Digital only.
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Friday, March 25, 2022
Bopol Mansiamina - Bopol Mansiamina: 7.5 (high B+)
Vinyl only, and prohibitively expensive. With Dally Kimoko and Lokassa Ya Mbongo on guitar. This same cover was used for a release called Bologna Ngaite on streaming services. See separate review.
Tubeway Army [Gary Numan] - Replicas: 7 (B+)
# [I'm going to call this electronica] Also, not available on CD except first generation transfers or remastered with a slew of bonus tracks. Finally, might actually just be an honorable mention.
Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You: 8.5 (high A-)
Of course, there's a 9 (A) or even a 9.5 (high A) among the 80 minutes of over-doing.
Mighty Diamonds - Deeper Roots Plus Dub: 8 (A-)
Dub sides are unbelievably terrible sound quality -- needle drop on wrecked vinyl, with apparently no attempt to clean it up. Had I known that, I probably would have just gone for a copy of the original album on clean vinyl, but I have this now, so will keep it.
The Breeders - Safari [EP] [honorable mention]
:-) [De-shelved in 2022. I like the purity of having only Last Splash, plus, I love EPs so much, I don't want to have a mediocre one on the shelves. The whole point of them is that they are so short you can afford to make them fantastic. Might be a 7 or 7.5 in fairness though.]
Bright Eyes - Cassadaga: 7 (B+)
Upped from honorable mention in 2024. [De-shelved in 2022, re-shelved in 2024]
Sonic Youth - In/Out/In [honorable mention]
:-) [I'm probably over-rating this a notch, because, yes, I miss them too. But an 8 from Pitchfork? Give me a break. Interesting odds-n-sods collection to hear 3 or 4 times.]
Saturday, March 19, 2022
Dead Prez - Let's Get Free: 7.5 (high B+)
I absolutely owned this once, had it in the sell pile, pulled it off the sell pile, and now can't find it, so maybe I put it back in the sell pile. Anyway, can't be buying this again, even though as of today, I want it on the shelves. Christgau and Hull don't think too much of it, at least. Maybe it'll turn up one day.
Superchunk - Wild Loneliness [honorable mention]
:-) [four listens] [Man his voice is irritating -- brings it down from a 7 (B+). This is what happens when the bandleader/singer also owns the record label. No one can impel him to let someone else try the vocals.]
Nilufer Yanya - Inside Out [honorable mention]
:-) [Upped from honorable mention. Digital/vinyl only. Compilation of 3 EPs on Blue Flowers Music.]
Run-D.M.C. - Down with the King [honorable mention]
:-) [Might be B+, but it goes on and becomes a little samey and tiresome after awhile. In any event, not available at reasonable prices. Plus it would be weird to have this and not certain others from them.
Lucien Bokilo [from the group Loketo] – Le jeu est fini: 7.5 (high B+)
Lost but pretty great early '90s soukous. Totally unavailable in physical. Dally and Rigo on guitar. Ex-Loketo vocalist. Guitar playing is fantastic, but the album is kept from 8 (A-) by some cheesy keybs.
Super Diamono de Dakar - Inedits: 7.5 (high B+)
Found only two copies for sale on the web, for absurd prices. Not paying a fortune for high B+.
Owiny Sigoma Band - The Lost Tapes: 7.5 (high B+)
Digital only. Subtitle says it all: rough cuts, re-edits, and rarities.
Dieuf-Dieul de Thies - Aw Sa Yone Vol.2 [honorable mention]
:-) [Songs a little long and listless]
Iggy Azalea - The End of an Era [honorable mention]
:-) [If Xgau gave this an A- or better, I'm sure I'd upgrade this and get it.]
Friday, March 18, 2022
Sunday, March 13, 2022
Bright Eyes - Lifted [honorable mention]
:-) [Originally graded 7 (B+) but it's so overlong, and has so much garbage on it, that I docked it for that. De-shelved in 2022.] [At least 4 listens]
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Broken Social Scene - We Forgot It in People [honorable mention]
:-) [Remember thinking this was more of a B+ when it came out and I bought it. But playing it now, 20 years later, I can't remember a single track. Plus no one's talked about it for about 19 years.]
Various Artists - Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Volume Four
:-| [Exactly the kind thing I would not buy today. It's a kind of limited edition so it mars the beauty of the original by trying to expand on it, I can hear all these songs, as songs, on Napster if I want, and it's not even on the same label. De-shelved in 2022.]
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
:-| [Listened several more than 3 times. Not sure why some people like this so much. De-shelved in 2022.]
Elvis Presley - A Valentine Gift for You: 7.5 (high B+)
This one was actually on the de-shelve pile, but I put it back on the shelves in a final change of heart. Xgau gave this a full A and put it in his rock library, Tom Hull gave it an A-, and it's one of the first albums I bought based on Xgau even though I thought it was a little strange for him to praise it so much at the time. It kind of opened my eyes, so it's a keepsake for me mainly.
Friday, March 11, 2022
Thursday, March 10, 2022
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