Tag: Music

Back To School: Living to Listen’s Favorite Records, January 1st to September 1st, 2025

To my regular readers: As I type, I have already begun my 42nd (consecutive) year as a teacher. This fall, I am teaching two on-line freshman composition classes at Stephens College (one with the school’s Conservatory and built around Sasha Geffen’s alternative pop history Glitter Up The Dark–read it yourself, folks!—and the other with its regular women’s college students, who are reading Octavia Butler’s Kindred. In addition, I will be teaching an in-person 3.5-week, M-F, three-hours-per-block freshman comp class starting in mid-October; they, too, will be reading Butler’s book. Most of you will not need to guess why I’ve chosen those books to build a composition class around; my Missouri readers will have no doubt. Anyway, I’m devoting this post to my students, so I will now proceed to, ahem, address them….

To my students: Welcome to Living to Listen, the longest list of lovely licorice pizza in Blogtown! When I was your age (zzzzz….) in 1980, I could not have made a list of 35 albums I even owned, nor barely 50 I had heard from beginning to end (I was a singles kid then). If I’d been asked to construct my favorites from those, on the list would have been Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town, Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces, The B-52s, Bob Seger’s Night Moves, The Velvet Underground’s 1969 Live, X’s Los Angeles, Black Sabbath’s We Sold Our Soul for Rock and Roll, “Rapper’s Delight,” Teddy Pendergrass’ Teddy, Neil Young’s Live Rust, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, The Clash’s London Calling, The Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, Cher’s most recent album (serious outlier)…well, I’ll stop there. Today, the year isn’t even over and the following list isn’t numbered, but odds are it will exceed 200 by New Year’s Eve 2026 and those will just be the ones I heard that I liked.

What’s the point? Good question. Often I wonder that myself. What I think I’m doing is helping my readers wade through a perpetual tsunami of new recordings—literally any sentient being can now make a record and make it available to the public—and find something that will transfix, delight, provoke, stimulate, energize, and maybe even transform them from the creatures that they are…because they did one or more of those things to me. What I am probably doing is nearer to yodeling into the Grand Canyon at 2 a.m. What I am sure I am doing at the very least is preparing myself to vote in a couple of year-end “Best of the Year” polls (though I have yet to even pull my Top 10 out of the jungle below) as well as committing to cybermemory a record (make that very plural) of what I was putting my ear to at the time. It may also appear that I am showing off and that may well be accurate, but I’d argue that I don’t spend money or time on much else than listening to music, books, movie theaters, Stephens Conservatory productions, teaching, and my very saintly bride. Oh yes, food. And occasionally drink. I have to be forced to buy new clothes, I would never drive anything if I didn’t have to, one house will do, thank you—in other words, really, music is not only an obsession for me but a lifeline. I am not religious, but sometimes I have argued with friends that every record in the house (yes, I and you should BUY music to keep food on our musicmakers’plates) is like a book of humanity’s bible to me. Seriously.

A quick scan of my 2025 favorites reveals a few things about me: 1) I listen to a lot of music; 2) I am not exactly a poptimist (I really like Olivia, Beyonce, Rihanna, Harry, and Billie, for example, but I merely seriously admire Taylor Swift and have no use for Sabrina—nor a lot of men who make poppy pop music, and I really only like one of Harry’s albums); 3) Looks like I lean hard toward improvisational jazz (especially the Scandinavian variety—they distill the best stuff!), but it frees my mind, goes great with reading, and fits an ideal I hold about living with other people; 4) I am apparently working for Nyege Nyege Tapes out of Uganda as well as the prolific Japanese jazz pianist Satoko Fujii; and—gotta stop somewhere—5) unlike many, many white men my age (63.666), I like rap music. The list does not show that I LOVE country music, but as far as today’s purveyors go, it’s mostly the women that bend my ear. I love Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan because they sing with intensity and they write outside the lines of the stereotypical “rural” coloring book.

So…sample some stuff! I would expect you haven’t heard of a lot of it, but I’ll warn you that that is not because it’s not good—it’s a wide, wide world out there! Each record listing includes a link to a way to get ahold of it or learn about it, a Spotify link (I hate that platform, but I feel I have no choice) for the whole list that follows it, and next you will see the meaning of my typology (?). I hope you find something that lifts you! Also, if something you love from 2025 isn’t on the list, that doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t like it—I might not have gotten to it yet. I also might not have simply gotten it yet. Or it could be it just don’t move me! Students, peace to you unless you have to protect others, then and always may you stay safe, please write so well you’re proud of the output, and talk to me about some of these platters!

MY LIST OF AURAL PLEASURE

January 1 – September 1, 2025

BOLD = New to the List

ASTERISKED* = Damn good!*** to Holy SHIT!*****

ITALICIZED: Excavations from the Past / Reissues

Aesop Rock: Black Hole Superette (Rhymesayers) ****


Africa Express: …Presents…Bahidora (World Circuit Limited) ****

Amarae: Black Star (Golden Angel) ***

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) ****


Bar-B-Q Killers: The Last Shit, Part 1 (Chunklet 45)

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) ***
*

Blood Orange: Essex Honey (RCA) ***

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) ****

Earl Sweatshirt: Live Laugh Love (Tan Cressida) ***

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) ****

Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force: Khadim (Ndagga) ***

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)

Karol G: Tropicoqueta (Bichota) ****

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

Girl Scout: Headache (self-released EP)

Roger Glenn: My Latin Heart (Patois) ***

Woody Guthrie: Woody at Home, Vol 1 + 2 (Shamus) ****

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) ****

Hunx and His Punks: Walk Out on This World (Get Better) ****

Hüsker Dü: January 30, Parts 1 & 2 (Numero EP) ***** (Numero box on the way….)

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) ****


JLZ & GG: Medio Grave (Nyege Nyege Tapes) ***

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) ****

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) ****


Rocio Gimenez Lopez: La Palabra Repetida (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) ***

Alick Nkhata: Radio Lusaka (Mississippi Records) ***

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

Nourished By Time: The Passionate Ones (XL)

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)


Les Rallizes Denudes: Jittoku ’76 (Temporal Drift)

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

Jonathan Richman: Only Frozen Sky Anyway (Blue Arrow)


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) ***

Superchunk: Songs in the Key of Yikes (Merge) ****

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

Atef Swaitat & Abu Ali: Palestinian Bedouin Psychedelic Dabka Archive (Majazz Project/Palestinian Sound Archive) ****

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)

Los Thuthanaka: Los Thuthanaka (Studio Pankara) ****

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)

Morgan Wade: The Party is Over (recovered) (Ladylike) ****

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) ****

Miguel Zenon: Vanguardia Subterranea (Miel Music) ***

Put this SPITify sucker on shuffle and free your ears-–so your arse and mind will follow!

Amerikkkan Top 40: Some New (and Relatively New) Albums That May Help Get You Through the Morning News If You Can Stand to Read It

Hi! I’m early with my 2025 blog update, but I ain’t buying anything Friday anyway (I hope it isn’t Bandcamp Friday). If you happen to be a new reader, what I try to do at the end of each month is highlight the new albums–or recently excavated older works–that I’ve truly enjoyed, that have kept me sane, that have moved me, that have challenged me, etc. etc. etc. A thing about me: I’m the kind of person who always tries to order something different on the menu every time he goes to a restaurant, and I’m even more that way with music. I love a lot of it, I don’t think in genres, I am fascinated as much by pure sound and mood as I am by conventionally structured songs and lyrics, and I see myself as a scout, a finder, a tout (albeit a somewhat inexpressive one, as I’d rather you sample some of this stuff than me try to tell you why it is so attractive to me zzzzzzzzzz). Maybe you should start with the album covers, the album titles, the label names–and recently I’ve been including a boo-hiss Spotify playlist that includes tracks from each work (if possible–I get review copies ahead of time, which I will try to note and which aren’t yet represented in “the stream”–and not everything is on Spotify, in case you didn’t know). Finally, IRL (I’ve always wanted to use that!), I am an English teacher of 41 years’ vintage (a lightly sweet grape Boone’s Farm ’84), and because of my love for reading and teaching novels, I prefer albums to singles–I want to experience an act’s whole world, not just a moment where maybe they got hit by lightning inspiration or just got lucky.

Each month I’ll add to the previous month’s existing list, and bold-face those entries so you know they’re new. Some items may disappear if they fade for me or I just glitch. I’m starting by listing them alphabetically until order of love begins to establish itself, which it hasn’t quite, yet. This month, FOUR asterisks (****) will indicate a few discs I’m really enchanted by, and FIVE asterisks a few discs I’m really really enchanted by. Eventually, too, I’ll separate the list into really new stuff and those excavations I mentioned.

I hope you find something below that makes your day and creates the illusion that we aren’t necessarily facing a barbarian takeover. Take a chance, why doncha?

THE LIST (January 1 – February 26, 2025)

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

The Ancients: The Ancients (Eremite)

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

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

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

Benjamin Booker: Lower(Fire Next Time)

Brother Ali & Ant: Satisfied Soul (Mello Music)

Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) Note: release date = March 14, 2025

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

Ex-Void: In Love Again(Tapete Records)

FKA twigs: Eusexua (Young Recordings Limited)

Satoko Fujii GEN: Altitude 1100 Meters (Libra)

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

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

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

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

Horsegirl: Phonetics On and On (Matador)

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

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)***

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

James Brandon Lewis: Apple Cores (Anti-)

LOLO: LOLO (Black Sweat)

Mean Mistreater: Do or Die (self-released)

Mac Miller: Baloonerism (Warner Records)

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

Isabelle Olivier: Impressions (Rewound Echoes)

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

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

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

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

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

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

The War & Treaty: Plus One (Mercury Nashville)

Jesse Welles: Middle (Jesse Welles Music)

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)****

Fetching Recordings from January 2025–For Month 1, Not Too Skimpy!

I am restless. As a teacher, I cannot teach the same lesson twice the same way (nor should anyone, but maybe I’m wrong). Last year, I tried to write more about the albums I loved on this blog but ended up very unsatisfied, plus it was a pain when it came to assembling a complete year-end list. So…I think this year, I’ll go back to my cumulative listing and let y’all follow the links and divine from those whether the records are worthy of your time…unless you just trust me. I wouldn’t. I am going to stick with closing with a Spotify playlist sampler, though I hate Spotify and, since I receive some review copies, songs from those might not yet be available–especially on this one.

New Releases:

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

Bad Bunny: DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS (Rimas Entertainment)

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

Benjamin Booker: Lower (Fire Next Time)

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

Ex-Void: In Love Again (Tapete Records)

Satoko Fujii GEN: Altitude 1100 Meters (Libra)*

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

LOLO: LOLO (Black Sweat)

Mac Miller: Baloonerism (Warner 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

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

Omar Thomas: Griot Songs (Omar Thomas Music)

Simon Willson: Bet (Endectomorph Records) @

Jeong Lim Yang: Synchronicity (Fully Altered Media)

@Features Neta Raanan, a terrific young saxophonist whose debut last year was SHARP.

*Fujii can’t stop, won’t stop–first album out of considerably over 100 (!!) with a string section.

*A terrific free jazz tenor last heard from about 40+ years ago who’s resurfaced.

Old Stuff I Happily Listened To:

Zoh Amba: Every album she’s released and appeared on. We saw her play live and it was a chicken-skin experience! Blazing and dynamically moody free jazz plus surprise acoustic guitar versions of new songs that both rended and expanded one’s heart. Check out the way she finishes out Myriam Gendron’s track on the playlist below!

Bob Dylan’s folk stuff: I was subbing the other day shortly after A Complete Unknown was released and I’d seen it—it sent be back to my favorites of his early period, especially the first album (what writer recently said he was electric from the first, because the electricity was in the way he sang those songs?) and “Only a Pawn in Their Game,” which I’ve always loved and repeat played to the point it was worming my ear all day)—and I casually sidled up to a table of 10th grade “advanced placement” dudes. Me: “Hey, have you guys heard of Bob Dylan?” Them (in tandem): “He’s dead, right?” I have some issues with the movie but it was entertaining and has a reason for being.

Culture and Burning Spear in the schools: Sometimes if I’m subbing for an old English-teaching comrade, they’ll let me write my own lesson and teach. A recent job was for a guy who teaches classical ideas and world religions and his students are currently studying Judaism; he asked if I could talk about Rastafarian reggae’s connections with Judaism and play some examples. They didn’t know dick about Rastafarianism or reggae, so it was a good call. We studied The Melodians’ “Rivers of Babylon,” sections of Culture’s Two Sevens Clash and aspects of Burning Spear’s Marcus Garvey. I also pushed Safiya Sinclair’s memoir of wrasslin’ to liberate herself from the clutches of her Rasta dad, How to Say Babylon. I’ve listened to reggae every day since.

Sinead O’Connor: Nicole and I watched the SNL Music special ?Love put together (apparently he was ordered by Lorne to exclude any evidence of The Replacements’ TRANSCENDENT appearance, the petty bastard) and got chills revisiting Sinead’s appearance. Listened to her all of the next day (yesterday, as it were) and kept getting chills, though I found myself wondering how much more she could have accomplished without the after-effects of the backlash (as Al Franken said, “She was kind of right,” though I’d say “She was right.”).

Black Female Gospel Warriors All Day on January 20th. Folks? Put the whole of the armour on.

Not Quite Apocalypse, Yet: OCTOBER ’24–Best Stuff I Heard

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The post title is all I’m saying about the obvious.

If you haven’t had a chance to do so through other portals, you should check out the rock and roll high school story I’d never gotten around to writing since it happened on March 30, 2005: the Hood-Cooley-Isbell Drive-By Truckers playing an unplugged concert at the high school where I was working (I’d only asked their people if one of those guys could talk to our rock and roll club). I have a Substack on top of this (why?), and there you will find Part 1 and Part 2 of the tale. You’ll get a kick out of it, I think.

This seemed a sluggish month for music (I was personally and professionally too busy to be sluggish myself), but then it came on at the tail end. In fact, it’s still coming on as I type this and try to catch up with some last-second drops.

Yep–still trying (and only succeeding via ridiculously adhered clauses) to write one-sentence reviews. I’ve got multiple jobs, people! And I like to read and play with cats when I’m home!

Note: Speaking of work, my popular music-infused Stephens College freshman composition class is reading the great music writer Ann Powers’ alternate history of American pop, Good Booty (please read it and her new and intriguing Joni Mitchell bio Traveling Traveling Traveling yourself), and I talked Ann into an interview for my students’ edification. If you’re interested in hearing it–she ranges widely and always eloquently–click this link (it was a Zoom interview, and since my students could not participate due to the class’ on-line asynchronous nature, I had to record it for them).

OCTOBER 2024 NEW RECORDINGS I HEARD (alphabetically ordered)

BOLDED = Damn good!

Amy & The Sniffers: Cartoon Darkness (Rough Trade) – The Internet seems to be underwhelmed by this record, but I respect punk pizzazz, and this has it–along with humor, shit-smearing, joy, and self-effacement.

The Belair Lip Bombs: Lush Life (Third Man) – For some reason (maybe it’s that I’ve never seen Johnny Depp and Jack White in the same photo), I don’t trust Third Man, but I read “power pop” in one review, and…yeah, maybe.

Church Chords: elvis, he was Schlager (Otherly Love) – Dark horse indie-rock / experimental AOTY candidate, from a label to keep your eye on, featuring wry vocals and sweet-memory-tickling musical stylings fired by these guitarists: Jeff Parker, Nels Cline, and Brandon Seabrook, the latter of whom often drags Dock Boggs into the 21st century.

Day Dream: Duke & Strays (Corner Store Jazz) – Last post I bemoaned my late discovery of the master drummer Phil Haynes, so, though I asked myself if I needed to hear another Ellington/Strayhorn tribute with predictable song choices, I tried it, and its sideways and intriguing interpretations, performed live, dazzled me–very much due to Haynes’ playing.

EELS: Being Dead (Bayonet) – Listened to out of obligation, repeat-played out of fixation, this “joyous and unexpected trip helmed by two true-blue freak bitch besties holed up in a lil’ house in the heart of Austin, Texas” (see Bandcamp) proves indie rock is far from dead.

Flagboy Giz and The Wild Tchoupitoulas: Live from the French Quarter Fest (Injun Money) – I will always investigate Mardi Gras Indians action, I’m thrilled to hear these chants “bounce”d, I’m glad Flagboy’s name is pronounced with a hard “g”…now, if someone will tell me where to get a hard copy (downloads are hard enough to find).

Joe Fonda: Eyes on the Horizon (Long Song) – Master jazz bassist (Fonda) and indefatigable pianist (Satoko Fujii) pay tribute to eminence grise of free improv trumpet, Wadada Leo Smith–who’s on trumpet.

Phillip Golub: Abiding Memory (Endectomorph) – Alternating lightly dancing drum rhythms with moments of composed tension that don’t disrupt the album’s flow, Golub’s writing does justice to the title.

Mickey Guyton: House on Fire (Capitol Records Nashville) – Of course it would have been hard for Guyton to top Remember My Name, which featured about a decade’s worth of songwriting, and there’s always the sophomore slump to consider, but honestly, though it doesn’t have the occasional quiet bite of its predecessor, this one satisfies–pleasurable artistic solidity.

Rich Halley 4: Dusk and Dawn (Pine Eagle) – A time-tested quartet led by a Julius Hemphill-inspired, very underheard saxophonist is worth your time–the expressive balance achieved by the group and the sensitive production make this a treat for the mind’s ear.

High Vis: Guided Tour (Dais) – Sadly, I’d not heard of this London group, because I’m always hunting for living punk rock, and, though I need to listen backwards through their work, along with Amyl & The Sniffers (see above) this album made me really happy and really amped.

Judas Priest: Invisible Shield (Deluxe Edition) (Sony) – This truly enjoyable and deeply admirable album’s inclusion is dedicated to my late brother-from-another-mother Mike Rayhill (The Jimbobs, The Luvhandles, The Balls), who would have loved it (and, to be clear, I do, too–thanks, Chuck Eddy).

Messiah in Glytch: Geisha in the Machine (FPE EP) – I had heard nothing about this explosive, confrontational, complex little record, but the MC’s handle and the album title intrigued me, and FPE takes chances on challenging artists–and MIG is one: highly recommended to hip hop heads needing some socio-political bars, boom-bap, and in-your-face flow.

more ease & kaho matsui: computer & recording works for girls (Full Spectrum) – I dig that title, and it’s more delightful–and calming–than the title portends.

Mount Eerie: Night Palace (self-released) – I’ll be honest: I signed up for the Bandcamp listening party for this album yesterday, had not closely listened to Phil Elverum since he traced his family tragedy on A Crow Looked at Me, and was prepping for an interview (see above) while participating in said party…but the many musical moments and lyrical snatches that caught me up short make this sound like a Top-Tenner

PYPY: Sacred Times (Goner) – I shall quote my best friend of 45 years, my former bandmate, my first and best tutor in punk rock, and former webmaster of The Rawk and current overseer of the Facebook group of the same name, Mark Anthony: “This is kicking my ass today! Stuck somewhere between Pylon and Romeo Void with a healthy dose of skronk and early 80’s techno?”

Walter Smith III: three of us are from Houston and Reuben is not (Blue Note) – A first-class mainstream jazz session by saxophonist Smith, aided and abetted by the always thoughtful, fluent, and interesting Jason Moran on piano.

Tyler, The Creator: CHROMAKOPIA (Columbia) – I have half-followed Tyler since his Odd Fellows days, but at some point–often several points–during each release, he’s put me off–until this one, another record with punk pizzazz (both instrumental and verbal) that doesn’t even need its excellent guest spots to be really good and that drew this comment from my former student, DC resident, and Creator adept Erin Datcher: “He’s wearing the mask on the cover to signal that he’s telling the truth this time.”

2024-RELEASED EXCAVATIONS OF OLD BUSINESS

Arthur Blythe Quartet: Live! From Rivbea Studios, Volume 2 (No Business) – Black Arthur blowing in a loft on fire.

Andrew Hill Sextet Plus 10: A Beautiful Day Revisited (Palmetto) – This very welcome reissue from the fearsome pianist and composer originally earned its title, and now does even more, thanks to Palmetto’s touch.

Charlie Parker: Bird in Kansas City (Verve) – With a few of one foot’s toes in the past and the other’s whole stepping into the future, and thanks to guitarist Efferge Ware’s chopping, Freddie Green-influenced guitar on the closing tracks, Parker is captured here sounding like a 1939 Basie escapee–as fully Kansas City-bred as he ever sounded.

Phil Ranelin & Wendell Harrison: Tribe 2000 (Org Music) – As good a place as any to catch up with an excellent and often-steaming Detroit jazz duo–and scene.

Various Artists: Even the Forest Hums—Ukrainian Sonic Archives 1971-1996 (Light in the Attic) – Beyond keeping the people of Ukraine on your mind, this wide-ranging and surprisingly pop-sounding compilation (LITA advertises it as “folk, rock, jazz, and electronic”) invites you into the country’s music, both pre- and post-Soviet collapse.

JULY 2024: The Best Newish Releases I Lived to Listen to This Month

‘Twas hard to squeeze in extended and deep listening this month, what with a long and much-needed vacation in Dauphin Island, Alabama, and difficult family matters, but I hung in there. The beach, two rounds of fresh shrimp off a Bayou Le Batre fishing boat, ample portions of Blue Moon, tons o’ time spent with my very best friends and my beloved (I was the house DJ but stuck to old favorites from our past for the most part–along with Fox Green’s new album*), two great audiobooks that cut the feeling of a long-ass drive in half [Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars and James McBride’s The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (still only 67% finished, so don’t send me any spoilers)], and a late-breaking political surprise have done wonders for my mood. And just finishing Ann Powers’ neat Joni Mitchell book led to that estimable music critic’s possible engagement with an upcoming class of mine, during which the students will read, write, and talk about Powers’ equally sterling tome, Good Booty! I need to quit being so emo on this blog….

OK, to the music: lots of new jazz, a clear-cut AOTY possibility which may surprise my handful of readers (don’t sleep on Corb Lund*!), a face-punch of an envoi from X, a fresh blues/r&b voice from (of all places) Memphis. Dig in!

Recorded in 2024

Note: If listed as “self-released,” know that I tried.

[ahmed]: Giant Beauty (fonstret) – When I came back from vacation, news of this somewhat mysterious multi-national improvisatory unit’s five-disc exploration of bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik’s work piqued me as deeply as I can be piqued, then I discovered they were damned serious about their journey and exciting in making it–then, while prepping this post, I listened to their 2023 Abdul-Malik quest Super Majnoon and it might just be better.

Charles Gayle / Milford Graves / William Parker: WEBO (Black Editions) – Gayle could wail, Graves kept all collaborators on their toes with his nimble mind, feet, hands, and heart (both men have gone to meet ‘Trane), and Parker remains simply the reigning master bassist in jazz, so this 1991 concert–the trio seldom recorded together–is special.

John Escreet: the epicenter of your dreams (Blue Room Music) – The above two records roar, and with everything going on in our world they might be too much; however, the fleet inventiveness of Brit pianist Escreet, who’s worked with players ranging from Dr. Tyshawn Sorey to Floating Points, might be more up your alley, especially with Mark Turner, a kind of 21st century Lester Young, flowing beside him on tenor.

Fox Green*: Light Over Darkness (self-released) – I once yelled in a garage band in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and, if we’d been able to stay together over time, considering what we have otherwise ended up doing with our lives, I’d like to think we could have (only) come within spitting distance of this smart Little Rock Americana-rock unit–and have been proud of that.

Boldy James & Conductor Williams: Across the Tracks (self-released) – I’ve tried with Detroiter James’ last few albums, and they’ve just taken me halfway there, so it’s funny that, among other things, cameos from very young guest MCs put this over for me.

Janel Leppin: Ensemble Volcanic Ash—To March is to Love (Cuneiform) – This is cellist/composer Leppin’s second excellent album of 2024–the first was the wonderfully spacy New Moon in the Evil Age, a duet with her husband Anthony Pirog on which she also sings–and its wide-ranging sounds are anchored by the justifiably ubiquitous bassist Luke Stewart, who along with Leppin is making a run at Jazz Musician of the Year.

Corb Lund*: El Viejo (New West) – This is an AOTY-worthy country concept album about gambling–not simply with a hand of cards–and Lund’s writing (he has occasional assistance) and his band’s living-room playing are astoundingly sharp.

Charles McPherson: Reverence (Smoke Sessions) – Along with Bobby Watson, McPherson is one of the last of the great Charlie Parker torch-carriers, though here he demonstrates that he’s learned plenty of other moves in his eighty-five years on the most recent of a shining run of records…and I get to see him live in a few months!

Moor Mother: The Great Bailout (Deluxe Edition) (Anti-) – Camae Ayewa never takes a historical prisoner, and this is one of two excellent and musically complex Afrofuturism-meets-Europastism records of 2024 (the other being Red Hot Org / Kronos Quartet’s Sun Ra tribute Outer Spaceways Incorporated)–but for that you have to get the deluxe version.

David Murray: Francesca (Intakt) – Twenty years ago, poring over jazz record guides and hunting down a myriad of terrific Murray releases on DIW, I just knew this guy couldn’t keep up such prolific musical fecundity for much longer….

Pet Shop Boys: Nonetheless (Parlophone) – The limited series It’s a Sin, which I took in several years ago, sent me back to luxuriate in the power, wit, and effervescence of the first PSB albums, and, though the world has taken a toll on the last of those, and though “wit” seems too light a word for the wisdom on display here, they remain…unbowed.

Roberto Ottaviano: Lacy in the Sky with Diamonds (Clean Feed) – Jazz fans familiar with the other Steve Lacy probably won’t think that’s a terrible title–the band’s aim in this tribute is to write the mighty soprano saxophonist’s name in the sky, and they nail it, especially the leader.

Red Kross: Red Kross (In the Red) – They definitely still got it, and I really hear prime Raspberries in this one.

Rempis / Adasiewicz / Abrams / Damon (coming in October): Propulsion (Aerophonic Records) – All four of these men are superior improvisors, but Jason Adasiewicz, who last year transformed AACM star Roscoe Mitchell’s compositions into something completely different on an album of his own, is the star, laying a calming bed of imaginative, evocative vibes underneath the others’ blooms of sound.

Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (Atlantic) – Straight outta Willard, Missouri, an unfettered soul that has not a little in common with none other than Little Richard–yeah, I said it!

Christopher Rountree / Wild Up: 3BPM (Brassland) – Though I was a bit disappointed in Wild Up’s fourth volume of Julius Eastman tributes/interpretations, I still buy sound-unheard anything with which they associate their name, and founder Rountree’s debut, enlisting the group’s help, tops it.

Taliba Safiya: Black Magic (self-released EP) – The Memphis blues again–with a vengeance.

SAULT: Acts of Faith (self-released) – Now you’ll have to lean on Soulseek or your pals for it, or wait–I never can with them–and you’ll have to believe me when I say it’s near the top of the group’s pretty solid catalog, thanks to a Mayfieldian streak running through its 32 unbroken minutes.

Ren: Sick Boi (renmakesmusic.com) – Unlike Eminem, Ren’s really ill; also unlike Eminem, Ren’s really ill.

Takkak Takkak: Takkak Takkak (Nyege Nyege Tapes) – It’s hard to keep up with releases from this Kampala label, and I’ve tried, but out of them all, turned up loud, this one thumps so hard and weird I immediately played it twice.

Natsuki Tamura & Satoko Fujii: Aloft (Libra) – Tamura (trumpet) and Fujii (piano) are married in more ways than one; they’ve made several duet albums and their telepathy is well-honed here.

X: Smoke & Fiction (Fat Possum) – The band thanks the original Ramones by first name in the notes, open with what sounds like a tribute, then proceed to say so long to us and their partnership in style: Zoom zooming, Bonebrake cracking the skins hard, and John and Exene harmonizing like yesterday was tomorrow. (The LP version was released early, without a lyric sheet, or I’d comment on those–what I could pick up seems appropriately bittersweet.)

New Archival Excavations (a somewhat paltry selection, but I welcome tips):

Bessie Jones, John Davis, the Georgia South Sea Island Singers with Mississippi Fred McDowell and Ed Young: The Complete “Friends of Old-Time Music” Concert (Smithsonian) – The musical Bessie many know best is Smith, the Mississippi bluesman they may be most familiar with John Hurt, but Jones was one of the greatest folk-gospel singers of all-time, and McDowell, best known as the source of The Rolling Stones’ “You Got to Move,” played spiritual tunes with as much–possibly more–stinging fire than he did blues.

Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre: Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 1 (No Business) – AACM stalwart meets primo NYC Loft-era setting for serious fireworks.

JUNE 2024–Halfway There: 10 Newish Albums I Lived to Listen To + My 10 Favorite Jazz Albums of 2024 So Far + Encounters with Old Reggae

I really don’t have much to write this month. My mind feels paralyzed; at least my ears are working. Also, I am behind due to being distracted by non-new musical explorations, as you will see. Thus, I am just going to make three lists (this will help me get to THIS faster, too–I need it and I hope it’s great, but I can’t really listen to it until I’m done here).

The 20 Best Albums Released in 2024 That I First Heard This Month (in alphabetical order, but * = really kicking my butt)

Arooj Aftab: Night Reign (Verve)

*Christer Bothen Featuring Bolon Beta: Trancedance—40th Anniversary Edition (Black Truffle reissue)

*Alan Braufman: Infinite Love Tears (The Control Group / Valley of Search)

Jonas Cambien: Macu Conu (Clean Feed)

Charli xcx: BRAT (Atlantic)

*Cosmic Psychos: Go the Hack (Goner Records reissue)

Janel [Leppin] and Anthony [Pirog]: New Moon in the Evil Age (Cuneiform) (The “Janel disc” rools, although they are both on all of it.) (Wait, I said I wasn’t writing.)

*Kronos Quartet: Outer Spaceways Incorporated (Red Hot Org)

*Corb Lund: El Viejo (New West)

*Willie Nelson: The Border (Sony Music)

*Nestor: Teenage Rebel (Napalm Records/Handels GmbH) (I would have hated this in my 20s, in its way its allegiance to the laws of 1980s hard rock–passionate allegiance!–is stunning.) (I’m writing!)

Ngwaka Son Systeme: Iboto Ngenge (Eck Echo Records)

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo: Pra voce, Ilza (Rocinante Records)

Sexyy Red: In Sexyy We Trust (Rebel/gamma)

Sisso & Maiko: Singeli & Maiko (Nyege Nyege Tapes)

*Swamp Dogg: Blackgrass—From West Virginia to 125th Street (Oh Boy! Records) (I’ve LONG been a fan but this is by far his best record in many moons.)

Rapsody: Please Don’t Cry (We Each Other, Inc. / Jamla Records / Rock Nation Records) (jeeze lou-eeze, even the label/s is/are lonnnng!)

Staples Jr. Singers: Searching (Luaka Bop)

Esy Tadesse: Ahadu (FPE Records)

*Tri-County Liquidators: Shining Through (Hitt Records / Big Cartel EP) (Columbia, MO, locals’ follow-up to an impressive debut shines)

My Top 10 Favorite Jazz Albums of 2024 (In order of preference)

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet: Four Guitars Live (Palilalia)

Miha Gantar: New York City (Clean Feed)

Amaro Freitas: Y’Y (Psychic Hotline)

Satoko Fujii Trio: Jet Black (Libra)

QOW Trio: The Hold Up (Ubuntu)

Fay Victor:  Life is Funny That Way—Herbie Nichols Sung (TAO Forms)

Acceleration Due to Gravity: Jonesville (Hot Cup)

Alan Braufman: Infinite Love Tears (The Control Group / Valley of Search)

Kronos Quartet: Outer Spaceways Incorporated (Red Hot Org)

James Carter: UN (JMI Recordings)

5 Stellar Jazz Excavations from 2024 (in order of preference):

Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver–The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)

Sun Ra: Excelsior Mill (Sundazed / Modern Harmonic)

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors Live in Antwerp (Elemental Music)

Art Tatum: Jewels in the Treasure Box—The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings (Resonance)

Christer Bothen Featuring Bolon Beta: Trancedance—40th Anniversary Edition (Black Truffle)

OLD REGGAE ALBUMS I’D NEVER HEARD BEFORE WERE MY JUNE SALVATION!

It was all triggered when I rather randomly chose to read Alex Wheatle‘s memoir, Sufferah. Wheatle’s childhood experiences inspired one of the best episodes of Steve McQueen’s limited series Small Axe, all of which I thoroughly loved. Reggae songs were extremely important to Wheatle’s survival as a youth, and he mentioned so many I didn’t know (and I’m pretty well-informed) that I made a playlist as I read (which I accidentally deleted yesterday!). Unsurprisingly, the best of those songs led me to research the albums from which they came via two excellent out-of-print reggae guides, one by Lloyd Bradley, the other by Randall Grass, both acknowledged genre adepts. While researching those, I bumped into non-Wheatle-related records I’d somehow missed. That resulting research led me willy-nilly to Discogs, where–oh hell, I’ll just take a picture. This is the life of a music fanatic folks!

MAY 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To

This was a tough month. I was finishing up teaching and getting ready to start up again, very fatigued; trying to organize scholarship awards in memory of a too-soon-departed friend; playing Cecil Taylor albums every day very loudly (Nicole hadn’t finished teaching yet, so I was home alone with six cats and the stereo turned to 11), thanks to Phil Freeman’s outstanding upcoming biography In the Brewing Luminous (read my pal Ken Shimamoto’s outstanding review here); experiencing unusual trouble really getting into new albums (I can hear my current Conservatory students and my lovable provocateur Kevin Bozelka whispering, “Get into singles, get lit, and sing some karaoke, Phil!”); and…also being more than a bit depressed about the state of the country and this world, my mom having to be in an assisted living facility, and already having 62 trips around the sun under my belt while, with Sandy Denny on heavy rotation, wondering in vain who really knows where that time has gone. I couldn’t even imagine getting this done.

BUT the indefatigable Adeem the Artist–why could I not muster the energy to go see them when they were playing a little club here, after all they’ve done for humanity in just three albums?–Mdou Moctar‘s defiant guitar and words, and a wonderfully weird Sun Ra excavation jolted me into action. I hope you all are not having the same struggles. But I bet you are having some of them.

(I would also like to thank, along with the above artists, my current students in an alleged “rock and roll” class at Stephens College for delighting me with their work and commentary–enjoy their “Top 5 Album” lists below.)

These records made me happy in May.

Adeem The Artist: ANNIVERSARY (Thirty Tigers /Four Quarters) From the personal to the public, this pansexual writer continues to vividly capture the complications and cruelties that are us–they could stand to work on the melodies, though, but I’ll settle.

Les Amazones d’Afrique: Musow Dance (Real World). Jumpin’, jubilant, empowering, even if I’m not an African woman and I don’t understand the words–and I love the synths and 808s!

Anitta: Funk Generation (Republic / Universal) This Brazilian temptress is edging toward “force of nature” status, and I think the label may have misspelled the first word of the album title.

Bloodest Saxophone featuring Crystal Thomas: Extreme Heat (Continental Record Services) I am charmed by this jubilant 25-years-together-and countin’ Japanese jump blues outfit, and Ms. Thomas, while not exactly Ruth Brown or Etta Jones–those are high bars–gives it her boisterous all.

Creation Rebel: High Above Harlesden 1978-2023 (On-U Sound) I am pretty new to the Creation Rebel experience–I knew not of their Prince Far I and Adrian Sherwood connections–but the inexpensiveness and cover photo, plus a reggae jones that I can never quite dampen, pushed me forward with the following result: I’ve listened to the entire six-disc box three times and, thanks to some pit-stops in space and other non-Caribbean locations, they hold one’s attention.

Billie Eilish: HIT ME HARD & SOFT (Dark Room / Interscope) I listened to it and heard a remarkable stylistic tour de force for one so young (including a very welcome opening-up of her voice and one of the most vivid, longing, and funny oral sex songs I’ve ever heard); many others listened and heard a scattershot record, so…whom do you trust more, me or the many?

Ibibio Sound Machine: Pull the Rope (Merge) 2017’s Uyai lifted me so much I still have a poster of Eno Williams up in my office, but she and they have struggled to match that one since, though this comes awfully damn close.

Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, and Tyshawn Sorey: Compassion (ECM) A bracingly calming (is that a possible state of being?) set by three relatively young masters–I can simply listen to Sorey and be entranced–and maybe that’s what they mean by “compassion”: couldn’t we all stand to be braced by calm?

Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble: Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble (Palmetto) I received a review copy of this and, for some reason, the cover photo (which is fine) left me in a mood of obligation when I slid it into the CD changer, but I found it exciting: a) John Lewis’ title concept we still need to be reminded to mind; b) Wilson’s one helluva a drummer; c) the saxophonists–Jeff Lederer and Tia Fuller–are on fire; and d) they cover Prime Time Ornette (“Feet Music”!) with panache.

Joe McPhee (with Ken Vandermark): Musings of a Bahamanian Son (Catalytic Sound) Anyone who’s followed my blog for long knows I ride or die with this 84-year-old multi-instrumentalist, imaginative noise-maker, and cultural envoy from Poughkeepsie–but damned if I expected he’d release a terrific album of original poetry (with some honking assists by long-time buddy Ken Vandermark) that any young gun will have trouble topping this year.

Mdou Moctar: Funeral for Justice (Matador) I have been to many concerts in my life, and heard some amazing guitar players–including Sonic Youth’s at their absolute peak–but the 10+-minute wildfire I saw Moctar start in a little cafe in Columbia, Missouri, in 2019 tops them all, and this AOTY candidate’s his first one that gets within spitting distance of that (oh, and the translations are worth reading, as the album title has probably already tipped you).

Rapsody: Please Don’t Cry (We Each Other / Jamla Records) I’ve actually been longing for a new Rapsody record for awhile, as perhaps many of you have, and, for the patient–it’s a bit of an epic–the wait’s been worth it, especially because one of the best rappers alive tempers her wrenching reportage of her mental health struggles with a very combative spirit.

Sun Ra: Excelsior Mill (Sundazed / Modern Harmonic) The Sun One, in a perfect sound-image of the Phantom of the Opera, playing “the biggest pipe organ in the South” at Atlanta’s title club with just a bit of percussional help from the Arkestra–if you think that over 40 minutes of that would have to be a bit much, you’re just wrong, as it is an astonishing aural trip–complete with wry quotes, Ellingtonian choo-choo noises, phantasmagoria, and (of course space) travel–that was by far my favorite trip of any kind in May.

Sun Ra: Pink Elephants on Parade (Modern Harmonic) Most readers who know the work of Sun Ra and His Arkestra also know they would occasionally knock out a Disney cover, and, while this could actually benefit from a little more weirdness, it’s fun for the whole family, unlike most Arkestra records.

Students in Stephens College’s outstanding Conservatory are taking an asynchronous online course with me that’s stubbornly titled “Rock and Roll History” by the school. It’s actually built around Berklee neuroscience professors Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas’ book This is What It Sounds Like, which examines what brain science tells us about our connections to music, most fascinatingly through establishing a listening profile that asks the reader to truly examine their attractions. The neat thing–to me, anyway–is that students bring their own musical passions to the course and don’t have to endure me cramming “historically significant works” down their throats. To try to keep a toe in the titular pool, every week they are required to ask me a question about “rock and roll history”–and I ask them one. I often go to great lengths to answer their questions (it’s actually the lecture section of the course) and they (wisely) go to lesser lengths to answer mine.

Last week, I asked them to assess Billie Eilish’s new album (their takes resemble very closely the current critical division on that subject), plus post their Top 5 albums. When I ask students about their jams, I’m consistently amazed, considering how much music I listen to and how widely I range to do so, how little I really know about. For your pleasure, here are their lists (for their amusement, I bolded the relatively few albums they’ve chosen that I’ve actually heard). Mine (at least at the time of my posting them) are at the end–they change daily, if not hourly.

Student 1

(I am only naming the students if I have their permission, and I’m still waiting for some of those.)

A Letter To My Younger Self – Quinn XCII

Inside – Bo Burnham

Death of a Bachelor – Panic! at the Disco

Off to the Races – Jukebox the Ghost

The Greatest Showman – Various Artists

Student 2

Cowboy Carter – Beyonce

GUTS – Olivia Rodrigo

Emails I can’t send – Sabrina Carpenter

The Rise and Fall Of a Midwestern Princess – Chappell Roan

IGOR – Tyler, The Creator

Student 3

Obviously – Lake Street Dive

SOUR – Olivia Rodrigo

Emails I Can’t Send – Sabrina Carpenter

Oh the Places You’ll Go – Doechii

Stick Season – Noah Kahan

Student 4

The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology – Taylor Swift

Songs I Wrote in My Bedroom – Anson Seabra

cemeteries and socials – Paris Paloma

Now That I’ve Been Honest – Maddie Zahm

EPIC: The Underworld Saga – Jorge Rivera-Herrans

Student 5

Shrek the Musical

Hadestown

The Lightning Thief

Come from Away

Something Rotten!

Student 6

evermore – Taylor Swift

Muna – Muna

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan

the record – boygenius

The Tortured Poets Department – Taylor Swift

Claire McLewin

Build a Problem – Dodie

Demidevil – Ashnikko

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Eilish

Typical of Me EP – Laufey

Midwest Kids Can Make It Big – Lauren Sanderson

Student 8

Misadventures – Pierce the Veil

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan

How to Be a Human Being – Glass Animals

After Laughter – Paramore

SOUR – Olivia Rodrigo

Sawyer Nevins

Julie Is Her Name – Julie London

Latin ala Lee – Peggy Lee

Tragic Kingdom – No Doubt

Under the Pink – Tori Amos

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort – Michel Legrand

Student 10

ORQUÍDEAS – Kali Uchis

Gemini Rights – Steve Lacy

Willow – Willow

Volcano – Jungle

Portals – Melanie Martinez

Student 11

Montero – Lil Nas X

Call Me By Your Name Soundtrack – Sufjan Stevens and Various Artists

Something To Give Each Other – Troye Sivan

Night Work – Scissor Sisters

I Disagree – Poppy

Student 12

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Elilish

RAZZMATAZZ – I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

American Boys – Don McLean

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan

Now, Not Yet – Half•Alive

Izzy Porzillo

AAAH!BA – Brian David Gilbert

SCREAMING IN THE MIRROR – Sunday Cruise

Big Man Says Slappydoo – GUPPY

LOUDMOUTH – VIAL

Am I Pretty? – Sunday Cruise

Makenzie Schutter

Impera – Ghost

The Connect: Déjà vu – Monsta x

How to: Friend, Love, Freefall – Rainbow Kitten Surprise

Who Am I? – Palewaves

Inside – Bo Burnham

Kaley Sikora

Next to Normal – Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY – Taylor Swift

Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 – Dave Malloy

Love Me Forever – Pinkshift

Paige “Blue” Trew

When the World Stopped Moving: The Live EP – Lizzie McAlpine

Prelude to Ecstasy – The Last Dinner Party

Sunset Season: EP – Conan Gray

Through the Tides – Fish in a Birdcage

Waterfall – Fish in a Birdcage

Student 17

Into The Woods – 2022 Broadway Cast Recording

Faith In the Future (Deluxe) – Louis Tomlinson

The Comeback – Zac Brown Band

Portraits – Birdy

Kid Krow – Conan Gray

Student 18

Where Owls Know My Name – Rivers of Nihil

The Violent Sleep of Reason – Meshuggah

Masego – Masego

It Is What It Is – Thundercat

Remember That You Will Die – Polyphia

My Lists (of course I had to make two)!

My five favorite albums when I was 19:

The Clash: London Calling

Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited

Public Image Limited: Second Edition

Gang of Four: Entertainment

John Coltrane Quartet: A Love Supreme

My five favorite albums at 62 (these change from day to day–I have thousands of them):

Professor Longhair: Crawfish Fiesta

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys: The Tiffany Transcriptions, Volume 3–Basin Street Blues

Carmen McRae: As Time Goes By-Alone-Live at the Dug

Joni Mitchell: Blue

Tie: The Velvet Underground: 1969 Live / The Flying Burrito Brothers: The Gilded Palace of Sin

2024 First Quarter Report Card: My 20 Very Favorite Newbies, My 10 Very Favorite Old Crusts

I just realized that since this year I have changed things up–only writing about 20-25 records a month instead of creating a long ol’ snake of a list as the year goes on–my massive readership must be waiting with bated breath to learn what my very fuckin’ favorites are. I am begging forgiveness! I was planning on submitting such a list every quarter, so when I hit December I don’t go cross-eyed when I head to the polls. SO, excuse me while I annoy you with alphabetization instead of ranking (JLin, hint hint…maybe), but….

MY 20 VERY FAVORITE NEW RECORDS FROM 2024 SO FAR

Acceleration Due to Gravity: Jonesville (Hot Cup)

Brune Berle: No Reino Dos Afetos 2 (Far Out Recordings)

Beyonce: Cowboy Carter (Parkwood Entertainment)

James Carter: UN (JMI Recordings)

Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (Spiritmuse) 

Amaro Freitas: Y’Y (Psychic Hotline)

Satoko Fujii Trio: Jet Black (Libra)

Miha Gantar: New York City (Clean Feed)

Heems & Lapgan: Lafandar

Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past is Still Alive (Nonesuch)

Jlin: Akoma (Planet Mu) (Note: I don’t think I’ve written about this one but it is incredible, even for her!)

Adrienne Lenker: Bright Future (4AD)

Mannequin Pussy: I Got Heaven (Epitaph)

Bill Orcutt Guitar Quartet: Four Guitars Live (Palilalia)

QOW Trio: The Hold Up (Ubuntu)

Ann Savoy: Another Heart (Smithsonian Folkways)

Split System: Volume 2 (Legless)

Fay Victor:  Life is Funny That Way—Herbie Nichols Sung (TAO Forms)

Bob Vylan: Humble as the Sun (Ghost Theater)

Tierra Whack: World Wide Whack (Interscope) 

MY TOP 10 VERY FAVORITE ESCAVATED OR REISSUED RECORDS FROM 2024 SO FAR

Irakere: Teatro Amadeo Roldan Recital (Mr. Bongo)

Love Child: Never Meant to Be (12XU) 

Franco Luambo Mkaidi: Presents Les Editions Populaires (Planet Ilunga) 

Rail Band: Rail Band (Mississippi Records)

Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver–The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)

Sun Ra:  At the Showcase Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (Elemental Music)

Various Artists: Congo Funk! Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Analog Africa)

Various Artists: Love Hides All Faults—Deep Gospel Soul Selected by Jumbo (Elusive Vinyl / Pyramid Records)

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors Live in Antwerp (Elemental Music)

ADDENDUMS:

  1. Via Mr. Postman, I just got this drums ‘n’ trumpet duet explosion from Libra Records by Natsuki Tamura and Jim Black that is crisply recorded, rocks even though it’s technically free jazz, and even includes nicely-timed ululations for fans of Yoko Ono and later-period Cecil Taylor. I wish I had a video or Spotify link, but it’s not yet out–I will be enthusing about it.
  2. Out of the blue, it struck me how I really feel about Taylor Swift: I admire her like I admired Tom Petty (which will now make Tom Petty fans mad, maybe). Crafty, solid, memorable, reliable, pleasurable–but, for me, just not enough to bring one of their records into the house. (I did own Damn the Torpedos and that one he argued the price down on when I was a whippersnapper, though).
  3. Some readers who are also my Facebook cyberpals already know about this, but in my composition class this year, while Cowboy Carter was still in the offing, we got to talking about the history of descendants of enslaved Africans (and sometimes former enslaved Africans) making country music far in advance as is what is popularly assumed. For my students, I started a Spotify playlist including some such recordings, shared it on Facebook, then watched joyfully as former students–many of whom are now Southerners–started adding to the playlist. I’m very happy about it, and here it is. Is it missing some things? Certainly. Hit me ‘up….

April 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To

I will again try to comment meaningfully on each of the following alphabetically-ordered new release in single complete sentences. Two introductory notes, though:

  1. Later this year, Phil Freeman’s Cecil Taylor biography In the Brewing Luminous will be published. I’m reading a review copy, and I’m here to tell you it’s outstanding. First of all, this book was badly needed, given Taylor’s singular genius and influence; second of all, in well-documented form it gathers much info that’s out there in one place; third, it’s so comprehensive it’s alerted this passionate fan to recordings he’s never heard of; fourth–no surprise with Mr. Freeman–it advances some critical arguments very convincingly; and fifth, in a continuance from Freeman’s stellar electric Miles investigation, Running the Voodoo Down, the author excels–really excels–at describing a furious, sometimes byzantine music in very distinctive and accurate detail. That’s a trick I really envy; if I could do a fifth as good a job as Freeman, I’d be writing about jazz much more frequently. Check out Phil’s chock-full Burning Ambulance Substack to learn more.
  2. I’m not that much a fan of Light in the Attic’s new Lou Reed tribute The Power of the Heart–at all–but that damn Bobby Rush will be ninety-one in November, and if Sally truly can’t dance, he sure as hell can. He elides a few phrases in Reed’s lyric I bet he wasn’t wholly comfortable with, but he, as per usual for many, many years, sells the song. Hear it in the Spotify Playlist linked at the bottom!

April Top 15 New Platters:

Byron Asher’s Skrontch Music: Lord, when you send the rain (Sinking City)–Like Asher’s previous Skrontch Music album, the problems of New Orleans’ (and other places’) present send him backwards into the future, with spoken clips, traditional instrumentation, and post-modern feints and juxtapositions helping us get why.

Bruno Berle: No Reino Dos Afetos 2 (Psychic Hotline)–The Bandcamp description of this soothing singer’s project (the first volume is excellent, too) informs us that lo-fi, dub step, and other ingredients are utilized to help Berle break away from the Brazilian expected–but I also note that it notes the album’s “sun-soaked” and “sun-drenched” affect, so maybe that’s just historical gravity, not at all a bad thing.

Beyonce: Cowboy Carter (Parkwood Entertainment)–OK, so it’s not all that country (please dig out featured vet Linda Martell’s Color Me Country if you want that)–it’s just a really good Beyonce album, but, with much less pre-release hype and in-release bombast, I’d argue Mickey Guyton made a stronger statement with Remember Her Name in ’21 without riding a horse or wearing a cowboy hat (plus she turned whiskey into wine).

Buck 65, doseone, Jel: North American Adonis (Handsmade)–Rap earworm line of the year from this on-a-serious-verbal-roll Canadian MC is that he bets his CDs are gonna be “alive in a landfill”–that’s thinking ahead.

Cedric Burnside: Hill Country Love (Mascot / Provogue)–The North Mississippi Hill Country blues practitioners are getting whittled down something considerable, R. L.’s grandson’s has gamely tried keep the style alive with some gently modern tweaks, and he finally nails it here.

James Carter: UN (J.M.I. Recordings)–J.M.I.’s cutting analog jazz vinyl, and, while I have not heard them all (David Murray’s 2023 offerings, solo and with Plumb, were impressive), this is tops for them so far, causing one to wonder why it’s taken JC this long to wax an unaccompanied set…though I’m still waiting for his Earl Bostic tribute album.

Big Freedia & The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra: Live at the Orpheum Theater (Queen Diva)–A bounce orchestra’s taking it too far, you might think, but you SHOULD already know not to sell the Queen Diva short.

Miha Gantar: New York City (Clean Feed)–When I received a digital review copy of this 5-disc collection of new compositions and improvisations by the 26-year-old Slovenian pianist, I rolled my eyes but, as I have sworn to do with these “gifts,” gave it a shot–then found myself so mesmerized not only by the variable moods and configurations (strings, solo, drums only, collab with sax sensation Zoh Amba, etc.), but also by the distinctiveness of the six-count-’em-six pieces that I listened to the whole thing straight through and determined that it’s my favorite jazz release of the year.

Matt Lavelle and the 12 Houses: The Crop Circles Suite, Part 1 (Mahakala Music)–NYC clarinetist, trumpeter, composer and conductor Lavelle, long a very underrated player on the jazz scene, released this, (it looks like the first half of) his “life’s work,” on his 54th birthday: easily one of the genre’s most ambitious, successful and inspiring records of the young year.

Meshell Ndegeocello (and Friends): Red Hot & Ra – The Magic City (Red Hot Org)–You know you cannot resist the pull of the perennially underrated Ndegeocelleo, assisted by jazz compatriots Immanuel Wilkins and Darius Jones, putting a fresh spin on The Sun One–which the Red Hot Org label seems recently dedicated to doing, with a Kronos Quartet set in the offing.

Tomeka Reid Quartet: 3 + 3 (Cuneiform)–More and more predictably, when you put Reid and guitarist Mary Halvorson in the same room, sparks will fly along with those fingers, and aural magic will be the result, as it is here.

Ann Savoy: Another Heart (Smithsonian Folkways)–Surprise of the month: a passionate combo of covers (Springsteen, Sandy Denny, Kinks!) and originals sung and played by acclaimed Cajun historian and member of one of the style’s most acclaimed and hardest working families, a Top-Tenner to my ears (and…heart).

Reyna Tropical: Reyna Tropical (Psychic Hotline)–I swear I’ve run into one of these albums every month for a couple of years: a moody, sexy, lithely swinging, electronic trance-r&b–maybe in this case, yeah, trance–tropical–album that I can’t quit playing and beats monkey gland shots or whatever, which means I might need to dive into the artist’s considerable (for her age) back catalog.

Fay Victor: Life is Funny That Way—Herbie Nichols Sung (TAO Forms)–I’ll admit that, while an earlier 2024 group from Brazil did successfully sing Bill Evans, I thought star-crossed jazz pianist Nichols’ quirky compositions were too high a hurdle, but then I didn’t know diddley about Victor, whose scatting isn’t just experimental but vies with Carter, McRae, Ross, and Vaughan (stylistically, not really Ella, though) at their most daring; the band makes it over the bar as clearly.

Bob Vylan: Humble as the Sun (Ghost Theater)–A youngster for our times, though, compared to his last two records, this one seems almost autumnal, as if the pure revolutionary fire he regularly lights has prematurely aged him–but these times can do that, too.

April Top 10 Old Platters [Post-Record Store Day CD Meteor Shower (for me, every day is RSD)].

Alice Coltrane: The 1971 Carnegie Hall Concert (Impulse!)–The latest entry in the Alice Coltrane revival is the rowdiest and maybe the best, thanks to horns shaking things up.

Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru: Souvenirs (Mississippi Records)–As they do a Professor Longhair platter, all homes that dig music need a record by the recently-departed, ghost-fingered Ethiopian pianist and nun, but this is her first recording with vocals, which I wasn’t completely certain hadn’t slowed down her already sauntering roll–but, upon two more listens, I was wrong again.

Grupo Irakere: Teatro Amadeo Roldan Recital (Mr. Bongo)–Cuban bands come no hotter than this one, and this is their long-unavailable debut recording (and it’s not just hot).

Rail Band: Rail Band (Mississippi Records)–Another debut recording by a legendary band, this one from Mali, this one too long-unavailable, and featuring not one but two legendary vocalists:  Salif Keita and Mory Kanté.

Sonny Rollins: Freedom Weaver–The 1959 European Tour Recordings (Resonance)–My good pal Chris Gray, referring to this album, wondered who could complain about “live Rollins ’59,” and. while I whole-heartedly agree, especially since Sonny’s working in a trio format, Sonny would soon hit the bridge to…woodshed; I promise you that if you’re ever this good at what you do that you think you’re not good enough, you might just need lysergic therapy. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Sun Ra: At the Showcase Live in Chicago 1976-1977 (Elemental Music)–Ra in Chicago, always a spot for top-of-the-line spaceworks, with the band orbiting. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Art Tatum: Jewels In the Treasure Box (Resonance)–Mainly, you need to know this Tatum is in trio mode, which naturally cuts into his usual carnival of pianistics but also allows guitarist Everett Barksdale and legendary bassist Slam Stewart to show their scintillating stuff. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD.)

Various Artists: Congo Funk! Sound Madness From The Shores Of The Mighty Congo River (Analog Africa)–Key words: “Congo,” “Funk!” (exclamation point earned), “Sound Madness,” “Mighty”–and “Analog Africa; in other words, “Merde, putain, lâche-toi le cul et jam !” (Et j’adore de la confiture!)

Various Artists: New York City Hardcore: The Way It Is (Revelation Records)–I had not heard of any of these bands, but all the vocalists sound in some way like my best friend, former ranter, opera buff, free jazz buff, French-Canadian advocate, European football nut, and scientist Mark Pelletier, so it’s a win.

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors Live in Antwerp (Elemental Music)–Both these now-underrated instrumentalists started out trad, in a way–pianist Waldron accompanying twilight-era Billie Holiday, soprano saxophonist Lacy playing New Orleans jazz–but ended up taking things just out enough to be trenchantly in, and they were master players, especially live, and here they are backed by two more flexible and pretty legendary rhythm controllers you heard about last week: bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille. (Note: RSD 2024 choice now available on CD–and it might be the pick of the litter.)

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST:

LABELS TO WATCH: Psychic Hotline (Durham, North Carolina), Sinking City (always—New Orleans), Mahakala Music (Little Rock, Arkansas)

February 2024: Music I Lived to Listen To (Plus Stuff)

I think I’m going to stick to recommending just 10 new albums I enjoyed each month and highlighting some non-2024 beauties, then maybe compiling a comprehensive list at the end of June and, finally, at the end of December. Those endlessly unspooling scrolls were starting to drive me nuts, and I need additional storage in my skull. And, let’s face it, the great Tom Hull has the long-list category wrapped up like Sam & Dave. And…I need to write a bit, even if it isn’t all that insightful, as opposed to simple enthusing.

FEBRUARY TOP 10

Beyonce: “Texas Hold ‘Em” b/w “16 Carriages” (Parkwood Entertainment)—I unequivocally love this imaginary 45, which is no small statement from me, as I (like others I have observed) have issues with imperial projection. I have spent many years begging young students to understand that Black Americans have been making (and loving) (and spreading) what can fairly be called country music since the 1920s, I’ve been rigorously pointing out their growing current visibility in that genre over the last few years…so this impassioned foray is so very welcome. I feel more warmly toward Mickey Guyton, but these songs make her sound like Nancy Wilson. I can only chuckle at country radio programmers trying to stop Country Bey.

Burnt Sugar: The Reconstru​-​Ducted Repatriation Road​-​Rage ReMiXeS [of “Angels Over Oakanda’] (self-released)—a cheat, in a way, as you can only obtain it by buying the vinyl version of the band’s wonderful Angels Over Oakand (or by illegally download it, but please honor and remember Greg Tate with cash). It’s sonically and creatively warped enough for one to need it as much as the original, which is among the best of Tate’s stew of funk, ‘70s Miles, Afrofuturist soul, and a sprinkling of Hendrix.

George Cartwright’s GloryLand PonyCats: Black Ants Crawling (Mahakala Records)—I am very loyal to Cartwright’s record label (free and experimental jazz out of Hot Springs, Arkansas? Yes, Pharoah was from Little Rock, but check the variety and volume of the music it puts out). Here, Aylerian alto/tenor saxophonist Cartwright and two comrades collaborate for a honking, skittering recording which the title fits perfectly.

Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past is Still Alive (Nonesuch)—I have been rooting for Alynda Segarra since their first records; their story, their concerns, their songwriting, their conviction have always added up to my jam, but somehow their singing and music never put them over the top for me beyond first (and sometimes second) listen. This grabbed me from the first line, and, as a friend texted me, “This is a 2024 record for sure. A keeper.” The vocals sound more confident and more charged, the music doesn’t get in the way, and songs like “Hawkmoon,” “Snake Plant,” and “Colossus of Roads” forced me out of my dedication to a straight-through first hearing and into repeat plays. The inclusion of a voice mail from their late father broke my heart. I proceeded to buy the physical copy, which, I suppose, is my signal that an album is in all ways (yes, Brett) a keeper. I’m glad I hung in there.

Legendary Singing Stars: Good Old Way (Music Maker Foundation)—Yet again, here’s a label/company I believe in. It’s dedicated to getting our last generation of long-term practitioners of blues and gospel on record and into solid financial standing. Everything it touches is not exactly gold, but they seem more successful finding and recording gospel acts, and this is a great example. One might not trust the group name (“Legendary? I never heard of ‘em!”) and at first glance the title isn’t mouth-watering, but here’s some enticing tidbits: it’s live and passionate (a tribute to co-founder Tommy Ellison, who passed from cancer), the set list is certainly not the gospel same-ole, and they’re straight out of…Brooklyn. Moving.

Molly Lewis: On the Lips (Jagjaguwar)—Yes, I remember her whistling in Barbie, and it was neat. And, among other magic powers, Toots Thielemans could jazz his lips. When I noted that Lewis had a record out, I thought to myself, “I don’t need a whistler’s record” (how many of you wrestle with record need?). But…well…Pitchfork reviewed it, the cover photo and title stimulated me, I did think of Thielemans, who’s a personal favorite, and I streamed it. COOL! Noirish, mischievous, winsome, varied, catchy—in short, one of a kind and the kind of cute I go for. Please, Lord or whatever, do not let Lana Del Rey fold her in.

QOW Trio: The Hold Up (Ubuntu)—Norway jazz aficionado Chris Monsen has an unerring ear for great jazz, especially if it’s not of the States (though he’s reliable on that subject, too). He recommends one new jazz record a week and I do not question him; he provides a link, I click, and I listen. It’s scary! I fancy myself antiauthoritarian, but I do not question Chris. He recommended this release by an English unit earlier this month, and as I was doing his bidding (but also reading and not really homed in), I suddenly sat up from the couch, and said aloud (I was alone—I’m getting old), “Damn, that sounds like Sonny Rollins!” Sad secret: I don’t even read Chris’ reviews of these albums; I just play them first and go back and read them after—that’s trust. So I grabbed my phone, looked at the album track list, and bugged out at the closer: “I’m an Old Cowhand”! Suffice it to say that, if you’re missing new Rollins—we’re long past the end of that line, sadly—you best check this out. Saxophonist Riley Stone Lonergan is no imitator; he’s got his own sense of line, but he steams along with a very powerful tone and has a very familiar sense of humor. The rest of the trio are clearly listening—in some ways, also, more responsive than some of the master’s trios—resulting in an “A” recording. I’m working my way through their previous offerings, and this one’s no fluke. Isn’t it funny how often you’re reminded that you haven’t listened to every great thing?

Joel Ross: Nublues (Blue Note)—I’ve seen Ross thrice: leading a combo and supporting Makaya McCraven and Immanuel Wilkins, respectively. As a player, he’s an angular wonder. I have not been blown away by the recordings he’s made under his own name, but he always makes me sit up and take notice as a sideman. This, I think, is easily his best solo record, and if you feel reluctant when you notice the jazz classics (two well-worn Tranes and a Monk) he’s covering on it, suppress the urge to move on and listen to the interpretive magic he brings to them. His originals are great as well.

Split System: Volume 2 (Legless)—No, garage punk ain’t over. Never has been in Australia. Following a lead from Memphis’ Goner Records—if you’re starved for forcebeat and two- or three-chord energy (or general aggressive outsider weirdness, Memphian and otherwise), subscribe to their mailing list—I checked out this Melbourne unit and they are like running into an electric fence. Fans of Eddy Current Suppression Ring should not tarry, but these guys don’t go on as long. Volume 1? Also, highly recommended.

Ms. Boogie & Ky Ani: The Breakdown (Ms. Boogie Records)—The surprise of the month for me. The New York rapper got a good notice from Pitchfork, but I’ve cooled a little on its rap recs, so streamed this to get it over with. Boom. They rap-whisper, in a way—like what they have to tell are secrets, but secrets one has to fight—daily. Try “Build Me Up,” where the church they attend and need wants them dead, for a convincer.

OLD & MISCELLANEOUS STUFF

Dennis Gonzalez: (with Yells with Eels and his sons) Cape of Storms (featuring Louis Moholo-Moholo / Resurrection and Life (featuring Alvin Fielder) / The Great Bydgosczc Concert (featuring Rodrigo Amado); (with Inspiration Band) Nile River Suite (featuring Henry Grimes)—The Abilene-born and Dallas/FW-headquartered Gonzalez is the most underappreciated jazz composer and bandleader of the post-Trane era. There, I said it. The music journalist Ken Shimamoto, who has been a far kinder Stanley Crouch to Gonzalez’s much more interesting Wynton Marsalis, says it better in one of the last editions of the Penguin Guide to Jazz, and Ken’s the friend that firmly advised me to sample his work. Since I did, it’s been Sally-bar-the-door. Gonzalez’s trumpet and pen knew endless variations, his sons (on bass and drums in the Yells with Eels band) were more than just acolytes, and by the time he died in 2022, he’d gained the respect of many jazz masters. Great starting points for all three claims are these records, which also showcase the distinctive movement and energy Gonzalez’s writing stimulated and prove how wonderfully he engaged with drummers. I used to experience Dylan fixations, and Lou Reed still puts a ring through my nose for weeks, but this month was the fourth time I found myself awash in Gonzalez’s work. You can’t miss with these if you’re adventurous, like some structure with your freedom, and simply want to catch up.

Trouble in Mind (THE Jerry Lee Lewis Documentary, directed by Ethan Coen)—I have been a serious Jerry Lee fan since I first heard “Crazy Arms” and read Nick Tosches’ Hellfire, I own several Killer books and docs, and, even with a Coen Brother at the helm and Mick Jagger, T-Bone Burnett, and Callie Khouri producing, I was skeptical that a) we needed another Lewis documentary, and b) anyone could really do justice to such an enigmatic force of nature, both dangerous and life-affirming. I was wrong again. In 74 minutes of mostly Jerry Lee, through clips, telling his own stories and footage even most JLL adepts have never seen, they nail it. Lone caveat: minutes and minutes of Mickey Gilley and some drama from Jimmy Swaggart, and A FEW SECONDS (!!!!) of Lewis’ wild-assed piano-pounding sister Linda Gail, who got married (the first time out of NINE—the current number as of today, I think) so she could get laid properly under the gaze of God? That’s a serious “what the fuck?” but this documentary is still very much worth your time.

Exploring Gong Culture of Southeast Asia: Massif and Archipelago—A Project by Yasuhiro Morinaga (Sub Rosa)—A typical music junkie Internet experience: I was looking for something else when I saw an ad for a Smithsonian-style collection of gong music from Cambodia. As if my cyber-brakes weren’t working, I kept clicking past it, then tried to back track and lost it. I don’t know how. I wanted gong music so badly (my lip’s always hook-ready) that, after trying in vain to find the album I’d seen an image of, I plugged “gong Cambodia” into a Discogs search and this appeared at the top of the list. I noticed the cover alluded to a David Toop intro, so—what the hell?—like Patty Hearst did to Roland’s Thompson gun, I bought it. It’s been playing enchantingly throughout my drafting this. Certain people, you know what to do!