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An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
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Monday, January 20, 2025 Music Week
January archive (in progress). Music: Current count 43567 [43500) rated (+67), 21 [19] unrated (+2). After several weeks of delaying these nominaly weekly reports into mid-week, I let this one wrap along to resync on Monday. So this "week" covers nine days, which certainly contributed to the length, but the haul would have been robust for any seven days. And after 6-8 weeks of little but jazz, there is little more below. That's not because I ran out -- there's still a good 150 more albums that got votes in the recently published Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll (not counting the extra categories, because I stopped after Rara Avis), but it was taking more effort to find more obscure albums, and once I had a bit of time, I started finding tons of interesting non-jazz. My main tools here has been compiling an EOY Aggregate based on 2024 list. That list has now tapped 234 lists for a total of 2705 records. While this is still way short of what I've done in recent years, I don't have to think very hard about what to play next. I don't know how much longer I'll work on this. It doesn't look like I'll have much time -- but lots of things are up in the air (some noted below). One thing I've been meaning to do is to revisit some 2024 releases that I liked but, perhaps in haste, not as much as many others. Charli XCX is the runaway winner in the EOY aggregate, while Waxahatchie has slipped from its mid-year lead to 4th. More next week. I rarely expect much, and therefore regret much, in the EOY aggregate standings, but I will say I'm disappointed to see the Cure climb into 2nd place. Something I almost never do is listen to podcasts, but I did get curious enough to check out Scott Woods' YouTube tele-interview, A Misguided Tour Through the Aesthetics of Rock (with guests Kevin Bozelka and Chuck Eddy), and stuck with it through the 1:36:05 end. The topic was R. Meltzer's 1970 The Aesthetics of Rock, to which Eddy's The Accidental Evolution of Rock 'n' Roll (1997) was offered as a sequel. Part of the attraction was that these are all people I'm acquainted with: Eddy was music editor at the Village Voice when I started writing Jazz CG, and the only one I've actually met; Woods interviewed me for RockCritics.com, which established most of the footnotes that someone turned into my Wikipedia page; Bozelka is a long-time critic and a major presence on The Witnesses, a Facebook group I frequently check out. When I saw a post about this there, I was spurred to order a couple of Eddy's books (although, in what I'm inclined to regard as unprecedented lapse of memory, it turns out that I already had one). One thing I discovered is that I'm older than these guys, which I established when I found my old, somewhat marked up copy of R. Meltzer's The Aesthetics of Rock, and it turns out I'm the only one with the 1970 Something Else Press edition (paperback), whereas they were flashing 2nd and 3rd editions, and talking about discovering it in the 1980s and 1990s. I would have read it around 1974-75, which was my rebound period after not graduating from college. (I fell a few credits short due to incompletes, which I left unfinished because I was burned out, ill advised, and simply pleased to (for the first time in my life) have landed a job and started making my own money. Some of those memories were triggered by discussion of Meltzer's own academic history, where his book started as a thesis before some kind of blowout, and of Bozelka's grad school reading of Adorno (which I had done pretty intensely before my own blowout). Aside from reading The Aesthetics of Rock -- I remember very little of it, but my copy is lightly marked up (very lightly, I might note, at least compared to some old Adorno books I also remember very little from, except perhaps how to think -- it's hard to shake that), and I wrote a piece about it in 1977, including this rather hideous paragraph:
I should go back and transcribe the Don Malcolm piece on Meltzer, and the Paul Yamada piece on Charlie Gillett, as those were the sources I was actually arguing with. I knew far less about the history of rock (except, of course, for my personal experience) then than either of them, but I was pretty sure of my critical and philosophical sources and their logic. What I do remember is that rock criticism was open to serious thinking about everyday life, so something I could read and think (and sometimes rant) about while still making a break from academia. While I was working on the 19th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll, I engaged in some idle thought about what the week or two after the poll appears might be like. I thought I'd return to the poll data and come up with all sorts of other insights. I thought I would lobby the voters to give the poll some publicity, and open up discussions into what it all means. I thought I'd add some new pieces to the website, and perhaps get others to contribute pieces (as Larry Blumenfeld did; one easy piece would be a counterpoint to his Top Ten Reasons to Hate Top 10 Lists). We had some Spotify playlists we could publicize. I started a piece collecting lists of other jazz EOY lists -- the next step beyond that would be to compile a list of all the albums mentioned there that didn't get votes in the poll. I thought about formats for distributing the data so other people could so their own analysis. But thus far I haven't done any of that. The next thing on my list was to add all the new voters to the "jazzpoll" mailing list. I started a list, but haven't even managed that. I'm not especially surprised by my post-poll torpor. Every year ends like that, in a stew of exhaustion and frustration where I just want a break from it all. But while there was some of that, this year I ran into another problem, which is that I had put off a bunch of things to focus on the poll, and now they've come back with a vengeance. I've had a very bad week, and from what I can tell, next week's going to be even worse. Last week, the biggest hassle was with insurance, but no need to rehash that now. Same for lots of little things, starting with the exceptional cold, which after a couple days edged above freezing is back with us again. It bothers me more and more each year. But there is one major problem I struggled with last week to no avail, and now it turns out it's much worse than even I had feared. I now expect it will consume all of next week, and then some. The situation is that for the last 20+ years, I've been leasing a dedicated server, on which I can host multiple domains and websites (usually around 10, a bit less than that at the moment). For some time now, I've been leasing a machine from a small company called Hosting & Designs, which way back when seemed to offer a fairly decent deal. However:
So I need to take a hard look at my needs, then shop around for a new system that meets them, as affordably as possible. I haven't done this in quite some time, so I have a lot of research to do, before I can figure out what makes sense to do, let alone to do it (configuring and migrating websites, etc.). I will in due course attempt to write this up more precisely, but that's the general outline. If any readers have thoughts on this, please let me know. At the same time, I'm also trying to figure out what my writing plans are for the future. In some ways, the server is just a tool for my writing -- although having a server such as I have done gives me considerable flexibility in creating websites, and also allows me to offer hosting and other technical services to a few friends, whose accounts could be in jeopardy if I find it no longer makes sense to keep paying for the server. This would have been my biggest concern after the poll, until the server itself became such an urgent problem. I have many thoughts here, but don't feel like ruminating on them here. I've started to set up a forum for future thoughts. Nothing to share there yet, and I'm not sure that any of it will be of much interest, but writing things out helps clear my head, and I need a lot of that right now. New records reviewed this week: Ab Baars/Joost Buis/Berlinde Deman: Cecil's Dance (2023 [2024], Wig): Dutch free jazz trio, with clarinet/shakuhachi, trombone, and tuba/serpent. B+(*) [sp] Bashy: Being Poor Is Expensive (2024, Bish Bash Bosh): British rapper Ashley Thomas, mixtapes go back to 2004 but this is his first since 2011 (or 2009), has enjoyed some success acting since then. I haven't heard the early mixtapes, but as a comeback he has much to say. Some very pointed songs here, notably "How Black Men Lose Their Smile." In Linton Kwesi Johnson's neighborhood. A- [sp] BkTherula: LVL5 P2 (2024, Warner): Atlanta rapper Brooklyn Rodriguez, studio album following her LVL5 P1 mixtape. B+(**) [sp] Blood Incantation: Absolute Elsewhere (2024, Century Media): "Progressive death metal band" from Denver, formed 2011, fourth album since 2016, only listening to it because it's the top-rated so-far unheard album (at least in my EOY Aggregate, although two more metal bands, Knocked Loose and Chat Pile, are close behind). The subterranean vocals and speed drumming are defining points of metal, the Pink Floyd nods less so, none of which bothers (or inspires) me. B+(*) [sp] Camila Cabello: C,XOXO (2024, Geffen/Interscope): Cuban-born pop singer, moved at 6 via Mexico to Miami, member of the teen vocal group Fifth Harmony, fourth album on her own. B+(*) [sp] Caribou: Honey (2024, Merge/City Slang): Canadian electropop producer Dan Snaith, sixth studio album under this alias (also has earlier albums as Manitoba, and others as Daphni). Light and sprightly. B+(**) [sp] Hayes Carll/Band of Heathens: Hayes & the Heathens (2024, BOH): Senior partner here is probably the Austin-based band -- their label, Discogs lists 19 albums since 2006, but at least half of those were live shots, including their first two -- but while they are probably much more famous, I've passed until now. Carll, on the other hand, won me over with 2005's Little Rock, even before 2008's Trouble in Mind breakthrough. He gives them a first-rate songwriter and a distinctive voice -- needs you notice when they give him a chance, which isn't often enough. B+(***) [sp] Cavalier & Child Actor: Cine (2024, Backwoodz Studioz): Rapper, albums since 2014, Different Type Time got some notice earlier in 2024, this with producer Child Actor, who has several other credits (back to 2012). B+(**) [sp] Chat Pile: Cool World (2024, The Flenser): "Sludge metal" band from Oklahoma, number 3 on my EOY Metal charts, second album, a rare metal band where I've heard a previous album. I can't evaluate this as metal, but at low volume this has a certain abstract-clunky appeal. B+(**) [sp] Ed Clute: Shadows on the Moon (2024, Rivermont): Stride pianist, b. 1943, blind, has one previous album as far as I can tell (from 2017), solo, runs quickly through 27 songs dating from 1927-41 (64:40). B+(**) [sp] Denzel Curry: King of the Mischievous South Vol. 2 (2024, PH/Loma Vista/Concord): Rapper, from Florida, Wikipedia divides his output as: studio albums (5 since 2013), collaborative albums (2, with Kenny Beats), EPs (4), and mixtapes (7 since 2011, including this one and its predecessor, a "Underground Tape 1996" released in 2012). Trap beats, seems small but tight. [PS: Later reissued + 5 tracks as King of the Mischievous South.] B+(**) [sp] Karl D'Silva: Love Is a Flame in the Dark (2024, Night School): British singer-songwriter, has "two decades playing saxophone with the esoteric and experimental likes of Thurston Moore and Ex-Easter Island Head," produces a complex, polished first pop opera as his album. B+(*) [sp] Daisy Moon: System Creak (2024, Peach Discs, EP): Electronica producer/DJ from Bristol, has a couple EPs since 2019, this one 4 tracks, 25:08, nice, tight rhythm tracks. B+(***) [sp] Dar Disku: Dar Disku (2024, Soundway): UK-based duo, Mazen AlMaskati and Vish Mhatre, originally from Bahrain, first album, draw on a range of Arabic pop and disco sounds. B+(*) [sp] Kim Deal: Nobody Loves You More (2024, 4AD): Played bass and sometimes sang in Pixies (1987-91), led the Breeders from 1990 until whenever, with the Amps as a 1995 side-project. Released some solo singles 2012-14, but no full album until this one, which by FDJCP rules makes this her debut. It's not a very imposing one, but that seems part of the point, but there is something of a signature sound. B+(**) [sp] Father John Misty: Mashashmashana (2024, Sub Pop/Bella Union): Singer-songwriter Josh Tillman, recorded as J. Tillman 2003-10, before adopting this name in 2012, had his commercial/critical breakthrough with his 2014 album, returning here for his 6th FJM album. Seems like this one may have more interest than most, but not reliably so. B+(*) [sp] Fievel Is Glauque: Rong Weicknes (2024, Fat Possum): Jazzy pop duo of multi-instrumentalist Zach Phillips (New York) and singer Ma Clément (Brussels), third album, recorded "in triplicate" then "subtractively edited," giving it a slippery sound that rarely sticks. B+(*) [sp] Girl Scout: Headache (2024, Human Garbage, EP): Alt-pop band from Sweden, Evelina Arvidsson Eklind the singer (and bassist), debut album 2023, back with a 5-track, 17:47 EP. B+(*) [sp] Godspeed You! Black Emperor: No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead (2024, Constellation): Canadian post-rock band, debut 1997, broke up 2003 but regrouped 2010, presents as a collective but Efrim Menuck (guitars, tape loops) has been a constant, along with Mauro Pezzente (bass guitar). Eighth album, the obvious meaning of the title only just dawned on me, although I now see a 2002 note accusing Ariel Sharon of "provoking another Intifada." Politics are integral to this group, but you rarely hear it coming. B+(***) [sp] Gouge Away: Deep Sage (2024, Deathwish): Hardcore (post-hardcore?) punk (post-punk?) band from Florida, named for a Pixies song, third album since 2016, Christina Michelle the singer, not a band I would normally pick up on but this was Dan Weiss's number 2 album (after Sabrina Carpenter). B+(**) [sp] Geordie Greep: The New Sound (2024, Rough Trade): Guitarist-singer for the English group Black Midi, first solo album with group "on indefinite hiatus." Shifts focus from sound to songs, with mixed results, as he has some craft, but is also given to overkill. B [sp] Heavee: Unleash (2024, Hyperdub): Chicago juke/footwork DJ/producer Darryl Bunch, singles from 2013, has another album from 2018, this his second. B [sp] High Vis: Guided Tour (2024, Dais): English hardcore post-punk group, third album, Graham Sayle singer, seems pretty conventionally solid. B+(*) [sp] Lambrini Girls: Who Let the Dogs Out (2025, City Slang): British punk duo of Phoebe Lunny (guitar/vocals) and Lilly Macieira-Bosgelmez (bass guitar), plus drums, first album after several singles and an EP, 11 songs (29:25). B+(*) [sp] Latto: Sugar Honey Iced Tea (2024, Streamcut/RCA): Atlanta rapper Alyssa Stephens, third studio album, after three mixtapes). Runs long, but pretty consistent. B+(***) [sp] Jeffrey Lewis: Ghosterbusters (2024, self-released, EP): Antifolk singer-songwriter, started as a comic book writer, output has been very erratic of late, his Bandcamp lately focusing on cassette tape collections -- limited songs available there, and none on streaming -- while this five-track, 26:36 EP can be streamed but has no documentation I can find. Title song is a perturbation of the movie jingle, followed by a history of NY punk rock (1950-75) which roots it in antifolk ethos & medley. Other three songs are less developed. One can hardly take much comfort from an "It Could Be Worse" now that it is. B+(**) [sp] Loidis: One Day (2024, Incienso): New alias for Brian Leeds, a deep house producer from Kansas, who's used a bunch of them, most notably Huerco S. A nice, steady simmer of beats. B+(***) [sp] Lollise: I Hit the Water (2024, Switch Hit): A "musician, visual artist and fashion designer from Botswana, currently living in NYC," last name Mbi, first album. B+(**) [sp] Low Cut Connie: Connie Live (2024, Contender): Indie band from Philadelphia, Adam Weiner the singer-songwriter, also plays a mean piano. I liked their first couple albums lots, but lost interest with Dirty Pictures and never got into their much touted pandemic covers (Tough Cookies). By all accounts, still an exciting live band, although making a live album is a somewhat different proposition. B+(*) [sp] Lyrics Born: That 1 Tyme in the Studio: Acoustic Selections (2019 [2024], Mobile Home): Rapper Tom Shimura, started in Latyrx, solo albums from 2003, announced that Goodbye Sticky Rice would be his last, but slipped this one out a few months earlier. A couple songs I recognize as remakes from elsewhere, and it's possible they all are. B+(**) [sp] Kira Martini: Open Wide (2024, Storyville): Danish jazz singer-songwriter, several albums since 2012. B+(*) [sp] The Mavericks: Moon & Stars (2024, Mono Mundo): Country-rock band from Florida, singer is Raul Malo and lead guitarist is Eddie Perez, had a run from 1990-2003, then regrouped in 2012, often have a Tex-Mex tinge that can remind one of Marty Robbins (for better or worse). That seems especially pronounced here (for better and worse -- sometimes it's hard to tell, as even the obviously bad seems to be growing on me). B+(***) [sp] Mount Eerie: Night Palace (2024, PW Elverum & Sun): Singer-songwriter Phil Elverum, started recording as the Microphones, titled an album Mount Eerie and decided to go with that. Eleventh album since 2005, long at 80:47. I know some serious listeners who have been impressed by his records, but I find them impossible to follow, so I look for sonic hints. I hear some, which makes me suspect there's more to this. B+(*) [sp] Molly Nilsson: Un-American Activities (2024, Night School/Dark Skies Association): Swedish musician/producer, based in Berlin, unexamined early work (nine albums 2008-22) all have black/white abstract covers, this one breaks out a color with a blindfolded portrait pic, with a batch of songs, most (all?) with political themes, which were "written and recorded entirely on location in California in the former home of writer, poet, and early opponent of the National Socialist regime in 1930s Germany, Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife Marta." B+(**) [sp] Nines: Quit While You're Ahead (2024, Zino): British rapper Courtney Freckleton, 34, sixth and reportedly his last album (whence the title), all top-five in UK but nowhere else (only other chart Wikipedia provides is IRE). B+(*) [sp] Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp: Ventre Unique (2024, Bongo Joe/Red Wig): Swiss group, billed as "a dream amalgam of folk, krautrock, post-punk and African rhythms," sixth album since 2007. B+(**) [sp] Peverelist: Pulse EP (2023, Livity Sound, EP): British electronics producer Tom Ford, from Bristol, couple albums, many singles/EPs since 2006, many released as Pev. This kicks off a series of four EPs with 4 tracks, 28:50, of neatly manicured beats. B+(***) [sp] Peverlist: Pulse Modulation (2023, Livity Sound, EP): Four more tracks, "Pulse V" through "Pulse VIII," 25:02, seems unlikely that I will be able to make discerning judgments among this small but delightful bag of tricks (although I did particularly enjoy "VI"). B+(***) [sp] Peverelist: Pulse Phase (2024, Livity Sound, EP): Third installment, "Pulse" titles "IX" through "XII" (4 tracks, 25:03). B+(**) [sp] Peverelist: Pulse Echo (2024, Livity Sound, EP): Fourth installment, "Pulse" titles "XIII" through "XVI" (4 tracks, 25:01). B+(**) [sp] Pixies: The Night the Zombies Came (2024, Pixies/BMG): American rock band, kind of a big deal from 1988 to their 1991 breakup, after which Black Francis went solo, and Kim Deal formed the Breeders. Regrouped in 2013, but Deal left before their 2014 album, and I can't say as I've noticed anything since (this is their fifth). B [sp] Tim Reaper & Kloke: In Full Effect (2024, Hyperdub): British jungle/drum & bass producer Edem Alloh, with Australian producer Andy Donnelly. B+(**) [sp] Porter Robinson: Smile! :D (2024, Mom+Pop/Sample Sized): American electronic producer, third studio album, vocals strike me as more of an electropop focus. B [sp] Saint Etienne: The Night (2024, Heavenly): British indie pop group, considered "alternative dance" in the 1990s, return here with their 12th album, low key almost to the point of vanishing. B+(*) [sp] Secret Sisters: Mind, Man, Medicine (2024, New West): Country music duo, sisters Laura Rogers and Lydia Slagle, fifth album since 2010. Some winning harmonies, rising out of solid songs. B+(***) [sp] Harri Sjöström/Erhard Hirt/Philipp Wachsmann/Paul Lytton: Especially for You (2022 [2023], Bead): Finnish saxophonist (soprano/sopranino), has a fair number of albums since 2010, this a quartet with guitar, violin, and drums, recorded live at a festival in Munich, a long piece in two parts (49:27), followed by a short "Encore" and, nearly as short, a "Lullaby." B+(*) [bc] Skee Mask: Resort (2024, Ilian Tape): German electronica producer Bryan Müller, fourth album since 2016 (not counting four self-released items titled A to D, a shorter series numbered up to ISS010, or other titles as SCNTST). Very nice beats, with some ambient swirls, which is all it really needs. A- [bc] The Smile: Cutouts (2024, XL): British group, two principals from Radiohead (Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke), plus a pretty talented drummer (Tom Skinner, from Sons of Kemet), third album since 2022, second this year. B+(*) [sp] Tems: Born in the Wild (2024, RCA): Nigerian singer-songwriter Temilade Openiyi, from Lagos, moved to UK as an infant but returned when she was 5, where she remained until studying in South Africa. First album after a couple EPs. Since 2022, she's been touring in Europe and the US with some success, this album charting 30 in UK, 56 in US, and showing up on some scattered EOY lists, plus a small bit Grammy. Reportedly, she stopped listening to other music to find her own unique take. I'm dubious about that as method, but what she's come up with is very hard to slot anywhere. A- [sp] Transmission Towers: Transmission One (2024, É Soul Cultura/Mr Bongo): British EDM duo, Mark Kyriacou and Anorbea Mante, seems like a throwback to cheesy space disco, then midway I hear what sounds like a Pere Ubu vocals (circa The Modern Dance, which wasn't as far removed from disco as we thought at the time). But those are just high points. B+(**) [sp] Two Shell: Two Shell (2024, Young): British electronics duo, Jack Benson and Patrick Lewis, first album after several impressive EPs. B+(**) [sp] Lucinda Williams: Sings the Beatles From Abbey Road (2024, Highway 20): Title suggests she's recreating my least favorite Beatles album, but the only one from there she picked for this dozen was "Something." Turns out this is volume 7 of her Lu's Jukebox in Studio Concert Series, the first to appear since 2021 when the series seemed to be a scheme to recoup pandemic losses. I missed them all, because her stuff was hard to stream back then. Maybe I should look again? This is credible enough: her voice isn't as rough as it's been of late, but it cuts through the varnish, and the guitar adds some heft, but while the good songs are still good, the bad ones don't improve much. B+(*) [sp] Wussy: Cincinnati Ohio (2024, Shake It): Indie band from, well, that's obvious, founded by Chuck Cleaver, who had a 1990s band of some note (The Ass Ponys), and Lisa Walker, recognizing his need for a better half. Robert Christgau deemed their first album "more Velvets than Burritos," then dispensed with comparisons, giving them one A+, 7 A, 5 A-, 2 B+, and one ***. I like them, but rarely that much. This has moments when it sounds like it might amount to something, but you have to want it to, else the feeling passes and leaves you empty. [I tried looking up a line in "Disaster About You" and couldn't find any lyrics. What's with that? Isn't this supposed to be a band where lyrics matter? I saw a comment expressing surprise that Christgau "felt the loss apparent" here but not "the equally devastating beauty of Nick Cave's mournful Ghosteen." Not such a surprise, as he clearly cares about Wussy and wants to understand them, whereas he has always disliked Cave, and probably not just his music. After writing this review, I read a bunch of EW comments, and gave this another play. As songs like "Disaster About You" and "Winged" finally started to register, I bumped it up a notch. I can see how people who really want to can come to love this album, but it takes a lot more work than I normally allow. I also know that other people do the same thing with other albums. I've seen it in others, and I've done it myself. It also helps explain why anyone liked Cave's latest album.] B+(***) [sp] Wussy: The Great Divide (2017-24 [2024], Shake It, EP): Three songs, 11:08. Released same day as album, includes a murky "single mix" of the album's first song, plus two leftovers from a 2017 session that are a good deal snappier than the lead. B [sp] Wussy Duo: Cellar Door (2024, Shake It, EP): The band reduced to its two key members, Chuck Cleaver and Lisa Walker, of necessity during the pandemic, and recreated here for three songs, 10:45. B+(*) [sp] Xylitol: Anemones (2024, Planet Mu): British electronica producer Catherine Backhouse, several albums since 2013, singles go back to 2006. Tagged as "atmospheric drum and bass." B+(***) [sp] Carlos Zingaro/João Madeira/Sofia Borges: Trizmaris (2023 [2024], 4DaRecord): Violin-bass-drums trio, from a live set in Lisbon, free jazz with just enough edge. A- [cd] John Zorn: Ballades (2024, Tzadik): Eleven numbered pieces composed by Zorn, played by a trio of Brian Marsella (piano), Jorge Roeder (bass), and Ches Smith (drums), claiming inspiration from Bach and Chopin through Debussy and Bartók plus Bill Evans. B+(*) [sp] John Zorn: Lamentations (2024, Tzadik): Four extended pieces composed by Zorn, designed as a tribute to Dylan Thomas, played by a trio of guitarists: Bill Frisell, Gyan Riley, and Julian Lage. B+(**) [sp] John Zorn: Ou Phrontis (2024, Tzadik): Zorn songs, piano-bass-drums trio again, Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Charli XCX: Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat (2024, Atlantic): Remix album, repeats Brat's 15 songs in order, plus 1 or 2 (depends) of 3 "deluxe edition" adds. As such, the beats are sharpened, and the songs pick up extraneous guest vocals and sonic effects, the net effect is to push the star back into the background, which may not matter as long as you're dancing, but otherwise leads to indifference (some bits sound good, some don't, but few distinctions matter). And by the way, the hooks you do notice are hers. (A point proven by appending the original -- well, plus bonus cuts -- album in the digital.) B+(**) [sp] Denzel Curry: King of the Mischievous South (2024, PH/Loma Vista): Reissue of Vol. 2 with five extra tracks, one inserted at 5, another at 11, expanding from 34:29 to 51:10. Sounded marginally better, which may just be the extra play I gave it, until one at the end I would have rather done without. B+(**) [sp] Old music: Lucinda Williams: Runnin' Down a Dream: A Tribute to Tom Petty [Lu's Jukebox in Studio Concert Series Vol. 1] (2021, Highway 20): First volume of her Lu's Jukebox in Studio Concert Series, a canny choice: a peer-level artist, died recently (2017), some good songs but not too familiar, no great stretch in style. Ends with one of her own. Nothing wrong with that, and these days you might as well document everything. B [sp] Lucinda Williams: Southern Soul: From Memphis to Muscle Shoals and More [Lu's Jukebox in Studio Concert Series Vol. 2] (2021, Highway 20): Seems like a natural progression, but risks comparison with the singers who own these songs. Not that that's necessarily the problem. ("Take Me to the River" is one of the best things here.) B [sp] Lucinda Williams: Bob's Back Pages: A Night of Bob Dylan Songs [Lu's Jukebox in Studio Concert Series Vol. 3] (2021, Highway 20): Unlike Tom Petty, this one has been done dozens of times before, and unlike the soul singers, we're used to Dylan songs in someone else's voice. While her performance is credible, this rises and falls with the songs: "Political World" and "Man of Peace" are terrific, "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Idiot Wind" are same as they ever were. B+(**) [sp] Lucinda Williams: Funny How Time Slips Away: A Night of 60's Country Classics [Lu's Jukebox in Studio Concert Series Vol. 4] (2021, Highway 20): Another concept-defined grab bag, again ending with one of hers (a highlight). While her first Willie Nelson song doesn't impress, the title one does, coming after two songs I wouldn't have expected so much from, "Gentle on My Mind" and "The End of the World." B+(***) [sp] Lucinda Williams: Have Yourself a Rockin' Little Christmas [Lu's Jukebox in Studio Concert Series Vol. 5] (2021, Highway 20): The season may have passed, but it's been a long time since it's put me in the mood for the standard repertoire (if indeed it ever did). Although eight of these songs namecheck Christmas -- with one more each for Santa and Rudolph -- only a couple ever got picked up by anyone, and even those don't turn me off. B+(**) [sp] Lucinda Williams: You Are Cordially Invited . . . A Tribute to the Rolling Stones [Lu's Jukebox in Studio Concert Series Vol. 6] (2021, Highway 20): Discogs has an alternate version of this with a different title, supposedly released in 2020, and therefore predating series it was finally slotted into. That may explain why there's 16 songs, instead of the usual 12-13. The most straightforward album in the series, probably because the fit is most natural. B+(***) [sp] Grade (or other) changes: Charli XCX: Brat (2024, Atlantic): British pop star, Charlotte Aitchison, sixth album since 2013, all hits but none really huge until this one (Crash was also 1 in UK charts, but BPI was silver, vs. platinum here; Crash was 7 in US, this one up to 3, which pushed it to ARIA gold; bigger advance in critical coverage, where this one easily led all EOY aggregates), so the extra hype and/or anticipation paid off. I gave this 5 plays back in June and was on the fence. Five more plays, and I've barely moved, but it was always a close call. [NB: "Deluxe Edition" got a new name: Brat and It's the Same but There's Three More Songs So It's Not, while the remix was called Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat.] [was: B+(***)] A- [sp] Carly Pearce: Hummingbird (2024, Big Machine): Country singer-songwriter from Kentucky, fourth album since 2017, found herself in her age-marking 29: Written in Stone. This sounds real good for four fast ones, flounders a bit in a Chris Stapleton duet, struggles to win back the slow ones, often with a memorable turn of phrase (like "we're living on a fault line/ the fault is always mine"). [was: B+(***)] A- [sp] Waxahatchee: Tigers Blood (2024, Anti-): Singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, out of Alabama (Bandcamp puts her in Kansas City), formerly of P.S. Eliot, also of Plains, sixth Waxahatchee album since 2012, sounds easy here but songs are solid and grow on you if you give them a chance. I didn't first time around, but even then noted that a revisit might be in order. [was: B+(***)] A- [sp] Rechecked with no grade change:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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