Sunday, March 3, 2019
Gilberto Gil - Gilberto Gil [aka Gilberto Gil (Frevo Rasgado)]: liked
Originally released in 1968, looks like it was reissued in 1998 and 2008, and maybe more. As Christgau notes, sounds like show tunes via Brazil.
Thursday, February 28, 2019
Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die: 7 (B+)
Update (November 2025): Upped from disliked on fourth or fifth listen. I think I was being unfair. #experimental
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Hamell on Trial - Choochtown: 7 (B+) plus batch review
Giving this the benefit of the doubt as a 7 (B+), although maybe "liked" more accurately reflects my reaction. I find him a little irritating like Jinx Lennon. I'll probably end up with just Tackle Box. Same arguments for Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs and The Happiest Man in the World. #antifolk
Friday, February 22, 2019
Tal National - Zoy Zoy: 4 stars
I actually like this better than the debut. Like many artists, their albums all sound slightly the same, so these are marginal distinctions, and the reviews generally reflect that, with different reviewers given different albums the edge. But we all seem to think they are B plus to A minus range generally.
Tal National - Tantabara [honorable mention]
:-) [Doesn't have the same "authenticity" as the first two - this is probably where I stop] [Four listens]
Ezra Furman - Year of No Returning: 4 stars
See review of Day of the Dog. This one also has the benefit of being on Bar/None
Bruce Springsteen - Magic: liked
A little formulaic-seeming to me on the whole, some very good songs though.
Ezra Furman - Day of the Dog: neutral
People are all over the place on his albums, meaning different people seem to like different ones, and no one is crazy about any of them that I can see. I find this hard to understand, given that they all sound about the same to me. Maybe one or the other of them is a "liked" rather than a neutral but I'm not taking the time to figure that out. Under these circumstances, the first one to enter my consciousness, and the only one I've bought, The Year of No Returning, has always sounded like his best to me by a tiny margin, and so I’m going to leave it at that.
Dessa - Chime [honorable mention]
:-) [There's something about her delivery that I have to confess I find slightly affected and therefore irritating.]
Hamell on Trial - The Night Guy at the Apocalypse: Profiles of a Rushing Midnight: disliked
What does Christgau hear in this? I could possibly understand a 7 (B+), although I still couldn’t agree, but a full A? As usual, he seems to wildly overrate any artist who criticizes the president. Digital/vinyl-only ridiculousness anyway.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Paul Pena - Paul Pena: 4 stars
Long lost semi-classic, selling for ridiculous prices used. Reissue on CD!
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