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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, August 8, 2022 Music Week
Music: Current count 38474 [38430] rated (+44), 77 [75] unrated (+2). Still pretty down and out, but I forced myself to compile a Speaking of Which, rushed out without any editing Sunday evening (with a couple minor edits today, and a bit more on Taiwan, where my natural predeliction for sanity may have been too optimistic -- after all, I didn't think Putin would invade Ukraine in March, and couldn't imagine continuing the war this long, despite having a pretty good understanding of US provocations). Nothing much to add to the music below. Pain and ennui may have contributed to the dearth of A-list albums. I had a tough time coming up with things to listen to, and didn't have a lot of patience with those I found. Toward the end of the week, I was desperate enough to start picking items off Chuck Eddy's 2008 list. Of the B+(***) albums, the one I came closest to picking was Calvin Harris: Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 (much better than the 65/6 at AOTY). Another one that might benefit from extra time is Moten/López/Cleaver. The Expert Witness group seems to really like Amanda Shires, but I didn't hear it. I'll review Trio Xolo next week, but with nothing else to show for this week, I'm putting the cover stage right. I played it three times before the cutoff without making up my mind, then three more times after. It doesn't drop until Aug. 19, so no need to rush it. Most of what's in the queue doesn't come out until later. I'll try to catch up on some neglected correspondence later this week. Wish I could say I'm feeling better, but at least I'm coping better. New records reviewed this week: 49 Winchester: Fortune Favors the Bold (2022, New West): Alt-country band from Virginia, fourth album since 2014. Got twang, will take it all the way to the county line. B [sp] Omar Apollo: Ivory (2022, Warner): Singer-songwriter from Indiana, parents Mexican, actual name Omar Apolonio Velasco, first album after a couple EPs. Draws on r&b, voice can edge into falsetto, drops in the occasional song in Spanish. B+(**) [sp] Lee Bains + the Glory Fires: Old-Time Folks (2022, Don Giovanni): Southern rock band, out of Birmingham, fourth album since 2012. Song titles include "Outlaws," "Gentleman," "Rednecks," "Caligula," and "God's A-Working, Man." B+(**) [sp] Axel Boman: Luz (2022, Studio Barnhus): Swedish electronica producer, singles from 2008, two albums before this year's pair of releases (with Quest for Fire). A couple vocals, valid enough. B+(**) [sp] Axel Boman: Quest for Fire (2022, Studio Barnhus): More, released same day, separate digital albums, but if you want vinyl, they come packaged as a 3-LP set. I'd give this one a slight edge, both on beats and reduced vocals. B+(***) [sp] Breath of Air: Breath of Air (2019-20 [2922], Burning Ambulance): Trio of Brandon Ross (guitar), Charles Burnham (violin), and Warren Benbow (drums). Ross only has three albums as a leader, but a lot of side credits going back to Archie Shepp in 1975, including the group Harriet Tubman. B+(***) [bc] Alan Broadbent Trio: Like Minds (2021 [2022], Savant): Pianist from New Zealand, many abums since 1978, Discogs credits 13 to his Trio, currently with Harvie S (bass) and Billy Mintz (drums). One original, a mix of standards and bop classics. [sp] Kevin Cerovich: Aging Millennial (2022, CVJ): Trombonist, from Overland Park, Kansas, seems to be his first album (after a stretch in the Airmen of Note). Credits also include drums, vocals, keyboard, bass, guitar, percussion, and programming, as he seems to do it all. I rather like the trombone, but not much else. B [cd] Dan Clucas/Kyle Motl/Nathan Hubbard: Daydream and Halting (2021 [2022], FMR): Clucas plays cornet, violin, and moxeño (a wind instrument from Bolivia, looks like a bamboo flute), and is backed by bass and drums. B+(***) [cd] Caleb Wheeler Curtis: Heat Map (2021 [2022], Imani): Alto/tenor saxophonist, from Michigan, fifth album since 2018, group gets front-cover recognition: Orrin Evans (piano), Eric Revis (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums). Strong showing. B+(***) [cd] Lucky Daye: Candydrip (2022, Keep Cool/RCA): R&B singer-songwriter David Brown, from New Orleans, second album. Nice vibe. B+(***) [sp] Vladislav Delay: Isoviha (2022, Planet Mu): Finnish electronic musician Sasu Ripatti, who's used several other names (Luomo is one I recognize) going back at least to 1999. This one tripped and fell into some kind of industrial meatgrinder. B [sp] Duke Deuce: Crunkstar (2022, Quality Control/Motown): Memphis rapper Patavious Isom, third album, an early single called "Crunk Ain't Dead." B+(*) DJ Black Low: Monate WA Piano EP (2022, Black Low Music, EP): Young South African Amapiano DJ Sam Austin Radebe, album Uwami was picked up last year by Awesome Tapes From Africa. Then this "EP" (6 songs, 33:43) showed up on streaming services with no press, no explanation. Feels sketchy, unrushed. No piano that I can discern. B+(**) [sp] Doechii: She/Her/Black B*tch (2022, Top Dawg Entertainment/Capitol, EP): Rapper Jaylah Hickman, from Tampa, fourth EP (five tracks, 13:02). B+(**) [sp] Domi & JD Beck: Not Tight (2022, Apeshit/Blue Note): Self-described as "the internet's most hyped jazz duo": "DOMi" is French "saxophone prodigy" Domitille Degalle, Beck is a "sheep investigator" from Texas. No credits, but I'm hearing keyboards and percussion, fey vocals (more his than hers), and guest spots from Herbie Hancock, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Anderson Paak, Thundercat, Mac DeMarco, Busta Rhymes, and Snoop Dogg. Jazz quotient is about as irreal as their professed interest in quantum physics. B- [sp] Coco Em: Kilumi (2022, InFiné): Nairobi, Kenya DJ, mixes basic but catchy beats behind guest vocals. Short: 7 songs, 30:19. B+(*) [sp] Gas: Der Lange Marsch (2021, Kompakt): German ambient techno producer Wolfgang Voigt, released four albums under this alias 1996-2000, three more since 2017. "The Long March" -- mostly uphill. B+(*) [sp] Ghais Guevara: May Ur Melanin Shield U From Ragnarok (2020, self-released, EP): Philadelphia rapper, virtually no press available on him, but this seems to be the first of several releases. Short and fast (10 songs, 25:36). B+(**) [sp] Ghais Guevara: There Will Be No Super-Slave (2022, self-released): First full-length album (15 songs, 44:23). Politics a bit more obscure here, but I'm more bothered by the artier turn in the music. B+(*) [sp] Ghais Guevara: Black Bolshevik (2021, self-released, EP): Eight songs (22:39): "been a rough year, fuck everything else, just prep for the revolution." B+(**) [sp] Calvin Harris: Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 (2022, Columbia): Scottish DJ Adam Richard Wiles, called his 2007 debut I Created Disco, released Vol. 1 of this in 2017 -- all of his albums seem to be big hits, so he's rolling in money. He spent some of that on big name guests here (Dua Lipa/Young Thug, Charlie Puth/Shenseea, Justin Timberlake/Halsey/Pharrell Williams, Jorja Smith/Lil Durk, etc.). My choice cut is "New to You," with Normani/Tinashe/Offset riding a cheesy recycled disco riff. B+(***) [sp] Shawneci Icecold Quartet: Coldtrane (2021, Underground 45): Young pianist who does hip-hop on the side, fell in with some well-known avant-jazz folks: Daniel Carter (reeds), Michael Bisio (bass), and Whit Dickey (drums). Nobody's pushed too hard. Short (34:44). B+(**) [cd] José Lencastre: Inner Voices (2020-21 [2022], Burning Ambulance): Portuguese saxophonist (alto/tenor), albums since 2017, some very good. This is solo, but mostly tracking two horns (or electronics?), so tends to sound like a small sax choir. B+(*) [bc] Allison Miller/Carmen Staaf: Nearness (2021 [2022], Sunnyside): Drums and piano duo, second album together. B+(**) [sp] Moderat: More D4ta (2022, Monkeytown): German electronica supergroup, combining members from Modeselektor and Apparat. Fourth album, following II and III. B+(**) [sp] John Moreland: Birds in the Ceiling (2022, Thirty Tigers): Country singer-songwriter, bounced around as a child but grew up in Tulsa. Albums since 2008. This one seems rather laid back. B+(*) [sp] Fred Moten/Brandon Lopez/Gerald Cleaver: Moten/López/Cleaver (2020 [2022], Reading Group): Poet, cultural critic, author of books like In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition (2003) and The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study, speaks here backed by bass and drums. Seems to be his first album. B+(***) [bc] Nancy Mounir: Nozhet El Nofous (2022, Simsara): Egyptian singer, plays violin and other instruments, first album, sounds rather antiquated. B [sp] Nakama: New World (2021 [2022], Nakama): Norwegian collective/label, half-dozen albums as a group since 2015, more for individuals (especially bassist-composer Christian Meaas Svendsen) and other side projects. Quintet: two sax/clarinet players (Klaus Ellerhusen Holm and Andreas Røysum), piano (Ayumi Tanaka), bass (Svendsen), and drums (Andreas Wildhagen). B+(**) [bc] Rico Nasty: Las Ruinas (2022, Sugar Trap/Atlantic): Rapper Maria-Cecilia Kelly, second album or eighth mixtape (sources differ). B+(**) [sp] Maggie Rogers: Surrender (2022, Capitol): Singer-songwriter from Maryland, graduate of Harvard Divinity School, second album, 2019 debut charted 2, so this is getting a lot of attention. Starts off solid enough. B+(*) The Sadies: Colder Streams (2022, Yep Roc): Canadian alt-country band, debut 1998, backed Neko Case and collaborated with Jon Langford, founder Dallas Good died in February (evidently after this was recorded). I don't hear much country in this one. B Serengeti: Kaleidoscope III (2022, Audio Recon): Chicago rapper David Cohn, very prolific since 2003. I've found three versions of this: a 5-track EP on Spotify, and both 9- and 12-track versions on Bandcamp, with similar but different titles (the latter seems to be available on CD or vinyl, which appeals to my sense that physical objects are the real thing). Stories interesting enough, but flows so easily it seems a bit slight. B+(**) [bc] Amanda Shires: Take It Like a Man (2022, ATO): Country singer-songwriter, fiddle player, seventh album since 2005. Some striking songs, some bogged down in strings. B+(**) [sp] Sinkane: Cartoons of the Night Vol. 1: Live 2019 (2019 [2022], City Slang): Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, born in London, parents from Sudan, moved to US when he was 5, tenth album since 2007. B- [bc] Miró Henry Sobrer: Two of Swords (2022, Patois): Trombonist, first album, "a rhythmically harged homage to Catalonian artists," in two "acts," mostly narrated by Francesca Sobrer, with other vocals, but most appealing is the trombone. B+(**) [cd] Whatever the Weather: Whatever the Weather (2022, Ghostly International): British electronica producer Loraine James, three albums under her own name, tries her hand at ambient here: never an exciting move. B [sp] Jack White: Entering Heaven Alive (2022, Third Man): Former White Stripe, fifth solo album, second this year, no better than the previous. B- [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Kabaka International Guitar Band: Kabaka International Guitar Band (1977 [2022], Palenque): Nigerian Igbo highlife group, led by G. Kabaka Opara, Discogs lists 13 albums 1977-89. Text says this was recorded in the mid 80s, but the four songs all appear on a 1977 album. B+(***) [bc] Old music: The Chap: Mega Breakfast (2008, Lo/Ghostly International): British experimental pop band, 7 albums 2001-12, two since then (2015, 2019). Has a jerky insouciance that might prove interesting if you're into that sort of thing. B+(**) [sp] New Bloods: The Secret Life (2008, Kill Rock Stars): Art-punk band from Portland, three women, violin-bass-drums, all sing some, none notably. Eleven songs count as an album, even if they only add up to 23:36. Comes close but slips a bit toward the end. B+(***) [bc] Ashlee Simpson: Bittersweet World (2008, Geffen): Short-lived pop star, younger sister of Jessica Simpson, released three albums 2004-08, first two platinum, got dropped when this one fell short, has done some acting since, and a 2018 EP with husband Evan Ross (Ashlee + Evan). B+(**) [sp] Joris Teepe Quintet: For Adults Only (1998 [2000], Postcards): Dutch bassist, debut 1995, recorded this in New York at Smalls Jazz Club, features two saxophonists he had been working with (Don Braden and Chris Potter), David Hazeltine (piano), and Bruce Cox (drums). B+(**) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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