Yo La Tengo - "Mr. Tough" b/w "I'm Your Puppet"

Really just noting that I listened to the B-side of "Mr. Tough," a UK single from I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.

Little Girls - Thank Heaven [EP]

:-|

Sparrow [The Mighty Sparrow] - King of the World: X (X)

I can't with good conscience give this the 8 (A-) I think it deserves. Because all six tracks are "variations on the same few melodies," to quote a prominent critic, it strikes me on a pure listening level as a 7.5 (high B+), in which case it would be # [calypso/soca] for me. But I chalk this up to me just not having the ears for calypso/soca and am resolving the internal conflict by declining to officially grade it, like I do with early jazz, as one other example, and skipping it. If you like the genre, people with much better ears and more sophisticated taste than mine would definitely tell you to go for this. Beautiful used copies are readily available for fair prices as of today, which is also not necessarily a good sign but obviously makes it very tempting.

Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children: 8 (A-)

Would definitely get a copy if any were being sold for reasonable prices. Prices are so crazy, I'm not even putting this on a wantlist. Just repress it already.

New York Dolls - The Best of the New York Dolls [Mercury UK, 1985]: X (X)

As far as I can tell, this album does not exist, although the following supposedly authoritative sources treat it as if it does:

- Wikipedia

- AllMusic

- Trouser Press

Of course, there was a 1985 compilation of New York Dolls tracks issued by Mercury, called Night of the Living Dolls, which the above 3 sources also list (some with the wrong year), so they are not just confusing the two. Just a reminder not to believe everything you see on the internet.

Zach Bryan - Boys of Faith [EP]: 7 (B+)

Digital-only

Local H - As Good as Dead: 7.5 (high B+)

Local H - Pack up the Cats: 7 (B+)

Gang of Four - 100 Flowers Bloom: 9.5 (high A)

Gang of Four - A Brief History of the 20th Century: 9 (A)

Otis Redding - The Best of Otis Redding [Atlantic, 1972]: 9 (A)

Fantastic, vinyl-era compilation.

Be Your Own Pet - Get Damaged [EP] [liked]

:-) [Possibly docked a notch for skimpiness (3 songs in 6 minutes). Selling for ridiculous prices, anyway, especially for 6 minutes of music.]

Red Krayola [Crayola] - Coconut Hotel [liked]

:-)

Gang of Four - Shrinkwrapped [liked]

:-) [Definitely gets better as it goes along, but not enough.]

Ducks Deluxe - Ducks Deluxe/Taxi to the Terminal Zone: 8.5 (high A-)

This is my kind of reissue. No bonus tracks or clutter, and each on its own disc, even if they could have both fit on one disc. And no fatbox, just a double jewel case to save shelf space. I grade them both at the same grade. I don't know if the albums were remastered, but the whole thing sounds great on my system.

Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Juke Box Dury: 8.5 (high A-)

Andy Fairweather Low - Be Bop 'n' Holla: 8 (A-)

Kid Creole and the Coconuts - Wise Guy: 8 (A-)

Wire - And Here It Is... Again... Wire: 9 (A)

Various - Greatest Rap Hits Vol. 2: 8 (A-)

Echo & The Bunnymen - Echo & The Bunnymen [EP] [1983]: 8 (A-)

I guess they call this a "mini-album" instead of an EP? I call it an EP.

Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain [liked]

:-)

Echo & The Bunnymen - Heaven up Here [liked]

:-)

Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles [liked]

:-)

Madonna - Bedtime Stories: 7 (B+)

Madonna - Ray of Light: 7.5 (high B+)

Madonna - Music: 8 (A-)

Madonna - GHV2: Greatest Hits Volume 2: 8 (A-)

Madonna - Erotica: 8.5 (high A-)

Madonna - Like a Prayer: 7 (B+)

Madonna - Hard Candy [liked]

:-)

Madonna - I'm Breathless: 7 (B+)

A polarizing album. I've listened to this many times trying to figure out how I feel about it. In other words, it even polarizes me. After many years, this is where I land. I guess I could have categorized it as # [soundtracks] and moved on at this grade, but I'm keeping it, given the high regard in which it is held by some. Plus, it's the original home for "Vogue."

Various - American Pop: An Audio History - From Minstrel To Mojo: On Record, 1893-1946: X (X)

9-CD multi-artist comp brought to us by Allen Lowe. Physicals are ridiculously expensive. I literally almost never buy digital audio files (maybe 3 or 4 times in my life), but this is one case where I think it makes sense to do so, assuming the price was right. Who wants to approach a massive 11-hour set like this physically? Especially since most of this must be from 78s. But of course it can't be bought that way. I'll keep my eye out for a well-priced used physical or a place to get the audio files. I'd love to hear the whole thing one day. There are some playlists on Spotify, but they inevitably have missing tracks, presumably some substitutions, etc.

Gil Scott-Heron - Pieces of a Man: 7 (B+)

See post re: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

The Housemartins - The Best of the Housemartins: 8 (A-)

 

I listened to this to see if it struck me as being superior to their 2 studio albums by combining the best songs from both (plus some misc. articles). By the 3rd listen, I came to the conclusion it was. However, for some reason it sells for ridiculous prices used, so I won't even bother with putting it on the wantlist. Terrible cover btw. The other 2 greatest hits packages (Now That's What I Call Quite Good! and Happy Hour) are too long for me to even try. That's what I like about this one, it's around 45 minutes. That Soup collection combines them with The Beautiful South, which seems like a bad idea to me.

Lorde - The Love Club [EP]: 8 (A-)

Physicals are prohibitively expensive.

Lorde - Pure Heroine: 7 (B+)

# [indie pop] [4 listens - probably upped a notch for general regard]

Various - White Country Blues (1926-1938): A Lighter Shade of Blue: X (X)

Unavailable to stream. I did find disc 1 on YouTube and listened to it 3 times. I would say I liked that disc at the 8.5 (high B+) level, at least. I could probably create a Spotify playlist for disc 2, but I'm saving that for a later day, even given the high estimation of disc 1. I try to avoid buying-to-hear these days, in order to keep costs down (especially since it was issued in one of those horrid mid-1990's fatboxes).

Congo Natty [Rebel MC] - Jungle Revolution [2013]: 8 (A-)

For some reason, this is already deeply out-of-print on CD. It was recently re-issued on vinyl for an anniversary edition, but not CD. Used prices for the original CD are off the charts, so I won't even bother putting an alert up. Maybe I'll run into a reasonably-priced copy one day.

Laurie Anderson - Strange Angels: 10 (A+)

The Mamas & The Papas - Gold [2005] - 9 (A)

This 32-track, 2-disc collection on Geffen has all the tracks that are on the single-disc, 16-track 1998 Greatest Hits on MCA. I had the latter but sold it off in favor of this. Gold has 7 out of the 12 tracks on each of The Mamas & The Papas and Deliver. One day I will get around to listening to these 2 in full (also, The Papas & The Mamas). Gold also has 10 out of 12 tracks from If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears. I listened to the 2 omitted tracks ("Spanish Harlem" and "Hey Girl) but will not be grading that album separately. I also have a vinyl copy of Farewell to the First Golden Era, all 12 tracks of which are on Gold.

Various - Dexter's Laboratory: The Hip-Hop Experiment [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

# [multi-artist comp]

Charly Bliss - Forever: 7.5 (high B+)

# [indie pop]

Shanghai Dog - This Evolution [liked]

:-)

Shanghai Dog - Clanging Bell [EP] [liked]

:-)

Django Reinhardt - Django Reinhardt [Koch Prasent, 1995]: X stars

# [jazz/jazz guitar] [At least 6 listens; Christgau gives this an A-] [De-shelved]

The Red Crayola [Krayola] with Art & Language - Kangaroo: 8 (A-)

Various - Billboard Top Hits - 1984: 7 (B+)

# [multi-artist comp] Not nearly as enamored of this comp as Christgau, who gave it a full A. I'm always happy to hear "Owner of a Lonely Heart," "Talking in Your Sleep," "Caribbean Queen," and "What's Love Got to Do with It," but that's about it. I created a Spotify playlist of this and have never owned a copy.

Various - Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits (1955-Present) [liked]

:-)

The Feelies - Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of the Velvet Underground: 8 (A-)

Spring Heel Jack - 68 Million Shades: 8 (A-)

Johnny Cash - The Sun Years [1990]: X (X)

[De-shelved - I eventually became disenchanted with these first-generation CD comps of proto-rock and roll. Absolutely no commentary on the music, of course, just the format. Almost all tracks are on Legend.]

New York Dolls - 'Cause I Sez So: 7 (B+)

New York Dolls - One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This: 7 (B+)

New York Dolls - Dawn of the Dolls: 7 (B+)

# [demos] I listened to this version of these nine 1972 demo tracks (with original drummer Billy Murcia instead of Jerry Nolan), because it's the latest version, so I figured the sound would be the best. (These are the Lipstick Killers/Mercer Street demos.) Anyway, the grade is purely honorary, because it's the Dolls. Even "liking" these would be a stretch. The twenty-three (23) Planet Studios demos from 1973 are leagues better. See separate review for that.

New York Dolls - Too Much Too Soon: 9 (A)

Various - Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons: 8 (A-)

Various - The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers: A Tribute: 8 (A-)

Various - MTV: The First 1000 Years: R&B: 7.5 (high B+)

# [r&b; multi-artist comp] [De-shelved at some point]

Various - Phases of the Moon: Traditional Chinese Music: 7.5 (high B+)

# [traditional Chinese music] [Definitely owned this at one point, because it was the only way to hear it]

Wire - On Returning (1977-1979): 9 (A)

The Wild Tchoupitoulas - The Wild Tchoupitoulas: 8 (A-)