@@@ 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.
Deep In the Music 