Observations and Coat-Pulls:

The Ebony Hillbillies are an all-black string band from NYC that plays traditional, original, and surprising cover material (like “Sexual Healing”). Their several previous releases are all spirited and enjoyable, but their most recent release (at #12 below) is their very best. It’s technically at 2020 release, but it came out in November, I’m a fan, and I just found out about it. In terms of performance and material, they’ve never been sharper–and they always have an edge.

I am not the biggest fan of big ol’ pop releases, but Mickey Guyton’s FINALLY-released debut album (at #16)–it’s technically contemporary country, but it transcends that label–moved the hell out of my wife and me last Saturday night. “Black Like Me” won me over last year when I first heard it on Joe Levy’s “Uprising” playlist on Spotify, but the songs are consistently strong from top to bottom, I love the emotional flexibility of Guyton’s singing, and anyone who can induce me to love a song about relaxing with wine’s got something going for her (I just hear about that a lot because I run with a mostly-female teacher crowd).

Look out when old sage Pete Stampfel and (relatively) young sage Jeffrey Lewis join forces! At #13, they fit new, topical, and fairly hilarious lyrics to old tunes–but not always the usual old tunes you’d associate with Stampfel. It’s not just a novelty; the whole’s possibly better than the sum of its parts.

Swedish drummer/percussionist/composer Florian Arbenz is on a serious roll this year. If you foster an attraction for percussion-focused jazz, you owe to yourself to test-drive both of his Conversation albums; if you’re not sure what it means to foster such an attraction, take a chance it’ll happen to you and try them anyway. (Several folks make multiple appearances on this list: Arbenz, Stampfel, legendary and prolific bassist William Parker, and the late, great modern classical composer Julius Eastman.)

I am an unabashed fan of Little Simz, and I’ve been on tenterhooks waiting for her follow-up to the still-sounding-amazing Grey Area. I’ve checked out the singles as they’ve come out, as well as an early video or two. I told myself not to overreact. Once Sometimes I Might Be Introverted came out (it’s at #11), I played it twice and whispered to myself, “I’m not that impressed.” Well…I am that impressed.

There’s some cool stuff on that new Dylan bootleg load…but not enough, and there’s enough back there for it to be enough. It’s also not as meh as some would think who aren’t already familiar with the highlights (many are, and that’s part of the problem with the load).

I arrived very late at an appreciation for electronic dance music, but, thanks to JLin’s Black Origami, I did arrive. I cannot keep up with it–frankly, I depend on Pitchfork, which is depending on it a bit–to keep me superficially informed, and one may have noticed it appearing more frequently on ye olde list. I like what I like, with absolutely no rubric to press down upon it, and maybe that’s a good thing. #s 35, 54, and 104, I salute you happily and mindlessly!

This is strange, but I would enjoy Kasey Musgraves’ current and previous albums joined as a kind of double-record concept album more than I enjoy them separately. That’s the kind of gestaltist I yam.

ZYDECO LIVES at #39, and I suspect it will always, alongside Keith, Willie, and cockroaches.

Happy listening!

BOLDED ITEMS are new to the list. #s indicate archival music.

1. Wild Up: Julius Eastman, Volume 1–Femenine
2. Mdou Moctar: Afrique Victim 
3. James Brandon Lewis: Jesup Wagon 
4. East Axis: Cool With That 
5. Ka: Martyr’s Victory
6. Miguel Zenon: Law Years—The Music of Ornette Coleman 
7. Bob Dylan: Soundtrack to the film Shadow Kingdom (currently unavailable)
8. Gimenez Lopez: Reunion en la granja
9. No-No Boy: 1975 
10. The Halluci Nation: One More Saturday Night
11. Little Simz: Sometimes I Might Be Introverted
12. The Ebony Hillbillies: Barefoot and Flying (released 11/9/20)
13. Peter Stampfel and Jeffrey Lewis: Both Ways
14. Robert Finley: Sharecropper’s Son 
15. Mauricio Tagliari: Maô_Danças Típicas de Cidades Imaginárias
16. Mickey Guyton: Remember Her Name
17. William Parker: Painter’s Winter 
18. Penelope Scott: Public Void  
19. Paris: Safe Space Invader 
20. Dave: We’re All Alone in This Together 
21. Orquestra Brasileira: 80 Anos
22. Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future 
23. Fire in Little Africa: Fire in Little Africa 
24. Dawn Richard: Second Line  
25. Lady Gaga and Friends: Dawn of Chromatica
26. R.A.P. Ferreira: Bob’s Son  
27. Jupiter and Okwess: Na Kozonga 
28. Kalie Shorr: I Got Here by Accident
29. Florian Arbenz: Conversations 2 & 3
30. Ensemble 0: Julius Eastman’s Femenine 
31. Ches Smith and We All Break: Path of Seven Colors 
32. Amythyst Kiah: Wary + Strange 
33. William Parker: Mayan Space Station
34. Pink Siifu: Gumbo’!
35. Park Hye Jin: Before I Die
36. Graham Haynes vs. Submerged: Echolocation 
37. Tim Berne: Broken Shadows 
38. Ashnikko: Demidevil  
39. Dwayne Dopsie and The Zydeco Hellraisers: Set Me Free
40. Moor Mother: Black Encyclopedia of the Air
41. Slaughterhouse: Fun Factory
42. The Goon Sax: Mirror II 
43. Marianne Faithfull (with Warren Ellis): She Walks in Beauty 
44. Low-Cut Connie: Tough Cookies 
45. Jaubi: Nafs at Peace (featuring Latamik and Tenderlonious) 
46. Czarface & MF DOOM: Super What? 
47. BaianaSystem: OXEAXEEXU 
48. SAULT: Nine 
49. McKinley Dixon: For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her 
50. Vincent Herring: Preaching to the Choir 
51. Lukah: When the Black Hand Touches You 
52. Dax Pierson: Nerve Bumps (A Queer Divine Satisfaction) 
53. L’Rain: Fatigue 
54. Native Soul: Teenage Dreams
55. Emily Duff: Razor Blade Smile
56. Maria Muldaur & Tuba Skinny: Let’s Get Happy Together 
57. Ran Cap Duoi: Ngù Ngay Ngày Tân Thê
58. Angelique Kidjo: Mother Nature 
59. ICP Orchestra & Nieuw Amsterdams Peil: 062 / De Hondemepper 
60. Body Metta: The Work is Slow 
61. Damon Locks / Black Monument Ensemble: NOW 
62. Loretta Lynn: Still Woman Enough 
63. Carly Pearce: 29—Written in Stone
64. Anthony Joseph: The Rich are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives 
65. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few: Cosmic Transitions
66. Jason Moran & Milford Graves: Live at Big Ears 
67. Barry Altschul’s 3Dom Factor: Long Tall Sunshine 
68. JD Allen: Queen City 
69. Florian Arbenz: Conversation # 1 Condensed
70. Bleachers: Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
71. Various Artists: He’s Bad!—11 Bands Decimate the Beat of Bo Diddley  
72. Kasey Musgraves: starcrossed
73. The Boys with The Perpetual Nervousness: Songs from Another Life
74. Vince Staples: Vince Staples
75. Various Artists: Indaba Is 
76. Wau Wau Collectif: Yaral Sa Doom 
77. Chris Conde: Engulfed in the Marvelous Decay
78. Tropical Fuck Storm: Deep States
79. Yvette Janine Jackson: Freedom 
80. Peter Stampfel: Peter Stampfel’s 20th Century in 100 Songs 
81. Backxwash: I Lie Here with My Rings and Dresses 
82. Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever
83. Various Artists: Doomed & Stoned in Scotland 
84. Los Lobos: Native Sons
85. Chrissie Hynde: Standing in the Doorway—Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan 
86. Jazmine Sullivan: Heaux Tales 
87. Various Artists: Allen Ginsberg’s The Fall of America 
88. Genesis Owusu: Smiling with No Teeth 
89. Les Filles de Illighadad: At Pioneer Works 
90. Billy Nomates: Emergency Telephone (EP) 
91. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley: 11th Street, Sekondi 
92. Dry Cleaning: New Long Leg 
93. AZ: Do or Die
94. Madlib: Sound Ancestors 
95. Julien Baker: Little Oblivions 
96. Cedric Burnside: I Be Trying 
97. Archie Shepp and Jason Moran: Let My People Go 
98. Roisin Murphy: Crooked Machine  
99. girl in red: if I could make it go quiet 
100. Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails Over the Country Club 
101. Brockhampton: Roadrunner—New Light, New Machine 
102. Vijay Iyer, Linda Han Oh, and Tyshawn Sorey: Uneasy 
103. Olivia Rodrigo: SOUR 
104. RP Boo: Established 
105. The Bug: Fire
106. Steve Earle: JT 
107. Tee Grizzley: Built for Whatever 
108. Halsey: If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power
109. Benny The Butcher: Pyrex Picasso
110. Jinx Lennon: Liferafts for Latchicos
111. The Hold Steady: Open Door Policy  
112. Elizabeth King & The Gospel Souls: Living in the Last Days 
113. Alder Ego: III 
114. Sierra Ferrell: Long Time Coming
115. Alton Gün: Yol 
116. Meet Me @ The Altar: Model Citizen (EP) 
117. Penelope Scott: Hazards (EP)
118. Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders: Promises 
119. Sana Nagano: Smashing Humans 
120. serpentwithfeet: DEACON 
121. Aluna: Higher Ground—Testaments

Archaeological Digs

1. Julius Hemphill: The Boyé Multinational Crusade for Harmony  
2. JuJu: Live at 131 Prince Street 
3. Kiko Kids Jazz: Tanganyika Na Uhuru
4. Khaira Arby: Khaira Arby in New York 
5. Various Artists: A Stranger I May Be—Savoy Gospel 1954-1966 
6. Plastic People of The Universe: Apokalyptickej pták  
7. Roy Brooks: Understanding
8. Neil Young and Crazy Horse: Down in the Rust Bucket 
9. Screamers: Demo Hollywood 1977
10. Can: Live in Stuttgart 1975 
11. Hamiet Blueitt: Bearer of the Holy Flame 
12. Byard Lancaster: My Pure Joy 
13. Various Artists: Wallahi Le Zein! 
14. Various Artists: The Smithsonian Anthology of Rap and Hip Hop 
15. Charles Mingus: Mingus at Carnegie Hall # 
16. Various Artists: Chicago / The Blues / Today, Volumes 1-3 # 
17. The J Ann C Trio: At Tan-Tar-A
18. Hasaan Ibn Ali: Metaphysics—The Lost Atlantic Album 
19. Alice Coltrane: Kirtan–Turiya Sings 
20. Mistreater: Hell’s Fire 
21. Blue Gene Tyranny: Degrees of Freedom Found
22. Various Artists: Alan Lomax’s American Patchwork 
23. Pure Hell: Noise Addiction
24. Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber: 20th AnniversaryMixtapes/Groiddest Schizznits Vols. 1-3
25. Nermin Niazi: Disco Se Aagay 
26. Joe Strummer: Assembly 
27. Robert Miranda’s Home Music Ensemble: Live at The Bing # 
28. Various Artists: Edo Funk Explosion, Volume 1 
29. Joseph Spence: Encore
30. Various Artists: Rare.wavs, Volume 1
31. Bob Dylan: Springtime in New York 1980-1985 (2CD version)