Month: August 2020

2020’s 100 Most Super Slabs So Far, January 1 to August 31

Isn’t it fun to pick out new records simply by the fetching quality of their covers? Enjoy this mega-slideshow of fresh rekkids I checked out in August! My favorite 100 releases follow…

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(Bolded items are new to the lists)

New(er) Stuff

  1. Run The Jewels: RTJ 4
  2. Gil Scott-Heron and Makaya McCraven: We’re New Again–A Reimagining
  3. Fiona Apple: Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  4. SAULT: Untitled (Black Is) 
  5. 79rs Gang: Expect the Unexpected
  6. Princess Nokia: Everything is Beautiful
  7. Boldy James & The Alchemist: The Price of Tea in China
  8. Fire! Orchestra: Actions
  9. Body Count: Carnivore
  10. Tee Grizzley: The Smartest
  11. Serengeti & Kenny Segal: AJAI
  12. Neptunian Maximalism: Éons (band name and album title of the year, based on music’s justification of same)
  13. Marx Lomax II: The Last Concert—Ankh & The Tree of Life
  14. Mark Lomax II: The 400 Years Suite
  15. The Third Mind: The Third Mind
  16. Jyoti: Mama You Can Bet!
  17. Hamell on Trial: The Pandemic Songs
  18. Kahil El’Zabar: Spirit Groove (featuring David Murray)
  19. Drakeo the Ruler & JoogSzn:Quit Rappin
  20. KeiyaA: Forever, Ya Girl
  21. Anna Högberg Attack: lena
  22. The Good Ones: RWANDA, you should be loved
  23. Cornershop: England is a Garden
  24. Shabaka and The Ancestors: We Are Sent Here By History
  25. Bob Dylan: My Rough and Rowdy Ways
  26. Charles McPherson: Jazz Dance Suites
  27. Irreversible Entanglements: Who Sent You
  28. Kesha: High Road
  29. Bobby Rush: Rawer Than Raw
  30. Thiago Nassif: Mente
  31. Steve Earle: Ghosts of West Virginia
  32. Princess Nokia: Everything Sucks
  33. Lido Pimienta: Miss Colombia
  34. City Girls: City on Lock
  35. Bettye LaVette: Blackbirds
  36. Mike & The Moonpies: Touch of You–The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart
  37. James Brandon Lewis and Chad Taylor: Live in Willisau
  38. Various Artists: New Improvised Music from Buenos Aires
  39. Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson: Chicago Waves
  40. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids: Shaman!
  41. Moses Sumney: grae
  42. Al Bilali Soudan: Tombouctou
  43. JD Allen: Toys / Die Dreaming
  44. Jeff Parker: Suite for Max Brown
  45. Grimes: Miss Anthropocene
  46. Dehd: Flower of Devotion
  47. Burna Boy: Twice as Tall
  48. Mr. Wrong: Create a Place
  49. Little Simz: Drop 6 (EP)
  50. Moor Jewelry: True Opera (EP)
  51. Quin Kirchner: The Shadows and The Light
  52. K. Michelle: All Monsters are Human
  53. Asher Gamedze: Dialectic Soul
  54. Laraaji: Sun Piano
  55. Jinx Lennon: Border Schizo Fffolk Songs for the F****d
  56. Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra: If You Listen Carefully, The Music is Yours
  57. Beauty Pill: Sorry You’re Here
  58. Etuk Ubong: Africa Today
  59. Swamp Dogg: Sorry You Couldn’t Make It
  60. Julianna Barwick: Healing is a Miracle
  61. Conway the Machine & The Alchemist: LULU (EP)
  62. Speaker Music: Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry
  63. Lori McKenna: The Balladeer
  64. Psychedelic Furs: Made of Rain
  65. Old 97s: Twelfth

Reissues and Past Recordings Freshly Excavated

  1. Wussy: Ghosts
  2. Various Artists: Turn Me Loose, White Man
  3. Thelonious Monk: Palo Alto
  4. Milford Graves & Don Pullen: The Complete Yale Concert
  5. King Ubu Orchestru: Concert at Town Hall – Binaurality Live 1989
  6. Luiz Carlos Vinhas: O Som Psicodelico De L. C. V.
  7. Oneness of Juju: African Rhythms 1970-1982
  8. Junior Byles: Beat Down Babylon (Deluxe Reissue)
  9. Various Artists: Soul Love—The Black Fire Records Story 1975-1993
  10. Various Artists: All Aboard! The CN Express—Rock Steady and Boss Reggae Sounds 1967-1968
  11. Ranil: Stay Safe and Sound!
  12. Lee Scratch Perry with Seskain Molenga and Kalo Kawongolo: Roots from the Congo (reissue)
  13. Hiroshi Yoshimura: Green
  14. Milton Nascimento: Maria Maria (reissue)
  15. Jon Hassell: Vernal Equinox (reissue)
  16. The Awakening: Hear, Sense, and Feel
  17. Bessie Jones: Get in Union
  18. Joe McPhee: Black is The Color
  19. Various Artists: Stone Crush—Memphis Modern Soul 1977-1987
  20. Walter Bishop Jr.: Coral Keys
  21. Observer All Stars & King Tubby: Dubbing with the Observer (reissue)
  22. Roky Erickson / 13th Floor Elevators: You and Me and I (Live)
  23. Bryan Ferry: Live at the Royal Albert Hall, 1974
  24. Fela Kuti: Perambulator
  25. No Trend: Too Many Humans/Teen Love (reissue)
  26. Pharoah Sanders: Live in Paris 1975
  27. Nina Simone: Fodder on My Wings
  28. Yabby You & The Aggrovators: King Tubby’s Prophecies of Dub (reissue)
  29. Various Artists: Léve Léve – Sao Tomé & Principe Sounds ‘70s-‘80s
  30. Various Artists: Soul Jazz Records Presents Black Riot—Early Jungle, Rave, and Hardcore
  31. Lee Scratch Perry: Play On, Mr. Music
  32. Various Artists: Maghreb K7 Club–Synth Rai, Chaoui & Staifi (1985-1997)
  33. Brother Theotis Taylor
  34. Black Ark Players: Black Ark In Dub
  35. Various Artists: Black Ark, Volume 2

7 and 0 Is?: The Best Alblums* of The Year from Hell (so far), Cool August Day Edition (*Blame it on Don Julio)

MY 2020 TOP 40. This shit has for real kept me from losing my mind this month.

Items that are bolded are new to the list. Also, I whittled my list down considerable to 50 instead of 200. I just can’t keep up right now.

I have added quick glib-takes on some new stuff.

1. Run The Jewels: RTJ 4 (has great beats, you can dance, think and act to it)

2. Gil Scott-Heron and Makaya McCraven: We’re New Again–A Reimagining

3. Fiona Apple: Fetch the Bolt Cutters (wearing on me a tad but big points for guts and sheer talent)

4. SAULT: Untitled (Black Is) (lots of folks trying to make their mark in this year of serious social justice demanding, not sure if this isn’t the most irresistible force)

5. 79rs Gang: Expect the Unexpected (one of the greatest Mardi Gras Indian albums ever, and those are never bad)

6. Princess Nokia: Everything is Beautiful

7. Boldy James & The Alchemist: The Price of Tea in China (straight outta Deee-troit, weary like GIVE ‘EM ENOUGH ROPE, but straight-shootin’ with fetching beats)

8. Body Count: Carnivore

9. Anna Högberg Attack: lena (One of the greatest young alto saxophonists alive in the midst of an exciting growth spurt)

10. Serengeti & Kenny Segal: AJAI (on the basis of intricacy and artistic control alone, a future cult classic)

11. The Good Ones: RWANDA, you should be loved

12. Cornershop: England is a Garden

13. Neptunian Maximalism: Éons (band name and album title of the year, based on music’s justification of same)

14. Mark Lomax II: The 400 Years Suite (Lomax is a gift to the country–check out his Friday YouTube lunch-hour meditations, which have left me happily weeping–and this condenses a monumental multi-disc project)

15. The Third Mind: The Third Mind

16. Hamell on Trial: The Pandemic Songs

17. Kahil El’Zabar: Spirit Groove (featuring David Murray)

18. Drakeo the Ruler & JoogSzn:Quit Rappin

19. KeiyaA: Forever, Ya Girl

20. Shabaka and The Ancestors: We Are Sent Here By History

21. Bob Dylan: My Rough and Rowdy Ways (old fucker keeps on keepin’ on with the stickin’ and movin’)

22. Irreversible Entanglements: Who Sent You

23. Kesha: High Road

24. Thiago Nassif: Mente (tropicalia lives!!!)

25. Steve Earle: Ghosts of West Virginia

26. Princess Nokia: Everything Sucks

27. Lido Pimienta: Miss Colombia

28. Mike & The Moonpies: Touch of You–The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart (yeah, that’s right, there are songs Gary wrote and didn’t record, and a band with that name actually does them justice, just by CARING)

29. James Brandon Lewis and Chad Taylor: Live in Willisau

30. Various Artists: New Improvised Music from Buenos Aires

31. Moses Sumney: grae

32. Psychedelic Furs: Made of Rain (he sounded old and jaded in his twenties; thus he’s right at home in 2020)

33. Al Bilali Soudan: Tombouctou

34. Jeff Parker: Suite for Max Brown

35. Grimes: Miss Anthropocene

36. Dehd: Flower of Devotion (A band that reminds me of five bands I can’t name that I love. Rock and roll is like that)

37. Mr. Wrong: Create a Place

38. Little Simz: Drop 6 (EP)

39. Moor Jewelry: True Opera (EP)

40. Quin Kirchner: The Shadows and The Light

41. Nicole Mitchell & Lisa E. Harris: Earthseed

42. Asher Gamedze: Dialectic Soul (an ambitious new voice in South African jazz)

43. Jinx Lennon: Border Schizo Fffolk Songs for the F****d

44. Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra: If You Listen Carefully, The Music is Yours

45. Beauty Pill: Sorry You’re Here (not my normal bag, but the other day it ripped open my chest, stuck its fist in, and squeezed)

46. Etuk Ubong: Africa Today

47. Swamp Dogg: Sorry You Couldn’t Make It

48. Julianna Barwick: Healing is a Miracle (it is–I can fucking vouch–and her voice and noise help the process along)

49. Conway the Machine & The Alchemist: LULU (EP) (The Alchemist? Believe the hype)

50. Speaker Music: Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry (shit-stirring beats, noise, and occasional words that’s just right for right now, man)

 

REISSUES AND PAST RECORDINGS NEWLY BROUGHT TO LIGHT

  1. Wussy: Ghosts
  2. King Ubu Orchestru: Concert at Town Hall – Binaurality Live 1989
  3. Luiz Carlos Vinhas: O Som Psicodelico De L. C. V.
  4. Oneness of Juju: African Rhythms 1970-1982
  5. Ranil: Stay Safe and Sound!
  6. Lee Scratch Perry with Seskain Molenga and Kalo Kawongolo: Roots from the Congo (reissue)
  7. Hiroshi Yoshimura: Green
  8. Milton Nascimento: Maria Maria (reissue)
  9. Jon Hassell: Vernal Equinox (reissue)
  10. Various Artists: Stone Crush—Memphis Modern Soul 1977-1987
  11. Observer All Stars & King Tubby: Dubbing with the Observer (reissue)
  12. Roky Erickson / 13th Floor Elevators: You and Me and I (Live)
  13. Bryan Ferry: Live at the Royal Albert Hall, 1974
  14. Fela Kuti: Perambulator
  15. No Trend: Too Many Humans/Teen Love (reissue)
  16. Pharoah Sanders: Live in Paris 1975
  17. Nina Simone: Fodder on My Wings
  18. Yabby You & The Aggrovators: King Tubby’s Prophecies of Dub (reissue)
  19. Various Artists: Léve Léve – Sao Tomé & Principe Sounds ‘70s-‘80s
  20. Various Artists: Soul Jazz Records Presents Black Riot—Early Jungle, Rave, and Hardcore
  21. Lee Scratch Perry: Play On, Mr. Music
  22. Various Artists: Maghreb K7 Club–Synth Rai, Chaoui & Staifi (1985-1997)
  23. Brother Theotis Taylor
  24. Black Ark Players: Black Ark In Dub
  25. Various Artists: Black Ark, Volume 2