Music for 7/31/20!!! Andre Bratten, Nicolas Bougaieff, Laurence Pike, Ellen Allien

@@@ Andre Bratten: Silvester Anfang (Smalltown Supersound, 2020) A slate of electronic music today off last week’s All Music notable release email.  Bratten’s 2019 record made my best of year list so he automatically earns a peep on this release.  This is from a 52 minute 5 track record that is dominated by three 10+ minute pieces and this track is one of those big bangers.  18 minutes!  It opens beat-less and kinda cosmically amorphous with lots of delayed deep space clicks and other.  A beat starts to emerge from all the synth clouds — not a typical beat but it’s a beat that starts to structure the tune.  It’s an interesting blend here — a tad dark but not overly so, rhythmic but strangely so.  It sounds like he’s got a step sequencer that’s programmed to insert effects into the material.  A small drum machine beat is starting down below the mix and I predict it will grow in the tune’s second half.  It does become a steady beat but the whole track remains mired (not in a bad way) in a dub delayed atmosphere with lots of thick middle of the earth type sounds.  It all fades to a combination mechanical hum/insect buzz with about three minutes to go.  I don’t like it as much as I liked his record last year but I like it.

@@@ Nicolas Bougaieff: Thalassophobia (Mute, 2020)  Clocking at almost 6.5 minutes this is short compared to Bratten’s monster shot.  The tempo here is mo brisk with some percussive synth hits that go with pounding kick drum.  Followed by the classic industrial hi hat and an arpeggiated (I think) synth throwing off single notes, all building the energy and frequencies in the mix.  It all builds to an amorphous high frequency breakdown that leads into a new section.  Nice transition there to a a mix of rhythms dominated by an occasional exhalatious release type sound before the kick and the arpeggiator returns and it goes kraut techno again.  I appreciate the strength of the sounds and the focus of the arrangement, this is no sloppy ass throw together and if duder was high it was high on something focus enhancing.  I like the end where he starts breaking the straight rhythm which gives it more dimension and I wish that going against the straightness of it had occurred much earlier but I’m really feeling the end of the track.  More than solid track.  If this guy got straight to the rhythmic collisions I would be on this like stink on a monkey but he takes a bit of time to get there.  Great sounds.

@@@ Laurence Pike: Nero (Leaf Label, 2020)  This is a different sort of electronic music as a drummer/composer takes his solo behavior and creates soundscapes over his (most likely) looped beats.  This track is genre in between, a bit rocky, a tad jazz like, and there’s a shaker!  The shaker, the cowbell’s ugly cousin.  Why no cowbell?  I’m feeling, as a person who listens to a fairly large ass amount of electronic music that these ambiences could use a bit of work to garner more interest.  More movement besides the movement of the loops.  Decent beginning ideas, and I enjoy the drumming, but a few more steps forward is what my ears hear.  I see this slotted as jazz on Apple Music and I get that but I don’t get it at the same time.  It’s very tight to my ears and I appreciate the looseness of some jazz.  I’m not in charge of the definitions here, just sayin’.

@@@ Ellen Allien: Confusion (BpControl, 2020) A quick and cutting techno track from a European female musician.  Comes out straight as an arrow with no love for the space between the notes and it grooves mercilessly with a vocoder low in the mix for the first bit and then I’m guessing it’s going to explode into a different dancefloor flavor.  Yeah, the hi hats came in to go with the sci fi movie bass bounce.  I think this would drive a high person straight into the insane asylum, there’s no hint of a break, and it makes a liar out of me as right on time there’s a slight decrease in the rhythmic energy while the bass continues its thing.  Super high energy and I could use a bit more funk.

YTD recordings listened to: 588
Good music, not list worthy: 298
Not good music: 261

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek

 

Music for 7/29/20!!! Jupiter and Okwess, Car Seat Headrest, Joel Ross, Pepper

@@@ Jupiter & Okwess: Na Kozonga (Everloving Records, 2020) I got to this single via the WRIR weekly playlist email.  It sports a glam rock background vocal riff that lends a T. Rex vibe to the track but it’s also an African track with a bunch of African sounds in it.  These folks hail from the Congo and wow, an unexpectedly noisy rock guitar solo in the middle of the track.  Then a second guitar joins in — all the while the singer is cheerleading the whole tune along in a pretty mellow lower bass register fashion.  Classic laidback/firm African drumming, interesting guitar work, a solid track.

@@@ Car Seat Headrest: Hollywood (Matador, 2020) I saw this musician featured in the monthly recording magazine Tape Op email.  Described as a lo fi experimental dude I hear pretty high fidelity and not much experimentation, it’s slack indie rock with Pavement feels but a bit more energy in the vocals.  He’s a bit Beck-y as well and while I don’t hear much that I cotton to in the music I like the lyrics.  There’s an interesting breakdown that’s pretty meticulously arranged and it’s indictment of the entertainment industry in Hollywood.  I like the arrangement, particularly the vocal parts and I don’t love the guitar and could stand for something more interesting there.

@@@ Joel Ross: KingMaker (Blue Note, 2020) I saw this up and coming Chicago vibes player mentioned in the National Sawdust email.  He is blurbed on Apple Music as soloing with uncommon vitality.  It opens with drums, piano, vibes, bass and sax with drums pleasantly high in the mix and the horn a bit low (or the horn player is being buried) It’s a Latin flavored beat and they enter a choppy section led by the sax and I would like to hear more vibes.  I’ve lost a bit of interest by the time Ross takes a solo and the solo seems to a bit short but he’s a good soloist.  Ross rhythmically leads the rest of the group into a new section and I feel like the energy is halfway to what I would like to hear but that’s just my view.  Like Ross’ vibes playing, don’t love the sax player, and more vibes please.

@@@ Pepper: Work That We Do ( , 2020)  A cover of an old ass Sublime tune that’s part of a benefit for the Sublime singer’s foundation.  Acoustic guitar, white folk’s roots reggae sound.  I keep waiting for the tune to head into some sort of groove but it percolates slowly for its full path.  I guess I was hoping for some Sublime type grooves and didn’t get that and now I’m not happy about it.

YTD recordings listened to: 580
Good music, not list worthy: 294
Not good music: 257

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept

Music for 7/27/20!!! THEY., Kamaal Williams, Fontaines D.C., Taylor Swift

@@@ THEY.: Play Fight w/ Tinashe (Avant Garden/Island, 2020) A midtempo R&B track off last week’s Line of Best fit email.  Retro-ish sounds with small guitar snippet samples and a lot of vocal tracks including some background vocals with delays on them.  The vocal hook is yeah yeah, play fight.  A female vocalist comes in for a quick spot and I like her better than the fellas.  My favorite component here is the occasional bass pulse and my least favorite component here is the plethora of vocal tracks.

@@@ Kamaal Williams: Mr. Wu (Black Focus, 2020)  A fusion-y jazz sound here with a drummer recreating a classic techno beat (at least in the beginning of the track) some chill keyboards, and medium high poppin’ bass sounds.  After an extended intro a sax comes in, a tad low as the drums dominate the mix here.  There are a lot of moving parts in this and while not a fan of the beats per se I do like how loud they are, and I really like the occasional hand drum hit that pops out of the mix.  I don’t like the synth part that goes the whole track, oy.  I’m a tough sell for the fusion, it doesn’t super work for me.

@@@ Fontaines D.C.: Televised Mind (Partisan, 2020)  I’ve seen this band floating ’round the interwebz but I’m not sure if I’ve heard them.  It’s a brisk updated rocker with spy movie themed guitars, two of them one with tremolo, and a curt, alienated vocalist who drops his lines in there against the backdrop of splashy drum sounds.  Give the drummer a few quarters as he’s working his ass off here.  I’m not sure if I’ve figured out what a televised mind is but they’re rocking it purdy good.  I think the vocalist is running a hustle on the listeners with his aloof posturing here.  He sounds a bit like a mental patient and I believe it to be on purpose.  Some nice moments of slashing guitar but the prize here goes to the drummer.

@@@ Taylor Swift: the last great american dynasty (taylor swift, 2020)  Now 30 years old Taylor Swift, to my ears has fulfilled her destiny morphing into a New Age adult alternative singer/songwriter.  I’m not sure I understand why she would adopt such a breathy vocal delivery with these ‘serious’ lyrics.  I guess she only knows about singing in terms of a relationship and love cuz it sounds like she’s singing a love song.  She has collaborated with some of my least favorite current musicians, members of the National who really bring the highbrow subversive cheese.  Super refined and barely recognizable cheese — it’s vaporized cheese, vaped cheese let us say.  I return to the idea that she’s an adult alternative singer because this track is notable for what it’s not — it’s not funky, it’s not angry, it’s not particularly strident, it’s barely poppy.  The vocal hook is ‘I had a marvelous time ruining everything’ which is a good hook but….most folks would know what could go here.

YTD recordings listened to: 576
Good music, not list worthy: 292
Not good music: 255

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept

Music for 7/24/20!!! Venomous Concept, Jupiterian, Dynfari, The Thirteenth Sun

@@@ Venomous Concept: Eliminate (Venomous Concept, 2020)  A pre release track from a record to be titled Politics versus the Erection.  A little interwebz education reveals that these guys are a bit of a metal supergroup with a love for old Black Flag records.  It’s a sticky blend of metal and hardcore punk and I dig it.  A wall of bright guitar distortion, mostly thrash drumming and a pissed singer.  This most definitely will make some anti-social types like myself want to go burn somebody’s house down.  And the key to burning down somebody’s house and the karma attached involves picking the right house!!  Hang around to watch it burn?  Yeah looking at you little fucknut Tucker Carlson.  I let the Apple Music player continue through to the second player track and it’s a celebration of fighting.  This is most excellent for getting your blood pressure higher.  I will check out more of this when it comes out.  I got to this via the blog Metal Sucks, a trusted source for metal opinion.

@@@ Jupiterian: Mere Humans (Transcending Obscurity, 2020) Described as atmospheric sludge in their Invisible Oranges blurb, it’s a lot of guitars and a big drum sound a super caveman singer.  The vibe here is both dark and light, I guess that’s why they refer to it as atmospheric sludge as it feels heavy and light simultaneously.  I’m a big fan of the guitar playing/sounds most of all and the drummer after that.

@@@ Dynfari: Eg tortimdi sjalfum mer (N/A, 2020) A pre release sampler from a dark Icelandic metal band.  These guys sport a super pleasantly sandblasted guitar sound, not too sludgy with a rolling distortion that fills the sound field.  I’m grateful the singer is rocking it in a foreign language as I can listen to the tone of his voice and how he fits himself into the mix of sounds without having to grok the meaning of the lyrics.  Moments of tasty thrash drumming but the focus here is on the guitars — an epic threedle in the background on top of the big field of crunch.  Epic in its aspirations for sure.

@@@ The Thirteenth Sun: Universus (Aural Music, 2020) Progressive stellar metal argonauts — self described as such on their Facebook page and I got to this track via a click through for another metal track via Invisible Oranges.  Think of a sweetened Tool type sound — hard rock mixed with other elements and moments of manicured crunch.  The singer is a bit of crooner with long held notes and a soothing presence on the microphone.  This is no disturbed white orc/ape to recoil from in horror, this is pretty hard rock designed to draw you in.  You even get a little retro synth action.

YTD recordings listened to: 572
Good music, not list worthy: 290
Not good music: 253

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept

Music for 7/23/20!!! Horace Tapscott Quintet, generalgruff, LIVING GATE

@@@ Horace Tapscott Quintet (Ace, 1969/2016)  I got to this jazz record from 1969 via the Stranded Records weekly reissue email.  It’s got an old school sound and instrumentation is sax, piano, bass and drums.  It’s a quintet so there’s one more player but I can’t hear him right now.  This first piece, the title track, is almost 17 minutes long and features regal melodies on the sax over staccato snare action and a pounding piano chord progression.  I like it all right and I’m going to check out a bit of other tracks before tipping to other music.  I like the angular cut of the second track For Fats and I like the piano player here but I’m moving on.

@@@ generalgruff – A Flock Of Shithawks (Tenderhorn) CFUV roots section!  It opens with a wide and mellow mix anchored by stringed instruments.  The track is titled ‘I Took a Shit in the Sea’ which is not a common sentiment for this vocal style — it’s a tender old school pastoral celebration of defecating in a body of salt water.  A nice distorted guitar enters for a solo and I am wondering if a 6 minute track about shitting in the sea is a tad long.  Maybe it was a big shit, a post-burrito shit.  The old school Ry Cooder country rock continues on the second track, that God Damn Whiskey Dick.  Outside of the most notable feature here, profane lyrics, there’s quite a bit of very nice guitar playing and interesting arrangements.

@@@ Stormlight – Natoma (Zegema Beach, 2020)  CFUV in the loud section!  This has a lot of spilly and loud guitars but it’s not particularly metal nor punk.  It sounds like a really noisy and chaotic Death Cab for Cutie and I like the sound.  The singer sounds a bit like Perry Farrell and it has quieter sections that then lurch back into noisy bits with spraying drums.  The second tune, The Past is the Key to the Future (great title btw) employs the same formula at a higher tempo with more drum spraying.  This is a blend of shoegaze, indie, old school Husker Du guitar sounds, and a wee bit of prog.  The drummer here is killing it, crushing it and killing it, good on ya bitch.  I’m going to swing back on this record and check out more of it — it has noise, energy, and a healthy not giving a fuck attitude.  And great drumming.

@@@ LIVING GATE: Heaven Ablaze (Relapse, 2020) I got to this record via the CFUV weekly email in the loud section.  Comes out of the gate rumbling and chugging with massive drum toms.  It is a musclebound ka-chunk with a prehistoric/’folk’ metal singer.  It then jumps to a crazy ass thrash section with a few little math bits in it.  These guitar sounds are really well done, balanced in frequency and they pummel the listener with impact.  I skipped ahead to the second tune, Roped, and it has a different feel to it.  An offset guitar melody sits along side of the power chords.  Same singer!  I don’t like these sorts of singers but the band here is hotter than two rats fucking in a wool sock.  I super dig the rhythmic arrangement in the third tune Deathlust, which really is a pick me up track to get you out and achieving in the corporate world.

YTD recordings listened to: 568
Good music, not list worthy: 288
Not good music: 251

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT

 

Music for 7/22/20!!! Lime Cordiale, Genevieve Artadi, CHAII, Camina

@@@ Lime Cordiale: Screw Loose (Chugg/London Cowboys, 2020) I got to this Aussie party band via online Happy Magazine in Australia.  A party band rocking a bleached reggae flow – some Budweiser toasting, some forced roots drumming that could stand to loosen up a bit.  I find the singer not to my taste but I dig the horn work here.  It rock-a-fies in the chorus with a space organ and a firmer arrangement — I like it more as it sounds more authentically white boy.  Not much else to say as I’m not a huge frat rock guy.

@@@ Genevieve Artadi: Godzillaaa (Brainfeeder, 2020)  Line of Best Fit!  I try to listen to Brainfeeder releases as they rock the latest sounds and try to go a little deeper than standard dancefloor bangers.  A female singer using Godzilla as a metaphor (for her relationship) over a stew of rhythms and ooh a nice relentless circular synth sound right there where the arrangement skids out and repeats.  It’s aim is to be arty and funky and for the most part it works.  My favorite components here are the tone of her voice and that circular synth sound while I wish the beats rotated or changed or evolved a bit more.  Maybe a tad too high on the IQ and a bit low on the funk which tends to produce a more proggy result.  Proggy electronic would be a solid description of this.

@@@ CHAII: Middle Ground (Black Lotus/BMG, 2020) I got to this track via last week’s Line of Best Fit email.  Ah, trap sounds that went to art school with a pair of rapidly vocalizing humans, one gent and one woman.  Not that I’m hung up on gender and shit.  A little rock guitar, a fat fat bass, and I like the bass best here and could use a bit more action/impact from the vocals.  It sounds a bit diffuse to my ears but that could be me, I’ve been smoking crack all night.  I kid, I kid, no crack for me.  Don’t stay in school kids, and don’t smoke crack, that’s solid advice right there.

@@@ Camina: Cinnamon (Camina Music, 2020) I got to this Latina/Latinx trip hop pre-release track via a music publicist email.  It opens with some vinyl scratch and some south of the border marimba playing which moves it right up my list.  A half time drum loop sryuply half beats underneath the quickness of the marimba as an even slower bass occasionally belches volcanically.  Camina comes in Latin Lana Del Ray/Tom Waits style and the whole thing is pleasant mash of disparate sounds.  I like all the parts here with the exception of her downer-y singing thought I do like the background vocals they’re really ear catching.

YTD recordings listened to: 564
Good music, not list worthy: 286
Not good music: 249

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid

 

Music for 7/21/20!!!! Zoon, Bryce Sainty, Alexander Hawkins and Tomeka Reid

@@@ Tremblers Of Sevens – Nonesuch/If (NoiseAgonyMayhem).  We’re coming from bottom to top on this blog post and this first pocket review is a second listen off this week’s CFUV playlist email.  It comes on retro Hendrix with wambly electric guitar and organ before perking up with a drummer busting a steady beat.  The guitar player goes from evoking Hendrix to a more Richard Thompson-esque flavor and is supported by a stylish organ player and an active drummer.  When the vocalist appears he sounds a whole lot like grunge icon Mark Lanegan so it is a basket of familiar sounds combining for a pretty fresh rock flavor.  These are lean times for rockers so when something not super derivative comes along it’s good to push it up.

@@@ Zoon – Bleached Wavves (Paper Bag). The title track of a shoegaze record I got to from Vancouver’s CFUV.  There’s an odd chopped/phased sound to the guitar which makes it uncommon shoegazeto my ears.  I think of shoegaze guitar as Lord Byron-esque waves of distorted slightly dissonant distortion.  His vocals qualify as classic shoegaze and I’m wondering if there will be drums here, hoping so.  And hoping for lots of them and loud, waiting.  It never does erupt with drums but the player has brought the next track and it is indeed oddball shoegaze that I like.  It’s got both uplifting and more mumbly dark shoe business.  No vocals on this one so maybe he leaves an element out of every track!  He’s got a cowbell on this next track and it does make you wonder if cowbell has been used on a shoegaze record, somebody should try it.

@@@ Bryce Sainty: Nervous (Self-released, 2020) I saw this track mentioned on online Australian music outlet Happy Mag.  It’s a slowish adult alternative ballad with classic rock and just a wee bit of country feels.  It aspires to be huge in sound, emotion, and scope.  He’s nervous because he hasn’t seen her and he’s wondering if she/he is feeling the same feelings that he’s feeling.  I’m feeling it’s a tad claggy and could stand to use a fresh sonic approach.  He goes a coupla verses before somebody uncorks a John Mayer style rock guitar solo and meh.  I don’t want to meh but I meh.  Also a bit too much reverb on the voice.

@@@ Alexander Hawkins & Tomeka Reid: Shards and Constellations (Intakt, 2020). I’m on the mailing list for this Swiss jazz label and I saw this record as part of their most recent email.  I’ve seen Tomeka Reid’s name here and there in my jazz scrounging and have wanted to check out her playing so I am.  Here she is playing in a duo setup with a piano player I think I’ve heard before and they’re in a staccato back and forth place at the beginning of this track.  I like the playing of both musicians but wish the cello was a bit louder and more present.  I can’t tell you why but the tune is appropriately titled as Shards and Constellations.  I’m not usually huge fan of jazz piano but this combination of piano and cello is compelling.  I’m going to swing back and listen more but how I wish they mixed her louder, she’s a great player and I crave hearing them both at the same volume.

YTD recordings listened to: 560
Good music, not list worthy: 284
Not good music: 247

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid

Music for 7/20/20!!! The Ex, Gerard Way, The Streets, Angelica Negron

@@@ The Ex: Sucking Pig (The Ex, 1980) Some classic angular punk I got to via last week’s Stranded Records weekly email.  The guitarist sounds like he’s trying to hack a body to death with his slashing tone.  Classic contrast between the bright guitar and the bass sound bubbling Devo style underneath.  The singer is purposely ridiculous — I’ve got a tumour in my brain and it’s growing fast in the song after this track Sucking Pig.  The most complicated part of the track revolves around the chorus when the lead singer keeps saying ‘sucking pig’ ‘sucking pig’ ‘sucking pig’ while somebody behind him pops off in an indistinguishable and rhythmically more complex manner.  Sucking pig lost control, that’s a great line.

@@@ Angelica Negron: El Colapso (fabiandmts, 2016) I got to this musician via the BK club National Sawdust.  I enjoy the combination of electronic and world music that non-white non-US musicians do with more ease than in the covid ridden America.  The first minute of this tune is dominated by some lush electronic blanket-y type sounds and Negron’s high voice before the sporadic junk-ish type percussion style comes in.  I shouldn’t say junk-ish, it’s not a consistent beat but there is some really nice hand percussion here and junk percussion is awesome despite its lowbrow name.  Now we get a beat and a nylon string guitar(?) and the tune continues to fill up my headphones.  She’s got some nice R2D2 chatter towards the end of the track and overall it’s a nice basket of sounds, lush and well arranged.

@@@ Gerard Way: Here Comes the End (Reprise, 2020) I got to this via a little picture of this dude and a blurb on the New York Times.  I check out New York Times music writing to hear how overwhelmingly lame and conservative NY Times music writing is, it’s a joke really.  The track comes out of the gate rocking in both a modern and retro fashion.  It’s more of a frat boy party track than a heavy classic rock sort of thing.  Mr. Way has a bit of sneer-y delivery to his delivery and he’s buttressed with a lot of guitar playing and rock drumming.  I appreciate how high the drums are in the mix, I think the guitar playing could be more creative and I’m agnostic on his singing til I hear the black woman comes in for a bit Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter style and she blows him off the soundstage.  The mix is crunchy as fuck and I’m not enjoying the resultant static.

@@@ The Streets: I Wish You Loved You as Much as You Love Him (Island, 2020)  I got to this via a blurb in the Guardian which has better music writing than the NY Times but not by much.  The track opens with a brisk lounge beat and a British dude saying the vocal hook and then spoken word lyrics that get tucked up under an okay bass sound that screams ‘Hey I’m a white guy and I don’t want to get too thick’ with the low end.  The tune works better when the female hits the mic and sings.  Oy the beat is all right but I could use a variation or a segue or something in addition to the less than clever hook, it’s not that great.  They give this a lot of love in the Guardian but I’m not super feeling it.

YTD recordings listened to: 556
Good music, not list worthy: 282
Not good music: 245

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache

Music for 7/14/20!!! Pure X, Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen, Trapt, Bury Tomorrow

@@@ Pure X: Middle America (Fire Talk, 2020)  Slotted as lo fi on last week’s All Music I find this to be more garage-y than lo fi.  Pretty gorgeous guitar tones and a dual guitar attack if I’m not mistaken.  A dreamy female voice sits in that basket of buzz with a slack drummer keeping time.  The guitar tones go a long way to make the vocals work better.  I’m checking out the beginning of the next tune and I tell you some recording/mix engineer deserves some credit for these sounds as they rule this record.  I believe the tunes are low key and low profile on purpose.  You know I’m not super sure of the gender of the singer here, it’s not the biggest deal I just don’t want to make it appear that I’m not paying attention.

@@@ Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen: A Stone’s Throw (Rune Grammofon, 2020) A female Norwegian guitarist with a love of classic metal riffage smashes that testosterone soaked sound with jazz horns.  A little Motley Crue, a little Sonny Sharrock.  Fans of contrast and car crashes will dig this sonic combination.  I’m a bigger fan of the combination than I am of the guitar tone.  I should be nicer, I dig the melodic guitar playing and don’t have much use for the rhythmic chording that supports it.  Big points for the smash up and the energy here.  It does become quite unhinged in the last third of the tune and I’m feeling that.

@@@ Trapt: Make It Out Alive (Crash Collide, 2020)  Some finely polished hard rock off last week’s All Music notable release email.  A third grunge, two thirds hard rock.  They want you to know they’re going to make it out alive.  He dressed his wounds…oh boy.  Most everything here is pretty standard.  Standard drum sounds, standard guitar sounds and unfortunately standard vocalizing.  I can get with the drummer but beware the lyrics and the singer.

@@@ Bury Tomorrow: Cannibal (Sony, 2020)  Rougher metal also off All Music but a combination of sounds still pretty accessible as far as metal goes.  Percussive/rhythmic guitar playing and an off the hook singer who I’m taking a liking to.  I prefer the verse to the chorus where the tune goes more hard rock than thrash.  Twitch-relax, twitch-relax.  Highly manicured sounds which lessens the impact for me.  Regular readers know I prefer the full meltdown over the manicured, epic style of metal.

YTD recordings listened to: 540
Good music, not list worthy: 273
Not good music: 238

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache

Music for 7/17/20!!! Boy Harsher, Burna Boy, The Hecks, Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats

@@@ Boy Harsher: Lost (Nude Club, 2019)  Oh Lord, I can’t remember how I got to any of these tracks today.  It’s a rare occurrence and I’m not sure most folks give a fuck that I disclose how I got to my pocket reviews.  This is a dark-ish 1980’s influenced synth rock thing-y.  Fat synth bass, whispered/alienated vocals, gated snare sound (blech) and a quiet in the verse, sung in the chorus structure.  There’s a lot of this floating around these days.  I like how high the bass and drums are, but after that I’m not a huge fan of these sounds.

@@@ Burna Boy: African Giant (Atlantic/WEA, 2019)  I member how I got to all these listens — Vice’s best of 2019 list!  Oooh, the hard drive is still spinning, slowly but still spinning.  #reassuring.  This is a loverboy track, slower in tempo with a mellow toasting vocal style.  I like the guitar playing and it might be a stretch to find more that I groove on here.  They autotuned his voice which I’m not enjoying.  It’s not that African musicians can’t make the same lame decisions as non-Africans, I just don’t like it a bunch.  This is African flavored reggaton/boombaton, a Bad Bunny knockoff.  Bad Bunny isn’t super worth knocking off.

@@@ The Hecks: Flash (Trouble in Mind, 2019)  Rawk!  Fuckin’ A, rawk!!!  Opens with a slurred snare drumbeat and continues with an angular guitar/bass arrangement.  A second set of guitars panned out hard right and left fill out the stereo field and they’re whammy barred which is cool as they have motion in them.  Vocalist appears, lots of reverb and sorta mechanical and accompanied by a fat blanket synth.  It has an MTV chopped up/math-y section around halfway through and then I think it will drop back to its art school roots.  I think these guys have heard plenty of King Crimson records.  If they had more adventurous drumming they would be straight up heirs to nerd rock King Crimson but it’s more MTV drumming on that tip.  If you like weird rock these guys will hook you up.  It’s not really fuckin’ a rawk material.

@@@ Rico Nasty & Kenny Beats: Big Titties (Sugar Trap, 2019) A total strip club anthem that is going to waste as I think most strip clubs are closed due to Covid.  If you work at a strip club that’s open right now please wear a mask if you’re in there also if you’re in there strippin’.  Really nice bass sounds, beats meh and a lot of folks on the microphones.  Dudes talking about how they work the female parts, women who talk of their superhero powers.  Has both a big party and a throwaway feel to it.  What else would you expect from a track called big titties???  Have a nice weekend everybody.

YTD recordings listened to: 552
Good music, not list worthy: 280
Not good music: 243

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, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache