Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby: A Working Museum: 7 (B+)

Gavin Bryars - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (with Tom Waits): notation

I have the first, 26-minute version on this on a release together with The Sinking of the Titanic. I think that's enough versions of this piece, but I did listen to this (with six versions at 74 minutes total) once for good measure. I will post about that one day.

Last Exit - The Noise of Trouble: 7 (B+)

#jazz/live

Zani Diabate et la Super Djata Band du Mali - Volume 2: liked

Cover posted to avoid confusion with similarly-titled releases on Numero Group. Might be a 7 (B+), but digital/vinyl-only anyway.

Kid Cudi - Have U Bn 2 Heaven @ Nite [EP]: liked

:-)

Fede Lawu et Matchatcha - Souci: 8 (A-)

Great Diblo Dibala lead guitar on this one. Probably bumped up a notch for that, but #import anyway. The CD version adds four out of five songs from the Fede Lawu solo album Soukous Non Stop, which does not have Diblo on guitar. I did not hear those songs, and so this grade obviously does not apply to them.

Bettie Serveert - Pharmacy of Love: liked

:-)

Average White Band - AWB: 8 (A-)

Average White Band - Show Your Hand: 7 (B+)

Aka Put It Where You Want It. #r&b

Patrice Rushen - Straight From the Heart: liked

Definitely drops off on side two.

The Dandy Warhols - Earth to Dandy Warhols...: lilked

:-)

Ray Charles - True to Life: 7.5 (high B+)

#r&b

Cracker - Low [EP]: notation

All songs on Garage d'Or

Abdallah Oumbadougou - Amghar: The Godfather of Tuareg Music, Vol. 1: 8 (A-)

Digital/vinyl-only

Super Djata Band de Bamako - Authentique, Vol. 2: Feu Vert 81-82: 8.5 (high A-)

Digital/vinyl-only

Buddy Holly - 20th Century Masters: The Best of Buddy Holly: The Millennium Collection: notation

Listened three times, but will not bother grading. I note it has almost the same tracklist as Icon). I'm just sticking with 20 Golden Greats on vinyl and the Gold collection on CD. I could not find a worthy, short, CD-era compilation.

Roots Radics and Mighty Revolutionaires [The Revolutionaries] - Outernational Riddim: liked

:-)

Music Revelation Ensemble - In the Name of...: 7 (B+)

James Blood Ulmer. #live/jazz

Suede - Early singles/EPs batch review

I would say I "liked" these, on the whole. It's possible one of these would get up to a 7 (B+) on its own, but I'm not going to try to make that distinction, because it's #britpop either way. Here are the releases included:

The Drowners ("My Insatiable One" and "To the Birds")

Metal Mickey ("He's Dead" and "Where the Pigs Don't Fly")

So Young ("Dolly" and "High Rising")

Animal Nitrate ("Painted People" and "The Big Time")

Stay Together (single and long versions of title track, plus "The Living Dead" and "My Dark Star")

These are the four singles/EPs off the eponymous debut album, plus the non-album single "Stay Together" released after that and before Dog Man Star. Here's a Spotify playlist.

Outstanding track: long version of "Stay Together"

Bettie Serveert - Private Suit: 8 (A-)

Madonna - Madame X - Music From the Theater Xperience: 7.5 (high B+)

Digital/vinyl-only. #live

The Dandy Warhols - Rockmaker: liked

:-)

The Dandy Warhols - Odditorium or Warlords of Mars: 7 (B+)

The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia: 8 (A-)

The Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House: 9.5 (high A)

Masaka Kids Africana - Greatful: 8 (A-)

Digital-only

Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman - Miami Lice: Season Four [EP]: 8 (A-)

Vinyl-only

Madness - The Ultimate Collection: 7.5 (high B+)

Definitely the best Madness compilation I have heard, but still #bestof.

Television - Television: 7.5 (high B+)

Television - Live at the Old Waldorf: San Francisco, 6/29/78: 8 (A-)

Television - The Blow-Up: 7.5 (high B+)

I'm not going to play the #live card on Television.

Cypress Hill - III: Temples of Boom: 7 (B+)

Orchestre Maquis & Orchestre Safari Sound - Zanzibara 11: Congo in Dar: Dance No Sweat/1982-1986: 7 (B+)

#multiartistcomp

Cypress Hill - Skull & Bones: 7 (B+)

I'm going to call this #miscarticles and save myself some money. The second disc contains some inferior "rock" tracks versus the "hip hop" ones on the first. Notably, it's their first release not affiliated with Ruffhouse, and it shows. It could easily all have fit on one disc (the second one's basically an EP, the first one a standard album length).

Low - I Could Live in Hope: neutral

:-|

Last Exit - Iron Path: 8 (A-)

Cracker - Kerosene Hat: 7.5 (high B+)

Redman - Dare Iz a Darkside: neutral

Docked a notch for bloat. Fricking thing goes on forever, as always with this artist. In fairness, it's a scourge of basically the entire genre.

The Grateful Dead - The Best of the Grateful Dead [Rhino, 2015]: 9.5 (high A)

This two-disc compilation is a fantastic listen. A really, truly great historic overview that just squeezed in at the end of the CD era. I have all but six of these tracks in other configurations, but this is still worth having. What a Long Strange Trip was good, but this kills it. This is the regular-issue Dead I would take to that deserted island if I could only take one (together with a matrix of Cornell for live bootlegs). Just a very special compilation, beautifully done by Rhino.

Dennis Robbins - Man with a Plan: 7 (B+)

#country

Barry Black - Barry Black: 7.5 (high B+)

Just like Luke Haines putting Baader Meinhof after the Auteurs, Eric Bachman puts Barry Black after Archers of Loaf. Shelf space.

The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat: 8.5 (high A-)

The Velvet Underground - Another View: 8 (A-)

The Velvet Underground - VU: 8.5 (high A-)

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground: 9.5 (high A)

The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico: 9 (A)

The Velvet Underground: Loaded: 9 (A)

Freedy Johnston - Unlucky [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

Crooked Fingers [Eric Bachmann] - Reservoir Songs [EP]: 7 (B+)

Great cover

Crooked Fingers [Eric Bachmann] - Red Devil Dawn: 7.5 (high B+)

Madness - The Best of Madness: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: 7 (B+)

Unlike many best ofs in this series, this one, while nicely short, does not appear definitive enough to me. #bestof

The Village People - Can’t Stop the Music: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Album: liked

I don’t remember what inspired me to put this on the listen list.

Eric Bachmann - To the Races: liked

:-)

Crooked Fingers - Crooked Fingers: liked

Eric Bachmann, after demise of Archers of Loaf. Debut album. Four plays.

The Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks, Vol. 4: 7 (B+)

Fillmore East, 2/13-14/1970. #live/bluesrock/folkrock

Morrissey - Make-up Is a Lie: neutral

:-|

Sleep - Dopesmoker: liked

Heavy

MC Paul Barman & Kenny Segal - Antinomian Pandemonium: liked

Digital- and limited edition vinyl-only

MC Paul Barman & Jordan Katz - Lovecore [EP]: liked

:-)

Ren - Vincent's Tale [EP]: neutral

:-|

Buck 65 - Do Not Bend: 7 (B+)

Upped from "liked" on fourth play. Digital-only.

Various - Only for the Headstrong: The Ultimate Rave Compilation [FFRR, 1992]: 7 (B+)

I'm 99% sure I had a copy of this once, right around the time it came out 34 years ago. #multiartistcomp/electronica/dance

Archers of Loaf - All the Nations Airports: 9 (A)

Archers of Loaf - White Trash Heroes: 9.5 (high A)

Archers of Loaf - The Speed of Cattle: 8.5 (high A-)

Archers of Loaf - Seconds Before the Accident: 8 (A-)

Archers of Loaf - Vee Vee: 7 (B+)

The Modern Lovers [Jonathan Richman] - The Original Modern Lovers: 7 (B+)

#demos