Nas - Illmatic: 7 (B+)

 

Digital Underground - Playwutchyalike: The Best of Digital Underground [placeholder]

I thought this might solve my "DU problem" but upon closer inspection, if I were to get Sex Packets, and have This is an E.P. release already, there's not much point. The only other thing I get from this is 3 songs from Sons (Heartbeat Props, No Nose Job, and Kiss you Back), plus 1 song from Body-Hat (Wussup Wit the Luv). And I thoroughly evaluated the latter and don't even remember that particular track. I will have to evaluate Sons on its own.

Justin Hines [a/k/a Hinds] and the Dominoes - Just in Time: 7.5 (high B+)

 

Would definitely get this, and Jezebel, if they were available for reasonable prices. The most economical way to get them is to buy the combination of the two of them on Japanese-only SHMCD, which costs $55-$65 new and $45-55 used in good condition. Just not worth that kind of money, especially for an import that has them both run together for nearly 80 minutes. They should reissue these. The only reason I agonized over this is because they have the great Tony Chin on rhythm, but I can't help it if they are not in print.

Etran de L'Air - No. 1: 7 (B+)

 

# [desert blues] [4 listens] I find it inconceivable that anyone could rate this at the same level as their next album, Agadez, but both Christgau and Hull inexplicably did just that. It was those two guyses' grades that kicked it up to 7 (B+) for me, while it hovered somewhere between that and honorable mention, mostly trending towards the latter.

King Crimson - Discipline [honorable mention]

:-) 

Group Doueh - Zayna Jumma: 7.5 (high B+)

 

Paul Westerberg - 14 Songs [honorable mention]

 :-)

Howlin' Wolf - The Definitive Collection: X stars

 

Same track list as His Best, which I kind of wish I had instead, because that's what I have for Muddy. But this came out 10 years later, so maybe I thought it would sound better. Anyway, keeping this.

Brandy Clark - 12 Stories: 7 (B+)

# [country]

Mott the Hoople - Brain Capers [honorable mention]

 :-) [Might be a B+, but not worth trying to make the distinction, since it's so OOP.]

Surfer Blood - Pythons [honorable mention]

 :-) [One of those albums that sounds pretty good, like B plus-ish, every time you listen to it, but you can never remember a song.]

Pink Floyd - Meddle: 7 (B+)

 

UB40 - Present Arms in Dub

 :-|

Ambitious Lovers - Lust [honorable mention]

:-) [I hear this more as a 7 (B+), but I seem to be the only one, so I will defer to Christgau and Hull, who are way better at hearing this kind of thing and have it at *honorable mention and B, respectively. It is less innovative than the other two. Way more than 3 listens.]

The Selecter - Too Much Pressure: 7 (B+)

 

# [ska/two tone]

U-Roy - Natty Rebel [honorable mention]

 :-)

Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing [honorable mention]

:-) [Overstays its welcome.]

U-Roy - Version Galore/With Words of Wisdom [a/k/a U-Roy] [both albums as Version of Wisdom]

:-| [Version Galore is combined on Version of Wisdom, a comp that is highly regarded by some, with another release, With Words of Wisdom (also released as "U-Roy"). Version of Wisdom actually has only 10 tracks of each of these 12 track albums. So, 2 tracks dropped from each. Both are neutrals to me.] [Ended up buying this one day. Not sure why. I would give it an honorable mention at best. But it is well regarded, so I will keep it.]

Idles - Ultra Mono: Momentary Acceptance of the Self [honorable mention]

 :-) [Not as generally well-regarded as the last one, although Christgau gave them the same grade. Four listens. I just find it a little too tuneless, and Christgau is alone in thinking this is the equal of the last one. I should try the debut and the newest one (Crawler) also.]

Nkumba System - Bailalo Duro: 8.5 (high A-)

 

Helmet - Meantime [honorable mention]

 :-)

Various Artists - New Orleans Mambo: Cuba to Nola [honorable mention:]

 :-)

Juice Wrld - Legends Never Die [honorable mention]

 :-) [Some great songs - but alot of it is lukewarm Soundcloud-type rap.]

Tall Dwarfs - Fork Songs: 8 (A-)

 

Tall Dwarfs - Weeville

 :-| [Sticking with just Fork Songs with this band, like Allmusic users.]

Mukdad Rothenberg Lankow - In the Wake of Memories

 :-|

Jethro Tull - Aqualung [honorable mention]

 :-) [Better than I thought it would be at this stage of the game.]

Justin Farren - Pretty Free [honorable mention]

 :-)

The Clash - Sandinista!: 8 (A-)

 

The Clash - Sandinista Then!: 9.5 (high A)

I like Sandinista in its entirety, but it's just so long I rarely put it on. It's too much of a time commitment. So I made this single album version. It bears alot of resemblance to Sandinista Now!, hence the name I chose for it. I burned this and put it on the shelf in a slim case. Here's the track list:

1. Police on My Back

2. The Call Up

3. Lose This Skin

4. Somebody Got Murdered

5. Something About England

6. The Magnificent Seven

7. One More Time

8. Up In Heaven (Not Only Here)

9. Charlie Don't Surf

Now it's my third favorite Clash album, after Black Market Clash and Combat Rock. I basically can't stop listening to it. I might even give it an A+, but it seems wrong to do that for what is essentially a personal mixtape. I originally had "Broadway" as song 10, but I made another version and took it off. The song's just not up to snuff. Plus, I had to take off the terrible kid-singing at the end, which made it unreproducible by others. And finally, I thought, you don't pare a triple down to one and leave the slightest piece of fat on it. 40 minutes seems perfect (it was ~45 otherwise).

Digital Underground - This Is an E.P. Release: 8 (A-)

 

U-Roy - Dread in a Babylon: 8 (A-)

 

I have the CD version with the considerably less cool album cover.

Sugar Minott - Black Roots: 7.5 (high B+)

 

See review of Sufferer's Choice.

Dr. John - The Very Best of Dr. John: X stars

 

As this is almost if not all New Orleans r&b, I am not qualified to rate it, nor would I collect it. But I admit it sounds great. I rated Gris-Gris because it's a mix of New Orleans r&b and psychedelic rock. [Had a physical, which I found after writing this review and will put in the sell pile - I can stream this if I ever want to hear it.]

Bjork - Vulnicura

 :-| [Might be honorable mention if it weren't so dramatically over-long.]

Dr. John - Gris-Gris: 7 (B+)

 

# [New Orleans]

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul [honorable mention]

 :-) [Some of it is a little schlocky, and the last song, which is 40% of the album, is nearly unlistenable. Track grades are 7, 8, 7, 4; so 26 total, or 6.5.]

Drive-By Truckers - The Big To-Do [honorable mention]

 :-)

Pedro Lima - Maguidala: 8 (A-)

 

First and last tracks are 9 (A), while two middle tracks are 7 (B+). Was printed in CD format, but those appear to be all gone. Oh well.

The Gun Club - Fire of Love [honorable mention]

 :-)

Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two: 8 (A-)

 

Goodie Mob - Survival Kit: 7.5 (high B+)

 

Digital only.

Beastie Boys - To the 5 Boroughs: 7.5 (high B+)

 

King Tubby & Soul Syndicate - Freedom Sounds in Dub: 8.5 (high A-)

 

Could be my favorite dub album. I grant that the art form is somewhat limited and so could probably never produce an all-around "masterpiece." But it produced many, many albums in the 8 (A-) to 8.5 (high A-) range.

Various Artists - Select Cuts From Blood & Fire: 8 (A-)

 

Various Artists - Select Cuts From Blood & Fire, Chapter Two: 8 (A-)

 

I would buy Chapter Three, if for nothing more than to have a complete set, but it's impossible to buy, or to even listen to. I did manage to find about 75% of the remixes on Youtube, and listened to those once, but it's not complete enough to make a playlist and do a full review. Plus, after one listen it didn't seem up to the quality of the first two.

Augustus Pablo - Earth's Rightful Ruler [honorable mention]

 :-)

Ka - Descendants of Cain: 7 (B+)

 

Digital-only. Or he printed up a few hundred CDs and sold them for $100 or some such thing. Sold out immediately apparently. People still want physicals. [4 listens] [Lowered from 7.5 (high B+)]

Super Mamo Djombo - Festival: 9 (A)

 

Like their first release, I will print this out and shelve it, it is so good. What an underappreciated band. Phenomenal.

Super Mama Djombo ‎– Sol Maior Para Comandante: 7 (B+)

 

Costs hundreds used. Not doing it for B+. Might be an A-, but given the physicals situation, I'm not going to make the distinction. It's also just two long tracks. Really one just split into two side long halves.

Augustus Pablo - Ancient Harmonies [honorable mention]

 

Contains the albums:

Rising Sun

Rockers Comes East

One Step Dub

Blowing with the Wind

Overall, the thing just goes on forever. I listened to the whole collection three times, and then One Step Dub one more time and Rockers Comes East two more times because Christgau liked it. Still think those come in at 7 (B+) at best, and are so over-priced used that I'm skipping them.

Sam Mangwana - Lubamba [honorable mention]

 :-) [Some very nice, but generic, soukous songs. Also alot of heavily Cuban-sounding ones that are not as good.]

Wu-Tang Clan - A Better Tomorrow [honorable mention]

 :-) [De-shelved in 2021]

Bonnie Hayes with the Wild Combo - Good Clean Fun: 7 (B+)

 

# [power pop]