Fennesz - Endless Summer: 7 (B+)

# ["glitch"]

Jah Wobble - The Legend Lives On... Jah Wobble in "Betrayal": 7.5 (high B+)

Never reissued on remastered CD, and original vinyl sells for too much.

Four Tet - Ringer: 7.5 (high B+)

# [electronic] [A little long for an EP] [6 listens]

Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee

:-|

Kokoko! - Butu: 7.5 (high B+)

# ["congotronics"]

Contortions [James Chance] - Buy: 7 (B+)

Ridiculously overpriced. And I will not be putting an alert up, given the price history and the grade.

Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation [liked]

:-) [6 listens]

Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans: 7 (B+)

# [indie folk]

Young Dolph - [N-words] Get Shot Everyday [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

Digital-only, as far as can be told.

Bar Italia - Angelica Pilled [EP]: 7 (B+)

# [ltd ed]

Halsey - The Great Impersonator [liked]

:-) [Docked a notch for bloat]

Method Man/Redman - Blackout!: 7.5 (high B+)

Docked a notch for bloat. No need for this to be 1 hr 11 min long.

Eminem - The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace): 8.5 (high A-)

The rapper we love to hate poses as the rapper we hate to love.

Cat Power - The Greatest: 8 (A-)

Cat Power - You Are Free: 7 (B+)

Del the Funky Homosapien & Kool Keith present FNKPMPN - Subatomic: 7.5 (high B+)

# [ltd ed]

Blind Willie McTell - 1927-1935: X stars

# [blues]

Nils Petter Molvaer - ER: 8 (A-)

I have this in the Original Album Classics box.

MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks: 9 (A)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: 8.5 (high A-)

Mana - Donde Jugaran los Ninos [liked]

:-) [Outstanding track: “Como te Deseo”]

Sophie - Sophie [liked]

:-) [Most irritating track of the decade, at least: “Plunging Asymptote.” Standout track: “Reason Why” (feat. Kim Petras and BC Kingdom).]

The Mekons - The Curse of the Mekons: 8.5 (high A-)

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks [Lydia Lunch] - batch review

Not really a batch review, per se. Their catalog is a bit of a mess, even though small. I understand that they never put out a full studio album. I listened to the three comps listed on Discogs, pictured below. The first one, as it's "original issue," was promising, but it sells for a fortune. I'm not spending a fortune on anything by them, but in the end this is the one I would buy if they were all commercially available. The middle one seems like the least desirable - unremastered, relatively early CD-era release that seems sloppily put together. The last one looks promising too, as an alternative to the first, because it apparently contains everything they ever recorded (unlike the release actually titled Everything). But it's also unavailable at reasonable prices. So that's the end of that.

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks [Migraine, 1979]

Everything [Atavistic, 1995]

Shut up and Bleed (w/tracks as "Beirut Slump") [Cherry Red, 2008]

Cabaret Voltaire - Three Mantras

:-| [Actually contains only 2 tracks]

Lyrics Born - Goodbye, Sticky Rice [liked]

:-) [Digital-only]

Tracy Chapman - Crossroads: 7 (B+)

# [singer-songwriter; folk]

Xaviersobased - Keep It Goin Xav!!!!: 7 (B+)

Digital- and cassette-only

Wussy - Cincinnati Ohio: 7.5 (high B+)

Ruben Blades & Willie Colon - Siembra: 7.5 (high B+)

# [salsa]

Four Tet - Parallel [liked]

:-)

Floating Points - Cascade: 7 (B+)

Upped from "liked" on a fifth listen

Future/Metro Boomin - We Don't Trust You [liked]

:-| [Docked a notch for bloat]

Minor Threat – DC Space • Buff Hall • 9:30 Club [live video]

I normally don't post about live videos, but this one is important. For those of us who weren't cool enough to be into Minor Threat at the time, this is the way to see what it was like.

Occidental Brothers Dance Band International - Likambo Te: 8.5 (high A-)

I love these guys and am very happy they are doing what they are doing - keeping Congolese rumba alive, here in the United States of all places. Outstanding track: "La Balance" [avec le grand Samba Mapangala]

Idle - Ego Park [liked]

:-)

Bar Italia - The Tw*ts [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

Digital-only

Mama Sissoko - Live: 8 (A-)

# [import]

Verckys et l'Orchestre Veve - Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978: 8 (A-)

Orchestre Veve/Verckys - Vintage Verckys: 7 (B+)

In the normal course, a little too early vintage to make the collection, but I have a nice copy and will of course keep it. No credits, so no idea who's on guitar on any of these tracks. There's a set called Best Collection that John Storm Roberts likes, but I can't find it anywhere to stream.

Serengeti - Human to Human [EP]

:-|

The Mountain Goats - Nine Black Poppies [EP]

:-|

Greg Dulli - Amber Headlights: 7 (B+)

Sonic Youth - SWU Music & Arts Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 11/14/11 [live video]

Their last live show. Several songs from their last album, The Eternal, were on the setlist. Great show, available on YouTube at this time. A little sad knowing what was to follow, but nothing lasts forever.

Les Savy Fav - Rome (Written Upside Down): 7.5 (high B+)

Obviously, I also have The Cat and the Cobra, Root for Ruin, and Inches on the shelves and will give them a grade next time I pull them off the shelf.

Les Savy Fav - Go Forth: 7.5 (high B+)

Les Savy Fav - 3/5: 7 (B+)

First album, obviously still just feeling out their sound. Thanks to the people who had the ears to pick up on their greatness with this first release.

Steinski - Steinski's Burning out of Control (The Sugarhill Mix) [placeholder]

I have never heard this because I can't find the files anywhere. I am in the market for a decent physical copy used at a good price, which I would buy unheard.

Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Funhunt: Live at CBGB's & Max's 1978 and 1979: 7.5 (high B+)

# [live] I would probably get this anyway, because it’s got Quine playing live on all but one track (and Jody Harris instead on that one track!), but it was originally cassette-only and then re-issued on CD only in France and Japan. Docked a notch for poor recording quality.

Cabaret Voltaire - Extended Play [EP] - 7.5 (high B+)

I would get this, at this grade, especially since it is their first release, arguably the first industrial track (I believe, although I am no expert in this area), and it's an EP, but it goes for a fortune.

Little Feat - As Time Goes By: The Very Best of Little Feat [placeholder]

Apparently this is the only decent compilation of this band's work, and it was originally an import. Finally released domestically in 2016, with all of 12 tracks. One is from Dixie Chicken, 3 each from Sailin' Shoes, Feats Don't Fail Me Now, and The Last Record Album, one from Time Loves a Hero, and a previously unreleased track.

Wednesday - Rat Saw God: 8 (A-)

The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge: 7 (B+)

Remastered CDs only available in 2-disc "anniversary" format (other than some limited edition releases), so I have to go without.

Pylon - Chain [liked]

:-)

GZA/Genius - Pro Tools: 8 (A-)

Outstanding track: "Pencil"

The Golden Palominos - Visions of Excess: 7.5 (high B+)

I'm in the market for a reasonably-priced copy of this on CD from 1985 (US release).

Four Tet - Three: 7 (B+)

# [electronic]

Various - Kampire Presents: A Dancefloor in Ndola: 8 (A-)

Steel Pulse - Rage and Fury [liked]

:-) [4 listens] [For a bit there I was thinking 7 (B+), but in the final analysis, slightly MOR]

MC5 - Heavy Lifting [liked]

:-) [4 listens] [2024]

Karantamba - Galgi: 9.5 (high A)

Vinyl-only, but at this grade I'm going to buy the vinyl.

Brainiac - Hissing Prigs in Static Couture [liked]

:-)

Hinds - Viva Hinds: 7.5 (high B+)

# [indie-pop]

Black Uhuru - Strongg Dubb [placeholder]

Would like to hear this, but it is very hard to find. I did find a place where I could stream snippets of all the tracks, and it was enough to convince me that I should not pay for this. But I will stream it if I ever find a place to do so. It goes up on YouTube from time to time, so maybe I'll luck out one day.

John Cale - Slow Dazzle: 8 (A-)

Sonic Youth - Hold That Tiger: 7.5 (high B+)

# [live] Although of course I bought a copy on CD in 1998. According to Wikipedia, this was still "pitch-corrected" or sped up so as to fit on original vinyl. I find it unbelievable anyone would do that. I would love to listen to this at the correct speed, and maybe I would like it better. I've made a note to stream it again when it's re-released in early 2025 at the correct speed. I'm going to commit a sacrilege and say that the Ramones encore set is not that great.

Generation X - Generation X [liked]

:-) [Definitely a notable punk album. 4 listens]

The Chills - Secret Box: The Chills' Rarities, 1980-2000: 7.5 (high B+)

# [odds and ends] I would buy this anyway, because of how much I love Martin Phillipps, but here's what happened. When it was released in 2001 (long before streaming was normalized) as a limited edition, odds and ends collection, and 3 discs of it at that, I wrote it off as something I would not enjoy and did not need. Having now finally gotten around to streaming it, 4 times, I wish I had shelled out for it as a keepsake. Now of course it sells for a small fortune. Oh well. I have the entire set in FLAC and could burn CDs for the shelves, but that's too much of a project with 3 discs. I have alerts up in case one ever comes on the market for a reasonable price (extremely unlikely). But for Chills aficionados, this is essential listening. I note that The BBC Sessions is contained entirely in this box set, and I have a separate post for that. This grade applies to the numerous remaining tracks.