Fleetwood Mac - Then Play On: 7 (B+)

Upped from honorable mention and purchased as part of the Original Album Series. Can't resist those things.

The B-52's - Cosmic Thing: 4 stars

Carlene Carter - I Fell in Love [honorable mention]

:-)

Schoolly D - Schoolly D: 7.5 (high B+)

Hard copies prohibitively expensive. Probably # [old-school] anyway.

The B-52's - With the Wild Crowd!: 3.5 stars

Today, I would probably not buy this (as a live album at B plus from a band that I have mixed devotion to) but since I did almost ten years ago (!), I will keep it.

The B-52's - Party Mix: 7.5 (high B+)

# [remix album] Upped from "liked" on 4th listen. I might have even gotten all the way to 8 (A-) with a few more plays, but I can't quite get there. The prices people are asking for this are ridiculous anyway. There are hundreds of them out there, and everyone's asking high prices. Maybe in a couple years when none of them have sold, people will start asking for a reasonable amount. There is also the 1991 CD reissue which combines this and Mesopotamia, but that's a first generation CD transfer, and the version of Mesopotamia on that contains remixes of some or all of those songs.

The B-52's - Wild Planet: 4.5 stars

The B-52's - The B-52's: 4 stars

I know the critics will have us believe that the debut is better than the follow-up, but I disagree and always have.

The B-52's - Whammy!: 4 stars

So overlooked you can't even find a decent image online.

The B-52's - Funplex: 4 stars

Pet Shop Boys - Electric [liked]

:-)

Guelewars Band Of Banjul ‎– Tasito: 3.5 stars

Might be an A minus but not worrying about it because it is only ridiculously over-priced used old vinyl or new vinyl-only on this. How about a new CD?

Ouza et Teranga International Band - Wethe (Solitude) [honorable mention]

:-)

Various Artists - Flex Your Head

Upped from neutral. Normally, this would be # [hardcore; multi-artist comp], but I'm making an exception for a seminal DC hardcore comp on Dischord. Awaiting probable 7.5 (high B+) grade on final listen.

Phranc - Folksinger: 7 (B+)

# [folk] Digital only anyway, except for too-expensive used copies.

Basehead - Play with Toys [honorable mention]

:-)

Don Carlos - Day to Day Living [honorable mention]

:-)

Jenny Lewis - The Voyager: 4 stars

Doug Martsch - Now You Know [honorable mention]

:-)

Boz Scaggs - Boz Scaggs: 7 (B+)

Duane Allman on about half the tracks, but only really lets loose on “Loan Me a Dime.” No latter-day CD remasters, and original vinyl is too expensive. Made Rolling Stone top 500 list in 2012.

Roxy Music - Roxy Music: 3.5 stars

Agree with Xgau that side one is way better than side two, but I disagree that side one is A level. This album is barely a B plus in my view. Probably more or an honorable mention, but I'll give it a B plus in recognition of its impact.

Jackson Browne - Running on Empty: 3.5 stars

# [soft rock]

Supertramp - Breakfast in America: 7.5 (high B+)

# [prog/pop] There are three songs on here -- "Logical Song," "Breakfast in America," and "Take the Long Way Home" -- which are very good, and one which is good -- "Goodbye Stranger" -- all of which barely squeak it into B+ territory. I will probably end up getting a copy, given how big it was at the time, when I was just becoming a teenager.

Del the Funky Homosapien - Golden Era: 8 (A-)

Megan Thee Stallion - Suga: 3.5 stars

Appears to be digital only.

Oruj Guvenc & Tumata - Rivers of One [honorable mention]

:-)

Syran Mbenza - Sisika: 8 (A-)

Not available used at reasonable prices. I do have this on my wantlist, so maybe one day I'll get lucky.

Jean Papy (J.P.) Ramazani & Kass Kass - batch review

These are both B plus or maybe A minus, but I don't need to make the distinction because they are not available at reasonable prices. There's also an album named Kumbe Maria, which I can't locate but would definitely listen to if I could (Rigo Star on solo).

Lumingu Puati (Zorro) - Mosese: 3.5 stars

Not paying import prices for what is essentially an EP at B plus.

Miles Davis - Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud: 3.5 stars

Not buying jazz at B plus. Not even Miles, at least from this era.

Various Artists - Repo Man Soundtrack: 7 (B+)

 # [soundtracks] Not available on CD anyway. Standout track: "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies.

Steve Reich - Radio Rewrite: 7.5 (high B+)

# [neo-classical?] No reasonably priced copies anyway. Could very well be an 8 (A-).

Young M.A - Herstory in the Making [honorable mention]

:-) [Docked a notch for way overstaying its welcome, with many similar sounding songs.]

Shakira live - batch review: 3.5 stars

All good, none great. I have all her major studio albums (other than the first two "underground" ones), and so won't be springing for these. See separate review for the famous MTV Unplugged.

Live & Off the Record
Oral Fixation Tour
Shakira in Concert: El Dorado World Tour
Live from Paris (this one may be more of a neutral)

Super Mama Djombo - Na Cambanca: 9.5 (high A)

This is superb. Was just reissued on vinyl/digital only. So stupid. If it weren't for that dumb-ass decision, I would definitely buy this. As it is, it is good enough to print out and put on the shelves.

Martin Creed - Thoughts Lined Up

:-|

Lee Ranaldo - From Here to Infinity [honorable mention]

:-)

Mannequin Pussy - Patience [honorable mention]

:-) [4 listens]

Gil Scott-Heron - We’re New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven: liked

:-)

Soukouss Vibration - Pot Pourri: 7 (B+)

Like the label (Afro-Rhythmes), guitar is fantastic (Diblo Dibala and Nene Tchakou - not sure how I missed this in my Diblo total search), and songs are good. But it sounds like one big track (ie, it's a little samey) -- in fact I think it is, with manufactured pauses between tracks -- it's almost impossible to find, and it has drum programming and cheesy keyboards, so I'll skip this in physical despite the grade. Really 4 stars for the guitar though.

Cornershop - England is a Garden

:-|

Bad Bunny - YHLQMDLG

:-(

Lee Ranaldo and Raul Refree - Names of North End Women

:-|

Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot

:-|

Grimes - Miss Anthropocene [honorable mention]

:-) [At least one phenomenal track, too lazy to identify it - towards the end.]

Donita Sparks + The Stellar Moments - Transmiticate [honorable mention]

:-) [There are a couple very good songs on here, but mainly other plain ones. Almost convinced myself it was a B plus based on those very good ones.]

Fleshtones - Roman Gods: 7 (B+)

I only could find 9 out of 11 tracks on YouTube, but that's enough to grade in a pinch. The two songs I could not hear are “Hope Comes Back” and “Chinese Kitchen," and I sampled both of them. More of the same. I plan to review Living Legends Series, which drops those two songs from this one, as well as “The Dreg (Fleshtone-77)” and “R-I-G-H-T-S.” I like it because it’s on IRS, was remastered, was issued in the early CD era, and is only on CD. And it’s relatively judicious, at just over an hour. None of this is true for It's Super Rock Time!: The I.R.S. Years 1980-1985, which has 9 out of 11 from this, except also being CD-only. But with this additional listening, I’ve listened to most of Roman Gods about 7 times, but I've still never heard it front-to-back. # [junk rock]

Shakira - MTV Unplugged: 4 stars

All but one track is from Donde Estan Los Ladrones, so essentially a live remake of that. Plus one song form Pies Descalzso. Also, this is really a live show and has to be seen to be fully appreciated. For all those reasons, I am not shelving this live one. Plus, it only appears to be available at this time as a German import. Watched the DVD from Netflix and loved it. Maybe if they had ever put it on blu-ray.

The Folk Implosion - Dare To Be Surprised: 4 stars

Ismael Lo - Jammu Africa [honorable mention]

:-) [Pretty sure I had this at one point. Ass Malick Diouf [Gestu de Dakar] on guitar.]

Wire - Mind Hive [honorable mention]

:-)

of Montreal - UR Fun [honorable mention]

:-)

Steve Reich - Different Trains [Kronos Quartet]/Electric Counterpoint [Pat Metheny]: liked

On Pitchfork's best 200 albums of the 1980's list.

Lil Wayne - Funeral: 7 (B+)

The Brains - The Brains: 3.5 stars

At this point, I probably would not have bought this on vinyl (never been re-issued since it came out in 1980), but I have a near mint vinyl copy and will keep it.