Monday, August 11, 2025

Music Week

August archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 44663 [44630] rated (+33), 36 [25] unrated (+11).

Some time after I bought my 1986 Audi, I replaced the radio with a CD player. Same with my 1994 Nissan, unless it came with one (I'm a bit unsure, but if it did, it was gone within a week). The 2006 Toyota had one by default, but we opted for the 6-CD changer. I don't think I ever loaded more than one CD at a time, but it came with extra speakers, and made a statement. When I started contemplating a new car just before 2020 happened, I was dismayed to find virtually nothing offering CD players, or even radios that could be ripped out and easily replaced. When we finally gave in and bought our new Toyota, all we could get was a 10.5-inch media/info console with bluetooth, wi-fi, one usb port, and a bunch of trial subscriptions. I spent our first week driving in silence, except when my wife insisted on NPR, which was painful. Exposing oneself to too much news and opinion isn't healthy.

I asked google "why did car companies stop offering cd players," and AI responded:

Car companies stopped offering CD players as standard features due to a shift in consumer preferences towards digital music and the convenience of streaming services. The rise of smartphones, Bluetooth, and USB connectivity has made it easier and more appealing to access music through these devices rather than through physical CDs. Additionally, CD players are more expensive to manufacture and install than other audio components, and their removal helps manufacturers cut costs.

This mostly sounds like bullshit to me. I don't doubt that this is what they say and want you to believe, but that's all it is. AI is only as good as its training data. It hasn't overcome the maxim of "garbage in, garbage out." The costs are trivial in a $30,000 car (nor do you find them appearing in more expensive models), and "consumer preferences" are largely dictated by marketing schemes, meant to steer people to corporate preferences. I doubt convenience too. I use streaming a lot at home, but the user interfaces are awful, and I only get by because I'm constantly on the keyboard. I'm trying not to go too crazy here. I'm often slow adopting new tech. (I certainly dragged my feet when CDs came out -- you know, back when they had superior sound and lasted forever.) So I'll try to give it a go. But this week has been pretty miserable for me and my music.

My big goal last week was to finally publish my first Substack post. I've written quite a bit of Loose Tabs draft material, and I figured one long comment on an especially inane Vox piece would kick things off nicely, as it does a fairly succinct job of summing up the current political situation, with relevant notes on the ineptness of the opposition and the cluelessness of a way-too-indulgent media, while introducing my general themes. All I needed to do was write a bit of header and footer, but I tore up three or four of the former by Friday before I got something I could stand. As expected, I did a fair amount of editing on the core piece, and sent it out to a couple people Saturday evening. Sunday I added a couple more paragraphs, then finally sent it out, under the title Four Stories. Please check it out, and subscribe to get it delivered regularly by email. There is no charge, no advertising, and no nagging (if I can help it). You do not have to have a Substack account to subscribe. If you have questions or problems, let me know.

I posted notices on X, Bluesky, and Facebook. Subscribers are up to 41, which looks like more than a third of the views on any of those mass social media platforms. (The X tweet has 93 views, almost double the 51 of last week's Music Week notice.) But I've been enjoying the stream of mail from Substack, especially sign-up notices from old friends, and I'm saving the marketing tips in case I ever get around to thinking about promotion. Right now this is mostly a pivot in how I'm approaching writing. More on that when I have something to show.

As noted in the letter, I only had 17 records rated through Friday. I didn't try to explain why. The distractions were major, but also every now and then I just have trouble figuring out what to play next. So I settled on the dumbest (but easiest) algorithm of all: I started playing the highest-rated non-genre (rock/pop, but not metal) albums on my metacritic list: Pulp, Turnstile, Caroline, Rich Dawson, Jasmine.4.T, Swans, Steven Wilson, Divorce, Doves, Lorde, etc. These are all albums I hadn't been in any hurry to play, and in many cases might never have bothered with. By the end of the week, I was down to Sparks (110), and up over 30 albums rated. Most vindicated my previous neglect, with the few pleasant surprises -- Bob Mould, Self Esteem, Horrors -- not quite rising past B+(***). That leaves us way short of A-list albums this week. Aside from those three, the best prospect is Antony Szmierek, followed by the other Vibrational Therapy albums.

After the cutoff, I decided to tweak the algorithm to allow me to pick one-in-three albums. I went with Miki Berenyi over Youth Lagoon and BC Camplight, and got another B+(***). The top unheard albums now are all metal (Deafheaven, Heartworms, Spiritbox). I sample a few metal albums every year, although only one so far this year (Mean Mistreater). Updates to the lists have been very sporadic of late, which is one reason I've struggled to find things to listen to. I've also let the jazz queue languish, but most of what's pending hasn't been released yet.

Goals for next week include: finally building Laura's new computer; shopping for eye glasses; building one more rack for the woodpile project; building my recycling kiosk; posting Loose Tabs; another newsletter; cooking dinner for some very old friends. The probably won't get to section also includes: sorting out my electrician tools and parts; setting up the website framework for the broader Notes on Everyday Life project; analyzing the DownBeat polls. Probably some more stuff I'm forgetting right now, given that I've done next to nothing on my planning documents, but most of what's left falls into definitely-won't-get-around-to territory. Loose Tabs could swallow everything else, so I'll focus on cutting that one short.

PS: A while back I was trying to track down a broken link to rockcritics.com. I finally found the answer, which is that the old domain name is defunct, but the website is still available here. This came up with reference to a 2002 interview with Robert Christgau, but it also concerns a 2014 interview with me, where I talk a little about my intellectual evolution, how I got into writing rock and jazz criticism, and how I built Robert Christgau's website (as well as a few things about my website). This interview turned out to be the basis for most of what is in my Wikipedia page, so it's rather important to me -- albeit something I hadn't looked at in years. It may be worth a revisit and some second thoughts.

New records reviewed this week:

Addison Rae: Addison (2025, As Long as I'm Dancing/Columbia): Pop singer-songwriter, last name Easterling, first album, but evidently famous since 2019 as a TikTok content creator ("amassing over 88 million followers, making her the fifth most-followed individual on the platform, as of 2025"). B+(*) [sp]

Brandi Carlile & Elton John: Who Believes in Angels? (2025, Mercury): Novelty star pairing, 8th studio album since 2005 for the American singer-songwriter, 33rd for Reg (or Sir Elton!), who I haven't checked out since 2010, and haven't graded an A- (or for that matter B+) album since 1975's Rock of the Westies. Aside from a Laura Nyro cover, all songs are co-credited to the stars, but also to Bernie Taupin and producer-guitarist Andrew Watt. Most favor Carlile, arena-scaled, with the closer pure John-Taupin. B- [sp]

Caroline: Caroline 2 (2025, Rough Trade): English "post-rock" band, second album. Floundered awhile, then finally seemed like it might be developing into something sonic, then was over. B [sp]

Circuit Des Yeux: Halo on the Inside (2025, Matador): Singer-songwriter Haley Fohr, born in Indiana, based in Chicago, 7th studio album since 2008 (plus 2 released as Jackie Lynn). Some kind of baroque pop, grandiose and overwrought, but not devoid of sonic interest. B [sp]

Edwyn Collins: Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation (2025, AED): Scottish singer-songwriter, started in new wave/jangle pop group Orange Juice (three albums 1982-84, some live albums and compilations since, including a 6-CD box of everything), 10 solo studio albums from 1989. He has a voice that shouldn't work, but sometimes does. B+(**) [sp]

Rich Dawson: End of the Middle (2025, Weird World/Domino): English singer-songwriter, ninth album since 2007 starting with Richard Dawson Sings Songs and Plays Guitar, which is about par for the course. Cover appears to have "ard" scratched out, while spine credits this to "(Just Rich)" with label/number "WEIRD166CD." Awkward fit offers little appeal, but there's something to be said for weird. B [sp]

Divorce: Drive to Goldenhammer (2025, Gravity/Capitol): British alt-country band, first album after a couple of EPs, singers Tiger Cohen-Towell and Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, with guitarist Adam Peter-Smith and drummer Kasper Sandstrom, have described themselves as "Wilco meets ABBA." B+(*) [sp]

Djo: The Crux (2025, AWAL): Singer-songwriter Joe Keery, from Massachusetts, started in a psych band, has a fairly substantial career as an actor, but this is his third album as Djo -- name sounds African to me, but not the music, which can be entertaining once you lose any preconceptions. B+(*) [sp]

Doves: Constellations for the Lonely (2024, EMI North): English alt-rock trio, sixth album since 2000 (big gap between 2009-20), big in UK, not so much in US. B+(*) [sp]

Franz Ferdinand: The Human Fear (2025, Domino): Scottish band, first album (2004) was a huge hit, as was its 2005 follow up, but later albums have been spread out (4, 4, 5, and now 7 years between). Not a bad band, knows how to craft a catchy song, and bring some energy. B(*) [sp]

The Horrors: Night Life (2025, Fiction/Universal): English rock band, first album 2007, originally garage or gothic or post-punk or shoegaze or neo-psychedelia, sixth album, first I've heard since 2011 and first released since 2017, Faris Badwan the singer, at this point has an understated vibe I'm enjoying. Sixth album since 2007 (previous 2017). B+(**) [sp]

Jasmine.4.T: You Are the Morning (2025, Saddest Factory/Dead Oceans): British singer-songwriter Jasmine Cruikshank with band, first album after a 2019 EP and some singles. B [sp]

Kronos Quartet and the Hard Rain Collective: Hard Rain (2025, Red Hot Org, EP): Postclassical string quartet, started with the moderns but has wandered eclectically ever since, here backing two long takes of the Dylan song, the words taken up by a queue of 15 (or more?) singers, starting with Allison Russell and Iggy Pop, and ending with Willie Nelson. Third piece is by Terry Riley and Sara Miyamoto, some kind of dirge as best I can tell. Conceptually an EP, but adds up to 29:54. B+(**) [bc]

Jim Legxacy: Black British Music (2025, XL): British rapper, James Olaloye, Nigerian descent, second mixtape after three EPs (since 2019). B+(*) [sp]

Nicolas Leirtrø: Cherry Blossom (2024 [2025], Sonic Transmission): Norwegian bassist, first album, solo, has side credits (notably with Amalie Dahl and Mats Gustafsson) back to 2016. B+(*) [bc]

Lorde: Virgin (2025, Republic): Pop singer-songwriter from New Zealand, fourth album since 2013, all big international hits. I'm surprised at how flat and featureless this one sounds. B [sp]

M(h)aol: Something Soft (2025, Merge): Irish postpunk band, second album, 11 tracks, 29:58, some songs, some just rattle the air. B+(***) [sp]

Bob Mould: Here We Go Crazy (2025, Granary Music): Ex-Hüsker Dü (1983-87) -- which I got a welcome refresher on with new releases of old live albums -- with 15 solo albums since 1989 (plus several as Sugar), very consistent sound throughout, although my own level of interest has waxed and waned considerably. (I also thought that while Mould was primarily responsible for Hüsker Dü's sound, it was Grant Hart who wrote their best songs, despite their sound. So I never expected Mould alone to match the group highs -- although Hart alone couldn't do that either). Still, this one sounds better than any I recall, so maybe "crazy" helps. Not consistent enough to overwhelm my general reluctance, but close. B+(***) [sp]

Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke: Tall Tales (2025, Warp): Electronic musician, born in England but based in Australia, Discogs credits him with 4 albums and 18 singles/EPs since 2007, but many more credits going back to 1991. The Radiohead frontman wrote and sang the lyrics here. Jonathan Zawanda created artwork for the music, developed that into an accompanying film, and published "a limited amount of Tall Tales zines." B+(**) [sp]

Pulp: More (2025, Rough Trade): British band, principally Jarvis Cocker, released 7 albums 1983-2001, the big one was Different Class (aka "Common People") in 1995 (NME put it number 6 in a 2013 list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time"), regrouped briefly in 2011 and again in 2022, but this is their first new album (after a half-dozen solo albums). It does have occasional moments of grandeur, or as one review put it, "Pulp remains resolutely Pulpy." B+(*) [sp]

Self Esteem: A Complicated Woman (2025, Polydor): English singer-songwriter Rebecca Lucy Taylor, third album since 2019, some interesting songs. Makes extensive use of choir and string arrangements, not something I normally take to. B+(***) [sp]

Big A Sherrod: Torchbearer of the Clarksdale Sound [Listener's Circle Vol. 72] (2025, Music Maker, EP): Blues guitarist-singer, "A" for Anthony, has a couple albums from 2014 and 2022, this one runs 5 songs, 28:28. B+(**) [bc]

Slick Rick: Victory (2025, Mass Appeal): Rapper Ricky Walters, born in England to Jamaican parents, moved to New York at 11, recorded four albums 1988-99, so this one's taken until he's turned 60. B+(***) [sp]

Sparks: MAD! (2025, Transgressive): Brothers Ron and Russell Mael, unflappably cranking out records more than 50 years after their brilliantly titled but horribly executed debut (A Wolfer in Tweeter's Clothing). They've always been a bit clever, and they've occasionally been able to find a hook. That sufficed for a while, but what's sustained them over the long haul was hack professionalism, which sustains indifference, if not disgust. B- [sp]

Swans: Birthing (2025, Young God/Mute): Heavy rock band ("experimental") founded 1981 and fronted by Michael Gira, 17th studio album since 1983 (not counting 10 live albums, and miscellany), many like this one running long (115:35, their 6th straight 2-CD). Long obscure, but they nicked the US charts in 2012, rose to 37 in 2014, and extended internationally in 2016. Sounded just oppressive at first, with its first interesting pattern emerging maybe a half hour in. Eventually settled into a dank ambient groove that was tolerable enough to allow me to think about other things. B [sp]

Antony Szmierek: Service Station at the End of the Universe (2025, Mushroom Music): British rapper, or "spoken word artist," first album, after an EP in 2023, but the first single from this appeared in 2022. Music is closer to house than to hip-hop, but I can see it either way. B+(***) [sp]

Turnstile: Never Enough (2025, Roadrunner): Band from Baltimore, fourth album since 2015 (EPs back to 2011), "hardcore punk" per Wikipedia. I don't know about that, but they combine an agreeable degree of noise, crunch, and melody. B+(*) [sp]

William Tyler: Time Indefinite (2025, Psychic Hotline): Guitarist, based in Nashville, started out of the folk tradition on Tompkins Square (2010), but has played in rock groups (Lambchop, Silver Jews), and has an album called Modern Country. This one has some of the glistening tones I associate with synths and ambient music. B+(*) [sp]

Akira Umeda & Metal Preyers: Clube Da Mariposa Mórbida (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Brazilian visual and sound artist, many albums (tapes?) since 1997, on a label that's turned Kampala into a world center for offbeat electronica. Metal Preyers is a loose group with members from London and Chicago that has appeared on several of the label's projects. B+(*) [sp]

Vibration Black Finger: Everybody Cryin' Mercy (2024 [2025], Enid): Group/alias for British DJ/producer Lascelle Gordon (aka Lascelles, or Lascelle Lascelles), also associated with Nat Birchall, Beth Orton, Heliocentric, and Brand New Heavies. Third album, following a 2016 EP. Good enough to send me back to their earlier albums, which more clearly fit as jazz (or maybe I just mean more horns/fewer voices). B+(***) [bc]

Steven Wilson: The Overview (2025, Fiction): English singer-songwriter, plays guitar and keyboards, draws on 1970s prog rock with airs of Pink Floyd, started in Porcupine Tree (1992-2009), eighth solo studio album since 2008, two long pieces totaling 41:44, with an extra 60:26 of "The Alterview" in the deluxe edition. The proper role of a bonus disc is to add something extra for those who already enjoy the product, which is a fair description of this one. With my already limited interest, I could have done without it, but let it run anyway. It's a bit less buttoned-down than the first disc, which may have helped to clarify what is probably the better presentation. B+(*) [sp]

Wretch 32: Home? (2025, AWAL): British rapper Jermaine Sinclair, Jamaican family, 7th studio album since 2008, another half dozen mixtpes. B+(**) [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Roots Rocking Zimbabwe: The Modern Sound of Harare Townships 1975-1980 (1975-80 [2025], Analog Africa): White settlers under Ian Smith declared Southern Rhodesia independent in 1965. The African majority fought back and prevailed in 1980, although that was hardly the end of the troubles. This collects 25 songs from the last third of the 15-year civil war. The best known bands are Green Arrows and Blacks Unlimited (with Thomas Mapfumo, who also leads off with an early track). B+(***) [sp]

Old music:

New Tutankhamen: I Wish You Were Mine (1979 [2019], Nyami Nyami): Late 1970s group from the territory renamed Zimbabwe in 1980, prominent on Analog Africa's recent comp, so I figured it was worth checking out. Draws more on American soul/disco than on South African models. B+(*) [bc]

Vibration Black Finger: Blackism (2008 [2017], Enid): British jazz-funk group, produced by Lascelle [Gordon], who got his start with "acid jazz" group Brand New Heavies (1991). Curious delay between recording this and release, with two albums and several EPs since. Inspired here by 1970s electric Miles, with Andy Knight (trumpet), James Arben (sax), two drummers, and possibly others on a back cover scan I can't decipher (a vocal bit by Maggie Nichols?). A- [sp]

Vibration Black Finger: Can You See What I'm Trying to Say (2020, Jazzman): Second album, no credits that I can see, although there are vocalists, and glancing references to Musical friends," but this is mostly down to Lascelle Gordon, conjuring up a mixed bag of tricks. B+(***) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Bruce Gertz Quintet: Octopus Dreams (Open Mind Jazz) [08-15]
  • Larry Keel/Jon Stickley: Larry Keel & Jon Stickley (self-released, EP) [09-05]
  • Roberto Magris: Lovely Day(s) (JMood) [09-01]
  • Mike Pope: The Parts You Keep (Origin) [08-22]
  • Bill Scorzari: Sidereal Days (Day 1) (self-released) [10-17]
  • Marc Seales With Ernie Watts: People & Places (Origin) [08-22]
  • Ben Thomas: Tango Project (Origin) [08-22]
  • Chris Wabich: 1978 (Steep) (ADW) [08-01]
  • Yoko Yates: Eternal Moments (Banka) [09-19]
  • Zurhub [Mattan Klein/Ezequiel Hezi Joit]: Countryside Motorways (Origin) [08-22]

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