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I originally did not buy Lana Del Rey‘s set-up. The nostalgia, iconography, and icon-checks (I liked the dark tinge, but I just didn’t trust it); the tempos; the (somewhat) whispery delivery and sexy presentation (what’s wrong with sexy? I don’t truss it!); the desperation and decadence: the machine seemed built to manipulate. However, friends encouraged me to keep listening, and eventually her strange combination of deviance, sincerity, and trap-springing won me over last year as I consumed her oeuvre up to that point at very close listening range. The new one? She seems to have perfected that combo, the record just sounds magnificent, and the times have further lent themselves to draining one of fucks to give (and that’s scary, actually). Big winner for me–might just move up.

There may not be a better-named MC in rap than Rapsody. Her Eve is a tour de force of checklist skillz, and the tribute concept make the album an excellent pairing with Jamila Woods’ r & b version of the same.

Sheer Mag? Rock and FUCKING roll! Fresh and energetic at that! A friend joked that it was a Judas Priest album but that is a compliment right now.

No long-term observer of Raphael Saadiq would deny that the fellow is criminally talented. But from the Tonies through his collaborations and two solo joints, he’s never seemed to me to really get it all together–his career reminds me a bit of Bobby Womack. But the more personal nature of Jimmy Lee‘s songs and its consistent and dynamic flow may mean he’s finally really nailed it. I think he has.

I trust if you’re reading this, you are aware of Poland’s swing to the right, especially in its attitude toward its LGBTQIA population. If you have $50 to donate as the calendar flips, think about trying the 122-track electronic pig-out compilation Total Solidarity. It’s angry, the artists mean it, man, the quality’s hella consistent–and you can dance to it.

And now…

My Album-Lover’s Honor Roll for 2019 (as of August 31, 2019)

(bolded items are new additions to the ongoing list)

1. Little Simz: Grey Area
2. Various Artists: A Day in the Life–Impressions of Pepper*
3. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Bandana
4. Jamila Woods: Legacy! Legacy!
5. Lana Del Rey: Norman F***ing Rockwell
6. Peter Perrett: Humanworld
7. Rapsody: Eve
8. Mexstep: Resistir
9. Billie Eilish: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
10. Royal Trux: White Stuff
11. Yugen Blakrok: Anima Mysterium
12. Pere Ubu: The Long Goodbye
13. J Balvin & Bad Bunny: OASIS
14. Control Top: Covert Contracts
15. Sheer Mag: A Distant Call
16. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal: Hiding Places
17. Damon Locks / Black Monument Ensemble: Where Future Unfolds
18. Raphael Saadiq: Jimmy Lee
19. Kel Assouf: Black Tenere
20. James Brandon Lewis: An Unruly Manifesto
21. Teodross Avery: After the Rain–A Night for Coltrane
22. Various Artists: Total Solidarity
23. Beyoncé: Homecoming
24. The Comet is Coming: Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
25. Mdou Moctar: Ilana (The Creator)
26. 2 Chainz: Rap or Go to the League
27. Preservation Hall Jazz Band: Tuba in Cuba
28. Purple Mountains: Purple Mountains
29. Sote: Parallel Persia
30. I Jahbar: Inna Duppy SKRS Soundclash
31. Quelle Chris: Guns
32. Young Thug: So Much Fun
33. Heroes Are Gang Leaders: The Amiri Baraka Sessions
34. Chance The Rapper: The Big Day
35. Ben Lamar Gay: Confetti in the Sky Like Fireworks
36. Tanya Tagaq: Toothsayer EP
37. Abdullah Ibrahim: The Balance
38. Senyawa: Sujud*
39. Dave: PSYCHODRAMA
40. Various Artists: Weaponize Your Sound
41. Maxo Kream: Brandon Banks
42. Aesop Rock & TOBACCO: Malibu Ken
43. Lizzo: Cuz I Love You
44. DaBaby: Baby on Baby
45. DKV and Joe McPhee: The Fire Each Time
46. Denzel Curry: Zuu
47. Saul Williams: Encrypted & Vulnerable
48. The New Orleans Dance Hall Quartet: Tricentennial Hall Dance 17. October
49. Mario Pavone: Philosophy
50. Joachim Kuhn: Melodic Ornette Coleman—Piano Works XIII
51. The Coathangers: The Devil You Know
52. GoldLink: Diaspora
53. Megan Thee Stallion: Fever
54. Lee Scratch Perry: Rainford
55. G & D: Black Love & War
56. Tropical Fuck Storm: Braindrops
57. The Paranoid Style: A Goddamn Impossible Way of Life
58. Joel Ross: Kingmaker
59. Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys: 30 Years Live
60. Sleater-Kinney: The Center Won’t Hold
61. Resavoir: Resavoir
62. Flying Lotus: Flamagra
63. Angel-Ho: Death Becomes Her
64. JD Allen: Barracoon
65. Usted Saami: God is Not a Terrorist
66. Youssou N’Dour: History
67. Guitar Wolf: Love & Jett
68. Mannequin Pussy: Patience
69. LPX: Junk of the Heart (EP)
70. Chuck Cleaver: Send Aid
71. Deerhunter: Death in Midsummer
72. Various Artists: Typical Girls Three
73. Various Artists: Travailler, C’est Trop Dur–The Lyrical Legacy of Caesar Vincent
74. Nots: 3
75. Josh Berman / Paul Lytton / Jason Roebke: Trio Correspondences
76. Jacob Wick & Phil Sudderberg: Combinatory Pleasures
77. Leyla McCalla: Capitalist Blues
78. Santana: Africa Speaks
79. Judy and The Jerks: Music for Donuts
80. Tyler, The Creator: IGOR
81. Fennesz: Agora
82. Salif Keita: Un autre blanc
83. Robert Forster: Inferno
84. Harriet Tubman: The Terror End of Beauty
85. Whit Dickey Tao Quartets: Peace Planet / Box of Light
86. The Art Ensemble of Chicago: We Are On the Edge
87. Ibibio Sound Machine: Doko Mien
88. Solange: When I Get Home
89. Freddie Douggie: Live on Juneteenth
90. Joe McPhee / John Butcher: At the Hill of James Magee
91. Dump Him: Dykes to Watch Out For
92. Branford Marsalis Quartet: The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul
93. Helado Negro: This is How You Smile
94. Blood Orange: Angel’s Pulse
95. Lost Bayou Ramblers: Rodents of Unusual Size (Soundtrack to the Motion Picture)
96. slowthai: Great About Britain
97. Silkroad Assassins: State of Ruin
98. Steve Lacy: Apollo XXI
99. Mekons: Deserted
100. Que Vola: Que Vola
101. Kelsey Lu: Blood
102. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Miri
103. Hama: Houmeissa
104. Steve Earle: Guy
105. Mdou Moctar: Blue Stage Session
106. Ill Considered: 5
107. Girls on Grass: Dirty Power
108. Stella Donnelly: Beware of the Dogs
109. Matthew Shipp Trio: Signature
110. Shovels & Rope: By Blood
111. Angel Bat Dawid: The Oracle
112. Spiral Stairs: We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized
113. Our Native Daughters: Songs of Our Native Daughters
114. Rosie Flores: A Simple Case of The Blues
115. Jenny Lewis: On the Line

*Technically, these are 2018 releases, but for now, I’m claiming their impact is being felt more strongly this year.

New Releases of Older Material

1. Peter Laughner: Peter Laughner
2. Eric Dolphy: Musical Prophet
3. Burnt Sugar: 20^th Anniversary Mixtapes—Groiddest Schizznits, Vols. 1-3
4. Creedence Clearwater Revival: Live at Woodstock
5. George Jones: United Artists Rarities
6. Horace Tapscott and the Pan Afrikan Orchestra: Why Don’t You Listen–Live at Lacma, 1998
7. Various Artists: Outro Tempo II–Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil 1984-1996
8. Various Artists: All the Young Droogs–60 Juvenile Delinquent Wrecks
9. Gregory Isaacs / Ossie All-Stars: Mr. Isaacs
10. James Booker: Live at Onkel PO’s, Carnegie Hall, Hamburg 1976
11. Cornell Campbell: I Man a the Stall-A-Watt
12. Tubby Hayes: Grits, Beans and Greens—The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969
13. Star Band de Dakar: Psicodelia Afro-Cubana de Senegal
14. Big Stick: Some of the Best of Big Stick
15. Primal Scream: Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll—The Singles
16. Masayuki Takayanagi New Directions Unit: April is the Cruellest Month
17. Various Artists: Rhapsody in Bronze
18. Stan Getz: Getz at the Gate
19. Sir Shina Peters and His Internation Stars: Sewele
20. Sounds of Liberation: Sounds of Liberation
21. Prince: Originals
22. Various Artists: Nigeria 70–No Wahala, Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987
23. Lee Moses: How Much Longer Must I Wait? Singles & Rarities 1965-1972
24. John Carter & Bobby Bradford Quartet: No U-Turn
25. Various Artists: Siya Hamba! 1950’s South African Country and Small Town Sounds
26. Johnny Shines: The Blues Came Falling Down–Live 1973
27. Terry Allen & The Panhandle Mystery Band: Pedal Steal + Four Corners
28. Neil Young & The Stray Gators: Tuscaloosa
29. Sonic Youth: Battery Park, NYC: July 4th 2008