Tag: John Coltrane

Bark Out Thunder, Roar Out Lightning–Albeit in a Small Dose: 150 Absorbing New and Old Recordings Released So Far in 2023

Grey Matter Natter

I am still behind–I feel I owe ten or fifteen records I haven’t laid ear to some time–but sometimes it be’s that way. The most important thing about this update is a new record is at the top of my list. If I graded albums, it just might be an A+. I don’t even give those to my students’essays.

  1. I am a helpless gestaltist–I am really blown away by works that, though they must be somewhat imperfect, make a powerful impact as a whole. From its wraith-like but oh-so-corporeal vocals to its music to its lyrics to its production to its accompanying art to its title to its assessment of this world, Anohni’s My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross checks the boxes. Even if I wasn’t a Missourian, where cruelty is our state adjective, it would have knocked me out. After all, I am still an American. I’ve always been careful not to overrate a record that is topical in ways I care deeply about, but a) the cruelty the record addresses is definitely nothing new; b) it’s an undeniable message from the targets of cruelty; and c) as a work of art, it would move me if it were sung in Sanskrit. My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross is the best–and my favorite–album of the year. It rocks in good measure, too, for those who must have that.
  2. I am also a helpless devotee of New Orleans music, especially any that is connected with the Mardi Gras Indian tradition. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s been on a roll, but I’ve been too late to recognize his last couple of releases. Not this time. In some ways, it’s a strong pairing with Anohni’s record–but again, if it were sung in Tamasheq, I’d be down with it. Oddly, he doesn’t play much trumpet but it doesn’t really matter.
  3. In Columbia, Missouri, the indefatigable Matt Crook, a Howard Zinn-inspired high school social studies teacher and father of two youngsters, annually puts together the Columbia Experimental Music Festival (as well as ancillary shows of fascinating variety). This year, in partnership with another great local and annual offering, the We Always Swing Jazz Series, Matt and WAS founder Jon Poses will be bringing the Sun Ra Arkestra to our citizens. I saw Sun Ra himself with the Arkestra here twice, once in the late Eighties and once in the early Nineties, shortly after which The Sun One passed. I’d never have expected that, in 2023, I’d be seeing bandleader Marshall Allen still blowing at 99. I mention Allen because he and fellow Arkestra member Knoel Scott come very correct on the latter’s new album Celestial. Reaper, stay thy scythe.
  4. For Mr. Crook, “experimental” folds in hip hop culture, and why shouldn’t it? Last year, he arranged for three pretty underground figures to give a beat- and bar-making workshop at a local high school; this year, he’s snagged London-born, Queens-raised, Bed Stuy-representing Rome Streetz, whom I’d never heard of (Matt always snaps my earlids up like roller blinds). He’s tough, talented, and worth your time–even if you can’t come to Columbia for the fest.
  5. Regarding the Coltrane and Simone excavations–you’ve probably already heard this–temper your sonic expectations and instead focus on the expression and before-your-very-ears musical evolution you’re experiencing. Evolution isn’t ever…pristine.

(Bolded items are new to the list)

  1. Anohni: My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross (Secretly Canadian)
  2. Gina Burch: I Play My Bass Loud (Third Man)
  3. 100 gecs: 10,000 gecs(Dog Show/Atlantic)
  4. boygenius:the record (Interscope)
  5. Bettye LaVette: LaVette! (Jay-Vee)
  6. Buck 65: Super Dope (self-released?)
  7. Jessie Ware: That! Feels Good! (Universal)
  8. billy woods & Kenny Segal: Maps (Backwoodz Studios)
  9. Liv.e: Girl in The Half Pearl (Real Life / AWAL)
  10. Kelela: Raven (Warp)
  11. Big Freedia: Central City (Queen Diva)
  12. National Information Society: Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)
  13. Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: In the Dark (ESP-Disk)
  14. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer—A Tribute to Don Cherry (Spiritmuse)
  15. Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (Yes Records)
  16. London Brew: London Brew (Concord)
  17. Fire! Orchestra: Echoes (Rune Grammofon)
  18. Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations (Kabell)
  19. The Mark Lomax II Trio: Tapestry (CFG Multimedia)
  20. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah & Chief Adjuah: Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning (Ropeadope)
  21. Janelle Monae: The Age of Pleasure (Bad Boy)
  22. Dropkick Murphys: Okemah Rising (Dummy Luck Music)
  23. Isach Skeidsvoll: Dance to Summon (Ultraani Records)
  24. Wild Up: Julius Eastman, Volume 3—If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? (New Amsterdam)
  25. Parannoul: After the Magic (Poclanos/Top Shelf)
  26. Yaeji: With a Hammer (XL Recordings)
  27. The Urban Art Ensemble: “Ho’opomopono” (CFG Multimedia 16-minute single)
  28. Felo Le Tee & Mellow & Sleazy: The Ill Wise Men (New Money Gang)
  29. Brandy Clark: Brandy Clark (Warner)
  30. Rodrigo Campos: Pagode Novo (YB Music)
  31. The Necks: Travel (Northern Spy)
  32. Kali Uchis: Red Moon in Venus (Geffen)
  33. Marina Sena: Vicio Inerente (Sony)
  34. Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy (Ninja Tune)
  35. Willie Nelson: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love—The Songs of Harlan Howard (Legacy)
  36. Peso Pluma: GENESIS (Double P)
  37. Ice Cold Bishop: Generational Curse (Ice Cold Entertainment)
  38. Allen Lowe and The Constant Sorrow Orchestra: America—The Rough Cut (ESP-Disk)
  39. Tyshawn Sorey:Continuing (Pi Recordings)
  40. Nourished by Time: Erotic Probiotic 2 (Scenic Route)
  41. Walter Daniels: “From Death to Texas” / “Seems Like a Dream” (Spacecase Records 45)
  42. Tyler Keith & The Apostles: Hell to Pay (Black & Wyatt)
  43. Algiers: Shook (Matador)
  44. KAYTRAMINE: KAYTRAMIUNE, Amine, & KAYTRANADA (CLBN)
  45. Withered Hand: How to Love (Reveal)
  46. ensemble 0: Jojoni(Crammed Discs)
  47. Henry Threadgill: The Other One(Pi)
  48. Kari Faux: REAL BITCHES DON’T DIE (drunk sum wtr records)
  49. Lewis Capaldi: Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent (Vertigo Berline)
  50. aja monet: when the poems do what they do (drink sum wtr)
  51. Knoel Scott (featuring Marshall Allen): Celestial (Night Dreamer)
  52. Meshell Ndegeocello: The Omnichord Real Book (Blue Note)
  53. Taj Mahal: Savoy (Cheraw S.C.)
  54. corook: serious person (part 1) (Atlantic)
  55. Haviah Mighty: Crying Crystals (Mighty Gang)
  56. Rome Streetz: Wasn’t Built in a Day (Big Ghost)
  57. Kiko El Crazy: Pila’e Teteo (Rimas)
  58. Islandman (featuring Okay Temiz and Muhlis Berberoglu: Direct-to-Disc Sessions (Night Dreamer)
  59. Edward Simon: Femeninas (ArtistShare)
  60. Kill Bill—The Rapper: Fullmetal Kaiju (EXO)
  61. Rough Image: Rough Image (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  62. Ingrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place (Pyroclastic)
  63. Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra: LightningDreamers (International Anthem)
  64. Kaze & Ikue Mori: Crustal Movement (Circum/Libra)
  65. DJ Black Low: Impumelelo (Awesome Tapes from Africa)
  66. Belle and Sebastian: Late Developers  (Matador)
  67. Satoko Fujii & Otomo Yoshihide: Perpetual Motion (Ayler Records)
  68. Rocket 88: House of Jackpots (12XU)
  69. Taiko Saito: Tears of a Cloud (Trouble in the East)
  70. JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes (self-released)
  71. Water from Your Eyes: Everyone’s Crushed (Matador)
  72. Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix (Whirlwind)
  73. Amaarae: Fountain Baby (Golden Angel/Interscope)
  74. Satoko Fujii: Torrent (Libra Records)
  75. Javon Jackson: “With Peter Bradley”—Soundtrack and Original Score (Solid Jackson)
  76. YMA & Jadsa: Zelena (Matraca)
  77. Palehound: Eye on the Bat (Polyvinyl)
  78. J Hus: Beautiful and Brutal Yard (Black Butter)
  79. Das Kondensat: Anderen Planeten (Why Play Jazz)
  80. Iris DeMent: Workin’ On a World (FlariElla)
  81. David Mirarchi: Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam(Unbroken Sounds) (coming soon….)
  82. Baaba Maal: Being (Atelier Live/Marathon Artists)
  83. Bob Dylan: Shadow Kingdom (Columbia)
  84. Lana Del Rey: Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (Polydor)
  85. Romulo Froes & Tiago Rosas: Na Goela (YB Music)
  86. Buselli – Wallarab Jazz Orchestra: The Gennett Suite (Patois Records)
  87. Florian Arbenz: Conversation #9—Targeted (Hammer Recordings)
  88. James Brandon Lewis: Eye of I (Anti-)
  89. Sexyy Red: Hood Hottest Princess (Open Shift)
  90. Joanna Sternberg: I’ve Got Me (Fat Possum)
  91. Tracey Nelson: Life Don’t Miss Nobody (BMG)
  92. Etran De L’Air: Live in Seattle (EP) (Sahel Sounds)
  93. Everything But the Girl: Fuse (Buzzin’ Fly)
  94. Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double: March On (self-released EP—coming in March)
  95. Ice Spice: Like…? (10K Projects / Capitol Records EP)
  96. otay:onii: Dream Hacker (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  97. Sylvie Courvoisier & Cory Smythe: The Rite of Spring—Spectre d’un songe (Pyroclastic)
  98. Nakimbembe Embaire Group: Nakimbembe Embaire Group (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  99. Shirley Collins: Archangel Hill (Domino)
  100. Karol G: Manana Sera Bonito (Universal Music Latino)
  101. Andrew Cyrille: Music Delivery / Percussion (Intakt)
  102. Kate Gentile: b i o m e i.i (Obliquity)
  103. Yves Tumor: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp)
  104. Lonnie Holley: Oh Me Oh My (Jagjaguwar)
  105. Yonic South: Devo Challenge Cup (Wild Honey)
  106. Rudy Royston: Day (Greenleaf Music)
  107. Basher: Doubles (Sinking City)
  108. Lankum: False Lankum (Rough Trade)
  109. Staples Jr. Singers: Tell Heaven (EP) (Luaka Bop) Note: the vinyl gets you more great minutes of testifying.
  110. Brandee Younger: Brand New Life (Impulse!)
  111. Babe, Terror: Teghnojoyg
  112. Heinali: Kyiv Eternal (Injazero)
  113. Tri-County Liquidators: “Flies” / “Weep Then Whisper” / “Bitter” (self-released)
  114. Vinny Golia Quartet: No Refunds (Unbroken Sounds)
  115. Black Country, New Road: Live at Bush Hall (Ninja Tune)
  116. The Art Ensemble of Chicago: From Paris to Paris (Rogue Art)
  117. Clarence “Bluesman” Davis: Shake It For Me (Music Maker Foundation)
  118. The War and The Treaty: Lover’s Game (Mercury Nashville)
  119. Aroof Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad, Ismaily: Love in Exile (Verve)
  120. Asher Gamedze: Turbulence and Pulse (International Anthem)
  121. Normal Nada the Krakmaxter: Tribal Progressive Heavy Metal (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  122. Natural Child: Be M’Guest (Natural Child Music)
  123. Kara Jackson: Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? (September Recordings)
  124. Tanya Tucker: Sweet Western Sound (Fantasy)
  125. Billy Valentine: Billy Valentine and The Universal Truth (Flying Dutchman)

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. Dorothy Ashby: With Strings Attached (New Land Records)
  4. Walter Bishop, Jr.: Bish at the Bank—Live in Baltimore (Cellar Live)
  5. Various Artists: Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats from Apartheid’s Dying Years (BBE)
  6. Nina Simone: You’ve Got to Learn (Verve)
  7. William S. Burroughs: Nothing Here But the Recordings (Dais Records)
  8. Balka Sound: Balka Sound (Strut)
  9. John Coltrane: Evenings at The Village Gate (Impulse!)
  10. Hiatus Kaiyote: Choose Your Weapon (Flying Buddha / Sony Masterworks)
  11. Dream Dolphin: Gaia—Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works (1996 – 2003) (Music from Memory)
  12. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 1 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  13. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 2 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  14. The Southern University Jazz Ensemble: Goes to Africa with Love (Now-Again)
  15. Shizuka: Heavenly Persona (Black Editions)
  16. Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom: Daytime Viewing (Unseen Worlds)
  17. Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind Stripped Naked (Columbia)
  18. Various Artists: Blacklips Bar—Androgyns and Deviants / Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels 1992-1995 (Anthology Recordings)
  19. Various Artists: Ecuatoriana (Analog Africa)
  20. RP Boo: Legacy Volume 2 (Planet Mu)
  21. Les Raillizes Denudes: ’77 Live (Temporal Drift)
  22. Luther Thomas: 11th Street Fire Suite(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
  23. Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Shirley Scott: Cookin’ With Jaws and The Queen (Craft)
  24. Professor James Benson:The Gow-Dow Experience (Jazzman Records)
  25. Various Artists: Strontium 90, Shrimps & Gumbo—Lux & Ivy Dig Motorcycle Boots & Mutants (Righteous Records)

For Those I Love, A Burgeoning List Including Lots of Long-Playing Lyricism–Best Rekkids, January 1 – November 1

October Observations:

I recently managed to talk former Vice UK music maven and FANGIRLS author Hannah Ewens into Zooming once again with my students at Stephens College to chat about her book (their required reading for my freshman comp/pop music class) and other related bits. She was smart, warm, funny, and curious about my students, as usual. A few days after her visit, in a glum mood, I happened upon her IG and noticed she was vaunting a group called For Those I Love (it’s also the name of the group’s album), which she’d just seen. Only it ain’t a group, it’s an Irishman named David Balfe, and his album captures a desperation for solace, connection, and dancefloor expiation I (and probably you) know all too well. Hadn’t heard of him, played the slab, instantly cheered up.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is the bassist for Norwegian jazz powerhouse The Thing. Dude just waxed an album, (Exit) Knarr, that features an instrumental texture, rhythmic variation, and conceptual focus that–to my amateur ear–tops anything his group’s ever released (and I love ’em). I liked it so much after three listens that I was willing to pay a hefty shipping cost for the vinyl. Never underestimate a Scandi jazzer–never.

Chuck Eddy has long been one of the best (and most open) music writers on the planet. He, too, offers monthly recommendations of interesting new musical offerings, and his latest featured a bit o’ metal, courtesy of lead Crystal Viper Marta Gabriel, Monster Magnet, and Joecephus and the George Jonestown Massacre . Metal is usually not my jam, especially modern metal (the worst excuse for singing I have ever heard, quite often), but the records Chuck anointed with a nice score all three a) are “cover albums” of throwback metal; b) mostly shine light on VERY obscure older songs (Joecephus’ album, a Nazareth tribute, is the exception); c) head-bang balls-out in a trad manner; and d) are a blast. I may be overrating them on this list–as is my wont when I put a list up right after I’ve heard something enjoyable–but maybe I’m not. Time will tell, but my wife Nicole loved all three, too, and I have my Marta Gabriel poster on my office wall.

I’ve probably listed 10 albums over the past five years that my students had to force on me because I made the gas face in class when they mentioned the artists involved. One of this year’s candidates is Willow Smith. The student who verbally twisted my arm is probably the best writer, thinker, and talker I’ve ever taught, and she understood my balking but reminded me that anyone can make a stunning record. I tried Willow’s lately I FEEL EVERYTHING and I must admit it is…powerful and dynamic. Thanks, Jadyn.

Thurst. I really enjoyed the first album, liked then forgot the second, and find myself amusedly intrigued by the conceptual thrust (not a typo) of the songs here. The structures and instrumental attack don’t demonstrate much variety, but the songs tickle me in a snide and sloppy way, so I’m going with it.

The excavation of transitional-period ’65 Trane playing A Love Supreme live with Pharoah Sanders and an expanded quartet had me on tenterhooks for months. I have a refined taste for racket, so reports of the classic suite being somewhat defiled bothered me not a whit; I’d also heard the fidelity was not the best, but these days I often wonder if the young writers who report this have ever heard ’60s-’70s vinyl bootlegs. Alas, though, while I value it, it’s not quite the mind-blower most others have reported. The performance wasn’t planned, and you can definitely hear that; Pharoah ain’t quite full Pharoah yet–his tenor “warbling” works much better on Live at the Village Vanguard Again; Trane’s too level in the mix, to my ear, and Elvin seems to be the one you’re really hearing most of the time (could be much worse, but it’s not a drummer date). Historically, it’s major, but as an absorbing, potentially compelling repeat-listen work, not so much.

bktherula: DEFINITELY one to watch! And, of course, hear. Sound, rhythm, words–a pretty complete package, and becoming ever more impressive.

Snotty Nose Rez Kids: not sure why these Neechie MCs aren’t being more frequently lifted among us music nerds, because they’ve hardly stepped wrong up to and including their new record. Third Nations-representing with accuracy, humor, passion, wildness (kids everywhere are nuts), reverence for the past–whaddya want? Well, maybe the beats aren’t all that varied, maybe there aren’t enough hooks, but I suspect they’re operating on the cheap, and I advise you just lean into the words and the delivery.

JPEG Mafia and Pink Siifu have made their most accessible albums. That probably sucks for many; I personally welcome it, and honestly think the move better justifies their respective reps.

BOLDED ITEMS are new to the list.

  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. Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: (Exit) Knarr
  7. Miguel Zenon: Law Years—The Music of Ornette Coleman 
  8. Bob Dylan: Soundtrack to the film Shadow Kingdom (currently unavailable)
  9. Gimenez Lopez: Reunion en la granja
  10. No-No Boy: 1975 
  11. The Halluci Nation: One More Saturday Night
  12. Little Simz: Sometimes I Might Be Introverted
  13. The Ebony Hillbillies: Barefoot and Flying (released 11/9/20)
  14. Peter Stampfel and Jeffrey Lewis: Both Ways
  15. Robert Finley: Sharecropper’s Son 
  16. Mauricio Tagliari: Maô_Danças Típicas de Cidades Imaginárias
  17. Mickey Guyton: Remember Her Name
  18. William Parker: Painter’s Winter 
  19. Bktherula: Love Black
  20. Dave: We’re All Alone in This Together 
  21. Penelope Scott: Public Void  
  22. Paris: Safe Space Invader 
  23. Dawn Richard: Second Line  
  24. For Those I Love: For Those I Love
  25. Lady Gaga and Friends: Dawn of Chromatica
  26. R.A.P. Ferreira: Bob’s Son  
  27. Sons of Kemet: Black to the Future 
  28. Fire in Little Africa: Fire in Little Africa 
  29. Kalie Shorr: I Got Here by Accident
  30. Florian Arbenz: Conversations 2 & 3
  31. Ensemble 0: Julius Eastman’s Femenine 
  32. Moor Mother: Black Encyclopedia of the Air
  33. Jupiter and Okwess: Na Kozonga 
  34. Ches Smith and We All Break: Path of Seven Colors 
  35. Amythyst Kiah: Wary + Strange 
  36. Halsey: If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power
  37. William Parker: Mayan Space Station
  38. Pink Siifu: Gumbo’!
  39. Marta Gabriel: Metal Queen
  40. Snotty Nose Rez Kids: Life After
  41. Dua Saleh: Crossover
  42. James McMurtry: The Horses and The Hounds
  43. Park Hye Jin: Before I Die
  44. Graham Haynes vs. Submerged: Echolocation 
  45. Tim Berne: Broken Shadows 
  46. Ashnikko: Demidevil  
  47. Dwayne Dopsie and The Zydeco Hellraisers: Set Me Free
  48. Monster Magnet: A Better Dystopia
  49. Dry Cleaning: New Long Leg 
  50. JPEG MAFIA: “LP!”
  51. Dos Santos: City of Mirrors
  52. The Goon Sax: Mirror II 
  53. Marianne Faithfull (with Warren Ellis): She Walks in Beauty 
  54. Low-Cut Connie: Tough Cookies 
  55. girl in red: if I could make it go quiet 
  56. Jaubi: Nafs at Peace (featuring Latamik and Tenderlonious) 
  57. Czarface & MF DOOM: Super What? 
  58. Orquestra Brasileira: 80 Anos
  59. SAULT: Nine 
  60. McKinley Dixon: For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her 
  61. Slaughterhouse: Fun Factory
  62. Thurst: I’m Gen X
  63. Vincent Herring: Preaching to the Choir 
  64. Lukah: When the Black Hand Touches You 
  65. Joecephus and the George Jonestown Massacre: Heirs of the Dog
  66. Dax Pierson: Nerve Bumps (A Queer Divine Satisfaction) 
  67. L’Rain: Fatigue 
  68. Native Soul: Teenage Dreams
  69. Illuminati Hotties: Let Me Do One More
  70. Willow: lately i feel EVERYTHING
  71. Maria Muldaur & Tuba Skinny: Let’s Get Happy Together 
  72. Ran Cap Duoi: Ngù Ngay Ngày Tân Thê
  73. Blue Reality Quartet: Blue Reality Quartet
  74. Angelique Kidjo: Mother Nature 
  75. ICP Orchestra & Nieuw Amsterdams Peil: 062 / De Hondemepper 
  76. Body Metta: The Work is Slow 
  77. Damon Locks / Black Monument Ensemble: NOW 
  78. BaianaSystem: OXEAXEEXU 
  79. Loretta Lynn: Still Woman Enough 
  80. Carly Pearce: 29—Written in Stone
  81. Anthony Joseph: The Rich are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives 
  82. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few: Cosmic Transitions
  83. Andreas Roysum Ensemble: Fredsfanatisme
  84. Jason Moran & Milford Graves: Live at Big Ears 
  85. Barry Altschul’s 3Dom Factor: Long Tall Sunshine 
  86. JD Allen: Queen City 
  87. Florian Arbenz: Conversation # 1 Condensed
  88. Bleachers: Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
  89. Angel Olsen: Aisles (EP)
  90. Emily Duff: Razor Blade Smile
  91. Kasey Musgraves: starcrossed
  92. The Boys with The Perpetual Nervousness: Songs from Another Life
  93. Vince Staples: Vince Staples
  94. Various Artists: Indaba Is 
  95. Wau Wau Collectif: Yaral Sa Doom 
  96. Chris Conde: Engulfed in the Marvelous Decay
  97. Tropical Fuck Storm: Deep States
  98. Yvette Janine Jackson: Freedom 
  99. Peter Stampfel: Peter Stampfel’s 20th Century in 100 Songs 
  100. Backxwash: I Lie Here with My Rings and Dresses 
  101. Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever
  102. Various Artists: Doomed & Stoned in Scotland 
  103. Los Lobos: Native Sons
  104. Chrissie Hynde: Standing in the Doorway—Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan 
  105. Jazmine Sullivan: Heaux Tales 
  106. Various Artists: Allen Ginsberg’s The Fall of America 
  107. Genesis Owusu: Smiling with No Teeth 
  108. Les Filles de Illighadad: At Pioneer Works 
  109. Billy Nomates: Emergency Telephone (EP) 
  110. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley: 11th Street, Sekondi 
  111. AZ: Do or Die
  112. Madlib: Sound Ancestors 
  113. Julien Baker: Little Oblivions 
  114. Various Artists: He’s Bad!—11 Bands Decimate the Beat of Bo Diddley  
  115. Cedric Burnside: I Be Trying 
  116. Archie Shepp and Jason Moran: Let My People Go 
  117. Roisin Murphy: Crooked Machine  
  118. Lana Del Rey: Chemtrails Over the Country Club 
  119. Brockhampton: Roadrunner—New Light, New Machine 
  120. Vijay Iyer, Linda Han Oh, and Tyshawn Sorey: Uneasy 
  121. Olivia Rodrigo: SOUR 
  122. RP Boo: Established 
  123. The Bug: Fire
  124. Steve Earle: JT 
  125. Tee Grizzley: Built for Whatever 
  126. Benny The Butcher: Pyrex Picasso
  127. Jinx Lennon: Liferafts for Latchicos
  128. The Hold Steady: Open Door Policy  
  129. Elizabeth King & The Gospel Souls: Living in the Last Days 
  130. Alder Ego: III 
  131. Sierra Ferrell: Long Time Coming
  132. Alton Gün: Yol 
  133. WC Anderson and Chad Fowler: Lacrimosa
  134. Meet Me @ The Altar: Model Citizen (EP) 
  135. Penelope Scott: Hazards (EP)
  136. Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders: Promises 
  137. Sana Nagano: Smashing Humans 
  138. serpentwithfeet: DEACON 
  139. 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. Agustin Pereyra Lucena Quartet: La Rana
  10. John Coltrane: A Love Supreme—Live in Seattle
  11. Screamers: Demo Hollywood 1977
  12. Can: Live in Stuttgart 1975 
  13. Hamiet Blueitt: Bearer of the Holy Flame 
  14. Byard Lancaster: My Pure Joy 
  15. Various Artists: Wallahi Le Zein! 
  16. Various Artists: The Smithsonian Anthology of Rap and Hip Hop 
  17. Charles Mingus: Mingus at Carnegie Hall # 
  18. Various Artists: Chicago / The Blues / Today, Volumes 1-3 # 
  19. The J Ann C Trio: At Tan-Tar-A
  20. Hasaan Ibn Ali: Metaphysics—The Lost Atlantic Album 
  21. Alice Coltrane: Kirtan–Turiya Sings 
  22. Mistreater: Hell’s Fire 
  23. Blue Gene Tyranny: Degrees of Freedom Found
  24. Various Artists: Alan Lomax’s American Patchwork 
  25. Pure Hell: Noise Addiction
  26. Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber: 20th Anniversary Mixtapes / Groiddest Schizznits
  27. Nermin Niazi: Disco Se Aagay 
  28. Joe Strummer: Assembly 
  29. Robert Miranda’s Home Music Ensemble: Live at The Bing # 
  30. Various Artists: Edo Funk Explosion, Volume 1 
  31. Joseph Spence: Encore
  32. Various Artists: Rare.wavs, Volume 1
  33. Bob Dylan: Springtime in New York 1980-1985 (2CD version)

An Anniversary Top 10: Recordings That Got Our Love Train Rollin’! (March 21st, 2018, Columbia, Missouri)

Today’s my wife’s and my 26th anniversary. Music was one of the first things that bonded us, and it continues to; I think we both used it as a litmus test on each other as well. It’s only fitting that we now bend our ears to 10 early signpost platters (and other miscellany) that set us on our increasingly great adventure.

Number One: The first album I taped for Nicole–before we even knew what was in store!

Number Two: A segment tape-recorded directly from a film that was one of many highlights on the first mixtape Nicole made me. I knew after this I’d met a live one!

Number Three: The first album we totally agreed upon (before we really knew we were falling in love), which I then gave to her, which we later framed, and which is now hanging by the front door:

Number Four: The cassette I bought for Nicole on my way to meeting her for a Coctails show at Murphy’s in Springfield, Missouri, that wasn’t a date but during which we decided to go steady, baby!

Number Five (Three-in-One): Three albums I think we played every single day immediately after we started dating.

Number Six: The first album I bought for Nicole that she (and I) didn’t like but then chastised ourselves about years later when its greatness finally penetrated our thick skulls and ears (the movie’s great, too). Note: Nicole is adept at spotting albums with great covers and buying them for that reason alone, which was my method in buying this for her, which backfired. I still remember us sitting on her bed, shaking our heads, and saying, “This is legendary?” A temporary chink in the ol’ armor.

Number Seven: The song (and album) Nicole listened to on the way back from an All concert that I couldn’t go to with her, which she said made her think for me, which kept her awake, which is still one of the nicest things she’s ever said to me.

*Number Eight: A highlight from a cassette (Uncommon Quotes) we played continually until we basically had it memorized. I still like it better than any of his books. The old sod could read aloud–his utterances were like music to us! He was a rather disturbing, but indeed effective, spiritual advisor to us as we sallied forth into love:

*Number Nine: Thank God a video store carried this in Springfield back then. We consider John Waters our cultural uncle (we actually invited him to our wedding), we remain ardent fans, and we watched this film in the early days as much for the awesome soundtrack as for its cinematic thrills and spills!

Number Ten: A track from the first great album and band we discovered together, though Nicole actually discovered them first at their concert in New Orleans during which I was incapacitated in the back seat of our friend Kenny’s car, to my eternal regret:

BONUS TRACK!: The bride’s dance at our wedding reception.

*Beginners, take note: Gay geniuses are a fantastic influence on straight couples! That’s a fact.

 

 

 

 

 

Good to My Earhole: September Songs

It may seem that I have been neglecting my responsibilities here (such as they are), but, though I am retired, I am actually working two part-time jobs and they have been keeping me preoccupied. But, as always, music has provided much-needed fuel. What follow are some highlights of the past month:

John Coltrane: Offering–Live at Temple University (November 11, 1966) (Resonance Records)

As a devoted though sometimes fatigued fan of Trane, I greeted the news of this excavation/restoration with some skepticism. One must admit that a goodly portion of the jazz audience has gotten–and will continue to get–off the bus after A Love Supreme, and, having listened to the man’s entire output after that record, I know they have good reason. I love the churning, searching, two-men-becoming of Interstellar Space, the roiling, blistering, crying record-long prayer of Meditations, the daring transformations of Live at the Village Vanguard Again; on the other hand, I am not sure I will ever put on the hammering, hectoring live records from Japan and Seattle again. I like Ascension better in theory than reality (though it’s a better realized experiment in freedom than Free Jazz, for sure); I’m likely to keep Om shelved. Of course I am leaving a few records out, but, to get to the heart of it, I wasn’t sure I or anyone else needed an imperfectly recorded concert record that might well be more painful than enjoyable. If you have the same misgivings, set them aside. This is a document worthy of your time. Coltrane is in great form, though he was nine months from passing–in fact, some of his most focused and coherent free playing ever is here, in very good fidelity, and the legendary singing and chest-beating he did at this gig are not freakish. It works; it’s even moving. Some Philly locals (on saxes, the very brave Arnold Joyner and Steve Knoblauch) showed up to pitch in, and they prove equal to the ’66 group’s concept. I would go so far as to say that they at least equal Pharoah Sanders, who on first appearance sounds like he’s taking a box cutter to the sheets of the night. Actually, the fidelity issues–you can’t really hear the bass other than one solo (and it’s a shaky one–Jimmy Garrison is not on hand), and the drums, when not in solo mode, are very quiet in the mix–enhanced the listening experience for me, even if they break the democratic contract. Honestly, I like hearing Trane when he’s not fighting for space, and, even if he was at the actual event, he is the show here. Highly recommended.

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Classical ain’t my usual bag, but reading David Toop‘s Ocean of Sound loosened me up for this, which a good friend foisted upon me on a lazy, cool Sunday. Rolling off a throbbing, multiply-manifested minimalist pulse like waves, the voices of more than 100 join to sing John Donne’s “Negative Love” and two Emily Dickinson poems, the well-known “Because I could not stop for Death” and the more obscure (and uncharacteristic) “Wild Nights,” texts that, as passionately interpreted here, seem to trail off the final line of Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress.” The massed voices blur the words, producing a roar that, paradoxically, sounds heard from afar, or in a dream–but which is true to the lines of the poems. Hard to write about this stuff when you’re a sub-neophyte, but I think I am right about this one.

Leo Welch: Sabougla Voices (Fat Possum)

One by one, the giants of North Mississippi Hill Country blues have fallen: Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford. Others, like Robert Belfour and Paul Wine Jones, have quieted. All the more welcome, then, is this document of the non-secular side of the tradition that does not sound all that much like Fred McDowell, its aesthetic fountainhead. Raw, hypnotic, crying Holy unto the Lord, and together, Welch’s music is the gem you’re looking for in this blues world of…well, it ain’t even fiberglass anymore, is it? As Digital Underground once advised us: “Heartbeat props/Don’t wait ’til the heartbeat stops/Give the man props while he’s livin’….”

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The Fugs: “Refuse to Be Burnt Out” (from Refuse to Be Burnt Out, New Rose, 1985)

I wish I had the audio track for this song–see: everything isn’t on YouTube, children!–which I have listened at least 50 times through many travails over the last 18 months. You need to hear it, and, like us, print the core of the lyrics out and slap them on your fridge. Here they are:

Refuse to be burnt out:
The answer is–
Not to be laid back
Not to be cynical
Not to be hesitant
Not to be shy
Not to be uninformed
Not to be beaten down
Not to be isolated
Not to be frightened
Not to be threatened
Not to be co-opted
AND
Not to be lied to….”

(Edward Sanders)

If you do get a chance to hear the track, you will enjoy the ageless Mr. Sanders’ razor-sharp delivery of this line: “Bitterly bickering bitter-shitters/Cursing fate when lunch is late….” My wife and I recite that one every time we are frustrated because we can’t find a parking spot.

The Minutemen: Three-Way Tie for Last (SST)

I wish two things:

1) That this album was not still utterly relevant.

2) That I would have seen this band in person before its life was snuffed out by a stupid broken axle.

If you are, say, a young fan who’s just begun to explore this group and headed straight for Double Nickels on the Dime or Buzz or Howl or What Makes a Man Start Fires? (or all three, and good for you!), it is time to catch up. It grows on you–hard–and absorbing it fully only makes their tragedy deeper, because, like all truly great bands, they were growing so quickly, both musically and mentally, and the results don’t sound like growing pains.

Listening Journal, Southern Journey, March 29

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We spent much of the day on the road, heading to Oxford and the premier of the documentary SUB-SIPPI and saying a sorrowful goodbye to the best trip to New Orleans we’d ever taken. Of course, no trip in an Overeem vehicle will be unaccompanied by music, and I must make a fervent pitch to my readers about one rekkid we listened to en route: Beausoleil’s FROM BAMAKO TO CARENCRO. I would argue, and few, I believe, would dispute me, that Beausoleil is and has been the finest Cajun band on the planet for decades. Leader Micheal Doucet is a genius fiddler and a highly underrated and very passionate vocalist…and crafty. Guitarist David Doucet, as I noted a couple of days ago, is such a skilled, ringing, and fluid guitar player he begs comparison to the great Doc Watson. The rest of the band are no slouches. However, with bands this great comes consistency, and haunting consistency is ennui (really, that’s the listener’s fault), and that syndrome may be the reason you don’t hear them talked about much anymore. In the case of FROM BAMAKO TO CARENCRO that is unfortunate. Along with the usual spirited originals and traditional songs one expects from a Beausoleil album, the Doucets engineer several daring and successful experiments: a moving, desert-tinged tribute to their fellow humans in Mali; an audacious and slyly joyful ride through Trane’s “Bessie’s Blues” (jazzers never cover that!); a visit north to Mississippi to convert Fred McDowell’s “You Got to Move” to Cajun funeral music; and, perhaps MOST audacious, an assault on that great LIVE AT THE APOLLO opener, “I’ll Go Crazy.” Even P.J. Proby couldn’t pull THAT off–and I can just imagine how the band’s faithful cut a rug to it in concert. I would link tracks, but they aren’t up on everyone’s free platform, YouTube. Just trust me: this is the best Beausoleil album, and thus the best Cajun album, in years (their last, ALLIGATOR PURSE, was also stellar) and you MUST buy it. That’s an order. Here is the Spotify link for the album, at least.

In Oxford, we heard some great soul music while we were dining at Ajax’s on the square (specifically, Ann Peebles’ “99 Pounds”), and, as I had at Coleman’s BBQ in Senatobia last week, I looked around at the older white diners and wondered what they were thinking and feeling in ’63 and ’64. You never know. But James Meredith’s statue at Ole Miss got vandalized about a month ago, and time takes its time making things go away.

Go see SUB-SIPPI. I was under the influence of medicine and not at my best, but it is a thoughtful and hopeful commentary on the many good things about the state. My favorite segment focused on a black elementary student who had turned to gardening to help him manage his behavior. The screening was at The Lyric Theater, and was preceded by a band performance (The Blues Doctors, and that’s how they sounded–it’s a horrible band name, but the duo were likely both actual physicians) and–the bane of concertgoing, in my not-so-humble opinion–a DJ set. I am not sure what place bad ambient rhythm had at such an event, but, as Nicole often says, it always sounds like porno music, say, from some glossy Japanese urban erotic film. I know this would be a stretch, but how about some music from…MISSISSIPPI? It wouldn’t have to be blues, just local. And don’t tell me the DJ’s constructions were original, and therefore regional; the closest he got was a snatch of Gil Scot Heron–and he was from Kentucky.