Friday, April 26, 2019
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Carsie Blanton - Buck Up
:-| [Annoyingly affected vocal style. Neo-cabaret. Listened 4 times because Christgau gave it a full A.]
Monday, April 22, 2019
Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Volume 2: 4 stars
# [blues] I might buy this if there were some way to do so easily, on a simple CD. But it's far more complicated than that, and I already have Volume 1, so I'll just leave it at that.
Sunday, April 21, 2019
Tabu Ley Rochereau - Tabu Ley: 3.5 stars
I normally would get this, but it is from 1984, ie the pre-CD era, so unless I want to get a first generation CD transfer from 1991, I need to buy used vinyl, and I just can't justify the expense, given the now-definitive double two-CD set Voice of Lightness.
Mutiny - Mutiny on the Mamaship/Funk Plus the One: 4 stars
This one doesn't really exist. I burned it from downloads. There was a double CD with these two that came out some time ago, but I didn't buy it for a couple reasons. First, it is OOP and ridiculously expensive. Second, while both of these Columbia releases fit on a single CD, the reissue padded it out with bonus tracks and made it into a two CD item. I hate when they do that. So I burned mine to a single cd and put it on the shelves. ps, the vinyl is way too expensive used to go that route either.
Fela - Black Man's Cry [honorable mention]
:-) [This is more of a grade for the title track. All the other 5 tracks on this are on Best Best.]
Donna Summer - Bad Girls (Deluxe Edition) [honorable mention]
:-) [This review is really for the 12" single mixes on the second disc. See my review of the actual album elsewhere.]
Pete Shelley - Homosapien: 3.5 stars
This might actually be an A minus in my estimation, but I'm not going to worry too much about that distinction -- it's ridiculously overpriced and not going in the collection. I also note that both Christgau and Hull gave this a B plus.
The Three Johns - Live in Chicago: 3.5 stars
This is probably more of an honorable mention, but I'm upping it a notch because I admire them. However, this is a live album (which I tend not to collect), plus it suffers from "trio syndrome" (very samey sounding songs), and the lead (and only) guitar is way too trebly and irritatingly mixed. As a final consideration, I overbought their ouevre with that box set I will review elsewhere. So I'm not collecting this, but I'm glad to know it.
Friday, April 19, 2019
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Thelonious Monk - The Complete Blue Note Recordings: X stars
Did analysis/plays of Genius of Modern Music Volume One and Genius of Modern Music Volume Two, and opted for The Very Best as the best alternative. All the other compilations, including the two Genius volumes, have alternate takes put in after the "main" tracks. I'd love to read a single Monk review that doesn't use the word "compositional."
Pete Townshend - Empty Glass: 3.5 stars
Not buying because it should be available for around 7-8 bucks new, and for some reason it’s selling for around $30. Seems like one of these artists who is trying to push people to buy digital albums for $7, which I clearly don’t do. Might only be an honorable mention anyway. Not sure why Xgau gave this a B minus.
Friday, April 12, 2019
Lou Reed - City Lights [honorable mention]
:-) [Played this Arista compilation once as a whole in order to get the "gestalt," even though I've had (or eventually will) review each of the contributing studio albums on their own. Not sensing much of one.]
Sunday, April 7, 2019
Husker Du - Warehouse: Songs and Stories: 3.5 stars
I've got this on vinyl, where it will stay. It would be interesting to have it on a single CD, since it was issued near the beginning of the CD era and in some sense seems like it befits that format. But I just don't like it that much, so I'll just keep it on vinyl.
Friday, April 5, 2019
Mother Love Bone - Apple
:-| [I evaluated buying this anyway, despite the neutrality, because of its importance to grunge, but it's strangely expensive. Used copies should be going for single digits, in my mind. Maybe I'll keep my eye open for a copy that's priced right.]
Big Youth - Some Great Big Youth [placeholder]
I didn't listen to this in its proper form. It has 5 tracks from Rock Holy, 2 from Progress, and 3 others. See my individual reviews of the two former albums. The other 3 tracks -- "World War III," "Roots Foundation," and "Get On Up" -- are fine.
Big Youth - Screaming Target: 9.5 (high A)
[Listened to the second disc of bonus re-issue (probably twice) and did not think it was worth shelving. Of academic interest only.]
Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil: X stars
Constantly being cited as one of the greatest jazz albums of all time. So I'll shelve it. But I won't presume to grade it.
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