Tag: Rodrigo Amado

A HOLIDAY MONTH’S MEAL AND A FEW WEEKS OF LUSCIOUS LEFTOVERS: MY FAVORITE RECORDS, JANUARY 1st to DECEMBER 2nd (precisely), 2025

I listened to almost 40 records last month that passed muster–many did so in splendid style. A huge chunk of my time was taken up by a new studio (!) album by the forceful, imaginative, and focused jazz improvisers known as [ahmed] (a double set that requires very close attention and replaying) and Corbett vs. Dempsey’s shining new six-disc compilation of Chicago and international players known and relatively unknown blowing the doors off The Empty Bottle, one of the country’s greatest dives, circa 1996-2005. In addition, I was fortunate to receive review copies of two live Rahsaan Roland Kirk excavations by the indefatigable Zev Feldman for Resonance Records, and I’ll stop doing almost anything for Rah. Plus, I was finishing teaching two on-line classes plus a 3.5-week, three-hour-per-session, M-F freshman comp course during which many unpredictable things occurred that ’bout had me losing my religion. Add my first Thanksgiving without either of my parents above ground (ghost distraction) and Todd Snider’s passing hitting me harder than I’d figured, and I feel like I’ve been through a very slow-moving, tight wringer. I am through it, so some quick observations:

Sabrina Carpenter–I give. I give. You are the master.

If you watched Big Freedia‘s show back in the day, it’ll be impossible not to be moved by her new gospel album devoted to her departed long-time paramour.

Re: Snider‘s passing? So fucking sad, so weird, probably in the end, if all the facts ever come out, not surprising. But his last album (see below) is Americana’s version of Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin: it is very painful to hear a powerful voice and spirit reduced to a near-husk–but the word is NEAR.

If you’ve never heard an album by the musician/writer/performance artist/stutter-battler JJJJJerome Ellis, you might give his new one a try. I witnessed him live perform much of the material, and, while it’s demanding, it’s astonishingly inspiring.

Thank you, Alfred and Joey, for the tips on Home Front (my kind of punk) and the new Allo Darlin’ (my kind of, um, twee…but I don’t like that appelation). Where would we be without other scouts?

If you have a taste for eccentric, intriguing, and impish jazz, you’ll be hard-pressed to find two albums that fit that bill better than Yuhan Su‘s and Joe Westerlund‘s new records. Delightful is another good adjective for those two.

No, these are not those Wrens. Not by a long shot. But they are tres interesante.

If you can’t decide between the Huskers and the Mats of your youth (assuming you were a youth at that time), go Huskers! You may be tempted by the live Replacements disc, but, though they actually sound pretty together, the sound is not great. On the other hand, the Du discs explode (though some are still complaining about mixes).

Regarding trends–I’m really backtracking to last month, when I should have said more about the even newer (and improved) Sharp Pins release–is there such a thing as a power-poptimist?

The billy woods reimagining is better than the originally imagined. And that would be about the music, which with woods is often a kind of sticking point.

What about the new De La Soul? It is de la sweet.

Sorry no playlist but I am still not gonna play with Spotify.

MY LIST OF AURAL PLEASURE—January 1 – December 2, 2025
BOLDED = New to the List
ASTERISKED* to ***** = Damn good! to Holy CANNOLI!
ITALICIZED: Excavations from the Past / Reissue


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


Aesop Rock: I Heard It’s a Mess There (Rhymesayers) ****
Africa Express: …Presents…Bahidora (World Circuit Limited) ****

[ahmed]: Sama’a [Audition] (Otoroku) *****

Allo Darlin’: Bright Nights (Slumberland)

Rodrigo Amado / The Bridge: Further Beyond (Trost) ****
Amarae: Black Star (Golden Angel) ***
Amasia: Anamibia Sessions 2 (Archetext)
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) ***
Anna Hogberg Attack: Ensamseglaren (fönstret) ***
Ichiko Aoba: Luminescent Creatures (Psychic Hotline)


Armand Hammer & The Alchemist: Mercy (BackwoodzStudioz)
Artemis: Arboresque (Blue Note) ****
Mulatu Astatke: Mulatu Plays Mulatu (Strut) ****
Backxwash: Only Dust Remains (Ugly Hag) ****
Bad Bunny: DeBI TiRAR MaS FOToS (Rimas Entertainment) *****
Julien Baker & Torres: Send a Prayer My Way (Matador) ****


Mohinder Kaur Bhamra: Punjabi Disco (Naya Beat) ***
Bar-B-Q Killers: The Last Shit, Part 1 (Chunklet 45)

Big Freedia: Pressing Onward (Queen Diva Music) ***

Big Thief: Double Infinity (4AD) ***
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) 

Bob Dylan: Through the Open Window—The Bootleg Series Volume 18(Columbia) ***
Booker T & The Plasmic Bleeds: Ode To BC/LY… And Eye Know BO…. da Prez (Mahakala Music)
Benjamin Booker: Lower (Fire Next Time)

Christer Bothén: Christer Bothén Donso n’goni (Black Truffle) 
Johnny Bragg: Let Me Dream On (Org Music) ***

Patricia Brennan: Of The Near and Far (Pyroclastic) ****
Brother Ali & Ant: Satisfied Soul (Mello Music)
Buck 65: Keep Moving (self-released)
Peter Brotzmann: The Quartet (Otoroku) *****

Danny Brown: Stardust (Warp) ***
Master Wilburn Burchette: Master Wilburn Burchette’s Psychic Meditation Music (Numero Group) ***

Sabrina Carpenter: Man’s Best Friend (Island) ****
Joe Chambers, Kevin Diehl, Chad Taylor: Onilu (Eremite) ****
Tyler Childers: Snipe Hunter (RCA / Hickman Holler) *****
Christer Bothén 3: L’Invisible (thanatosis) ****
Citric Dummies: Split with Turnstile (Feel It)
clipping: Dead Channel Sky (Sub Pop)

Clipse: Let God Sort ‘Em Out (Roc Nation) ***
Common and Pete Rock: The Auditorium, Volume 1 (Casa Loma)
Hollie Cook: Shy Girl (Mr. Bongo) ***
Cosmic Ear: TRACES (We Jazz) *****
The Cosmic Tones Research Trio: The Cosmic Tones Research Trio (Mississippi Records) ***
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) ***
Sylvia Courvoisier & Wadada Leo Smith: Angel Falls (Intakt)
Chuck D: Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio—Radio Armageddon (Soundspeak)
cupcakKe: The Bakery (self-released) ***
Lucrecia Dalt: A Danger to Ourselves (RVNG International) ****
Christopher Dammann Sextet: Christopher Dammann Sextet (Out of Your Head)
 ***
Deepstaria Enigmatica: The Eternal Now Is the Heart of a New Tomorrow (ESP-Disk)
****

De La Soul: Cabin in the Sky (Mass Appeal) ***
The Delines: Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom (Jealous Butcher) *****
Dial Up: Dial Up (Aerophonic)
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)

Kenny Dorham: Blue Bossa in the Bronx—Live from the Blue Morocco (Resonance) ***
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) ****

JJJJJerome Ellis: Vesper Sparrow (Shelter Press) ***
Marco Eneidi Quintet: Wheat Fields of Kleylehof (Balance Point Acoustics / Botticelli) ****
Mark Ernestus’ Ndagga Rhythm Force: Khadim (Ndagga) ***
Silvana Estrada: Vendran Suaves Lluvia (Glassnote)
Ex-Void: In Love Again (Tapete Records)

Augustus Fanon & billy woods: gowillog (reimagined) (Backwoodz Studios) ****
Shamek Farrah: First Impressions (Strata-East) ***
Shamek Farrah & Sonelius Smith: The World of the Children (Strata-East) ****
Fieldwork: Thereupon (Pi Records) ****
Robert Finley: Hallelujah! Don’t Let the Devil Fool Ya! (Easy Eye) ****
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 Quartet: Burning Wick (Libra)
Satoko Fujii Trio: Dream a Dream (Libra) ****

Satoko Fuji / This is It!: Message (Libra)
Tomas Fujiwara: Dream Up (Out of Your Head) ****
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) ****
HAIM: I quit (Haim Productions) ****
Keiji Haino and Natsuki Tamura: what happened there? (Libra)

Mary Halvorson: About Ghosts (Nonesuch) *****
Hamell on Trial: Harp (for Harry) (Saustex)
Phil Haynes & Free Country: Liberty Now! (Corner Store Jazz) ***
Heat On: Heat On(Cuneiform)
The Hemphill Stringtet: Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head Records)
The Hives: Forever Forever The Hives (Play It Again Sam)

Home Front: Watch It Die(La Vida Es En Mus) ****
Horsegirl: Phonetics On and On (Matador)

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

Hot 8 Brass Band: Big Tuba (Tru Thoughts) ***
Hunx and His Punks: Walk Out on This World (Get Better) ****
Hüsker Dü: 1985—The Miracle Year (Numero Group) *****
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) ****

JID: God Does Like Ugly (Dreamville/Interscope)
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) ****

Kahil El’ Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Live at ‘mu’ London (Spiritmuse) ***

The Kasambwe Brothers: The Kasambwe Brothers (Mass MoCA) ****
Tyler Keith: I Confess (Wyatt & Black)
Kelela: In the Blue Light (Warp) ***
KINGDOM MOLOGI: Kembo (Nyege Nyege Tapes) ****

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Seek & Listen—Live at the Penthouse (Resonance) ****

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Vibrations in the Village—Live at the Village Gate (Resonance) ****
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) ****

Mahotella Queens: Buya Buya—Come Back (Umsakazo) ****
Mazinga: Chinese Democracy Manifest—Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (Rubber Wolf)


Makaya McCraven: The People’s Mixtape (International Anthem EP—best of the three to my ear) ***

Stephen McCraven: Wooley the Newt (moved-by-sound) ***
Mean Mistreater: Do or Die (self-released)
 ***
The Mekons: Horror (Fire) ***

Ava Mendoza / Gabby Fluke-Mogul / Carolina Perez: Mama Killa (Burning Ambulance) ***
Mexstep & Principe Q: Tráfico (Puro Unity EP)
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) *****(late 2024 BUT that was in Ireland…)
Jason Moran / Trondheim Jazz Orchestra/ Ole Morten Vågan: Go To Your North (Yes Records)
kelly moran Don’t Trust Mirrors (Warp)
The Morells: You’re Gonna Hurt Yourself (Sound Asleep)

Gurf Morlix: Bristlecone (self-released) ****
Maria Muldaur: One Hour Mama (Nola Blue)
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: Perseverance Flow (Eremite) *****
Natural Information Society and Bitchin’ Bahas: Totality (Drag City)

The Necks: Inquiet (Northern Spy) ***
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)
Linda May Han Oh: Strange Heavens (Biophilia) ****
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) ***** (late 2024)

Otherlands Trio (Crump/Jones/McPherson): Star Mountain (Intakt) ****
Aruan Ortiz: Creole Renaissance (Intakt) ***
Kassa Overall: Cream (Warp) ****
Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra Led by Horace Tapscott: Live at Widney High December 26th, 1971 (The Village) ***
Raphael Pannier: Live in St. Louis, Senegal (Miel Music) ***
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)
Preservation & Gabe ‘Nandez: Sortilège (BackwoodzStudioz) ****
Princess Nokia: Girls (Artist House) ***
The Prize: In the Red (Anti Fade Records) ***
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 & Kenny Segal: The Night Green Side of It (Ruby Yacht / Alpha Pup) ***
R.A.P. Ferreira: Outstanding Understanding (Ruby Yacht)
Vernon Reid: Hoodoo Telemetry (Artone / The Players Club)
Jussi Reijonen: sayr—salt/thirst (unmusic) ***
Jussi Reijonen: sayr-kaiho—Live in Helsinki (unmusic) ****

The Replacements: Let It Be (Rhino) ***
Jonathan Richman: Only Frozen Sky Anyway (Blue Arrow) ***

Rosalía: Luxe (Columbia) ***
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)

Talibah Safiya: a lil more Black Magic (High Water) ***
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)


Noura Mint Seymali: Yenbett(Glitterbeat) ****
Sharp Pins: Radio DDR (K / Perennial Death) ***
Sharp Pins: Balloon Balloon Balloon (K / Perennial Death) ****

Mark Sherman: Bop Contest (Miles High)
Matthew Shipp: The Cosmic Piano (Canteloupe Records) ****
Patrick Shiroishi: Forgetting is Violent (American Dream)
Anthony “Big A” Sherrod: Torchbearer of the Clarksdale Sound (Music Makers Recordings EP)
$ilkMoney: WHO WATERS THE WILTING GIVING TREE ONCE THE LEAVES DRY UP AND FRUITS NO LONGER BEAR? (Lex)
Laura Singh: Mean Reds (Out of Your Head)
Slick Rick: Victory (Mass Appeal) ***

Todd Snider: High, Lonesome, and Then Some (Aimless / Thirty Tigers) ***

Snocaps: Snocaps (Anti-) ****
Peter Stampfel: Song Shards (Jalopy Records)

Mavis Staples: Sad and Beautiful World (Anti-)
Luke Stewart / Silt Remembrance Ensemble: The Order (Cuneiform) ***

Yuhan Su: OVER the MOONs (Endectomorph Music) ***
Sudan Archives: THE BPM (Stones Throw)
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)

The Third Mind: Right Now! (Yep Roc)
Three-Layer Cake: “sounds the color of grounds” (Otherly Love)
Pat Thomas: HIKMAH (TAO Forms)
Los Thuthanaka: Los Thuthanaka(Studio Pankara) ****
Trio Glossia: Trio Glossia (Sonic Transmissions) ****

Trio of Bloom: Trio of Bloom (Pyroclastic) ***
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)

Ken Vandermark: October Flowers for Joe McPhee (Corbett vs. Dempsey) ****
Various Artists: African Jazz Invites O.K. Jazz (Planet Ilunga) ***


Various Artists: The Bottle Tapes (Corbett vs. Dempsey) *****
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) ***

Various Artists: A Tribute to the King of Zydeco (Valcourt) *****
Vibration Black Finger: Everybody Cryin’ Mercy (Enid)
Morgan Wade: The Party is Over (recovered) (Ladylike) ***
The War & Treaty: Plus One (Mercury Nashville) ****

Wednesday: Bleeds (Dead Oceans) ****

Joe Westerlund: Curiosities from the Shift (Psychic Hotline) ***
Wet Leg: moisturizer (Domino) ***
Alfred White: The Definitive Alfred White (Music Makers Recordings)

Wheelhouse: House and Home (Aerophonic)

Simon Willson: Bet (Endectomorph Records)

Wrens: Half of What You See (Out of Your Heads) ****
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) ***

Integrated List Solutions: 2023’s Best Discs With a Month to Go

RIP Shane MacGowan.

PREJUDICES:

  1. I don’t trust critics’ positive evaluations of art when they’re mostly grounded in politics (of one sort or another). Yet I am frequently guilty of it here.
  2. Related: For much of my life I have thought women were clearly the superior of the two traditionally recognized genders. My wife has helped me sustain that viewpoint; the last seven years of public mad, toxic explosions has convinced me we are equally flawed. Just sayin’: if the upper reaches of my list are dominated by women, it’s not because I’m still guided by romantic notions.
  3. I love jazz right now more than any other major genre. Within that larger genre, I find experimental and free jazz more interesting than its other subgenres. It engages my mind and skin more regularly than other kinds of music. That said, it’s really hard to rank such records. I could spend another hour rearranging my favorite experimental and free jazz records, and I’d change that arrangement again this afternoon. In addition, it’s been a GREAT (and scintillatingly varied) year for those.
  4. Few country records are on my list. I’m not resistant to that genre; I just insist on distinctly unique singing (it’s a tradition) and interesting lyrics. I was weaned on George, Merle, Willie, Dolly, Lorretty, and Tammy–what can I say?
  5. As a writer, I “come out of” punk, garage rock, and rock when it rolled–my first writing “gigs” were with punk zines. Over the last decade, a group of friends on Facebook have given me a great crash course (if a crash course can last a decade) in busting out of that particular popular/semipopular music pen, though I still like galloping around in it. It could be, as a result, that I am too eager to enthuse about intriguing poptimistic sounds. Also, some eyebrows might jump at the exclusion from the list of a certain mega-phenomenon in light of that admission. I still struggle with blandness, even impressively mounted and executed blandness. Oh, and about my punk-pen-past: if the band Dredd Foole & the Din is unfamiliar to you, change that (see “Excavations and “Reissues”).
  6. I like music made by melanated people more than the pale offerings. I don’t think about it beforehand–it just turns out that way. Sue me.

TRUNCATED OBSERVATIONS–PAIRINGS!:

–So-called “desert blues”? Folks, if you don’t know about it or have never gotten on the train, it’s not too late to hop on, and your first stop should be Bounaly’s glowing-orange-hot wailing guitar record Dimanche a Bamako. All hail the Sahel Sounds label. Next stop: Bombino’s Sahel.

–Prolific rappers? From Canada? Yep–it’s old news. BUT…Buck 65’s placed two releases in my Top 25 records of the year, and I had to think and listen awhile before I moved one of those out of the Top 10. Crisp beats, consistently engaging words, and a confident flow. I want to pose a question to aficionados: Buck 65 or Homeboy Sandman, if you could only take one of these fecund MCs’ oeuvres to a desert island?

–Brazilian music: I forgot a prejudice! I start out leaning forward when I put on a new Brazilian record, especially if it’s been touted by Rod Taylor of the Brazil Beat blog. And this year my Top 40 (so far) contains two great and VERY DIFFERENT–yet uniquely Brazilian–releases: Adriana Calcanhotto’s addictive samba-with-Waitsian-rhythmic-flecks Errante and Filipe Catto’s dark-toned tribute to the departed tropicalia legend Gal Costa, Belezas Sao Coisis Acesas por Dentro. Note 1: Catto’s album and Anohni’s still-chart-topping My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross is a terrific pairing as well.

The Updated List

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

Note 2: I’ve repeatedly pored over this month’s list and rearranged it, after some re-listening and simple reflection. My Top 50 is approaching as much permanence as I’m capable of, though Bounaly’s record so thoroughly kicked my ass last night it may take the top spot. We also have four weeks to go….

  1. Anohni: My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross (Secretly Canadian)
  2. Bounaly: Dimanche a Bamako (Sahel Sounds)
  3. Gina Birch: I Play My Bass Loud (Third Man)
  4. James Brandon Lewis: For Mahalia (with Love) (AUM Fidelity 2-CD version)
  5. boygenius: the record (Interscope)
  6. Buck 65: Punk Rock B-Boy (self-released)
  7. Olivia Rodrigo: Guts (Geffen)
  8. Jamila Woods: Water Made Us (Jagjaguwar)
  9. Romy: Midair (Young)
  10. Noname: Sundial (AWAL Recordings America)
  11. Jessie Ware: That! Feels Good! (Universal)
  12. Robert Finley: Black Bayou (Easy Eye)
  13. The Mark Lomax II Trio: Tapestry (CFG Multimedia)
  14. billy woods & Kenny Segal: Maps (Backwoodz Studios)
  15. Miguel Zenon & Luis Perdomo: El Arte del Bolero, Volume 2 (ArcArtists)
  16. Wild Up: Julius Eastman, Volume 3—If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich? (New Amsterdam)
  17. 100 gecs: 10,000 gecs (Dog Show/Atlantic)
  18. Corinna Bailey Rae: Black Rainbows (Black Rainbows)
  19. Adriana Calcanhotto: Errante (BMG)
  20. Big Freedia: Central City (Queen Diva)
  21. Buck 65: Super Dope (self-released)
  22. Ohad Talmor: Back to the Land (Intakt)
  23. Gard Nilssen’s Supersonic Orchestra: Family (We Jazz)
  24. Aesop Rock: Integrated Tech Solutions (Rhymesayers)
  25. Mark Turner: Live at the Village Vanguard (Giant Step Arts)
  26. Assiko Golden Band de Grand Yoff: Magg Tekki (Mississippi Records)
  27. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble: Spirit Gatherer—A Tribute to Don Cherry (Spiritmuse)
  28. Wadada Leo Smith: Fire Illuminations (Kabell)
  29. Tyler Mitchell Octet: Sun Ra’s Journey featuring Marshall Allen (Cellar Live)
  30. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah & Chief Adjuah: Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning (Ropeadope)
  31. National Information Society: Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)
  32. Allen Lowe and the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: In the Dark (ESP-Disk)
  33. Armand Hammer: We Buy Diabetes Test Strips (Backwoodz Studios)
  34. Hamell on Trial: Bring the Kids (Saustex)
  35. Liv.e: Girl in The Half Pearl (Real Life / AWAL)
  36. Jelly Roll: Whitsitt Chapel (Stoney Creek)
  37. Fire! Orchestra: Echoes (Rune Grammofon)
  38. Filipe Catto: Belezas Sao Coisis Acesas por Dentro (Joia Moderna)
  39. Dropkick Murphys: Okemah Rising (Dummy Luck Music)
  40. Ashley McBryde: The Devil I Know (Warner Nashville)
  41. Kari Faux: REAL BITCHES DON’T DIE (drunk sum wtr records)
  42. Jason Adasiewicz: Roscoe Village—The Music of Roscoe Mitchell (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
  43. William Hooker: Flesh & Bones (Org Music)
  44. Tyshawn Sorey: Continuing (Pi Recordings)
  45. Yaeji: With a Hammer (XL Recordings)
  46. Bettye LaVette: LaVette! (Jay-Vee)
  47. Brandy Clark: Brandy Clark (Warner)
  48. Jason Moran: From the Dancehall to the Battlefield (Yes Records)
  49. Janelle Monae: The Age of Pleasure (Bad Boy)
  50. Zach Bryan: Zach Bryan (Belting Bronco)
  51. London Brew: London Brew (Concord)
  52. J.D. Allen: This (Savant)
  53. Ryoko Ono & Satoko Fujii: Hakuro (label unknown)
  54. Rodrigo Campos: Pagode Novo (YB Music)
  55. Kali Uchis: Red Moon in Venus (Geffen)
  56. Bobby Rush: All My Love for You (Deep Rush / Thirty Tigers)
  57. Kelela: Raven (Warp)
  58. Les Raillizes Denudes: Citta’ ’93 (Temporal Drift)
  59. Isach Skeidsvoll: Dance to Summon (Ultraani Records)
  60. Killer Mike: Michael (Loma Vista)
  61. Emil Amos: Zone Black (Drag City)
  62. Marina Sena: Vicio Inerente (Sony)
  63. Shabazz Palaces: Robed in Rareness (Sub Pop)
  64. Young Fathers: Heavy Heavy (Ninja Tune)
  65. Maria Jose Llergo: Ultrabella (Sony)
  66. Irreversible Entanglements: Protect Your Light (Impulse! / Verve)
  67. Jaimie Branch: Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (International Anthem)
  68. David Mirarchi: Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam (Unbroken Sounds) 
  69. Superless: Superless (Oyvind Jazzforum)
  70. Algiers: Shook (Matador)
  71. Buselli – Wallarab Jazz Orchestra: The Gennett Suite (Patois Records)
  72. Lewis Capaldi: Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent (Vertigo Berline)
  73. Tyvek: Overground (Gingko)
  74. corook: serious person (part 1) (Atlantic)
  75. Ice Cold Bishop: Generational Curse (Ice Cold Entertainment)
  76. Allen Lowe and The Constant Sorrow Orchestra: America—The Rough Cut (ESP-Disk)
  77. Tri-County Liquidators: cut my teeth (Hitt Rex)
  78. ensemble 0: Jojoni (Crammed Discs)
  79. JLin: Perspective (Planet Mu)
  80. Sexxy Red: Hood Hottest Princess (Open Shift)
  81. Henry Threadgill: The Other One (Pi)
  82. Zoh Amba & Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt: The Flower School (Palilalia)
  83. Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids: Afro-Futuristic Dreams (Strut)
  84. Amanda Shires & Bobbie Nelson: Loving You (ATO)
  85. aja monet: when the poems do what they do (drink sum wtr)
  86. Knoel Scott (featuring Marshall Allen): Celestial (Night Dreamer)
  87. Steve Lehman & Orchestre National de Jazz: Ex Machina (Pi)
  88. Emmet Cohen & Houston Person: Houston Person—Masters Legacy Series, Volume 5 (Bandstand Presents)
  89. Peso Pluma: GENESIS (Double P)
  90. Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (KRA)
  91. Elijah Shiffer: Star Jelly (self-released)
  92. Grupo Frontera: El Comienzo (Grupo Frontera)
  93. Ember: August in March (Imani)
  94. Kevin Sun: The Depths of Memory (Endectomorph Music)
  95. Florian Arbenz: Conversation #10—Inland (Hammer)
  96. Withered Hand: How to Love (Reveal)
  97. Lafayette Gilchrist: Undaunted (Morphius)
  98. Meshell Ndegeocello: The Omnichord Real Book (Blue Note)
  99. The Fugs: Dancing in the Universe (Fugs Records)
  100. Taj Mahal: Savoy (Cheraw S.C.)
  101. Haviah Mighty: Crying Crystals (Mighty Gang)
  102. Willie Nelson: I Don’t Know a Thing About Love—The Songs of Harlan Howard (Legacy)
  103. Morgan Wade: Psychopath (Ladylike)
  104. Parannoul: After the Magic (Poclanos/Top Shelf)
  105. Felo Le Tee & Mellow & Sleazy: The Ill Wise Men (New Money Gang)
  106. The Necks: Travel (Northern Spy)
  107. Lori McKenna: 1988 (CN Records / Thirty Tigers)
  108. Tyler Keith & The Apostles: Hell to Pay (Black & Wyatt)
  109. KAYTRAMINE: KAYTRAMIUNE, Amine, & KAYTRANADA (CLBN)
  110. Rome Streetz: Wasn’t Built in a Day (Big Ghost)
  111. Hein Westgaard Trio: First as Farce (Nice Things)
  112. The Urban Art Ensemble: “Ho’opomopono” (CFG Multimedia 16-minute single)
  113. Itamar Borochov: Arba (Greenleaf)
  114. Rodrigo Amado / The Bridge: Beyond the Margins (Trost)
  115. ANTiINDSTRY: Numinous Interference (Muteant Sounds)
  116. Islandman (featuring Okay Temiz and Muhlis Berberoglu: Direct-to-Disc Sessions (Night Dreamer)
  117. Edward Simon: Femeninas (ArtistShare)
  118. Trio San (featuring Satoko Fujii and Taiko Saito): Hibiki (Jazzdor)
  119. Susan Alcorn: Canto (Relative Pitch)
  120. Kill Bill—The Rapper: Fullmetal Kaiju (EXO)
  121. Speaker Music: Techxodus (Planet Mu)
  122. Andy Fairweather Low: Flang Dang (The Last Music Company)
  123. ARO40: On the Blink (Aerophonic Records)
  124. Money for Guns: All the Darkness That’s in Your Head (CD Baby)
  125. Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Five—In the garden (Constellation)
  126. Bombino: Sahel (Partisan)
  127. Rough Image: Rough Image (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  128. Ingrid Laubrock: The Last Quiet Place (Pyroclastic)
  129. Victoria Monet: Jaguar II (Lovett Music)
  130. Homeboy Sandman: I Can’t Sell These Either (self-released)
  131. Havard Wiik & Tim Daisy: Slight Return (Relay)
  132. Rob Mazurek & Exploding Star Orchestra: LightningDreamers (International Anthem)
  133. Kaze & Ikue Mori: Crustal Movement (Circum/Libra)
  134. DJ Black Low: Impumelelo (Awesome Tapes from Africa)
  135. Belle and Sebastian: Late Developers  (Matador)
  136. Satoko Fujii & Otomo Yoshihide: Perpetual Motion (Ayler Records)
  137. feeble little horse: Girl with Fish (Saddle Creek)
  138. Rocket 88: House of Jackpots (12XU)
  139. L’Rain: I Killed Your Dog (Mexican Summer)
  140. DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ: Destiny (Spells on the Telly)
  141. Nasty Facts: Drive My Car (Left for Dead)
  142. Taiko Saito: Tears of a Cloud (Trouble in the East)
  143. JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown: Scaring the Hoes (self-released)
  144. Kalia Vandever: We Fell in Turn (AKP Recordings)
  145. Water from Your Eyes: Everyone’s Crushed (Matador)
  146. Lakecia Benjamin: Phoenix (Whirlwind)
  147. Amaarae: Fountain Baby (Golden Angel/Interscope)
  148. Blondshell: Blondshell (Partisan)
  149. Satoko Fujii: Torrent (Libra Records)
  150. Javon Jackson: “With Peter Bradley”—Soundtrack and Original Score (Solid Jackson)
  151. Doja Cat: Scarlet (Kemosabe)
  152. Tianna Esperanza: Terror (BMG)
  153. YMA & Jadsa: Zelena (Matraca)
  154. Palehound: Eye on the Bat (Polyvinyl)
  155. J Hus: Beautiful and Brutal Yard (Black Butter)
  156. Das Kondensat: Anderen Planeten (Why Play Jazz)
  157. Iris DeMent: Workin’ On a World (FlariElla)
  158. David Murray, Questlove, and Ray Angry: Plumb (J.M.I.)
  159. Tyler Childers: Rustin’ in the Rain (Hickman Holler)
  160. Baaba Maal: Being (Atelier Live/Marathon Artists)
  161. Ed Sanders: The Sanders – Olufsen Poetry and Classical Music Project (Olufsen)
  162. Bob Dylan: Shadow Kingdom (Columbia)
  163. City Girls: Raw (Quality Control/Motown)
  164. Grrrl Gang: Spunky (Kill Rock Stars)
  165. Lana Del Rey: Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd (Polydor)
  166. Teenage Jesus and The Jean Teasers: I Love You (Triple J Unearthed)
  167. Caroline Davis: Alula—Captivity (Ropeadope)
  168. Kiko El Crazy: Pila’e Teteo (Rimas)
  169. Romulo Froes & Tiago Rosas: Na Goela (YB Music)
  170. Florian Arbenz: Conversation #9—Targeted (Hammer Recordings)
  171. James Brandon Lewis: Eye of I (Anti-)
  172. Sofia Kourtesis: Madres (Ninja Tune)
  173. DJ Manny: Hypnotized (Planet Mu)
  174. Josephus and The George Jonestown Massacre: Call Me Animal—A Tribute to the MC5 (Saustex)
  175. Joanna Sternberg: I’ve Got Me (Fat Possum)
  176. Tracey Nelson: Life Don’t Miss Nobody (BMG)
  177. Etran De L’Air: Live in Seattle (EP) (Sahel Sounds)
  178. Everything But the Girl: Fuse (Buzzin’ Fly)
  179. Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double: March On (self-released)
  180. Ice Spice: Like…? (10K Projects / Capitol Records EP)
  181. otay:onii: Dream Hacker (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  182. Sylvie Courvoisier & Cory Smythe: The Rite of Spring—Spectre d’un songe (Pyroclastic)
  183. Nourished by Time: Erotic Probiotic 2 (Scenic Route)
  184. Walter Daniels: “From Death to Texas” / “Seems Like a Dream” (Spacecase Records 45)
  185. Nakimbembe Embaire Group: Nakimbembe Embaire Group (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  186. Shirley Collins: Archangel Hill (Domino)
  187. Karol G: Manana Sera Bonito (Universal Music Latino)
  188. Tinashe: BB/ANG3L (Nice Life)
  189. Hollie Cook: Happy Hour in Dub (Merge)
  190. Andrew Cyrille: Music Delivery / Percussion (Intakt)
  191. Kate Gentile: b i o m e i.i (Obliquity)
  192. Yves Tumor: Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp)
  193. Dan Ex Machina: Ex’s Sexts (self-released)
  194. Open Mike Eagle: another triumph of ghetto engineering (AutoReverse)
  195. Yonic South: Devo Challenge Cup (Wild Honey)
  196. Rudy Royston: Day (Greenleaf Music)
  197. Chien Chien Lu: Built in System—Live in New York (Giant Step Arts)
  198. Pangaea: Changing Channels (Hessle Audio)
  199. Lewsberg: Out and About (Lewsberg / 12XU)
  200. Basher: Doubles (Sinking City)
  201. That Mexican OT: Lonestar Luchador (Good Talk)
  202. Daniel Villarreal: Lados B (International Anthem)
  203. Staples Jr. Singers: Tell Heaven (EP) (Luaka Bop) Note: the vinyl gets you more great minutes of testifying.
  204. Brandee Younger: Brand New Life (Impulse!)
  205. Babe, Terror: Teghnojoyg (self-released)
  206. Heinali: Kyiv Eternal (Injazero)
  207. Vinny Golia Quartet: No Refunds (Unbroken Sounds)
  208. Kresten Osgood / Bob Moses / Tisziji Munoz: Spiritual Drum Kingship (Gotta Let It Out)
  209. The Art Ensemble of Chicago: From Paris to Paris (Rogue Art)
  210. Clarence “Bluesman” Davis: Shake It ForMe (Music Maker Foundation)
  211. The War and The Treaty: Lover’s Game (Mercury Nashville)
  212. Aroof Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad, Ismaily: Love in Exile (Verve)
  213. Asher Gamedze: Turbulence and Pulse (International Anthem)
  214. Normal Nada the Krakmaxter: Tribal Progressive Heavy Metal (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
  215. Natural Child: Be M’Guest (Natural Child Music)
  216. Tanya Tucker: Sweet Western Sound (Fantasy)

Excavations and Reissues

  1. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens: Music Inferno—The Indestructible Beat Tour 1988-89 (Umsakazo Records)
  2. Kashmere Stage Band: Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974 (Now-Again)
  3. The Replacements: Tim—Let It Bleed Edition (Rhino)
  4. Dorothy Ashby: With Strings Attached (New Land Records)
  5. Walter Bishop, Jr.: Bish at the Bank—Live in Baltimore (Cellar Live)
  6. Various Artists: Yebo! Rare Mzansi Party Beats from Apartheid’s Dying Years (BBE)
  7. Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra: 60 Years (The Village)
  8. Os Tincoas: Canto Coral Afrobrasiliero (Sanzala Cultural)
  9. Various Artists: Ecuatoriana (Analog Africa)
  10. Leon Keita: Leon Keita (Analog Africa)
  11. Hiroshi Yoshimura: Surround (Temporal Drift)
  12. Balka Sound: Balka Sound (Strut)
  13. Sonic Youth: Live in Brooklyn (Silver Current)
  14. John Coltrane: Evenings at The Village Gate (Impulse!)
  15. Various Artists: Playing for The Man at The Door (Smithsonian Folkways)
  16. Gabe Baltazar: Birdology (Fresh Sounds)
  17. Hiatus Kaiyote: Choose Your Weapon (Flying Buddha / Sony Masterworks)
  18. Dream Dolphin: Gaia—Selected Ambient & Downtempo Works (1996 – 2003) (Music from Memory)
  19. Various Artists: The Soul of Congo – Treasures of the Ngoma label (1948​-​1963) (Planet Ilunga)
  20. Sonny Stitt: Boppin’ in Baltimore—Live at the Left Bank (Jazz Detective)
  21. Ihsan Al-Munzer: Belly Dance (BBE)
  22. Dredd Foole & The Din: See God 1985-1986 (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
  23. Johnny Griffin: Live at Ronnie Scott’s, 1964 (Gearbox)
  24. Nina Simone: You’ve Got to Learn (Verve)
  25. William S. Burroughs: Nothing Here But the Recordings (Dais Records)
  26. Eddie & Ernie: Time Waits for No One (Mississippi Records)
  27. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 1 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  28. Various Artists: Purple Haze from East, Volume 2 (WV Sorcerer Productions)
  29. The Southern University Jazz Ensemble: Goes to Africa with Love (Now-Again)
  30. Roy Campbell / William Parker / Zan Matsuura: Visitation of the Spirits—The Pyramind Trio Live, 1985 (No Business)
  31. Sonny Rollins: Live at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki 1972 (Svart)
  32. Various Artists: The Best of Revelation Records 1959-1962 (NarroWay)
  33. Shizuka: Heavenly Persona (Black Editions)
  34. Jacqueline Humbert & David Rosenboom: Daytime Viewing (Unseen Worlds)
  35. Bob Dylan: Time Out of Mind Stripped Naked (Columbia)
  36. Various Artists: Blacklips Bar—Androgyns and Deviants / Industrial Romance for Bruised and Battered Angels 1992-1995 (Anthology Recordings)
  37. Wes Montgomery: Maximum Swing (Resonance)
  38. Various Artists: Con Piano, Sublime—Early Recordings from the Caribbean 1907-1921 (Magnificent Sounds)
  39. Various Artists: Space Echo—The Mystery Behind the Cosmic Sound of Cabo Verde Revealed! (Analog Africa)
  40. Ibrahim Hesnawi: The Father of Libyan Reggae (Habibi Funk)
  41. RP Boo: Legacy Volume 2 (Planet Mu)
  42. Les Raillizes Denudes: ’77 Live (Temporal Drift)
  43. Alon Nechushtan: For Those Who Cross the Seas (ESP-Disk)
  44. Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Shirley Scott: Cookin’ With Jaws and The Queen (Craft)
  45. Professor James Benson: The Gow-Dow Experience (Jazzman Records)
  46. Little Bob and The Lollipops: Nobody But You (Mississippi Records)

Let’s Not Be L7! (Fri-Sun, August 3-5, Columbia and Springfield, MO)

We’re living it up a bit before “summer” ends, so I’ve been quiet here. In sum:

I.

Drove around Columbia Friday morning running errands and hanging out, and repeat-played this song that we both love as much as a song can be loved.

I have a story about it. I bought it as a cassingle prior to the album coming out, right at the point where I’d gotten dumped by a woman my relationship with whom I more or less willed into being, who I knew liked me but didn’t like me, who more or less humiliated me one evening over a wine error (I don’t even really like the shit), and who clearly wasn’t my type to begin with. BUT I was impatient with my relationship success as my thirties were approaching, and I was a touch desperate. She lowered the boom on me at a fuckin’ laundromat, then showed up the same night at the one party at which I was fairly sure she wouldn’t possibly appear on the arm of her boss (Gross! Dating your boss is for losers!). I drank myself into a stupor, then existed within a dark cloud of doom for a week or so. Even though I really knew she was no great loss.

OK, so for every one of those days, I kept the cassingle on repeat-play in my car. Every day, to and from work, the record store, and the bar (Holy Trinity at that point), this song was blasting. The music? RADICAL. Frightening, in its way–note how that main riff just won’t resolve. Surprising, too (was that a one-note sample from Stevie Ray Vaughan playing on Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”? Flav merging Tattoo into Scarface?). ENERGIZING, for certain–it creates an aural scenario that seems to propel one into acting on some life-or-death imperative. And…the rapping? Chuck D climbed into my Top 5 MCs pantheon on the strength of this performance, and I already loved him. “I got so much trouble on my mind! / Refuse to lose!” he proclaims, and that by itself was a mantra that got me through many of those days and into a positive perspective in front of my classrooms (I was teaching five classes of ninth graders!). Not just any MC could ride those rhythms and disruptions! Yessireebob, he made some eye-raising statements in that song that I wasn’t comfortable with, but, hey, it’s a free country, he didn’t exempt much of anyone from responsibility for our (still intact) Terrordome, and his critics tended to overlook his moments of tenderness (yes) and compassion (yes). “….[N]othing worse / Than a mother’s pain for a son / Slain in Bensonhurst!”? “God bless your soul and keep livin’!“? Add on to all of that the thick, exciting scratches of Terminator X and the dense mix of samples that could not be recreated for sale today by Jeff Bezos, and, well, it’s no wonder I could (and still can) listen to it on a loop.

Funny thing is, the woman I was cruising around with listening to it repeatedly Friday morning was the one whose arms I ended up rebounding into–she loves the song almost as much as I do. Thanks to Chuck–still fightin’–and PE, and thanks to Nicole, my life-long soul mate.

II.

Saturday we were stompin’ on our old grounds (the original “Terrordome” for me, now that I mention it) in Springfield, Missouri, on hand to meet up with fond ol’ friends and celebrate our great pal Jill’s birthday. She likes party buses, we like party buses, so we party-bused around The Queen City. We visited Tropical Liqueurs for some frozen dranks, we paused at her future gravesite (she and we are fans of perspective–it helps you get the most out of life), we put our heads together at a hidden lakeside, we sprawled out en masse at the Rail Haven Route 66 Motel, where Jill’d rented a room for her stay and where the young Elvis actually once slept (pause for a pic)–

Elvis 'Otel

–and we landed at The Dugout (formerly The Twilight), our favorite Springfield dive (where I used to meet a favorite English prof and my classmates for pitchers, lit discussion and wisdom dissemination when I was a mere undergrad).

But. But. One of my favorite moments of the whole evening was, well, breaking a rule. It was clearly posted up by the front of the bus: “No swinging on the poles.” Another rule that I didn’t make but which has often seemed to swirl around my brain since I became middle-aged is “Thou shalt not dance anymore.” Well, Jill–are you starting to see how heroic she is? I hope so–is an excellent DJ. She plugged her phone into the bus sound system and just You-Tubed up some tracks, which built us up to such a frenzy that, fueled by Budweiser and a Sex on The Beach snuck in there, I had to jump up, grip the pole two-handed and begin boogieing to her inspired choices. And yelling the lyrics (I’m sorry, Jill!)! Is it untoward for a 56-year-old man to be acting thus? It probably was, but it must be admitted I was joined on the pole by at least two other partygoers! If you find yourself turning away from this tableau, please first reckon with the trio of tracks that moved us off our duffs:

And the blower-off-the-topper…

You play those three in a row sober and see if you can stay put! I bet you’re UP right now if you played them! And wasn’t that last little tune prophetic? I can’t help celebrating it every time I hear it.

III.

A somewhat bleary state of being met us as we arose Sunday morning. Even when we find ourselves up pushing the dawn, we usually awaken right on the other side of it. Nicole arose temporarily; I am seldom ever able to go back to sleep once I awaken. I sat down under a lamp in the corner of the room, cracked a book (Issac J. Bailey’s sad and revelatory My Brother Moochie, if you’re curious), and put in some headphones to listen to a new purchase. Simply put, it’s the best free jazz record I’ve heard this year, and there have been some gooduns (including one by the main man here). It’s out of Portugal, which has an amazing scene, and you should give it a whirl. It’s mos def not a dialogue of the deaf; this band listens and responds in sensitive and creative and sometimes visionary fashion. The driving force, that main man, is Rodrigo Amado–remember the name. He’s been around, but in another way, he’s just getting started:

IV.

What goes up must come down, but the comedown was euphonious–that should always be a Sunday goal, shouldn’t it? When we returned to Columbia, we had to scramble to an event we’d bought tickets for somewhat optimistically, but also under the influence of our wise and cosmopolitan friend Jackie. Columbia’s “We Always Swing” Jazz Series is a near quarter-century-old blessing on our town that, through the hard work of Jon Poses and his staff, brings some of the finest musicians to us to hear. Sunday night was the 2018-2019 kickoff event, a three-set performance by local heroes the Columbia Jazz Orchestra. Sounds very neat for a final night of the week, eh?

Well, a clear sky, a 101-degree early evening, and a bit-too-posh-for-us rooftop venue initially discouraged me. I muttered, “We could call it a donation.” However, Nicole rallied me and I’m glad she did. We got to hang out with Jackie, her mischievously-witted and historic husband John, our old friend Brent, and his wife, the drinks were nice, and the band played rowdily but splendidly, with selections from Thundercat (“Them Changes”) to Ellington (“Things Ain’t What They Used to Be,” and they ain’t).

Columbia Jazz Orchestra

I’ve reached a conclusion. On New Year’s Day, I vowed to post an entry here every day. Not so difficult, because I listen to music every day. But, folks, when you’re really living it’s sometimes hard to squeeze in some huntin’ and peckin’–and, admittedly, some days I’ve somewhat forced these entries. So…if you’re keeping score at all…I’m going to post when I can. I will strive to every day. It’s not like millions are hanging on my every word, but I enjoy it, it’s good for me, I’m goal-oriented–and maybe a couple of you do look for me to chime in daily. But I’m gonna live first!

(Note: realize that final sentence is written as an urging to myself, not as a command to you. I’m sure you all are doing fine.)