The Allman Brothers Band - Brothers and Sisters: 8 (A-)

The Allman Brothers Band - Eat a Peach: 8 (A-)

Various - New York Rocks: 8.5 (high A-)

Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees: 8 (A-)

Brian Eno - My Squelchy Life: 7 (B+)

Not a regular issue release, I guess, but some kind of reconfiguring of Nerve Net? Anyway, not commercially available, as far as I can see, or at least not in any form I would recognize.

Bill Laswell - Ambient Compendium: 7.5 (high B+)

# [ambient] [Plus, the thing goes on forever]

Kanye West/Ty Dolla Sign - Vultures 2 [liked]

:-)

Rail Band - La Belle Epoque, Volume 1: Soundiata [Sterns, 2007]: liked

Upped from neutral due to the presence of one long track, the title track, essentially: "Soundiata (L'exil)." This track of course comes in several versions, with two others I think on this very collection, and is obviously a classic. What I think I might do here is buy the original vinyl of that one track, which is split into 2 sides of a single album released in 1975. On the other hand, those are so much more expensive than the new CD at this point; but still, I think I'd rather just wait and see if the vinyl ever turns up at a reasonable price.

Rail Band - La Belle Epoque, Volume 3: Dioba [Sterns, 2009]: 7.5 (high B+)

I have a physical of this, despite it being #bestof, and a double-disc one at that.

Aerosmith - Greatest Hits: 8.5 (high A-)

Aerosmith - Rocks: 8.5 (high A-)

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic: 8 (A-)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours: 9 (A)

Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac [1975]: 8.5 (high A-)

Jozef van Wissem - A Rose by Any Other Name: Anonymous Lute Solos of the Golden Age: X stars

# [solo lute]

Lupe Fiasco - Samurai: liked

:-)

Sylvester - Sylvester: 7 (B+)

# [r&b]

Sylvester - Step II: 7.5 (high B+)

# [r&b] Went to get a copy anyway, because it's a semi-official disco classic, but there are no official remastered CDs. So I got a near mint original vinyl issue for a good price.

SXL [Bill Laswell] - Into the Outlands: 8 (A-)

I have this as part of a nice set with One Down and Temporary Music by Material.

Amen Dunes - Death Jokes [honorable mention]

:-)

Robert Forster - The Candle and The Flame: 8 (A-)

Pras - Ghetto Supastar: 7 (B+)

I'm pretty sure I bought this when it came out, and then sold it back, probably jumping on the bandwagon that this much-maligned solo album sucks. Well it doesn't. If he had left off the two covers, I guess they are, "Hallelujah" and "Amazing Grace," as well as all the ridiculous answering machine tracks, I would give it an 8 (A-). In other words, I docked it 2 notches for those transgressions, which are pretty serious. But I picked up a copy after all, when I realized the other tracks are good. And the title track of course speaks for itself.

Soul Coughing - Lust in Phaze: The Best of Soul Coughing: 9 (A)

Rhino gets best-ofs right so much of the time.

Various - The Hip Hop Box: notation

If I had easy access to this, I'd play the whole thing at least once, but at 8 (A-) from both Christgau and Hull, I know I'd never buy it, so I've never worried too much about getting access.

Burning Spear - The Best of Burning Spear: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: 9 (A)

Grade is provisional, since it got on the shelves before I started blogging. But the only other thing it could be is 9.5 (high A). If I ever listen again, I will try to make that distinction. I guess it could be an 8.5 (high A-), but obviously no lower than that for a Burning Spear best of, in a series that knows how to pick good tracks and doesn't clutter up releases with ephemera to lure those who are already fans, as if that's what we all want.