feet of Clay
Sly & Robbie - Riddim: The Best of Sly & Robbie in Dub 1978-1985 [two listens]
Sly & Robbie - In Good Company [Ultimate Collection]
Jonas Hellborg, Shawn Lane, and V. Selvaganesh - Good People in Times of Evil
Mamane Barka - Introducing (bonus disc for Rough Guide Sahara)
Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program - Dance of the Cosmos
Guy Clark - Texas Cookin'
Bill Orcutt - Odds Against Tomorrow [solo experimental electric guitar]
Grieves - Winter & the Wolves

The Upsetters [Lee "Scratch" Perry] - Blackboard Jungle Dub

:-| [Album a/k/a Black Board Jungle. Album a/k/a Blackboard Jungle. Artists a/k/a Upsetters 14 Dub. While this may be the first dub album, it also ain't that good. In fact, bad enough that I won't be adding it to the collection even for historical importance. There were also two or three other dub albums released at the same time, which no one seems to give the same importance as this for no good reason. Anyway, too elemental, and I start with Pick a Dub. At least four listens.]

Bruce Springsteen - Greetings from Asbury Park N.J.: 3.5 stars

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska: 3.5 stars

Not sure what all the lovers of this album hear in it. I think it's just okay.

Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle: 4 stars

Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.: 3.5 stars

Bruce Springsteen - The River: 4 stars

Jimmy Cliff et al. - The Harder They Come: 5 stars

Looked into the deluxe edition. Second disc, excluding Jimmy Cliff, the unnecessary Johnny Nash, and the Maytals tracks I have elsewhere, has the following tracks which are not on Tougher Than Tough:

Desmond Dekker & The Aces - "It Mek"

The Melodians - "Sweet Sensation" and "It's My Delight"

Dave & Ansel Collins - "Monkey Spanner"

Played these songs three times each, and obviously will not grade them or get the deluxe edition based on them.

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground: 5 stars

Pere Ubu - Modern Dance: 5 stars

Pablo Moses - In the Future: 5 stars

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run: 5 stars

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town: 3.5 stars

Lee "Scratch" Perry - Black Ark in Dub: 3.5 stars

Ridiculously over-priced physicals in the used market.

Lee "Scratch" Perry & The Upsetters - Return of the Super Ape [honorable mention]

:-)

Maroons - Ambush: 3.5 stars

Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes: 7 (B+)

[upped from honorable mention]

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New Here: 4 stars

Morrissey - Kill Uncle: 7 (B+)

Screaming Trees - Dust: 3.5 stars

Dele Abiodun - Adawa Super Sound: 3.5 stars

See review of It's Time for Juju Music. Same reasoning applies, although I do like this a hair better and would go for this if I had to have one.

Morrissey - Bona Drag: 7 (B+)

Preston School of Industry - Goodbye to the Edge City: 7 (B+) [EP]

Scott Kannberg. The real genius in Pavement, in my view.

EPMD - Business as Usual [honorable mention]

:-) [Upped from neutral after fourth or fifth listen to try to understand why approximately half the listeners think this is classic and the other think it's forgettable. It's because it starts out strong and then deteriorates gradually as it goes on, and the first half presumably does not notice.]

Eric B. & Rakim - Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em: 4 stars

Robbie Fulks - Upland Stories: 4 stars

The Insect Trust - Hoboken Saturday Night: 4 stars

Slowdive - Souvlaki: 4 stars

Junior Wells' Chicago Blues Band with Buddy Guy - Hoodoo Man Blues: 8 (A-)

Casual - Fear Itself: 4 stars

Carole King - Tapestry: 4 stars

Various Artists - Radioclit Presents: The Sound of Club Secousse Vol. 1: 4 stars

The xx - Coexist: 3.5 stars

Honestly, I grade this personally at more of an honorable mention at best, but I bought it because Christgau gave it such a high A minus it was almost a full A. So I figure I'll keep it in physical since I already have it although note that I would not buy it today. Probably the first is all you need with this band. I will also try their third for good measure.

Britney Spears - Glory (Deluxe Edition): 4 stars

Research indicates that I don't need to spend time evaluating her first two albums, but might need to get to know Britney and Blackout. I think I've tried them both once before.

Pearl Jam - Ten: 7.5 (high B+)

Robbie Fulks - Georgia Hard: 3.5 stars

I know I said in reviewing Gone Away Backward that I wouldn't collect him at B plus (folk/country in general), but I already have this, and will probably end up keeping Upland Stories (Christgau full A, so it's probably great), so I suppose I will keep this too. I do like it marginally better than Gone Away Backward. Probably should have given that one an honorable mention rather than B plus. I note that it is his highest user-reviewed album on Allmusic, but probably wouldn't be if it had as many reviews as Upland Stories. Keeping this and Upland Stories also has the benefit of owning both of his albums graded in the A range by both Christgau and Hull.

D'Angelo - Brown Sugar: 3.5 stars

See review of Black Messiah.