Thursday, February 28, 2019
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Choc Stars - batch review
Not pretending to have mastered these guys' oeuvre. In fact, this isn't really a "batch" review, just a review of their two 1986 releases on Globe Style, Choc=Shock=Choc and Awa et Ben (2nd Shock). These are both 4 star albums, and I would buy them, but would have to get them used, which I can do for a reasonable price but still can't bring myself to do. Can't they just remaster these and put them on a single CD, maybe drop a track to do so? In any event, this decision is also informed by the fact that none of my Congo go-to experts (Muzikifan, Gary Stewart, Christgau) seem to give these guys much airtime. So I'm going to save some money and pass on the used copies. Again, if I could get them new at a reasonable price, I would do it.
Hamell on Trial - Choochtown: 7 (B+) [plus batch review]
# [anti-folk] [Giving this the benefit of the doubt as a 7 (B+), although maybe honorable mention more accurately reflects my reaction. I find him a little irritating like Jinx Lennon. I'll probably end up with just Tackle Box. Same exact arguments for Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs and The Happiest Man in the World.]
Friday, February 22, 2019
Tal National - Zoy Zoy: 4 stars
I actually like this better than the debut. Like many artists, their albums all sound slightly the same, so these are marginal distinctions, and the reviews generally reflect that, with different reviewers given different albums the edge. But we all seem to think they are B plus to A minus range generally.
Tal National - Tantabara [honorable mention]
:-) [Doesn't have the same "authenticity" as the first two - this is probably where I stop] [Four listens]
Ezra Furman - Year of No Returning: 4 stars
See review of Day of the Dog. This one also has the benefit of being on Bar/None
Bruce Springsteen - Magic [honorable mention]
:-) [A little formulaic-seeming to me on the whole, some very good songs though]
Ezra Furman - Day of the Dog
:-| [People are all over the place on his albums, meaning different people seem to like different ones, and no one is crazy about any of them that I can see. I find this hard to understand, given that they all sound about the same to me. Maybe one or the other of them is an honorable mention rather than a neutral but I'm not taking the time to figure that out. Under these circumstances, the first one to enter my consciousness, and the only one I've bought, The Year of No Returning, has always sounded like his best to me by a tiny margin, and so I’m going to leave it at that.]
Dessa - Chime [honorable mention]
:-) [There's something about her delivery that I have to confess I find slightly affected and therefore irritating.]
Hamell on Trial - The Night Guy at the Apocalypse: Profiles of a Rushing Midnight
:-( [What does Christgau hear in this? I could possibly understand a B plus, although I still couldn’t agree, but a full A? Strange. As usual, he seems to wildly overrate any artist who criticizes the president. Digital/vinyl only ridiculousness anyway.]
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Kassa Overall - Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz: 3.5 stars
Love the "cover" -- although it's digital only so that makes no sense. Its covering some bits??? If you're so digital, why have such an archaic element? Won't be printing this out. I seem to only do that for 4.5 or 5 star albums. And it might be an A minus, but I won't be bothering to try to parse that out.
Paul Pena - Paul Pena: 4 stars
Long lost semi-classic, selling for ridiculous prices used. Reissue on CD!
Harriet Tubman - The Terror End of Beauty: 3.5 stars
Not paying import prices being charged for this (even though I don’t think it’s an import) "power-jazz" or whatever it is at the B plus level.
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Scarface - The Fix: 3.5 stars
I'm not going to pretend that I've parsed this rapper's entire ouevre or am rendering expert opinions on his work. The Diary I've deemed more or less essential, and I also happen to have this one and like it enough to keep it. I'm stopping there. Plus, it's a 5 mic album per The Source.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour: 7 (B+)
# [country] [5 listens] I ultimately bought a copy, given the esteem it is garnering, even in just the last half decade since it was released.
Blake Babies - Sunburn: 3.5 stars
An early '90s indie touchstone, but I've never been that into Juliana Hatfield so I won't add it.
Breeders - All Nerve
:-| [Seemed to get a lot of positive reviews upon release, but its year-end poll performance was much lower than those reviews would have indicated.]
Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert: 3.5 stars
I generally don't collect jazz at the B plus level, unless there's some special reason. Best-selling solo jazz or piano album of all time is not enough.
Re-TROS - Before the Applause [honorable mention]
:-) [Might have gotten a B plus if the songs weren't so overly long.]
Various Artists - Colombia [Putumayo]: 3.5 stars
Not searching out used copies of a B plus South America comp -- just not that into the region.
Friday, February 8, 2019
Of Montreal - Lousy with Sylvanbriar [honorable mention]
:-) [With this band, I'm sticking with what seems to be their acknowledged classic, Hissing Fauna, and also False Priest, a personal favorite of mine (and Christgau).]
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Monday, February 4, 2019
Guo Brothers and Shung Tian – Yuan: 3.5 stars
Not the kind of esoterica I generally collect, but nice.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Richard Thompson - Henry the Human Fly: 3.5 stars
Even if this was an A minus I wouldn't pay the ridiculous used prices people are asking.
U-Roy - Jah Son of Africa: 7 (B+)
# [toasting] Sly & Robbie participate. [5 listens - can't remember any tracks]
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