Track of the week!

Music for 10/29/20!!! Steven Wilson, Berise, Strawberry Pills, The Freedom Affair

@@@ Steven Wilson: KING GHOST (Arts and Crafts, 2020) I got to this track via a music publicist email and shockingly they’re raving about it!! It’s an indie electronic thing with some updated Cure feels — that’s what I hear in the beginning at least. Then he goes falsetto and that brings a different vibe, one a bit funkier and a bit New Age at the same time. He’s got some nice chopped up vocal bits. The arrengement is mad tight and I dig that, the beat is funkier than a whole bunch of indie electronic, the synths could be more interesting, there’s a nice bass at the end but it’s a bit more in the head than the heart. As I always compare if this was a cooking show I think the judges would want some crunch or some tang or some counterbalancing flavor to deepen the dish.

@@@ Strawberry Pills: The Voyeur (Inner Ear, 2020) I got to this track released by a small label in Greece via an email from the label. God I wish I was lounging in Greece and not here during this foul fucking election season! Enough about me. After a krauty intro things get into a rocking space but still with plenty of angular and aloof rocking. Drums are high in the mix, I like that, and I’m guessing that the vocal hook ‘sit back and relax’ while they bring on the doom is a bit of a tongue in a depressed cheek sentiment. This is not my favorite flavor of music but they rock it all right so if you’ve got the black eyeliner and the ripped stockings out give it a spin.

@@@ The Freedom Affair: Give a Little Love (Sunflower Soul, 2020) I got to this via a music publicist email. It’s not the email as much as it’s the picture of the band with three non-white women out in front. Imma cracker but I love black music and I feel no shame over it. This stands close to the Daptone formula (retro sounds and classic soul song structures) but the singing here is much softer, sweeter and more inviting. The lyrics are straight up Christian love your neighbor and tell him/her without mentioning the J Man. Nice horn playing, double tight drum sound, nothing particularly inventive arrangement/sonically but well executed.

@@@ Your Brother, Michael: All Good Christians (N/A, 2020) I’m on the mailing list for a music publicist in the Midwest and I’m up for a song about hypocritical Christians. Shades of Johnny Cougar Mellencamp and Midwest rock but with a Leonard Cohen flavor to the vocalist. It’s a straight up denunciation of all things Trump but set to a shuffle beat. He ticks all the boxes from the wall, to the immigrants and pussy grabbin’. I wish he had focused more on the hypocritical Christians and less on the piece of shit we know as the Bad Orange Man. I like the outro where he brings on the choir, the song works best at that point (in my opinion).

YTD recordings listened to: 840
Good music, not list worthy: 458
Not good music: 357

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi

Music for 10/29/20!!! Djuena Tikuna, Katu, Luke Combs, Ariana Grande

@@@ Djuena Tikuna: Nos Somos A Floresta (N/A, 2020) Today we have a couple more listens from the indigenous Brazilian musical resistance to Amazonian deforestation article in the Guardian and then a coupla mainstream cracka ass listens. And there is some GooglePimpTube action as well. I couldn’t find this on Apple Music but it’s over at Soundcloud if you want to get your peep on. It opens with some wooden flute playing, then some shaker type percussion, it’s very acoustically ambient and if one had a bit of a brain it sounds a bit like a rainforest. Ms. Tikuna hits the microphone and it’s solemn. The last third brings in a more focused ensemble feel with hand drummers and multiple flute players. It’s quite beautiful music, completely without artistic pretensions, and is almost something you might here in church.

@@@ Katu: Aguyjevete (Katu Mirim, 2020) Okay last listen off the Guardian’s article. It opens with some skittery-ish hip hop beats and a spoken word section before the classic hip hop bass comes in and a female MC hits the microphone. There’s also a background MC chanting/singing a fragment that is then looped. I just heard the Brazilian President’s name (Bolsonaro, fuck him) mentioned so this has the tone of a protest track but it’s affirmed with that fucking cock’s name being mentioned. I like the sounds and I like the rhyming, I wish I could understand the lyrics.

@@@ Luke Combs: Forever After All (River House/Sony, 2020). I was digging up this video on the GooglePimpTube and saw Combs has a track with 245 millions spins on a video 3 years ago. I guess I missed this country Beethoven, people be tunin’ in!! He builds to the chorus and then it goes full cheese bomb. They say things don’t last forever, but they haven’t seen us together. It’s a decent vocal hook, it rhymes and shit. The production here is smoother than a porn star’s cooch. This is new country balladry, a wee bit of country slide guitar and then it’s mostly Cracker Barrel action. The lyrics are VERY familiar and the chorus is pretty much unacceptable to my ears but I”m just one cracker myself. The ebb and flow to and away from the cheese centered chorus can lull you into feeling like you’re sailing on a cheesy ocean, and you are!

@@@ Ariana Grande: positions (Republic/UMG, 2020) Off the Apple Music hot tracks section. I haven’t peeped Grande in a bit and coming back I notice how not strong her voice is. Kinda thin and a tad unconvincing. I don’t know if they’re chopping the low end out of her vocals (it sounds a bit like that) or this is just the way her voice sounds. I can’t tell what this song is about lyrically without looking up the lyrics. I have looked up the lyrics and there’s a lusty aspect to the lyrics when you see them on the screen — she’s in the driver’s seat in the bedroom and she wants to meet your momma on Sunday and make a lot of love on Monday. That’s a pretty low end rhyme, no? The arrangement is tight, I appreciate that and I like the plucked violin sample loop, the beat is neither meant to nor does it stick out (unlike Ariana’s man’s boner, word). It kinda comes and goes without landing with much impact, for me at least.

YTD recordings listened to: 836
Good music, not list worthy: 456
Not good music: 355

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi

Music for 10/28/20!!! Xenia Rubinos, Gregory Tardy, Kae Guajajara, Kunumi MC

@@@ Xenia Rubinos: Who Shot Ya? (Anti, 2020) I got an email from a music publicist but I’ve been a Xenia Rubinos fan since her debut album. I dig her as she doesn’t aesthetically half step and she’s brazen without resorting to straight boasting and other standard music business nonsense. In this track she goes two languages, Spanglish and English and she sports a high level of chop and glitch with dramatic church-y organ flourishes unfurling as she layers on the vocal tracks. Thus far she’s mentioned kids in cages, stolen lands and how they built this town. So pretty direct references to politics and history served up with a pretty glitched platter of dramatic sounds. I like it a whole bunch without jumping up and down.

@@@ Gregory Tardy with Bill Frisell: More Than Enough (Newelle, 2019) I saw this sax player pictured on the Twatter and found this track on the GooglePimpTube. I can not find this track on Apple music under Frisell’s name nor under Greg Tardy. I don’t like the extra time it takes to find tracks on these streaming stores, just sayin’. I’m digging Tardy’s rich and luxurious and thick saxophone tone and well Bill Frisell get out the sleepytime tea cuz the brother is gonna be as reliable as a cardboard box. And people lap it up with a spoon! Let’s focus on Tardy, that’s why we came to this track. I bopped over to Apple Music to check out a 2014 effort by Tardy and it’s a full ensemble with piano, bass and drums. He maintains the same rich tone but it’s presented in a pretty standard straight jazz manner and makes me appreciate (almost) for a moment, Bill Frisell’s sparse acoustic playing off Tardy.

@@@ Kae Guajajara: Asas (Self-released, 2020) A Guardian article two days ago featured a lot of indigenous Brazilian musicians using music to protest the destruction of nature in Brazil. I”m a fan of Brazilian music (not all but a lot) and thought it would be interesting to check out the various blends they’re rocking — hip hop, reggaeton, and traditional sounds were mentioned in the article. It opens with a hand shaker and very indie sounding guitars, two of them! After Ms. Guajajara hits the microphone a distinctly dancefloor vibe comes on though the other two elements remain albeit turned down a bit. At points Guajajara sings in different styles — indie, soaring diva, and then some in unison singing that fills the stereo field. I have a much easier time accepting these indie guitar sounds when the track is so rhythmically strong, not just instrumentally but vocally as well.

@@@ Kunumi MC: Moradia De Deus (Bico do Corvo, 2020) Another Brazilian musician blending hip hop and traditional sounds. In complete opposition to some UK hip hop I hear when MCs are struggling to get a good flow and a convincing posture, Kunumi MC is natural on the mic and the sonic arrangment here is both Brazilian with an off kilter string loop but the overall feel is one I recognize to be hip hop. And good hip hop with strength and rhythmic flexibility. I have no idea what these lyrics are about as I have no skillz in Portugese but it’s a cool blend of sounds and impressive to hear somebody pick up an aesthetic from another culture and rock it all natural style.

YTD recordings listened to: 832
Good music, not list worthy: 454
Not good music: 353

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi

Music for 10/27/20!!! Actress, Daphne Guinness, Ela Minus, Clipping

@@@ Actress: Walking Flames (Ninja Tune, 2020) Off this week’s All Music notable release email. The last track on the record it opens organic electro with a little piano and some bedroom-y intimate sounds most notably the drum machine which is low profile and small. I dig that. A vocalist comes in, male and also low profile. I apprecite the low key aesthetic with the accompanying melodies but it’s not the kind of track that’s designed to make you jump up and down, it’s an opioid thing. Imma do a quick click around and I’m hearing a similar formula in the first track — ambient electronic sounds, piano, lofi bedroom. I like it more instrumentally than with vocals.

@@@ Daphne Guinness: Heaven (Agent Anonyme, 2020) I got to this via a music publicist email. I guess Dave Chapelle directed this video (I’m a big fan) so what the hell, throw it a peep. It comes out a bit retro pop with a straight rock beat, some dreamy female vocals, some string arrangements. Ooh, when the chorus comes it goes laidback disco with a string run, some classic hi hat action and exhortations of heaven. I think it’s pretty high end background music for this age of doom scrolling. I like the strings, I’m agnostic on the beats, and I don’t love how reverbed out and spacy her vocals are as they drain the tune of energy which it could us a bit more of. The DNA of this is old school French pop/rock.

@@@ Ela Minus: dominique (Domino, 2020) From a record called ‘acts of resistance’ which seems of the moment. Another All Music notable release email. Ah, I’ve heard this artist recently probably through a pre release music publicist email but I will throw a repeat peep. She does this ‘punk’ electronic thing which I’m super open to but to me it’s not dirty enough and the use of the word ‘punk’ smells a bit surfy. As if she’s surfing on the word punk that is. It’s very melodic and a lot of punk is not crazy melodic, it’s more energy. I thought it was going to devolve into a rough ass chorus but it remains in a pretty melodic stance. This is misleading marketing and as music it’s fine but I don’t like when artists allow this to happen. I call it genre pimping. I don’t know how many indie bands have labelled their shit garage punk. Oy!

@@@ Clipping: Visions of Bodies Being Burned (Sub Pop, 2020) Also off All Music’s notable release email last week. I put the last clipping record on my year end list so they earn an automatic peep for their new record. That’s how it works around here. I see from the Apple Music blurb that this is part of a ‘horror anthology’ and though the song titles allude to that when you have a track called Say the Name how can you not roll out and think of Black Lives Matter? The answer is you can’t The sounds here are a blend of hip hop and Nine Inch Nails style industrial dance. The MC here is pretty straightforward, serious without pumping up the darkness or the danger the way a trap tune might. I tried as hard as a I could to pay attention to the lyrics and the horror movie vibe does outshine any politics here as it appears the lyrics revolve around a woman having a Devil Baby. I like the next track ’96 Neve Campbell which features a brisker tempo and female MCs.

YTD recordings listened to: 828
Good music, not list worthy: 452
Not good music: 351

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi

Music for 10/26/20!!! Che Lingo, Meg Myers, Oklou, D Double E

@@@ Che Lingo: South (7Wallace, 2020) Three of four listens today are from the Line of Best Fit weekly email which features a lot of non white, non mainstream musicians. Hip hop that pulls a little sonically from the Weeknd and urban balladeers. A sung intro, some string percussive notes then an MC. Surprisingly I didn’t even notice this was UK hip hop, some of my favorite shit ever. UK hip hop that is. This is one of the first specimens of UK hip hop that stands along side American hip hop in energy, flavors and intent. Not a copy nor a regal overly accented wuss fest. I’m not sure what the song is about lyrically but sonically it’s pretty slick with a medium dose of funk and pretty high energy.

@@@ Meg Myers: Any Way You Wanna Love (Sumerian Records, 2020) I got to this via a music publicist email. I like the title, i think’s it’s gonna be a dancefloor banger about various ways of doin it as in doin’ it! Oh, it’s a bit short on the dancefloor banger and more in the 1980’s synth rock thing. #unfortunate #nottragic #unwelcomeinmyworld What is most uninteresting here is the rhythmic structure — very kick snare, kick snare, kick snare, kick snare tambourine, kick snare noose for me!!! The hook is also screamed, any way you wanna love! Don’t stand there tongue tied or something involving tongue tied. I would be more into the vocal performance (though I think there are too many vocal tracks) but the sounds and the rhythm don’t super work for me.

@@@ Oklou: unearth me (True Panter, 2020) Slotted as alternative by the folks on the Apple Music store it opens with a definite r&b intimate flow. A New Age-ish synth patch fluting around and joined by a second flute patch the sounds here are presented as spacious and electro epic. Ms. Oklou’s voice is very smooth and lush and comforting. She is from France and doesn’t that say it all, the French! That’s just a joke I’m not anti-French I love Paris. By the time we get to the chorus/vocal hook ‘don’t you want to unearth me’ we have some rhythmic singing and more vocal energy and even what I hear as Izotope vocal synth where voices are transformed into a blend of the human voice and a synthesizer. It’s a bit too lush for me, it’s like a deep soft mattress that you sink down and down into. I prefer a hard mattress, regular readers know this. It’s a bit too gaspy and airy and New Age-ish with its focus on the breath. But that’s just me and I’m often accused of being dead inside so that’s where I’m at but listen for yourself.

@@@ D Double E: Tell Me A Ting (Bluku, 2020) More UK hip hop with similar string flourishes but with a much more menacing sonic stew and a Caribbean flavor to the rhyme delivery. Man can’t tell me about grammar! Most definitely. The string flourishes are a bit meh but the bass is thick and almost invisibly thick. Man can’t tell me….the message is very clear here, man (white man!) can’t tell D Double E how to roll or what he knows or how he lives. A straight up rebellious track with racial overtones, very well done and convincing. Check it out!

YTD recordings listened to: 824
Good music, not list worthy: 450
Not good music: 349

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi

Music for 10/23/20!!! Fuck U Pay Us, Mirwais, The Sword, Grayson Capps

@@@ Fuck U Pay Us: Root (Self-released, 2017) Some super fired up black female rage I got to via an email from the NYC art collective Triple Canopy. Heavy on the bass and drums and light on fucked up punk guitar sounds the singer is working overtime here. I love the anger here, the singer is great, but without the guitar fury I feel underfed. I say this is a white male and I’m a piece of shit for being said white male, this is just my opinion as a music listener. A little Dead Kennedys-esque thrashing about would be more cathartic. The way I hear this it’s a bit more towards the spoken word side of town than the straight up punk side of the fence. You don’t blast everybody with tons of guitar noise so folks can hear the words.

@@@ Mirwais, Madonna: Paradise (Productions 50/50, 2000) I saw this electro producer on the Guardian (I think) and then see this almost 20 year old track up on the ol’ Apple Music. I thought it was a new track but it’s not. Madonna does a restrained almost spoken word part on this track and though the arrangement sports some retro sounds it’s pretty hip with triphop flavors and a tasty bassline. Madonna also rocks a bit in French and that’s different but Madonna is worldwide bitch! The lyrics (that which make it through as I’m not listening closely) are pretty dramatical and are even more dramatic with the vocoder and the various processing choices applied to her voice. If the sounds weren’t well done this would be a faux poetry Madonna cheese bomb. As it is it’s half a cheese bomb.

@@@ The Sword: Daughter of Dawn (Concord, 2020) These two listens are from an All Music notable releaes email from mid June. From the title I thought this was going to be epic metal but it’s friendly classic rock with polite riffage and a back in the day approach. Oh, three beats on the cowbell before heading into a new section, it immediately moves up the charts for me, go cowbell! I’m not sure why I would listen to this if I have all the ZZ top records, which I do and I recommend a lot of them to the kids out there. The guitar playing is similar but more creative and the music goes for a more humorous flow where this is a bit on the wishy washy side. The guitar playing is solid but it’s not unfamiliar enough to keep my interest. I’m about 4 minutes in and it’s starting to get epic classic rock but again gimme some freshness and don’t wait so long to get to the crescendo.

@@@ Grayson Capps: Washboard Lisa (Royal Potato, 2005/2014) This record has a release date of 2005 on Apple Music but 2014 down at the bottom of the album page and I found this on a 2020 All Music notable release email. So my best guess for this roots/string/alt country record is reissue. This is the 9th song on the record and it highlights a friendly, slightly gruff male singer, some nice fiddle as well as some resonator guitar. The next tune is more rocking with two electric guitars, I like the previous tune more. I’m clicking around the record a bit and he’s pretty steady in a mix of slow ones and midtempo rockers and a lot of words. Literate!

YTD recordings listened to: 820
Good music, not list worthy: 448
Not good music: 347

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi

Music for 10/22/20!!! Kolsch, Sturgill Simpson, Mipso, Tommy Lee

@@@ Kolsch: Now Here No Where (Kompakt, 2020) Day 2 of last week’s All Music notable release listening. Title track and the ninth track on the record. Looks like it’s gonna be New Age leaning electronic dance business. Oh yeah, this is some uplifting Disney style clean techno bustin’. Arpeggiated synth pipe patches, a little tambourine shake shake action. A piano comes in and reinforces this vibe but it’s the arpeggiated, reverbed out patch that drives the track. I think I’m about to step out of this as once the vibe gets established it builds and builds with layers and volume and doesn’t evolve much past that.

@@@ Sturgill Simpson: All Around You (Hight Top/Thirty Tigers, 2020) People love the Sturge, that’s what I call him The Sturge. It’s a smash up of Sturgill and the word urge, which is what you get when the needle drops on a Sturge track. You get a big Sturge wave! This is all right, it smells authentic like fresh cut grass. You get that, that reference to the title of the record? Instrumentation is acoustic guitar, mandolin, upright bass, some restrained side stick action, fiddle you know all the old school instruments. I’m not expecting any cowbell in this track though I would shit my pants if it happened. He’s got some good players up in here and they throw it down, rider lawnmower style. Simpson holds down the vocals with a gruff vocal style that involves a few marbles in his mouth. I jest, this is good shit check it out.

@@@ Mipso: Big Star (Rounder, 2020) Big roots rock/country rock in the Emmylou Harris/Daniel Lanois tradition. The vibe here is spaciousness and opennness. Female singer, big cymbal washes and a general feel of less is more which generally works. Lyrics that refer a bit to the Bible (we’re going down to the water) and a mention of a big star, not the fantastic Big Star from the ’70s. My favorite element here is the bass figure which sounds almost guitar like and drives the track. My least favorite thing is how the tune sort of stays put and doesn’t necessarily evolve much. I let the player click to the next track and it’s roots-friendly rock with a super light soft rock feel. Meh.

@@@ Tommy Lee: Caviar on a Paper Plate ( , 2020) Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee makes a dance record, Oh Lord this is the sign of end times that I’ve been waiting for. I’m open to liking this but the odds are slim. I’m not sure what Tommy Lee is doing on this record as he’s not playing drums. I guess he’s producing I don’t really know. He’s got a George Clinton/retro hip hop beats/Bayridge Brooklyn dancefloor douchebag banger vibe going, it’s really quite a melting pot of sonic influences. The track I’m checking out features Micky Avalon who I don’t know from a cardboard box, lemme GooglePimp this bitch. He’s trash basically, a two legged garbage can. No, no I kid the way Tommy Lee prolly kids. Micky Avalon spends a lot of his time on the microphone talking about his dick which is fine. These musings are far from Shakespearean but that’s not to be expected and I would say if you see Micky Avalon watch out cuz he likes to take it out! Naimsayin’?

YTD recordings listened to: 816
Good music, not list worthy: 446
Not good music: 345

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi

Music for 10/21/20!!! beabadoobee, Optic Sink, Cordovas, Jeremy Ivey

@@@ beabadoobee: How Was Your Day? (Dirty Hit, 2020) I saw this young musician on the front page of the New York Times (I think it was the Grey Lady). She was in a major outlet, she’s got a publicist, she’s getting a push, that’s how it works. BTW, all of today’s listens came from the All Music notable release email, shipped out hot and fresh and sometimes boring every Friday. Some lo fi crossing over into the mainstream, she could easily be mistaken for that classic Kurt Cobain alienated youth flow. Strummed acoustic guitar with the vocal melodies carrying the sad weight here. The vibe here is sadness, isolation, loneliness etc. How was your day? Was it okay? If you judge this as music outside of the sonic/lyrical feels it’s pretty unremarkable. The interesting part here is the grunge lifestyle reappearing in the guise of an young Asian female. Wow, I’m checking out the first tune and it’s so Smashing Pumpkins it’s not even funny. I never found the Pumpkins to be funny.

@@@ Optic Sink: Personified (Goner, 2020) It’s a blenderized, sped up Devo/krauty video game smoothie!!! Some growly bass synth, fast drum machine and off to the races. Oh no, not the Prozac vocals, I hate that. Here it’s at least one female voice maybe more. The synth bass takes first place for favorite elements here, the vocals, oh not these again. One last idea — they come out of the gate at an accelerated pace and then slather on the vocal drag sauce, it doesn’t make sense to my ears. Granted my ears are not the same as others’ ears.

@@@ Cordovas: High Feeling (ATO, 2020) The opening track of an ‘alternative’ rock record though this sounds like old school major label roots rock. An updated version of The Band with a friendly engaging singer. Things get nigh on the cheesy moon in the chorus when he sings ‘you gimme that high kind of feeling’ in an uplifting manner to spray that chorus all over you. Ah, this is major label business rebranded as alternative those sneaky Warner Bros devisl. Myself I would recommend ‘Music from the Big Pink’ over this 7 days out of the week. That has an old school hippie freak and depth to it that this does not have.

@@@ Jeremy Ivey: Someone Else’s Problem (Anti-, 2020) Some retro-flavored classic FM soft rock at the open here. Strummed acoustic guitar, a lotta bit of conga and a reverb patch out of yesteryear which really effects your listening experience. There’s some understated electric guitar panned out wide and when the drummer comes in it feels like a full backup for the very concious lyrics. Let’s not forget the small organ flavors. They lyrics are very appropriate for the state we find ourselves as a society — economic struggles and societal issues like homelessness and pressures on family. There’s a lot of history and words crammed into this almost 6 minutes of music, he gets it all up in it. Climate change, immigration, racism, I woulda broken it down into pieces as I just want to go hang myself. Just kidding but he sure does leave the listener in a depressed pickle when he’s maxi bummed them out. I like it, I can take it! Misery, misery, bring the misery!!! I like the elements but I think 3-4 minutes might have been more effective. I let the player move through to the next tune and he goes for a more Patterson Hood/Neil Young thing in the next track . It’s a thinking man’s rock record.

YTD recordings listened to: 812
Good music, not list worthy: 444
Not good music: 343

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi

Music for 10/20/20!!! Otik, Jack Colwell, Ehua, Midori Hirano

@@@ Otik: Wetlands (Intergraded, 2020) Crack Magazine! This is the title track off a new EP and it looks like it’s set to be a world music infused dancefloor banger with a hammered metal marimba type sound, some chopped and looped vocals and hand drums panned out wide. My favorite part here is the chopped vocal sample and my least favorite element is the tambourine which lightens the proceedings too much imho. I could use a change right about now or 30 seconds ago. You get an additional sound, bass, but the other elements remain in the mix. I say mute something and return it to the mix later naimsayin’? There are more sounds added to the mix including a nice lazy melodic bagpipe typa thing but overall the stasis in the composition and the mix detracts from my listening experience. Just more and more layers doesn’t get me where I want to go.

@@@ Jack Colwell: A Spell (Self-released, 2020) I don’t know if there’s a trend of musicians putting the title track last on the record but it’s here again, a melancholy piano and voice opening on a last album track. Oops, there’s the space with a wambly guitar (?), some whirling electro garnish, and a female singer quietly tracking the main vocalist Mr. Colwell. I don’t usually go for the self-empowerment vibes but this is very understated and not cheesed out. This is more than all right, this is quite a feat to get me to like a tune where the vocal hook is hold on, hold on. Usually it comes with a massive serving of orchestral strings and other cheese flavored sauces but Colwell keeps it restrained and thus more effective.

@@@ Ehua: Meteora (Nervous Horizon, 2020) Crack Magazine! Techno, but it appears to be a different strain. Thumpin’ but a bit more abstract and not as dancefloor. Not as yet. This track, the title track has a coiled and mechanical feel that I find pleasant. Also a string of static that will drive you insane on purpose, you gotta respect that. I feel like I’m waiting for more meds while on meds at a mental hospital this is solid business. I would check out more of this but this one track resides on a label compilation. However, I find the second track to be of similar high quality so Imma check this compilation out when I get the chance.

@@@ Midori Hirano: Invisible Island (Sonic Pieces, 2020) Same, Crack Magazine!!! A Japanese electronic musician based in Berlin. Today I’m checking out the last piece of the record which is a roomy piece with simple piano and some rhythmic piano wrangling. I like parts of the pieces, the up and down string scraping is all right, there’s another string sound which sounds like I don’t know what, and the piano playing isn’t particularly moving to me. I wish there was more here, maybe rhythmically or another idea or two. I always want to be fair to musicians so I checked out the opening track and it does indeed have her simplistic piano playing but there’s a bunch of rhythmic elements to it that work to elevate the music as a whole. So don’t be like me and start at the beginning and go from there.

YTD recordings listened to: 808
Good music, not list worthy: 442
Not good music: 341

Best: 4
Honorable Mentions: 5

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, 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, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, Shy One, Protomartyr, Nnamdi, Ekiti Sound, Awa Fall, 25,000 Kittens, Anjimile, Superfonicos, Yves Jarvis, Jonsi