@@@ Rim Kwaku Obeng: RIM Arrives/International Funk (BBE, 2015). Some African funk music off the WRIR weekly playlist email. The first tune Gas Line is straight outta the 1970s — big horn section, active bass, a bevy of backup singers. It sounds like that tune Car Wash and the second tune Believe in Yourself is also heavily influenced by ’70s Parliament/Funkadelic. The third tune Sunkwa gets into a different space working some salsa/Latin music vibes into the African funk and I’m a pretty big fan of that flavor pack. The record is definitely building and solidifying into a righteous funk nugget with the fourth tune, Funky Drummer. I thought the first two tunes were too close to Parliament/Funkadelic but he’s starting to spread out with the third and fourth tunes. As Kanye West would say Imma gonna circle back on this when I get a minute.
@@@ My Own Pet Radio: Goodlum (My Own Pet Radio, 2015). Some dreamy, sensitive male indie I got to via the Beats highlights page. Simple arpeggiated acoustic guitar and a a block of layered vocals — this is in the neighborhood of Bon Iver and Tallest Man on Earth. The second tune, Don’t Press Send Companion gets into some indie space rock with a skittering drummer and some big ass guitar noodling. It’s got a bit of a Sigur Ros flow but it’s in English. Keep dreaming white people! Shine on you crazy diamonds! The third tune remains in the downtempo epic rock area with big female background vocals. It’s okay music, it’s aspirational that’s for sure.
@@@ Balthazar: Thin Walls (PIAS America, 2015). Also off the Beats highlights page. Some synth rock a la The Cure off the Beats highlights page. However, the singer is not a giant mope like Cure dude but more of a dialed down Pogues/Clash type. The existential goth of the Cure is replaced with a melancholy tinged romantic pop. The second tune Nightclub brings in a little bit of T Rex glam rock but with the same loverboy drunk vocal.
YTD recordings listened to: 777
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 444
Not good music: 269
Honorable Mentions: 20
Buys: 13
Possibles: Chris McGregor, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Dave Arner Trio, MAKU Soundsystem, Zomby, Retox, About Group, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Bone Dance, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Debruit, Slidhr, The Whammies, The Chewers, Alexander Hawkins, Toxic Holocaust, Equal Stones, Comeback Kid, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, Spacesuits, T.O.M.B., Fofoulah, Lozen, Erase Errata, Mohamed Abozekry, Dawn Richard, Leo Welch, Mastery, Leviathan, Xibalba, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Ellen Jewell, Akitsa, Richard Thompson, Jeremy Pinnell, Pat Thomas, Janelle Monae, The Alchemist, Luther Dickinson, Andra Day, Frog Eyes, Ruby Amanfu, Madd Again!, Fuck the Facts, Shannon and the Clams, Destruction Unit, Rim Kwaku Obeng
Deep In the Music 