# [soul]
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Jeffrey Lewis - When That Really Old Cat Dies [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)
Digital-only (really, streamable-only(!))
Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life: 9.5 (high A)
I have the CD version with the A Something’s Extra EP included, which I would separately rate 8 (A-).
Adeem the Artist - White Trash Revelry [honorable mention]
:-) [They is a pretty good singer, but they’s songs all sound a little overly familiar.]
Lyrics Born - Vision Board 7 (B+)
[Upped from honorable mention - really, I don't trust my own ears versus Christgau and Hull both coming in at A minus. I need to develop a mind of my own. But they're both smarter than I am and have better taste.] [5 listens]
Friday, January 27, 2023
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival: 7 (B+)
# [blues rock - beyond which they evolved] I've ended up with all their studio albums except the first and last.
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Dennis Alcapone - Forever Version: 7.5 (high B+)
Once-owned. Looking back, selling was a mistake. However, there is now only ridiculously overpriced original vinyl, the first generation, unremastered CD transfer (1991) which I sold back, and ridiculously overpriced "Deluxe Edition" CD, with 5 mostly unremarkable bonus tracks and a remix of a track already on the original. Since the comps My Voice Is Insured and Guns Don't Argue are not available for less than a fortune, I guess this means I have no Dennis Alcapone.
Friday, January 20, 2023
Bad Brains - The Youth Are Getting Restless: 7 (B+)
# [live] [At least 4 listens - 95% sure I owned this once]
Oumou Sangare - Timbuktu: 7.5 (high B+)
# [wassoulou] [Note: Oumou, Worotan, and Seya are all on the final listen pile]
Saba - Few Good Things: 7.5 (high B+)
Direct sale is $27 shipped for CD (shipping alone is $9). LOL.
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Chronicle: Volume Two [notes]
For someone who owns all the albums except the first two and the last, this only offers the following two songs from each of those albums:
"Walk on the Water" - Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Susie Q" (Pt. 2) - Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Born on the Bayou" - Bayou Country
"Good Golly Miss Molly" - Bayou Country [strange choice, to me anyway]
"Lookin' for a Reason" - Mardi Gras
"Hello Mary Lou" - Mardi Gras
I realize that almost the exact same argument can be made about Chronicle (original volume), but that one is a classic in its own right, and has all the charting singles. It's also a Diamond selling album.
Anyway, obviously not worth buying at full price for a 1986 "remastered" CD. Especially since I may end up adding either or both of the first two albums.
John Fogerty - The Long Road Home: X stars
No grade in this case, but not because it can't be assigned one obviously. The problem I have with this is that all the Creedence songs are on other albums I own, with the exception of "Born on the Bayou." I thought this one was on Chronicle but it's not. Turns out I'm not the only person who has noticed this. There's a thread on the Hoffman forums where this is discussed briefly. Shockingly, it was not a charting single, and that comp only included charting singles, so it was left off. Anyway, because it's so familiar, I put it in the "on other albums" category. That means the album offers the following 5 Fogerty solo tracks:
"Centerfield" and "The Old Man Down the Road" from Centerfield (1985)
"Rambunctious Boy" and "Hot Rod Heart" from Blue Moon Swamp (1997)
"Deja Vu (All Over Again)" from Deja Vu All Over Again (2004)
"Rambunctious Boy" and "Hot Rod Heart" from Blue Moon Swamp (1997)
"Deja Vu (All Over Again)" from Deja Vu All Over Again (2004)
Nevertheless, I mistakenly bought this comp when it came out. I de-shelved it in 2022. I'm not a big fan of Fogerty or Creedence, and it's not worth cluttering up the shelves for the 5 Fogerty solo tracks (plus, I should mention, some live tracks).
Saturday, January 14, 2023
Wild Nothing - Golden Haze [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)
No one is selling this 20 minute EP at prices that approach reasonable. Not for 7.5 (high B+) anyway.
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run: 7 (B+)
See review of Ram - similar thing. [Choice cuts: “Band on the Run” and “Jet”]
The Muslims - Fuck These Fuckin Fascists: 7 (B+)
12 tracks in 21 minutes. I like that. But not paying full price for it at 7 (B+).
Black Star - No Fear of Time: 7 (B+)
.webp)
Streaming only (?) via subscription podcast network Luminary only (?). A monthly subscription costs $5, so you can sign up for a month just to listen to this, and then cancel your subscription and be left with nothing. Dumbest distribution scheme ever. Never would have bothered to search this out and give it a listen (really 4 listens) except someone whose ears I respect said it was really good. It's fine.
Friday, January 13, 2023
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Sunday, January 8, 2023
Saturday, January 7, 2023
Monday, January 2, 2023
Wild Nothing - Gemini: 7.5 (high B+)
[See review of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Same story with this one, almost exactly.]
Marianne Faithfull - Easy Come, Easy Go: 8.5 (high A-)
[I actually stupidly de-shelved this in my second round of pruning a few years ago. I think for some reason I lumped her (and this album in particular) in with "female songstress sings standards" or something like that. But she's really rock, or alternative even. So I rescued this, reshelved it, and finished exploring her catalog. My original pruning is hard to understand because Broken English is very high up there on my list of favorite albums of all time. I guess I just wasn't understanding how much I like her, rather than just that one album, which is how I was looking at her then, I think.]
MC Paul Barman - It's Very Stimulating: 7 (B+)
Usually "hip hop comedy" is #, but I make an exception for this guy for some reason. Maybe because I sensed he would get serious eventually, which he did on Echo Chamber [review to come - I have it in physical, I just need to hear it at least one more time to give it an official grade].
Sunday, January 1, 2023
Converge - Jane Doe: liked
I usually don't post album covers for anything ungraded, but I'm making an exception for this one to commemorate the accomplishment of actually giving it 3 good listens. Upped a notch in appreciation of the obvious effort it took to record. I probably should give it another listen given how much some people seem to love it.
Update (July 2025): Gave it a fourth listen after all. Switching from Richard & Linda Thompson to this was a mildly humorous experience. I love this brilliant take by Brian Lolli: "To the uninitiated, Jane Doe sounds like an impenetrable wall of bloodcurdling hardcore. To faithful Converge fans, it also sounds like an impenetrable wall of bloodcurdling hardcore — but in a complimentary way." I think that sums it up beautifully. You will love it the extent that "an impenetrable wall of bloodcurdling hardcore" sounds like something you would enthusiastically be drawn back to over and over again.
2023 Single Listens (unless 2 otherwise noted)
Ali & Tam's avec L'Orchestre Malo - Ali & Tam's avec L'Orchestre Malo [acoustic Congolese rumba]
Lenhart Tapes - Dens
Tainy - Data
They Might Be Giants - Book
Dorothy Carter - Waillee Waillee
Sierra Ferrell - Long Time Coming
Omar Khorshid - Guitar El Chark Vol.1
Car Seat Headrest - Faces From The Masquerade [Live]
Ustad Noor Bakhs - Jingul [EP]
Ace of Base - Greatest Hits [2000]
Adam Green - Gemstones
A7pha - II
Fishmans - 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare
Yo La Tengo - The Bunker Sessions [“live-ish” retreads of tracks mostly on This Stupid World]
The Folk Implosion - walk through this world with... [2 listens]
Various - Live Stiffs Live [2 listens]
Serengeti - Fall23
Hotline TNT - Cartwheel
Alain Goraguer - La Planete Sauvage (Original Film Soundtrack)
Yeule - Softscars
Underscores - Wallsocket
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Pipe Dreams: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Broadcast – The Noise Made by People
Too Short - Gettin' It (Album Number Ten)
Rhythm & Sound - See Mi Yah [single rhythm; I also sampled the Remix album]
Swans - Soundtracks for the Blind
Morrissey - The Best of Morrissey
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris; In Times New Roman...
Pharoah Sanders - Welcome to Love [Hull A+]; Pharoah
Laurie Anderson - The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other Stories [basically spoken word]
Katie Alice Greer - More Barbarism [EP]
Buck 65 - Dirtbike 1, 2, 3, 4 [3 sounded the best to me; maybe I'll play them again one day]
Lloyd Cole - On Pain
[Matthew] Herbert – Bodily Functions
James Mason - Rhythm of Life
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams
Felo Le Tee/Mellow & Sleazy - The III Wise Men [amapiano]
Panic Shack - Baby Shack [EP]
Steely Dan - Alive in America [live]
Paul Simon - Concert in the Park
Joan Soriano - La Familia Soriano [Christgau B+]
DJ /rupture - Minesweeper Suite [mixtape, goes on forever, Christgau B+]
The Meditations - Ghetto Knowledge
Red Rockers - Condition Red [not sure how Christgau came up with a B- for this]
Thomas Mapfumo & The Blacks Unlimited - Zimbabwe Mozambique
Various - Nexus Dub
Joy Oladokun - Proof of Life
Jesse Ware - That! Feels Good!
Joanna Sternberg - I’ve Got Me
Various - Zambush Vol. 2: Zambian Hits from the 60s and 70s
DFL - My Crazy Life [EP] [Ad-Rock on bass – Grand Royal release 1993]
Straw Man Army - SOS
Sheila Chandra - The Zen Kiss [exceptionally irritating]
Tinariwen - Amatssou
Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert
Protomartyr - Consolation [EP]
Gary Lucas' Fleischerei - Music From Max Fleischer Cartoons [half available on Bandcamp]
Savage - Tonight [Italo disco]
Various - Return to Orange Street: Roots Rock Reggae
The Royals - Dubbing with the Royals [2 listens]
Queen Key - Eat My Pussy (Again)
War - War Live
Devo - New Traditionalists
Various - NOW That's What I Call Music! Disco
Fred again.. & Brian Eno - Secret Life
Naked Raygun - Throb Throb
Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Wainwright
Paul Simon - Seven Psalms [solo acoustic]
Various - The Descendants (Music From the Motion Picture) [Hawaiian]
Skyzoo - Milestones; The Bluest Note
The Left [Apollo Brown] - Gas Mask [also with DJ Soko & Journalist 103]
St. John Green - St. John Green
Leak Bros. - Waterworld
Emperor X - Tectonic Membrance / Thin Strip on an Edgeless Platform
Pink Floyd - A Collection of Great Dance Songs [six “hits,” half edited, one re-recorded]
Stevie Wonder - In Square Circle
Winter Hours - Winter Hours [Chrysalis, 1989]
Marta - When It’s Going Wrong [Tricky-produced and co-written]
The Bongos - Beat Hotel
J.B. Mpiana "Wenge Musica BC/BG" - Feux de l'Amour
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Nonagon Infinity
Montrose - Montrose
New Birth - The Very Best of the New Birth Inc.
Eyedea & Abilities - E&A
Buck 65 and Tachichi - Flash Grenade
Richard Thompson - Music from Grizzly Man
Wilco - What's Your 20? Essential Tracks 1994-2014
DakhaBrakha/Bedouin - The Bedouin Reworks of DakhaBrakha
The Bobby Lees - Bellevue
Richard Lloyd - The Radiant Monkey
Dennis Alcapone - Yeah Yeah Yeah: Mash Up the Dance
Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights
Czarface - Czarmageddon; Every Hero Needs a Villain
The Beatles - Revolver [2022 stereo remix]
Kim Petras - Slut Pop [EP]
Lucrecia Dalt - ¡Ay!
John Cale - Mercy
The Murder Capital - Gigi’s Recovery
Various - Folk And Great Tunes From Siberia and Far East [sampled what was available]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)