Saturday, April 29, 2023
Royal Crescent Mob – Something New, Old and Borrowed [honorable mention]
:-) [Land of Sugar EP, some okay live tracks, a single, and an alternate version]
Royal Crescent Mob - Spin the World: 7 (B+)
Too expensive used. Probably more of an honorable mention anyway. I bet if Christgau listened to this today he would knock it down a notch from his A minus. I should probably do the same. [4 listens]
Ron Wood - I've Got My Own Album To Do: 7.5 (high B+)
Only available at import prices from expensive boutique reissue label. This should still be in print and selling for $10.
Charlie Christian - Genius of Electric Guitar [placeholder]
All songs on here are on Solo Flight, other than "Grand Slam." Solo Flight has these extra tracks, so this is what I will listen to:
Benny Goodman Sextet– Boy Meets Goy 2:50
Benny Goodman Sextet– Good Enough To Keep (Air Mail Special) 2:54
Benny Goodman Sextet– I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Baby) 3:20
Benny Goodman Sextet– Gilly 2:33
Benny Goodman Sextet– On The Alamo 3:23
Benny Goodman Sextet– Memories Of You 3:06
Benny Goodman Orchestra– Honeysuckle Rose 3:01
Charlie Christian Quintet– I Got Rhythm 5:46
Charlie Christian Quintet– Stardust 5:30
Charlie Christian Quintet– Tea For Two 4:28
Metronome All Star Nine– All Star Strut 3:10
John Coltrane - Ascension: X stars
[Owned this once and sold it back. I realize that it has 4 stars in the Penguin guide etc. However, I note it's one of the least popular of the Coltrane classics with Allmusic users, and Tom Hull doesn't give this a full A (he gives it an A-). I listened to Edition II once again in making this entry.]
Janis Joplin - Janis: [grade to come after final listen]
This box contains all of the following albums, except as indicated. I listened to all the omitted songs three times. I will not be rating these works separately.
Big Brother & the Holding Company [1970 Columbia release] - "Call on Me" and "Women Is Losers" and "Blindman" and "Caterpillar"
Cheap Thrills - "Summertime"
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! - "Maybe"
Pearl - "Cry Baby" and "Buried Alive in the Blues"
Friday, April 28, 2023
Catalog Scrubs Complete 2023
Lush
Black Merda [Mer-Da]
The Julie Ruin
Bikini Kill
Ray Parker, Jr.
Sinead O'Connor
Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Brothers/International Submarine Band
Baaba Maal
Gregory Isaacs
The Itals
Young Fathers
Mofungo
Linx
Scritti Politti
Ace of Base
The Moldy Peaches/Kimya Dawson/Adam Greeen
Janelle Monae
Momus
Alison Krauss
Spiral Stairs [Scott Kannberg]/Preston School of Industry [that was hard]
Yoko Ono
Stephen Malkmus
Alexander O'Neal [would listen to self-titled debut, if available]
Change
John Phillips
Blood Orange
Alex Chilton
Sufjan Stevens
Diplo
Depeche Mode [would listen to Singles 81>98 if I could; won't re-create]
Philip Glass
Sisters of Mercy
George Strait
The English Beat
John Prine
Placebo
The Klezmatics
The Jungle Brothers
Crowded House
Muse
Charli XCX
The Naysayer
Napalm Death
Justin Warfield/One Inch Punch/She Wants Revenge
Saul Williams
A Certain Ratio
Chet Baker
2Pac/Tupac
Lyle Lovett
Ornette Coleman [that was not easy]
Cheap Trick
Albert Ayler
Morrissey
Jinx Lennon
Quasi
Electronic [Sumner/Marr]
Bernard Sumner/Bad Lieutenant
The The
Johnny Marr
Taana Gardner
Deee-Lite
Deftones
Palace [and variations]/Bonnie "Prince" Billy/Will Oldham
Queen
Queens of the Stone Age
Karate
Marky Mark
Emperor
Dinosaur Jr./J. Mascis
Lou Barlow/The Folk Implosion/Deep Wound/Sebadoh/Sentridoh
LL Cool J
Plug [Luke Vibert]
Noname
Lukid
Two Fingers [Amon Tobin]
Francis Bebey
Dandy Warhols
Delta 5
Wayne Shorter
Grandaddy
Common
Clams Casino
Public Image Ltd
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Andy Fairweather Low/Amen Corner/Local Boys
The Cult
New Model Army
The Go-Betweens [I'd like to hear The Able Label Singles if it ever pops up]
Teenage Fanclub
Big Stick
Chuck D
The Flesh Eaters
The Leaving Trains [might try Amplified Pillows [live] one day]
The Minutemen
Husker Du
The Descendents
Cypress Hill
This Kind of Punishment
Frank Black
The Pixies
Ian Hunter
The New Pornographers
Thomas Mapfumo
PJ Harvey
The Meditations
Saint Etienne
Arto Lindsay/Ambitious Lovers
David Behrman
Warren Zevon
Nick Cave/Birthday Party
Jad Fair solo [would listen to Great Expectations if streamable anywhere]
Freedy Johnston [would like to hear the Unlucky EP]
Tom Robinson
Jon Langford/Waco Brothers/Skull Orchard/Pine Valley Cosmonauts/Men of Gwent
Misfits
Pogues
Modest Mouse
Tapper Zukie
Nine Inch Nails
Ice-T/Body Count
Lene Lovich
The Fall
Joan Jett/Runaways
Royal Crescent Mob
Malcolm McLaren
Graham Parker
L7
Max Romeo – Holding Out My Love to You [honorable mention]
:-) [Almost bought a nice used vinyl copy because of Keith Richards’ involvement, but I really need to cut down on sympathy/completist purchases.]
Sonic Youth - SYR series - batch review
Not sure what I would rate these. Probably all 7 (B+), except for SYR4, which would be a negative. I have 1-3, all of which are EPs.
SYR1: Anagrama [EP]
SYR2: Slaapkamers met slagroom [EP]
SYR3: Invito al ĉielo [EP]
SYR4: Goodbye 20th Century [3.5 listens]
The Pitchfork review which gives SYR4 an 8.5 (high A-) is pretentious twaddle. On one hand it describes it as "music that is not supposed to be enjoyed so much as to be endured." WTF? And then it ends with this insufferable, cliched, completely contradictory and self-congratulatory condescension: "But if all you hear is dissonance and feedback and Kim Gordon's hot, ghostly musings, you're not listening." Right, the problem is ours if our "tastes" don't match yours? [The half listen is a final listen, after 3 full listens, where, when an annoying, stupid song starts and has a 10 minute running time, I would skip to the next one at the halfway point. This is something I've never done before, but since this is 1:45 long (!)....]
Foamola - May I Take a Bath?
:-( [I was able to identify 4 out of 5 of these songs and stream them online. They are horrible. Listening three times was torture.]
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Double Nice [Buck 65/Birdapres] - The Last Dig: 7.5 (high B+)
[cassette only] [this gets really good towards the end]
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Thelonious Monk - Underground: X stars
Interestingly, while many laud this, Tom Hull gives it a mere B. I don't remember even hearing of it until the last few years. Needless to say, I will not be picking it up.
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Hirth Martinez - Big Bright Street: 7 (B+)
For some reason, a lot more available than Hirth From Earth. But I can't see having one without the other. Might also be #.
Friday, April 14, 2023
Hirth Martinez - Hirth From Earth: 7 (B+)
Ridiculously expensive for used vinyl. Probably "#" anyway. With Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson, and you can hear it.
Black Flag - Six Pack [EP] [honorable mention]
:-) [Title track is on Wasted. The two other songs are okay. Even if this were 7 (B+), not worth it for two songs totaling ~3 minutes. I also thought about getting the comp The First Four Years, because that would have given me this and the Jealous Again EP (and the Nervous Breakdown EP, which I obviously have from back in the day, and a couple other stray songs), but it's OOP and ridiculously overpriced used. So I just picked up Jealous Again, which is still in print.]
Black Flag - Jealous Again [EP]: 7 (B+)
Title track is on Wasted and remaining 4 tracks total 4.5 minutes. Retail direct from the label? $12 plus shipping. Not worth the money or the shelf space at this grade.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Minutemen - Tour-Spiel [EP] [honorable mention]
:-) [Four songs, all covers. Studio versions of three (all except "Green River") appear on regular albums.]
Minutemen - Bean Spill [EP] [honorable mention]
:-) [Four out of five tracks are on Introducing. "Afternoons" is missing.]
Minutemen - Joy [EP] [honorable mention]
:-) [Two out of three tracks are on Introducing. "More Joy" is missing.]
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Sunday, April 9, 2023
Thelonious Monk - Les Liaisons Dangereuses 1960 [placeholder]
[Versions of well-known Monk tunes recorded for soundtrack but unused; pricey French import that targets serious fans. Also, repeated solos. Single listen.]
Saturday, April 8, 2023
GG Allin - Freaks, ..., Drunks & Junkies
:-( [Listening to this three times was a tremendous chore.]
Friday, April 7, 2023
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles: 7.5 (high B+)
# [electronic] [However, see review of Until the Quiet Comes.]
Dr. John - Things Happen That Way: 7.5 (high B+)
# [New Orleans] [Almost made an exception and got this, for my "older artist's last album before they die" collection (not to sound callous), but he didn't do this as his last statement while alive (some reports are that it was "unfinished" when he died), plus it looks like one of those cheapo "jacket-only" releases.]
Thelonious Monk - Palo Alto: X stars
Not qualified to grade. [Live, posthumous release, audience-taped in school auditorium]
Winter Hours - Wait Till the Morning [honorable mention]
:-) [This is the compilation, containing the identically-titled EP and the Churches EP.]
Beck - Mutations [honorable mention]
:-) [Owned this when it came out and sold it back. Listened again in contemplation of this post.]
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Le General Defao - "Bana Congo" Vol. 1 Made in America: 8 (A-)
See review of Vol. 2 [Too bad it's so rare. This is a great, latter-day soukous album.]
Le General Defao - "Ambiance Plus” (Bana Congo Vol. 2 Dance Mix): 7.5 (high B+)
I finally found this on Youtube after so many years. Not that it was supposed to be that great, I just wanted to hear it. I tried to download the audio file, but that's become much harder to do, and it would be one long track, anyway.... So, if I ever want to hear it again, I'll have to hope that it's still up on Youtube.
Saturday, April 1, 2023
Jacob Miller - Tenement Yard [aka Dread, Dread]: 7 (B+)
A relatively "big" album, especially with the title track. But in my mind it barely rates a 7 (B+), and used vinyl sells for way too much. In the US, released as Dread, Dread with this cover:
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