Music for 4/30/19!!! Zr. King, YG, Flying Lotus

@@@ Zr. King: Ships in the Night (N/A, 2019)  A pre-release hard rock single I got to via a music publicist.  Let’s give this bitch a ride.  It opens with a somewhat staggered off kilter power chord/riff combo platter.  Comparisons to Led Zeppelin are a stretch and Queens of the Stone Age are a better comparison.  I never really grooved on Robert Plant but this somewhat restrained singer does bring the rocking down a couple of notches.  If duder was flipping the fuck out on the microphone I would be more liking this.  Possibly even bigly.  Intentional grammar mistakes hashtag.  Some more variation on the guitar riffs would be welcome as well.

@@@ YG: Stop Snitchin’ (Def Jam, 2019)  I saw the first two seconds of the video and it puts F**k Slavery up on a black screen but when the tune comes on Apple Music it’s all about snitchin — it’s a rhythmic encantation bitch n*gga, snitch n*gga, ho n*gga, it’s really quite a show.  The trap leaning arrangement is tight and catchy but it is really strange and mostly fucked up to connect slavery with snitching to the cops.  I would like to have had that explained in more detail but it was little more than the hook bitch n*gga, snitch n*gga, ho n*gga.  Catchy as fuck but also very….well check it for yourself.

@@@  Flying Lotus: Takashi (Warp, 2019) Flying Lotus up on the Apple Music hot tracks!  Imagine that.  I’ve always felt Flying Lotus is overrated but I’m able to be convinced.  Here he sheds the abstract electronica for a caffeinated booty jam.  He continually accelerates the tempo of the keyboard stuffed track til it’s hyper funk.  Impressive as a technical work of music making, not as much for listeners.  I guess if you’re into proggy sounding funk then this would make you shit your pants.  I move to the next tune unsoiled.  It also could be shorter, possibly much shorter.

YTD recordings listened to: 220
Good music, not list worthy: 132
Not good music: 78

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail

Music for 4/29/19!!! Regina Carter, Heather Woods Broderick

@@@ Regina Carter: Reverse Thread (E1 Music, 2010)  I saw this violinist mentioned on the Twatter.  She is across genres from classical to American jazz to this African music influenced record.  I dig some classical music but I’m going to choose the African music every time.  The first tune (clipped below) opens up with some uptempo fiddle playing, a well fingered and brisk bassline, and most notably an accordion or an accordion type instrument.  At about 1 minute it settles into a standard straight jazz groove.  This is most definitely music for people with good jobs that wear nice sweaters and drink coffee because they enjoy the flavor.  I’m hearing a some kora (a good thing), electric bass (not a great thing on a jazz record imho) and some big jazz drumming on this second tune.   I like the fiddle playing as well as the accordion, the rest not so much.

@@@ Heather Woods Broderick: Invitation (Western Vinyl, 2019) I got to this alt country release via last week’s All Music notable release email.  The album opens with an ambient tune called A Stilling Wind.  Some electronic swirls and garnishes and an arpeggiated guitar and then Broderick’s somewhat breathy and intimate vocal.  By about 2 minutes we’re at full band with a cello, some shuffling drums and the aforementioned elements.  It’s a little bit country and a bunch Barbara Streisand.  Heavy on feeling.  I didn’t make it all the way through, I made it to about 4 minutes.  The second tune is called I Try and it’s a piano rock thing.  I think there was a time when Western Vinyl was an alt country imprint but I should adjust my notebook as the past few releases I’ve checked have not been that.  There’s a slide guitar here and there on this record but it’s mostly an adult alternative record, which is fine but I’m not really an adult alternative guy.

YTD recordings listened to: 217
Good music, not list worthy: 131
Not good music: 76

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail

Music for 4/27/19!!! Taylor Swift, FKA Twigs

@@@ Taylor Swift: ME! (Taylor Swift Productions, 2019)  The good news is that Taylor Swift has stopped trying to be cool and sexy.  The bad news is that she has devolved back into pre-adolescent stupidity.  I like the verse, but the chorus is that sort of all American firing of the cheese cannon that disgraces us in front of the world.  The bridge where they spell out words is grade school shit.  I guess if you’re thinking that the goal of today’s society is to keep everyone a child forever and let’s go shopping then this is pure friggin’ genius.  This is competent cheese where the last batch of Tay Tay was incompetent and unfocused aspirations.  That’s what ME! thinks.

 

@@@ FKA Twigs: Cellophane (Young Turks, 2019)  Also off the Apple Music hot tracks section which is all up in Tay Tay’s business.  Here we have FKA Twigs, the anti-star star given to us as a respite and another form of self-absorption soaked in a little darkness.  Opens up with the simple resonant piano and the plaintive singing.  It’s an upgraded Lana Del Rey mope tune.  You go FKA!  ‘They want to see us alone, they want to see us apart’.  I don’t have a lot of love for the lyrics but she is singing her booty off for sure.  About halfway through we get a little flush of electro glitter and then the kick drum enters and we are building the fire with FKA Twigs.  What, no love for that pun?  It is notable for it’s sparse arrangement and her singing but I don’t like the quasi-paranoid vocal hook.  I don’t want to see you alone, FKA, you deserve love!  Don’t be overwhelmed, it’s all good.

YTD recordings listened to: 215
Good music, not list worthy: 129
Not good music: 76

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail

Music for 4/26/19!!! Ezra Collective, pronoun

@@@ Ezra Collective: You can’t steal my joy (Enter the Jungle, 2019) Both of today’s listens come from this week’s Line of Best fit promo email. I guess if you can’t sell jazz you can record some soul music with a little jazz vibe to it and rebrand that as jazz. This could be a Maxwell track from way back in the day. You can’t fault the band, they’re just trying to get by but this is only a notch or two above a jam band. There’s not much sophistication to be had here — you would get more adventurous listening from a golden age Lee Perry dub record. Just as I typed that the drummer went into a steady dancehall beat. So check it out if you’re up for some pretty much non-jazz jazz. If you would like some jazz but not any skronk go check out some old school Duke Ellington.

@@@ pronoun: i’ll show you stronger (rhyme and reason, 2019) There are three pre release tracks up on the Apple music from this upcoming retro female rock record. A little bit of the Cranberries, some Natalie Merchant, and a lot of feelings. There’s nothing wrong with feelings. This first tune, you didn’t even make the bed, would go great in a lipstick lesbian coffee shop. Upbeat pretty femme power. In the second pre rlease tune they go in the wrong direction and employ an ’80s dance drum beat and some chorused/gated sounds. Not really my cup of tea or lipstick lesbian coffee.

YTD recordings listened to: 213
Good music, not list worthy: 129
Not good music: 74

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail

Music for 4/25/19!!! Mick Jenkins, Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist

@@@ Mick Jenkins: Pieces of a Man (Free Nation/Cinematic, 2019) I’m extending my listening session for underrated hip hop from 2018 that I saw listed up on theringer.com.  The first tune has a spoken word empowerment lecture for about 90 seconds until the tune kicks off into a part fusion, part soul track.  The second tune changes from a live full band tune to a more traditional drum machine thing.  I like Jenkins rhymes, he has solid thick energy on the mic but I’m not super into his keyboard player.  He’s too high into washed out abstract patches and too low on funk.  Otherwise I really like the tracks.  The fourth tune takes the keyboard profile down and I like it much better.

@@@ Curren$y, Freddie Gibbs, and the Alchemist: Fetti (Empire, 2018) Another listen off theringer.com underrated 2018 hip hop records.  A few years ago I really enjoyed a gross Alchemist record so I thought I would check this record out.  The first tune has an interesting wailing vocal sample as an MC gets midtempo rough on the mic.  The second tune, Blow, uses some really catchy samples.  A short bass figure, a ringing vibes sample and multiple MCs.  I’m on the third tune and I’m listening more to the sounds and the arrangement than I am to the rhymes.  Lyrically, the rhymes revolve around various ghetto hip hop themes.  Dead homies, pussy ass n*ggas, freaky bitches and a tune called Saturday Night Special.  I like it without loving it.

YTD recordings listened to: 211
Good music, not list worthy: 129
Not good music: 72

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail

Music for 4/24/19!!! Hermit and the Recluse, Hawktail

@@@ Hermit and the Recluse: Orpheus vs. the Sirens (Obol for Charon, 2018)  I got to this 2018 hip hop record via a writeup at theringer.com of 2018 underrated hip hop artists.  It is a concept record revolving around Greek mythology.  The first tune is notable for a dramatical string melody and an elastic bassline.  Thus far the rapping is more down than up and the emphasis is on the arrangements.  I really like the sounds here, they’re really well put together and interesting with shouts to the producer and the bass player.  I find the rhymes a bit low energy and want to hear more energy put on top of these atypical hip hop arrangements. 

@@@ Hawktail: Unless (Padiddle Records, 2018) Called ‘bluegrass royalty’ by the uber pretentious club National Sawdust in the BK, NY on whose email list I’m proud to sit.   Unlike yesterday’s fake folk listen this is some real ass bluegrass/folk music.  Yeah, they’re different but also connected.  It opens up with some fine fiddling playing.  Oh my, this fiddle player kicks it and he pulls a band consisting of upright bass, acoustic guitar, and banjo I think.  I don’t know if we’re gonna get a singer for this record.  The second tune is a slow ballad with what I think is bowed bass and accordion.  The melodies are super sweet but the playing is modest and they don’t milk it.  I plan on checking out this record more deeply when I have the time so feel free to peep it.  High quality playing.

YTD recordings listened to: 209
Good music, not list worthy: 127
Not good music: 72

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail

 

Music for 4/23/19!!! TR/ST, Johnnyswim, Lil Dicky

@@@ TR/ST: Destroyer Vol. 1 (House Arrest, 2019) Some superstar indie off this week’s All Music notable release email. Oh boy, my Apple Music is sluggish as fuck this morning and I hope it hangs in there. We open up with a indie techo beat and some other club sounds and a singer with a low voice percolating beneath the pong synth. When it gets to the chorus, it loses what energy it has and I’m not a fan yet. The second tune is a more straight ahead synth rock tune. Midtempo, big synth pillows, and I still don’t like the singer though I like him more than in the first tune. The third tune gets even more Kraut-y so it looks like they vacillate between the angular, dark dancefloor half bangers and the ’80s synth rock numbers. Not great for me but if you’re looking to get your chainsaw synth and your ping pong patch served up with some unt-sss techno well then you’re in luck!

@@@ Johnnyswim: Moonlight (BMG, 2019) I’m not sure what to think of contemporary major label folk but when I click on this first tune I’m thinking they’ve genre fucked us as this is an undercover pop biscuit. Oh, it’s true this is some pop rock that is happy to fire the corn cannon! Fake uplifting lyrics, big exploding choruses, it’s the full monty. I made it about halfway through the first tune before moving to the second. It was brutally cheesy. The second tune opens up with a faux Radiohead half electro bass and straight rock beat. But then comes the singer and I don’t enjoy that. I guess it all comes down to what role music plays in your life. If you’re in it for a melody and something to soundtrack your scene well this is highly manicured and dramatical, but if you’re looking for some sort of emotional connection from your music don’t expect it to come here.

@@@ Lil Dicky: Earth ( Dirty Burd, 2019) A Disney style feel good climate change anthem to munch your Big Mac and trip out on Instagram. It’s really not about climage change, it’s a list of animals with animated characters and ghetto descriptions of each creature. There’s nothing here that’s particularly connected to reality. I had to tip out after some sort of unrelated comparison between the male and female orgasm. It is a fact not mentioned in this song (about climate change) that if you love the earth then you need to not just chill, you have to change your behavior. Oh, right, people aren’t really up for that. Ah well, reality. It would be a cheap joke to say the lyrics here a lil dicky but it’s applicable.

YTD recordings listened to: 210
Good music, not list worthy: 126
Not good music: 75

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui

Music for 4/22/19!!! The Yawpers, Angelique Kidjo

@@@ The Yawpers: Human Question (Bloodshot, 2019)  Both listens today come from this week’s All Music notable release email.  The opening track (clipped below) combines country, alt-country with a little bit of punk abrasiveness.  I dig the singer and the guitar tones.  These guys take the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion formula and mainstream it a bit with less downtown fake bluesman bullshit.  The opening tune is the best of what I checked out but I can see this as being a good album for cubicle dwellers to check out.  Solid songs, really good band energy, and excellent guitar tones.

@@@  Angelique Kidjo: Celia (Verve, 2019)  I guess Kidjo has moved from covering Talking Heads tunes to salsa queen Celia Cruz.  I’m a pretty huge fan of African salsa so I think this is a great idea for a record.   The major label production takes some of the classic salsa grit out of the proceedings but when the band pushes their African vibes through the salsa tracks it’s a pretty flavorful mash.  She’s got a full band so it’s full of flutes, piano players, hand drummers and an excellent kit drummer.  I think I might prefer the grittier old school records but it’s still a very nice record.  Of course Kidjo sings her ass off, that’s her thing.

YTD recordings listened to: 207
Good music, not list worthy: 126
Not good music: 72

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui

Music for 4/20/19!!! Madonna, Loyle Carner, Lizzo

@@@ Madonna: Medellin (Sire, 2019)  I decided to peep this after seeing positive words about it in the Guardian.  Madonna gets in on the Latin music bandwagon with her pre-release single off her 14th album.  She is attempting to put a new coat of paint on her ongoing shapeshifting that she’s done through her career.  Virgin, whore, yawn.  I do appreciate the minimal arrangement, it’s pretty tasteful and her singing partner does most of the heavy work as he gets a big slice of the tune.  At around 2:45 the tune really fills out and achieves liftoff but it comes back down with Madonna doing her thing.  The arrangement is best here followed by the dude.  This has been Madonna’s flow for decades — she’s better at putting sounds and ideas together than she is at performing.

@@@ Loyle Carner:  You Don’t Know (AMF/EMI, 2019) Both this listen and the Lizzo listen below is from a Line of Best Fit email.    Right out of the gate I’m struck by the blend of old school soul and bombastic hip hop.  It contains a sung hook and then comes the British MC with rhymes.  I don’t think all British MCs should stop, but maybe they should think about it.  For some reason it doesn’t work for me.  I don’t know if it’s the posh accent or what but it just comes off weak.  Oh boy, I don’t really like the sounds and I don’t really like the rhymes.

@@@ Lizzo: Like A Girl (Nice/Atlantic, 2019) First off, big ups for Lizzo revealing the big booty on her record cover as seen below.  However, I think she’s more radical going no clothes than she is with the lyrics and the music on this track.  She does indeed, fire a shot from the cheese cannon.  I’m thinking these lyrics focused on self-empowerment are getting a tad tired.  The sounds here are pretty standard hip hop/pop with some dancefloor vibes to go with the diva vocals.  I don’t hate it but it doesn’t hit me deeply, it’s a bunch of hooks with no real weight.

YTD recordings listened to: 205
Good music, not list worthy: 124
Not good music: 72

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui

Music for 4/18/19!!! Bibio, Glenn Hansard

@@@ Bibio: Ribbons (Warp, 2019) Both of today’s listens come from the All Music notable release email from last week.  It’s an electronic record that opens up with a gentle descending guitar part.  More complex than standard indie and I can say upfront I don’t usually dig guitar in my electronic music.  Okay I skipped to the second tune and it’s acoustic guitar with some sort of pan flute synth patch and the general vibe is, oh boy, not my scene.  It’s a 2019 hippie/New Age bigly vibe.  I’m not going to say it nauseates me but it’s not what inspires me these days.  We finally get some drums and a little bit of funk in the third track but it’s still butter soft.  I don’t object to soft sounds, not everything has to be hard and uptempo but there’s no contrast and there’s most definitely something lost when all the roughness is smoothed over.  If this had some hard driving funk to go with the New Age white boy business I would find that much more interesting.

@@@ Glenn Hansard: This Wild Willing (Anti-, 2019)  Okay I dig the premise of this record.  Up on the Apple Music it talks about his frustration of being trapped in a singer-songwriter framework and he wanted to break out of that.  So this record is an effort to get out of stereotypical singer-songwriter setup and I’m all for people evolving and pushing against what is supposed to be.  This first tune has elements of singer songwriter but is darker and features a drum machine.  This first tune starts very lo-fi and bedroom-y and builds to a massive orchestral/guitar noise crescendo.  The second tune don’t settle opens up with piano and pretty raw lyrics.  The third tune, Fool’s Game, introduces some electronic elements and does embrace and break out of the singer songwriter thing.  I’m not jumping up and down about the tunes, but that’s just me and I can see folks getting into it.  Big respect for the concept behind the record.

YTD recordings listened to: 202
Good music, not list worthy: 123
Not good music: 70

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, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui