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Music News from the Overeem Abode:

*Saw a warm, witty, and wise “Wussy Duo” house show here in Columbia, Missouri, at Botts Manor. All I asked was that they sing three of their several incandescent songs  (“Beautiful,” “Maglite,” and “Acetylene”–I got all those plus a t-shirt) and just be as perfectly imperfect as they are at their best. We’d seen the Bottle Rockets earlier this fall at another house show, and really dug it, so keep your eyes open for such things.

*Read several terrific music books, but experiencing Beastie Boys Book for the second time when my wife downloaded its audiobook equivalent sent us both on a Beastie Boys / Run DMC / ATCQ / Biz Markie jam-out when we made about 65 tamales for Thanksgiving.

Also, Will Ashon’s Chamber Music: Wu-Tang and America (in 36 Pieces) broke my mind into 36 pieces as he took me on a deep dive into The Clan’s debut album, a plunge which features incisive commentary from a former teacher of mine (Sundiata Cha-Jua), a primer on Shaw Brothers kung-fu flicks and their specific influence on The Wu that has me drooling (many are available on Amazon “You Fucking Bastards” Prime), and several heroic attempts to reinterpret the least savory aspects of that release (torture, anyone?). One of my favorite chapters simply capsule-summarizes 36 Shaw Brothers (and related) flicks to tear-inducingly comedic effect. Wait! Isn’t Ashon a white dude? A white dude writing a 300-plus-page disquisition (even though it’s not a 33 & 1/3 publication, it’s one of the best in doing what those usually try and fail to do) on THE WU-TANG CLAN???? Yep, and he’s well aware of the thin ice, doesn’t quite fall through it, and straightforwardly acknowledges it. RECOMMENDED, actually.

*”Are you still hooked on Will ‘Dr. Evil’ Friedwald‘s pop singing criticism,” I hear you asking. Why yes I am–so glad you inquired! I’ve previously blathered about Friedwald’s The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums, which I’m actually not even finished with, and this month I tipped on in to his pretty mammoth A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, which set me on a quest to more deeply acquaint myself with the recorded works of three eccentrics: the Ellingtonian Al Hibbler, the quirky and multi-talented seductress Eartha Kitt, and the “is-he-a-POC-or-isn’t he?” (see the seldom-seen documentary of his life) Herb Jeffries. Twenty years ago, I probably would have thought aficionados of such singers were perhaps a bit uptight, when in actuality it was me who needed to get loose. That being said, I was wise enough about ten years ago to become a rabid fan of Jeffries’ twilight-time release The Bronze Buckaroo (Rides Again), and if I hadn’t become enough of a fan of Friedwald’s already, his Biographical Guide passage about this record clinched it. I’d never read anything about it that matched my passion for it, and Friedwald might as well have been taking dictation from my heart:

*Oh, and for shits and giggles and because I feel I’m blog-cheating by just listing records I like without commentary, I decided to break down my list and GRADE THEM like a real teacher should(n’t). I’m not gonna belabor this, but an A is an album I’ve played over and over in a short period of time with great pleasure, and that, as a whole, works; an A- I’ve also played several times, may feature a couple bum tracks, but will stay in my collection in physical form and ride with me in the cab of my truck; a B+ is damn good–at least 66.6% of its tracks are–but I don’t need to hold, study, and fondle it; and a B is something that is GOOD–just GOOD–but has a couple dynamite cuts on it or projects a personality I want to stay at least electronically acquainted with.

Will anyone unseat Little Simz? And didn’t I keep Tracey Thorn on the throne almost all year last year, too? Am I an Anglophile? A gynophile (izzat even a word)? Well. If something out there doesn’t get a little better soon, a dead dude’s gonna top my chart. ‘Nuff said on that.

My Album-Lover’s Honor Roll for 2019 (as of November 30, 2019)

(bolded items are new additions to the ongoing list)

(“A”s or 9.5-10/10s)

1. Little Simz: Grey Area
2. Purple Mountains: Purple Mountains
3. Various Artists: A Day in the Life–Impressions of Pepper*
4. Jamila Woods: Legacy! Legacy!
5. Junius Paul: Ism
6. Rapsody: Eve
7. Billie Eilish: WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?
8. Chance The Rapper: The Big Day
9. Byron Asher: Byron Asher’s Skrontch Music
10. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Bandana

(“A-”s or 9.0-9.4999/10s)

1. Royal Trux: White Stuff
2. Laurie Anderson, Tenzin Choegyal, Jesse Paris Smith: Songs from The Bardo
3. Peter Perrett: Humanworld
4. Yugen Blakrok: Anima Mysterium
5. Mexstep: Resistir
6. Mdou Moctar: Ilana (The Creator)
7. Danny Brown: uknowwhutimsayin
8. Pere Ubu: The Long Goodbye
9. J Balvin & Bad Bunny: OASIS
10. DKV and Joe McPhee: The Fire Each Time
11. Lightning Bolt: Sonic Citadel
12. Sheer Mag: A Distant Call
13. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal: Hiding Places
14. Jeffrey Lewis: Bad Wiring
15. Raphael Saadiq: Jimmy Lee
16. Young Thug: So Much Fun
17. Kel Assouf: Black Tenere
18. James Brandon Lewis: An Unruly Manifesto
19. Teodross Avery: After the Rain–A Night for Coltrane
20. Various Artists: Total Solidarity
21. Lana Del Rey: Norman F***ing Rockwell
22. Control Top: Covert Contracts
23. Lizzo: Cuz I Love You
24. Elza Soares: Planeta Fome
25. Abdullah Ibrahim: The Balance
26. Damon Locks / Black Monument Ensemble: Where Future Unfolds
27. Denzel Curry: Zuu
28. Dave: PSYCHODRAMA
29. Moor Mother: Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes
30. Various Artists: The Final Battle—Sly & Robbie vs. Roots Radics
31. Rocket 808: Rocket 808
32. 2 Chainz: Rap or Go to the League
33. Joel Ross: Kingmaker
34. I Jahbar: Inna Duppy SKRS Soundclash
35. Lee Scratch Perry: Rainford
36. Joe McPhee / John Butcher: At the Hill of James Magee
37. Tyler Childers: Country Squire
38. Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash, and Tony Orrell: Bleyschool
39. Beyoncé: Homecoming
40. Sote: Parallel Persia

(“B+”s or 8.65-89.999/10)

1. The Comet is Coming: Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery
2. The Coathangers: The Devil You Know
3. FKA Twigs: MAGDALENE
4. Miranda Lambert: Wild Card
5. Preservation Hall Jazz Band: Tuba in Cuba
6. Quelle Chris: Guns
7. Heroes Are Gang Leaders: The Amiri Baraka Sessions
8. DaBaby: KIRK
9. Ben Lamar Gay: Confetti in the Sky Like Fireworks
10. Tanya Tagaq: Toothsayer EP
11. Senyawa: Sujud*
12. Various Artists: Weaponize Your Sound
13. Earl Sweatshirt: FEET OF CLAY
14. Maxo Kream: Brandon Banks
15. BaianaSystem: O Furturo Nao Demora
16. Aesop Rock & TOBACCO: Malibu Ken
17. DaBaby: Baby on Baby
18. Megan Thee Stallion: Fever
19. Sleater-Kinney: The Center Won’t Hold
20. Dan Weiss Trio + 1: Utica Box
21. Davido: A Good Time
22. Michael Kiwanuka: Kiwanuka
23. Saul Williams: Encrypted & Vulnerable
24. Young M.A.: Herstory in the Making
25. Ken Vandermark: Momentum 4—Consequent Duos 2015-2019
26. Poncho Sanchez: Trane’s Delight
27. The New Orleans Dance Hall Quartet: Tricentennial Hall Dance 17. October
28. Mario Pavone: Philosophy
29. Alcorn/McPhee/Vandermark: Invitation to a Dream
30. Joachim Kuhn: Melodic Ornette Coleman—Piano Works XIII
31. Chuck Cleaver: Send Aid
32. Rachid Taha: Je Suis Africain
33. Barrence Whitfield Soul Savage Arkestra: Songs from The Sun Ra Cosmos
34. The Sensational Barnes Brothers: Nobody’s Fault But Mine
35. GoldLink: Diaspora
36. Harriet Tubman: The Terror End of Beauty
37. Usted Saami: God is Not a Terrorist
38. Mantana Roberts: COIN COIN Chapter Four—Memphis
39. Various Artists: Travailler, C’est Trop Dur–The Lyrical Legacy of Caesar Vincent
40. black midi: Schlagenheim
41. Nots: 3
42. Guitar Wolf: Love & Jett
43. Robert Forster: Inferno
44. Aziza Brahim: Sahari
45. Jacob Wick & Phil Sudderberg: Combinatory Pleasures
46. The Paranoid Style: A Goddamn Impossible Way of Life
47. Boris: Love & Evol
48. Ingrid Laubrock & Aki Takase: Kasumi
49. LPX: Junk of the Heart (EP)
50. Helado Negro: This is How You Smile

(“B”s or 8.3-8.64999)

1. Joe McPhee and Paal Nilssen-Love: Song for the Big Chief
2. G & D: Black Love & War
3. Girl Band: The Talkies
4. Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys: 30 Years Live
5. Gilberto Gil: OK OK OK
6. JPEGMAFIA: All My Heroes Are Cornballs
7. Resavoir: Resavoir
8. Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die II—Bird of Paradise
9. Ras Kass: Soul on Ice 2
10. Flying Lotus: Flamagra
11. Angel-Ho: Death Becomes Her
12. JD Allen: Barracoon
13. Big Thief: Two Hands
14. Various Artists: Queen & Slim—The Soundtrack
15. Tinariwen: Amadjar
16. Various Artists: Typical Girls Three
17. Leyla McCalla: Capitalist Blues
18. Tyshawn Sorey and Marilyn Crispell: The Adornment of Time
19. Tropical Fuck Storm: Braindrops
20. Santana: Africa Speaks
21. Judy and The Jerks: Music for Donuts
22. Tyler, The Creator: IGOR
23. Whit Dickey Tao Quartets: Peace Planet / Box of Light
24. Blacks’ Myths: Blacks’ Myths II
25. The Art Ensemble of Chicago: We Are On the Edge
26. Ibibio Sound Machine: Doko Mien
27. Solange: When I Get Home
28. Freddie Douggie: Live on Juneteenth
29. Ranky Tanky: Good Time
30. Ahmad Jamal: Ballades
31. Dump Him: Dykes to Watch Out For
32. Branford Marsalis Quartet: The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul
33. Little Brother: May the Lord Watch
34. Blood Orange: Angel’s Pulse
35. Lost Bayou Ramblers: Rodents of Unusual Size (Soundtrack to the Motion Picture)
36. Doja Cat: Hot Pink
37. Kelsey Lu: Blood
38. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Miri
39. Hama: Houmeissa
40. Ill Considered: 5
41. Girls on Grass: Dirty Power
42. Stella Donnelly: Beware of the Dogs
43. Matthew Shipp Trio: Signature
44. Shovels & Rope: By Blood
45. Angel Bat Dawid: The Oracle
46. Spiral Stairs: We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized
47. Our Native Daughters: Songs of Our Native Daughters
48. Rosie Flores: A Simple Case of The Blues
49. Mekons : Deserted
50. James Carter Organ Trio: Live from Newport Jazz

*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 

(“A”s or 9.5-10/10s)

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. The Royals: Gish Abbai
6. Various Artists: Send I A Lion–A Nighthawk Reggae Joint
7. Jessie Mae Hemphill: Run Get My Shotgun
8. Merle Haggard & The Strangers: Live in Austin, ‘78
9. Various Artists: Put The Whole Armour On—Female Black Gospel 1940s and 1950s
10. Various Artists: No Other Love—Midwest Gospel (1965-1978)

(“A-”s or 9.0-9.4999/10s)

1. Tribe: Hometown–Detroit Sessions 1990-2014
2. Various Artists: Bulawayo Blue Yodel
3. Horace Tapscott and the Pan Afrikan Orchestra: Why Don’t You Listen–Live at Lacma, 1998
4. Various Artists: Outro Tempo II–Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil 1984-1996
5. Various Artists: All the Young Droogs–60 Juvenile Delinquent Wrecks
6. Gregory Isaacs / Ossie All-Stars: Mr. Isaacs
7. Various Artists: Jambu
8. Erroll Garner: Closeup in Swing
9. John Coltrane: Blue World
10. James Booker: Live at Onkel PO’s, Carnegie Hall, Hamburg 1976
11. Cornell Campbell: I Man a the Stall-A-Watt

(“B+”s or 8.65-89.999/10)

1. Various Artists: WXAXRXP Sessions
2. Screaming Females: Singles Too
   
3. Various Artists: World Spirituality Classics 2—The Time for Peace is Now
4. Tubby Hayes: Grits, Beans and Greens—The Lost Fontana Studio Sessions 1969
5. Star Band de Dakar: Psicodelia Afro-Cubana de Senegal
6. Big Stick: Some of the Best of Big Stick
7. Various Artists: Blues Images Calendar Companion, Volume 17
8. Primal Scream: Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll—The Singles
9. Masayuki Takayanagi New Directions Unit: April is the Cruellest Month
10. Various Artists: Rhapsody in Bronze
11. Various Artists: Fania Goes Psychedelic
12. Stan Getz: Getz at the Gate
13. Sir Shina Peters and His Internation Stars: Sewele
14. Sounds of Liberation: Sounds of Liberation
15. Prince: Originals
16. Various Artists: Nigeria 70–No Wahala, Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987
17. Lee Moses: How Much Longer Must I Wait? Singles & Rarities 1965-1972

(“B”s or 8.3-8.64999)

1. John Carter & Bobby Bradford Quartet: No U-Turn
2. Various Artists: Siya Hamba! 1950’s South African Country and Small Town Sounds
3. Johnny Shines: The Blues Came Falling Down–Live 1973
4. Terry Allen & The Panhandle Mystery Band: Pedal Steal + Four Corners
5. Neil Young & The Stray Gators: Tuscaloosa
6. The Replacements: Dead Man’s Pop
7. Scientists: Not for Sale (Live, 1978-1979)
8. Abdallah Oumbadougou: Anou Malane
9. George Jones: United Artists Rarities