Music for 10/31/19!!! Mojo Juju, Camp Cope, Stonefield

@@@ Mojo Juju: Bound To (Australian Broadcasting, 2019) All three of today’s listens were found via a profile of 15 Australian female musicians tearing it up.  #1 is Courtney Barnett who I think is overrated but I chose three from the 15 profiled.  Here we have an indigenous musician doing a r&b synth centered track.  Juju has a soulful and powerful voice and I think there’s been a mistake in describing her music as bluesy rock.  Maybe previously on other releases but this is an electro r&b track with a lot of keyboard parts.  I don’t love the sounds bit I think Juju’s voice is high quality.  There are a lot of synths here, maybe a few too many here, but she does a good job carrying the torch here.  I dig the vocal hook which revolves around the idea of being Bound To one’s fears.

@@@ Camp Cope: How to Socialise and Make Friends (Run for Cover, 2018)  Off the same Australian list of female musicians.  Other cultures believe in rock music, it’s pretty dead here in the U.S., and this is retro guitar indie, very 90’s indie smelling with confessional lyrics and occasional punk outbursts.  Certainly not aggro at Sleater Kinney levels this is much more on the slightly nostalgic and bittersweet tip.  I can’t see myself living without you….that’s a line from the second tune How to Socialize and Make Friends.  I’ve heard this record a bunch but they do it well.  Sounds are all well done and the singer puts out her sentiments with a voice both strong and pretty.

@@@ Stonefield: Delusion (Flightless, 2918)  Our last listen of the day and this bunch of women gets heavier on the guitars and the stoner rock vibes.  When the reasonably stacked vocals come in it provides a great contrast to the guitars so it’s stoner rock with a twist.  There are some garnishes of synth which augment and mellow out the rocking vibe and while I usually find that move extremely annoying here I don’t.  A very well done balance of sounds — tough and tender working together, that’s what I hear.

YTD recordings listened to: 569
Good music, not list worthy: 334
Not good music: 193

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown, clipping., Deafkids

YTD recordings listened to: 566
Good music, not list worthy: 336
Not good music: 194

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown, clipping., Deafkids

Music for 10/30/19!!! Deafkids, Rakta, Teto Preto

@@@ Deafkids: Metaprogamacao (Neurot, 2019) Some Brazilian noise rock I got to from a Guardian article about music inspired by Brazil’s latest trash ruler Jair Bolsonaro, a world class piece of shit.  I have to share my Apple Music account and it is currently in use by somebody else so my reviews have to based on these GooglePimp videos.  The tune below comes drumming right out of the gate and I expect a blizzard of noise at any moment.  Or not.  I think I might enjoy this more if the balance between noise and drumming was more equal.  More noise, oh there it is!  Thank you, I dig that.  I can’t sense a ton of structure to the track besides the giant drums and the noise sauce and I’m quite okay with that.  I like the combination of the drumming energy and the noise energy over the top.  I would listen to more of this.

@@@ Rakta: Falha Comum (Nada Nada Discos, 2019)  Same Guardian article, but two females in this outfit.  Go females!  I’m over on bandcamp now so I can peep more than one track and this is a self described ‘creep chamber.’  It’s sonically dark and feels improvised and unpredictable with I think both electronic and acoustic sounds.   Out of nowhere in this first track the soundscape dissolves and a huge drum groove appears.  Oh this is mad dramatical in a good way, these women will keep you on your toes.  It’s part avant, part world drumming, part art school rock, part punk, a whole bunch of mashed up influences here.  Much like the above record there’s a strong pushing drum vibe on this record though the sounds here are more tripped out than aggro.  I like it, these Brazilian folks really mash sounds up well, it’s a musical culture.  This is great music for Halloween as well as anti-fascist rallies.

@@@ Teto Preto: Pedra Petra (Mamba Rec, 2019)  Our last Brazilian listen of the day and I’ve quite enjoyed the first two.  These guys are following up on an EP called Gasolina so you know what I expect?  More fire!  It opens murky and amoebic before arpeggiated synths come in and then a swinging drum machine beat.  It’s a version of an electro pop with dark overtones and I dig the singer and the growling bass.   The second tune, ITA, is an electro rock thing with the hooky synth returning to help save the less than funky beat.  It’s got a Nine Inch Nails thing going on but it’s so much more stylish than punkass musclehead Reznor.  My favorite part of this record is the synth player/programmer.  I appreciate the un-Americanness of this music.  It’s got a fair amount of mainstream sounds in it but it doesn’t have the bubbleheaded vibe of a lot of American music.  Part blood pressure raising, part dance party music, part dark pumping troublemaker business, I’ve really appreciated the sophistication of today’s listens.  Check them all out if you can.   The woman carrying the vocal duties does good work, she’s a little glamorous, very rhythmic and strange all in one sushi roll.

YTD recordings listened to: 563
Good music, not list worthy: 332
Not good music: 192

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown, clipping., Deafkids

Music for 10/29/18!!! Michael Finnissy, King Princess, Sunnyside

@@@ Michael Finnissy: Back on Earth (5Against4, 2019)  I got to this classical piece (which isn’t on the streaming stores yet) via the Twatter.  I sometimes struggle saying relevant things about classical music as I’m not very bright and it tends to be a more cerebral genre, but I try bitches, I try.  Check this guy’s majestic and wise bald head, he looks mad serious.  It is starting out as a noodling thing, like they’re getting ready and then it opens up into more, but not a lot more.  Instrumentation is violin, piano, oboe and possible other instruments.  If I had it all over to do again, I probably wouldn’t choose oboe same as the first time around, but I do love the sound of the oboe.  It just looks ridiculous.  This is your small scale ensemble playing with some pages from the jazz feels playbook.  I dig it.  Percolating, it percolates and it meanders.  I’m really enjoying listening to the various small shooting up voices while the piano is most definitely the centerpiece here.  Don’t stream this introductory nugget thinking your getting Beethoven, this is modern classical business with an emphasis on textures and sonics.

@@@ King Princess: Cheap Queen (Zelig, 2019) I saw this single shouted on NBC News of all places, so that should get a peep, right?  A slightly shabby pop diva in the making if an appearance on NBC News is any indication.  You don’t get on NBC News as a musician without powerful PR connections.  The tune has a decidedly low profile pop sound to it.  It has a vocal loop in it, and it’s mainstream but it doesn’t have that soaring element often seen in Arianne Grande’s dirty dishwater music and Beyonce’s queen of everything flow.  I’m hearing this is aimed at connecting at a more emotional level.  I think the vocal hook is cool but after that it doesn’t dig very deep.  Less dank than Billie Ellish and not as regal as the divas mentioned above.

@@@ Sunnyside: Stretch (Mind Detergent, 2019) I got to this Melbourne band’s groovy single via Happy Mag, an Australian music mag.  It is slotted as jazz on Apple Music but I hear more chill lounge and jam band music than jazz.  It’s got a lot of small plinky guitar parts to it and a pop funk beat.  It also has a pile of vocal tracks exhorting the listener to ‘stretch’ and ‘kick back’ which isn’t quite doing it for me.  I’m not unwinding.  I guess I’m not super feeling this track.  It does make me wonder if this music would actually work to get folks to kick back and unwind.  Maybe mentally as there’s not much going on to really grab you so you can space out.  I left when the MC showed up, I couldn’t deal with that.

YTD recordings listened to: 563
Good music, not list worthy: 332
Not good music: 192

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown, clipping.

Music for 10/28/19!!! The Avengers, Ghost Funk Orchestra, The Sali Wanga

@@@ The Avengers: The American in Me (N/A, 1979)  I got to this pre-Sex Pistols but produced by the Sex Pistols’ guitarist.  I’ve never heard it so there ya go, a peep it shall be!  As you would expect from classic punk it sounds like classic punk!  It doesn’t have the Johnny Rotten snarl but that’s fine.   Very punchy sound (ah the tape machine era!) the track is both bouncy and dark with the following lyrics:

“Ask not what you can do for your country
What’s your country been doing to you?
Ask not what you can do for your country
What’s your country been doing to your mind?”

It’s the lyrics that drew me to the tune but the music sounds more like a Go Gos track.  It sounds so tame compared to much of today’s music, and that’s neither good nor bad.

@@@ Ghost Funk Orchestra: A Song for Paul (Karma Chief, 2019) I got to this record and the one below via the weekly email from the music venue National Sawdust in Brooklyn.  The intro track (it’s called Intro) is a blend of jam band, psychedelic sounds, and a wee bit of jazz.  We shall see what unfolds.  The second tune brings a distinct funk vibe to the sounds so don’t be fooled by the psych guitar.  I think these are jazz cats trying their hands at making a psychedelic record.  I appreciate that it’s not as stark and tripped/speeded up/out as classic psych and there’s an abundance of rhythms here that you wouldn’t find on classic psych records.  I would, however, dig some more of that crazy ass psych vibe so the balance doesn’t quite work for me.

@@@ The Wali Sanga: Big Ears (Self-released, 2019)  From the same National Sawdust email.  This first tune, Remember My Name is rooted in late ’70s/early ’80s funk disco a la Earth, Wind and Fire and early Prince.  I’m agnostic on the singer and the lyrics, I like some of the sounds but the first two tunes make me appreciate early Prince as his addition of rocking guitar to balance out the synth pop vibes is genius to my ears.  The fourth tune, the Blink of the Eye is the best of what I heard as it moves backward and is more EWF.  I like it without loving it.

YTD recordings listened to: 560
Good music, not list worthy: 330
Not good music: 190

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown, clipping.

 

The sooner WNYC stops supporting wuss indie and wuss music in general, the better the world will be!

From the Twatter:

No crying over here!

If people want to protest/mourn/recognize the eroding arts and culture scene in New York City, maybe we should all discuss real estate developers and politicians, you know the assholes who run New York City who have turned it into a playground for Wall Street yupsters and tech dirtbags.

And don’t forget to cut a slice of karma for this phenomenon for Mr. Andrew Cuomo, a bottomfeeder of world class levels.

Music for 10/25/19!!! Jpegmafia, Miya Folick, Gesaffelstein

@@@ Jpegmafia: All My Heroes Are Cornballs (EQT, 2019)  All these outfits are slated to play the upcoming horrifying Amazon music festival.  Remember, fuck the bald Vampire before he fucks you.  I listened to this whole record last week in the car and I remember liking aspects of it — it has an interesting blend of trap/street sounds combined with other more conceptual sounds/elements.  Mr. Jpegmafia does not shy away from glitch and chopping his tracks up.  He also has a bit of a postmodern lyrical flow where he jumps around from singing to rapping.  If I had to choose I find his vocal performance more compelling than the sounds.  Also very interesting song titles.  He’s most definitely pursuing his own hip hop aesthetic and I respect that.

@@@ Miya Folick: I Will Follow You Into the Dark (Interscope, 2019) I pasted up this blog post last week after a Guardian rant about the upcoming Amazon music fest so I can listen all week to pre setup posts.  It’s on Interscope so I don’t hold out a ton of hope.  It opens up with a piano and a singer.  Folick has a regal and ornate voice but I’m expecting some sort of overproduced cheese bomb in the chorus.  We’re getting more vocal tracks but that’s just it.  Will this be just piano and vocals?  No such luck, here comes the cheese — some big drum sounds, they sound like kettle drums.  Oh we’re dying back down so it’s not going to blaze across the stereo field as a fiery Cheez Wiz comet.  Afer the back down section it goes out in quasi-full bloom with the hard to identify drums and a slide guitar (?) and other bits.  It’s heartfelt, it could have been worse, and there were some nice lines in the lyrics.  She went to Catholic school, they were as cruel as Roman rule, that’s a very good line.

@@@ Gesaffelstein: Novo Sonic System (Sony Music, 2019) Same with this EP, I’m here and set up for a peep.  It’s electronic music and, oh shit, it comes out speeded out Devo!  Fuckin’ a, nice move, let’s hope it continues.  There are some nice chanted group vocals but it sorta motorboats around the speedway.  The second tune comes again with the punishing arpeggiated synths.  Rhythmically it’s kinda square and kinda hip at the same time.  I’m two tunes in and these are groove tunes, there’s not much in the way of anything besides the synths, the beats and a little vocal garnish.  The record, to my ears, aspires to dominate the dancefloor in an almost rock music, non funky manner.  Will the hard dancefloor enthusiasts come out for it?  Fuck if I know!

YTD recordings listened to: 557
Good music, not list worthy: 329
Not good music: 189

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown, clipping.

Music for 10/24/19!! Kode9, Foxes in Fiction, Battles

@@@ Kode9: Nothing (Hyperdub, 2015)  I got an email celebrating the something anniversary of the Hyperdub label that Kode9 founded so seeings how I haven’t heard his music before, why not now?  It opens up dark and a wee bit sci fi.  Chainsaw synths, not my favorite patch but not a deal breaker.  I guess that was an appetizer as we got no beats and it serverd as a mood setter.  Let’s hope the second track goes further.  Following a nerdy arpeggiated synth intro, what are we going to get??  At the beginning of the third tune we get our first beat so we didn’t get much past the arpeggiated synth on that second track.  This record is slotted as dance on Apple Music but it’s darker and more abstract than most dance records which is fine.  It’s going for a bit of a beat down vibe over a funky vibe.  We get some upbeat and danceable sounds to go with the stutter-y and strong drum sounds.  I like it all right but it seems stuck between full abstract and full funk, both of which I love.  I’m not sure of this combination thereof.  I’m out after this fifth track and here we get a dark, slightly processed sci fi vocal part, some bird aviary sounds and bit of robot chatter.  Overall I’m agnostic.

@@@ Foxes in Fiction: Trillium Killer (Orchid Tapes, 2019)  Off this week’s All Music notable release email.  #notable.  The first tune, Ontario Sunshine, is a blend of electronic sounds — synth bass, and big synth cloud patches and indie sounds — twee guitars and big ol’ stacks of reverbed female vocals.  It reminds me of a movie scene waking up in a hospital — actually waking up in a mental hospital is probably pretty terrifying.  It’s well arranged but these giant female sound bombs aren’t really for me.  The second tune brings sung vocals and the same guitars.  I do find the largeness of the sound to be similar to shoegaze but without distortion.  I’m listening to the third tune and the cello is new but the formula is the same — huge sounds, a dream-like soundscape and lots of reverb and comforting vibes.  It’s not for me but if it sounds good to you check it out.

@@@ Battles: Juice B Crypts (Warp, 2019) Also off this week’s All Music notable release email.  I guess two of Battles’ cofounders have tipped and two remain behind — so a big change in the music is to be expected.  This first tune is a super well arranged video game soundtrack.  They bring in a brisk rock beat, tastefully crushed, and it sounds like an updated Yes record.  I like the sounds but it’s a wee bit cerebral for me, I could use some dirt and ass.  The second tune is a bucket of synths over brisk rock beats, so we may have a theme here.  Xenia Rubinos is on the third track and I’m a huge fan so I will check this and probably tip after that.  Oh wow, that’s a lot of synths to go with her voice, yikers!  She cuts through the tsunami of synths but overall this formula isn’t for me.  I appreciate the energy but I wanted something else in addition to what’s on offer.

YTD recordings listened to: 554
Good music, not list worthy: 327
Not good music: 188

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown, clipping.

Music for 10/23/19!!! Benny Mails, clipping., Joviale

@@@ Benny Mails:  High On Stress (Self-released, 2019)  I got to this UK rapper via a Line of Best Fit email.  I’m addicted to UK hip hop, I can’t stop listening!  Trappish beats, fat bass, and then Mails hits the mic and it sounds like Boris Johnson tryin’ to rub one out in the bus station!  #nonsense Is it possible the British accent can not work within the aesthetic framework of hip hop?  Further complicating matters is that I don’t understand the vocal hook, he gets high on stress, he’s so vexed.  I guess he might be saying that he’s got so much going on and he up in it that he’s high on the stress.  Or it may not make sense, but as he said that he’s vexed that makes two of us.  Peep it, it’s fabolos in a way.

@@@ Clipping.:  There Existed an Addiction to Blood (Sub Pop, 2019) Also from Line of Best Fit.  With a title like this I thunk it was a metal or a noise record, but it’s not, it’s a hip hop record.  After a spitfire intro rhyme bomb Mr. clippin. heads into a track with what might almost pass as a Laurie Anderson sonic arrangement.  The MC is like a razor, he’s extremely sharp in his pronunciation and he’s working overtime.  He gets a lot of words and verbal energy out into the listener’s ears.  Halfway through the track the tune explodes into its full self with a complete beat, super fat bass and a giant synth serving as a wall for the chorus.  The fifth track, La Mala Ordena, will be my last peep for this record.  I dig this track a whole bunch, fresh sounds and above average rhyming.  The roughness of this records exists at a more conceptual level — these aren’t stories of gangsta adventures it’s more meta than that.  About two thirds of the way through this song the whole song just turns to abstract distorted noise and they run out the track with that shit.  This outfit is fresh.

@@@ Joviale: The Crisis EP (Blue Flowers, 2019) Also from Line of Best fit.  Last listen of the day and it’s gonna be lighter than the clipping. record above.  This is British mainstream electro pop so it’s not quite as gaudy and Hollywood while it does push out a distinctly upbeat musical vibe.  The singer is smooth and sweet but no panting and breathless nonsense.  The sounds have an ’80s feel to them and the second tune Ride Away even has a wee Prince feel.  I don’t love the guitar sounds and I find her voice to be front and center as the deserved main attraction.  If folks want a different take on singer/songwriter pop check this out.

YTD recordings listened to: 551
Good music, not list worthy: 325
Not good music: 187

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown, clipping.

Music for 10/22/19!!! The Blassics, Allah Lahs, Danny Brown

@@@ THE BLASSICS: Togetherings (Odd Funk, 2019)  Today’s three listens are from last week’s All Music notable release email.  Notable people, notable.  This will be another Afrobeat listen on top of yesterday’s Alma Afrobeat Ensemble record.  It must be Afrobeat season.  The record opens up with the tune clipped below, In a Sincere Way, with some horn pumping as well as slashing funky guitar and flute action.  This is the full Afrobeat ensemble experience and they are bouncing up and down on this melody pretty hard.  The singer comes in humbly and distinctly not American, I dig him.  The second tune, Hagerun Geleba, comes out slinkier at a lower tempo but with solid band energy.  It’s an 11 minute banger so it’s gonna go slow.  I had to check out the fourth tune, Why is the Chicken Running, as it’s a very pertinent question for today’s world.  I can’t answer and I won’t hold these guys and gals responsible for answering such a difficult question. The song is almost two thirds over before the singer comes on and he’s not singing so the question of why the chicken is running does not look like it’s going to be answered by this record.  Great title though, and I liked the first track clipped below best of what I heard.

 

 

 

@@@ Allah-Lahs: Lahs (Mexican Summer, 2019)  The first tune on this record (that I got to via the All Music notable release email, every week!) takes an indie vibe and lovebabies it with a Doors-era like jam.  So a bit twee, just a bit, and a lot of older ’60s hippie vibes.  Hmmm, I never liked the hippies.  The vocalizing here is closer to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young than the messianic Jim Morrison.  Though it only weighs in at 4 minutes it does have a full jam quality, guitar solo included.  The second tune, Keeping Dry, heads out of old hippie land and gets into a mathy, twee thing.  The singer sounds like an awfully friendly kinda fella and it’s a comforting listen for sure.  Taking two genre formulas that I struggle to like and smashing them together is a tough one for me, but as I always say I’m an idiot and check it for yourself.

 

@@@ Danny Brown: uknowwhati’msayin? (Warp, 2019) Off this week’s All Music notable release email.  I’ve checked out Brown’s music before but I can’t say I know a lot about his story.  This first tune Change Up comes off Spaghetti Western/Hip hop with a tremolo-y guitar and Brown’s distinctive tone on the microphone.  If Brown’s music is not left field hip hop what is?  In this second tune he’s got loops of whispers, a screechy violin sample, and a voice that sounds like it’s coming out of a jail.  The third tune, Dirty Laundry, is sonically rich and you have to be somewhat deaf to hear that Brown has been making music for a long ass time.  Superior arrangements, it’s up to whether you dig Brown and his lyrics as to how deep you’ll get into his music.  Or maybe you think hip hop is only for gangster business.  I think he’s awesome and his could give a fuck approach on the microphone contrasts with the tightness of the sounds.  The fourth tune with Run the Jewels is one of the first (if not the first) Run the Jewels tune I’ve felt.  Imma circle back on this.

 

 

YTD recordings listened to: 548
Good music, not list worthy: 325
Not good music: 187

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter, Danny Brown

Music for 10/21/19!!! Hatari, Alma Afrobeat, Luka Productions

@@@ Hatari: Klefi (Svikamhylia, 2019)  I can’t remember how I got to this Icelandic electro drama group.  I like the heavy, slightly dark weight to this dancefloor banger and I like the Arabic/Middle Eastern flavors in both the arrangement and the vocals though I don’t dig the standard kick-bap rhythms that come to the forefront.  It’s mad dramatical that’s what’s key to the tune.  I have no idea what the tune is about but it’s got that Nine Inch Nails aggro dancefloor thing but with the Arabic spicing.  If it didn’t have such a clunky beat I would feel it more for sure.

@@@ ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE | Monkey See, Monkey Do (Slow Walk, 2019)  Off this week’s WRIR playlist email.  I don’t see this record up on my Apple Music so you have to head out to the righteous bandcamp to peep this Spanish Afrobeat band’s latest record.  The music seems pretty strongly tied to Fela which is great for fans of Fela.  I like Fela all right but I also dig Tony Allen’s stylized Afrobeat and I’m open to other variations.  There is some resonator guitar/banjo type instrument that really switches up the vibe in the third tune and that’s the favorite of mine to this point.  Some unusual instrumentation and sounds appear in the the brief fourth tune so I will take back my statement that these guys are so strongly connected to Fela’s music.  I’m enjoying the horn section most here.

@@@ LUKA PRODUCTIONS: Falaw | Sahel Sounds, 2019 Also some African music from Mali off the WRIR weekly playlist email.   Blurbed as a blend of Afrobeat, folk and hip hop on Apple Music.  It opens up with a laidback more traditional arrangement and some mellow singing.  The second tune Bbni brings in the African rhymes but the overall feeling is not very similar to American hip hop.  There are African MCs that aspire to American style African hip hop but this is not that.  However there is an updated and more energetic vocal approach to this music from Mali.  You still get a blast of kora and guitars and kit drumming.

YTD recordings listened to: 545
Good music, not list worthy: 324
Not good music: 186

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, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks, Oli XL, Buzzherd, Logistic Slaughter, The Muslims, Tobe Nwigwe, Saint Abdullah, Bug Martin, Kaleta and the Super Yamba Band, Toko Telo, Brittany Howard, The Garifuna Collective, Mariachi El Bronx, Bonnie Baxter