Music for 3/30/19!!! Pink, Ciara

@@@ Pink: Hustle (RCA, 2019) I continue to dig Pink’s occasional rawness despite this track’s bombastic and very familiar song structure.  The third line of the chorus which pronounces ‘don’t fuck with me’ is great but the finger snaps and the tune are not going win any points in this dark corner of the interwebz.  It’s too much of a bite sandwich.

@@@  Ciara: Thinking About You (Beauty Marks, 2019)  A booty anthem that borrows more than a page from Prince’s big book of pop funk.  The vocal melody or at least parts of it remind me of Kiss maybe?  The production is exquisite while the sounds are a tad too friendly.  She’s a good singer without blowing the roof off the joint or letting her breasts out the way Mariah does.  Mariah doesn’t go anywhere without letting her pet boobs out for a look around.  Ciara’s Apple Music record cover picture has her in a black paint on booty suit so she close.  I don’t really care if I’m the only music reviewer in America that thinks that these super manicured tunes don’t reach fulfill their potential due to a lack of contrast.  Prince would at least do you the courtesy of throwing some super distorted guitar business to balance the sounds out.

YTD recordings listened to: 168
Good music, not list worthy: 101
Not good music: 61

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/29/19!!! Ohtis, Obroa-skai

@@@ Ohtis: Curve of Earth (Full Time Hobby, 2019)  I got to this record via Line of Best Fit weekly email that offers up a record of the week and a track of the week.  It’s O band day here and these guys have a slack alt-country vibe.  It’s not Wilco slack, I hate that slack passionately.  They lyrics are extremely raw and center around family and addiction and I really appreciate them.  The singer is kind of blase while he delivers his big bucket of misery over such a pleasing slide guitar.  There are some nice strings on the third tune to go with the arpeggiated acoustic guitar.  I appreciate this record is not about posing or wearing tight jeans or spanking your meat, it’s about real shit that happens in folks’ lives.

@@@ Obroa-skai – Obroa-skai (Aught \ Void)  A punk rock EP I got to via the CFUV weekly playlist email.  Once it starts to heave this way and that it has an emo feel to it.  The singer is more desperate than pissed off and that’s my favorite flavor of punk singer.  I like the drummer and there are some elements of thrash metal but the overall gunk and crust factor is too high for metal.  This is good and energetic shit, if you’re up for a cathartic punk blast well then hop in the pit and get to moshin’.

YTD recordings listened to: 166
Good music, not list worthy: 99
Not good music: 61

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/28/19!!! Sheridan Reed, Ava Mendoza, Dean Lewis

@@@ Sheridan Reed: Money Maker (N/A, 2019)  I got to this soul/r&b single via a music publicist email.  It is a bit of a white boy frat r&b tune with the singer sound mad similar to the deceased singer from Sublime.  I appreciate the groove but overall it’s not really my thing.  It’s not my kind of soulful.

@@@ Ava Mendoza: Unnatural Ways (New Atlantis, 2018)  I got to this out rock guitarist’s record via a gig announcement from the awfully pretentious Brooklyn club National Sawdust.  It’s a big guitar rock formula here a la Frank Zappa without the childish lyrics and my favorite part of the record is the organ player.  Whoever is rocking that is doing a good job and the tone of the organ fills out the bass space and gives the record a fullness.  All the players are good and this is medium bluster and pretty accessible though it sounds like Mendoza has jazz training.

@@@ Dean Lewis: Stay Awake (Island, 2019)  This is a hot track at Apple Music and it sounds like a label and an A&R person want to take a bite out of Ed Sheeran’s audience and his bank account.  The production here is exquisite and polished but the tune is cliche trash except with an Aussie accent to class it up.  You would hear this at a gas station or while you may be getting a colonoscopy.  Maybe not at a colonoscopy factory because the tune is a bit of one by itself.  Maybe a dentist’s office.  These emotions are so recycled I can’t give it an iota of love.

YTD recordings listened to: 164
Good music, not list worthy: 97
Not good music: 61

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/27/19!!! PNB Rock, Cold Showers, Rotting Christ

@@@ PNB Rock:  I Like Girls (WEA, 2019)  A celebration of lesbian love, or at least of dudes watching girls go at it.  It’s a pretty low IQ hook for a tune but they’re going for it!  He goes to the club with a girl who likes girls and the weed comes out and some girls end up getting raw with each other.  The chorus is the worst because the melody is recycled.  I’m betting PNB Rock wouldn’t be up for watching big bull dykes go at it but if he celebrated that I would give him some respect.  He’s a pussy — he only like lipstick lesbians, what a unrough bitch.

@@@  Cold Showers: Faith (N/A, 2019)  A lead single from a record due out on May 24th and I got to this via a music publicist.  It’s super rooted in ’80s synth/guitar rock.  I appreciate the drum part the most and the singer’s Depeche Mode vocalizing style the least.  It’s a muscular Cure track without the cleverness of the bummer Cure dude.  I appreciate the energy but the track could use some flash in my dumbass opinion.

@@@  Rotting Christ: The Heretics (Self-released, 2019)  A metal record off this week’s CFUV playlist email.  From the spoken word intro to the vibe of the sounds it appears to be an ambitious record questioning man’s relationship to God and I”m betting more specifically the Christian God (see funny hat below!).  The sounds are solidly classic arena metal, and the playing is mostly classic metal with some touches of thrash, and some Christian choir group action.  I don’t think these guys are American and I’m guessing, no wait let me Google these bitches.  Wow, a Greek metal band that goes back to 1987!  They are classic metal incarnate.  They’ve run a race Motley Crue gave up so they could sit at home and play with fake boobs and masturbate in bus stations.  It’s not my style but I give props for longevity.

YTD recordings listened to: 161
Good music, not list worthy: 96
Not good music: 59

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/25/19!!! Blueface, Ken Nordine, Orville Peck

@@@ Blueface: Thotiana (5th Amendment, 2019)  A friend of mine sent me the link for this strip club anthem and the article the New York Times wrote about it.  Let’s just reiterate for the umpteenth time that New York Times’ music coverage is a bag of ass.  Incompetent and up its own ass.  Straight up Blueface can’t rap for shit, but music critics at the the Grey Lady don’t give a sliver of a fuck regarding one of the core elements of hip hop.  I know the word retarded is not considered correct but Blueface’s voice sounds off and a bit askew and if it were back in the day somebody might call it retarded.  Congrats on making it to the NY Times, but this is trash.

@@@ Ken Nordine: Word Jazz (Pickwick, 1957)  I saw on the KFJC semi-whatever email that this jazz poet passed away recently and I never heard of him and shit so I peeped him at All Music and saw this may be considered his best record.  The music here is pretty old school standard straight jazz and Nordine sounds like a present day voiceover fella.  He’s a bit offkilter but not especially jazzy or funky (according to my vague definition thereof).  The second tune fits a more standard definition of jazz .  I do like his very deep voice and what appears to be some irony to his poetics.  Check it out for back in the day vibes.

@@@ Orville Peck: Pony (Sub Pop, 2019) I saw this queer country record on the Line of Best fit weekly email which I enjoy sometimes.  The first tune is spaghetti country-ish and dramatical.  Peck has a deep register voice and the track sounds mad ironic to my ears.  I guess this gent’s identity is unknown which is fine for me as regular readers know I’m music only.  I like the guitar sounds and I find his voice and approach entertaining without super loving the tunes.

YTD recordings listened to: 158
Good music, not list worthy: 95
Not good music: 57

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/24/19!!! Bill McKay, Sara Bareilles

@@@ Bill McKay: Fountain Fire (Drag City, 2019) Not up on the streaming services I got to this tune via this week’s All Music notable release email.  He is slotted as a guitar virtuoso and thus far I like what he has going but virtuoso I don’t hear.  I hear a lot of tracks of above average quality.

@@@ Sarah Bareilles: Saint Honesty (Sony, 2019)  #1 on the Apple Music hot tracks.  This is the ‘I’d like to see you be brave lady’ — does anybody remember that tune?  You couldn’t take a fucking shit without hearing that tune.  She’s got T-Bone Burnett producing so the sounds are exquisite, but this is a different from the anthem she’s known for.  This is a blend of adult alternative and Americana.  Kind of a BBQ bologna and wonder bread sandwich.  I guess this qualifies as a reinvention.  I would rather go full country and listen to Emmylou Harris any day of the week but this is all right.  I’ve clipped the tune Brave below for those who have never peeped this biscuit.  It’s got 89 million views on the GooglePimpTube — wow, I’m listening to it now and I want to hit her in the back of the skull with a 2X4.

YTD recordings listened to: 155
Good music, not list worthy: 94
Not good music: 55

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/22/19!!! Helado Negro, Townes Van Zandt

@@@ Helado Negro: This is How You Smile (RVNG, 2019)  I’ve been seeing this record listed on the WRIR weekly playlist email for a bunch of weeks, but it’s been officially released and is up on the streaming stores.  This first tune is mostly indie and having read in Mr. Negro’s bio that he’s Latin and Brooklyn it explains the sonic formula.  The second tune is also slack bedroom indie so maybe that’s what this record is gonna be.  I was hoping for a mash of indie and world music as I’m a fan more of world music than indie but what can you do?  He switches over to Spanish for the fourth tune and that surely changes the vibe of the tune.  The production here is most excellent and well done, the songs are good without really super working for me and that’s where it’s at as far as I’m concerned.  The fourth tune Fantasma Vaga is the best of what I heard.

@@@ Townes Van Zandt: Sky Blue (Fat Possum, 2019)  Without knowing much of Van Zandt’s catalog he sure was a bit of an underground country icon.  The first tune is old school-ish melancholy country.  It’s just a man and his guitar which is cool.  I can tell from the differences in sound between the first and second tune that this a compilation of tunes and the GooglePimp tells me it’s a posthumous collection of unreleased tracks.  I like it.  Lonesome county music that paved the way for a lot of hipsters that came after.

YTD recordings listened to: 155
Good music, not list worthy: 94
Not good music: 55

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/21/19!!! Fat White Family, Schoolboy Q, Brad Paisley

@@@ Fat White Family: Tastes Good with the Money (Domino, 2019)  I guess it’s more acceptable for Brit hipsters to renovate a classic T. Rex kinda groove and update it for Brexit and the rest of the universe than it would be for Williamsburg artisinal hipsters to do the same.  I believe it’s a class critique but I’m not interested enough in the music to expend the energy.  I don’t usually peep the videos that accompany my scintillating commentary but I’ve checked it in places and it does appear more work into the video than the tune.  Gimme something to hold onto besides the images, something sonic that makes this feel thought out and creative.

@@@  Schoolboy Q: Numb Numb Juice (Interscope, 2019)  I thought this was gonna be a party track given the title but it comes out gangsta.  That is bitch shit, I’m hearing this over and over before it launches into the repercussions of killing a man.  I stopped getting all judge-y and shit about the violence and anti-women lyrics but it’s not my favorite topic for rhymes.  Numb numb juice which is slang for alcohol makes its appearance at the end of the track, but in the phrase ‘numb numb juice to the head’ which makes it sound related to gunfire.  So color me clueless — the sonics are pretty standard trap business — skitter and fat bass, the two twin pillars of trap.

@@@ Brad Paisley: My Miracle (Sony, 2019)  Regular readers know of my deep love for new country music — it is so heartfelt I can’t review too much of it as it tears me up.  When that dude hits his pickup truck and heads out of town with his girl who’s wearing cut off shorts and her hair blowing in the wind.  I’ll be honest, it fucks me up.  This tune uses John Mayer’s classic FM guitar work as the basis for his song about his woman, who is his miracle.  The lyrics are pure cliche trash, the guitar playing is all right, and the rest of it probably came out of can they opened up in a shopping mall near Nashville.  Also, check the white hat and the black leather jacket, that means something.  I’m not sure what but it sure as shit does.

YTD recordings listened to: 153
Good music, not list worthy: 92
Not good music: 55

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/20/19!!! Children of Bodom, Malahini

@@@ Children of Bodom: Hexed (Nuclear Blast, 2019) Horns up ya shittaz!  #classic metal #redbull.  The singer is rougher than what you usually get from the classic metal outfits but you do get some cheerful Joe Satriani-esque guitar playing and some manic double kick dome slapping.  Balls deep in kick drum for sure!  I had to check out track 5, Kick in a spleen.  You can’t fuck with that.  I’m not sure lyrically where a tune like Kick in a Spleen is gonna go but it’s full bore classic metal.  Full fucking bore.

@@@ Malahini: Hopefully Again (Memphis Industries, 2019)  I got to this indie electronic (as well as the metalheads above) via this week’s All Music notable release email.  This is super friendly guitar driven indie pop rock.  Two singers, male and female, will hold you in their hands and give you a piece of cotton candy to put under your head.  It’s a wee bit soft for me as I’m dead inside and I love both the rough combined with the soft, and just the rough by itself.  I don’t mind if other folks like the soft towels, the handclaps, the shaker parts and the huggy business, have at it.

YTD recordings listened to: 150
Good music, not list worthy: 91
Not good music: 53

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg

Music for 3/19/19!!! Tal Wilkenfeld, Cecilia Lopez, Anderson .Paak

@@@ Tal Wilkenfeld: Love Remains (BMG, 2019)  I got to this female rock record via Marc Maron’s email missive.  The first tune is guitar-centric and pretty thick for a major label rock record.   Wilkenfeld is a bass player (I see from the GooglePimpTube) and she sings the tunes.  I like the guitar sounds but I can’t say I’m enthralled with the lyrics.   The second tune is a slow one with acoustic guitar and a subtle but more than solid bassline.  I like the sounds here more than the tunes.  I looked up the guitar player on this record and his name is Blake Mills — he sounds a bunch like Nels Cline but more rocking and he and the drummer get gold stars for their work on this record.

@@@ Cecilia Lopez: Red/Machinic (XI Records, 2019)  I’m on Roulette’s mailing list up here in the BK and this drone musician is playing there and is a resident there and has a record from the end of 2018.  I skipped the first tune and dropped into the second which is a pretty mesmerizing drone piece that does at some point get into some duck like sounds interrupting the watery and metallic sounds.  The third piece sounds like a bunch of metal birds trying to start a lawnmower.  It’s pretty fresh stuff and though I can’t hang to check out the 72 minute wrap up to the record, check out some of the in between stuff as it’s really good.

@@@ Anderson .Paak: King James (Aftermath, 2019) A retro smooth funk jam that is the lead single off .Paak’s new record.  I’ve liked some of his previous stuff but this sounds really mature to my ears — a lot of Stevie Wonder with updated bass sounds and a little bit of Lionel Richie up in there.  I like the contrast between the smoothness of the production and .Paak’s medium gruff voice.  The track is Dr. Dre produced so the beats are tight and central to the mix.  Concious lyrics and high end sounds.

YTD recordings listened to: 148
Good music, not list worthy: 89
Not good music: 53

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, 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, Pom Poko, Fried Egg