Tag: Music Lists

Pop Music Pig-Out: My Favorite Listens of 2018, Seven Months In

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I was on the road half of July and not able to search the nooks and crannies of the many music scenes making life bearable in this world where humans are supposedly safer, better educated, and healthier than they’ve ever been–I’m a science advocate, but in this revelation I’m a bit insecure. Still, 15 new records added to my list of gooduns, and five records added to my list of stellar reissues. Making waves on my chart, which is a bit loosely ordered but starting to reflect my feelings about the quality and durability of its contents:

  • Kid Cudi and —–‘s project Kids See Ghosts, which excites me sonically almost every track–and very much against my will (my former Hickman High School Hip Hop Club members, should any of them read this, will be ROTFLOLing at this fact, as I scoffed at their Cudi-philism constantly–they would vaunt nothing else–during our single year of existence).
  • The great West Coast punk veteran Alice Bag, whose (relatively) old memoir may be adding value to her new record.
  • Subtle Degrees’ intense and madly repetitive A Dance That Empties, a jazz assault that has made my heart race pleasantly every listen.
  • The ageless diva Elza Soares–calling her a Brazilian Tina Turner doesn’t even do her justice, and the music behind her will challenge and delight your ear.
  • Freddie Gibbs’ Freddie. I’ve not been moved by Mr. Gibbs in the past–despite the hype and the decent beats, he’s a hip hop boor to the max–but his dedicated to keeping it brief and his flow makes me forgive the rip-off/homage to Teddy.
  • The Internet’s Hive Mind: If I weren’t feeling a bit emotionally naked at present, and trusted my instincts more, this subtle, grooveful, encouraging, and seductively muted gem may have already invaded my Top 5. Syd’s a persuasive and beguiling sprite, but Steve Lacy just might be a Curtis Mayfield for the 21st century. Just might.

Anyhow, here’s my update, with stuff having moved up and down in my esteem, such as that is. In bold are the records I’ve really, really tested and tried to order, but goddam it, Heraclitus is laughing at me as I struggle:

  1. Tracy Thorn: Record
  2. Nona Hendryx and Gary Lucas: The World of Captain Beefheart
  3. CupcaKe: Ephorize
  4. Mary Gauthier and Songwriting with Soldier: Rifles and Rosary Beads
  5. Sons of Kemet: Your Queen is a Reptile
  6. Janelle Monae: Dirty Computer
  7. Bettye LaVette: Things Have Changed
  8. JD Allen: Love Stone
  9. Berry: Everything, Compromised
  10. Joe McPhee: Imaginary Numbers
  11. Chloe x Halle: The Kids are Alright
  12. Superchunk: What A Time to Be Alive
  13. The Internet: Hive Mind
  14. Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar
  15. Parquet Courts: Wide Awake!
  16. Sly & Robbie and Nils Petter Molvaer: Nordub
  17. Orquesta Akokan: Orquesta Akokan
  18. Sidi Toure: Toubalbero
  19. Quelle Chris & Jean Grae: Everything’s Fine
  20. No Age: Snares Like a Haircut
  21. Grupo Mono Blanco: ¡Fandango! Sones Jarochos from Veracruz
  22. Elza Soares: Deus É Mulher
  23. John Prine: The Tree of Forgiveness
  24. Zeal & Ardor: Stranger Fruit
  25. Dave Holland: Uncharted Territories
  26. Toni Braxton: Sex & Cigarettes
  27. Nidia: Nídia É Má, Nídia É Fudida
  28. Subtle Degrees: A Dance That Empties
  29. Kids See Ghosts: Kids See Ghosts
  30. Alice Bag: Blue Print
  31. Wynton Marsalis & Friends: United We Swing–Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas
  32. Jonghyun: Poet / Artist
  33. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever: Hope Downs
  34. Halu Mergia: Lalu Balu
  35. Jeffrey Lewis: Works by Tuli Kupferberg
  36. Bombino: Deran
  37. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids: An Angel Fell
  38. Pusha T: Daytona
  39. Rapsody: Laila’s Wisdom
  40. Sarayah: Feel the Vibe
  41. Jinx Lennon: Grow a Pair
  42. Tierra Whack: Whack World
  43. Lori McKenna: The Tree
  44. Nas: Nasir
  45. Speedy Ortiz: Twerp Verse
  46. Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel
  47. Car Seat Headrest: Twin Fantasy
  48. Evan Parker, Barry Guy, and Paul Lytton: Music for David Mossman
  49. Salim Washington: Dogon Revisited
  50. Angelika Niescier: The Berlin Concert
  51. Beats Antique: Shadowbox
  52. Jon Hassell: Listening To Pictures (Pentimento, Vol. One)
  53. Charge It to The Game: House with a Pool
  54. JPEGMAFIA: Veteran
  55. Anelis Assumpcão: Taurina
  56. Various Artists: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun…and Rights!!!
  57. Apolo: Live in Stockholm
  58. Mdou Moctar & Elite Beat: Mdou Moctar meets Elite Beat In a Budget Dancehall
  59. Willie Nelson: Last Man Standing
  60. Wussy: What Heaven is Like
  61. Meshell Ndegeocello: Ventriloquism
  62. Freddie Gibbs: Freddie
  63. Kamasi Washington: Heaven & Earth
  64. Cardi B: Invasion of Privacy
  65. Shopping: The Official Body
  66. Young Mothers: Morose
  67. The Thing: Again
  68. Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass
  69. Ebo Taylor: Yen Ara
  70. Dana Murray: Negro Manifesto
  71. David Murray (featuring Saul Williams): Blues for Memo
  72. Shame: Songs of Praise
  73. Low Cut Connie: Dirty Pictures, Pt. 2
  74. Henry Threadgill: Dirt..and More Dirt
  75. Hot Snakes: Jericho Sirens
  76. Ceramic Dog: YRU Still Here?
  77. The Coup: Soundtrack to the Film Sorry to Bother You
  78. Van Morrison & Joey DeFrancesco: You’re Driving Me Crazy
  79. Various Artists/Sahel Sounds: Field Recordings
  80. Marc Sinan & Oğuz Büyükberber: White
  81. Kendrick Lamar, et al: Black Panther—Music from and Inspired by the Film
  82. Deaf Wish: Lithium Zion
  83. Jay Rock: Redemption
  84. MC Paul Barman: Echo Chamber
  85. Kris Davis and Craig Taborn: Octopus
  86. Tal National: Tantabara
  87. Wilko Johnson: Blow Your Mind
  88. Rodrigo Amado (with Joe McPhee): History of Nothing
  89. Tony Molina: Kill the Lights
  90. Rich Krueger: Life Ain’t That Long
  91. Hop Along: Bark Your Head Off, Dog
  92. MAST: Thelonious Sphere Monk
  93. Silvana Estrada: Lo Sagrado
  94. Eddie Daniels: Heart of Brazil
  95. Big Freedia: Third Ward Bounce
  96. Tallawit Timbouctou: Takamba WhatsApp 2018
  97. Amy Rigby: The Old Guys
  98. Busdriver: Electricity Is On Our Side
  99. Daniel Carter: Seraphic Light
  100. Dr. Michael White: Tricentennial Rag
  101. Migos: Culture II
  102. 03 Greedo: God Level
  103. Angélique Kidjo: Remain in Light
  104. Parliament: Medicaid Fraud Dogg
  105. Yo La Tengo: There’s a Riot Goin’ On
  106. The Carters: Everything is Love
  107. The Del McCoury Band: Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass
  108. Superorganism: Superorganism
  109. Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet: Landfall
  110. Sleep: The Sciences
  111. Teyana Taylor: K.T.S.E.
  112. Ibibio Sound Machine: Eyio
  113. The English Beat: Here We Go Love
  114. Various Artists: I Only Listen to The Mountain Goats
  115. Princess Nokia: A Girl Cried Red
  116. Santigold: I Don’t Want—The Gold Fire Sessions

OLD MUSIC NICELY REPACKAGED

  1. Sonny Rollins: Way Out West (Deluxe Reissue)
  2. Neil Young: Roxy—Tonight’s the Night
  3. Erroll Garner: Nightconcert
  4. Various Artists: Voices of Mississippi—Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris
  5. Various Artists: Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central and East African Music
  6. Gary Stewart: “Baby I Need Your Loving” / “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yester-Day”
  7. Peter Brotzmann and Fred Lonberg-Holm: Ouroboros
  8. Bruce Springsteen: 1978/07/07 West Hollywood, CA
  9. Various Artists: Outlaws and Armadilloes
  10. The Revelators: In which the Revelators perform live renditions of selections from the Billy Childish songbook
  11. Against All Logic: 2012-2017
  12. Grant Green: Live at Oil Can Harry’s
  13. Entourage: Ceremony of Dreams—Studio Sessions & Outtakes 1972-1977
  14. Kuniyuki Takahashi: Early Tape Works 1986 – 1993 Volume 1
  15. Camarao: The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie
  16. Various Artists: Africa Scream Contest, Volume 2
  17. Wussy: Getting Better
  18. David Bowie: Santa Monica ‘72
  19. Mulatu Astatke & His Ethiopian Quintet: Afro-Latin Soul, Vols. 1 & 2
  20. The Beginning of the End: Funky Nassau

WIDE AWAKE!: 85 Decent Records from This Trying Year–an Update (June 1st, 2018, Columbia, MO)

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Time for my end-of-the-month update of records that fly in the face of the commonly heard assumption/argument/untested hypothesis that all the good music’s already been made. Based solely on what I’ve heard–much, but I know ears that have taken in far more–this calendar year’s produced 85 records I’d give a B+ or better to (I’m a teacher–as much as I think grades are institutionalized violence), it’s what I’ve got. By the way, they are ranked in order of most powerful in their effects upon me to least–but even #76 reaches me.

It’s a damn great year, in particular, for creative, outspoken women (no surprise), improvising musicians, artists of color and guitar bands (how ’bout that?). And, as always, plenty of old digs are proving they still got game–including one of the very oldest, and very best.

You’ve got the power at your fingertips to stream any of these, so dig in; do what I made my students do, and just pick 5-10 you’ve never heard of and try two-three tracks from each. But do keep an open mind, and remember what millennium you’re traipsing around in.

  1. Tracy Thorn: Record
  2. Nona Hendryx and Gary Lucas: The World of Captain Beefheart
  3. Berry: Everything, Compromised
  4. CupcaKe: Ephorize
  5. Mary Gauthier and Songwriting with Soldier: Rifles and Rosary Beads
  6. Sons of Kemet: Your Queen is a Reptile
  7. Janelle Monae: Dirty Computer
  8. Bettye LaVette: Things Have Changed
  9. Joe McPhee: Imaginary Numbers
  10. Chloe x Halle: The Kids are Alright
  11. Superchunk: What A Time to Be Alive
  12. Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar
  13. Jinx Lennon: Grow a Pair
  14. Parquet Courts: Wide Awake!
  15. Sly & Robbie and Nils Petter Molvaer: Nordub
  16. Orquesta Akokan: Orquesta Akokan
  17. Sidi Toure: Toubalbero
  18. Quelle Chris & Jean Grae: Everything’s Fine
  19. Grupo Mono Blanco: ¡Fandango! Sones Jarochos from Veracruz
  20. John Prine: The Tree of Forgiveness
  21. Evan Parker, Barry Guy, and Paul Lytton: Music for David Mossman
  22. Jonghyun: Poet / Artist
  23. Halu Mergia: Lalu Balu
  24. Jeffrey Lewis: Works by Tuli Kupferberg
  25. Willie Nelson: Last Man Standing
  26. Bombino: Deran
  27. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids: An Angel Fell
  28. Rapsody: Laila’s Wisdom
  29. Courtney Barnett: Tell Me How You Really Feel
  30. Peter Brotzmann and Fred Lonberg-Holm: Ouroboros
  31. Toni Braxton: Sex & Cigarettes
  32. Car Seat Headrest: Twin Fantasy
  33. Salim Washington: Dogon Revisited
  34. Angelika Niescier: The Berlin Concert
  35. Charge It to The Game: House with a Pool
  36. JPEGMAFIA: Veteran
  37. Various Artists: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun…and Rights!!!
  38. Wussy: What Heaven is Like
  39. No Age: Snares Like a Haircut
  40. Marc Sinan & Oğuz Büyükberber: White
  41. Meshell Ndegeocello: Ventriloquism
  42. Cardi B: Invasion of Privacy
  43. Shopping: The Official Body
  44. The Thing: Again
  45. Ebo Taylor: Yen Ara
  46. Alice Bag: Blue Print
  47. Dana Murray: Negro Manifesto
  48. David Murray (featuring Saul Williams): Blues for Memo
  49. Pusha T: Daytona
  50. Shame: Songs of Praise
  51. Henry Threadgill: Dirt..and More Dirt
  52. Hot Snakes: Jericho Sirens
  53. Ceramic Dog: YRU Still Here?
  54. Van Morrison & Joey DeFrancesco: You’re Driving Me Crazy
  55. Various Artists/Sahel Sounds: Field Recordings
  56. Kendrick Lamar, et al: Black Panther—Music from and Inspired by the Film
  57. MC Paul Barman: Echo Chamber
  58. Kris Davis and Craig Taborn: Octopus
  59. Tal National: Tantabara
  60. Rodrigo Amado (with Joe McPhee): History of Nothing
  61. Rich Krueger: Life Ain’t That Long
  62. MAST: Thelonious Sphere Monk
  63. Tallawit Timbouctou: Takamba WhatsApp 2018
  64. Amy Rigby: The Old Guys
  65. Migos: Culture II
  66. Parliament: Medicaid Fraud Dogg
  67. Apolo: Live in Stockholm
  68. Yo La Tengo: There’s a Riot Goin’ On
  69. The Del McCoury Band: Del McCoury Still Sings Bluegrass
  70. Superorganism: Superorganism
  71. Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet: Landfall
  72. Sleep: The Sciences
  73. Ibibio Sound Machine: Eyio
  74. Various Artists: I Only Listen to The Mountain Goats
  75. Afternoon Freak: The Blind Strut
  76. Princess Nokia: A Girl Cried Red

OLD MUSIC NICELY REPACKAGED

  1. Sonny Rollins: Way Out West (Deluxe Reissue)
  2. Neil Young: Roxy—Tonight’s the Night
  3. Gary Stewart: “Baby I Need Your Loving” / “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yester-Day”
  4. The Revelators: In which the Revelators perform live renditions of selections from the Billy Childish songbook
  5. Against All Logic: 2012-2017
  6. Entourage: Ceremony of Dreams—Studio Sessions & Outtakes 1972-1977
  7. Camarao: The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie
  8. Various Artists: Africa Scream Contest, Volume 2
  9. Wussy: Getting Better

Short-shrift Division:

Nicole and sailed home from our vacation on the vibraphone mastery of the great Milt Jackson. I put five albums together on a playlist, but these two made leaving Excelsior Springs a shade less painless:

Many Things, Uncompromised–My Favorite Records of 2018, A Third the Way Out (April 28th, 2018)

Damn–50 solid records already and we ain’t half finished? I’d say that’s a solid rebuke to the sourpusses who are ever pronouncing our music a corpse. And I’d go a mite further and say the list also incorporates a rebuke to those knicker-twisted souls who are wondering when our music is gonna take on, you know, the thing–several of the slabs listed below do so and how, without spoiling their sounds (politics can do that, you know). Take a dive into something below that’s mysterious, I invite you.

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  1. Tracy Thorn: Record
  2. Nona Hendryx and Gary Lucas: The World of Captain Beefheart
  3. Jinx Lennon: Grow a Pair
  4. Joe McPhee: Imaginary Numbers
  5. Chloe x Halle: The Kids are Alright
  6. Quelle Chris & Jean Grae: Everything’s Fine
  7. Berry: Everything, Compromised
  8. CupcaKe: Ephorize
  9. Mary Gauthier and Songwriting with Soldier: Rifles and Rosary Beads
  10. Sons of Kemet: Your Queen is a Reptile
  11. John Prine: The Tree of Forgiveness
  12. JPEGMAFIA: Veteran
  13. Superchunk: What A Time to Be Alive
  14. Evan Parker, Barry Guy, and Paul Lytton: Music for David Mossman
  15. Rapsody: Laila’s Wisdom
  16. Young Fathers: Cocoa Sugar
  17. Sly & Robbie and Nils Petter Molvaer: Nordub
  18. Orquesta Akokan: Orquesta Akokan
  19. Jonghyun: Poet / Artist
  20. Halu Mergia: Lalu Balu
  21. Jeffrey Lewis: Works by Tuli Kupferberg
  22. Various Artists/Sahel Sounds: Field Recordings
  23. Toni Braxton: Sex & Cigarettes
  24. Car Seat Headrest: Twin Fantasy
  25. Various Artists: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun…and Rights!!!
  26. No Age: Snares Like a Haircut
  27. Meshell Ndegeocello: Ventriloquism
  28. Cardi B: Invasion of Privacy
  29. Dana Murray: Negro Manifesto
  30. Shopping: The Official Body
  31. Ebo Taylor: Yen Ara
  32. Kris Davis and Craig Taborn: Octopus
  33. Tal National: Tantabara
  34. Shame: Songs of Praise
  35. Hot Snakes: Jericho Sirens
  36. David Murray (featuring Saul Williams): Blues for Memo
  37. Rich Krueger: Life Ain’t That Long
  38. Alice Bag: Blue Print
  39. Bettye LaVette: Things Have Changed
  40. MAST: Thelonious Sphere Monk
  41. Tallawit Timbouctou: Takamba WhatsApp 2018
  42. Amy Rigby: The Old Guys
  43. Kendrick Lamar, et al: Black Panther—Music from and Inspired by the Film
  44. Apolo: Live in Stockholm
  45. Princess Nokia: A Girl Cried Red
  46. Superorganism: Superorganism
  47. Yo La Tengo: There’s a Riot Goin’ On
  48. Laurie Anderson and Kronos Quartet: Landfall
  49. Ceramic Dog: YRU Still Here?
  50. Ibibio Sound Machine: Eyio

OLD MUSIC NICELY REPACKAGED

  1. Sonny Rollins: Way Out West (Deluxe Reissue)
  2. Neil Young: Roxy—Tonight’s the Night
  3. Gary Stewart: “Baby I Need Your Loving” / “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yester-Day”
  4. The Revelators: In which the Revelators perform live renditions of selections from the Billy Childish songbook
  5. Against All Logic: 2012-2017
  6. Entourage: Ceremony of Dreams—Studio Sessions & Outtakes 1972-1977
  7. Camarao: The Imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie

A Playlist of the Top 30 or So

Oh…and fuck Kanye West.

My Fav-O-Rite New and Old Records of 2017, Considered from the Position of Listening to Them to Ward Off Fear and Despair Throughout its First Three Quarters

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What can I tell you? I’d hoped things (i. e., our American life) would be much better by now, since I last posted a lazy list–for the time being, I cannot write, a kind of impotence I am sure is related to political distraction. However, “fury and fire” are the order of the day, so I guess I’ll be leaning even harder on music to get me from rising from my pillow in the morning to lowering my head back upon it at night. These records keep me believing in a decent future, and in a humanity that continues to evolve. Big ups to St. Louis’ Black Artists Group contingent, my research into which has been exciting; to the Golden Pelicans, who are the Black Oak Arkansas of hard-ass punk rock; to the ebullient Eno Williams, who powers the exultant Ibibio Sound Machine; to Tyshawn Sorey, who is always looking for a way forward; and to the indefatigable musical exploration of John Corbett, who’s damn-near supplanted every other music writer in my esteem. I’ve taken the time to link all the new releases to clips for you to enjoy (that is, except for Jay Z, because, as nice as his old-dude album is technically and artistically, I’m done for now with caring about the lives of the very rich), and I did my best to do the same for the older rekkids I am digging, but…shit, you know how to get to YouTube, correct?

Important Addendum: The Lost Bayou Ramblers crashed the Top 10 out of nowhere with the hardest-rocking, most eccentrically textured Cajun record in years, Kalenda–which is my favorite record right now, but it just dropped today (9/29/17). Also, against all my strongest, well-honed instincts, I’ve been broken by Lana Del Rey. A six-hour immersion in her catalogue justified the hype and more, though I would still opine that a little goes a long (but deep) way.

Kalenda

TOP 85 New Releases of the First 3/4ths of 2017:

  1. Zeal and Ardor: Devil is Fine
  2. Ibibio Sound Machine: Eyai
  3. Orchestra Baobab: Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng
  4. Lost Bayou Ramblers: Kalenda
  5. Lana Del Rey: Lust for Life
  6. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit: The Nashville Sound
  7. Harriet Tubman: Araminta
  8. Various Artists: Miracle Steps (Music from The Fourth World 1983-2017)
  9. Golden Pelicans: Disciples of Blood
  10. William Parker: Meditation – Resurrection
  11. Preservation Hall Jazz Band: So It Is
  12. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever: Talk Tight
  13. Peter Perrett: How the West Was Won
  14. Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway
  15. The Perceptionists: Resolution
  16. Steve Earle and The Dukes: So You Wannabe an Outlaw?
  17. Roscoe Mitchell: Bells for The South Side
  18. Mostly Other People Do The Killing: Loafer’s Hollow
  19. Sarah Shook and the Disarmers: Sidelong
  20. Angaleena Presley: Wrangled
  21. Various Artists: Battle Hymns
  22. Obnox: Niggative Approach
  23. Aram Bajakian: Dalava–The Book of Transfigurations
  24. Syd: Fin
  25. Steve Lacy: Steve Lacy’s Demo (EP) (Not the late jazz soprano master Steve Lacy, BTW!)
  26. Kendrick Lamar: Damn
  27. Sampha: Process
  28. Waxahatchee: Out in the Storm
  29. Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now
  30. Burnt Sugar: All You Zombies Dig The Luminosity
  31. Thurst: Cut to the Chafe
  32. Filthy Friends: Invitation
  33. Cloud Nothings: Life Without Sound
  34. Arto Lindsay: Cuidado Madame
  35. Body Count: Blood Lust
  36. Les Amazones D’Afrique: Republique Amazone
  37. Maximum Ernst: Maximum Ernst
  38. Oddisee: The Iceberg
  39. Tamikrest: Kidal
  40. Tyshawn Sorey: Verismilitude
  41. John Escreet: The Unknown
  42. James Luther Dickinson: I’m Just Dead I’m Not Gone (Lazarus Edition) READ THE BOOK!
  43. (The Late) Mariem Hassan: La Voz Indominata
  44. Trio 3: Visiting Texture
  45. Gogol Bordello: Seekers and Finders
  46. Jay-Z: 4:44
  47. Randy Newman: Dark Matter
  48. Alice Coltrane: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
  49. Shabazz Palaces: Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star
  50. New Pornographers: Whiteout Conditions
  51. Garland Jeffreys: 14 Steps to Harlem
  52. Ty Segall: Fried Shallots
  53. Tony Allen: A Tribute to Art Blakey
  54. Trio de Kali w/ The Kronos Quartet: Ladilikan
  55. Hard Working Americans: We’re All in This Together
  56. Randy Weston: African Nubian Suite
  57. Gato Preto: Tempo
  58. Tinariwen: Elwan
  59. Shina Williams: Agb’oju L’Ogun
  60. Let’s Eat Grandma: I, Gemini
  61. Ross Johnson and Lesa Aldridge: Lesa and Ross
  62. The Goon Sax: Up to Anything
  63. Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Navigator
  64. Various Artists: Mono No Aware
  65. Karreim Riggins: Headnod Suite
  66. Various Artists: Outro Tempo–Electronic And Contemporary Music From Brazil 1978-1992
  67. Omou Sangare: Mogoya
  68. Daddy Issues: Can We Still Hang?
  69. Nots: “Cruel Friend” / “Violence”
  70. Bob Dylan: Triplicate
  71. Pierre Kwenders: MAKANDA at the End of Space, the Beginning of Time
  72. Damaged Bug: Bunker Funk
  73. Tomasz Stanko: December Avenue
  74. Black Lips: Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art
  75. Chuck Berry: Chuck
  76. Joe King Cologbo & High Grace: Sugar Daddy
  77. Don Bryant: Don’t Give Up On Love
  78. Public Enemy: Nothing is Quick in the Desert
  79. Shabazz Palaces: Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines
  80. David S. Ware: Live in New York City 2010
  81. Thundercat: Drunk
  82. Elliott Sharp, Mary Halvorson, and Marc Ribot: Err Guitar
  83. Erica Falls: Home Grown
  84. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: Ruler Rebel
  85. Open Mike Eagle: Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

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65 Great Older Releases That I’ve Bought in ’17 That I Still Can’t Get Enough Of

(If it’s bolded, I’ve been hooked on the thing quite seriously)

  1. Allison, Mose: I’m Not Talkin’—The Song Stylings of Mose Allison 1957-1972
  2. Avengers: Died for Your Sins
  3. Les Amazones de Guinée: Au coeur de Paris & M’mah Sylla (Bolibana Collection)
  4. Anderson, Fred, and Hamid Drake: …together again
  5. Astatke, Mulatu: Mulatu of Ethiopia
  6. Black Artists Group: In Paris 1973
  7. Blythe, Arthur: Illusions
  8. Bowie, David: Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
  9. Carmichael, Hoagy: Music Master
  10. Case, Neko: The Tigers Have Spoken
  11. Cochran, Wayne: Wayne Cochran!
  12. Cohran, Philip: Armageddon
  13. Coursil, Jacques: Trails of Tears
  14. The Creation: Action Painting
  15. Curtis, King: Instant Soul–The Legendary King Curtis
  16. Davis, Anthony: Episteme
  17. Dion: Kickin’ Child–The Lost Album 1965
  18. Dion and The Belmonts: Together Again
  19. d/j Rupture: Minesweeper Suite
  20. E: E
  21. Eggleston, Cozy: Grand Slam
  22. Evans, Bill: Some Other Time–The Lost Session from the Black Forest
  23. Fela: The Best of Black President, Volume 2
  24. Fela: Live in Detroit
  25. Gibbs, Melvin: Ancients Speak(all hail Pete Cosey!)
  26. Gonzalez, Dennis: Idle Wild
  27. Gonzalez, Dennis: Nile River Suite
  28. Hemphill, Julius: Coon Bidness
  29. Human Arts Ensemble: Whisper of Dharma
  30. Ink Spots: These Cats Are High
  31. Instant Composers Pool: Aan & Uit
  32. Jamal, Ahmad: The Awakening
  33. JJ DOOM: Bookhead
  34. King: We Are King (would have been in my 2016 Top Ten had I been on the ball)
  35. Kyle, K. Curtis: The Collected Poem for Blind Lemon Jefferson
  36. London Jazz Composers Orchestra: Theoria
  37. McGann, Bernie: Playground
  38. McPhee, Joe: “The Loneliest Woman”
  39. Monk, Thelonious: Soundtrack to Les Liaisons Dangereuses
  40. Orchestra Regionale De Mopti
  41. Various Artists: Spiritual Jazz #7—Islam
  42. Patrick, Pat, and Baritone Retinue: Sound Advice
  43. Perry, Lee Scratch: Dub Triptych
  44. Perry, Lee Scratch: Presents African Roots
  45. Perry, Lee Scratch: Voodooism
  46. Prince: Purple Rain – 2017 Deluxe Remaster
  47. Prince Jazzbo: Ital Corner
  48. Pullen, Don, and Beaver Harris: A Well-Kept Secret
  49. Revelators: …we told you not to cross us (20th Anniversary Edition)
  50. Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Face to Face
  51. Stanko, Tomasz: Leosia
  52. Sun Ra: The Space Age Is Here to Stay
  53. This Heat: Out of Cold Storage
  54. Thomas, Luther, and Human Arts Ensemble: Funky Donkey Vols. 1 & 2
  55. Thornton, Clifford: The Panther and The Lash
  56. Morgan, Lee: Live at The Lighthouse
  57. Various Artists: After-School Special—The 123s of Kid Soul
  58. Various Artists: Hanoi Masters–War is A Wound, Peace is a Scar
  59. Various Artists: Killed by Death #5
  60. Various Artists: The Original Sounds of Mali
  61. Various Artists: The Poppyseeds–The Sound of Crenshaw
  62. Various Artists: Songs from Saharan Cell Phones, 1 & 2
  63. Washington, Dinah: Live at Newport 1958
  64. White, Ruth: Flowers of Evil
  65. Wray, Link: Three-Track Shack

Surcease of Sorrow: My Favorite New Releases of the First Half of 2017, and My Top 40 Older Thangs I’ve Bought

In so many ways, this year has flat sucked. I’m a born optimist, and I’ve never considered that a disability, but now? I guess that I just don’t know. As long as I keep certain names off my tongue, my eye on the courts, my feet on the street and trails, my arms around my woman, and my ears on this stuff, well…I guess I will power through. Perhaps you will be tempted to try one of the following aural encouragements, and it’ll help you through, too.

TOP 50 New Releases of the First Half of 2017

(in order of my preference if the world goes up in flames tomorrow):

  1. Zeal and Ardor: Devil is Fine
  2. Orchestra Baobab: Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng
  3. Harriet Tubman: Araminta
  4. Kendrick Lamar: Damn
  5. Ibibio Sound Machine: Eyai
  6. Various Artists: Miracle Steps (Music from The Fourth World 1983-2017)
  7. Golden Pelicans: Disciples of Blood
  8. Preservation Hall Jazz Band: So It Is
  9. Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway
  10. Mostly Other People Do The Killing: Loafer’s Hollow
  11. Obnox: Niggative Approach
  12. Aram Bajakian: Dalava–The Book of Transfigurations
  13. Syd: Fin
  14. Steve Lacy: Steve Lacy’s Demo (EP) (Not the late jazz soprano master Steve Lacy, BTW!)
  15. Various Artists: Battle Hymns
  16. Sampha: Process
  17. Jens Lekman: Life Will See You Now
  18. Thurst: Cut to the Chafe
  19. Cloud Nothings: Life Without Sound
  20. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: Ruler Rebel
  21. Arto Lindsay: Cuidado Madame
  22. Body Count: Blood Lust
  23. Angaleena Presley: Wrangled
  24. Sarah Shook and the Disarmers: Sidelong
  25. Joe King Cologbo & High Grace: Sugar Daddy
  26. Filthy Friends: “Any Kind of Crowd”/”Editions of You”
  27. John Escreet: The Unknown
  28. Various Artists: Spiritual Jazz #7—Islam
  29. James Luther Dickinson: I’m Just Dead I’m Not Gone (Lazarus Edition) READ THE BOOK!
  30. (The Late) Mariem Hassan: La Voz Indominata
  31. Let’s Eat Grandma: I, Gemini
  32. Randy Weston: African Nubian Suite
  33. Alice Coltrane: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
  34. Thundercat: Drunk
  35. New Pornographers: Whiteout Conditions
  36. Gato Preto: Tempo
  37. Paul Rutherford and Sabu Toyozumi: The Conscience
  38. Hurray for the Riff Raff: Up for Anything
  39. Various Artists: Mono No Aware
  40. Karreim Riggins: Headnod Suite
  41. Various Artists: Outro Tempo–Electronic And Contemporary Music From Brazil 1978-1992
  42. Garland Jeffreys: 14 Steps to Harlem
  43. Elliott Sharp, Mary Halvorson, and Marc Ribot: Err Guitar
  44. Daddy Issues: Can We Still Hang?
  45. Bob Dylan: Triplicate
  46. Damaged Bug: Bunker Funk
  47. Black Lips: Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art?
  48. Vagabon: The Infinite Worlds
  49. Tamikrest: Tidal
  50. Chuck Berry: Chuck

Note: the above is not featured on the Wayne Cochran album listed below, but it’s what you need to know to make a more informed choice.

40 Great Older Releases That I’ve Bought in ’17 That I Still Can’t Get Enough Of

  1. Allison, Mose: I’m Not Talkin’—The Song Stylings of Mose Allison 1957-1972
  2. Anderson, Fred, and Hamid Drake: …together again
  3. Astatke, Mulatu: Mulatu of Ethiopia
  4. Blythe, Arthur: Illusions
  5. Bowie, David: Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
  6. Carmichael, Hoagy: Music Master
  7. Case, Neko: The Tigers Have Spoken
  8. Cochran, Wayne: Wayne Cochran!
  9. Cohran, Philip: Armageddon
  10. Coursil, Jacques: Trails of Tears
  11. The Creation: Action Painting
  12. Davis, Anthony: Episteme
  13. DiMucci, Dion: Kickin’ Child–The Lost Album 1965
  14. d/j Rupture: Minesweeper Suite
  15. E: E
  16. Evans, Bill: Some Other Time–The Lost Session from the Black Forest
  17. Fela: The Best of Black President, Volume 2
  18. Fela: Live in Detroit
  19. Gibbs, Melvin: Ancients Speak (all hail Pete Cosey!)
  20. Gonzalez, Dennis: Idle Wild
  21. Ink Spots: These Cats Are High
  22. Instant Composers Pool: Aan & Uit
  23. Jamal, Ahmad: The Awakening
  24. JJ DOOM: Bookhead
  25. King: We Are King (would have been in my 2016 Top Ten had I been on the ball)
  26. London Jazz Composers Orchestra: Theoria
  27. McGann, Bernie: Playground
  28. Outkast: Speakerboxx/The Love Below (that’s right—I only just NOW bought this for myself)
  29. Perry, Lee Scratch: Voodooism
  30. Spontaneous Music Ensemble: Face to Face
  31. Stanko, Tomasz: Leosia
  32. Sun Ra: The Space Age Is Here to Stay
  33. This Heat: Out of Cold Storage
  34. Morgan, Lee: Live at The Lighthouse (please go see this documentary on Mr. Morgan!)
  35. Various Artists: After-School Special—The 123s of Kid Soul
  36. Various Artists: Hanoi Masters–War is A Wound, Peace is a Scar
  37. Various Artists: Killed by Death #5
  38. Various Artists: Songs from Saharan Cell Phones, 1 & 2
  39. White, Ruth: Flowers of Evil
  40. Wray, Link: Beans and Fatback

My Favorite Rekkids of 2016, 75% of the Way Through Their (not really totally) Loathsome Year (BECAUSE of these rekkids, in part)

These are the recent records (most minted in this calendar year, some not quite) that I most whole-heartedly recommend to the musical adventurer. I’m starting to hate lists, but it’s a habit, and when one is dealing with annual ones, one must stay on top of them. If you peer back at my last list-post, you’ll probably see little change, so as a bonus, I am throwing in some additional offerings that I don’t quite so strongly recommend, but that may delight you and eventually grow on me. As for purchasing them, I assume you know how to use the Internet, but in a few case where the source (sometimes the artist himself) needs a boost, I may direct you. As much as it’s possible for me to deduce it, they are in order of, um, power.

  1. Beyoncé: Lemonade
  2. Saul Williams: Martyr Loser King
  3. Tyler Keith and The Apostles: Do It for Johnny
  4. The Paranoid Style: Rolling Disclosure
  5. Anderson Paak: Malibu
  6. J. D. Allen: Americana
  7. Anna Hogberg: Anna Hogberg Attack
  8. Meet Your Death: Meet Your Death
  9. Car Seat Headrest: Teens of Denial
  10. Blood Orange: Freetown Sound
  11. Rihanna: Anti
  12. Chance the Rapper: Coloring Book
  13. Elizabeth Cook: Exodus of Venus
  14. Joe McPhee and Paal Nilssen-Love: Candy
  15. Various Artists: Music of Morocco–Recorded by Paul Bowles, 1959
  16. Bombino: Azel
  17. Pylon: Live
  18. The Drive-By Truckers: American Band
  19. Nots: Cosmetic
  20. M. I. A: Aim
  21. Wussy: Forever Sounds
  22. Parquet Courts: Human Performance
  23. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down: A Man Alive
  24. Pedrito Martinez: Habana Dreams
  25. Jemeel Moondoc and Hilliard Greene: Cosmic Nickolodeon
  26. Various Artists: Desconstrucao–A Portrait of Sao Paulo’s Music Scene
  27. Kel Assouf: Tikonen
  28. Yoni & Geti: Testarossa
  29. Aesop Rock: The Impossible Kid
  30. Mexrissey: No Manchester

THE BEST OF THE REST

[If the record’s bolded, it almost made or was previously in the Top 25; if it’s preceded by an asterisk (*), it barely made this list.]

Aesop Rock and Homeboy Sandman: Lice 2 (EP)

Angry Angles

*Bajakian, Aram: Music Inspired by the Film The Color of Pomegranates

Beatles: Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Booker, James: Bayou Maharajah (DVD)

Bowie, David: Blackstar

*Bradley, Charles: Changes

*Braxton, Anthony: 3 Compositions [EEMHM] 2011

Cavanaugh: Time and Materials (EP)

Childbirth: Women’s Rights

Dalek: Asphalt for Eden

De La Soul: …and the anonymous nobody

DeJohnette, Jack: In Movement

Del McCoury Band: Del and Woody

Dylan, Bob: Fallen Angels

Fulks, Robbie: Upland Stories

*Garbage: Strange Little Birds

Konono N1 Meets Batida

Kool and Kass: Barter 7

Iyer, Vijay, and Wadada Leo Smith: A Cosmic Rhythm in Each Stroke

Lamar, Kendrick: Untitled Unmastered

Lewis, Linda Gail: Heartache Highway

Lynn, Loretta: Full Circle

*Natural Child: Okey-Dokey

Neville, Aaron: Apache

Open Mike Eagle: Hella Personal Film Festival

Perfecto: You Can’t Run from the Rhythm

*Professor Longhair: Live in Chicago

Pusha T: Darkness Before Dawn

Reed, Blind Alfred: Appalachian Visionary

Rollins, Sonny: Holding Down the Stage–Road Shows, Volume Four

Smith, Dr. Lonnie: Evolution

*Stetson, Colin: Sorrow–A Reimagining of Gorecki’s Third Symphony

Threadgill, Henry (conductor): Old Locks and Irregular Verbs

Toussaint, Allen: American Tunes

Various Artists: Soul Sok Sega–Sega Sounds from Mauritius

Veloso, Caetano, and Gilberto Gil: Dois Amigos, Um Seculo de Musica–Multishow Live

White Lung: Paradise

Wills, Bob, and The Texas Playboys: Let’s Play, Boys–Rediscovered Songs from Bob Wills’ Personal Transcriptions

*Young Philadelphians (with Marc Ribot): Live in Tokyo

*Young Thug: Jeffrey

Ze, Tom: Vira Lata na Via Lactea