Carolina Chocolate Drops/Luminiscent Orchestrii - Carolina Chocolate Drops/Luminiscent Orchestrii: 7 (B+)

# [string band revivalism] [Plus it's in one of those dreadful CD wallets - de-shelved]

Tom Ze - Jogos de Armar: 8 (A-)

Various - The Best Bootlegs in the World Ever: 8 (A-)

Dally Kimoko - Titina [liked]

:-) The second side seems much better than the first, but it doesn’t quite redeem the whole set. Outstanding track: "Moselebende"

Toots [Hibbert] - Toots in Memphis: 7 (B+)

# [covers] [Without the Maytals]

Local H - The No Fun EP: 8 (A-)

I like this better than anything else they put out, but not enough to buy on new vinyl. And used CDs are too ridiculously expensive to even put on wantlist.

Gang of Four - Mall

:-( [Definitely seems to be their least-liked album] [5 listens]

Cool It Reba - Money Fall Out the Sky [liked]

:-)

Khalid - Sun City [EP] - 7 (B+)

# [r&b] Vinyl-only anyway

Pretenders - Extended Play [EP]: 7 (B+)

Normally this would be # [pop rock]. But a friend bequeathed a copy to me in perfect shape, and so I'm obviously keeping it. I love EPs anyway, and so might have made an exception for this in any event.

Ducks Deluxe - Don't Mind Rockin' Tonite: 7.5 (high B+)

# [comp [misc. articles]; pub rock] Six from Ducks Deluxe, 3 from Taxi to the Terminal Zone, and these 5: "Saratoga Suzie," "Two-Time Twister," "I Fought the Law," "Something's Going On," and "Here Comes the Night." I'm going to sell my vinyl copy of this, because neither the gestalt, nor the 5 songs, are inspiring me to keep it. I purchased this in the 1990s as a good way of hearing most of the above two, but ended up getting the following 2001 release with both of those, even though it appears not to have been remastered:

It does sound pretty good to my ears, whether or not remastered. I'll give this its own post.

Pretenders - Singles: 8.5 (high A-)

Various - This Is Ska!: 8 (A-)

Crunk Hits Vol. 2: 7 (B+)

#multiartistcomp [De-shelved with hesitation in 2022, given Christgau's 9.5 (high A). I'm just not hearing that. At least five plays. Wonder how many times he played this, because I'm stretching to give this the grade it got, and it has zero reviews on AllMusic.

CH3 [Channel 3/CH 3] - CH3 [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

I would definitely pick up a copy, but it goes for way too much money. I won’t even bother with a wantlist entry at those prices and this grade.

George Jones - The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country [Epic/Legacy, 1994]: [grade TBD]

This is the set originally issued in a long box (which I had at some point decades ago but stupidly got rid of for some reason - maybe I was short on cash at the time), but I think later reissued in regular packaging with just two jewel boxes? In any event, I now just have the two CDs, with no box or booklet, which I picked up near-mint for about $7 shipped total. This is not to be confused with the other Epic/Legacy set entitled simply The Essential George Jones [2006], with no subtitle and this cover:

This one has a different track listing, without Musicor sides which are included in the Spirit set and the reason why I opted for that one. There is no Christgau review of this one, although Hull gives it a full A, and its AllMusic reviews are not as encouraging as those for Spirit. Christgau also does not review Spirit, but mentions it favorably in another review. According to ChatGPT, about half the tracks between these two sets overlap. I also considered the following two sets.

The Hits... Then 'Til Now - Christgau gives this an A-, but Hull has not reviewed it. It has 3 discs, but is a Time Life release and omits the Starday/Mercury sides, so I am skipping it.

The Definitive Collection 1955-1962 - Christgau gave this a 6/10, so, honorable mention at best in my book. I think he grades it so low because Cup of Loneliness: The Classic Mercury Years is twice the size and a better consumer option (he calls the music "magnificent"). I intend to listen to this one day and see if I want to add a specialized set on the Mercury years, but it is not high on my to-do list. Hull gives both of these a full A.

Gogol Bordello - batch review

In addition to the reviews I have already posted, I have the following on the shelves, which means that I thought they were 7 (B+) to 8 (A-) (I don't remember any of their albums ever striking me as above 8 (A-)). I will grade them if I ever play them again.

J.U.F. [w/Tamir Muskrat] (this one might not withstand #romani on further play)

East Infection [EP]

Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike

Super Taranta!

Seekers and Finders (this one might not withstand #romani on further play)

Sonic Youth - Sonic Youth [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

I have the reissue with all the extras. The grade is for the EP itself. I'm not sure why this gets so much hate.

Sonic Youth - 4 Tunna Brix [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

Pretty good, early-ish Sonic Youth EP, notable for being the first release on their own Goofin' Records (Geffen, get it?) imprint. Recorded in 1989 (post-Daydream Nation and pre-Goo), so basically the band at its peak, if you ask me. It has covers of 3 songs by the Fall (hence the title), and one cover of a Kink's song. It's a 12" EP, so I don't covet it as much as if it were a 7". But it doesn't really matter, because copies are ridiculously expensive. If it were a notch better, and/or wasn't covers, I'd physicalize it, but I won't bother.

The Reducers - Let's Go!: 8 (A-)

Upped a notch for integrity and enthusiasm. Hard not to love these guys, even though the punk is a little too "rootsy" for my personal taste. This one's on vinyl, where it belongs. The documentary about them, The Reducers: America's Best Unsigned Band, is very much worth watching and should turn anyone into a fan. They just seem like such great, fun-loving rockers, and much better people than I am, anyway. So I went ahead and invested in The Reducers [the "Red Album"] and Cruise to Nowhere, each on vinyl also, just to support them. I'll probably end up buying the comp Redux just to complete the picture and go all in. They really personify what's best about rock and roll, to me, even though, again, their type of punk or roots is not something that I get excited about.

T-Bone Burnett - Truth Decay: 7 (B+)

# [roots; Americana]

Sleaford Mods - Tiswas [EP]: 7.5 (high B+)

Vinyl-only, and overpriced used at that.

Spring Heel Jack - Busy Curious Thirsty: 8 (A-)

George Jones - My Very Special Guests: 7.5 (high B+)

#country/duets

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

Digital- and vinyl-only