Ernesto Djedje - Roi Du Ziglibithy (Limited Dance Edition Nr. 15): 8 (A-)

Digital and vinyl only.

Ernesto Djedje - Le Roi du Ziglibithy: 7.5 (high B+)

This is from the African Dancefloor Classics series on Popular African Music. It appears to combine these two albums (the first of which appears to have multiple covers):

Anyway, completely unavailable at reasonable prices.

Archie Shepp - Attica Blues: 7.5 (high B+)

# [jazz] [album is all over the place, both stylistically and qualitatively]

Blaze Foley - Duct Tape Messiah: 7.5 (high B+)

# [best of; country]

David Behrman - Leapday Night: 7.5 (high B+)

# [experimental] [Normally, I would not buy this in physical, but I can't resist the matched set with his first, both on Lovely.]

David Behrman - On the Other Ocean: 8 (A-)

Various - Khat Thaleth: Third Line: Initiative for the Elevation of Public Awareness: 8 (A-)

[Killer track: "Boov" by LaTlateh. I love you guys, whoever you are.]

DJ Drama & Lil Wayne - Dedication 2: 7 (B+)

Digital-only mixtape [only version on MixUnit is chopped and screwed]

The Fall - Room to Live: 7.5 (high B+)

I am in the market for one of these. I don't want the 2 disc version, or the early Cog Sinister vinyl drops. I am looking for the 2005 Castle reissue with the six live bonus tracks, which are pretty good. They are currently selling for prices I refuse to pay, so I'll wait until I can find a good copy at a reasonable price. [Found shortly after writing this.]

Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of the Moon [honorable mention]

:-) [Would buy it just for historic importance if it were selling for like 5 to 8 bucks remastered.]

Warren Zevon - My Ride's Here: 8 (A-)

Warren Zevon - Original Album Series

As pictured, his first 5 releases. I also own Sentimental Hygiene, The Wind, and the Genius comp. Might get around to rating those one day. And also the first two here, which I have owned for years.

Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School: 7 (B+)

Terrible title (and yes, I get the references). I'm not sure how Christgau came up with a B minus for this and B plus for Transverse City. I have this as part of the Original Album Classics boxlet with the first five releases.

Warren Zevon - Transverse City [honorable mention]

:-) [Might have even bought this, for completist's sake, but it's ridiculously expensive.]

Warren Zevon - Stand in the Fire: 8 (A-)

David Behrman - Unforeseen Events [honorable mention]

:-)

Wendy [formerly Walter] Carlos - Switched-On Bach: 7 (B+)

# [modern/electronic classical?] [Had this in the late 1970s, early 1980s, and played it several times, probably because of A Clockwork Orange. I think I kind of liked it but don't remember much about it or how it impacted me. Listened again just now. Streamable on the Internet Archive here, which is the perfect place to listen to it, especially on scratchy, good-sounding files of vinyl drop.]

Half Japanese - Calling All Girls: 7.5 (high B+)

Key early 7 inch. I would buy, but it sells for ridiculous prices. All songs are on Greatest Hits, other than the below 4 songs from 1/2 Gentlemen/Not Beasts, so 5 out of 9 tracks are on GH. That's about half a 12 minute EP, or about 6 minutes of music if you do the math, for those high prices.

"Battle of the Bands"

"Bogue Millionaires/Cool Millionaires"

"Ann Arbor, MI"

"Shy Around Girls"

Pat Metheny/Ornette Coleman - Song X: Twentieth Anniversary: X stars

[Not qualified to grade, but I bought it (has six extra tracks at the start)]

Jad Fair & The Shapir O’Rama - We Are the Rage: 7.5 (high B+)

# [noise rock; import prices]

Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston - Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston

:-( [It’s Spooky is this album plus more]

Les Abranis - Amazigh Freedom Rock 1973-1983: 7.5 (high B+)

# [best of; import prices]

DJ Shadow - What Does Your Soul Look Like: 8 (A-)

[I've got this on Preemptive Strike.]

Various - Reggae Dance Party: 7 (B+)

# [multi-artist comp]

Sylvester - Stars: 7 (B+)

# [disco]

War - Greatest Hits: 9.5 (high A)

War - Deliver the Word: 7 (B+)

 

# [soul]

War - All Day Music: 7 (B+)

# [soul]

The Fall - Hip Priest and Kamerads: 7 (B+)

# [odds and sods; plus, have all studio tracks except "Look, Know"]

Bruce Cockburn - Anything Anytime Anywhere: Singles 1979-2002: 7.5 (high B+)

# [best of]

Blossom Dearie - Blossom Dearie Sings: 7 (B+)

# [jazz vocals]

The Cult - Electric

:-|

Water From Your Eyes - Everyone's Crushed [honorable mention]

:-) [4 listens]

Apollo Brown & Philmore Greene - Cost of Living

:-|

T. Rex - T. Rex [honorable mention]

:-)

Gregg Allman - Laid Back [honorable mention]

:-)

Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens - Music Inferno: 7 (B+)

# [mbaqanga; live]

Freedy Johnston - Back on the Road to You: 7.5 (high B+)

Coulson, Dean, McGuiness, Flint - Lo & Behold: 7.5 (high B+)

# [covers, even all-Dylan, or maybe especially all-Dylan]

Tom Robinson - North by Northwest: 8 (A-)

Pretty sure I once owned this on vinyl and sold it back, which was probably a mistake. It was reissued on unremastered first generation CD transfer, which I normally don't buy, but in this case, it's such an early CD transfer (1987), and I found it for $10 shipped, so went for it. Kind of like an antique. The remastered version has some bonus tracks I don't want, and was 50% more, so I skipped that.

Joy Division - Still: 7.5 (high B+)

Originally released as a vinyl double album in 1981, this was problematic from the start. The first album was necessary outtakes and other studio material, but the second album was a completely unnecessary live set. This original version was later reissued on CD as a first generation CD transfer, which I normally avoid. Then it was re-rereleased as a 2 CD set, with the original double album on the first CD, and a second CD with a further unnecessary live set. I'm not buying a padded outtake album in used vinyl, when it was reissued on CD, not buying the reissued CD because it's not remastered, and not buying the bloated 2 CD version. In this case, the outtakes disc is good enough that I was tempted to just buy the original CD version, but it's selling used for more than the bloated 2 CD set sells new. Ridiculous. I did find a like-new original CD selling for a reasonable price, but of course it's a cut-out, so the price is actually not that reasonable. Bottom line: I'll stick with the two studio albums and Substance.

p.s., I was tempted to manufacture a single CD of the first album of the original release, with the studio material. That would be, leaving off the live "Sister Ray" and the tracks that are on Substance ("Glass" and "Dead Souls"). But what's the point of that anymore, especially for 7 outtakes? Note also that Christgau and Hull didn't even review the release.

Anti-Choc - Anti-Choc: 7.5 (high B+)

The Bongos - Drums Along the Hudson: 7.5 (high B+)

Kabaka International Guitar Band - Kabaka International Guitar Band: 7.5 (high B+)

This is a digital-only re-release of the below. Both are marked as "Led by G. Kabaka Opara." The first two of the four tracks of this were on the other Opara release on Original Music I have already reviewed.

Tom Robinson Band - batch review

Evaluated and shelved Power in the Darkness and TRB Two on vinyl decades before starting this blog. Not sure whether I would put them at 7.5 (high B+) or 8 (A-). I also own Robinson's solo comp The Collection 1977-87 on CD.

Jon Langford - batch review

I shelved all the following albums long before starting this blog, which means that I considered them 7 (B+) or higher. I feel very confident that I didn't consider any of them higher than 8 (A-), especially since I think Here Be Monsters (credited to Jon Langford & Skull Orchard) is his best "solo" work, and I gave that an 8.5 (high A-). So, I consider these all either 7 (B+) or 7.5 (high B+) or 8 (A-). I'm not going to take the time to grade them individually, but if I ever give any of these another listen in the future, I will specify the grade in a separate entry and pull them off this list.

Jon Langford - Skull Orchard

Jon Langford - All the Fame of Lofty Deeds

Jon Langford and His Sadies - Mayors of the Moon
The Pine Valley Cosmonauts - The Executioner's Last Songs
Waco Brothers - Cowboy in Flames
Waco Brothers - Wacoworld
Waco Brothers - Electric Waco Chair

I would also note that I might give the following Waco Brothers albums three listens at some point, as they each received an A- from Hull, even though Christgau, whose ears I trust more with Langford, didn't like them at the B+ or above level. I also note that Hull will make snap judgments after only one listen, so I don't value the grade nearly as much.

To the Last Dead Cowboy [Hull changed to B+ in Rolling Stone album guide]

New Deal [Hull changed to B+ in Rolling Stone album guide]

Freedom and Weep

Resist! [compilation of previously released songs; vinyl only]

Hull also graded at A- the The Pine Valley Cosmonauts' Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills. I put this lower on the listen list, because I don't consider PVC so much of a Langford project. In that vein, and, as a final note, Hull also graded A- the album PVC did with Roger Knox (on which Langford presumably plays and sings, but in the truly self-effacing way that this is not a "Langford" album like all the others). It was called Stranger in My Land. If I really have the time one day, I'll play that.

Waco Brothers - Going Down in History: 7.5 (high B+)

[Jon Langford, of course]

Joy Division - An Ideal for Living [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

I have this on Substance but wanted to rate it separately given its high profile.