Ray Wylie Hubbard - Co-Starring Too: 7 (B+)

Might be a notch higher without the affected twang. #country

Terri Klein - Good Luck, Take Care: 7 (B+)

 # [country]

Willi Carlisle - Peculiar, Missouri: 7 (B+)

#country/folk

Pony - TV Baby [honorable mention]

:-)

Mary J. Blige - Share My World: liked

:-)

Taylor Swift - Midnights: 7.5 (high B+)

 

Originally 8 (A-), but docked a notch after the Christgau review made me question my judgment. Kept physical anyway, because it's Taylor Swift.

Beach House - Teen Dream: 7.5 (high B+)

Michael Prophet - Michael Prophet [a/k/a Gunman] [honorable mention]

:-) [Cover included to avoid release confusion]

Beach House - Bloom: 8 (A-)

Beach House - Once Twice Melody [honorable mention]

:-) [Docked a notch for bloat. Standout track: "Superstar." Seems a little surprising to me that this is by far the worst user-reviewed album of theirs on Allmusic. Critically, it's one of their top three.]

Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever [honorable mention]

:-) [Docked a notch for bloat.]

Loudon Wainwright III - Lifetime Achievement: 7.5 (high B+)

# [folk]

Tove Lo - Dirt Femme: 7.5 (high B+)

# [electropop]

Slint - Slint [EP] [honorable mention]

:-)

De Kaboul a Bamako - Sowal Diabi: 7.5 (high B+)

Never been a big fan of Mamani Keita, who appears to be the driving force behind this "project." I even de-shelved her album with Marc Minelli -- Electro Bamako -- several years ago. #wassoulou(-ish?)

Harry Styles - Harry's House: 7.5 (high B+)

# [pop]

Joni Mitchell - Clouds: 7 (B+)

#singersongwriter

Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse: 7 (B+)

# [metal]

Morgan Wade - Reckless: 8 (A-)

Upped from 7.5 (high B+). Outstanding track: "Other Side"

Lil Peep - Lil Peep Part One [honorable mention]

:-)

Them - batch review

Really the albums Them (a/k/a The Angry Young Them) and Them Again. I suppose I would give the first an 8 (A-) and the second a 7 (B+), respectively. But it doesn't really matter because they are only available in really old expensive vinyl, or in un-remastered CDs or CDs with bloated extras. They should be reissued in a nice two-CD set. I almost settled for the following, because it has 8 of the 14 tracks on the first and 9 of 16 on the second, plus three additional songs not on either ("Here Comes The Night," "One More Time," and "One Two Brown Eyes"), and notes by Lester Bangs:

But it's only on 1972 vinyl, and is kind of an artificial way to get them. All other options have too much bloat, or more than I want. So, like early solo Van on Bang, I will ultimately do without.

Van Morrison - Hymns to the Silence [Polydor, 1991]: liked

Docked a notch for bloat. Halve the two ~10 minute songs (!), and cut back a few of the other longer ones (or get rid of a short track or two), and it fits on a single disc and would be at least 7 (B+) in my book, ranging up to 8 (A-) or even possibly 8.5 (high A-) depending on how much of the dross you cut.

Van Morrison - Blowin' Your Mind: 7.5 (high B+)

Basically #miscarticles. Not sure how Hull got to a full A on this. Main songs have been re-released in numerous configurations over the years (as T.B. Sheets, Bang Masters, etc.), none of which are satisfactory for a variety of reasons -- not remastered, duplicate tracks, missing tracks, etc. I almost went with something called Super Hits, which is probably remastered, and sells for a few bucks, but it doesn't have "T.B. Sheets," which is the main draw of these Bang sessions in my view. "Brown Eyed Girl" is obviously essential, but it's on Best of, and we've all heard it so many times already anyway. So I ended up not getting anything to represent this period and will just start with Astral Weeks, which is the big bang anyway. I still need to do a scrub on Them. Update (December 2025): Ended up picking up a remastered copy for just a few bucks, after listening to it a few more times. Upped it a notch also. Could do without the alternate takes, but I'll put up with them in this case. Still better than T.B. Sheets or Bang Masters, which have, respectively, too little of, or too much in addition to, the original tracks.

The Klezmatics - Jews with Horns

:-|

Uncle Tupelo - March 16–20, 1992: 7 (B+)

# [acoustic alt-country]