Monday, March 7, 2016

Music Week

Music: Current count 26363 [26339] rated (+24), 413 [410] unrated (+3).

Rated count is down this week. I can't think of any particular reasons, other than that I'm getting tired and/or lazy. A lot of records stayed in the changer longer than usual. About three-quarters of the records (18 below) are 2016 releases. I didn't consciously decide to move on so much as I started running out of 2015 releases to chase down. I'm not sure how much remains unsearched of the Ye Wei Blog list, but I only see two albums from there listed below (Youth Worship is recommended to people who like that sort of thing -- I called it alt/indie but it's got a heavier sonic depth without being punkish).

The live Drive-By Truckers album is one I had been avoiding, partly as redundant but mostly because I didn't want to invest three-plus hours in a sitting. It only got one spin, but I never regretted a minute of it. Then I went back and listened to two early albums I had missed, and a best-of I probably shouldn't have bothered with. I haven't been all that happy with the group's later ATO albums, but all the source albums on New West are superb, each worth having in its own right. The problem with Greatest Hits is that I've hardly ever heard such an album that elevates less over its source material. I wound up giving it two extra plays to see whether I should knock it down, but in the end didn't. Still, not the place to start.

The Meridian Brothers compilation, a 2013 release, was featured in Robert Christgau's latest Expert Witness along with two Tom Zé albums -- one old news here (Troplicália Lixo Lógico, an A- from 2012) and a newer one (Vira Lata Na Via Láctea, from 2014), I'm listening to as I'm writing this -- and a long list of HMs from Latin America (or wherever Sidestepper comes from). That list went back as far as 2010 (Anibal Velasquez) but didn't mention two more recent Meridian Brothers albums on Soundway. I can recommend the one album on his HM list I had heard: Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978 (an A- in 2014). The Rough Guides continue to drive me crazy. I slogged my way through Psychedelic Salsa [B+(**)] and Psychedelic Samba [B+(***)] a while back, but hadn't notice any of the three he reviewed.

I jotted down a list of more/less recent Latin American albums I had noticed and recommended but Christgau hadn't reviewed. Thought I'd share that with you here:

  • The Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet: 10 (2015, Zoho) [***]
  • Bomba Estereo: Elegancia Tropical (2013, Soundway) [A-]
  • Bomba Estereo: Amancer (Sony Music Latina) [***]
  • Fabiano Do Nascimento: Danca Dos Tempos (2015, Now-Again) [A-]
  • Fumaca Preta: Fumaca Preta (2014, Soundway) [A-]
  • Aurelio Martinez: Landini (2014, Real World) [***]
  • Ondatropica: Ondatropica (2012, Soundway) [A-]
  • Sao Paulo Underground: Tres Cabecas Loucuras (2011, Cuneiform) [A-]
  • Sonzeira: Brasil Bam Bam Bam (2014, Talkin' Loud/Virgin) [***]
  • Tribu Baharu: Pa'l Mas Exigente Bailador (2015, self-released) [A-]
  • Mati Zundel: Amazonico Gravitante (2012, Waxploitation/ZZK) [A-]
  • Cartagena! Curro Fuentes and the Big Band Cumbia and Descarga Sound of Colombia 1962-72 (2011, Soundway) [A]
  • Jukebox Mambo: Rumba and Afro-Latin Accented Rhythm and Blues 1949-1960 (Jazzman) [***]
  • Palenque Palenque! Champeta Criolla and Afro Roots in Colombia 1975-91 (Soundway) [A-]
  • The Rough Guide to Psychedelic Samba (2015, World Music Network) [***]

Of course, I'm no expert. I only find out about these discs by accident, don't have much back catalogue to compare to (even compared to, say, African music), don't follow Spanish or Portuguese. There are probably more albums I have misfiled somewhere else, like under jazz or electronica. (I had Fumaca Preta filed under Europe -- its leader is described as Portuguese-Venezuelan.) I skipped over most Latin jazz. I also used 2010 as a cutoff date -- there's a good deal more on older lists.

New records rated this week:

  • Steve Barta: Symphonic Arrangement: Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio (2015 [2016], Steve Barta Music): [cd]: B
  • Rich Brown: Abeng (2015 [2016], self-released): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Cowboys & Frenchmen: Rodeo (2015, Outside In Music): [cdr]: B+(*)
  • The Drive-By Truckers: It's Great to Be Alive! (2014 [2015], ATO, 3CD): [r]: A-
  • Moppa Elliott: Still Up in the Air (2015 [2016], Hot Cup): [cd]: B+(**)
  • David Fiuczynski: Flam! Blam! Pan-Asian MicroJam (2015 [2016], Rare Noise): [cdr]: B
  • Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra: Back Home (2015 [2016], Summit): [cd]: B
  • Lafayette Harris Jr.: Hangin' With the Big Boys (2013 [2016], Airmen): [cd]: B+(***)
  • Joseph Howell: Time Made to Swing (2015 [2016], Summit): [cd]: B+(***)
  • Krakauer's Ancestral Groove: Checkpoint (2015 [2016], Table Pounding): [cd]: B+(***)
  • Julian Lage: Arclight (2015 [2016], Mack Avenue): [cd]: B+(*)
  • Los Bosnáis: Nordeste (2015, Elefant, EP): [r]: B+(*)
  • Kirk MacDonald: Symmetry (2013 [2016], Addo): [cd]: B+(*)
  • Meridian Brothers: Los Suicidas (2015, Soundway, EP): [r]: B+(**)
  • Dave Miller: Old Door Phantoms (2015 [2016], Ears & Eyes): [cd]: B-
  • Christian Perez: Anima Mundi (2015 [2016], CPM): [cd]: B
  • Richard Poole/Marilyn Crispell/Gary Peacock: In Motion (2014 [2016], Intakt): [cdr]: B+(***)
  • Alfredo Rodriguez: Tocororo (2015 [2016], Mack Avenue/Qwest): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Sidestepper: Supernatural Love (2016, Real World): [r]: B+(*)
  • The U.S. Army Blues: Live at Blues Alley (2015 [2016], self-released): [cd]: C
  • Youth Worship: LP1 (2015, Self Harm): [r]: B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries rated this week:

  • Cheryl Bentyne: Lost Love Songs (2003-11 [2016], Summit): [cd]: B+(***)
  • DJ Katapila: Trotro (2009 [2016], Awesome Tapes From Africa): [r]: B+(***)
  • Meridian Brothers: Devoción (Works 2005-2011) (2005-11 [2013], Staubgold): [r]: A-

Old music rated this week:

  • Drive-By Truckers: Gangstabilly (1998, Soul Dump): [r]: B+(***)
  • Drive-By Truckers: Alabama Ass Whuppin' (1999 [2000], Second Heaven): [r]: B+(***)
  • Drive-By Truckers: Ugly Buildings, Whores, and Politicians: Greatest Hits 1998-2009 (1998-2009 [2011], New West): [r]: A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Cheryl Bentyne: Lost Love Songs (Summit)
  • Renato Braz: Saudade (Living Music): June 7
  • Andy Brown Quartet: Direct Call (Delmark)
  • Rex Cadwallader/Mike Aseta/Arti Dixson/Tiffany Jackson: A Balm in Gilead (Stanza USA): May 6
  • Taylor Cook: The Cook Book (self-released): March 18
  • Patrick Cornelius: While We're Still Young (Whirlwind)
  • The Dominican Jazz Project (Summit)
  • Danny Green Trio: Altered Narratives (OA2)
  • Lafayette Harris Jr.: Hangin' With the Big Boys (Airmen): May 6
  • Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis: The Abyssinian Mass (Blue Engine, 2CD+DVD): March 18
  • Gabriela Martina: No White Shoes (self-released)
  • Never Group: Zhenya Strigalev (Whirlwind)
  • Roberta Piket: One for Marian: Celebrating Marian McPartland (Thirteenth Note): advance, June 10
  • Leslie Pintchik: True North (Pintch Hard): March 25
  • Henry Threadgill Zooid: Old Locks and Irregular Verbs (Pi): April 1
  • Marcos Varela: San Ygnacio (Origin): March 18
  • Jeff Williams: Outlier (Whirlwind)

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