Morrissey - California Son [honorable mention]

:-)

Mofungo - Out of Line: 8 (A-)

Tricky - A Ruff Guide: 9 (A)

Really nice compilation. Sums up his Island years beautifully, and heavily evokes the music scene of the late 1990s. Tracks break down as follows:

Maxinquaye - 6

Nearly God - 3

Pre-Millennium Tension - 3

Angels with Dirty Faces - 2

Juxtapose - 3

Personally, one less from Maxinquaye (easily his most over-rated release in my opinion, although I'm glad everyone else loved it, otherwise who knows what would have become of his career) and one more from Angels would have improved it for me.

Stinkin' Rich [Buck 65] - Chin Music [EP]: 7 (B+)

From 1993, cassette only.

Hot Chocolate - Going Through the Motions: 8 (A-)

I think this is the best of their individual releases. Not sure if I will get this on vinyl, or maybe just get their Original Album Series box.

Tricky - Pre-Millennium Tension: 8 (A-)

Tricky - Angels with Dirty Faces: 8 (A-)

Cloud Nothings - Final Summer [honorable mention]

:-) [Possibly a 7(B+), but I am sure I will play this a few more times before the year is over, and I will upgrade if it strikes me that that's the right call.]

Tricky - Blowback: 9.5 (high A)

Tricky with DJ Muggs and Grease: Juxtapose: 8 (A-)

Tricky - Maxinquaye: 7.5 (high B+)

English Teacher - This Could Be Texas: 7.5 (high B+)

# [import; post-rock]

Massive Attack - Ritual Spirit [EP]: 8 (A-)

Hugely rare at this point. I'm not seeing anything less than $50, for a 4-track EP. Oh well. I also have Blue Lines, Protection, No Protection, and Mezzanine. I will get around to posting them one day.

Scientist - Dub in the Roots Tradition [honorable mention]

:-) [4 listens]

Bark Psychosis - Hex [honorable mention]

:-)

Wavves/Cloud Nothings - No Life for Me [liked]

:-)

Glen Brown/King Tubby - Termination Dub (1973-79) [honorable mention]

:-)

Ornette Coleman - The Unprecedented Music of Ornette Coleman: X stars

I can't think of anything I'm less qualified to evaluate than live free jazz. I put this in the queue because it got a 10 in the Spin guide. Also the first half of The Love Revolution.

[Dan the] Automator - A Much Better Tomorrow: 7.5 (high B+)

Big Youth - Everyday Skank; Tell It Black; and Ride Like Lightning: The Best of Big Youth 1972-1976 [placeholder]

All tracks on Everyday Skank are on either Screaming Target or the Natty Universal Dread comp, except "S 90 Skank" and "Cool Breeze," which are on the High Explosion DJ comp. Well, there's also "Medicine Doctor" and "A So We Stay," which I listened to from A Reggae Collection.

As for the other 2 releases, Tell It Black contains all of Screaming Target, and the rest of the material seems very similar to what's on Ride Like Lightning. A good bit of that material is also on Natty Universal Dread.

Update 2024:

I did another evaluation of Tell It Black vs Ride Like Lightning vs Reggae Phenomenon, and all three of these vs Natty Universal Dread. There is very little overlap between the first three and NUD. And TIB is probably the least useful of the three, because as noted above it contains all of Screaming Target, which you should already be familiar with, and then songs that are repeated on the other two. In fact, its only original track appears to be "Fire Bunn." By the way, RP was originally a 10-track one-disc release that was expanded to two discs when it was reissued in 1990. Bottom line, RP has 9 original songs out of 20 if you have RLL. I did not double-check all this, so I'm sure there are mistakes, but here are the original songs from each of RLL and RP, which indicates that I should be, and now am, in the market for a NM/VG+ copy of the latter for $20 shipped or less, if that ever happens.

Can You Keep a Secret

Dubble Attack
Opportunity Rock
Mooving Version
Cool Breeze
Dock of the Bay
Big Fight
Foreman vs. Frazier
A So We Stay
Chucky No Lucky
Waterhouse Rock
Half Ounce
Medicine Doctor
ABC
The Killer
Pride and Joy Rock
One of These Fine Days
Keep Your Dread
Natty Cultural Dread
I Light & I Salvation
Dread High Ranking
Jim Squeechy
Every Nigger Is a Star
Ten Against One
Hell Is for Heroes

I Am Your Man
It's Not Unusual
Papa Was a Rolling Stone
Love and Happiness
Get Up Stand Up
Notty No Jester
Johnny Reggae
Mammy Hot Daddy Cool
Dread in a Babylon

Big Youth - Natty Universal Dread 1973-1979: 8.5 (high A-)

The Libertines - Up the Bracket: 7.5 (high B+)

The Libertines - The Libertines: 7.5 (high B+)

 

The Libertines - I Get Along [EP]: 7 (B+)

The Libertines - Time for Heroes - The Best of The Libertines: 7 (B+)

# [best of] I was hoping that this might be a great listen since it ostensibly cherry-picks the best songs from their first two albums, but it didn’t end up that way.

Kool Keith Presents Thee Undatakerz - Party in tha Morgue! [honorable mention]

:-) [Only nominally a Kool Keith album - limited verses from him]

Rail Band - Rail Band: 8 (A-)

At least one reviewer identifies this as Buffet Hotel de la Gare. It's their second album. Only reissued on vinyl, which is stupid, and takes me off the market for the original release from 1973. I can only find one copy of that listed at the moment. For $121 shipped.

Ini Kamoze - Pirate: 7.5 (high B+)

Thanks to Christgau for inspiring me to stick with this. It grows on you. Sells only for a fortune though. Reissued on vinyl-only in 2020. [Found a reasonably priced original vinyl copy]

Ini Kamoze - Statement: 7.5 (high B+)

Good luck finding any of his first 3 albums at an affordable price. [Ended up finding this for sale new, on CD, for a reasonable price, from his personal website.]

Franco & Orchestra Jazz - L'Afrique Danse No. 6: X stars

The albums of this old series sell for very high prices obviously. The only one I would consider buying of the first 6 is the Rochereau one.

The Cucumbers - The Fake Doom Years (1983-1986) [placeholder]

As can be deduced from the cover and the title, this complies all of their early output on the label Fake Doom. See separate review of self-titled EP. In addition to that, it has the album Who Betrays Me (Christgau grades this at B+ and I will probably get to at some point), one song from the All Shook Up EP (only unique song on that EP), and two previously unreleased tracks.

The Cucumbers - Old Shoes [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

# [indie pop]

The Cucumbers - The Cucumbers [Profile, 1987]: 7.5 (high B+)

# [indie pop] [Outstanding track: "My Boyfriend"]

Placebo - Placebo [honorable mention]

:-)

Ossie All-Stars - Leggo Dub: 7 (B+)

I have this as an extra disc on the reissue of the Gregory Isaacs album Mr. Isaacs.

Docteur Nico et Son Orchestre - L'Afrique Danse No. 5: X stars

A little too early-vintage for me to grade. I just don't have the ears or maybe the chops for most music recorded before the late 1960s, which holds true even for the DRC. Can't be bought for decent prices anyway. Muzikifan would be ashamed of me. :-)

The first three release in the L'Afrique Danse series are various artists, and the next three each focus on a different giant, namely, Rochereau, Nico, and Franco.

Various Artists - Version Dread: Dub Specialist: 7.5 (high B+)

# [multi-artist comp]

Steve Earle - I Feel Alright: 7.5 (high B+)

# [country] I'm pretty sure I actually bought this when it came out but must have sold it back. I listened to it 3x now in order to assign a fair grade, since I have no hard evidence that I in fact bought it.

Steve Earle - The Mountain: 7 (B+)

# [country/bluegrass] I did buy this when it came out, but must have sold it back, which would have only happened after at least 3 listens. Just played it again to give it a formal grade.

Steve Earle - Train a Comin': 8 (A-)

Steve Earle - Guitar Town: 8 (A-)

Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley: X stars

Elvis Presley - Elvis: X stars

Elvis Presley - From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis: 8 (A-)

For those who don't know, this contains the album In Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada [recorded 1969], and also Back in Memphis. So this is the "back" cover.

Elvis Presley - Elvis at Sun: X stars

This contains the first disc of Sunrise. Ie, you get that, for a great price, and without the second disc of crapola you don't want or need.

Elvis Presley - From Elvis in Memphis: 7.5 (high B+)

I will probably get the Legacy Edition. My copy of this is disc only. I think a pet destroyed everything else. Normally I don't worry about that, but this has the benefit of containing Back in Memphis also. Seems like a nice set for a good price.

Lou Reed - Hudson River Wind Meditations: 7.5 (high B+)

# [drone] I'd probably still buy it because it's Reed, if it were selling for non-artisanal prices. Actually, I realized that the reason it's priced that way is that it comes with a book, so I'll buy it after all. Plus, it's his last studio work.

Elvis Presley - Elvis [NBC-TV Special]: 7 (B+)

Mix of studio production numbers including medleys of his songs, "sit-down" performances and "stand-up" numbers with an orchestra. Soundtrack to the TV special, which I also watched. # [mixed tv special soundtracks] The production included two sit-down shows and two stand-up shows. I listened to both stand-up shows once and the second one twice. Counting that as 3 listens, I’d give those 7 (B+) (could do without the strings). That just leaves the sit-down shows. For that, I'll just listen to Tiger Man, because Hull recommends it so highly. Not going to bother with the second show. I'm sure it's very similar and RCA chose the other one, so it must be at least a hair better. I did buy a copy of Memories: The '68 Comeback Special when it came out a quarter century ago, but it's got so many repeat tracks, and includes the full special, so I'm going to put that in the sell pile and get a copy of Tiger Man to represent that whole extravaganza.

Taha/Khaled/Faudel: 1, 2, 3 Soleils: In Concert: 8 (A-)

Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual [honorable mention]

:-)

Mofungo - Unreleased: 7 (B+)

Digital-only

Burning Spear - Living Dub [Volume 1]: 7.5 (high B+)

Famous dub of Social Living (a/k/a Marcus' Children). Originally issued in 1982 with the above cover (actually, there was a 1980 issue with a very similar cover, but without the volume designation). Album reissued with a different mix (by Barry O'Hare) in 1993 on Heartbeat, with this cover:

I listened once to this remix. The album was then reissued on Spear's own label, with the original mix, and the title Original Living Dub Vol. 1 and this cover:

Somewhat over-rated in my view, but still worth having. In the market for a used copy of the original mix at a reasonable price. I listened to the original mix 4 or 5 times.

Trouble Funk - In Times of Trouble (w/Saturday Night Live! from Washington, D.C.): 7 (B+)

Contains Saturday Night Live (a/k/a Saturday Night Live! from Washington, D.C.). # [go-go]

U-Roy - Super Boss: The Great Treasure Isle Collection, Vol. 1 [placeholder]

On Lagoon/Culture Press. All tracks on Your Ace from Space comp, with three exceptions:  “What Is Catty?,” “Way Back Home,” and “I Can't Lose.”

The Fugs - Greatest Hits 1984-2004: 7 (B+)

Released on the band’s own label in 2006. Completely and totally unavailable, it seems. # [comp; proto-anti-folk] anyway.

The Fugs - Songs from a Portable Forest: 7 (B+)

Looks like Christgau gave this the equivalent of an 8.5 (high A-), Hull a B. I’m closer to Hull, obviously. Grade, btw, is for the songs not on Greatest Hits 1984-2004, which I will grade separately. # [comp; proto-anti-folk] anyway.

Beneficence/Jazz Spastiks - Summer Night Sessions [honorable mention]

:-)

Goodie Mob - Dirty South Classics [placeholder]

:-| [Contains tracks from albums I have. Played once to check the gestalt. Might have bought if not so overpriced used.]

Goodie Mob - World Party: 8 (A-)

Goodie Mob - Still Standing: 8 (A-)