Czarface/MF Doom - Czarface Meets Metal Face [honorable mention]

:-) 

MF Doom - MM..Food?: 7 (B+)

 

Linton Kwesi Johnson - More Time [honorable mention]

 :-)

Yabby You - Chant Down Babylon Kingdom [a/k/a Walls of Jerusalem]: 8 (A-)

 

Also sometimes known as Yabby You Meets King Tubby. The original 11 or 12 tracks (depending on the release) are great. But it is now prohibitively expensive in that version. The only modern alternative is to buy a two CD set with a second CD that is basically a bunch of ephemera/crap. Unlike the recent  Scientist dub reissues, which have a second set of good songs. So I'm skipping this.

Augustus Pablo - King David's Melody [honorable mention]

 :-) [Listened to the "deluxe" version on VP from 2016]

Moses Sumney - Grae

 :-(

Augustus Pablo - This is Augustus Pablo [a/k/a Rebel Rock Reggae] [honorable mention]

 

Alternate cover/title [posting covers to allay any future confusion on my part]:

Yabby You - Deliver Me From My Enemies: 8 (A-)

 

Extremely rare case where the bonus tracks make the original issue not worth buying. I would give the original release a 7 (B+). Of course neither the original release or the reissue pictured above are available for anything approaching a reasonable price, so this will not be going on the shelves.

Augustus Pablo - Eastman Dub [honorable mention]

 :-)

Niney the Observer - Presents Soul Syndicate Dub Classics: 8 (A-)

 

Yabby You - Jesus Dread 1972-1977: 2.5 stars

 

There appear to be a couple dozen people in the world who consider this a "cornerstone of roots reggae," probably because Steve Barrow told them to. This is what happens when music cults get too insular. More than half of these tracks are "versions" -- so you will hear the same song literally three or four times in a row sometimes. And there are only slight variations. Unbelievably repetitive. I don't care what people say - they are not listening to this; or if they are, they are doing so mindlessly as background music. More likely, they are playing it once or twice, probably stoned out of their minds, calling it the coolest thing ever to increase their own estimation of themselves, and then never pulling it off the shelf. I'm so glad I could play this before wasting money on buying it. I listened to the entire thing a couple times, and then winnowed out the extra versions and the songs that are on other comps, and listened to that a couple more times. [Broke grading/posting/listening protocol because this set pissed me off so badly.]

Creation Rebel - Starship Africa [honorable mention]

 :-) [Also, from AllMusic: "Historic Moments, Vol. 2 is little more than a bonus-tracked reissue of Starship Africa....] [Later purchased as part of the High Above Harlesden box.]

Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon III: The Chosen: 8 (A-)

 

Digital only.

Yabby You - Dread Prophecy

 :-| [One of those terrible box sets which has a third disc of mostly crap you would never want to hear. Should have been a single disc collection. Single listen only, but I gave this its own entry anyway.]

Jacob Miller - Who Say Jah No Dread [honorable mention]

 :-) [Same songs twice. And many of the songs sound the same anyway. Ie, it sounds like the same song played about 12 times. Not sure why a small number of people think this is among the greatest reggae albums of all time.]

Mama Sissoko - Soul Mama: 7.5 (high B+)

 

One of those Bandcamp-only jobs where it's selling for $25.

Fontaines D.C. - A Hero's Death: 8 (A-)

[Upped way up from honorable mention after Skinty Fia made me reevaluate the band]

Del the Funky Homosapien - No Need for Alarm: 7.5 (high B+)

 

Bartees Strange - Live Forever

 :-|

Staff Benda Bilili ‎– Effacer Le Tableau [honorable mention]

 :-)

Faust - IV: 7.5 (high B+)

 

I'm shelving this as one of the few acknowledged krautrock classics. Like having Selling England by the Pound for prog.

Kokoko! - Fongola [honorable mention]

 :-)

Supertramp - Crime of the Century [honorable mention]

 :-)

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Road to the Riches: 7.5 (high B+)

 

Would buy it, but it's out of print and going for $50 or so used, which is ridiculous. It's not that good.

Bktherula - Nirvana [EP]

 :-|

Phoebe Bridgers - If We Make It Through December [EP]

  :-| [Digital only]

Scarface - Greatest Hits: 7.5 (high B+)

 

I don't buy greatest hits at this level.

Backxwash - Deviancy [EP]: 8 (A-)

 

Bringing physical distribution to a new height of stupidity. This one is only on digital and cassette.

Mr. Lif - Sleepyheads: 7.5 (high B+)

 

Augustus Pablo - Classic Rockers: 8 (A-)

 

Review is for the above 1987 original version. When it was re-released on CD, they added the track "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown," from an album everyone should already have. They also swapped "Love Won't Come Easy" by Leroy Sibbles for "Just as Long" by Horace Andy, and added six really not as good songs (two of them dub versions of the same songs, right after the main ones). In other words, they ruined it. The original vinyl is ridiculously expensive, otherwise I'd buy it. The main track I miss is "Earth wind and fire," which is outstanding. The CD cover looks like this:

Even the cover is notably inferior. What a waste.

Mr. Lif - I Heard It Today: 8.5 (high A-)

 

Various Artists - Beserkley Chartbusters, Volume 1 [honorable mention]

:-) [Can't quite get to 7 (B+), certainly the Jonathan Richman songs alone are, but I could be underrating it as a whole.]

Skip James - The Complete Early Recordings: X

 

These 18 early recordings are all he did in his prime. They are in many different compilations. Totally outside my bailiwick, and not seminal enough (although obviously seminal) to put on the shelves or grade.

Breaking Circus - The Very Long Fuse [EP] [honorable mention]

 :-)

Girls Against Boys - House of GvsB: 9.5 (high A)

 

Girls Against Boys - The Ghost List [honorable mention]

 :-)

Girls Against Boys - Freak*on*ica [honorable mention]

 :-)

Terry Riley - Shri Camel: 7 (B+)

 

# [experimental] Too expensive to buy used anyway.

Shopping - All or Nothing [honorable mention]

 :-)

Ashley McBryde - Never Will: 7.5 (high B+)

 

# [country]

The Chicks - Gaslighter [honorable mention]

 :-)

Lyrics Born & Cutso - Rapp Nite

 :-(

Sam Hunt - Southside: 7.5 (high B+)

# [country]

Pere Ubu - Worlds in Collision: 7 (B+)

 

Joe Gibbs - African Dub All-Mighty - Chapter 3: 7 (B+)

Seems to be widely regarded as a top 5- or at least 10-type dub album. On the other hand, it appears to be completely unavailable in physical, except for a small fortune. I might buy it with Chapter 4 on a single CD.

Brandy Clark - Your Life Is a Record: 7 (B+)

 

# [country]

Pamelo Mounk'a - Pamelo Mounk'a [Eddy'Son 1983]: 7 (B+)

 

While the whole album rates only a B+, the song "Lucie" rates a 10 (A+). There is no better soukous song in my view (although many equals, obviously). I would buy the album if it were selling for anything approaching a reasonable price, just to have a physical of that song. I will have to settle for just streaming those 8 minutes whenever I want to hear them. I wish I knew who was on lead, but there is no information on the internet that I can find.

Pamelo Mounk'a - L'Incontournable

 

This one contains the album No 1 Africain: Ca Ne Se Prete Pas on Eddy'Son from 1982, plus 5 non-album tracks, each of which I played three times and will not be rating. I will buy a copy of the former though, on the strength of this digital-only comp.

Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison [honorable mention]

 :-) [Eight or nine listens, but so incredibly mournful that I can hardly take it. Musically definitely an A-, but lyrically such a tremendous bummer that it ends up at honorable mention.]

Sad13 - Slugger

 :-| [Impersonating Liz Phair very, very much.]

Sad13 - Haunted Painting

 :-|

Dream Wife - So When You Gonna... [honorable mention]

 :-)

Osamu Kitajima - Benzaiten: 7 (B+)

# [new age]

Elizabeth Cook - Exodus of Venus: 7.5 (high B+)

 

# [country] Song "Dyin'" almost made me change my mind.

The Prophets [Yabby You] - Conquering Lion

 

Placeholder - all tracks from this are on Jesus Dread 1972-1977. Getting them in this configuration in VG+ or better condition would cost hundreds. On a first listen, there's no way it's worth that. But I will grade Jesus Dread instead.

Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue: 7.5 (high B+)

 

Kid Koala - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

 :-|

Iggy Pop - Brick by Brick [honorable mention]

 :-) [Might be a B+, but I owned it once, and sold it off, so it's hard to call it that, but it's definitely close.]

Scientist - Introducing Scientist: 7 (B+)

 

Doesn't appear to ever have been officially issued on CD. Vinyl copies cost a fortune.

Stereolab - Dots and Loops

 :-|

Low Cut Connie - Private Lives [honorable mention]

 :-) [Great track: "Now You Know"]

Will Butler - Generations [honorable mention]

 :-)

Sleaford Mods - Key Markets [honorable mention]

 :-)

Sleaford Mods - Sleaford Mods [EP]: 7 (B+)

 

Probably like this more than anything I've heard of theirs other than Austerity Dogs. But I can't pay import prices for a 15 minute EP at the B+ level.

Sleaford Mods - Divide and Exit [honorable mention]

 :-)

Arto Lindsay/Ambitious Lovers - Envy: 7.5 (high B+)

 

This is some downtown shiznit.

The Morwells - The Best of the Morwells: 9 (A)

 

Ambitious Lovers - Greed: 8.5 (high A-)

 

Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner: 7 (B+)

 

# [electronica]

His Name Is Alive - Mouth by Mouth: 8 (A-)

 

Toots and the Maytals - True Love: 8 (A-)

 

Elizabeth Cook - Aftermath: 7 (B+)

 

# [country]

Yabby You - One Love, One Heart: 8.5 (high A-)

 

Prohibitively expensive used for a high A- greatest hits collection, but I'm keeping an eye out.

Black Thought - Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane and Able [honorable mention]

 :-) [digital only] [standout track: "Fuel"]

King Tubby / Roots Radics - Dangerous Dub [honorable mention]

:-)

The Aggrovators - Shalom Dub [honorable mention]

 :-) [Great album cover]

Afghan Whigs - Do to the Beast: 7 (B+)

 

Lou Reed - Berlin: 7.5 (high B+)

 

King Tubby and Friends - Dub Gone Crazy: 4 stars

 

I may buy this used if I can find it at a reasonable price. On the other hand, I might buy the tracks as part of The Aggrovators - Dubbing at King Tubby's, which looks like this:

The problem with that approach is that the tracks from Dub Gone Crazy are spread out, and this also contains Dub Gone 2 Crazy and Dub Like Dirt, which are each lesser and lesser. [Update: I went this route, because I could get all three albums on one release, sealed, for the same price as a used copy of the first in merely very good condition.]

Serengeti - With Greg from Deerhoof: 7 (B+)

 

Dumb-ass thing where it's only in digital and on vinyl.

Haim - Women in Music Pt. III [honorable mention]

 :-)

Lori McKenna - The Balladeer: 3.5 stars

 

# [folk]

Tenor Saw - Fever: 7 (B+)

 

I have mixed feelings about this one. It's a mid-'80s Sly & Robbie backed work, and I enjoyed playing it over and over. On the other hand, none of the songs stick, plus it's basically obscure and hugely out of print. I only played it because it was on Pitchfork's Best 200 albums of the '80s, at #199. I am compromising by calling this a 7 (B+) and not a getting physical, since they are all outrageously expensive. The CD versions of this all come with 8 dub tracks that are merely okay. But I could just as easily give this an 8 (A-). Maybe they'll re-release it one day, for a better value than $25 for a used copy of an unremastered CD.