Ponderings:

1. I’m getting ready to have this conversation with one of my classes when we discuss Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin: what is the role of pleasure in assigning an aesthetic rank to an album? I’ve thought about this quite a bit regarding my favorite album of the year, which does give some pleasure but the primary excellence of which is in its multi-faceted capturing of a frightening moment in time. I was starting to doubt myself, but someone else’s take on the album on the No Fences Substack spot bolstered my belief. My doubts were also poked a bit by the arrival of Olivia Rodrigo’s phenomenal sophomore album, but then, when holding it in my mind side by side with My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross, moving Guts up to my #1 spot felt like a betrayal. Which might not really be about aesthetics, but then again, it is, because the art holding the response to the horror together on Anohni’s record is just as high-caliber.
2. James Brandon Lewis’ For Mahalia (With Love) is the most powerful jazz album of the year, and the high point in Lewis’ sterling output so far–though, if you buy the hard copy, the live concert with strings that’s added might give the main attraction a run for its money. It’s easily one of the very best of its kind, especially since Lewis’ playing and the string arrangements are more daring than what is typical; in fact, they vie with each other for most thrilling.
3. The albums by Romy and Mark Turner mark the first time either artist (Romy has previously been part of the xx) has broken through to me, and that’s been with a vengeance. Midair is a romantic and moving electronic dance music album; Live at The Village Vanguard features an admirably cohesive band, Turner’s playing, which has always seemed to me a more cerebral version of the Prez Style on tenor–not that Lester Young was lacking any grey matter!–is full-bodied and inventive, and the compositions are consistently interesting.
4. I’ve frequently pushed the recent stream of recordings by the Japanese punk band (they sound punk to me) Les Raillez Denudes that the hard-working folks at Temporal Drift Records has excavated for us. If you’ve yet to jump, Citta’ ’93 might be the best ticket so far. If you’ve never gotten enough of the Velvets’ “I Heard Her Call My Name” and wondered if that sound could ever be harnessed ever so carefully to create a style, this might also be the answer.
5. I saw The Replacements when Bob Stinson was still with us (when he was with us, he often wasn’t). When Tim came out I listened to it every day for weeks; I did detect the sound was weird compared to its predecessor Let It Be, but the power and desperation of the best songs spoke to me very directly at 24. I sprung (in advance) for Rhino’s “Let It Bleed” expanded version and don’t regret it; it sounds terrific, and I like the live show better than their Maxwell’s set. I think there’s some waste in the set–what else is new with such projects?–and IF ONLY Lorne Michaels could have had the grace to grant permission for a special Blu-ray of the band’s immortal performance on SNL to be included, the price would have been a bargain. A man can dream.
6. Attention Ornette Coleman fans: saxophonist Ohad Talmor recently gained access to a rehearsal tape featuring Coleman and Lee Konitz, and was so stunned by the results he put together a killer band to interpret the recordings it contained. It’s not quite on sale to the public yet, but I can vouch that OC diehards MUST obtain it. Here’s the Bandcamp site at which you can lie in wait.
7. Biggest surprises of September: listening to Corinne Bailey Rae’s wild and varied new album–that’s something I always needed more from her–and being introduced to Jelly Roll. I’d heard the name bandied about (seemed like that would be a stage name for a blues dude), I’d heard him connected to Christianity by my students in vague ways, and figured I could pass. Then his new album got a nice push from the witty and reliable Brad Luen, who, via his Substack blog, has begun colonizing a chunk of my brain, so I took a skeptical plunge while grading some essays. I couldn’t concentrate on that task for all the right reasons; I have no affection for male aggro-country vocals, and I’m an atheist, but neither fact mattered as his grapplings with demons made me pay attention.
8. Every semester a student opens my ears to an artist very worthwhile. I spent most of my first 28 years in the Ozarks, and about eight years of that a few miles away from where someone new to the list went to high school–you’d think I’d have gotten a heads-up before this week, but a very sharp costume-designing theater major pulled my coat and asked, “Have you heard Chappell Roan?” I hadn’t but promised I would. Suffice it to say the young lady’s first full-length album impressed the living hell out of me (that’s an appropriate metaphor). My eyebrows were touching my hairline on a regular basis–she not a little much, she’s a lot much, and in a great way. When I touched base with the student a few days later, I told her, “She’s like Lana Del Rey minus the codeine vibe, contained cool, and California.” You might say that’s a lot to subtract, but Roan’s additions go quite a way toward cancelling them out. Oh yeah: she’s currently touring with Olivia Rodrigo–I’d shell out for THAT show.
9. Am I wrong, or has Killer Mike’s Michael gotten a lot of lukewarm press? If I’m right, I don’t get it. I really like it, and I probably need to move it up 10-15 slots.
10. The most beautiful album that’s new to the list is a reissue of Os Tincaos’ Canto Coral Afrobrasiliero. What’s beautiful are the group vocals. Stunningly beautiful.

The Updated List

* If an album makes the list, it sounds and feels to me like the equivalent of a Pitchfork 7.5 or better, an All Music 3 ½ stars or better, or an Xgauvian **Honorable Mention or better.
* It can be assumed that my Top 30-40 sound to me the equivalent of an A-, but I’m a teacher in my other incarnation so watch me for grade inflation. It cannot be assumed safely, though, that my Top 10 are all straight A’s.
* After the first 50, my “rankings” are a bit loose; similarly, the entirety of my “Excavations and Reissues” I rank pretty loosely other than the Top 3. Also, I usually jigger the rankings every month upon reflection.
* Items in bold are new to the list I posted at the end of the previous month.

1. Anohni: My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross (Secretly Canadian)
2. Olivia Rodrigo: Guts (Geffen)
3. 100 gecs: 10,000 gecs (Dog Show/Atlantic)
4. Gina Burch: I Play My Bass Loud (Third Man)
5. James Brandon Lewis: For Mahalia (with Love) (AUM Fidelity 2-CD version)
6. boygenius: the record (Interscope)
7. Buck 65: Super Dope (self-released?)
8. Jessie Ware: That! Feels Good! (Universal)
9. Romy: Midair (Young)
10. Noname: Sundial (AWAL Recordings America)
11. Mark Turner: Live at the Village Vanguard (Giant Step Arts)
12. billy woods & Kenny Segal: Maps (Backwoodz Studios)
13. Liv.e: Girl in The Half Pearl (Real Life / AWAL)
14. Kelela: Raven (Warp)
15. Big Freedia: Central City (Queen Diva)
16. National Information Society: Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)
17. Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: In the Dark (ESP-Disk)
18. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer—A Tribute to Don Cherry (Spiritmuse)
19. Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (Yes Records)
20. London Brew: London Brew (Concord)
21. Fire! Orchestra: Echoes (Rune Grammofon)
22. Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations (Kabell)
23. The Mark Lomax II Trio: Tapestry (CFG Multimedia)
24. Ohad Talmor: Back to the Land (Intakt)
25. Janelle Monae: The Age of Pleasure (Bad Boy)
26. Les Raillizes Denudes: Citta’ ’93 (Temporal Drift)
27. Dropkick Murphys: Okemah Rising (Dummy Luck Music)
28. Isach Skeidsvoll: Dance to Summon (Ultraani Records)
29. Miguel Zenon & Luis Perdomo: El Arte del Bolero, Volume 2 (ArcArtists)
30. Wild Up: Julius Eastman, Volume 3—If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? (New Amsterdam)
31. Parannoul: After the Magic (Poclanos/Top Shelf)
32. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah & Chief Adjuah: Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning (Ropeadope)
33. Corinna Bailey Rae: Black Rainbows (Black Rainbows)
34. Yaeji: With a Hammer (XL Recordings)
35. Jelly Roll: Whitsitt Chapel (Stoney Creek)
36. The Urban Art Ensemble: “Ho’opomopono” (CFG Multimedia 16-minute single)
37. Bettye LaVette: LaVette! (Jay-Vee)
38. Felo Le Tee & Mellow & Sleazy: The Ill Wise Men (New Money Gang)
39. Brandy Clark: Brandy Clark (Warner)
40. Rodrigo Campos: Pagode Novo (YB Music)
41. The Necks: Travel (Northern Spy)
42. Kali Uchis: Red Moon in Venus (Geffen)
43. Bobby Rush: All My Love for You (Deep Rush / Thirty Tigers)
44. Marina Sena: Vicio Inerente (Sony)
45. Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy (Ninja Tune)
46. Willie Nelson: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love—The Songs of Harlan Howard (Legacy)
47. Withered Hand: How to Love (Reveal)
48. Lori McKenna: 1988 (CN Records / Thirty Tigers)
49. Tyler Keith & The Apostles: Hell to Pay (Black & Wyatt)
50. Algiers: Shook (Matador)
51. Ashley McBryde: The Devil I Know (Warner Nashville)
52. Kari Faux: REAL BITCHES DON’T DIE (drunk sum wtr records)
53. Peso Pluma: GENESIS (Double P)
54. corook: serious person (part 1) (Atlantic)
55. Killer Mike: Michael (Loma Vista)
56. Emil Amos: Zone Black (Drag City)
57. Ice Cold Bishop: Generational Curse (Ice Cold Entertainment)
58. Allen Lowe and The Constant Sorrow Orchestra: America—The Rough Cut (ESP-Disk)
59. Tyshawn Sorey: Continuing (Pi Recordings)
60. Morgan Wade: Psychopath (Ladylike)
61. Nourished by Time: Erotic Probiotic 2 (Scenic Route)
62. Walter Daniels: “From Death to Texas” / “Seems Like a Dream” (Spacecase Records 45)
63. KAYTRAMINE: KAYTRAMIUNE, Amine, & KAYTRANADA (CLBN)
64. ensemble 0: Jojoni (Crammed Discs)
65. JLin: Perspective (Planet Mu)
66. Henry Threadgill: The Other One (Pi)
67. Zoh Amba & Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt: The Flower School (Palilalia)
68. Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (KRA)
69. Lewis Capaldi: Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent (Vertigo Berline)
70. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids: Afro-Futuristic Dreams (Strut)
71. Amanda Shires & Bobbie Nelson: Loving You (ATO)
72. aja monet: when the poems do what they do (drink sum wtr)
73. Knoel Scott (featuring Marshall Allen): Celestial (Night Dreamer)
74. Ember: August in March (Imani)
75. Florian Arbenz: Conversation #10—Inland (Hammer)
76. Meshell Ndegeocello: The Omnichord Real Book (Blue Note)
77. Taj Mahal: Savoy (Cheraw S.C.)
78. DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ: Destiny (Spells on the Telly)
79. Haviah Mighty: Crying Crystals (Mighty Gang)
80. Rome Streetz: Wasn’t Built in a Day (Big Ghost)
81. Hein Westgaard Trio: First as Farce (Nice Things)
82. Irreversible Entanglements: Protect Your Light (Impulse! / Verve)
83. Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (International Anthem)
84. Steve Lehman & Orchestre National de Jazz: Ex Machina (Pi)
85. Kiko El Crazy: Pila’e Teteo (Rimas)
86. Islandman (featuring Okay Temiz and Muhlis Berberoglu: Direct-to-Disc Sessions (Night Dreamer)
87. Edward Simon: Femeninas (ArtistShare)
88. Kill Bill—The Rapper: Fullmetal Kaiju (EXO)
89. Speaker Music: Techxodus (Planet Mu)
90. Andy Fairweather Low: Flang Dang (The Last Music Company)
91. Money for Guns: All the Darkness That’s in Your Head (CD Baby)
92. Rough Image: Rough Image (WV Sorcerer Productions)
93. Ingrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place (Pyroclastic)
94. Victoria Monet: Jaguar II (Lovett Music)
95. Havard Wiik & Tim Daisy: Slight Return (Relay)
96. Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra: LightningDreamers (International Anthem)
97. Kaze & Ikue Mori: Crustal Movement (Circum/Libra)
98. DJ Black Low: Impumelelo (Awesome Tapes from Africa)
99. Belle and Sebastian: Late Developers  (Matador)
100. Satoko Fujii & Otomo Yoshihide: Perpetual Motion (Ayler Records)
101. feeble little horse: Girl with Fish (Saddle Creek)
102. Rocket 88: House of Jackpots (12XU)
103. Nasty Facts: Drive My Car (Left for Dead)
104. Taiko Saito: Tears of a Cloud (Trouble in the East)
105. JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes (self-released)
106. Water from Your Eyes: Everyone’s Crushed (Matador)
107. Chien Chien Lu: Built in System—Live in New York (Giant Step Arts)
108. Lewsberg: Out and About (Lewsberg / 12XU)
109. Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix (Whirlwind)
110. Amaarae: Fountain Baby (Golden Angel/Interscope)
111. Blondshell: Blondshell (Partisan)
112. Satoko Fujii: Torrent (Libra Records)
113. Javon Jackson: “With Peter Bradley”—Soundtrack and Original Score (Solid Jackson)
114. Tianna Esperanza: Terror (BMG)
115. YMA & Jadsa: Zelena (Matraca)
116. Palehound: Eye on the Bat (Polyvinyl)
117. J Hus: Beautiful and Brutal Yard (Black Butter)
118. Das Kondensat: Anderen Planeten (Why Play Jazz)
119. Iris DeMent: Workin’ On a World (FlariElla)
120. David Mirarchi: Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam (Unbroken Sounds) (coming soon….)
121. Baaba Maal: Being (Atelier Live/Marathon Artists)
122. Bob Dylan: Shadow Kingdom (Columbia)
123. Lana Del Rey: Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (Polydor)
124. Romulo Froes & Tiago Rosas: Na Goela (YB Music)
125. Buselli – Wallarab Jazz Orchestra: The Gennett Suite (Patois Records)
126. Florian Arbenz: Conversation #9—Targeted (Hammer Recordings)
127. James Brandon Lewis: Eye of I (Anti-)
128. Sexyy Red: Hood Hottest Princess (Open Shift)
129. Joanna Sternberg: I’ve Got Me (Fat Possum)
130. Tracey Nelson: Life Don’t Miss Nobody (BMG)
131. Etran De L’Air: Live in Seattle (EP) (Sahel Sounds)
132. Everything But the Girl: Fuse (Buzzin’ Fly)
133. Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double: March On (self-released)
134. Ice Spice: Like…? (10K Projects / Capitol Records EP)
135. otay:onii: Dream Hacker (WV Sorcerer Productions)
136. Sylvie Courvoisier & Cory Smythe: The Rite of Spring—Spectre d’un songe (Pyroclastic)
137. Itamar Borochov: Arba (Greenleaf)
138. Nakimbembe Embaire Group: Nakimbembe Embaire Group (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
139. Shirley Collins: Archangel Hill (Domino)
140. Karol G: Manana Sera Bonito (Universal Music Latino)
141. Tinashe: BB/ANG3L (Nice Life)
142. Hollie Cook: Happy Hour in Dub (Merge)
143. Andrew Cyrille: Music Delivery / Percussion (Intakt)
144. Kate Gentile: b i o m e i.i (Obliquity)
145. Yves Tumor: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp)
146. Open Mike Eagle: another triumph of ghetto engineering (AutoReverse)
147. Yonic South: Devo Challenge Cup (Wild Honey)
148. Rudy Royston: Day (Greenleaf Music)
149. Basher: Doubles (Sinking City)
150. That Mexican OT: Lonestar Luchador (Good Talk)
151. Staples Jr. Singers: Tell Heaven (EP) (Luaka Bop) Note: the vinyl gets you more great minutes of testifying.
152. Brandee Younger: Brand New Life (Impulse!)
153. Babe, Terror: Teghnojoyg (self-released)
154. Heinali: Kyiv Eternal (Injazero)
155. Tri-County Liquidators: “Flies” / “Weep Then Whisper” / “Bitter” (self-released)
156. Vinny Golia Quartet: No Refunds (Unbroken Sounds)
157. Kresten Osgood / Bob Moses / Tisziji Munoz: Spiritual Drum Kingship (Gotta Let It Out)
158. The Art Ensemble of Chicago: From Paris to Paris (Rogue Art)
159. Clarence “Bluesman” Davis: Shake It For Me (Music Maker Foundation)
160. The War and The Treaty: Lover’s Game (Mercury Nashville)
161. Aroof Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad, Ismaily: Love in Exile (Verve)
162. Asher Gamedze: Turbulence and Pulse (International Anthem)
163. Normal Nada the Krakmaxter: Tribal Progressive Heavy Metal (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
164. Natural Child: Be M’Guest (Natural Child Music)
165. Tanya Tucker: Sweet Western Sound (Fantasy)

Excavations and Reissues

1. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens: Music Inferno—The Indestructible Beat Tour 1988-89 (Umsakazo Records)
2. Kashmere Stage Band: Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 (Now-Again)
3. The Replacements: Tim—Let It Bleed Edition (Rhino)
4. Dorothy Ashby: With Strings Attached (New Land Records)
5. Walter Bishop, Jr.: Bish at the Bank—Live in Baltimore (Cellar Live)
6. Various Artists: Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats from Apartheid’s Dying Years (BBE)
7. Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: 60 Years (The Village)
8. Os Tincoas: Canto Coral Afrobrasiliero (Sanzala Cultural)
9. Various Artists: Ecuatoriana (Analog Africa)
10. Nina Simone: You’ve Got to Learn (Verve)
11. William S. Burroughs: Nothing Here But the Recordings (Dais Records)
12. Balka Sound: Balka Sound (Strut)
13. Sonic Youth: Live in Brooklyn (Silver Current)
14. John Coltrane: Evenings at The Village Gate (Impulse!)
15. Various Artists: Playing for The Man at The Door (Smithsonian Folkways)
16. Hiatus Kaiyote: Choose Your Weapon (Flying Buddha / Sony Masterworks)
17. Dream Dolphin: Gaia—Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works (1996 – 2003) (Music from Memory)
18. Sonny Stitt: Boppin’ in Baltimore—Live at the Left Bank (Jazz Detective)
19. Eddie & Ernie: Time Waits for No One (Mississippi Records)
20. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 1 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
21. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 2 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
22. The Southern University Jazz Ensemble: Goes to Africa with Love (Now-Again)
23. Sonny Rollins: Live at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki 1972 (Svart)
24. Various Artists: The Best of Revelation Records 1959-1962 (NarroWay)
25. Shizuka: Heavenly Persona (Black Editions)
26. Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom: Daytime Viewing (Unseen Worlds)
27. Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind Stripped Naked (Columbia)
28. Various Artists: Blacklips Bar—Androgyns and Deviants / Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels 1992-1995 (Anthology Recordings)
29. Various Artists: Con Piano, Sublime—Early Recordings from the Caribbean 1907-1921 (Magnificent Sounds)
30. Various Artists: Space Echo—The Mystery Behind the Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde Revealed! (Analog Africa)
31. RP Boo: Legacy Volume 2 (Planet Mu)
32. Les Raillizes Denudes: ’77 Live (Temporal Drift)
33. Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Shirley Scott: Cookin’ With Jaws and The Queen (Craft)
34. Professor James Benson:The Gow-Dow Experience (Jazzman Records)
35. Little Bob and The Lollipops: Nobody But You (Mississippi Records)