Music for 1/31/18!!! Mammoth Grinder, Stalker, His Electro Blue Voice

@@@ Mammoth Grinder: Cosmic Crypt (Relapse, 2018) Off this week’s CFUV playlist email.  We open up with a bit of metal ambient feedback and gothic vibes before heading into a monster truck stomp.  Then into the thrash and all the kiddies go up and down.  Full on Neanderthal on the microphone.  Not singing per se, more of a throat scraping grunt.  Has anybody else been listening to these science podcasts about the Neanderthals.  It appears homo sapiens mated with them but their DNA was stronger and there are only a few Neanderthal genes floating around in humans.  Except for President CheetoFuck, he is almost 2/3s neanderthal and the remaining 1/3 mongoloid chimp — Neanderthals were often hunted at night by the glint of their orange hair.  They were unable to flee persecution from their enemies while having that hair!  Fucking interesting no?  Anyway, these guys whip a pretty mean shitty — nice guitar stomp, dirty sewer sounding bass and an aggressive drummer.  Not much on the songwriting but big on the stomp.

@@@ Stalker: Shadow of the Sword (Napalm, 2018)  Some old school thrash metal I got to via the CFUV weekly playlist email.  In this first tune the singer vacillates between a meaty shout and a high pitched squeal.  I really can’t say how much Red Bull the guitar player has chugged but I’m sure it is substantial and ongoing.  This is pretty hopped music and I think it goes great when Vice President Mike Pence conducts his Satanic rituals on the weekend.  Degrading his wife and peeing on his boss while these guys lose their nut in the background.

@@@ His Electro Blue Voice: Mental Hoop (Iron Lung, 2018) Also off this week’s CFUV playlist email and this one is more of an old school punk wigflip rather than the leather pants fascist stomp around.  Messy guitars, rough and spilly, with that whiny ass kind of singing and than generally bitchy feel to it.  I like it!  They have a nice focused push on this third tune, Scum Rat which could be dedicated to any number of public figures.  This all right business so if you’re up for some punk rock blasting have at it!

YTD recordings listened to: 61
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 34
Not good music: 26

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo

Music for 1/30/18!!! The Vaccines, Anarouz, No Age, Charlotte Day Wilson

@@@ The Vaccines: Nightclub (Sony, 2018)  Some major label super clean guitar rock off the Apple Music hot tracks section.  The vocal is ‘it makes my head feel like a night club’ — better than most but not quite sure it is more than word salad.  Big sculpting efforts have been made on the guitars.  Great sounds with limited passion, perfect for yuppie rockers.

@@@ 3MA: Anarouz (Six Degrees, 2018)  A brunchy world set with two string players (I’m guessing two koras) and a hand drummer that looks to be more North African or Middle Eastern.  Of course the koras are gorgeous and they shred them but I want more drumming.  Why can’t I have more drumming?  I’m on the fourth or fifth tune and this is most definitely for people who wear clean clothes and work in cubicles.  The playing is beautiful but restrained and packaged like a pork chop.

@@@ No Age: Snares Like a Haircut (Drag City, 2018)  Marketed as a blend of noise rock and shoegaze thrills.  We can only hope as the music business never lies!  I got to this via last week’s notable release email from All Music.  The first tune is like a mid ’80s Sonic Youth rave up but with better singing.  Oy, I could never deal with that with the Youth of Sonic.  It’s pretty noisy but I’ve heard fuzzier — not that this is a contest.  The vocalist is working a fairly melodic area which really changes the tunes and not necessarily in a bad way.  I’m on the third tune and Sonic Youth really is the touchstone band for this record.  Pretty manic drumming, noisy guitars and nice vocal hooks.

@@@ Charlotte Day Wilson: Nothing New (Self-released, 2018)  A self released single off the Apple Music hot tracks section.  It’s super polished r&b and Imma waiting on Ms. Wilson to drop some vibes on the microphone.  She’s mourning a relationship (I think) and that gives the polished drums and pulse bass more substance.  It gets a little overwrought about 2 minutes in but it’s an all right tune for the ladies.  Just sayin’.

YTD recordings listened to: 58
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 32
Not good music: 25

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo

Music for 1/29/18!!! Justin Timberlake, Jack White, Buscabella, Hector Guerra

@@@ Justin Timberlake: Say Something (RCA, 2018)  Another pre-release single from panty quaker Timberlake.  This tune is a mash of r&b sounds and strummed acoustic guitar with Timberlake’s yearning vocals.  He also is dueting here with Chris Stapleton to raise the redneck quotient.  You cannot take a shit without Chris Stapleton being there — I’m not sure why but it is such.  As a grown ass adult I can’t really tell you what this song is about — the lyrics are pretty nonsensical.  Ah, there was just a line saying that the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all.  Yo, that’s heavy sentiment to package with this cheese.

@@@ Jack White: Corporation (Columbia, 2018)  Any hope that Jack White had outgrown trying to out Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin are partially rewarded here.  He brings in the fat beat and then some heavy riffage but there are funk flavors here, most notably Sly Stone.  What happened to messy Jack White when he would bust a nut with that half-mutant drummer he got famous with?  This is accomplished riffing but it’s kinda fucking boring.  No mess, no runs, no errors, all manicured like a porn star’s bush.  I ask you doesn’t the funk have some mess swirled up in it.  The problem here is that this is the first track of the record so that’s usually putting your best foot forward.  He sings at the end and I don’t feel much better.

@@@ Buscabulla: EP II (Baby Making Records, 2018)  Some dreamy, indie Latino electronica.  Super tinkly and ethereal and shit.  There’s a funky undercurrent beneath the clouds of synth sprinkles and delicate metal percussion.  I would prefer the female singer’s voice be not bathed in reverb but alas this is the style with the kids today.  Solid B, not jumping up and down.  I got to this from a Flavorpill announcement email.

@@@ Hector Guerra: Desde El Infierno (Kasba Music, 2018) Some Latin hip hop I got to via the WRIR weekly playlist email.  The first tune most definitely has hip hop beats but it also has a didgiridoo kinda of drone and Guerra mostly sings this first track.  It’s pretty downtempo and hypnotic in its way.  The second tune sheds that vibe for a decidely upbeat singalong with Mexican accordion (which I love) and some singalong choruses before he gets on some Spanish rhyming.  The tune clipped below is the best of what I heard so check that out.

YTD recordings listened to: 54
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 30
Not good music: 23

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo

Open Mike Eagle is a brilliant artist!

Check him out and support his work.

Music for 1/26/18!!! Pale Waves, Petra Glynt, Fucking Fall Out Boy!

@@@ Pale Waves: My Obsession (Dirty Hit, 2018). Off a Line of Best Fit promo email. Undeniably fun from what I hear. If 1980’s synth pop rock is undeniably fun well this is mad undeniably fun. Doubly undeniably fun. The female singer sounds a lot like Dolores Riordan from the Cranberries. I wasn’t a fan but I didn’t wish her death. She’s also got a pube of Madonna going on. Not an actual pube, though I wouldn’t want to shame Madonna’s pubes. They’re probably pretty high end. She’s never going to stop loving you! Believe it (or not). I have to keep typing or I might nod off — this is some extremely familiar business. I made it 2:17, that’s pretty good. It’s not horribly performed it’s just super cliche and sleepytime tea as far as I’m concerned.

@@@ Petra Glynt: This Trip (Vibe Over Method, 2018) I had to take a day off as I had shit to do in the real world so I can’t remember where this track came from. As in how I got to it. It’s femme semi- (or quarterly) funky electronic influenced music with a dash of aggro/industrial. I have no problem with pissed off women but you gotta hit me with some genuine bad feeling or I’m not buying it. Some PJ Harvey shit, naimsayin’? This is part of the way there and kind of ends up as sour milk pop rock. The video spins around a whole bunch so if you have vertigo forego that shit and coincidentally I made it right around 2:15 so maybe that’s the number for the day.

@@@ Fall Out Boy: Mania (Island, 2018) Let me just say Imma fucking huge Fall Out Boy fan (not). They’re awesome (not), they just fuck shit up (not), and most of all they’re not just in it for the money (not). So let’s peep. Here we go with the intro, I’m so nervous cuz Fall Out Boy is the real deal. They move me and my bowels. The singer is most definitely not a douche. Only Fall Out Boy would bite Drake and go for a white boy slinky watered down dancehall thing. Fucking unbelievable as far as I’m concerned. I’m so inspired by this music and its originality and I don’t think they’re biting it at all. I wish the tune would never end, that’s how good it is. Do yourself a favor and get on this bitch because it’s atomic in energy and authenticity. The way he gasps when he sings, it just works for me bigly. I can imagine Trump doing a 2 step to this number. And then Trump sidles over to the bed where he then shits on a prostitute! Bigly, what an image. This must be awesome as 13 million people have checked it out.

YTD recordings listened to: 50
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 28
Not good music: 21

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo

 

Music for 1/23/18!!! Jaws of Love, Noah Haidu, Xylouris White

@@@ Jaws of Love: Wild Honey Pie Buzz Session (K-Rizzla, 2018)  Fragile and heartfelt indie I got to via the Twatter.  Prefer the Twatter to the Facebook, hate the Fucking Zuckiebook.  Piano + earnest piano = so many feelings.  This is in the tradition of the Hornsby fella, the Ben Folds fella, and worst of all the Coldplay fella.  That dude needs a spiritual slap (like Ed Sheehan) — Coldplay dude to make sure I’m clear.  It’s just too precious for me, I will skip to the second tune and if it’s just dude and his piano I’m gonna be out like bell bottom jeans.  Oh, it’s not looking good, more feelings and let me propose the idea that it’s maybe too many feelings.  I’m sorry he’s so melancholy but I would prefer to have him lick his wounds in private.  The production is good, the sounds are nice, he’s got a really nice voice, but I’m just not into the tunes.

@@@ Noah Haidu: Slipstream (N/A, 2018) I saw this jazz record on the Twatter and y’all know how much I love the Twatter and everything it stands for.  It is described as adventurous and fresh and swinging and on this first tune I hear the second two adjectives.  It is very clean straight jazz production with a medium large ensemble — piano, trumpet and sax, bass and drums.  The sounds are great if not a tad sanitized and the energy is high.  I could use more adventure myself.

@@@ Xylouris White: Mother (Bella Union, 2018). Off this week’s All Music notable release email.  I’ve had this artist on best of year lists so that pretty much guarantees a listen for a couple/few records.  I like Mr. White because he’s got some freak going on, he’s got energy and his shit is a bit messy.  I hate these bands where their shit is swirled up like a beautiful ice cream cone.  I think the desire for mess has receded since 9/11 which was a big ol’ mess.  More ghetto theories on the house.  We get an extended instrumental intro that sounds like it’s about to gel into something.  I guess not.  Ah, here we go with some Captain Beefheart manic freak rocking on this second tune, Only Love.  He sings in Greek and I know he’s Greek from when I peeped his music before.  Is it racist to say that I want a baklava right now?  I don’t think so but I don’t want to be like President Ill-Bitch with his racist shit.  Ooh, I’m feeling this ambient third tune, Motorcycle Kondilies.  It’s got a drum beat in the back, some melodic half strumming and White sliding around some less than common scale.  It’s spacious and weird and I’m in no position right now to get a baklava.  God dammit.  Check Xylouris out, he’s got his own thing going for sure — it’s not a super hipster thing and it’s cool.

YTD recordings listened to: 47
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 26
Not good music: 20

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo

Music for 1/22/18!!! Los Chicos, Little Axe, Ebo Taylor and the Pelicans

@@@ Los Chicos: Land of a Million Dances (Vampisoul, 2018) Some rock espanol I got to via the WRIR weekly playlist email.  Very Strokes-y but not quite as pussy and more partyistic than poser-y.  Oh fuck, they have a cowbell in there and everybody knows what happens when the cowbell appears.  It’s gonna be a party.  A great tune for Trump to bang his stripper girlfriends to — watch that orange rug twirling around like a rat tail as he gets his freak on!  Oh yeah, stomachs are turning….

@@@ Little Axe: London Blues (Echo Beach, 2018) Also off this week’s WRIR playlist email and it is a blues variant albeit with modern production and other sounds mixed in.  This first tune has a blues feel with a little spaghetti western mixed in and dub as well.  I feel the mash.  The second track, the title tune, is a mostly sanitized fusion-y funk kind of blues that I don’t love.  The third track continues with a mid tempo blues rocker — this isn’t really my thing but check it out if it sounds applicable to you.

@@@ EBO TAYLOR AND THE PELIKANS: Ebo Taylor And The Pelikans (Mr Bongo, 2018)  Some old school African music off the WRIR weekly playlist email.  Opens up with a delicious slightly crunchy organ which I dig (mucho).  Underneath you get a minimal but funky bass with excellent drumming.  The third tune, Reality, brings on a full horn section which changes the vibe of the proceedings, lending a light salsa bounce.  There are two vocalists here and they are great.  I’m going to swing back on this record but I urge all Trump supporters to check out what they’re missing with their misplaced racism and their closed minded bullshit.  I love this shithole music!

YTD recordings listened to: 44
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 24
Not good music: 19

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo

Music for 1/19/18!!! G-Dot, Late Sea, Angel Olsen

@@@ G-Dot: Fake news (N/A, 2017)  Some political minded hip hop I got to after an email from a hip hop promo outfit.  An excellent guitar part with an uptempo rhyming style from the MC.  As one would expect from a tune called Fake News, the President Cheeto-In-Chief makes an appearance in the track.  Excellent funky sounds, good rhymes, and a great idea for a track.  Check it out.

@@@ Late Sea: Hunter (N/A, 2017)  Somewhat art school-proggy-indie I got to via a publicist email.  It’s got a little Radiohead and a little Yes up in there.  It also has some sci-fi movie vibes sprinkled up in there with an arpeggiated synth.  I like portions of the arrangment — the drums are done well and the trumpet that moves across the stereo field.  I’m agnostic on the arpeggiated synth and the singer, eh.  He’s very serious, I have a tough time with serious singers.  If this sounds like a formula that works for you then have at it.

@@@ Angel Olsen: Special (Jagjaguwar, 2018) I’ve been seeing this indie artist sprinkled across the interwebz so I thought I would peep some.  It’s what I do.  I’m getting Velvet Underground vibes from the guitar and a little hippie psychedelic era off the vocals.  It’s sedated music, that’s for sure, oxy or xanax take your pick, this is America!!!  We got pills for everything yo and people are into it.  I don’t think I’m going to make it through this 7+ minute monster shot.  She’s starting to rock but I’m afraid I’ve been lulled into Snoozyland by the tune here.  I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you need to have some cough syrup, or weed, or oxy to make it through this track.  It’s not special unless you’re high on something, much like America.

YTD recordings listened to: 44
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 24
Not good music: 19

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo

Music for 1/18/18!!! Mae Muller, Courtney Marie Andrews, Che Lingo

@@@ Mae Muller: Jenny (N/A, 2018)  Some white Brit girl hip hop/soul/r&b off the Tracks of the Week at Line of Best Fit.  The sounds are all right, medium funky and coherent, but I find Muller’s quasi-rhyming to be a tad clunky.  Fish and chips clunky.  She’s upset her man has a series of gals across the town but that doesn’t mean I have to suffer some C+ microphone work, does it?

@@@ Courtney Marie Andrews: May Your Kindness Remain (Fat Possum, 2018)  Also off Tracks of the Week.  It’s old school gospel tinged hippie rock with some Hammond B3 organ for her to sing over and a background vocal choir at certain points.  I dig the big guitar solo that appears and changes the vibe of the tune.  Andrews has a good voice but I could use a better vocal hook myself.  The tune climaxes 30 seconds from the end which I dig.

@@@ Che Lingo: Same Energy (N/A, 2018)  Also off the Tracks of the Week.  Nice hi hat skitter and big booty bass oozing underneath.  I’m hearing some British accent on one of these MCs and I thought I heard somebody toss the word ‘grime’ so it’s looking like some across the ocean hip hop.  I like it better than a lot of UK hip hop I’ve heard recently.  The MC has good microphone bounce which boosts the energy of the track instead of a lot of cough syrup rhyming you hear out there.  Keep that same energy, it’s all right.

YTD recordings listened to: 41
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 22
Not good music: 18

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo

Music for 1/17/18!!! Grime Lords, Holy Now, Kyle Craft

@@@ Grime Lords: Violent Violins (N/A, 2018) A gruff MC with spitty energy over a mostly retro New York hip hop sound.  I like the electric piano cloud and the little vamp after that.  It’s a pretty Wu-ey track with a funky bassline, I like it.

@@@ Holy Now: Feel it All (Lazy Octopus, 2018) Rock pop sweetness that’s been soaked in ’80s syrup for more than a bit.  Female singer, no anger, chime-y guitars and upbeat drumming.  I mean super upbeat drumming.  Some Cure, some R.E.M., some Ronald Reagan detached from reality flavors.

@@@ Kyle Craft: Exile Rag (Sub Pop, 2018)  Switching decades to the ’70s and some hippie country rock a la the Band.  I’m thinking most of the members of this band own the Band records, maybe all of them.  The singer, the guitar player, the drummer too.  The singer is not the star here but more of the dominant flavor as he has country rock star energy.  His voice is all right — not particularly memorable but he’s feeling it and you can’t deny that.

YTD recordings listened to: 38
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 20
Not good music: 17

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., 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, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo