Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Music Week

Music: current count 30736 [30692] rated (+44), 264 [271] unrated (-7).

Got so jammed up Monday I didn't get a word of this written on its appointed day, but I did manage to move the records from the scratch file and start on next week while I was falling behind. One task was to format Robert Christgau's latest XgauSez question and answer session, which came out in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Another was counting ballots for the 13th Annual Jazz Critics Poll (56 in at present, deadline Sunday, December 9, 7pm). I can't show you any of that, but I've also been counting EOY lists for my EOY Aggregate, which you can track the progress of. Although lists started to appear before Thanksgiving, there wasn't much until December 1 (or the Monday after).

It occurs to me I should probably nail down my Jazz ballot now, rather than wait for the end of the week. Of course, my real list remains subject to change. If the past is any guide, I'll probably find a new A- record within 2-3 days, and something to nudge into the ballot territory in 10-15 days.

New Music:

  1. Joakim Milder/Fredrik Ljungkvist/Mathias Landraeus/Filip Augustson/Fredrik Rundkvist: The Music of Anders Garstedt (Moserobie)
  2. Peter Kuhn Trio: Intention (FMR)
  3. Kira Kira: Bright Force (Libra)
  4. Rich Halley 3: The Literature (Pine Eagle)
  5. Rodrigo Amado: A History of Nothing (Trost)
  6. James Brandon Lewis/Chad Taylor: Radiant Imprints (OFF) **
  7. Sons of Kemet: Your Queen Is a Reptile (Impulse!) **
  8. Henry Threadgill 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg: Dirt . . . and More Dirt (Pi)
  9. Kevin Sun: Trio (Ectomorph Music)
  10. Nik Bärtsch's Ronin: Awase (ECM) **

Reissues/Historical:

  1. Martin Küchen & Landaeus Trio: Vinyl (2013-14, Moserobie)
  2. Alexander Von Schlippenbach/Aki Takase: Live at Café Amores (1995, NoBusiness)
  3. Art Pepper: Unreleased Art Pepper Vol. 10: Toronto (1977, Widow's Taste, 3CD)
  4. Fred Hersch: Fred Hersch Trio '97 @ The Village Vanguard (Palmetto)

Vocal:

  1. Benjamin Boone/Philip Levine: The Poetry of Jazz (Origin)

Debut:

  1. Kevin Sun: Trio (Ectomorph Music)

Latin Jazz:

  1. David Virelles: Igbó Alákorin (The Singer's Groove) Vol I & II (Pi)

You may notice that the Reissues/Historical list doesn't match the EOY file. I decided to only include records that I have physical copies of -- partly to credit the few good publicist who actually still send me eligible records, and partly because some of the records on the current list (like the expanded Sonny Rollins Way Out West and the reduced Anthony Braxton Quartet (Willisau) 1991 Studio) are items I was already pretty familiar with. Also, note that only three Reissue/Historical albums will be counted. I went to four in case the judge decides that the Küchen album is too recent (although it is literally a reissue of recent vinyl releases).

[PS: I finally decided to treat Küchen/Landaeus as new and slot it at number 10, bumping Nik Bärtsch's Ronin from the top ten. So, turns out my blog-posted ballot didn't last 30 minutes before I had a change of heart/mind.]

I published Streamnotes (November 2018) last Friday, so most of this week's batch of newly rated records got written up there. I added one more jazz A- in the two days after Streamnotes (Flavio Zanuttini), and I've actually added one more in the two days between when I ended last week and as I'm writing now (Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet's Polka). My current division of A-lists is 53 Jazz vs. 47 Non-Jazz, so it's tilted a bit toward jazz over the last couple weeks.

I was hoping to get a couple of technical things set up so I could announce them this week, but didn't get around to doing the necessary work:

  • I plan on setting up an RSS feed, like I did for Robert Christgau's website. Same idea: manually manage a list of new/updated files (checking against a time-sorted list of files), and write a bit of code to format that list as RSS 2.0. This could just include the faux blog files -- that's certainly the piece that needs RSS exposure. Shouldn't take more than a couple hours to set up at this point.

  • I want to add a question-and-answer feature, like I did for Robert Christgau with XgauSez. It will take a couple hours to set up a special email account, add the captcha code, port the question form and the Q&A reader, and add some links. I'd also like to add some new features, like a keyword search.

  • I want to set up an email list (based on GNU Mailman) for people who would like to offer advice (technical but also user) on my various website projects (especially robertchristgau.com and tomhull.com, and a future music website, to be hosted at terminalzone.net). I've often found myself wishing I could tap into a pool of technical help, as well as to get comments on user design questions, especially as I undertake development projects, like the recent RSS feeds, and more importantly a redesign of the Christgau website. I expect this to be set up shortly after I post this, but it will (at least for the time being) be a private list, so if you want to join (to participate or maybe just to lurk) please send me email. Most likely I will subscribe you then, and you will receive email with an account password (which you can change). You can use your password to change your options (such as to elect to receive a daily digest instead of every email message as it's sent), or to unsubscribe. You may also at any time ask me to unsubscribe you.

So, one (mostly) down. The others shouldn't be too hard to get working in the next week. Also managed to get a stub set up over at Terminal Zone, so I can start hanging things there. Still, most of this coming week will go to tabulating ballots and collecting lists. I guess the latter qualifies as my favorite waste of time. At some point I need to stop and get onto other work, but for now, 'tis the season for it.

New records rated this week:

  • Juhani Aaltonen/Raoul Björkenheim: Awakening (2016 [2018], Eclipse): [r]: B+(**)
  • Tom Abbs & Frequency Response: Hawthorne (2018, Engine Studios): [r]: B+(***)
  • Anderson .Paak: Oxnard (2018, Aftermath/12 Tone Music): [r]: A-
  • Brom: Sunstroke (2017 [2018], Trost): [bc]: B+(**)
  • Peter Brötzmann/Heather Leigh: Sparrow Nights (2018, Trost): [bc]: B+(*)
  • Dustin Carlson: Air Ceremony (2017 [2018], Out of Your Head): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Neneh Cherry: Broken Politics (2018, Smalltown Supersound): [r]: B+(***)
  • Chicago Edge Ensemble: Insidious Anthem (2018, Trost): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Lando Chill: Black Ego (2018, Mello Music Group): [r]: B+(*)
  • Zack Clarke: Mesophase (2017 [2018], Clean Feed): [r]: B+(*)
  • Collective Order: Collective Order Vol. 3 (2018, self-released): [cd]: B
  • Francesco Cusa & the Assassins Meets Duccio Bertini: Black Poker (2017 [2018], Clean Feed): [r]: B+(*)
  • Drone Trio [Evelyn Davis/Fred Frith/Phillip Greenlief]: Lantskap Logic (2013 [2018], Clean Feed): [r]: B+(*)
  • James Francies: Flight (2018, Blue Note): [r]: B
  • Full Blast: Rio (2016 [2018], Trost): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Marquis Hill: Modern Flows Vol. 2 (2018, Black Unlimited Music Group): [r]: B
  • Khruangbin: Con Todo El Mundo (2018, Dead Oceans): [r]: B+(*)
  • Frank Kimbrough: Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk (2017 [2018], Sunnyside, 6CD): [r]: A-
  • Roy Kinsey: Blackie: A Story by Roy Kinsey (2018, Not Normal): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Simone Kopmajer: Spotlight on Jazz (2018, Lucky Mojo): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Andrew Lamb Trio: The Casbah of Love (2018, Birdwatcher): [r]: B+(**)
  • Low: Double Negative (2018, Sub Pop): [r]: B+(*)
  • Kirk Knuffke/Steven Herring: Witness (2017 [2018], SteepleChase): [r]: B
  • Thomas Marriott: Romance Language (2017 [2018], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Joakim Milder/Fredrik Ljungkvist/Mathias Landraeus/Filip Augustson/Fredrik Rundkvist: The Music of Anders Garstedt (2016 [2018], Moserobie): [cd]: A
  • Father John Misty: God's Favorite Customer (2018, Sub Pop): [r]: B
  • Fredrik Nordström: Needs (2018, Clean Feed): [r]: B+(***)
  • Miles Okazaki: Work: The Complete Compositions of Thelonios Monk (2018, self-released, 6CD): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Caterina Palazzi/Sudoku Killer: Asperger (2017 [2018], Clean Feed): [r]: B+(***)
  • Charlie Porter: Charlie Porter (2018, Porter House): [r]: B+(*)
  • Quoan [Brian Walsh/Daniel Rosenboom/Sam Minaie/Mark Ferber]: Fine Dining (2017 [2018], Orenda): [r]: B+(**)
  • Ernesto Rodrigues/Guilherme Rodrigues/Bruno Parrinha/Luís Lopes/Vasco Trillo: Lithos (2017 [2018], Creative Sources): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Renee Rosnes: Beloved of the Sky (2017 [2018], Smoke Sessions): [r]: B+(**)
  • John Scofield: Combo 66 (2018, Verve): [r]: B+(**)
  • Sleep: The Sciences (2018, Third Man): [r]: B+(*)
  • Marcus Strickland Twi-Life: People of the Sun (2018, Blue Note): [r]: B
  • Trio Heinz Herbert: Yes (2018, Intakt): [cd]: B+(***)
  • The Way Ahead: Bells Ghosts and Other Saints (2017 [2018], Clean Feed): [r]: B+(*)
  • Mars Williams: Mars Williams Presents an Ayler Xmas (2017, Soul What): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Mars Williams: Mars Williams Presents an Ayler Xmas: Volume 2 (2018, Soul What): [bc]: B+(**)
  • Yoko Yamaoka: Diary 2005-2015: Yuko Yamaoka Plays the Music of Satoko Fujii (2018, Libra, 2CD): [cd]: B+(**)
  • Flavio Zanuttini Opacipapa: Born Baby Born (2018, Clean Feed): [r]: A-

Old music rated this week:

  • Boneshaker: Unusual Words (2012 [2014], Soul What): [bc]: B+(***)
  • Billie Holiday: Songs for Distingué Lovers (1957 [1958], Verve): [r]: A-
  • Terry Pollard: Terry Pollard (1955, Bethlehem): [r]: B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Sam Broverman: A Jewish Boy's Christmas (Brovermusic)
  • Scheen Jazzorchester/Eyolf Dale: Commuter Report (Losen)

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