@@@ Maria Grand: Magdalena (Biophilia, 2019) I got to this female sax player’s spoiken word jazz record via a gig announcement by the Brooklyn venue Roulette. Not all the tracks are available to stream at bandcamp but about half of them are and the opener is an ode to Mother Earth with all the animals emerging from her moist womb. Cosmic. Whether you dig the spoken word poetry here depends on how open you are to the style and feelings presented. It is some New Age business mixed with jazz for sure and I’m not a big New Age guy. Grand’s sax tone is rich and her playing is solid. I have a preference for the fire jazz sax players but she’s good. Recording quality is very good with really pleasing tones.
@@@ Shipping News: One Less Heartless to Fear (Noise Pollution/Karate Records, 2019) I saw this live recording from 2009 on a list of 50 important local records in Louisville Kentucky from this decade. I guess these guys are semi-legendary on the indie scene but since I’m not a follower of the indie scene I haven’t heard anything except the band name which rings a bell. I was expecting a poor sounding recording but it pops out of the gate with energy and clarity. They are an indie guitar band and that has become a rarer commodity. As the recording has been mixed really well the energy of the live performance shines through. I may not feel the tunes to be elevating but I feel that energy at a visceral level and I like that. It’s been more than a bit since I’ve felt the rock spirit/energy to be something I have interest in but this record does give rock some spit shine that it desperately needs these days.
YTD recordings listened to: 269
Good music, not list worthy: 157
Not good music: 94
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, 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, Saicobab, Shannon and the Clams, General Purv, Shipping News
Deep In the Music 