@@@ Sloucher: Wait to Start (Swoon, 2016). A grunge-y shoe gaze track opens up this record I got to after I got a music publicist email calling these guys the best indie band to come down the pike in a long time. Or some such shit. They have a Pearl Jam vibe going in this opener except no super annoying singer — I can’t stand that self-important dude. Oh, big Nirvana vibes on this second track, I don’t like this one as much. The singer can’t do that Kurt Cobain slack thing at all. If you took the whole punk/grunge area these guys would come at the end as this is pretty mainstream grunge with plenty of melody and light on the punk acidity. However, very manicured and thought out guitar tones.
@@@ The Bohemian Trio: Okonkala (Innova, 2017) I saw this trio name checked on a Brooklyn club show listing email spiel. They’re blurbed as being beyond genre but to my ears they play a sort of classically tinged jazz that says ‘I’m fancy and I dress well’. And there’s nothing wrong with that. The instrumentation is piano, cello and clarinet and this music is straight up the alley of 65+ PBS viewers. Extremely pretty and light, like one of Beyonce’s goddess farts.
@@@ Black Joe Lewis: Backlash (Black Joe Lewis, 2017) I’m a huge fan of the 2011 effort Scandalous so I thought I would give a peep to this new one. It opens up more rocking than soul-ing but there are horns back there underneath the crunchy guitar. I’ve peeped portions of 4 of the songs and while there are some moments where the tunes come together but I think I’m going to stick Scandalous. Check that record out!
YTD recordings listened to: 105
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 55
Not good music: 34
Buys: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0
Possibles: Chris McGregor, Dave Arner Trio, Zomby, Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Fofoulah, Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Leviathan, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Janelle Monae, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Gentleman Surfer, Satoko Fuji, Divanhana, Moken, Juan Atkins, Drone, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, Acid Arab, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Aethenor, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, James Brandon Lewis, Yotoco, Tinariwen
Deep In the Music 