Music for 2/28/19!!! Overkill, Candlemass, Whitechapel

@@@ Overkill: The Wings of War (Nuclear Blast, 2019) Classic metal with some industrial flourishes that I got to via the excellent Vancouver station CFUV.  I don’t usually go for the classic metal due to goofiness but these guys really rev it up.  The singer sounds like he could fit right in with the Scorpions and the drummer needs to cut back on the Red Bull.  I’m listening to this record on really nice headphones and my ears are just stuffed with guitars and guitar distortion.  If you’re looking for fully brewed and steeped classic metal these gents will hook you up.  Leather pants, big riffs, cucumbers stuffed down there leather pants….it’s all there and more!

@@@ Candlemass: The Door to Doom (Napalm Records, 2019)  Occupying the #1 slot on the Apple Music metal page, these guys enter all sinister and shit, the way Trump stomps into his bedroom with his ill penis and his dark rage.  After the hazy, epic intro it gets into a hard rock thing a pretty boy sounding singer and some pretty mannered metal.  The second tune, Under the Ocean, opens up with some Bon Jovi/Soundgarden guitar noodling and it’s pretty goofy to my ears.  A wee bit of metallic cheese, oh there they’ve ripped of the laderhosen and it’s a 3/4 mashup!!!

@@@Whitechapel: When a Demon Defiles a Witch (Metal Blade, 2019)  I’m checking out this tune as I’ve always wondered what happens when a demon defiles a witch.  Apparently it’s a pretty gruesome affair as these guys get down and smash up the place with a lot of guitar power chord action and a devolved singer.  They get a good stomp going with the added double kick thwacking.  They do that thing where they have the lead guy grunting in the front and actual singing/harmonizing behind him.  It doesn’t get into the specifics of what happens when a Demon Defiles a Witch, though they kinda jump the shark in the second half of the song with some introspective slow down before going out kachunky and back!  Flopping around like a fish at the bottom of a boat.

YTD recordings listened to: 115
Good music, not list worthy: 66
Not good music: 44

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan

Music for 2/27/19!!! Wristmeetsrazor, Jackie Mendoza, Devil Master

@@@ Wristmeetsrazor: Misery Never Forgets (Prosthetic, 2019)  Quite a dramatic band name.  Keep the boxcutters in the cabinets where they belong, kiddies!  These guys are rocking a more aggressive and less doomy metal approach with jumpy section cuts, an energetic singer and an above average drummer.  This record does not fall easily within a single metal subgenre and I appreciate that — it has a punky side, an emo side, a thrash side, and tuneful hard rock sign.  Even a mainstream rock record at times.  This is the best thing I heard today.

@@@ Jackie Mendoza: Seahorse (Luminelle, 2019) I got to this femme indie single via a twat on the Twatter.  It’s has a large scoop of dreamy indie sauce on this electronic track.  We have a pretty non descript beat, some electric guitar noodling that is average so the emphasis is on the vocals and the synths.  To my ears there are just too many vocals and too much processing on aforementioned vocals.  It does evoke a maritime environment but I find it a little seasick-y and not dreamy.

@@@ Devil Master: Her Thirsty Whip (Relapse, 2019)  A pre-release hard rock single I got to via a music publicist.  Lord knows I don’t want to be a genre bitch but this is more hard rock with the exception of the singer who has a pleasurable Satanic grind to his voice.  I’m now going to have to apologize as at 1:30 they head into a tasty thrash metal section with genuine metal fervor.  Hotter than Mike Pence’s wife’s Christian pussy!  It ends with a dramatic acoustic guitar arpeggio and a chainsaw synth.  Odd and okay.

YTD recordings listened to: 112
Good music, not list worthy: 64
Not good music: 43

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan

Music for 2/26/19!!! Pete Berwick, John Mayer, Pink

@@@ Pete Berwick: Island (Self-released, 2019) Gruff, weary rock that reminds you of Social Distortion with less of the pumped up punk vibe.  Somehow I’m on this musician’s promo email list which is fine and today I have space.  The second tune, clipped below, is a slow one with an acoustic guitar.  But it does retain the world weary mid tempo rock vibe.  And the acoustic guitar gives way to the electric guitars which sound great by the way.  I like Berwick’s voice as it has character to it.  Rock is a tough sell these days but this is well done if you roll that way.  No pun intended.

@@@ John Mayer: I Guess I Just Feel Like (Columbia, 2019)  I saw big mouth music blogger Bob Lefsetz praising this tune so I thought I would throw it a peep.  In general, I think Mayer is a very good guitar player who is a little short on fire and his voice is just awful to my ears.  He’s a born panty quaker and he just goes with it so his music is soft as baby food or what fills a diaper after the baby food has been digested.  He’s the Mark Knopfler of our time.  This is a sad sack tune about how everything is turning to shit, which it is, but I prefer a good whip up that would inspire folks to go burn some shit down.  The tune outros with a shuffle beat and more shredding but the Mark Knopfler observation holds true.

@@@ Pink: Walk me Home (RCA, 2019) In general I have respect for Pink but this is a biscuit.  It’s a retrofitted new country midtempo ballad rocker but with a few modifications.  It does the classic arena rock explosion in the chorus and while millions of folks might fall for this fake uplift I ain’t buying it.  I want to like it but I also have some self-respect.

YTD recordings listened to: 109
Good music, not list worthy: 62
Not good music: 42

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan

 

Music for 2/25/19!!! Fokn Bois, Lagrimas de Sangre

@@@ FOKN Bois: Afrobeats LOL (Fokn Bois, 2019)  Two African gents from Ghana doing a send up of Afrobeat.  It’s more hip hop and the send up I think is in the lyrics where in this first tune they have announced ‘fuck Africa’ and other such irreverent sentiments.  The music has both a distinctive African feel as well as a hip hop feel.  I like the attitude of this record — usually African music is presented with a sort of preciousness but these guys are more interested in making interesting music and doing their thing.  It’s a drum machine record with r&b/world music sounds and these two MCs setting various moods.  If you’re an African music fan you might wanna check this out.

@@@ Lagrimas de Sangre: Salsa Bolonesa (Vertigo Records, 2019)  A Spanish language hip hop single I got to via the WRIR weekly playlist email.  The most notable thing out of the gate on this single is the concept of taking salsa sounds and putting them over a drum machine accompanied by MCs.  Taking familiar things and smashing them up,  interesting.  The MCs are pretty high energy, not full on spitting but definitely working together to put out a lot of energy.  I have no idea what they’re rapping about but the feel it and it’s a party track with some muscle to it.

YTD recordings listened to: 106
Good music, not list worthy: 61
Not good music: 40

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan

Music for 2/22/19!!! Ladytron, Yann Tiersen, Maren Morris

@@@ Ladytron: Ladytron (Ladytron Recordings, 2019)  Some mainstream electronic pop rock I got to via last week’s All Music notable release email.  The opener, Until the Fire, is a rocker while the second tune (clipped below!) is a midtempo ballad.  The singer is meaningful and the lyrics impart a futuristic and artistic intention.  The sounds are updated ’80s synth pop rock sounds.  This isn’t really for folks like me.  I’m not really sure who this is for — maybe thirteen old fantasy fiction loving tweens.  As music outside of its intended demographic it’s pretty overwrought drama pop but folks love that.  I don’t want to get all judgy and shit.

@@@ Yann Tiersen: All (Mute, 2019)  If it’s on Mute it’s gonna be aspirationally sophisticated music.  It opens up with the sounds of children playing and some New Age piano with electronic garnish.  Lord help us all for we need tough jackets to withstand all the cheese that rains down over us.  I couldn’t get to the meat of the song, it was really too much for my fragile sensibilities.  The second tune, Koad, keeps the piano, switches the children for bird chirps, and then introduces a multitracked female ‘choir’ with lots of ooo-ooo-ooo-oohs.  It’s comforting the way a 2X4 to the back of the head is comforting.  I’m on the third tune and Tiersen kept the bird chirps from the second track.  I hope those birds get their royalties.  I think I hear a harmonium which signifies spirituality.  I can’t take it anymore, I’m out like bell bottom jeans.  I hope this wasn’t aspirationally sophisticated music because if it was it did not succeed, this is undercover New Age cheese.

@@@  Maren Morris: The Bones (N/A, 2019)  This tune occupies the #1 slot on Apple Music hot tracks.  It uses the metaphor of ‘the bones’ of a house where the visuals may be frayed but the foundation is strong.  The tune uses too sonic signifiers that I loather — first off the excessive use of finger snaps and the breathy, I’m about to cream my panties singing style that has infected modern pop.  It is accompanied by a simple, clean electric guitar figure.  I believe this qualifies as today’s country music — it’s not country music except in peripheral ways but it retains the earnest feelings country music goes for.

YTD recordings listened to: 104
Good music, not list worthy: 59
Not good music: 40

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan

Music for 2/21/19!!! Zazou Bikaye, Czarface and Ghostface

@@@ Zazou Bikaye | Na Kenda (Crammed, 2018)  I got to this recording via the WRIR weekly playlist email.  This is a remixed and reissued track from the late ’80s and sports all the sounds that prevailed at the time.  This is a single with the A side remixed as Afro acid and the second side the same song remixed as techno dub.  There are some super delicious funky squiggles going on in addition to bell sounds and African vocals/chants.  The first remix is super high energy while the second brings a more laidback techno vibe but it’s a celebration of vintage sounds.

@@@ Czarface: Czarface meets Ghostface (Silver Age, 2019)  A Wu Tang clan member collaboration that I got to via last week’s All Music notable release email.  It’s a classic comic book/kung fu movie mash with two MCs facing off in a rap battle.  The sounds are decidedly retro in the second tune, Face Off, with some arena rock vibes mixed with the ghetto heroics.  The production is much thicker than what RZA would put behind this and I prefer the stripped down sound to these sounds.  The rhyming is all right if pretty standard.  I like the fifth tune, Powers and Stuff, the best of what I heard.

YTD recordings listened to: 101
Good music, not list worthy: 58
Not good music: 38

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan

Music for 2/20/19!!! William Russell Wallace, Chaka Khan, Tierra Whack

@@@ Chaka Khan: Hello Happiness (Island, 2019) Chaka Khan brings the old school funk flavors on her new record.  Blending aspects of disco into her funk she goes for the popping bass sounds, the string arrangements.  I was thinking she had a solid comeback on her hands until she gets into super dirty funk on the third tune (clipped below).  It’s guitar driven with synth sparkle and I had to swap out the title track for this funk nugget.  Check this track out, it’s bumping at many levels.  She continues to burn on the blues down on love track, Too Hot.  Surprisingly great music from Khan.

@@@ Tierra Whack: Only Child (Tierra Whack, 2019)  I liked Tierra Whack’s 2018 efforts.  Maybe not as much as others who gushed but I’m interested in continuing the listening.  I like that there are mad school old school doo wop vocal stylings that open the tune before the rhymes come in.  A break from the trap!  Also a simple but memorable guitar part ringing through the tune.  I find lines like ‘you made my heart so cold I should work at Friendly’s’ and ‘money over dick, money over dick’ to be smart and creative.  Tierra Whack has it going on with this track.

@@@ William Russell Wallace: San Jacinto (N/A, 2019) I got to this lonesome folk ballad (complete with harmonica solo) via a music publicisit.  Wallace’s voice has desperation built into it and while an old Dylan ditty would be a touchstone the difference in vocals takes it to a different place.  A little tambourine, some harmonica, a lot of acoustic guitar and his voice.  Solid.

YTD recordings listened to: 99
Good music, not list worthy: 56
Not good music: 38

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan

Music for 2/19/19!!! Drugdealer, Woman’s Hour, Jessie Ware

@@@ Jessie Ware: Adore You (Universal Music, 2019)  A major label single off the Line of Best Fit weekly email.  It’s a lush electronic love song with some shout outs to Prince for influences.  The beat is a laidback techno thing, with a whole basket of synths woven over the top of it.  For a mainstream track this is pretty nice.  You can really hear the advances in the quality of synths as they are full and lush and make a really great instrumental background when arranged in this way.  This is the best thing I heard today by far.  Check it out.

@@@ Drugdealer: Fools (Mexican Summer, 2019) A pre-release single I got to via the Line of Best Fit.  A midtempo mid -70s classic soft rock tune.  I imagine you would have to be super into this time and place in music to make such a faithful reproduction of that period of laidback rock.  I can’t really understand that, but we all different and shit.  Jerry Rafferty, the Doobie Brothers, and a few pubes of the Eagles.  If you’re looking for some fresh sounds from that period have at it as they are into it bigly.

@@@ Woman’s Hour: Ephyra (Practise, 2019)  I got to this record via the Line of Best Fit weekly email.  The first tune is a little proggy and a little arty with descending keyboard lines and vocals before a supporting drum machine enters.  After a spoken word intro the second tune gets into a bit more aggressive area with a bombastic Beastie Boys beat, some pong synth patches and more female vocals.  I’m have a bit of a difficult time figuring out where this record is at.  The sounds are electronic, but the beats and the moods differ significantly from tune to tune.  I would say this is an updated Kate Bush kind of thing but not as fleshed out and a bit jumpy.

YTD recordings listened to: 96
Good music, not list worthy: 54
Not good music: 37

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel

Music for 2/18/19!!! Almamagretta, Mdou Moctar

@@@ Almamegretta: Ennenne Dub (Sanacore, 2017) I saw this dub outfit has a new record out on Echo Beach,  a German imprint, but it’s not around on bandcamp or the streaming sites.  Many of the tracks on this album have been remixed which is not a problem but might make it a little less sonically cohesive.  Almamegretta hails from Naples Italy and they sing in both Italian and English.  This first une, Tiempo Niro, is very brisk and they come back down to a slower dub tempo in the second tune, Pray.  They have some sticky rhythm parts here but the vocals do not consist of pieces of processed vocals as you would find in a typical dub outing.  They’re more dub tunes with vocals across the whole tune.  I find this less interesting but they have some wicked sounds going on here.  They also have some electronic sounds up in these tracks which give it more of a Massive Attack feel.

@@@ Mdou Moctar: Wiwasharnine (Sahel Sounds, 2019)  Another new arrival at WRIR, an excellent world music station in Virginia.  This is a pre-release single from a record coming on March 29th.  If you closed your eyes and put a white boy out in front on the vocals this could almost pass as an American rock band.  It’s a bit bouncier and more cheerful than your usual West African desert blues shred show.  I have nothing against an upbeat number.  Big rock guitars, it’s a good track.

YTD recordings listened to: 93
Good music, not list worthy: 53
Not good music: 36

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel

Music for 2/17/19!!! Cardi B. and Bruno Mars, Drake, Gary Clark Jr.

@@@ Cardi B & Bruno Mars: Please Me (WEA, 2019)  Oh boy, I like Cardi B, but I think Bruno Mars stinks.  My first thought is that they have switched gender roles and I’m sure she could pop Bruno Mars’ head off in a hot second.  I think she just said her pussy was like horchata, which is a sweet Mexican milk and we can be sure Bruno fetched coffee during this session.  The tune has a well developed hook that kinda gets rocked more than it’s worthy of and the tune does have a throwaway feel to it.

@@@ Drake: I’m Going In (Young Money, 2019)  Drake’s got some reissue cake for the masses.  His 2009 mixtape turns 10 and if you want to hear Drake go plastic gangsta check this track out.  I like the retro beats, they are  pretty good.  I was not writing this blog at the time of this original release — regular readers know that I check everything Drake puts out cuz it’s fun and not because it’s good.  I continue to be a bit befuddled as to why Drake is so huge — his rough rhymes are silly, I think Biggie Smalls would laugh at his ass.  I think Cardi B would stomp his dick off as well.  And his sounds are all right but not worthy of the adulation.  I guess he’s the, who is he of this time?  Is he comparable to the Bee Gees?  Or to Michael Jackson?  It’s a good question but not one I have an answer to.

@@@ Gary Clark Jr: What About Us (Warner, 2019)  A pre-release single from the standard bearer for the electric blues style in 2019.  Makes me kinda miss Stevie Ray Vaughan to be honest.  I think his guitar tone is a bit too epic but who am I to say?  I’d like to see him peel off a Buddy Guy shred to really pump this track up and I’m not sure it’s gonna show up.  We three minutes in and not yet.  It’s a track about generational shifts as the young bloods take over and that’s cool.  I dig the end where he goes into a Prince type falsetto but the tune does not deliver a massive solo nor particularly developed lyrics.

YTD recordings listened to: 91
Good music, not list worthy: 51
Not good music: 36

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel