Fatboy Slim - Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars: 8 (A-)

Sam Fan Thomas - Sam Fan Thomas [Kanibal/Sonodisc, 1986]: notation

I believe that this is the album that AllMusic guide reviewer John Storm Roberts lists as Si Tcha, which is the lead track on the pictured album. Although he has the date as 1994, he indicates in his review that the album is originally from the mid-1980s, so this is probably it. Anyway, Hull seems to have this as reissued in 1994, although there is no record of that on Discogs, but that's another indication that this is what Roberts was reviewing.

Anyway, I found a copy online for dirt cheap and was very excited to get it and play it, but when it arrived the disc inside was Makassi, which is a different album entirely and I already have. Oh well, I got a full refund and will retain this as a keepsake. I could not find the tracks anywhere to download and play, so thus far it is unheard by me. The lead track is also sometimes listed as "Sitcha," I believe, to complicate matters further.

Bob Bert - Beach Bongo Bloodbath: 7 (B+)

More of an EP really, at 26 minutes, but with 14 tracks they call it an album.

James McMurtry and the Heartless Bastards - Live in Aught-Three: 8 (A-)

Marti Jones - Used Guitars: liked

:-)

Cheikh Lo - Bambay Gueej: 8 (A-)

Could not find a right-proportioned image.

Kasey Chambers - Barricades & Brickwalls: 7.5 (high B+)

#country [De-shelved]

Ass Ponys - The Known Universe: liked

:-)

Pink - I'm Not Dead - 8 (A-)

Amadou & Mariam - Je Pense a Toi: The Best of Amadou & Mariam: 8 (A-)

Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako: 8 (A-)

Amadou & Mariam - Welcome to Mali: 9 (A)

Brian Eno - Music for Films: 7 (B+)

Upped a notch because I veer towards completism with Eno.

Various - Dancehall 101, Vol. 1: 7.5 (high B+)

#multiartistcomp [De-shelved]

Joni Mitchell - Hits [Reprise, 1996]: 8 (A-)

I wavered over 7.5 (high B+), since it's concentrated seriously on only her early, solo guitar material, but then thought that would be churlish. Plus it sells for extremely reasonable prices.

Big Youth - Ride the Lightning: The Best of Big Youth 1972-1976: 8 (A-)

Augustus Pablo - Original Rockers: 8 (A-)

Augustus Pablo - batch review

I have had the following shelved for years and will post on them individually as I replay them:

     The Great Pablo [compilation]

     East of the River Nile

     King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown

Youssour N'Dour - batch review

I have had the following shelved for years and will post on them individually to the extent that I replay them:

     Joko (The Link)

     Nothing's in Vain

     Egypt

     The Rough Guide to Youssou N'Dour & Etoile de Dakar

     Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take)

Blackalicious - batch review

I have had the following for years and will post on them individually as I replay them, but they are all 7 (B+) to 8 (A-):

     The Craft

     Nia

     Melodica [EP]

I also have Imani, Vol. 1 on the final listen shelf.

Various - Tropicalia Essentials: 8 (A-)

Various - Third World Cop (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): 8 (A-)

Various - High Fidelity (Original Soundtrack): 8 (A-)

Ass Ponys - Some Stupid with a Flare Gun: 8 (A-)

Ass Ponys - Electric Rock Music: 8 (A-)

Unlike Christgau and his fanboys, I like this band better than Cleaver's next one, Wussy. I like Wussy quite a bit, just not as much as those guys seem to. I think this was the better band.

Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows: 7 (B+)

Idlewild - Hope is Important: 8 (A-)

Boredoms - Chocolate Synthesizer: disliked

Docked a notch for bloat.

Beats International - Let Them Eat Bingo [Elektra, 1990]: 8 (A-)

I admit to rebuying this. Took me a long time to catch up with it. I guess Norman Cook is a little ahead of me. The curse of melomania. This may even be the second time I've bought it over the last three and a half decades.

Badly Drawn Boy - Have You Fed the Fish?: 8 (A-)

Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast: 8 (A-)

The Apples in Stereo - batch review

I de-shelved all of the following, as #indiepop, even though I at one point thought I should keep them, so they must have hit me as 7 (B+) or 7.5 (high B+), probably the former:

     Tone Soul Evolution

     The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone

     New Magnetic Wonder

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral: 7 (B+)

Docked a notch for bloat. Btw, normally this band would be #electronic, but since they are essentially a cross-over, I don't give them that designation and collect them at B-level grades.

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now: 7.5 (high B+)

#oldies/cabaret/covers

Peter Laughner - Take the Guitar Player for a Ride: neutral

Docked a notch for bloat. His best Dylan impersonation - as far as the solo tracks. The Friction, Finns, and Rocket From the Tombs tracks are a different story. Good cover of Richard Thompson's "Calvary Cross."

The Gothic Archies - The New Despair [Merge EP, 1997]: 8 (A-)

Vulgar Boatmen: Wide Awake: 8 (A-)

Dan Bryk - Lovers Leap: 8 (A-)

Golden Sounds Band - Swahili Rumba [Naxos World, 2003]: 8 (A-)

Not sure why this is so unheralded. An hour of excellent Kenyan soukous, essentially. Thanks, Muzikifan.

Joni Mitchell - For the Roses: 8 (A-)

Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark: 9 (A)

Joni Mitchell - Blue: 9.5 (high A)

Lifers Group - Lifers Group [Hollywood EP, 1991]: 8 (A-)

Not always identified as an EP, but that's what it seems to be. Essentially only three unique tracks ("The Real Deal," "Belly of the Beast," and "Suckers" --  totaling 15 min 38 sec), the other six tracks all being radio or other edits, instrumentals, bonus and/or short tracks.

The Gothic Archies - The Tragic Treasury: Songs From A Series of Unfortunate Events [Nonesuch, 2006]: 8 (A-)

Motorhead - Overkill: 7 (B+)

As noted elsewhere, I consider this band to be at least as much punk as #metal, so I have a copy. The legendary Jimmy Miller produced, so I wanted to like it much more than I have ever been able to.

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell: disliked

:-(

Action Bronson - Dr. Lecter: disliked

:-(

Garland Jeffreys - Garland Jeffreys: 7 (B+)

#singersongwriter

Lords of Acid - Lust: liked

:-)

Sky Smeed - Live at the Rock House: 7 (B+)

#country/folk/live

Miles Davis - batch review

I have had the following shelved for years and will grade them as I replay them, if I feel that I am qualified to do so at the time. But they are all at least 8 (A-), obviously:

     A Tribute to Jack Johnson

     Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West

     Bitches Brew

     Dark Magus

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue: X (X)

See post re: In a Silent Way.

Miles Davis - In a Silent Way: X (X)

What to say about a work of such incredible importance? Should be in any comprehensive popular music collection.

Various - Mush Filmstrip (Frame 1) [Shadow, 2001]: 8 (A-)

Including Aesop Rock, Odd Nosdam, Clouddead, etc. Nice compilation.

Les Amazones d’Afrique - Musow Danse: 8 (A-)

The Sundays - Reading, Writing and Arithmetic: liked

:-)

Les Amazones de Guinee - Wamato: 8 (A-)

Waylon Jennings - Ultimate Waylon Jennings [RCA Nashville/BMG Heritage, 2004]: 8 (A-)

Also have Greatest Hits (1979) and The Essential (2007) on the listen queue.

Sam Fan Thomas - Makassi: 8 (A-)

 

Various - The African Typic Collection [Earthworks, 1989]: 8 (A-)

Couldn't find an image of my copy's cover in the correct size on the internet, so the above is what you get. This has three out of six tracks by Sam Fan Thomas. The title track, "African Typic Collection," is from an album of his called Makassi, which I will post about separately. The other two of his tracks on here are from a self-titled album called, obviously, Sam Fan Thomas, which is called by its lead track on AllMusic as Si Ticha, which is one of those two tracks. Ya get me?

Miles Davis - Agharta: 8 (A-)

See post re: Pangaea. De-fatboxed as well.

Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Upsetters - Battle of Armagideon (Millionaire Liquidator) [Trojan, 1986]: 7 (B+)

Very spotty album. Anyway, copies are way too expensive. Basically #import, even though it does seem to have been reissued once in the US.

Black Eyes - Cough: liked

:-)

Willi Carlisle - Too Nice to Mean Much [self-released EP, 2016]: liked

6 songs, 24 min 28 sec. Might be a 7 (B+), but I'm not raring to play it again to make the distinction, so I settled on this. Even at that grade, it's #country/folk anyway. And even if not, or I wanted to have a rare country/folk EP, physicals are ridiculously pricey.

Meat Beat Manifesto - 99% [Mute, 1990]: 7.5 (high B+)

Speaking of 99%, I'm at least that sure that I had this once and sold it back (which is consistent with my current inability to locate it). I have a pretty solid memory of doing that, probably on the basis that it's #electronic/dance and comes in at this grade in my estimation. Anyway, I played it four more times at present in order to ensure that this is not a phantom grade, so I've almost certainly actually played it at least eight times.