Tag: Damon Smith

In From the Storm: My Favorite Records from ’25, January 1st to August 1st

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I fell behind in June but revved up to as close to the front of the line as can be expected, I suppose. I still have much business swirling around my head—every time I’ve dealt with the last piece of post-mortem paperwork, something new arrives in the mail, and there’s always grief—so I’m not going to say much other than what a rush of recorded matter has there been into this deity-forsaken world, and I’m thankful.

I have provided album cover images to stimulate you (above) and links in the items’ titles to lead you to purchase (please buy musicians’ music—please?). Later, I will add an updated Spitify playlist with a track a piece from everything on the list if you want to have a…song tasting. If an item is bolded, it is new to the list; if an item is italicized, it is a newly released record that contains older music (there are a few late-’24 entries that might have flown under your radar); if an item is asterisked, it’s very good up to the everlovin’ shit, depending on the number of *s; if an item you think is dandy isn’t on the list, I might not have caught up to it yet (or it didn’t move me, so it got real gone for a change). A truckload of new thangs have been loosed as I hunt and peck this morning; I’m just gonna have to wait until September 1st for the best of those. I hope you find something that can distract you beatifically (but temporarily) from the destruction at large. And…try the Red Hot Org EP that mixes the Kronos Quartet, Dylan’s most surrealistic protest song, and Terry Riley. It ain’t a spinach ice cream cone—it’s brilliant, and necessary.

AND OH YEAH! Do not overlook two shining 5-asterisk discs: jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson’s most mesmerizing recording in a career of them (special assistance from Patricia Brennan) and Irish folk giant Christy Moore’s powerful take on the troubles nouveux in his country (and the world).

MY LIST OF RECENT AURAL PLEASURE – SAMPLER PLAYLIST BELOW
BOLD = New to the List
ASTERISKED* = Damn good! to Holy SHIT! (one day, I will organize them)
ITALICIZED: Excavations from the Past / Reissues


Aesop Rock: Black Hole Superette (Rhymesayers) ****
Zoh Amba: Sun (Smalltown Supersound) ****
Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta:  Mapambazuko (Nyege Nyege Tapes) *****
Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons: Live in Philadelphia, Volume 1 (Otherly Love Records) ****
The Ancients: The Ancients (Eremite) ***
Ichiko Aoba: Luminescent Creatures (Psychic Hotline)
Artemis: Arboresque (Blue Note) ****

Backxwash: Only Dust Remains (Ugly Hag) ****
Bad Bunny: DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS (Rimas Entertainment)****
Julien Baker & Torres: Send a Prayer My Way (Matador) ****
Gina Birch: Trouble (Third Man)
The Bitter Ends: The Bitter Ends (Trouble in River City)
Black Milk & Fat Ray: Food from the Gods (Computer Ugly / Fat Beats)
Blacks’ Myths Meets Pat Thomas: The Mythstory School (self-released) ***
Yugen Blakrok: The Illusion Of Being (I.O.T. Records) ***
Booker T & The Plasmic Bleeds: Ode To BC/LY… And Eye Know BO…. da Prez (Mahakala Music)
Benjamin Booker: Lower (Fire Next Time)
Johnny Bragg: Let Me Dream On (Org Music) ***
Brother Ali & Ant: Satisfied Soul (Mello Music)
Buck 65: Keep Moving (self-released)
Peter Brotzmann: The Quartet (Otoroku)****
Master Wilburn Burchette: Master Wilburn Burchette’s Psychic Meditation Music (Numero Group)***

Joe Chambers, Kevin Diehl, Chad Taylor: Onilu (Eremite) ****
Tyler Childers: Snipe Hunter (RCA / Hickman Holler)
Christer Bothén 3: L’Invisible  (thanatosis)****
clipping: Dead Channel Sky (Sub Pop)
Clipse: Let God Sort ‘Em Out (Roc Nation)***
Common and Pete Rock: The Auditorium, Volume 1 (Casa Loma)
Cosmic Ear: TRACES (We Jazz) *****
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic)
Chuck D: Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio—Radio Armageddon (Soundspeak)

Christopher Dammann Sextet: Christopher Dammann Sextet (Out of Your Head)Deepstaria Enigmatica: The Eternal Now Is the Heart of a New Tomorrow (ESP-Disk)
The Delines: Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom (Jealous Butcher) ****
DJ Dadaman & Moscow Dollar: Ka Gaza (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
DJ Haram: Beside Myself (Hyperdub)
DJ Shaun-D: From Bubbling to Dutch House (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. & The Wild Magnolias: Chip Off The Old Block (Strong Place)
Doseone & Height Keech: Wood Teeth (Hands Made EP) ****
doseone & Steel Tipped Dove: All Portrait, No Chorus (BackwoodzStudios) ****

Silke Eberhard Trio: Being-A-Ning (Intakt)
Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Shapes and Forms (Cool Death EP)***
Marty Ehrlich Trio Exaltation: This Time (Sunnyside) ***
Electric Satie: Gymnopedia ’99 (In Sheep’s Clothing)****
Marco Eneidi Quintet: Wheat Fields of Kleylehof (Balance Point Acoustics / Botticelli) ****
Ex-Void: In Love Again (Tapete Records)

Fieldwork: Thereupon (Pi Records)
Craig Finn: Always Been (Tamaric / Thirty Tigers) ***
FKA twigs: Eusexua (Young Recordings Limited)
Robert Forster: Strawberries (Tapete) ****
Satoko Fujii GEN: Altitude 1100 Meters (Libra)
Satoko Fujii Trio: Dream a Dream (Libra) ****
Satoko Fuji / This is It!: Message (Libra)

Galactic and Irma Thomas: Audience with the Queen (Tchoup-Zilla)
Girl Scout: Headache (self-released EP)

Keiji Haino and Natsuki Tamura: what happened there? (Libra)
Mary Halvorson: About Ghosts (Nonesuch)*****
Hamell on Trial: Harp (for Harry) (Saustex)
Heat On: Heat On (Cuneiform)
The Hemphill Stringtet: Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head Records)
Patterson Hood: Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams (ATO) ***
William Hooker: Jubilation (Org Music) *****
William Hooker: A Time Within: Live at the New York Jazz Museum, January 14, 1977 (The Control Group / Valley of Search) ***

Horsegirl: Phonetics On and On (Matador)
HHY & The Kampala Unit: Turbo Meltdown (Nyege Nyege Tapes) ****
Hüsker Dü: Jan.30, First Ave., Part 1 (Numero EP) ****

Mikko Innanen and Ingebrigt Häker Flaten: Live in Espoo (Sonic Transmissions)
Michael Gregory Jackson: Frequency Equilibrium Koan (moved-by-sound)

Jeong – Bisio Duo (featuring Joe McPhee): Morning Bells Whistle Bright (ESP-Disk) ****
Rico Jones: Bloodlines (Giant Step Arts)
Anthony Joseph: Rowing Up the River to Get Our Names Back (Heavenly Sweetness) ****
JPEG Mafia: I Lay Down My Life for You (Director’s Cut) (self-released) *****

Karol G: Tropicoqueta (Bichota) ****

Kelela: In the Blue Light (Warp) ***

KINGDOM MOLOGI: Kembo (Nyege Nyege Tapes) ***
Kronos Quartet + The Hard Rain Collective: Hard Rain (Red Hot Org EP)

Lady Gaga: Mayhem (Interscope)
Lambrini Girls: Who Let The Dogs Out (City Slang US) *****
Steve Lehman: The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi Recordings) *****
José Lencastre: Inner Voices (Burning Ambulance)***
Jinx Lennon: The Hate Agents Leer at the Last Agents of Hope (Septic Tiger) ***
James Brandon Lewis: Apple Cores (Anti-)
James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Abstraction is Deliverance (Intakt) ***
Jeffrey Lewis: The Even More Freewheelin’ Jeffrey Lewis (Don Giovanni)
Little Simz: Lotus (AWAL) ***
LOLO: LOLO (Black Sweat)
Rocio Gimenez Lopez: La Forma Del Sueno (Blue Art) ****
K. Curtis Lyle, Jaap Blonk, Damon Smith, Alex Cunningham: A Radio of the Body

Jako Maron: Mahavelouz (Nyege Nyege Tapes) ****
Mazinga: Chinese Democracy Manifest—Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (Rubber Wolf)
Mean Mistreater: Do or Die (self-released)***
The Mekons: Horror (Fire) ***
Ava Mendoza/Gabby Fluke-Mogul/Carolina Perez: Mama Killa (Burning Ambulance) ***
M(h)aol: Something Soft (Merge) ***
Mac Miller: Baloonerism (Warner Records)
Billy Mohler: The Eternal (Contagious)
Moonchild Sanelly: Full Moon (self-released)
MonoNeon: You Had Your Chance…Bad Attitude! (Color Red) ****
Christy Moore: A Terrible Beauty (Claddagh) *****
Jason Moran/Trondheim Jazz Orchestra/Ole Morten Vågan: Go To Your North (Yes Records)
Matthew Muneses and Riza Printup: Pag-Ibko, Volume 1 (Irabbagast Records)
David Murray Quartet: The Birdsong Project Presents Birdly Serenade (Verve)
Amina Claudine Myers: Solace of the Mind (Red Hook) ****

Natural Information Society and Bitchin’ Bahas: Totality (Drag City)
Louis Nevins: The Fumes (Cavetone Records)
NOBRO: Set Your Pussy Free (Dine Alone) ***

Isabelle Olivier: Impressions (Rewound Echoes)
The Onions: Return to Paradise (Hitt Records)
Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet: Hauslive 4 (Palilalia) ***
Organic Pulse Ensemble: Ad Hoc (Ultraaani Records) *****
Aruan Ortiz: Creole Renaissance (Intakt)

Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra Led by Horace Tapscott: Live at Widney High December 26th, 1971 (The Village) ***
Ivo Perelmamn and Matthew Shipp: Armageddon Flower (TAO Forms)
Pitch, Rhythm, and Consciousness: Sextet (Reva Records)
Marek Pospieszalski Octet & Zoh Amba: NOW! (Project financed by a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage “Młoda Polska” & Katowice City of Music UNESCO)
Public Enemy: Black Sky Over The Projects—Apartment 2025 (self-released) ***

Les Rallizes Denudes: Blind Baby Has Its Mother’s Eyes (Life Goes On)
R.A.P. Ferreira: Outstanding Understanding (Ruby Yacht)
Adam Rudolph, Dave Liebman, Billy Hart: Beingness (Meta)
Bobby Rush and Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Young Fashioned Ways (Deep Rush / RAM Records) ***

Sverre Sæbo Quintet: If, However, You Have Not Lost Your Self Control (SauaJazz)
SAULT: 10 (Sault Global) ***
Serengeti: mixtape 2 (serengetiraps / self-released)
Serengeti: Palookaville (serengetiraps / self-released) 
The Sex Pistols: Live in the U.S.A. South East Music Hall, Atlanta, January 5th, 1978 (UME)
The Sharp Pins: Radio DDR (K / Perennial Death) ****
Matthew Shipp: The Cosmic Piano (Canteloupe Records) ****
Anthony “Big A” Sherrod: Torchbearer of the Clarksdale Sound (Music Makers Recordings EP)
Slick Rick: Victory (Mass Appeal)
Luke Stewart / Silt Remembrance Ensemble: The Order (Cuneiform) ***
Ray Suhy / Lewis Porter Quartet: What Happens Next (Sunnyside) ***
SUMAC and Moor Mother: The Film (Thrill Jockey)
Sun Ra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght 5 August 1970 (Strut) ***
John Surman:Flashpoint and Undercurrents (Cuneiform Records) ***

Masahiko Tagashi: Session in Paris, Volume 1—Song of the Soil (with Don Cherry and Charlie Haden) (We Want Sounds)
Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’: Room on the Porch (Concord Jazz) 
Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’: Room on the Porch for Everyone (UMG EP) 
Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley: Flashing Spirits (Burning Ambulance)
Ebo Taylor, Adrain Younge, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Jazz Is Dead 22 (Jazz is Dead)
Three-Layer Cake: “sounds the color of grounds” (Otherly Love)
Trio Glossia: Trio Glossia (Sonic Transmissions) ****
The Tubs: Cotton Crown (self-released)***

Kali Uchis: Sincerely (Capitol) ***
Akira Umeda & Metal Preyers: Clube de Mariposa Mórbida (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
The Untamed Youth: Git Up and Go (Hi-Tide / Nu-Tone)

Various Artists: African Jazz Invites O.K. Jazz (Planet Ilunga) ***
Various Artists: A Tribute to the King of Zydeco (Valcourt)
Various Artists: Democracy Forward (Bitter Southerner)
Various Artists: Prisoners’ Day Compilation (Majazz Project / Palestinian Sound Archive) ***
Various Artists: Roots Rocking Zimbabwe– The Modern Sound of Harare’ Townships 1975-1980 (Analog Africa) ****
Various Artists: Sweet Rebels—The Golden Era of Algerian Pop-Rai (We Want Sounds) ***
Vibration Black Finger: Everybody Cryin’ Mercy (Enid)

The War & Treaty: Plus One (Mercury Nashville)
Wet Leg: moisturizer (Domino)
Alfred White: The Definitive Alfred White (Music Makers Recordings)
Wheelhouse: House and Home (Aerophonic)
Simon Willson: Bet (Endectomorph Records)
billy woods: GOLLIWOG (x) (Backwoodz Studios)
Wu-Tang Clan: Black Samson, The Bastard (All Maf / 36 Chambers)

Jeong Lim Yang: Synchronicity (Fully Altered Media) 
Hiroshi Yoshimura: Flora (Temporal Drift) ***
Brandee Younger: Gadabout Season (Impulse) ***
The Young Mothers: Better If You Let It (Sonic Transmissions)****

SAMPLE THIS SHIT AND PUT IT ON SHUFFLE! We are not alone in the musical cosmos!







	


	


			
				


			

			
Death Don’t Have No Mercy: In Lieu of My Monthly List, Would You Care for My Mid-Year Francis Davis Memorial Jazz Critics Ballot?
		
	
	

		















My mother, Mary Jane Overeem, passed away from dementia in her assisted living facility early in the morning of Wednesday, June 18, 2025. I am sure it was a coincidence, but she left in the midst of 15-minute wind, lightning, thunder, and pouring rain storm that seemed to harness the furiousness of the battle between her physical determination to keep living and her spiritual will to be released–after months of begging to be. It was exceedingly difficult to witness. I had hoped to be there at her side when she finally passed, but I had to sleep. She might have been waiting for me to pass all the way out so she could slip away alone.





Once during her final four torturous days, the topic of music arose. One of her best friends in the community was an English octogenarian named Rita who happened to come by and check on her. My mom had mentioned to Rita that I kinda-sorta liked music, so she casually offered to tell me the story of her having seen the 1965 edition of The Rolling Stones in Coventry when she was 20. I have a very soft spot for the Jones-era Stones, so I was all ears—especially when she groused, “I was on the front row, and I tried to grab Mick’s balls but a cop grabbed me before I could get ‘em. I almost had his balls—I would have been on the cover of The Daily Mirror, you know?” I was doubled over, crying with laughter. She went on to mention that she’d only seen Gene Vincent three times (!!!) and Eddie Cochran once (!!!!). I will always treasure that pop-by, and when Rita rolled up to express her condolences after the funeral this past Sunday, I wanted to tell her, “I wish I could grab death by the balls,” but I settled for giving her a big hug, wetting her shoulder with tears, and whispering, “Sweet Gene Vincent.”





All of that is to say that I was not able to attend to a June new music inventory, though I will also say that passionate new records by the Irish folk legend Christy Moore, the fiery and spirited saxophone sprite Zoh Amba, and a heap of very inspired rock and rollers and zydeco masters paying tribute to Clifton Chenier will be crowned with four or five stars when I catch up, maybe this week or next.





What I can do is share the ballot I submitted to the Francis Davis Memorial Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, topped, naturally, by an album that came out in November of 2024 (that’s within the rules, since it barely had time to be distributed; also, see the video above). It’s a great year for jazz, and especially for piano records, four of which made my Top 10.





Enjoy yourself, and keep livin’….





NEW JAZZ ALBUMS (ranked)





Organic Pulse Ensemble: Ad Hoc (Ultraaani Records)





Cosmic Ear: TRACES (We Jazz)





Matthew Shipp: The Cosmic Piano (Cantaloupe Music)





William Hooker: Jubilation (Org Music)





Steve Lehman: The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi Recordings)





Amina Claudine Myers: Solace of the Mind (Red Hook Records)





Zoh Amba: Sun (Smalltown Supersound)





Blacks’ Myths Meets Pat Thomas: The Mythstory School (self-released)





Trio Glossia: Trio Glossia (Sonic Transmissions)





Rocio Gimenez Lopez: La Forma Del Sueno (Blue Art)





RARA AVIS 





(ranked—these are older recordings come to the light of day)





Marco Eneidi Quartet: Wheat Fields of Kleylehof (Balance Point Acoustics)





William Hooker: A Time Within—Live at the New York Jazz Museum, January 14, 1977 (The Control Group / Valley of Search)





Sun Ra and His Inter-Galactic Research Arkestra: Nuits de la Fondation Maeght 3rd August 1970 (Strut)





Masahiko Tagashi: Session in Paris, Volume 1—Song of the Soil (with Don Cherry and Charlie Haden) (We Want Sounds)





Michael Gregory Jackson: Frequency Equilibrium Koan (moved-by-sound)










	


	


			
				


			

			
33 1/3: My Favorite Albums of the Year So Far (January 1st to April 30th)
		
	
	

		






Whew! It has been a month. 





My in-person musical highlights of April were witnessing the L.A. born-and-bred/St. Louis Black Artists Group-associated poet K. Curtis Lyle perform his long and stunning The Collected Poem for Blind Lemon Jefferson, driven by Damon Smith beating the fuck out of his doghouse bass and creating surprising sounds that perfectly punctuated the work, as well as marveling at Jeffrey Lewis magically taking control of St. Louis’ marvelous dive The Sinkhole like the greatest music teacher alive. I’ve included Lyle’s latest work below, even though it was a late-2024 release–so it goes with the slow. Big thanks to the humble, smiling genius Matt Crook and Dismal Niche for their continued imagination and effort to bring underheard sounds to Columbia, Missouri.





Regarding the rest of the new items on my cumulative list of 2025 records I’ve so far been captivated by? 





    

  1. No, I am not on the Nyege Nyege Tapes or Satoko Fujii payrolls, nor do I get review copies from Nyege Nyege Tapes (I demand them from Libra Records jk). Both forces have truly been on a creative roll and bring life and rhythm to my house with each new release.
    2. 




  2. The Delines, Patterson Hood, and Craig Finn chipped away at the thickening personal ice block separating me from enjoying most of the “Americana” genre.
    3. 




  3. If you get a chance to see Jeffrey Lewis, take it. You get excellent songs, impish charm, songs for the hear-and-now…and Lewis-illustrated history lessons.
    4. 




  4. If you are so fed-up you need some in-your-face music, may I direct you to the new Sumac-Moor Mother team-up? Or would you prefer some Backxwash? Or maybe clipping? All three acts are at their finest on these releases.
    5. 




  5. I believe Argentinian jazz pianist Rocio Gimenez Lopez is one of the least well-known terrific musicians in the world. Her new album of interpretations of jazz classics is sublime. Please give her a shot.
    6. 




  6. I have pushed the freak-folk/psychedelic-doom/quiet-REAAAAALLLLY fucking loud-quiet Japanese band Les Rallizes Denudes several times here before. Check out the below RSD reissue for maybe the best way into their work.
    7. 




  7. There are now several Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet albums out there, many featuring interpretations of the exact same songs in different live settings and also featuring ace Ava Mendoza. You need at least one: you can get the studio version, but I would also take your pick of the live versions, as they all go into different sonic territory. Fans of Quine, 75 Dollar Bill, even Mdou Moctar have no reason to ignore me.
    8. 




  8. When you hear the NOLA team-up of Galactic and Irma Thomas, you will not believe Irma’s 84. This isn’t their first collab; when they lock in they sound made for each other. And while I’m talking soul, you may have given up on SAULT (not sure why you would have, but they are not exactly stingy with their output, and might have created in you some aural calluses), but please give 10 a chance: it carries a timely, easeful late great-period Sly vibe.
    9. 




  9. That’s right: Ed Hamell and Jinx Lennon have new records out. Get your rabble roused and your heart emboldened.
    10. 




  10. The Bitchin’ Bajas’ Cooper Crain: Columbia, Missouri’s Smithton Middle School’s most creative graduate. He wasn’t on my team during his tenure there, but I was made aware of him of my students who were in his orbit. 
    11. 






TO THE LIST: Items in bold are new; I’ve added a track from each album (when available) to an ongoing accompanying Spitify playlist; anything with an asterisk I especially enjoyed; anything fully italicized is an excavation from bygone days; yes, I’m eventually going to put them in order from most enjoyable to simply enjoyable–but not yet. 





Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta:  Mapambazuko (Nyege Nyege Tapes)*****





Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons: Live in Philadelphia, Volume 1 (Otherly Love Records—out on May 23 but be on the serious look-out!) ***





The Ancients: The Ancients (Eremite)





Ichiko Aoba: Luminescent Creatures (Psychic Hotline)





Artemis: Arboresque (Blue Note) ****





Backxwash: Only Dust Remains (Ugly Hag)****





Bad Bunny: DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS (Rimas Entertainment)****





Black Milk & Fat Ray: Food from the Gods (Computer Ugly / Fat Beats)





Blacks’ Myths Meets Pat Thomas: The Mythstory School (self-released) ***





Booker T & The Plasmic Bleeds: Ode To BC/LY… And Eye Know BO…. da Prez (Mahakala Music)





Benjamin Booker: Lower (Fire Next Time)





Johnny Bragg: Let Me Dream On (Org Music) ***





Brother Ali & Ant: Satisfied Soul (Mello Music)





Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic)





clipping: Dead Channel Sky (Sub Pop)





Christopher Dammann Sextet: Christopher Dammann Sextet (Out of Your Head)





Deepstaria Enigmatica: The Eternal Now Is the Heart of a New Tomorrow (ESP-Disk)





The Delines: Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom (Jealous Butcher)****





DJ Dadaman & Moscow Dollar: Ka Gaza (Nyege Nyege Tapes)





doseone & Steel Tipped Dove: All Portrait, No Chorus (BackwoodzStudios) ****





Ex-Void: In Love Again (Tapete Records)





Craig Finn: Always Been (Tamaric / Thirty Tigers)***





FKA twigs: Eusexua (Young Recordings Limited)





Satoko Fujii GEN: Altitude 1100 Meters (Libra)





Satoko Fujii Trio: Dream a Dream (Libra)****





Satoko Fuji / This is It!: Message (Libra)





Keiji Haino and Natsuki Tamura: what happened there? (Libra)





Galactic and Irma Thomas: Audience with the Queen (Tchoup-Zilla)





Hamell on Trial: Harp (for Harry) (Saustex)





The Hemphill Stringtet: Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head Records) Note: release date = April 4, 2025****





Patterson Hood: Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams (ATO)***





William Hooker: Jubilation (Org Music)*****





William Hooker: A Time Within: Live at the New York Jazz Museum, January 14, 1977 (The Control Group / Valley of Search) ***





Horsegirl: Phonetics On and On (Matador)





HHY & The Kampala Unit: Turbo Meltdown (Nyege Nyege Tapes)****





Michael Gregory Jackson: Frequency Equilibrium Koan (moved-by-sound)





Jeong – Bisio Duo (featuring Joe McPhee): Morning Bells Whistle Bright (ESP-Disk) ****





Anthony Joseph: Rowing Up the River to Get Our Names Back (Heavenly Sweetness)****





JPEG Mafia: I Lay Down My Life for You (Director’s Cut) (self-released)*****





Kelela: In the Blue Light (Warp)***





KINGDOM MOLOGI: Kembo (Nyege Nyege Tapes) ***





Lady Gaga: Mayhem (Interscope)





Steve Lehman: The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi Recordings)*****





Jinx Lennon: The Hate Agents Leer at the Last Agents of Hope (Septic Tiger)





James Brandon Lewis: Apple Cores (Anti-)





Jeffrey Lewis: The Even More Freewheelin’ Jeffrey Lewis (Don Giovanni)





LOLO: LOLO (Black Sweat)





Rocio Gimenez Lopez: La Forma Del Sueno (Blue Art)****





K. Curtis Lyle, Jaap Blonk, Damon Smith, Alex Cunningham: A Radio of the Body 





Mazinga: Chinese Democracy Manifest—Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (Rubber Wolf)





The Mekons: Horror (Fire)***





Mean Mistreater: Do or Die (self-released)





Mac Miller: Baloonerism (Warner Records)





Jako Maron: Mahavelouz (Nyege Nyege Tapes)****





Billy Mohler: The Eternal (Contagious)





Matthew Muneses and Riza Printup: Pag-Ibko, Volume 1 (Irabbagast Records)





David Murray Quartet: The Birdsong Project Presents Birdly Serenade (Verve)





Natural Information Society and Bitchin’ Bahas: Totality (Drag City)





NOBRO: Set Your Pussy Free (Dine Alone) ***





Isabelle Olivier: Impressions (Rewound Echoes)





The Onions: Return to Paradise (Hitt Records)





Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet: Hauslive 4 (Palilalia)***





Organic Pulse Ensemble: Ad Hoc (Ultraaani Records)*****





Pitch, Rhythm, and Consciousness: Sextet (Reva Records)





Marek Pospieszalski Octet & Zoh Amba (see below): NOW! (Project financed by a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage “Młoda Polska” & Katowice City of Music UNESCO) Note: release date = November 29, 2024





Les Rallizes Denudes: Blind Baby Has Its Mother’s Eyes (Life Goes On)





R.A.P. Ferreira: Outstanding Understanding (Ruby Yacht)





Bobby Rush and Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Young Fashioned Ways (Deep Rush / RAM Records) ***





SAULT: 10 (Sault Global)***





Serengeti: mixtape 2 (serengetiraps / self-released)





Serengeti: Palookaville (serengetiraps / self-released) Note: release date = December 25, 2024





The Sex Pistols: Live in the U.S.A. South East Music Hall, Atlanta, January 5th, 1978 (UME)





The Sharp Pins: Radio DDR (K / Perennial Death)****





Luke Stewart / Silt Remembrance Ensemble: The Order (Cuneiform)***





Ray Suhy / Lewis Porter Quartet: What Happens Next(Sunnyside) ***





SUMAC and Moor Mother: The Film (Thrill Jockey)





John Surman: Flashpoint and Undercurrents (Cuneiform Records) ***





Masahiko Tagashi: Session in Paris, Volume 1—Song of the Soil (with Don Cherry and Charlie Haden) (We Want Sounds)





Taj Mahal & Keb’ Mo’: Room on the Porch for Everyone (UMG EP) (Note: a related full album releases in May that contains NONE of these excellent songs)





Ebo Taylor, Adrain Younge, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Jazz Is Dead 22 (Jazz is Dead)





Trio Glossia: Trio Glossia (Sonic Transmissions)****





The Tubs: Cotton Crown (self-released)





Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (Jagjaguwar)





Various Artists: Prisoners’ Day Compilation (Majazz Project / Palestinian Sound Archive)***





Various Artists: Sweet Rebels—The Golden Era of Algerian Pop-Rai (We Want Sounds) ***





The War & Treaty: Plus One (Mercury Nashville)





Alfred White: The Definitive Alfred White (Music Makers Recordings)





Simon Willson: Bet (Endectomorph Records)





Jeong Lim Yang: Synchronicity (Fully Altered Media) The Young Mothers: Better If You Let It (Sonic Transmissions)****





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