Music for 3/23/22!!! J. Robbins, H.C. McEntire

@@@ J. Robbins: Un-becoming (Dischord, 2021) I got to bot of these listens from Bob Mould’s PR person’s blast mail saying who is opening on his summer tour. Former lead singer of DC band Jawbox this is the fifth track on the record and it opens with an ambient piano part before it segues into the rocking body of the track. Lots of slashing Clash type guitars to go with the classic distorted guitar arpeggios. It’s a very wordy track, literate and about something, our country I think. Or our bodies. I’m on the next track and I’m getting the distinct feeling that Mr. Robbins does not want to repeat his earlier work of which I’m a fan. It may be a bit to art school for me, but I like that he’s not repeating himself.

@@@ H.C. McEntire: River’s Jaw (Merge, 2021) Female driven country dirge type business. I’m not the biggest Merge Records fan as I think they doth issue forth a lot of blue eyed dance garbage, but this is not that and I dig that. It’s also not a string band type of situation, there’s a lot of electric guitar happening here. It’s got a bit of spaghetti western twang to it. I like it without loving it, let me check another track before I wrap up for the day. I’m checking out the third track High Rise and it’s got a lovely slide guitar and a more developed vocal melody. I just emailed my wife telling her she might like this record as she digs this formula — a little rock, some country, a woman on the microphone. If that works for you check it out. Also very nice guitar tones here.

Music for 11/30/18!!! Jeff Tweedy, Chris Carter

@@@ Jeff Tweedy: Warm (dBpm, 2018)  When I hear the simple rock basics of the opening tune and Tweedy’s world weary voice it sounds to my ears that he’s channeling John Lennon (or aspiring to).  He’s going for that straight ahead shot to the heart.  I get that Tweedy has been in the game for a long long time and people love him but I find his music to be pretty pedestrian and his lyrics and singing not enough to overcome that.  I’d rather listen to Tom Petty, he’s more interesting to me.  It’s not awful music, it’s just very typical, something you might hear in a doctor’s office and it’s a mystery to me how or why people flip out over this musician.  He’s ended up as a late ’70s classic FM slack country half rocker — that’s not a personal attack, that’s what he is.  Maybe people remember what he was like way back in the day when he first started out and they hold that close to them but I listen to the record as it exists in this moment in time without all the footnotes or history.

@@@ Chris Carter: Disobedient (Self-released, 2018)  I saw this musician mention on the All Music notable release email and saw this record just came out when I went on the Apple Music.  I can’t tell if this is a new record or a re-issue so I gotta head over to All Music and verify.  It’s a reissue of a 1998 record and it sounds it.  The synths have a dated sound to them, I don’t really care one way or the other.  The record sounds a bit sci-fi and a little undercover rock ‘n roll as it maintains a tempo without being a fully abstract piece of music.  I like the pieces but like some of the more out pieces more.

YTD recordings listened to: 664
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 360
Not good music: 260

Best: 11
Honorable Mentions: 8

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, Janelle Monae, 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, A Tribe Called Quest, 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, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Tal National, Portal, Hernan Sama & Marcelo von Schultz, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Orlando Lopez, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Gouge Away, Barro, Daniel Khan, Vaudou Game, Tallawit Timbouctou

Music for 1/17/18!!! Grime Lords, Holy Now, Kyle Craft

@@@ Grime Lords: Violent Violins (N/A, 2018) A gruff MC with spitty energy over a mostly retro New York hip hop sound.  I like the electric piano cloud and the little vamp after that.  It’s a pretty Wu-ey track with a funky bassline, I like it.

@@@ Holy Now: Feel it All (Lazy Octopus, 2018) Rock pop sweetness that’s been soaked in ’80s syrup for more than a bit.  Female singer, no anger, chime-y guitars and upbeat drumming.  I mean super upbeat drumming.  Some Cure, some R.E.M., some Ronald Reagan detached from reality flavors.

@@@ Kyle Craft: Exile Rag (Sub Pop, 2018)  Switching decades to the ’70s and some hippie country rock a la the Band.  I’m thinking most of the members of this band own the Band records, maybe all of them.  The singer, the guitar player, the drummer too.  The singer is not the star here but more of the dominant flavor as he has country rock star energy.  His voice is all right — not particularly memorable but he’s feeling it and you can’t deny that.

YTD recordings listened to: 38
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 20
Not good music: 17

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Leviathan, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Janelle Monae, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Gentleman Surfer, 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, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Benjamin Booker, Irreversible Entanglements, Converge, Open Mike Eagle, Criolo