Blog Entries [250 - 259]

Sunday, July 3, 2022

Speaking of Which

PS: Added the Demillo paragraph, which I had intended to include in this post.

I tried answering Crocodile Chuck's letter last week, but I focused on the big question of inflation, but skipped past his "We didn't vote for WWIII" line. He wrote back, ominously:

Get your affairs in order

WWIII is baked in (Blinken, Nuland must have paid off Erdogan, too)

ps the US will never defend tiddlers like the Baltic States, FIN. They're using them as tripwires, plus, as market expansion for the US's hideously expensive and complex weapons systems. The USA's endgame is to break up RUS into statelets, as a prelude to the Main Event: to do the same to CHI

Chuck is a longtime reader and correspondent, an American familiar with my old St. Louis stomping ground, who sensing doom moved across the Pacific -- and not the only one I know who did that. I doubt I'd be identified as an optimist, but this is a bit too paranoid for me. I seriously doubt that there is any cloistered segment of the American deep state that has anything approaching a serious plan to dismantle China or the Russian Federation. And yeah, I believe there is some kind of "deep state," which ensures continuity of American imperial strategy regardless of changes in elected officials. I just don't think they're that smart or competent. They strike me as more like some bundle of conditioned reflexes, which always return to the old mantras of strength, control, dominance, and hegemony. That said, one of their core beliefs is any degradation of supposed enemies is a zero-sum win for America. So they always see prying former Soviet Republic into the American orbit as desirable, regardless of how Russia may react. They'd love to break Xinjiang and Tibet off China, too, but China doesn't seem to be as fragile as Russia, so for that they have to be contented with Taiwan and jockeying over South China Sea islands. Needless to say, such people are dangerous, and given a free hand they could well start WWIII. But, thus far at least, the system has constrained them. Is anything different now?

Well, a couple things are. The Cold War was built around Kennan's notion of containment, where the US never directly threatened the Soviet Union itself, and generally left it a free hand in dealing with recognized satellites. There were some disputes on the margins (Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, later Afghanistan), but both sides kept them to the margins. This worked partly because although Russia sympathized with anti-colonial liberation movement, they didn't control or depend on them; meanwhile, the US was primarily concerned with continuing the western exploitation of the colonial world (replacing the old powers with globalized companies and local cronies), and didn't need to get too greedy. (Indeed, western companies were quite delighted with the business deals China offered them.) But when the Soviet Union disbanded, America's Cold Warrior got even more greedy and arrogant, with Russia in particular getting the short end of the stick. And with every US effort to nibble a bit more on Russia's borders, the American threat to and contempt for Russia grows more existential. The administration is not completely unaware of this, and seems to be trying to draw a fine line between protecting Ukraine and provoking Russia, and the Americans monitoring that line aren't necessarily the most prudent people possible. Many things they've approved have crossed lines Russia has proclaimed. While none of them have yet led to a really catastrophic response (ranging from Russian attacks outside Ukraine -- e.g., Putin ally says Moscow could torpedo Dutch ports: 'Europe is not invincible' -- to nuclear weapons). On the other hand, other NATO countries, and Ukraine itself, seem less circumspect.

Another thing that I find especially disturbing is how conflict with Russia has become ideologized, especially among Democrats, who have become unusually hawkish. The tendency here is to treat Putin as an aggressively anti-democratic force, both within and beyond Russia, which puts a premium on stopping him sooner rather than later. There is some evidence for this -- the 2016 election interference looms especially large for Democrats -- but beyond ethnic Russians and a few allied groups (as in Transnistria and Abkhazia) it's hard to see Russian nationalism having much appeal. But by taking Putinism as ideology, you're imagining much higher stakes than there are, and that's dangerous.

Chuck wrote me again, making four points which I'll try to condense:

  1. There is no "diplomatic progress"; "Biden, Blinken, Nuland" are happy to "fight to the last Ukrainian."
  2. Zelensky is just another oligarch ("worth $200M before Feb. 24"), likely to be a billionaire soon from skimming off US aid.
  3. The "whole thing" is "USA's 'Last Gasp Grasp' to remain a hyperpower," it "has blown up in its/their face[s]," but covered by by "the greatest PsyOp in history," as reported by a brainwashed media ("NYT, WaPo").
  4. The "spike in energy prices is a net transfer of wealth" to "Exxon et al." Then he notes that "50-100M ppl on Earth are starving as a result," and dares call it "genocide."

The third point is the most contentious one here. It's true that Biden and Blinken wanted to reëstablish the US as a world leader -- their slogan was "America's back" -- after Trump's "America first" agenda damaged relationships with Europe while surrendering large chunks of US foreign policy to Israel and Saudi Arabia. Defense of Ukraine was one way to do that, especially in Europe (though not so much elsewhere). I'm not totally clear on the facts, but suppose for the sake of argument the US and Zelensky goaded Putin into his invasion of Ukraine, and therefore deserves some share of blame for the war (although it was Putin who took the bait). How has the war blown up in America's face. Sure, it's cost America a lot of money -- both the state in terms of aid, and the private sector in various kinds of losses and inflation -- but why shouldn't Biden consider that a price worth paying for democracy in Ukraine? (Or for greatly increased US arms sales, and all the other dividends that accrue to America's increased stature among its "allies"?) Granted, it's cost other people and nations more, but since when has the US factored that sort of thing into its calculation? Maybe in the long run those costs will catch up and be regretted, but the zero-summers in the war departments think Russia's losing, so musn't the US be winning?

The other points I've made variants of myself, but I saved the last line for separate treatment: "We all would have been better off under Trump [under whom this never would have happened]." What wouldn't have happened? The invasion? Trump applauded Putin when he did it, so hard to see that as a deterrent. Maybe had Trump not promised support to Ukraine, Zelensky would have been more accommodating, and that might have satisfied Putin, but not according to the logic Putin has given for his decision. Then there's the scenario where Trump vacillates, suggesting Putin has a clear hand to invade, but the Deep State then bullies Trump into fighting, at which point Trump tries to show how tough he is, and blows everything up. Trump's entire foreign policy repertoire is a mix of the worst of Nixon ("mad man" theory) and Agnew ("bag man" corruption). You really don't know what you're going to get, but you can be sure it won't be thought out, and no one will have the slightest idea what the consequences will be.

Still, even if Trump had somehow avoided the war, a second term would have left us so much worse off in so many other areas, it's just mind-boggling to contemplate. By the way, I ran across this Trump quote, a response to Fox News asking him what he'd do differently from Biden in Ukraine:

Well, what I would do, is I would, we would, we have tremendous military capability and what we can do without planes, to be honest with you, without 44-year-old jets, what we can do is enormous, and we should be doing it and we should be helping them to survive and they're doing an amazing job.

If this isn't a simple endorsement of Biden's "amazing job," the only thing it suggests he'd do differently is to send US planes in to enforce some kind of "no-fly zone" -- something Biden has ruled out, because he realizes it doesn't just risk but amounts to direct war with Russia, with all the attendant risks of further escalation to nuclear war. Trump may have been personally inclined to let Putin roll over Ukraine, but when Putin invaded Trump's whole security team would have goaded him to action, and because he wants to be seen as a tough guy, he would have wussed out and went with the flow, projecting his contradictions ever more incoherently.

More on Ukraine, Russia, and Biden's foreign policy:

  • New York Times: [07-03] As City Falls, Ukraine's Last Hope in Luhansk Falls With It: Lysychansk, captured a week after Sievierodonetsk. On the other hand, Ukraine has made some progress in the southeast, recovering Snake Island, and some land between Mykolaiv and Kherson.
  • Connor Echols: [06-24] Diplomacy Watch: How much is the US focused on it? Not much, but nobody's ruling out; they're just no acting as if they expect anything to happen. Echols also has a piece on MEAD: [06-29] Wait, is there really a new US-led air defense alliance in the Middle East?
  • Robin Wright: [07-01] The West Debuts a New Strategy to Confront a Historic "Inflection Point" NATO met in Madrid last week, and used the occasion to condemn and to taunt Russia, and China too. To a large extent, this was Putin's fault: for invading Ukraine, which demonstrated graphically that Russia did not respect boundaries, making its threats much more ominous, but also for demanding that NATO back down and away, as if he was afraid of them. The result was that NATO gave him much more to worry about: alliance with Sweden and Finland, a massive military buildup in countries like Estonia and Poland. Putin gave NATO something it long lacked: a reason to exist. Meanwhile, NATO has given Putin even more reason to panic. One should add that in the heat of the moment, NATO is aso setting its eyes on China, engaging South Korea and Japan to join as some kind of affiliated members. There also seems to be a NATO-like deal brewing around the Persian Gulf, combining the Arab monarchs with their new buddies in Israel to confront Iran. While all of this could be view as a massive revival of the Cold War Pax Americana, it seems just as likely that the US could lose control of its more rambunctious allies (as with the Saudis in Yemen, a war that America is inextricably bound to but seemingly has no say over). Similarly, while Ukraine has no obligations to NATO, Zelensky seems to be in the more powerful position: assured nearly unlimited support, without any strings attached, free to fight at long as he wants. Given how NATO has grown during the war, expect no pressure from there: they're acting as if they expect to war to go on forever.

The Supreme Court term came to an end last week, with a stunning series of rulings as the Bush-Bush-Trump-appointed 6-3 majority is flexing its muscles. The January 6 Committee is demonstrating in increasing detail how Trump tried to end democracy by fraud and, failing that, by force, but these Court rulings finally prove that the poison was administered earlier, in the form of those three (and hundreds of lesser) Court appointments, even if the killing stretches out over the years. As bad as this year's rulings were, it's almost certain that worse are still to come.

How bad was this term? Mark Joseph Stern explains: [06-30] Why Today Felt Like the Most Hopeless Day of the SCOTUS Term gives us a quick rundown of what the Court ruled:

Consider the issues that SCOTUS has resolved this term -- the first full term with a 6-3 conservative supermajority. The constitutional right to abortion: gone. States' ability to limit guns in public: gone. Tribal sovereignty against state intrusion: gone. Effective constraints around separation of church and state: gone. The bar on prayer in public schools: gone. Effective enforcement of Miranda warnings: gone. The ability to sue violent border agents: gone. The Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gases at power plants: gone. Vast areas of the law, established over the course of decades, washed away by a court over a few months.

Stern continues:

There is no serious risk of another branch overriding these decisions. The squabbling among our elected representatives is, increasingly, a sideshow, with the court nudging along the decline of voters' ability to shape their democracy. One-third of the court was appointed by a president who lost the popular vote, yet the majority evinces not a shred of caution about overriding the democratic branches or its own predecessors on the bench. It imposes Republican policies far more effectively than the Republican Party ever could. Real power in this country no longer lies in the people. It resides at the Supreme Court.

There is much more worth reading in this piece. For instance, he concedes that Roberts "split the baby" in Biden v. Texas, reversing an egregious lower court ruling that prevent Biden from rescinding Trump's executive order of his "Remain in Mexico" policy. This "looks like a victory for the President. And it is, but only in the sense that five justices took one small step back from the abyss of total judicial lawlessness." He goes on, noting that "texturalism" and "originalism" are guiding ideologies for the right-wing justices only when they can be twisted to support their political prejudices. He concludes:

At the end of her West Virginia dissent, Kagan wrote that the court "appoints itself -- instead of Congress or the expert agency -- the decisionmaker on climate policy." She added: "I cannot think of many things more frightening." The limits of Kagan's imagination, though, are no match for this supermajority. The Supreme Court will give us many, many more reasons to fear it in the coming years. In one sense, this term marked the culmination of multiple decadeslong crusades against liberal precedent. But this was not the grand finale of the conservative revolution. It was the opening act.

More on the Supreme Court and its recent rulines, including abortion:

January 6 Committee: The surprise hearing with Cassidy Hutchinson, who was Mark Meadows' Chief of Staff, provided the best view yet into the White House on the day. The title that sums it up most succinctly is Walter Shapiro: [06-28] President Trump Was a Violent Maniac Behind Closed Doors. Other pieces of note:

Jonathan Chait: [07-01] The Democratic Party Needs Better Moderates: "The centrists have lot of complaints but no solution." Isn't that mostly because they're usually carrying water for business interests? I've said many times they have to move left, because that's where the solutions are. But it's not impossible to imagine moderate programs that make tangible progress on major problems but also respect established business interests and/or cultural concerns. There's little doubt that the left would support serious, practical compromises. (Medicare-for-All advocates in Congress all voted for ACA.) There's also a category that should be very popular among moderates, as it's especially strong among independents and laps into both political parties, but strangely gets no attention (at least among the elected, regardless of party): the political influence of money. Won't someone run with that? Chait cites a piece by Jason Zengerle: [06-29] The Vanishing Moderate Democrat, which argues "their positions are popular," but two 1990s presidential wins for Bill Clinton, while losing decades-long control of Congress, doesn't seem like much proof. For another take on Zengerle see: Ryan Cooper: [06-30] 'Moderate' Democrats Are Anything But.

Robert Christgau: [06-29] The Big Lookback: Hillary Clinton. New introduction for a piece published on October 11, 2016, when it still looked like the nomination of Hillary Clinton for president might work out. It didn't, and that's probably the source of the moment's temptation to say "I told you so" (but for many of us it just underscores her failure). I never doubted that we would have been better off had Hillary won (although it's easy now to overlook that given how she most happily ran on her superior Commander-in-Chief cojones, she could have turned truly awful). Much of the piece focuses on excoriating third parties -- Democrats expect to own the left's votes without doing anything to earn them -- combined with a snide dismissal of Bernie Sanders that only comes up short of a vicious attack because he appreciates Sanders campaigning not just against Trump but for Clinton. Like Christgau, I soured on third parties after 2000, but that was less because I saw Gore's loss as a huge step back (which it turned out to be) than because I realized then that the only path to power for the left would be through the Democratic Party, if simply for the reason that's where the voters most interested in joining us are stuck. (That was clearest here in Kansas, where Gore got over 10 times as many votes as Nader [37.2% to 3.4%], despite the DP not raising a finger to help Gore.) Still, I've never felt the slightest temptation to blame anyone on the left for the Democratic Party's failures, especially when you have candidates like Gore, Kerry, and the Clintons veering to the right figuring that's where they'll find more votes (or at least more donor money). I understand the logic that says "lesser evils are still evil," even if I don't think that's a maxim to live by. (I don't doubt for a moment that Gore would have responded to 9/11 by unleashing the War on Terror, and I rather doubt that he would have stopped short of invading Iraq -- remember, he voted for the 1990-91 war on Iraq, supported Clinton's repeated bombing, and had überhawk Joe Lieberman as his VP. I also doubt he would have fared any better at war. On the other hand, he wouldn't have eviscerated FEMA before Katrina, and he wouldn't have appointed Alito or Roberts to the Supreme Court. In between, there's a lot of iffy policies, not least his sometimes principled, sometimes compromised concern about global warming.) More importantly, I know that when the Democrats sell out or go crazy -- which happened a lot under Clinton, and again under Obama -- the tiny fragment of the left that refused to vote for them will be among the first to stand up for what's right. Still, everyone mourns in their own way -- even those of us who foresaw the Supreme Court threat as far back as the Bork nomination.

Ryan Cooper: [07-01] Mitch McConell Once Again Takes Advantage of Democratic Fecklessness: Examples of how the Democrats are hamstrung by Senate rules and maneuvers, which they don't have the numbers to overcome (and in two particular cases don't seem to have any desire to get anything done). Meanwhile, McConnell can hold out offers of very limited bipartisan support for extortionate prices. And in the end, Democrats will get blamed (and in many cases will blame themselves) for such failures.

Dexter Filkins: [06-20] Can Ron DeSantis Displace Donald Trump as the G.O.P.'s Combatant-in-Chief? The Florida governor has gotten a lot of press, much touting him as the Trumpiest of all the contenders who could pick up the Republican torch should Trump himself falter. Sample:

In a twenty-minute speech, he described an America under assault by left-wing élites, who "want to delegitimize our founding institutions." His job as governor, he said, was to fight the horsemen of the left: critical race theory, "Faucian dystopia," uncontrolled immigration, Big Tech, "left-wing oligarchs," "Soros-funded prosecutors," transgender athletes, and the "corporate media." In Florida, he said, he had created a "citadel of freedom" that had become a beacon for people "chafing under authoritarian rule";

Margaret Hartmann: [07-03] Read the Nastiest Lines From Trump's $75 Burn Book: It's called Our Journey Together, a bunch of pictures with captions evidently written by Trump himself (you can tell because they're stupid and nasty). By the way, Hartmann's The Drama-Lover's Guide to the New Trump Books has been updated [06-29].

Robert Hitt: [06-30] Robocallers Still Have Your Number: "The FCC has implemented new rules, but the decades-old problem requires stronger tactics." This seems like the sort of nuisance problem it should be relatively easy to solve. We get 30+ unwanted phone calls per day on the land line, or presumably unwanted as we don't pick up unrecognized caller ids. Why not automatically kick those calls to a monitoring service, and when a caller's count rises above some modest threshhold, kick off an investigation aimed at shutting them down? Sure, only some of those calls are clearly aimed at fraud, but solicitations for funds are every bit as intrusive, and can feel like harassment. I'd like to see a crackdown on all forms of intrusive advertising, but this is a good place to start (and unlike radio and TV, doesn't require a rethinking of how those industries can be financed). Advertising isn't free speech. Even when it isn't intended fraud, it's much more akin to assault. (Hacking is a similar problem, which isn't taken seriously by the people who could put a stop to it. My server has to fend off hundreds of attacks every day.)

Paul Krugman: Interesting but varied set of pieces here, some in response to books he's been reading:

  • [06-27] Why Did Republicans Become So Extreme? He dates this to the 1990s, when Republicans went to such extremes to paint Bill Clinton as some kind of monster, even though he barely split hairs with them on policy, and often reinforced their arguments by adopting their logic. I think what happened was that after Bush won so easily in 1988, they couldn't imagine ever losing the presidency again, and were shocked when they did next time out. Of all the memes, the most telling was how they regarded him as an usurper, someone who took what was rightfully their. Then they discovered that getting nastier somehow got them more votes, enough to flip Congress in 1994, and the die was cast from that point on. Of course, in this they were egged on by the billionaires that funded the "vast right-wing conspiracy" and their Fox propaganda organ. Every time they won again, they doubled down on their most reactionary policies, which invariably blew up in their faces, but not without moving the country significantly to the right. And every time they lost (usually after horrendous wars and recessions), they doubled down again and got even nastier, and bounced right back. That worked in 2010, and it's clearly what they're trying to do this year. Whether it works again depends on how dumb the voters really are. The jury's out on that question.
  • [06-28] Technology and the Triumph of Pessimism: That's a big and interesting question, and he has the advantage of an advance copy of Brad De Long's book, due in September, Slouching Towards Utopia (one I'm almost certain to order; De Long is an economist very close to Krugman), which covers the years 1870-1920: two lifetimes end-to-end (5 generations?), during which our understanding of nature and society was totally upended, the result being that we're increasingly estranged and befuddled by it all, in most cases clinging to older ideas ill fit to the modern world, a mismatch that has led to all sorts of anomalies. So I've mostly thought about this question in terms of philosophy (or religion and psychology), but economics may work too, just with more numbers. Krugman provides a link to a profile of Robert J Gordon, who thinks the age of extreme change is winding down. (His big book is The Rise and Fall of American Growth, which I bought but never got around to reading.) I've imagined this same idea configured as an S-curve, with a steep upward slope from 1900-2000, tapered off on both ends.
  • [06-30] Crazies, Cowards and the Trump Coup: This one was snatched from last week's headlinse, concluding "Republicans are now a coalition of crazies and cowards. And it's hard to say which Republicans present the greater danger."
  • [07-01] Wonking Out: Taking the 'Flation" Out of Stagflation: Key line here is "most economists believe expected inflation is an important determinant of actual inflation." The Fed believed this, and raised interest rates rather sharply. But while prices are still rising, expectations of future price increases appear to be slacking, so we may be quickly torn between the desire to stop inflation and the need to keep the economy from stagnating (a play on the 1970s term stagflation).

Daniel Larison: [07-01] Another round of talks fail as the Iran nuclear deal appears to be slipping away: "JCPOA opponents planted political poison pills to prevent reentering the deal and Biden is letting them get away with it." You'd think that restoring JCPOA would be a no-brainer. It was a key diplomatic achievement for Obama. Trump violated it for no good reason. While Obama (wrongly, I think) took pains to provide a smooth continuity in foreign policy when taking over from Bush, there's no reason for Biden to follow suit. (He certainly hasn't with Ukraine and NATO.) Coming to an understanding with Iran would not only solve one problem, it would make America look more capable of reason elsewhere. Besides, with Russian oil off the world market, the easiest fix to drive prices back down would be to let Iran back in. On the other hand, Biden is heading off to Israel and Saudi Arabia, no doubt to supplicate like Trump did. Also see:

Rebecca Leber: [06-27] The biggest myths about gas prices: Six of them, generally useful but I'd quibble with "Myth 2: Oil companies are price-gouging American consumers." Oil companies are always greedy, always price-gouging, at least within the limits of competition (which is still healthier than it is in most industries). If they weren't, they'd lower their margins to cushion the price shocks, but if they can keep their margins as costs increase, their profits go way up, and that's what we're seeing. I also think that it's likely that there is a massive behind-the-scenes lobbying effort to get articles (like this one) to counter the intuitive idea that oil companies are making out like bandits. I've seen dozens of such articles, which given the push from Bernie Sanders and others for a "windfall profits tax" (as was implemented in the 1970s) is something they'd have a serious interest in promoting. By the way, for a broader review of the role of greed in capitalism, see Nathan J Robinson: [06-20] Is Capitalism Built on Greed? (Executive summary: yes.)

Andrew Marantz: [06-27] Does Hungary Offer a Glimpse of Our Authoritarian Future? Viktor Orbán is certainly popular among elements of the US right that are in any way aware of their fellow fascists around the world -- Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson are obvious examples, but the author also mentions J.D. Vance and Rod Dreher as admirers, and Ron DeSantis as someone who could fit the bill. Orbán came to my attention quite a while ago, and what struck me most was how he used the power of a freak landslide election to consolidate long-term control of the nation, including passing an extensive legal framework that could only be undone by a super-majority: the use of such gimmicks to guarantee right-minority control struck me as very Republican -- although viewed as Orbánist it should seem even more un-American. Choice lines:

Even Trump's putative allies will admit, in private, that he was a lazy, feckless leader. They wanted Augustus; they got a Caligula. . . . What would happen if the Republican Party were led by an American Orbán, someone with the patience to envision a semi-authoritarian future and the diligence and ruthlessness to achieve it?

Elizabeth Nelson: [07-14] Difficult Man: 'Kitchen Confidential' and the Early Days of Anthony Bourdain's Legacy.

Tory Newmyer: [07-03] Bill to grant crypto firms access to Federal Reserve alarms experts: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is in on this graft (along with a Republican from Wyoming; looks like Wyoming already as some sweetheart deals with crypto grifters). I'm not sure what all the ramifications are, but making crypto "too big to fail" sounds like an awful idea, especially given that it's not actually good for anything (legal, anyway).

Andre Pagliarini: [07-01] Live From Brazil: A Clueless Tucker Carlson: "Fox News's chief wingnut has spent all week fawning over authoritarian President Jair Bolsonaro and making absurd, ignorant statements about the country." Worth remembering here that Carlson is also infatuated with Hungary's Viktor Orbán: see Viktória Serdült: [02-01] Tucker Carlson Has Become Obsessed With Hungary. Here's What He Doesn't Understand.

Annie Proulx: [06-27] Swamps Can Protect Against Climate Change, if We Only Let Them. "Wetlands absorb carbon dioxide and buffer the excesses of drought and flood, yet we've drained much of this land."

Nathan J Robinson: ]07-01] The Incredibly Disturbing Texas GOP Agenda Is a Vision for a Theocratic Dystopia. Too much here to even start getting into, but make sure to check out the contrasting pictures of car-free downtown Ljubljana, Slovenia, and "fucking Houston." And while most of the planks reduce to variants on complete-lawless-freedom-for-me and prohibition-on-you, sometimes it just gets weird, like "enshrining a right to cryptocurrency in the Texas Bill of Rights." Evidently, someone told them crypto is "a right-wing hypercapitalistic technology built primarily to amplify the wealth of its proponents through a combination of tax avoiance, diminished regulatory oversight and artificially enforced scarcity," and they said, "wow, give me some of that."

Walter Shapiro: [06-27] 1989-2001: America's Long Lost Weekend: "From the fall of the Berlin Wall to 9/11, we had relative peace and prosperity. It was an opportunity to salve some festering national wounds. We squandered it completely -- and helped give rise to the crises we're dealing with today." One nugget here is that in his speech accepting the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination, Al Gore spent all of one sentence talking about climate change -- a problem that Gore understood well enough to write a book about in 1992 (Earth in the Balance), but didn't seriously return to until 2006 (An Inconvenient Truth). Shapiro previously covered this territory in [2019-04-29] The Lasting Disappointment of the Clinton Presidency.

Alex Skopic: [04-20] Winston Churchill, Imperial Monstrosity: Not sure how I missed this before, but Tariq Ali has finally released a book we always knew he was uniquely qualified to write, Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes. Few people realize this, but Churchill was a uniquely malign force in 20th century politics (he actually got his start at the end of the 19th, his first taste of war -- which he relished -- in the Sudan at the most lop-sided massacre European imperialists ever engineered, followed by a tour of the Boer War in South Africa, where he learned to love concentration camps). During WWI he dreamed of starving all of Germany to death, while he was more directly responsible for the disastrous attack on Gallipoli. He was a diehard defender of the British Empire, yet largely responsible for the most tragic decisions of its retreat: the religious division of Ireland, Palestine, and India, creating conflicts that killed millions and more or less persist to this day. He can even claim credit for starting the Cold War (with his "iron curtain" speech -- he did have a knack for rhetoric). And that's just the broad outline. Ali adds more details, including Churchill's role in the Bengal Famine during WWII. Also a discussion of the mythbuilding that kept elevating Churchill from one disaster after another. By the way, Ali has another recent book: The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan: A Chronicle Foretold, compiled from concurrent writings and wrapped up with a new introduction (probably a well-deserved "I told you so").

Jeffrey St Clair: [07-01] Roaming Charges: Whatd'Ya Expect Us to Do About It? Argues that Democrats, given advance notice of Alito's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, should have spent that time coming up with a coherent response, including executive orders, to fight back, but instead seem to have spent the time formulating fundraising letters. I've seen a lot of similar recriminations, especially against the "gerontocracy." Not entirely fair, but a predisposition to compromise with an opposite side that can never be satisfied does lead to a lot of backpedaling (and frequent falls on one's ass). Much more, of course, including a line suggesting that maybe the intent, which the Court couldn't discern, of the Clean Air Act was in its title. St Clair also reprinted a 2005 column co-written with Alexander Cockburn on the author of Roe v. Wade's demise: Holy Alito!

Jennifer Szalai: [06-29] 'Why We Did It' Is a Dark Ride on the 'Republican Road to Hell': Review of Republican political operator Tim Miller's book, about why Republicans more or less enthusiastically lined up behind Trump after his 2016 election win. Pretty much as I suspected: they were so desperate to win they abandoned all scruples. Reviewer suggests pairing this with another book by a Republican operative, Stuart Stevens: It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump.

By the way, Covid new cases topped 100,000/day on May 17, and have remained at or above that level ever since, making the last six weeks the fourth highest peak period on record. The number of cases had dropped under 30,000 on March 21. Deaths are up 24% over 14 days ago.

Closing tweet, seems to be related to Jeff Bezos: "If the Biden administration is out of touch with Billionaires, imagine how the average American worker feels."

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Music Week

June archive (final).

Music: Current count 38227 [38165] rated (+62), 87 [93] unrated (-6).

Couldn't sleep this morning, so woke up in an exceptionally foul mood. Part of the bad mood had simply carried over from writing yesterday's Speaking of Which, which necessarily focused on the right-wing Supreme Court's renouncing the formerly "settled law" of Roe v. Wade. I've written more than a little on the subject over the years, and I scarcely wanted to rehash all that, but felt obligated to at least register the event and the temperature in the notebook I perhaps foolishly think I might want to look back on some day, as I recollect the changes I've seen.

The post took a lot out of me, and I was further disappointed not to get any reaction at all this morning, either to the regular Twitter or Facebook notices. (I normally limit my use of Facebook to following old friends and family, and normally limit my posts there to food pics.) I mean, I don't mind not getting hate mail, but occasional acknowledgments are appreciated.

The one thing that did lift my spirits is this video, where Olivia Rodrigo calls out the Supreme Court junta by name, with help from Lily Allen. (There's more info in an article here.

This is the last Monday in June, so the monthly archive is officially closed. I haven't done all of the indexing, but the rated count for the 4-week month is 212. I'll finish the indexing and add the Music Week introductions in later this week. Not a lot of work, but I'm hoping to get this out sooner rather than later. Maybe I'll have time to do some yardwork before the trash goes out.

This is probably the first week where I've listened to Spotify more than Napster. Spotify hangs less, and seems to get new records out earlier, and they seem to be a bit easier to find, although I wouldn't say they qualify for a blue ribbon. On the other hand, at least one record below I found on Napster after failing on Spotify.

Also picked up one record under "limited sampling," and it reflects a change in how I'm handling the category. Previously I used it for records where only a few cuts were available on Bandcamp or streaming, but I listened to everything that was available. For Voivod, I simply hit reject 4 tracks in. It wasn't even that I couldn't stand the record; I just got tired of it, and decided I wanted to move on. Good chance there will be more like that in the future. May even encourage me to check out some videos, on the theory that they probably represent choice cuts. I've decided to score such records as rated in the tracking and metacritic files, but I'm not counting them in the rated totals. I may have to fiddle with the tracking stats, as that's where I look to see how many rated records I have each year.

I'm adding some mid-year lists to the metacritic files, starting with those compiled at AOTY, adding in (sometimes informal) lists I'm picking up from Expert Witnesses on Facebook (one with a public link is from Alfred Soto. Few of the lists are ranked, and I'm paying no heed to those that are. Each mention is marked with '+', which is temporary until the EOY lists appear. (I added a couple more -- GQ, Treble, Vulture -- until my eyes gave out. Links are in the legend file files.)

In old music, made some further progress in digging out the unrated albums. Was surprised to find a couple winners there.

Don't know what comes next. I'm too exhausted right now to give it any thought.

New records reviewed this week:

700 Bliss: Nothing to Declare (2022, Hyperdub): Philadelphia hip-hop ("experimental club") duo of DJ Haram (Zubeyda Muzeyyen) and Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa). First album, after an EP, doubles down on the "experimental." B+(*)

Joey Alexander: Origin (2022, Mack Avenue): Actual name Joey Sila, a piano prodigy from Bali, Indonesia, who cut a pretty good first record (My Favorite Things) when he was 11, and is back for his 6th while still just 18. Ten songs spread over 2-LP, all originals, core trio with Larry Grenadier (bass) and Kendrick Scott (drums), joined by guitar (Gilad Hekselman, 3 tracks) and tenor/soprano sax (Chris Potter, 2). He's only grown since his debut, filled out (especially with his writing), turning into a very solid, if not especially remarkable, jazz musician. Helps to be playing with stars, too. B+(***) [sp]

Harry Allen: My Reverie by Special Request (2022, TYR1102): Retro-swing tenor saxophonist, something I especially enjoy, very popular in Japan (where this was released, unsure about the label). Quartet with Dave Blenkhorn (guitar), bass, and drums, playing standard fare (including "Carioca" for a taste of Brazil). B+(**)

Harry Allen & Dave Blenkhorn: Play the Music of Phil Morrison (2022, GMAC): Morrison is a bassist-songwriter, originally from Boston, long based in Brunswick, Georgia, and he plays on this album, along with his regular trio of Keith Williams (piano) and Rudy Manuel (bass). Somehow he hooked up with Blenkhorn (a guitarist from Australia), which brought Allen onto the project. Nice enough, although I wasn't happy when they brought strings in. B+(*)

The Ano Nobo Quartet: The Strings of Săo Domingos (2021 [2022], Ostinato): From Cape Verde, a guitar quartet named after one of the island nation's famed guitarist-songwriters (1933-2004), the four guitarists only identified as: Pascoal, Fany, Nono, and Afrikanu, with one of them singing. B+(*) [bc]

Anteloper: Pink Dolphins (2022, International Anthem): Chicago group, principally Jaimie Branch (trumpet, sings some) and Jason Nazary (drums), with Jeff Parker producing and filling in elsewhere (guitar, bass, synthesizer, percussion), plus Chad Taylor (mbira) on one track (of 5). Folks like to compare this to electric Miles, which is half-true, but seems sludgier to me. B+(**) [sp]

Edwin Bayard/Dean Hulett/Mark Lomax II: Trio Plays Mingus (2022, CFG Multimedia): Normally the drummer's Trio, based in Columbus, Ohio, probably the best-kept secret in American jazz, but playing a set of five Mingus classics, it's nice to be able to file this under the star saxophonist's name, and to include the bassist on the credit line. As great as Bayard is, he stays pretty close to the melodies, although the drummer takes some liberties. B+(***) [os]

Benny the Butcher: Tana Talk 4 (2022, Griselda/Empire): Buffalo rapper Jeremie Pennick, third studio album after a tall stack (2004-16) of mixtapes, including Tana Talk and Tana Talk 2. B+(**)

Cola: Deep in View (2022, Fire Talk): Canadian indie band, first album, singer-songwriter-guitarist Tim Darcy and bassist Ben Stidworthy fresh from Ought, better than average guitar strum, singer seems a bit iffy, last song a promising change of pace. B+(*)

Theo Croker: Love Quantum (2022, Masterworks): Trumpet player from Florida, seventh album since 2007, uses hip-hop beats, sings some but mostly has guests for that, including Jill Scott, Ego Ella May, Jamila Woods, and Wyclef Jean. Opens with a song proclaiming "jazz is dead," but maybe he just forgot how to enjoy it? B+(*) [sp]

Flasher: Love Is Yours (2022, Domino): Indie band from DC, Emma Baker (drums) and Taylor Mulitz (guitar), both sing, neither particularly well, but they're pleasantly catchy. B+(*) [sp]

Foals: Life Is Yours (2022, Warner): British rock band, seventh studio album since 2008, Yannis Philippakis the singer, all tracks also credited to Jimmy Smith (guitar/keyboards) and Jack Bevan (drums). Half of this sounds a bit like a nod to the Spinners, and half doesn't, although they usually keep the beat going. B+(*)

Gordon Grdina's Nomad Trio: Boiling Point (2022, Astral Spirits): Guitar/oud player from Vancouver, second album with this trio, with Matt Mitchell (piano) and Jim Black (drums). B+(**) [bc]

Gordon Grdina/Mark Helias/Matthew Shipp: Pathways (2021 [2022], Attaboygirl): Guitar/oud, bass, piano, Shipp playing hard enough to make up for the lack of a drummer. B+(***) [bc]

Scott Hamilton: Classics (2022, Stunt): Mainstream tenor saxophonist, many albums since 1977, cherry picks some melodies from classical music here, arranging them for quartet with Jan Lundgren (piano), Hans Backenroth (bass), and Kristian Leth (drums). Lovely, of course, but doesn't swing much. B+(**) [sp]

Hercules & Love Affair: In Amber (2022, Skint/BMG): "Dance music project" by Andy Butler, an American DJ now based in Belgium. Anohni and Elin Eyţórsdóttir appear as vocalists, for a note of unnecessary drama. B

Ari Hoenig Trio: Golden Treasures (2021 [2022], Fresh Sound New Talent): Drummer, from Philadelphia, dozen albums since 1999, trio here with Gadi Lehavi (piano) and Ben Tiberio (bass), wrote three originals to go with six standards, like "Cherokee," "Sophisticated Lady," and "Doxy" (a drum solo to close). B+(*) [sp]

Grace Ives: Janky Star (2022, True Panther Sounds/Harvest): Indie pop singer-songwriter, second album, has some beat and quirk. B+(***) [sp]

Randall King: Shot Glass (2022, Warner Nashville): Country singer, from Lubbock, second album, major label after a self-released debut, writes some but has lots of help, photographed with a guitar but subcontracted that too. What he does have is a first-rate voice, and and the production suggests he grew up on Joe Ely, and would be happy to be mistaken for him -- as you probably would with this in a blindfold test. B+(**) [sp]

Kilo Kish: American Gurl (2022, Kisha Soundscape): Art-pop singer-songwriter Lakisha Kimberly Robinson, second album, of a mixed mind whether she wants to go deep or trashy. B+(*) [sp]

Masayo Koketsu: Fukiya (2021 [2022], Relative Pitch): Japanese alto saxophonist, solo, one 46:32 piece, a bit less ugly than Braxton's For Alto. B

Kristina Koller: Get Out of Town (2022, self-released): New York jazz singer, wrote three (of 12) songs on her debut (2017), third album offers interpretations of eight Cole Porter tunes (short at 28:42), nicely done, didn't find the credits. B+(**) [sp]

David Krakauer & Kathleen Tagg: Mazel Tov Cocktail Party! (2022, Table Pounding): New York-based clarinet player, a klezmer specialist since 1995's Klezmer Madness!, with South African pianist Tagg (also plays accordion an cello, arranges and produces), with Yoshie Fruchter (guitar) and Jerome Harris (bass) in the band, plus various guests, notably vocalist Sarah MK. B+(**) [sp]

Martin Küchen/Agustí Fernández/Zlatko Kaucic: The Steps That Resonate (2021 [2022], Not Two): Sax/piano/drums trio, the former playing soprano and sopranino, recorded at BCMF Festival in Slovenia (the drummer's home turf; the others are from Sweden and Spain). Prickly. B+(**) [sp]

Martin Küchen: Utopia (2021 [2022], Thanatosis Produktion): Swedish saxophonist (tenor/alto here, also tambora and electronics), best known for his Angles groups. This looks to be solo, leaning toward ambient. B

Latto: 777 (2022, RCA): Atlanta rapper Alyssa Stephens, formerly Miss Mulatto, second album (32:54), after EPs and mixtapes (3 each). B+(**)

Charles Lloyd: Trios: Chapel (2018 [2022], Blue Note): Trios seems to be a series name, of which this live recording from Coates Chapel in San Antonio is the first: with Bill Frisell (guitar) and Thomas Morgan (bass) -- evidently drums don't work well in the chapel, but that doesn't recommend the flute, either. B [sp]

Lupe Fiasco: Drill Music in Zion (2022, 1st & 15th): Rapper Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, from Chicago, eighth album since 2006. Finds it groove and hangs in there. B+(***) [sp]

Jamal Moss: Thanks 4 the Tracks U Lost (2022, Modern Love): Chicago DJ, better known as Hieroglyphic Being (or at least should be) and in groups like Africans With Mainframes. More than a dozen albums under his own name (most with 4 in the title). Not obvious how this relates to a 2020 album with much the same title (plus a Vol. 1), credited to Hieroglyphic Being. B+(***) [sp]

Mr. Fingers: Around the Sun Pt. 1 (2022, Alleviated): Larry Heard, from Chicago, DJ and electronica producer, records since 1985, crafts a fine groove. B+(**) [sp]

Muna: Muna (2022, Saddest Factory/Dead Oceans): Indie pop band from Los Angeles, three women, third album. B+(*) [sp]

Vadim Neselovskyi: Odesa: A Musical Walk Through a Legendary City (2022, Sunnyside): Urkainian pianist, based in New York and Dusseldorf, albums since 2013, this one solo. Odesa (formerly and still better known as Odessa) is the 3rd largest city in Ukraine (a bit over one million), a port on the Black Sea well to the west of Crimea, founded by Catherine the Great in 1794 on the site of earlier Greek and Tatar villages (Khadjibey). In 1897, it was the 4th largest city in Russia, with a population 49% Russian, 30% Jewish, 9% Ukrainian, 4% Polish, followed by small numbers of Germans, Greeks, Tatars, and Armenians. The main thing I associate with it was the pogroms of 1881 and 1905. Since then the population has shifted from Russian to Ukrainian (in 1939 Jews were a plurality but they were killed off by the Nazis in WWII; by 2001 Odesa was 61% Ukrainian, 29% Russian). We haven't heard much about Odesa during Putin's invasion, at least after the advance from Crimea halted short of Mykolayiv, although the port is blocked by the Russian navy. None of which matters much in listening to these rhythmically interesting pieces. B+(**) [bc]

Perfume Genius: Ugly Season (2022, Matador): Singer-songwriter Mike Hadreas, sixth album. Not someone I'm ever likely to care enough about to get into the weeds, but his use of electronics is getting better (e.g., "Hellbent"). B+(*)

Phife Dawg: Forever (2022, Smokin' Needles/AWAL): Rapper Malik Taylor (1970-2016), rapper along with Q-Tip in A Tribe Called Quest, which split up after 1998 but reunited for a final album in 2016 when Taylor died. In between, he worked on solo projects, releasing an album in 2000, and working on this over a decade, recording about two-thirds of the eventual album. They did a nice job of conjuring up the right air. B+(**) [sp]

Yunč Pinku: Bluff (2022, Platoon, EP): Asha Catherine Nandy, Malaysian-Irish, dance pop producer (and presumably singer), debuts with 4 songs, 13:54, a decent single and beatwise filler. B+(**) [sp]

Ravyn Lenae: Hypnos (2022, Atlantic): R&B singer from Chicago, last name Washington, first album after three EPs. Thin voice, slinky rhythm, could prove seductive. B+(**)

Wadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets (2014-20 [2022], TUM, 5CD): Four sets of trumpet-drums duos, mostly playing Smith's compositions. The one with Han Bennink dates from 2014, the others with Pheeroan akLaff, Andrew Cyrille, and Jack DeJohnette 2019-20, with the latter one lapping over into a fifth disc. DeJohnette and Smith are also credited with a bit of piano. Dive in anywhere. A- [cd]

Wadada Leo Smith: String Quartets Nos. 1-12 (2015-20 [2022], TUM, 7CD): The AACM trumpeter really kicked it into high gear around ten years ago, when he turned 70 -- not that his previous decade wasn't remarkably productive, but since 2011 I'm counting 3 2-CD sets, 2 3-CD boxes, additional boxes of 4-5-7 CDs, and at least 10 singles, including some major comissions (e.g., Great Lakes Suites, America's National Parks). No one doubts his trumpet chops, but this is the sort of move jazz musicians take when they want to be considered seriously as a composer, and that's something I'll never be focused enough to evaluate. It probably doesn't help that I associate string quartets with classical music that drives me up the wall, but I recall listening to more abstract pieces back in the 1970s -- e.g., a 3-LP box called The Avant Garde String Quartet in the U.S.A. -- and this is at least as interesting. The pieces tend toward the 20-30 minute range, so two or three to a CD, except for "No. 11" (98:45, spread over 2 discs), leaving "No. 12" (20:33) alone on disc 7. RedKoral Quartet plays, plus harp on "No. 4" and extras on 6-8: Smith's trumpet is a plus on 6 & 8, but largely negated by Thomas Buckner's voice on 8. Comes wrapped up in one of the label's gorgeous boxes, with a nice booklet. B+(***) [cd]

Bartees Strange: Farm to Table (2022, 4AD): Last name Cox, born in England to an American military family, moved to Germany and Greenland before turning to US and settling in Oklahoma. Second album. B+(*) [sp]

Vieux Farka Touré: Les Racines (2022, World Circuit): Guitarist-singer from Mali, ninth album since 2007, traces his roots, which mostly means his father, Ali Farka Touré, who did more than anyone else to bring this twist on the blues to world attention. B+(***)

Erlend Viken/Jo Berger Myhre/Thomas Strřnen: Djupet (2022, OK World): Norwegian trio, playing Hardanger fiddle/octave fiddle, bass/electronics, and drums/percussion. B+(**) [bc]

WeFreeStrings: Love in the Form of Sacred Outrage (2021 [2022], ESP-Disk): String quartet (violins: Charles Burnham and Gwen Lester, viola: Melanie Dyer, cello: Alexander Waterman) plus bass (Ken Filiano) and drums (Michael Wimberly). Dyer formed the group in 2011, but I'm not aware of any other albums. Lovely with a bit of edge. B+(***) [cd]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Bob Wilber With Dave McKenna and Pug Horton: Original Wilber (1978 [2022], Phontastic): Trad jazz sax/clarinet player, kicked career off in 1959 with a tribute to Sidney Bechet (who he had played with in the late 1940s), many more records up to his death in 2019. With McKenna (piano), Bill Crow (bass), and Connie Kay (drums), with Horton singing three songs. B+(*) [sp]

Wire: Not About to Die: Studio Demos 1977-1978 (1977-78 [2022], Pinkflag): Outtakes from the group's second and third albums (Chairs Missing and 154), only three songs making it to the final albums, but the demos appeared as a bootleg in the 1980s and eventually wound up on "deluxe editions" of the reissues. And if you don't know those albums, you really should start with the superb On Returning comp, which picks up most of their Pink Flag debut. Still, on its own this is remarkably lean and taut, perhaps a bit softer than the punk times called for, but fresher than most contemporary indie bands. A-

Old music:

Grace Ives: 2nd (2019, Dots Per Inch): First album, at least that I know of, although the beats and synths are so sharp I'd be surprised if she didn't have some practice tapes on a shelf or in her attic. B+(***) [bc]

Mandela: Son of Africa, Father of a Nation [Original Soundtrack: The Essential Music of South Africa] (1954-96 [1997], Mango): Seven tracks are labeled "original score" and are connecting passages, the other 19 offer a wide sample of the exceptionally rich legacy of South African music, along with a ringer -- "Nelson Mandela" by the Specials -- that ties it all together. The 1950s cuts are especially welcome. A-

Dudu Pukwana: Zila '86 (1986, Jika): South African saxophonist, started with the Blue Notes and went with them into exile in Europe, playing with the avant-garde but also recording some exceptional township jive (cf. In the Townships, 1973). This band seems to be a crossover attempt, with pop vocals and dance beats, but much more happening. B+(***) [lp]

RG Royal Sound Orchestra: Impact (2009 [2010], RG): Initials stand for Recaredo Gutiérrez, who is also listed as producer, with ike Lewis as orchestra director, five arrangers, and a big band ("a group of A-List Miami-based musicians"). Opens with a flamenco "Hotel California," then doubles down on "My Way." The third song, "Volare," is more of a mambo. Amusing enough, except that it turns nauseous when they take on "Yesterday" and find it's way too slow to mess with. B [cd]

Terry Riley: Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band/All Night Flight: SUNY Buffalo, New York, 22 March 1968 (1968 [2006], Elision Fields): Live solo set, with Riley playing soprano sax, organ and "time-lag accumulator." "Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band" was the flip side to his career-defining A Rainbow in Curved Air, expanded here to 39:48, finally released in 1996. B+(*)

Dean Schmidt: I Know Nothing (2006 [2007], OA2): Seattle bassist, this is his first and seems to be his only album, employs 10 additional musicians, not broken down by track but not likely to have three keyboard players or two tenor saxophonists constantly on call. Three percussionists, perhaps (congas, guiro, steel pans/vibes). Schmidt seems to be a Latin afficionado. [ex-cd] B+(*) [sp]

Harvie Swartz & Urban Earth: It's About Time (1988, Gaia): Bassist, debut 1978, I know him best for his duos with Sheila Jordan, released Urban Earth in 1985, and kept the title for a group name here and on at least one more album. With Billy Drewes (soprano sax), Jay Azzolina (guitar), Yves Gerard (drums), and a couple guests, for something quasi-fusion. Later changed his name to Harvie S. B [lp]

Steve Tibbetts: Compilation: Acoustibbets/Elektrobitts/Exotibbets (1976-2010 [2010], Frammis, 3CD): Guitarist, from Wisconsin, debut 1976, recorded mostly for ECM from 1982-2018, the "Acoustibbets" don't go far beyond new age, the "elektrobitts" can have a bit of edge and a lot more beat, and the "exotibbets" flit around the world (but especially Nepal and Tibet). I don't think this career-spanning collection was ever real product, but the promo got distributed wide enough to get logged on Discogs and sold on Amazon. Could be worth a more extended dive, but not now. B+(*) [cd]

Turning Point: Matador (2005, Native Language): Jazz-funk group: Thano Sahnas (guitar), Demitri Sahnas (bass), Steve Culp (keyboards), and John Herrera (drums), with guest spots for sax and violin. [ex-cd] B- [sp]

Twice Thou: The Bank Attack (2012, The Buy Back Initiative/Music Group): Boston rapper Marco Ennis, aka E-Devious, first credits go back to 1986, called his first album Long Time Comin', then took a decade before releasing this one. Staunchly political, starts with a tribute to community group City Life/Vida Urbana before moving out to hunt some bankers. Some of the references are ripped from the headlines, but few feel dated -- especially this week. A- [cd]

Twice Thou: Trials & Tribulationships (2015, The Ennis Group): Old school rapper, moves from the simple world of politics into the more complicated intricacies of relationships. B+(***)

Twice Thou: Loose Screws: Las Aventuras de Tonito Montana (2017, The Ennis Group): Comes up with a gangsta story. B+(*) [sp]

The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note: The Jazz Heritage Series 2009 Radio Broadcasts (2009, self-released, 3CD): Radio shots, way too much talk, not that the music is much better. Guest artists Kurt Elling, Allen Vizzutti, Rufus Reid. C- [cd]

The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note: The Jazz Heritage Series 2010 Radio Broadcasts (2010, self-released, 3CD): Same, Dick Golden's talk sounding even more like recruiting ads. Guest artists: New York Voices, Joey DeFrancesco, Gary Smulyan. C- [cd]

The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note: The Jazz Heritage Series 2011 Radio Broadcasts (2011, self-released, 3CD): Guests are Kurt Rosenwinkel, Al Jarreau, and various almuni. C [cd]

The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note: The Jazz Heritage Series 2017 Radio Broadcasts (2017, self-released, 3CD): Guests are a step up: Steve Turre, Cyrus Chestnut, and Terell Stafford. The interview with Turre includes a bit about how he figured out how to play shells, where he admits: "I'm not gonna play 'Donna Lee' or 'Giant Steps' on the shells." C+ [cd]

Limited Sampling: Records I played parts of, but not enough to grade: -- means no interest, - not bad but not a prospect, + some chance, ++ likely prospect.

Voivod: Synchro Anarchy (2022, Century Media): Canadian metal band, 15th album since 1984. [4/9] - [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Sarah Bernstein: Veer Quartet (New Focus) [09-02]
  • Columbia Icefield: Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes (Pyroclastic) [07-29]
  • Randal Despommier: A Midsummer Odyssey (Sunnyside) [07-15]
  • Glenn Dickson: Wider Than the Sky (Naftule's Dream) [07-08]
  • David Francis: Sings Songs of the Twenties (Blujazz) [04-23]
  • Eva Kess: Inter-Musical Love Letter (Unit) [07-22]
  • Jeremy Manasia Trio: Butcher Block Ballet (Blujazz) [06-20]
  • Miró Henry Sobrer: Two of Swords (Patois, 2CD) [07-15]
  • Xiomara Torres: La Voz Del Mar (Patois) [07-15]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Speaking of Which

I suppose after the Roe v. Wade reversal, I have to write one of these, if only as a placeholder in the notebook. As usual, the best place to look on Supreme Court rulings is with Ian Millhiser. Start with: [06-24] The end of Roe v. Wade, explained. As Millhiser notes, this ruling has little to do with legal theory -- it's been increasingly clear for some time that the "conservative majority" is just making shit up (in that, Gore v. Bush back in 2000 was a harbinger) -- but reflects a political coup accomplished through decades of the right scheming to pack the Court with their cultists. I wrote a bit about the politics in a recent Facebook comment to a post by Greg Magarian, a law professor at Washington University, in St. Louis, where I studied for a couple of years). Magarian wrote:

No institution in the United States has taken a harder line against abortion rights than the Catholic Church.

As of 2018, Catholics made up just under a quarter of the U.S. population. About half of them -- just over a tenth of the total population -- typically vote Republican.

Seven of the nine Supreme Court Justices are Catholic. Six of those seven (all but Sotomayor) are Republicans -- two thirds of the total Court.

Those six Catholic Republican Justices make up the entire right-wing majority that voted to uphold the Mississippi abortion law and -- except for Roberts -- to overturn fifty years of abortion rights precedent.

This is what Kavanaugh refers to as "neutrality."

My comment:

Back around 1970, in "The Emerging Republican Majority," Kevin Phillips argued that Republicans would become the majority party if they could flip two traditionally Democratic constituencies -- southern Baptists and northern Catholics. They did this by orchestrating a cultural backlash, most obviously based on race but abortion gave them a way to use religion. (The Schlafly backlash against women's rights was also a factor.) I've long viewed Missouri as the laboratory for this transformation. In the 1950s the state was solidly Democratic, but regionally divided: the cities and river valleys on the D side, the northern plains and the Ozarks on the other. The Danforths share a lot of the credit/blame for this transformation. It took another 20 years for Missouri's anti-abortion politics to spread to Kansas (in the 1990s, although Bob Dole jumped the gun in 1972), where WASP Republicans had easily ruled since the 1860s (aside from a brief Populist interlude) and had no need of such scheming. The Republican use of select Catholic doctrines has mostly been purely cynical (although there are cases of conservatives converting, like Sam Brownback, whose devotion to the cause is more devoutly evil). As for the Catholic dominance of the Supreme Court, that seems to be an artifact of the Federalist Society's control of the nominee list, which was largely a reaction to Souter's apostasy after he joined the court. Conservatives had seen many seemingly solid WASP nominees turn into liberals after joining the Court, and wanted to put a stop to that. I haven't looked into just why the FS almost exclusively nominates Catholics, so I'm reluctant to speculate as to why, other than to note that they have much in common with cults.

Millhiser also wrote a deeper historical piece that you should read: [06-25] The case against the Supreme Court of the United States. I recently picked up a copy of Millhiser's book on this same topic, Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted. One thing few people realize now is how fortunate those of my age cohort (the "boomers") were to grow up in a period when the Court was expanding individual rights against the tyranny of the politically connected elite. Those days are gone, and outrage against "Supreme Injustice" is coming back. Life was certainly easier and less fraught when we didn't need to worry about the Supreme Court taking our rights away.

Some more links on the Supreme Court this week:

  • Zack Beauchamp: [06-24] At least Clarence Thomas's odious Dobbs concurrence was honest. I'm not sure "honest" is the word we're looking for here. Maybe you could say it was "candid" or "revealing" (a subhed is "How Thomas exposed the majority's incoherence"). It's a commonplace to say that "you can't negotiate with terrorists," but isn't the real lesson that you can't compromise with people who are always coming back for more. Thomas may not be a terrorist, but he's sure relentless in his determination to make America bleaker and more cruel.
  • Margaret Carlson: [06-25] Apocalypse Now: Abortion, Guns, and the Supreme Court: "Welcome to the new, horrifying normal."
  • Irin Carmon: [06-24] The Dissenters Say You're Not Hysterical.
  • Jonathan Chait: [06-24] Now We See What Happens When Social Conservatives Take the Wheel: "The Christian right's power finally becomes real." Well, yes and no. They'll still feel like outsiders until they get their way on dozens of other issues. But the right-wing Court has already given them several other victories -- like allowing them to claim a religious exemption against conforming to laws they don't like, and forcing states to subsidize their exclusivist schools -- and no doubt more are coming. This is not a bad time to review Chris Hedges' 2007 book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. Wouldn't be a bad time for him to update it, either.
  • Michele Goodwin: [06-26] No, Justice Alito, Reproductive Justice Is in the Constitution. Author is a law professor, and author of Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood. Last year she wrote a piece relevant here: I Was Raped by My Father. An Abortion Saved My Life.
  • Melissa Gira Grant: [06-24] The Fight for Abortion Rights Must Break the Law to Win: This article makes me squeamish, because it shouldn't have to be this way. But the struggles for civil rights, for labor rights, women's rights, the environment, against the war machine, both in the US and nearly everywhere else, have often ran up against the written law and its hired thugs. One reason I'm squeamish could even be that the anti-choice movement has so often resorted to criminal behavior on their own -- the assassination of Dr. George Tiller is one we here in Wichita will never forget or forgive.
  • Jake Grumbach/Christopher Warshaw: [06-25] Many states with antiabortion laws have pro-choice majorities. But do they have functioning democracy?
  • Carl Hulse: [06-24] Kavanaugh Gave Private Assurances. Collins Says He 'Misled' Her. Well, it's not like anyone else was fooled.
  • Natasha Ishak: [06-25] Trigger laws and abortion restrictions, explained. Also: In 48 hours of protest, thousands of Americans cry out for abortion rights.
  • Ankush Khardori: [06-24] Trump's Big Payback. Easy to write: "Donald rump delivered his end of the bargain he made with Republican elites and voters years ago. Support me despite my corruption, my gross personal failings and transgressions, and my persistent debasement of the presidency, and I'll do your bidding on the issue closest to your hearts: abortion." No doubt that was true for some people, but lots of Trump voters liked his corruption, failings, transgressions, and especially debasement. They may or may not have cared about abortion, but politics is a package business: you have to buy it all, even if you wish you could throw much of it away. If 2016 was a straight up referendum on abortion, Hillary Clinton would have won, but other factors tipped the election, and history isn't forgiving.
  • Caroline Kitchener: [06-25] Roe's gone. Now antiabortion lawmakers want more.
  • Ezra Klein: [06-26] The Dobbs Decision Isn't Just About Abortion. It's About Power. Interview with Dahlia Lithwick. Transcript here.
  • Josh Kovensky: [06-24] Alito Changed Next to Nothing From the Leaked Draft: That was a question that occurred to me but I hadn't seen answered elsewhere. The leaked draft, you may recall, sounded completely bonkers, yet Roberts and Kavanaugh continued to support the finding, even while trying to qualify it in their own opinions.
  • Claire Lampen: [06-24] Life After Roe Starts Now: "The Supreme Court decision ensures a health-care crisis that will ripple out across the country." Last paragraph starts: "Despite positioning themselves as 'pro-life,' conservatives show painfully little concern for the children and families their laws will force into existence." Examples follow.
  • Jill Lepore: [06-24] The Supreme Court's Selective Memory. It didn't take long to realize that when Scalia spoke of "originalism," he simply meant whatever he happened to think at the time. Scalia's no longer here to channel what the Founders originally thought, but his heirs are equally adept at reinventing the past.
  • Ian Millhiser: [06-23] The Supreme Court's new gun ruling means virtually no gun regulation is safe: "New York State Rifle v. Bruen is poorly reasoned. But its implications are potentially catastrophic." Millhiser also wrote: [06-21] The Supreme Court tears a new hole in the wall separating church and state.
  • Rani Molla: [06-24] 5 ways abortion bans could hurt women in the workforce.
  • Nicole Narea: [06-24] The end of Roe is only the beginning for Republicans, and [06-25] Republicans are eyeing a nationwide abortion ban. Can they pull it off?
  • Charles P Pierce: [06-24] The Hard Right Has Gotten What It Paid For: "The Court's decision on Friday was a victory for clinic bombers, murderous snipers, stalkers of doctors, and vandals of all kinds." Points to the deep connection between the Koch network and the Federalist Society, brokering some kind of deal that swung the 2016 presidential election. Also: "States will be in conflict the way they haven't been since the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850."
  • Nia Prater: [06-24] 'A Woman Has No Rights to Speak Of': Read Liberals' Supreme Court Dissent.
  • Nathan J Robinson: [06-24] The Supreme Court Is Coming Dangerously Close to Complete Illegitimacy. Robinson also wrote back when the draft opinion was leaked [05-07] The Atrocious Reasoning of Samuel Alito.
  • Greg Sargent/Paul Waldman: [06-24] 5 big truths about the Supreme Court's gutting of Roe:
    1. The court's decision is both straightforward and incredibly sweeping.
    2. The court is only getting started.
    3. Democrats need a fundamental rethink to meet this moment.
    4. Democrats must make very clear promises about what's next.
    5. Democrats must make this stick -- hard -- politically.
  • Dylan Scott: [06-24] The end of Roe will mean more children living in poverty. Curious how "pro-life" concerns end at birth. Scott also wrote: [06-24] The dire health consequences of denying abortions, explained.
  • Adam Serwer: [06-25] The Constitution Is Whatever the Right Wing Says It is.
  • Jia Tolentino: [06-24] We're Not Going Back to the Time Before Roe. We're Going Somewhere Worse: "We are entering an era not just of unsafe abortions but of the widespread criminalization of pregnancy."
  • Jillian Weinberger: [06-24] How the US polarized on abortion -- even as most Americans stayed in the middle.
  • Jessica Winter: [06-25] The Supreme Court Decision That Defined Abortion Rights for Thirty Years: "The centrist, compromising view of reproductive rights in Planned Parenthood v. Casely helped clear the path to overturn Roe v. Wade."
  • Kate Zernike: [06-25] How Did Roe Fall "Before a Decisive Ruling, a Powerful Red Wave." Singles out the 2010 mid-terms, where Republicans flipped a majority of state legislatures, which they then used to gerrymander districts, rig elections, and introduce an endless stream of bizarre laws. The focus on abortion was just one of many areas where they relentlessly pushed the envelope of what was acceptable, sane even (guns too). "Over time the attack on Roe has become more than an attack on abortion; it has become an attack on democracy."
  • Mary Ziegler: [06-24] If the Supreme Court Can Reverse Roe, It Can Reverse Anything. Or, as seems increasingly the case, just make shit up. Those of us old enough to remember right-wingers complaining about liberals "legislating from the bench" are finding this new regime exceptionally bizarre.
  • [06-25] 18 Ways the Supreme Court Just Changed America: Various "thinkers" at Politico weigh in, with takes all over the place. At least a third of these are blatantly ridiculous. Even the ones who seem justifiably alarmed don't seem to have a firm grasp of reality. I am especially disturbed by the pictures, here and elsewhere, of the "Students for Life protesters." Who are these women? And how did they get tangled up in this cynical political conspiracy? They seem so happy, failing so completely to grasp that abortion is always an exception, where the rules they think they can impose through their wishes break down in rare but real tragedy. Such naive belief must be delicious, but turns blind and cruel when backed up with the force of law.
    • 'People who seek abortions will seek to circumvent these laws.'
    • Young people 'won't see this country as a democracy.'
    • 'This decision will push abortion to the center of every political race in the country and polarize U.S. politics even more.'
    • This decision will 'give both parties an opportunity to move toward the center on abortion.'
    • 'The court's invalidation of Roe v. Wade will fire the starting gun on yet another wave of overtly violent conflict.'
    • 'In a post-Roe America, I am hopeful that our society will rebuild, and out communities will heal.'
    • 'It's hard to see how the issue will do much at the national level.'
    • This decision will 'place the reproductive health of Black women and other women of color at great risk.'
    • 'The American people will be forced to talk to one another, reason together.'
    • Expectant parents will not be able to fully use the powerful tools and knowledge of genetic testing and prenatal screening.
    • The decision will 'exacerbate the partisan and regional division on abortion that is already in place.'
    • 'There will be civil war.'
    • The anti-abortion movement will 'look to the conservative justices for protection for fetal personhood.'
    • The court could craft 'a new, more modern and justice-focused decision upholding the right to abortion.'
    • 'Conservatives must urgently embrace a whole-life approach.'
    • 'Making abortion illegal will not materially affect the number of abortions.'
    • 'A trajectory of many years of laws that increasingly see women's health and autonomy as secondary to those of fetuses.'
    • 'Abortion opponents will not be appeased until abortion is entirely eliminated.'

Since we're here, some other stories, briefly noted:

Ukraine: The war grinds on, with Russia continuing to make small gains in Luhansk, including their capture of Severodonetsk, and little interest from either side in ending the war. Some stories:

  • Katrin Bennhold/Jim Tankersley: [06-26] Ukraine War's Latest Victim? The Fight Against Climate Change. It's hard to wean yourself while you're panicking to get more to make up for lost access to Russian oil and gas. E.g.: Germany will fire up coal plants again in an effort to save natural gas.
  • Andrew Cockburn: [06-24] Why Sanctions Always Fail.
  • Jen Kirby: [06-23] Russia's territory in Europe is the latest source of Ukraine war tensions: Kaliningrad is a majority-Russian (87%) city and territory on the Baltic Sea, named in 1946 when the Soviet Union started redesigning the borders of eastern Europe. Before, the city was known as Köningsberg, at least after it became part of Prussia in 1525 (or 1657, following a short Swedish occupation). After 1918, it remained part of Germany, but was separated by a Polish corridor. In 1946, 100,000 Germans were expelled, and by 1948 400,000 Russians had moved in, so Stalin decided to keep it as part of the RFSFR instead of giving it to Lithuania (which separates it from Russia, but the Lithuanian population is only 0.4%). However, the land barrier is giving Lithuania an excuse to disrupt land transportation between Russia and Kaliningrad. This strikes me as an unnecessary provocation and a dangerous escalation of the sanctions regime. [PS: Needless to say: [06-24] Russia Blames US for Lithuania's Kaliningrad Embargo.]
  • Anatol Lieven: [06-20] Ukraine minister Kuleba accuses critics of being 'enablers of Putin': His is a name you should recognize when it appears in outlandishly hawkish op-eds. I give Biden some credit in not playing Bush's "either you're with us or against us" ultimatum, but Kuleba has no such cares. He is having the time of his life.
  • Branko Marcetic: [06-24] Western Sanctions on Russia Aren't Working as Intended: They started with an overestimation of the costs to Russia, and an almost complete ignorance of the self-costs they would produce. They helped to rally public support for Putin in Russia, while they've undercut political support at home -- e.g., their contribution to inflation is hurting Biden, even if support for the war hasn't eroded. I'm not surprised. I've always thought that the best excuse for sanctions was that they were a way to feel like you're doing something to Putin short of directly escalating a war that could easily become worse.
  • John P Ruehl: [06-24] The Ukraine War's Role in Exacerbating Global Food Insecurity.
  • Liz Sly: [06-25] Russia will soon exhaust its combat capabilities, Western assessments predict. So there's light at the end of the tunnel? Excuse me if I've heard that one before. Unless NATO starts reinforcing troops (which would be a really bad idea), Russia has significantly more resources that it can continue to bring to bear (assuming Putin still wants to).

Inflation: Look: Democrats worked hard to save the economy from collapse during the pandemic, both in early 2020 when the stock market plunged so bad even Republicans were willing to play along, and in early 2021 when they pushed a serious stimulus bill through to get things moving again. The reforms weren't targeted as precisely as possible, so some people came out of the crisis better off than before, while others barely survived. But Republicans had nothing to offer, other than their bitter opposition, which along with a couple of chickenshit Democratic senators eventually brought better prospects to a halt. Meanwhile, the disruptions caused (and still being caused, e.g., in China) by the pandemic messed up supply chains, and sudden shifts in supply and demand got converted into higher prices -- the same sort of price gouging we saw early in the pandemic. All this adds up to higher consumer prices (aka inflation, although many economists tie the word more closely to higher wages, which is what they really get worked up about).

  • Ahmari Anthony: [02-10] The Meat Industry's Middlemen Are Starving Families and Farmers.
  • Kate Aronoff: [06-24] Inflation Is Scrambling Joe Biden's Brain. Biden's embraced the idea of a "gas tax holiday," where the savings wouldn't amount to much, and almost certainly go not to consumers but to companies profit lines. Kevin T Dugan: [06-22] Joe Biden, Oil Man notes that Republicans oppose Biden's proposal, not wanting to give Biden any credit for lowering prices, especially given that they may already be declining.
  • Michael Hudson: [06-22] The Fed's Austerity Program to Reduce Wages. Politicians may cite higher consumer prices as inflation, but the only inflation the Fed takes seriously is wages, not least because the only tool the Fed has to combat inflation is to put people out of work, to make workers desperate enough to accept less. As for the rest: "The Fed is all in favor of asset-price inflation." Also note: "The economy cannot recover as long as today's debt overhead is left in place. Debt service, housing costs, privatized medical care, student debt and a decaying infrastructure have made the U.S. economy uncompetitive."
  • Paul Krugman: [06-23] Beware the Dangers of Sado-Monetarism.
  • Phillip Longman: [06-20] It's the Monopoly, Stupid: "Unchecked corporate power is fueling inflation."
  • Alexander Sammon: [06-21] Skyrocketing Rent Is Driving Inflation.

Eric Alterman: [06-24] Will the Oligarchs Who Own the US Media Save Democracy? Don't Bet on It.

Justin Elliott/Jesse Eisinger/Paul Kiel/Jeff Ernsthausen/Doris Burke: [06-21] Meet the Billionaire and Rising GOP Mega-Donor Who's Gaming the Tax System: Susquehana founder and TikTok investor Jeff Yass.

Ben Jacobs: [06-23] Donald Trump's cuckoo coup: By all rights, the January 6 Committee hearings should be dominating the news this week. Thanks to Republican non-participation, we've never seen Congressional hearings this clear and focused, so free of cant and obfuscation. Sure, the net result is pretty much what we understood at the time: an understanding that led almost immediately to Trump's second impeachment. Jacobs also wrote: [06-22] A new right-wing super PAC is attacking Liz Cheney as a "DC diva". More on the hearings:

  • David Brooks: [06-08] The Jan. 6 Committee Has Already Blown It: Doesn't take much to be a "right-centrist" pundit these days, does it? He moans that "these goals are pathetic." Why bother investigating things that merely happened? Why not ask for the impossible? "We need a committee that will preserve democracy on Jan. 6, 2025, and Jan. 6, 2029." But isn't part of the threat to 2025 and 2029 the fact that a lot of people still don't understand the horror of Jan. 6, 2021? Maybe it won't do any good to explain it again, calmly and thoroughly, as the Committee is trying to do, but does Brooks have a better idea? Not this week.
  • Jen Chaney/Benjamin Hart: [06-26] What Has Made the January 6 Hearings Such Great Television?
  • Richard L Hasen: [06-24] No One Is Above the Law, and That Starts With Donald Trump. I remember hearing that phrase a lot when Clinton was president. Much less so with Bush. And while it's something one would like to think is true about Trump, he seems to have proven that he is, if not above the law, at least beyond its reach. On the other hand, even if it were possible to indict and convict Trump on any of hundreds of possible charges, don't think that would prove the justice system in America is, you know, just. Just lucky, which at the moment it isn't.
  • Robert Kuttner: [06-23] The Consequences of Indicting Trump. With right-wingers complaining that the January 6 Committee hearings are a "show trial," it's interesting to imagine how a real trial would be different. For one thing, the power of subpoena and the penalties for perjury would be stronger. The most likely problem is that defining the crime would be more difficult: it is obvious that Trump's efforts to cling to power skitted around all sorts of malfeasances, but he was operating in territory where no one had ever ventured before, and which hadn't been anticipated and coded into law. The other obvious problem is selecting a jury that would be able to judge the case precisely on the merits, without fear of future reprisals. And while the case itself could be presented in non-political terms, it won't be heard that way, at least by the public. Even Kuttner spends much more time speculating on political ramifications.
  • Charles P Pierce: [06-23] There's Always One Guy in the Office Who Will Act on the Boss's Worst Ideas: In Trump's DOJ, that turned out to be Jeffrey Clark. Also: Trump's Misfit Goons Simply Could Not Shut Up About What They Were Doing.
  • Nathan J Robinson: [06-16] The Dangers of Praising Mike Pence and Liz Cheney: "Democrats need to stop praising horrible neoconservatives."

Kathryn Joyce: [06-24] 'National Conservative' manifesto: A plan for fascism -- but it's not hypothetical. Document, came out of a conference last fall, hard to tell how seriously to take it, but one speaker sequence mentioned here suggests it's not just a few "think-tankers": Rick Santorum, Nigel Farage, Mark Meadows.

Jen Kirby: [06-23] Afghanistan's staggering set of crises, explained: "Almost a year after Kabul's fall and the US's withdrawal, the economy remains in free fall, and the country faces a near-constant humanitarian disaster." Why do you think it was any better when the US military was ensconced in Kabul? Granted, it probably looked better to Americans, with their governmment pumping up a bubble around them, but if it was so great why did the people let the Taliban back in? Not unpredictably, US sore-loserdom has set in, with the US seizing Afghan assets abroad, and refusing to provide humanitarian aid for a crisis large of its own making. Continued US hostility also gives away any change at leverage that engagement might offer. This only plays into the hands of the most reactionary elements of the Taliban, who much like reactionary elements here are the least competent of all possible administrators. Of course, the US has played the sore-loser card many times before. North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Syria, and Iran are countries we once supposedly cared for but stand today as monuments to America's hurt vanity. One reason this has popped up again is that Afghanistan was hit by an earthquake last week, killing at least 1,000. See: Adam Weinstein: [06-24] Earthquake poses test of US resistance to the Taliban.

Rohan Montgomery: [06-26] The First Item on the G7 Agenda Should Be to Cancel the Global South's Debt: "The simplest way to fight global warming and injustice at the same time would be for the world's richest countries to end the vicious debt cycle that forces poor countries to exploit natural resources." Of course, it's not going to happen. The reason the G7 is the G7 is that they're happily collecting rent from the rest of the world. Also that most of the rent doesn't go to the governments, but to the moguls and oligarchs those governments serve. After WWII it became clear that Western Colonialism wouldn't be sustainable, so they came up with a new way to continue the exploitation without the political visibility. That was debt, which along with intellectual property rents keeps the Global South down.

Nicole Narea: [06-21] What Eric Greitens's "RINO hunting" ad means for the Missouri Senate race. Gross, gratuitous violence, sure, but isn't it weird when Greitens huffs: "Order your RINO Hunting Permit today!" Here he is, urging followers to commit crimes, but insisting that they need a permit first? And who exactly is issuing these permits?

Nicole Narea: [06-24] Congress passes a landmark gun control package: "Landmark" is a bit of a stretch, as it doesn't do much -- so little a handful of Republicans went along with it, perhaps confident after the Supreme Court's gun ruling this week that the courts will strip it down even further. On that angle, see [06-24] So is Bruen the reaso a few Republicans went along with a gun bill?

Jim Robbins/Thomas Fuller/Christine Chung: [06-15] Flooding Chaos in Yellowstone, a Sign of Crises to Come.

Jeffrey St Clair: [06-24] Roaming Charges: The Anal Stage of Constitutional Analysis.

Raymond Zhong: [06-24] Heat Waves Around the World Push People and Nations 'To the Edge'.

Daily Kos headlines:

I've started following Rick Perlstein's Twitter feed. Here's one highly a propos:

The rationalizations you'll be hearing right-wingers slinging for all the misery their ideas are about to loose on the world will be epic. More and more people will realize how surreal their mental world can be. The fever will not "break"; the fever is the whole enchilada.

I also follow Zachary Carter, whose book The Price of Peace is one of the best I've read in the last couple years, but I take exception to this:

Feels a lot like a crisis of inaction. Bad things keep happening and Biden can't or won't respond. Today's Roe repeal is the sort of thing that could be a political opportunity for Democrats, but the party has no plausible plan to do anything about it.

But aren't there several plausible plans in play: blue states are passing legislation codifying support for abortion rights, and offering sanctuaries; Congress could do the same if Democrats had slightly larger majorities; with larger majorities, the Supreme Court itself could be reformed (the subject of an op-ed by Jamelle Bouie: How to Discipline a Rogue Supreme Court. Sure, some Democratic plans in the past haven't worked out so well, like Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, which was at least partially sold on the need to prevent the right-wing takeover of the Supreme Court.

There are other areas where Biden and the Democratic leadership are coming off as more inept, not least because they are conflicted. There is no good solution for inflation without also considering all other economic factors, including inequality and the environment, and sane people have serious disagreements about what to do when there. Also on the Ukraine War and many other foreign policy disasters, which are the end result of decades of bad policy and missed opportunities. The simple fact is that any time a Democrat gets elected president -- and that only seems to happen after a Republican has made a total botch of the world -- that Democrat is going to be hit with multiple crises that have been gestating over long periods of time, then hampered by not having the power or the good will to do what really needs to be done. Somehow Republicans get a free pass on blame, and new chances to fuck things up even more, knowing that Democrats will have to clean up their messes, and will be found wanting for doing so, which will kick off yet another cycle of rage and retribution.

The 2022 elections will ultimately come down to one question: do voters want the emotional satisfaction of punishing the Democrats for everything that's gone wrong, or will they wise up to the fact that Republicans have nothing constructive to offer, and that the only way to actually fix our problems is to give Democrats the power to do so? If the latter, of course, we'll have to keep a close eye on them, but at least we'll be dealing with people who recognize problems and are willing to reason about how best to solve them.

I've been reading Matthew Yglesias since he started blogging, at least up to the point when he went to Substack and started charging monthly (and also writing columns for Bloomberg, which for all I know probably has its own paywall). I sometimes wonder whether I should at least follow his Twitter feed, but sometimes a tweet like this leaks through:

I mean the obvious answer is that Hillary Clinton should have adopted more moderate positions on issues in 2016, allowing her to win slightly more votes and become president. That's the central failure of Democratic strategy over the past decade.

I'm hard pressed to recall what "more moderate position" she didn't adopt in 2016. As Jeet Heer noted, for VP she picked "a pro-life Catholic man like Tim Kaine." Was that meant to reassure us that she'd fight to the end to protect abortion rights? Besides, she did win "slightly more votes," but lost the election because she didn't win them where she most needed them. Folks who voted for Trump because they thought he's "fight for them" were foolish and stupid, but they got the body language right -- the mistake was in thinking Trump identified with them. But Hillary, despite all her sabre-rattling, was never going to "fight" for anyone. She was always going to bend over for the highest bidder. And thanks to our two-party system, she was all that stood between Trump and us.

One last tweet, from Barack Obama, hitting key points succinctly enough to be worth quoting:

Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues -- attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.

One more thing: I'd like to quote a particularly good paragraph by No More Mr. Nice Blog, which starts with a quote from a Ross Douthat column I didn't think worth citing above:

I guess whenever liberals are doing anything more than sending money to organizations we hope will sustain our civil rights, that's "radicalization" in Douthat's eyes. Yes, we're angry, and we're in the streets. But why does Douthat believe the anti-abortion movement will need "durable majority support"? Universal background checks and an assault weapons ban have "durable majority support." Higher minimum wages have "durable majority support." Roe itself had "durable majority support." The right doesn't care. The right knows how to hold on to power without having any popular positions, and the right also knows how to gum up the works when it temporarily loses power so it will regain power quickly. The right doesn't need a popular stance on abortion, any more than it needs a popular stance in guns or wages. It just needs to cling to power by any means necessary.

Ever since Biden took office and the Democrats tied up the Senate, we've been seeing Republicans put on a master class in "clinging to power" and "gumming up the works" -- often with the help of self-hating Democrats and a mainstream media that keeps legitimizing Republicans no matter what they say or do.

He goes on, quoting Douthat again, then responds:

The people on the right who are "hostile to synthesis, conciliation and majoritarian politics" aren't "forces," they're the entire right. Even the ones who drew the line at returning an unelected president to office believe that the right should do whatever it can get away with, national consensus be damned.

And (there's no point in me inserting the Douthat quotes, because you can imagine them already):

Stop snickering. He really believes this. He thinks it's actually possible that a movement almost monomaniacally devoted to punitive acts will do a 180 and empathetically expand aid to poor parents in the name of conservatism. . . . Yes, once again Douthat is digging in the dung pile of the contemporary right, convinced that there must be a compassionate-conservative pony in there somewhere.

He also quotes from that "NatCon Manifesto" (see Kathryn Joyce link above).

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, June 20, 2022

Music Week

June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 38165 [38120] rated (+45), 93 [97] unrated (-4).

When I mentioned to my wife that I had written a "rant about reparations" yesterday, she visibly gulped. This morning she admitted "it was not as bad as I feared." See: Speaking of Which. When I wrote the piece, I wasn't aware (or didn't recall, or maybe I noticed but it just didn't sink in) that the State of California had a task force studying reparations, and that it had just [June 1] released an interim report. Otherwise, I would have included some links, like:

It seems very likely to me that a 500 pp report would contain a lot of information that should be better known, and that they would come up with a number of proposals that are worth considering in their own right, even if (like me) you are wary of trying to sell them as reparations. (Not that there aren't some people who buy into the "liberal guilt trip" logic they usually come off as, and certainly not to offend the people who really do feel guilty.) For instance, one apparently modest proposal is to end "voter approval for publicly funded 'low-rent housing.'"

One pet idea I have is to designate the poorest neighborhoods in major cities as "upgrade zones," where money would be offered to resident homeowners to improve their properties. Advisers would be provided to help owners plan their upgrades, and to negotiate fair prices with contractors, and review their work. The lender (probably city government) would receive a lien to cover the cost of upgrades, but the lien would be written off over 10-20 years, provided the original owner continues to occupy the house. Owners could choose to resell their houses, in which case the remaining lien would be paid off ahead of previous mortgages. Property tax assessments would also be frozen as long as the lien exists, but may be adjusted when the property is sold. This wouldn't help renters much, but could be combined with a program to help renters buy their houses, and thereby become eligible for upgrades.

Needless to say, a similar type of program could be offered more broadly for "green" upgrades, which is another case where helping individual homeowners helps the whole public. I've got a lot of ideas along these lines. If I was younger I'd consider opening a "think tank." Actually, 20+ years ago I had the idea of writing open source business plans, which other people could pick up and run with. (For an example on home automation, look here.)

I did write a bit about inflation yesterday, but more and more I'm convinced that what we're seeing is a self-induced oil panic -- the decision to blockade Russian oil after Putin invaded Ukraine is the pivot, but sanctions against Iran and Venezuela, and continuing conflict in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen also reduces supply -- compounded by monopolistic concentration, which gives companies great leeway to raise prices. In this context, raising interest rates if a blunt and misguided weapon. The one area where higher interest rates may help is in reducing the amount of profitable leverage available to speculators who are to some extent driving up prices. (If you think prices are going to rise, you can bet on that, and help make it happen. But higher interest rates make such bets more expensive and more risky -- especially with the Fed threatening to induce a depression.) I'm glad I'm not one of the economists who recommended that Jerome Powell be re-appointed "because he had learned his lesson." I've always said that Biden should have appointed someone who would look out for him.[*] (Obama made the same mistake with Bernanke, and Clinton with Greenspan.)

[*] I considered singling Larry Summers out, because I was so offended by a line asserting that Summers has been proven right in his prediction that Biden's early stimulus would be inflationary. Now I see that Summers is still peddling the discredited NAIRU theory, saying: "We need five years of unemployment above 5% to contain inflation -- in other words, we need two years of 7.5% unemployent or five years of 6% unemployment or one year of 10% unemployment." As Jeff Stein noted, what Summers is calling for is "devastating joblessness for millions of poor American workers." Zachary Carter added that this is "really bad economics." I miss George Brockway, who worked so hard to expose the intellectual and moral vacuity behind NAIRU (stands for Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment; Yglesias has a piece on NAIRU here; Brockway wrote about it in his collection of New Leader columns, Economists Can Be Bad for Your Health: Further Reflections on the Dismal Science).

At this point, the single most important thing Biden should be doing is impressing on Zelensky the need to end the war, and reassuring Putin that if a fair solution is arrived at, Russia can be more secure and engage world commerce without being plagued by sanctions. He also needs to start dealing honorably with the raft of countries that are currently on the US "shit list" (most likely to be joined soon by Colombia and Brazil[**]).

[**] As Ryan Grim tweeted, "The Colombian right conceded the election, acknowledged it was fair and represented the will of its people." Then he cited the reaction from Ron DeSantis: "The election in Colombia of a former narco-terrorist Marxist is troubling and disappointing. The spread of left-wing totalitarian ideology in the Western Hemisphere is a growing threat. Florida stands with Colombian Americans on the side of freedom." When are Americans going to understand that immigrants no longer get to dictate who wins in the countries they left? I'm especially sick and tired of Cubans, who were generously welcomed to America (despite the fact that some of them turned out to be Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio), holding American foreign policy hostage just to vent their spite. (Sure, one can say the same thing about East Europeans who came here and turned into political totems -- e.g., to pick a more recent example than Zbigniew Brzezinsi or Madeleine Albright, Ukrainian war hawk Alexander Vindman.)

Feeling better this week, if not about the world, at least in my little corner of it. The mini-split air conditioner in the bedroom appears to be truly fixed, which is good for a couple more hours of sleep most nights. These days, even trivial tasks like replacing a porch light or a toilet fill valve feel like accomplishments. Finally making some progress with sorting and storing. Even managed to get the "unrated" list below 100. I have little idea where those 93 LPs and CDs actually are (other than a pile of USAF CDs), but the search is on.

Didn't have too much trouble finding new records to play this week. The demo queue is pretty close to empty, aside from two Wadada Leo Smith boxes (12-CD total, enjoying Emerald Duets today). Dave Sumner's Bandcamp reports pointed me to a lot of interesting items, as did Christian Iszchak's consumer guide (Lalalar wasn't an instant hit, but I stuck with it). Auntie Flo and Shawneci Icecold seemed interesting enough to merit a bit of a dive, even though not much came out of it. I heard about the latter because he wrote in, and I felt like doing some due diligence. I suppose I should mention that the father of one of the Nova Twins is a virtual friend of my wife's. That may have put some pressure on me to get to the record early, but I also pegged their debut, Who Are the Girls, at A-, so it was only a matter of time.

I'm hoping to do a Q&A sometime this week, although I don't currently have a lot to chew on.

New records reviewed this week:

Chad Anderson: Mellifluous Excursions Vol. 1: Where You Been (2022, Mahakala Music): Drummer, has a previous solo album, with Zoh Amba (sax/flute), Warren Smith (vibes), and Barry Stephenson (bass), plus Ankhitek's sharp spoken word on two tracks. B+(***) [bc]

Auntie Flo & Sarathy Korwar: Shruti Dances (2022, Make Music): Former is Brian D'Souza, a British DJ/producer, originally from Goa, "known for taking World Music into the future." Discogs lists four previous records, possibly worth a deep dive. Korwar was born in the US, raised in India, based in London, a percussionist I've had my eye on -- his More Arriving was on my 2019 A-list. His tabla contrasts with the electronics ("meditative drones"), an intriguing synthesis but ultimately a bit thin. B+(**) [sp]

Yaya Bey: Remember Your North Star (2022, Big Dada): R&b singer, originally from Brooklyn, based in DC, second album, nice flow but gradually loses definition. B+(**) [sp]

Steve Davis: Bluesthetic (2022, Smoke Sessions): Mainstream trombonist, debut 1995, I should probably go back and check out his early albums on Criss Cross, but they are probably much like his recent batch. A compatible, distinguished group here: Peter Bernstein (guitar), Geoffrey Keezer (piano), Steve Nelson (vibes), Christian McBride (bass), and Willie Jones III (drums). Not so bluesy, but nice ballad ending. B+(*)

Tetel Di Babuya: Meet Tetel (2021 [2022], Arkadia): Singer from Brazil, also plays violin, actual name Marcela Venditti (or Marcela Sarudiansky -- the name used for the song credits). Mostly in English, with one cover (the closing "Someone to Watch Over Me"), although others (like "Willow Don't You Weep") are substantially familiar. B+(**) [cd]

Donkeyjazz: Play the Blues (2021, Singo): When Napster updated their web interface recently, they offered me a list of "popular jazz artists," headed by this outfit I had never heard of. (Followed by: Maureen, George Benson, Boney James, Fireboy DML, Soul II Soul, Kenny G, Gregory Porter, Nina Simone, Brian Culbertson, Herbie Hancock, Jean Turner; so 4 of 12 I've never heard of; 2 are legends with as many bad records as good; 1 perhaps could have been a legend but wasted it completely; 1 is a singer with some critical rep but nothing I like; 1 is a r&b group with 2 good records 1989-90 but has nothing since 1997; rest, as far as I know, are pop jazz hacks.) When this came up again, I figured WTF and clicked on it. I mean, there's lots of stuff I haven't heard of, and some of it might be worth hearing. But I was surprised to find that Discogs haven't heard of Monkeyjazz either, and shocked that Google has nothing on the album (not even the Napster link). Closest I came was a brief YouTube video ("Donkey Jazz - Freestyle rap/jazzy au piano"), but no vocals here, and the keyboard is vanishingly thin. By the way, Singo is a German company that provides a conduit to streaming platforms, and if you pay them enough they can impersonate a label. Presumably this placement is testimony to their ability to manipulate streaming platforms, because nothing else explains it. C

Binker Golding: (2021 [2022], Gearbox): British tenor saxophonist, best known for his Binker & Moses duo but has several albums on his own: this a quintet with guitar (Billy Adamson), piano (Sarah Tandy), bass and drums. I go up and down on this: an impressive player, has some terrific runs, but all seems a bit slick. B+(***) [sp]

Cameron Graves: Live From the Seven Spheres (2022, Mack Avenue): Keyboard player, two previous studio albums, member of collective West Coast Get Down, straddles jazz and whatever (website sez: "Classical, Rock and Hip-Hop"). B-

I Am [Isaiah Collier & Michael Shekwoaga Ode]: Beyond (2021 [2022], Division 81): Chicago-based sax and drums duo, also features "Sound Healer Therapist and Poet" Jimmy Chan on the 11:29 intro. That didn't engage me, nor did the spiritual searching, but a track toward the end, "Omniscient (Mycellum)," does get it on. B+(**) [bc]

Shawneci Icecold/Daniel Carter/Brandon Lopez: Toro (2021, Underground45): Pianist, seems to have a good deal more than the two albums listed on Discogs, and more hip-hop than jazz, but this (one track, 51:09) is free jazz, with bass (Lopez) and whatever Carter feels like (sounds like trumpet, not his main instrument, then alto sax, but no faster). B+(*) [sp]

Shawneci Icecold/Daniel Carter: Familiar Roads (2021, Underground45): Piano and sax duo, nice but doesn't push very hard. B [sp]

Shawneci Icecold & Fatlip: Carte Blanche (2021, Underground45, EP): Hip-hop, appears on streaming services but hard to find further information, but presumably the jazz pianist (above) does the beats (no evident piano). Rapper is probably Derrick Stewart, ex-Pharcyde, but I'm not sure of that. Five songs, 15:45. B+(*) [sp]

Shawneci Icecold & Rob Swift: For the Heads That Break (2022, Fat Beats, EP): Hip-hop, eight short pieces, 11:27, Swift (Robert Aguilar), who started in the 1990s in the X-Ecutioners, brings the turntable spin. B+(*) [sp]

Brian Jackson: This Is Brian Jackson (2022, BBE): Mostly known as the guy who wrote the music for Gil Scott-Heron (1971-80), has a couple albums of his own, as well as other collaborations, including a recent Jazz Is Dead. This is on a reissues label with a soft spot for 1970s jazz-funk (e.g., Roy Ayers), but is presumably new ("first solo album in over 20 years"). Still, doesn't sound new. B+(*)

Jones Jones: Just Justice (2020 [2022], ESP-Disk): Avant-sax trio with Larry Ochs (tenor/sopranino), Mark Dresser (bass), and Vladimir Tarasov (drums). Fourth group record, starting with sets in St. Petersburg and Amsterdam released in 2009. B+(***) [cd]

Kaleiido: Elements (2022, Exopac): Danish group, or duo: Anna Roemer (guitar) and Cecille Strange (sax), second (or third) album. Tranquil enough this could pass for ambient. B+(*)

Lalalar: Bi Cinnete Bakar (2022, Bongo Joe): Turkish group, generate an enticing but not especially distinctive grind. Title translated to "all it takes is a frenzy." Takes a while to grow on you, as it's less about the frenzy than the steady power, the relentless flow. A-

Brian Landrus: Red List (2021 [2022], Palmetto): Baritone saxophonist, also plays bass clarinet, various flutes. Dedicates this music to "the preservation of our endangered species," with several prominent examples on the cover. He recruited a large supporting cast, and his own leads flow impeccably. B+(***) [cd] [06-17]

George Lernis: Between Two Worlds (2021 [2022], Dunya): Drummer/percussionist, also santur, has at least one previous album. Title is a 5-part suite (24:38), plus three other pieces. Cover notes "Ft. John Patitucci," probably because he's better known than the more prominent musicians: Burcu Gulec (voice), Emiel De Jaegher (trumpet), and Mehmet Ali Sanlikol (piano/voice/oud). B+(*) [cd]

Linus + Nils Řkland/Niels Van Heertum/Ingar Zach: Light as Never (2021 [2022], Aspen Edities): Folk-oriented jazz duo of Ruben Machtelinckx (guitar/baritone guitar/banjo) and Thomas Jillings (tenor sax/alto clarinet/synthesizer). debut 2014, later albums with guests, including 2017's Mono No Aware with this trio (hardanger fiddle, euphonium/trumpet, percussion). B+(*) [bc]

Kjetil Mulelid Trio: Who Do You Love the Most? (2021 [2022], Rune Grammofon): Norwegian pianist, based in Copenhagen, has two previous trio albums plus a solo; backed by Bjřrn Marius Hegge (bass) and Andreas Skĺr Winther (drums). B+(**)

Nova Twins: Supernova (2022, 333 Wreckords Crew): British melting pot "bass-heavy duo fusing grime and punk," Amy Love and Georgia South, second album after several EPs. Drums and guitar give them some cred among metalheads, but the bass is a whole lot funkier, and they get up in your face. A-

Jessica Pavone/Lukas Koenig/Matt Mottel: Spam Likely (2019 [2022], 577): Viola/electronics, drums, keytar/3 string guitar (a "keytar" is a lightweight synthesizer on a strap like a guitar). Two pieces (the other is "Binge Listen"), improvs that start with an interesting sound and expand upon it. A-

André Rosinha Trio: Triskel (2022, Nischo): Portuguese bassist, third album, a trio with Joăo Paulo Esteves da Silva (piano) and arcos Cavaleiro (drums). B+(**) [bc]

Felipe Salles/Zaccai Curtis/Avery Sharpe/Jonathan Barber: Tiyo's Songs of Life (2022, Tapestry): Compositions by Tiyo Attallah Salah-El (1932-2018), né David Riley Jones, fought in Korean War, returned to play saxophone, but wound up spending the last 50 years of his life in jail. Salles is a tenor saxophonist, was born in Brazil, came to US in 1995, teaches at U. Mass., has a half-dozen records. He arranged Salah-El's compositions, radiantly backed by piano, bass, and drums. A- [cd]

Satoyama: Sinking Islands (2021 [2022], Auand): Italian quartet, "deeply influenced by the north european jazz, contemporary classical music and world music," fourth album, members play trumpet (Luca Benedetto), guitar (Christian Russano), bass, and drums. B+(**) [bc]

Matthew Shipp Trio: World Construct (2021 [2022], ESP-Disk): Piano trio, with Michael Bisio (bass) and Newman Taylor Baker (drums). Shipp has recorded many albums like this, the third with this lineup for this label -- Trio albums with Bisio go back to 2009, with Baker to 2015 (before that, you mostly get William Parker and Whit Dickey). Rhythm has always been his strong suit, and you hear that most clearly when he picks up the pace. B+(***) [cd]

Josh Sinton/Tony Falco/Jed Wilson: Adumbrations (2021 [2022], Form Is Possibility): Leader plays baritone sax, alto flute, and bass clarinet; eighth album since 2011 (plus group work, like in Ideal Bread); backed with piano and drums. B+(***) [cd]

Torben Snekkestad/Sřren Kjaergaard: Another Way of the Heart (2021 [2022], Trost): Former plays tenor/soprano sax, trumpet, and clarinet, duo with piano. B+(*) [bc]

Sprints: Manifesto (2021, Nice Swan, EP): Irish post-punk quartet, lead singer/songwriter Karla Chubb, backed by guitar-bass-drums. Four songs, 13:06. B+(*) [bc]

Sprints: A Modern Job (2022, Nice Swan, EP): Moves beyond punk with the spoken word opener, "How Does This Story Go?" -- the music, not the attitude. Title song reveals ambition: "I wish I had a life/ and I wish that this wasn't it." Five songs, 15:29. B+(***) [bc]

SSWAN [Jessica Ackerley/Patrick Shiroishi/Chris Williams/Luke Stewart/Jason Nazary]: Invisibility Is an Unnatural Disorder (2020 [2022], 577): A while back, I got a package of CDs on the 577 label that hadn't been released yet (4 of 5 I couldn't even find release dates for, and this one is still close to 3 months out, but the demo queue is damn near empty). This is about what I'd expect: three pieces (36:52) of medium tempo, medium noise avant tinkering. Principles play: guitar, sax, trumpet, bass, and drums. I especially like the way the guitar weaves in and out. B+(***) [cd] [09-02]

Gebhard Ullmann/Gerhard Gschlössl/Johannes Fink/Jan Leipnitz/Michael Haves: GULFH of Berlin (2018 [2021], ESP-Disk): First four -- tenor sax/bass clarinet, trombone/sousaphone, bass/cello, drums -- released a 2014 album called GULF of Berlin. In addition to his initial, Haves adds "live sound processing" (whatever that is). B+(**) [cd]

Devin Brahja Waldman & Hamid Drake: Mediumistic Methodology (2019 [2022], Astral Spirits): Alto sax/drums duo. Starts a little slow, but doesn't leave at that. B+(**) [bc]

Weakened Friends: Quitter (2021, Don Giovanni): Indie band from Portland, Maine; second album after a couple EPs, Sonia Sturino the singer/guitarist, with Annie Hoffman (bass/vocals) and Adam Hand (drums). B+(**)

Tommy Womack: I Thought I Was Fine (2021, Schoolkids): Singer-songwriter from Kentucky, based in Nashville, started in a band called Government Cheese, solo albums since 1998, surprises with a couple of covers here ("That Lucky Old Sun," "Miss Otis Regrets"). A straight rocker with some stories, including one about a minister buying ice cream, and another about Elvis. B+(***)

Eri Yamamoto/Chad Fowler/William Parker/Steve Hirsh: Sparks (2022, Mahakala Music): Japanese pianist, has had a close relationship with Parker (bass) since she moved to New York. Hirsh plays drums, with Fowler playing stritch and saxello, instruments which dial back his sound just enough to make clear how inventive he can be. A- [bc]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Barney Wilen: Zodiac (1966 [2022], We Are Busy Bodies): French saxophonist (1937-96), backed by Karl Berger (vibes/piano), Jean-François Jenny Clark (bass), and Jacques Thollot (drums), plays 12 short pieces (one for each zodiac sign), intended as a soundtrack but the movie never got made. B

Old music:

Auntie Flo: Goan Highlife (2011, Huntleys & Palmers, EP): Brian D'Souza, originally from Goa -- a colonial enclave claimed by Portugal in 1510 that India invaded and annexed in 1961 -- moved to Glasgow, and eventually to London. This was his first record, two tracks, 12:44: Indian percussion/strings, chants, some electronics, the seed of a formula. B+(*) [sp]

Auntie Flo: Future Rhythm Machine (2021, Huntleys & Palmers): First legit album, eight tracks, 33:04, three with featured guests. Still seems to be dancing around the concept. B+(*) [sp]

Auntie Flo: Theory of Flo (2015, Huntleys & Palmers): Second album, features a singer named Anbuley on six (of 10) tracks. B+(*) [sp]

Auntie Flo: Radio Highlife (2018, Brownswood): Bigger album, more guests, many from Africa, although nothing that especially strikes me as classic highlife. B+(**) [sp]

Jakuzi: Hata Payi (2019, City Slang): Turkish synthpop band, second album. Not exactly Krautrock, but not far removed. B+(**)

Sarathy Korwar & Upaj Collective: Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions (2019 [2020], Night Dreamer): London-based drummer, draws on Indian percussion, second album with this fluid group (5 members here -- sax, guitar, keyboards, violin, drums -- vs. 11 for their 2018 My East Is Your West). B+(***) [bc]

The United States Air Force Academy Band: The Falconaires: Sharing the Freedom (2010 [2011], self-released): Other name on the cover is "Lieutenant Colonel Larry H. Lang, Commander." Big band, playing standards with a few originals mixed in, with TSgt Crissy Saalborn taking three vocals. Her "Nature Boy" isn't bad, but all the TSgt- and MSgt- and SMSgt-prefixes gives me the creeps. Nor do I take comfort in that the USAF has worse ways of "sharing the freedom." B- [cd]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Jones Jones: Just Justice (ESP-Disk) [06-18]
  • Brian Landrus: Red List (Palmetto) [06-17]
  • Matthew Shipp Trio: World Construct (ESP-Disk) [06-17]
  • Wadada Leo Smith: The Emerald Duets (TUM, 5CD) [06-17]
  • Wadada Leo Smith: String Quartets Nos. 1-12 (TUM, 7CD) [06-17]
  • Gebhard Ullmann/Gerhard Gschlössl/Johannes Fink/Jan Leipnitz/Michael Haves: Gulfh of Berlin (ESP-Disk -21)
  • WeFreeStrings: Love in the Form of Sacred Outrage (ESP-Disk) [06-17]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, June 19, 2022

Speaking of Which

Late Saturday start, with no aim other than to blow off some steam (starting with the Cineas piece below). This is a very troubling, very unpleasant time. While it's never been more clear how destructive the Republican Party from top to bottom has become, we're stuck with a Democratic Party which is increasingly conflicted and befuddled, where we're stuck with factions which not only don't get along but are often seen putting their own narrow interests ahead of everyone else. And at the top, well, as one headline put it: Biden Survives Bike Fall After Failed Backpedaling Attempt. The only thing I'm grateful there is that the headline is literal, and not some horrendous metaphor. I have no time or desire to try to draw up a list, but since I don't say any more about it below, the stupid dilly-dallying over the war in Ukraine is worth mentioning. Somewhere I read that Zelensky is unwilling to resume negotiations until August, when he hopes to be in a better position. Meanwhile, the NATO chief is projecting the gravy train (err, the war) will go on for years. Meanwhile, Biden is headed to Saudi Arabia hat-in-hand to beg for lower gas prices, rather than seeking relief from the countries (Iran and Venezuela) the US is sanctioning for disrespecting the empire. And the Senate (Graham and Menendez, of course) wants to shovel an extra $4.5 billion to Taiwan to piss off China. Nonetheless, even the worst Democrats are orders of magnitude less awful than the Republicans, so here we are, struggling to help Biden get back up on that bicycle (ok, that's a metaphor).

Kate Aronoff: [06-17] Biden Wrote a Stern Letter to Oil Refiners. His Government Should Take Over the Industry Instead. I've occasionally said that the biggest mistake America ever made was to allow the oil industry to be private. The profit motive led to a vast squandering of natural resources. (The Spindletop fiasco is a classic example, where the biggest find to date was pumped dry in three years, during which oil prices totally collapsed.) But also, that decision gave us oil millionaires/billionaires, who have been a political menace ever since. Still, Biden's letter doesn't inspire much faith in the greater wisdom of the public sector, as he's mostly looking for politically expedient price relief, without little if any concern for the longer term consequences. Recent price rises, which are still less than half what Europeans pay, are mostly due to a supply crunch caused by US sanctions against Russia, Venezuela, and Iran. One could argue that price increases (although not the foreign policy that's led to them) are a good thing, in that they will incentivize people and business to use less oil and gas. (Of course, the smart way to do this would be to plan tax increases well into the future, so the expectation of higher prices is set, without the immediate pinch, but Americans don't like planning, so you get movement through poorly understood panics instead.)

There is much more that could be said about nationalization, but it's an issue with no short-term chances, so no real urgency. Socialists have been overly fond of nationalization in the past, and overly reticent of late. I think there are cases where it would be a good idea, but I'm not sure what they are, or whether oil is one (regulatory and tax policy are other options, and there is a big question about stranded assets -- a lot of "wealth" is in the form of untapped oil reserves, which may turn out to be worth a lot less than current appraisals).

Christina Carrega: [06-15] The land of the free leads the world in incarceration. Why?

Sewell Chan/Eric Neugeboren: [06-19] Texas Republican Convention calls Biden win illegitimate and rebukes Cornyn over gun talks.

Fabiola Cineas: [06-15] There's no freedom without reparations. The article has problems even defining a reparations program, which should be a clue as to why it isn't a viable political agenda. If politics is the art of the possible, reparations is something else (perhaps a rhetorical device which promises to go away with suitable inducements?). But impossibility is only one of the problems with reparations. More importantly, it is simply the wrong answer to the problem -- even if you accept that the problem (the persistence of poverty and prejudice among descendants of victims of slavery and legal discrimination) is an important one that should be addressed seriously. It is wrong because it imagines the past can somehow be repaired. It is wrong because it compounds injustice, by assessing damages from people who weren't responsible to compensate people who weren't immediately affected. It is wrong because it assumes one can redress inequities without addressing inequality. A much better solution is to aim to bar discrimination and promote equality across the whole of society, regardless of past conditions, even if you have to proceed piecemeal. And it is wrong because it inevitably produces a backlash. The most obvious example is the reparations imposed on Germany after WWI, but the backlash against "affirmative action" in the 1970s should be cautionary enough. It wasn't a bad idea when the economy was booming for everyone, but as inequality increased and businesses turned against their workers, it became a wedge issue for separating the white working class (many of whom were descendants of immigrants who arrived in America well after the Civil War).

It's also wrong because it is rooted in a fundamental misconception about what justice can and cannot do, and that misconception seems to be increasingly rampant these days. Justice cannot change the past, It can (to some extent) exact revenge for recent past events, but revenge never heals, rarely soothes, and often misses its target completely. And while justice can be harsh on individuals (especially powerless ones), it is rarely up to dealing with larger groups, let alone corporations and political parties, or worst of all, national leaders who launched wars. Bill Clinton made headlines in his rush to put Ricky Ray Rector to death, but never had to face justice for his bombing of a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, or his repeated bombing of Iraq, or his even more devastating sanctions to starve Iraqi children. And he's just one example, and certainly not the worst. The International Criminal Court might sound like a good idea, but what kind of justice do you have when you almost never bring the guilty parties. (Sure, they did prosecute Slobodan Milosevic over Kosovo, but it was Wesley Clark, under Bill Clinton (again!), who ran the bombing campaign against Serbia, killing up to 2,000.

I have no objection to impressing upon all Americans how despicable slavery was, and how systematically and often violently both officials and ad hoc groups terrorized "free" blacks after the Civil War. I'd go so far as to say that it's important to acknowledge all unsavory acts over centuries by American state(s) and people. While the arguments for reparations start with explaining this history, and should be applauded for that, the framework of reparations recasts history as political, inviting reaction. While it's true that reparations need not be a zero-sum game, but it is easily understood as such: a transfer of wealth from the public (which through taxes means everyone, in an economy where most people are vulnerable) to an arbitrarily selected few. The left's key political proposition is to help nearly everyone, fairly and equally, but reparations can easily be twisted into an argument for putting certain minorities ahead of an increasingly fragile and frightened majority.

Needless to say, reparations for any one issue raises questions about other past injustices, of which they are many. There has, for instance, been some reparations for Japanese-Americans interned during WWII. There is something to be said for the symbolic effect of admitting past wrongs, and that may be all some reparations advocates are working for. Similarly, I don't see much harm in suing police departments for wrongful deaths, especially where prosecution is impossible. Sometimes it even works to sue a corporation (as with Purdue Pharma), but such cases have to be pretty egregious, and they're no substitute for better regulation to prevent such disasters from happening. While the right to sue is one important safeguard for justice, I fear we've gone way overboard, resulting in a justice system which is arbitrary and inconsistent.

Elizabeth Dwoskin: [06-19] Peter Thiel helped build big tech. Now he wants to tear it all down. Another billionaire who thinks his money entitles him to run (or ruin) the world.

Chris Haberman: [06-18] Mark Shields, TV Pundit Known for His Sharp Wit, Dies at 85: I remember watching him on NPR square off against David Brooks, in the latter's Bush-toady phase. He didn't impress me much, but Brooks developed a reputation as slime that has stuck to him, even as he's tried to distance himself from more reptilian Republicans.

Roxana Hegeman: [06-17] Heat stress blamed for thousands of cattle deaths in Kansas. It wasn't extraordinarily hot, but the combination of heat and humidity killed over 2,000 cattle, in a preview of the sort of killing heat waves likely to be common as global temperatures rise. Probably not the first such example, but this one hit especially close to home.

Ian Millhiser: [05-15] Democracy in America is a rigged game.

Timothy Noah: [06-17] Was Nixon's Guilt as Obvious as Trump's Is? Not much here on Trump, but then you already know about the Jan. 6 Committee's evidence. Focus is more on whether Nixon ordered the Watergate break in, as opposed to merely covering up the excessive zeal of his crew, and Noah presents a fairly strong case why we should think so, even with no one coming out and admitting it. For one thing, Nixon ordered similar break ins. For another, Nixon was directly involved in more crimes than you can shake a stick at -- Noah has several examples of campaign finance violations, and there was still the back channel promises to derail negotiations that might have ended the Vietnam War in 1968 (Nixon's prosecution of the war in Vietnam and extension to Cambodia will always remain in my mind his supreme crime, on a level with the worst monsters of the 20th century). One can go much deeper into the Nixon/Trump comparisons -- as Woodward and Bernstein tried to do last week -- but they will mostly show that however cunning and unscrupulous Nixon was in exceeding his authority and venturing beyond the law, he was conscious of what he was doing, and aware of what he was risking. Trump, on the other hand, aspired to do much worse, but lacked the managerial chops to pull it off. In the end, he was hoisted by his own words, as testified to by his ridiculous "advisers," and by the acts of his most outrageous fans. That the latter were (probably) disconnected and acting autonomously doesn't excuse him; it underscores how irresponsible and damaging his lies and cult had become. Noah ends with an indictment of the media, for letting Nixon fade gently once he resigned, instead of digging to get to the bottom of all the evil he had done. Their failure then has been compounded with Trump now. We should by now understand that Nixon and Trump are two types who should never be allowed even remotely near presidential power. Yet the media was so smitten with both, they not only failed to expose their crimes, they never admitted their own complicity in letting them fester until the crimes became impossible to ignore.

Gina Schouten: [05-24] Why We're Polarized, Part 1. The first of four notes on Ezra Klein's Why We're Polarized, by a Harvard philosophy professor. The others are [05-31] Part 2, [06-08] Part 3: Moving on to Institutions, and [06-15] Part 4: The Last one, about Party Differences. The latter focuses on how the Republicans have cultivated a monolithic identity, which is continually reaffirmed ever more starkly, while the Democrats are bound to be a loose coalition with divergent interests, united only by their fear of Republicans.

Samantha Schmidt: [06-19] Gustavo Petro, former guerrilla, will be Colombia's first leftist president.

Jeffrey St Clair: [06-17] Roaming Charges: A River Ran Through It: Title refers to Yellowstone, the first patch of America reserved as a National Park, a place where you can still observe relatively unsullied nature. Well, nature struck back, and now the Park is closed. "They called it a 1000-year flood. It will probably happen four more times in the next 50 years." In other stories, he notes that Republicans flipped a House seat (TX-34), in a district that is 84% Latino. (I see here that turnout was 7.34%, so you'd think there would be room for improvement in November, but that's pretty embarrassing. For more on this, see GOP Win Says More About Filemon Vela Than a South Texas 'Red Wave'.) That's the first of a number of incendiary lobs at the Democrats (especially the pathetic idolization of Liz Cheney and Mike Pence). There's also this little gem:

Uvalde police have hired a private law firm to fight requests to release the bodycam footage of the school shooting because they claim it could be used by other shooters to determine "weaknesses" in cop response to crimes.

Evidently they have no plans to examine the footage themselves to help figure out how to correct for the "weaknesses" it reveals.

Emily Stewart: [05-15] Stopping inflation is going to hurt: "The economy will feel worse before it feels better." Well, that's largely because the fight against inflation is being led by the Fed, and they see their job as helping bankers by turning the screws on borrowers and consumers. There are other possible approaches, especially given that a major driver of inflation is the Ukraine War, and that has nothing at all to do with interest rates. Same thing for monopoly rents and supply chain kinks, although slack demand will eventually reduce those pressures -- while further discouraging businesses from developing more capacity, which would help drive prices down. Also on inflation:

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, June 13, 2022

Music Week

June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 38120 [38065] rated (+55), 97 [107] unrated (-10).

It's been a very frustrating week, especially a blow to my confidence that I can manage basic tasks of household maintenance. Still trying to figure out an air conditioner problem with the temperature over 100F. Dreading tomorrow, but no reason to think I won't get through it, or feel better once it's over.

Nothing much more to say about the music below. I did bump two albums I had at B+(**) up a notch today on revisit, but I'm pretty sure that's as high as they will go.

Been trying the new Napster web interface, and so far I hate everything about it. Looks almost exactly like a Spotify clone. Given that Spotify has more music and is much more robust -- comparing Spotify's Linux app to Napster's web interface; Spotify's web interface is probably no better -- the only reasons I thought of for keeping Napster were that it was a bit better for browsing (still pretty awful) and a bit easier for song lists, and they managed to squander both advantages. Plus Napster has a unique problem: it periodically stops with a notice that my account is being used on another device. I've also had to swat down many offers to download the supposedly superior Napster app, only to find they still don't have one for Linux (though supposedly they're working on it now).

New records reviewed this week:

070 Shake: You Can't Kill Me (2022, GOOD Music/Def Jam): Rapper Danielle Balbuena, second album, sings more here, so much so I had this noted as "art pop" before spinning it. Deeper than that. B+(***)

Florian Arbenz/Joăo Barradas/Tineke Postma/Rafael Jerjen: Conversation #5: Elemental (2022, Hammer): Swiss drummer, in several groups including VEIN since 2006, started his Conversation series in 2021 with various guests, this quartet the largest mix to date, the others playing accordion, sax, and bass. B+(***) [bc]

Bad Bunny: Un Verano Sin Ti (2022, Rimas Entertainment): Puerto Rican rapper-singer, fourth album, I figure him for reggaeton but Wikipedia also says "Latin trap." Appeal mostly in the beats, as usual. Long: 81:53. B+(**)

Bloc Party: Alpha Games (2022, Infectious/BMG): British indie band, debut EP 2004, sixth album, suggested genres like "dance-punk," but more clearly within the Britpop gamut, closer to Blur than to Oasis, less catchy than either. B

Boris: W (2022, Sacred Bones): Japanese "heavy rocks" band (to crib from their website, probably more accurate than doom metal, drone, psychedelia, noise, or experimental rock), 27th album since 1996, group name taken from a Melvins song, have some collaborations with noise artists Merzbow and Keiji Haino. Album title is supposedly a postscript to 2021's NO. I'm not getting a typical metal reaction here, but not much else either. B-

Buck 65: King of Drums (2022, self-released): Canadian rapper Richard Terfry, from Nova Scotia, Bandcamp puts him in Toronto, started 1994, went on hiatus in 2015, started to resurface in 2020. No song titles, just "Part" 1-21 (54:53). Rhymes fast and clever, over beats little evolved from his heyday. A- [bc]

Buck 65/Tachichi: Flash Grenade (2022, Black Buffalo): Canadian rappers Rich Terfly and Tyrone Thompson, the latter with a couple 1998-2002 albums, more since 2017. B+(**) [bc]

Burton/McPherson Trio: The Summit Rock Session at Seneca Village (2021 [2022], Giant Step Arts): Unnamed member of the Trio is bassist Dezron Douglas. Abraham Burton released two outstanding albums on Enja in 1994-95, then largely disappeared until he started recording again in 2014. He did, however, record a quartet album in 1998 co-led by drummer Eric McPherson, so their group seems to start there. B+(**) [cd] [06-19]

Neneh Cherry: The Versions (2022, EMI): Don Cherry's step-daughter, released a great hip-hop album in 1988 (Raw Like Sushi), two more through 1996, has occasionally resurfaced with odd projects since then (e.g., The Cherry Thing, with Norway's avant-jazz group, the Thing). This is a various artists tribute she nonetheless claims: 10 pieces (including 2 takes each of "Manchild" and "Buddy X") from those three albums, done by as many guests, some bringing the beat, some not so much. B

Tom Collier: The Color of Wood (2022, Summit): Mallet player, Discogs credits him with a 1988 album, five more 2004-16. Uses three different marimbas here, not sure what (if anything) else. B [cd]

Dan Ex Machina: All Is Ours, Nothing Is Theirs (2022, self-released): New Jersey band and/or singer-songwriter Dan Weiss -- not the drummer, nor the other drummer, but known to me mostly as a rock critic, although I've listened to his Bandcamp oeuvre, which remains too obscure to get listed in Discogs (but AOTY lists two albums and an EP, with a total of 3 user scores). Bandcamp page says these 17 songs were written between 2003-11, and "have been played live for more than a decade," and were "mastered in 2021," and offers shifting lineups, but doesn't come out and say when they were recorded. So we'll treat it as a new album, although it could pass for juvenilia. Gets better down the home stretch, possibly helped by slipping in a couple covers (Kurt Cobain, Lisa Walker). B+(***) [bc]

Drive-By Truckers: Welcome 2 Club XIII (2022, ATO): Southern rock band, many superb albums since 1998. This seems to be one of the more measured ones, with quiet songs just ambling along. I find them gently reassuring. A- [sp]

Eels: Extreme Witchcraft (2022, E Works/PIAS): Indie band from Los Angeles, principally Mark Oliver Everett, who recorded two albums as E (1992-93) before naming this group in 1996. Fourteenth album, first I've bothered with. Has an agreeable sound, without bombast or other excesses. B+(*)

Empath: Visitor (2022, Fat Possum): Noise punk band from Philadelphia, Catherine Elicson the singer, second album. Sound has some appeal, but I don't hear much more. B

Everything Everything: Raw Data Feel (2022, AWAL): English art rock band, from Manchester, sixth album since 2010. Singer Jonathan Higgs leans into his falsetto, electrobeats are snappy and occasionally catchy. B+(*)

Fantastic Negrito: White Jesus Black Problems (2022, Storefront): Xavier Dphrepaulezz, b. 1968 in Massachusetts, moved to Oakland at 12, father Somali, released a record in 1996 as Xavier, switched to this moniker in 2014, fifth album as such. Often described as "black roots music," drawing on blues, soul, and funk, but not precisely defined, as if it's not necessarily rooted yet. B+(***) [sp]

Hugo Fernandez: Ozean (2022, Origin): Guitarist, (4) in Discogs, second album, quartet with electric bass, drums, and trumpet/flugelhorn -- Christoph Titz stars here. B+(***) [cd] [06-17]

Liam Gallagher: C'mon You Know (2022, Warner): Founder, with his brother Noel, of Oasis, which in England seems to be regarded as the greatest band since the Beatles, perhaps even greater, although I don't know anyone who shares that view. After Oasis broke up in 2009, he started Beady Eye. Third solo album since 2017. Sometimes impressive (e.g., "I'm Free"). B+(*)

Mary Gauthier: Dark Enough to See the Stars (2022, In the Black/Thirty Tigers): Folk singer-songwriter, often impressive. B+(***)

S.G. Goodman: Teeth Marks (2022, Verve Forecast): Singer-songwriter from Kentucky, first name Shaina, second album. This didn't really register until the guitar riff that kicks off the second-side opener, the grim but defiant "Work Until I Die." B+(***)

Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band: Dear Scott (2022, Modern Sky): Singer-songwriter from Liverpool, started with the Pale Fountains (1982-85), then Shack (1988-2006). Second album with this group, after an EP in 2013. B

Honolulu Jazz Quartet: Straight Ahead: The Honolulu Jazz Quartet Turns 20 (2022, HJQ): Discogs only lists one album, from 2003, with three members still here -- Tim Tsukiyama (sax), Dan Del Negro (piano), John Kolivas (bass) -- so Noel Okimoto (drums) was a late arrival. I have another album in my database, and Google knows of at least two more. Eight originals (all four write individually), plus five covers, some of which one prays will never become part of the standards repertoire ("Scarborough Fair," "Wichita Lineman"). B [cd]

Kathryn Joseph: For You Who Are Wronged (2022, Rock Action): Scottish singer-songwriter, third album, plays keyboards, not much else going on musically -- though just enough for her purposes. B+(*)

Avril Lavigne: Love Sux (2022, DTA/Elektra): Canadian singer-songwriter, seventh album 20 years after her bestselling debut (also newly available in a 20th anniversary edition). Most pieces co-written with John Feldmann and Mod Sun, who also co-produced with Travis Barker. Twelve fast tracks in 33:38, fierce songs that tend to confuse love and hate, perhaps because the music fits both. B+(**)

Dmitri Matheny: Cascadia (2021 [2022], Origin): Flugelhorn player, born in Nashville, based in Seattle, fifth album since 1995, quintet with Charles McNeal (tenor/soprano sax), Bill Anschell (piano), bass, and drums. B+(*) [cd] [06-17]

Ben Morris: Pocket Guides (2022, OA2): Pianist, based in Boulder, Colorado; first album, original compositions with a text from E.H. Gombrich. Large band: 13 strong, including cello and two violins (one doubling on mandolin, the other on Hardanger fiddle, for a Norse folk touch). Unpleasing to my ears, but cannot deny its art quotient. B- [cd] [06-17]

My Idea: That's My Idea (2021, Hardly Art, EP): Five song (12:41) debut for Brooklyn duo of Nate Amos (from the group Water From Your Eyes) and Lily Konigsberg (who has a 2021 solo album, an earlier duo, and the group Palberta). B+(**) [sp]

My Idea: Cry Mfer (2022, Hardly Art): Full-length debut, 13 songs plus 2 "digital bonus tracks." Small voice, light touch, nice drums. B+(***)

The Mysterines: Reeling (2022, Fiction): Indie rock band from Liverpool, first album after several EPs. Got some chops, but grinds a bit hard, and I suspect they're full of it. B [sp]

Jason Palmer: Live From Summit Rock in Seneca Village (2021 [2022], Giant Step Arts): Trumpet player, prolific since his 2014 debut, this live set a quartet with Mark Turner (tenor sax), Edward Perez (bass), and Johnathan Blake (drums). B+(**) [cd] [06-19]

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Unlimited Love (2022, Warner): Funk rock band from Los Angeles, debut 1984, commercial breakthrough with their 5th album in 1991, releases slowed down after 2002 -- six years before this 12th album, 73:04 long, with John Frusciante back, and Rick Rubin producing. B

The Regrettes: Further Joy (2022, Warner): Band from Los Angeles, Lydia Night the singer (presumably the songwriter), seems to have started as punk or riot grrrl (list of cited influences starts with Bikini Kill, L7, and 7 Year Bitch, but also includes Lesley Gore and the Crystals/Ronettes). Third album, reminded me at first of Voice of the Beehive but wound up close to Lily Allen territory. Line I jotted down: "you're so fucking pretty it takes my breath away." Second pass could add a dozen more. A-

Derek Senn: The Big Five-O (2022, self-released): Singer-songwriter from San Luis Obispo, three previous albums, claims he's sold out a venue in Aberdeen ("where his Americana's more popular than with the Americans"). Some topical songs (from "Quarantine" to "Texas Legislature"), some personal, at least one on the "Zeitgeist." B+(**) [bc]

Alexander Smalls: Let Us Break Bread Together (2022, Outside In Music): Singer, seems to be his first album, if anything he's better known as a chef, with three cookbooks to his name. Not a commanding or even very compelling vocalist, he seems to ease back and let the songs do the work, like the menu composer he is. Starts with "Wade in the Water," "St. Thomas," "Watermelon Man," the title piece (reprised at the end, after "Mood Indigo"). He doesn't sing on "St. Thomas" -- John Ellis reprises the Sonny Rollins classic, and plays some fine bass clarinet later on. Ulysses Owens Jr. seems to be the one who rounded up the all-star band. B+(***) [cd]

Soft Cell: Happiness Not Included (2022, BMG): British electrop duo, Marc Almond and Dave Ball, recorded four albums 1981-84, one in 2002, now one more. They sound little evolved from their heyday, plastic synth melodies formed into songs that are just catchy enough. B+(**)

Spanish Harlem Orchestra: Imágenes Latinas (2021 [2022], Ovation): Led by pianist Oscar Hernandez, eighth album since 2002, exactly as advertised. Thirteen members, including vocalists Marco Bermudez, Carlos Cascante, and Jeremy Bosch. B+(*) [cd]

Grant Stewart Quartet With Bruce Harris: The Lighting of the Lamps (2021 [2022], Cellar): Mainstream tenor saxophonist, debut 1996 but discography picks up around 2004, quartet with piano (Tardo Hammer), bass, and drums, plus Harris on trumpet. B+(**) [cd] [06-17]

John Wasson's Strata Big Band: Chronicles (2022, MAMA): Bass trombonist, originally from Minnesota, studied at UNT, played in their big band and with the USAF, other big bands (best known were Stan Kenton and Woody Herman, late but I don't know how late), recordings mostly with the Dallas Brass (he also holds the position of "staff arranger for the Dallas Cowboys stadium band"). Seems to be his first album. B- [cd]

Orlando Weeks: Hop Up (2022, PIAS): From Brighton, former singer for the Maccabees (2005-15), third solo album. B+(*)

The Whitmore Sisters: Ghost Stories (2022, Red House): Eleanor and Bonnie Whitmore, sisters, first album together although Bonnie has six on her own (since 2004), Eleanor one (plus she plays in Steve Earle's band, and shares the spotlight on four albums with her husband Chris as the Mastersons). Roots sounds, nice harmonies. B+(**) [sp]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Cumbia Sabrosa: Tropical Sound System Bangers From the Discos Fuentes Vaults 1961-1981 (1961-81 [2022], Rocafort, EP): Six songs, 15:53, physical is 3 x 7" vinyl, short, upbeat singles by Climaco Sarmiento, Michi Sarmiento, Afrosound, Los Golden Boys, and Peyo Torres (2). B+(**) [bc]

Old music:

Bike for Three!: So Much Forever (2014, Fake Four): Long-distance collaboration between Buck 65 (Canadian rapper Rich Terfly) and Greetings From Tuskan (Belgian singer Joëlle Phuong Minh Lę), second album after a 2009 debut. B+(**) [bc]

Buck 65: Sore (2004, WEA, EP): Three mixes of the title single, plus two extra cuts (17:33 total), worth hearing. B+(*)

Buck 65: Dirtbike 1 (2008, self-released): Idea was to knock out three hour-long tapes within three months, this one the first (66:38). B+(**) [bc]

Buck 65: Dirtbike 2 (2008, self-released): Second installment, a month later. Works in more hillbilly twang. B+(***) [bc]

Buck 65 [Produced by Jorun Bombay]: Laundromat Boogie (2014, DWG): This came out a day before his last WEA Canada album (a divorce saga called Neverlove), a song cycle of laundry and dirty romance structured as a single 33:17 mix. B+(***) [bc]

Abraham Burton/Eric McPherson Quartet: Cause and Effect (1998 [1999], Enja): Tenor sax and drums, with James Hurt (piano, wrote 2 pieces vs. 3 for Burton and 1 long one for McPherson) and Yosuke Inoue (bass). Strong saxophone. B+(***) [sp]

Neneh Cherry: Man (1996, Virgin): Third album, last for a stretch out to 2012, picked up a single shared with Youssou N'Dour ("7 Seconds"), Cameron McVey co-wrote most of the songs, produced by Booga Bear, Jonny Dollar, and/or Dave Allen. She seems to have fallen into a soul diva rut. B+(*)

Hata Unacheza: Sub-Saharan Acoustic Guitar and String Music (1960s [2013], Canary): Old timey music from Africa, 18 songs from 16 artists from 7 Central African nations (mostly: the outliers are Sierra Leone to Zambia, with 9 songs from Congo or Kenya) -- the artists served twice are S.E. Rogie (who I'm familiar with) and Jean Bosco Mwenda (who I should be). Flows nicely enough, but all seems a little quaint. B+(***) [bc]

Avril Lavigne: Let Go (2002, Arista): Debut album, she was 17 at the time, but with her advance had moved from Canada to Los Angeles to work with Clif Magness and the Matrix, and they turned out a big hit, selling 16 million copies, led by "Sk8er Boi." So far, so good, but the power ballads suck, and then there's this: "'Cause I'm feeling nervous/ trying to be so perfect/ 'cause I know you're worth it." B-

Avril Lavigne: Under My Skin (2004, Arista): Second studio album, another big seller (6 million worldwide). Mostly co-wrote with Chantal Kreviazuk, I find most of this absurdly heavy, but she does find a bit of clarity on a couple of punkish pieces, perhaps a way out. B- [sp]

Lowkey: Dear Listener (2008, SO Empire): British rapper Kareem Dennis, born in London, mother Iraqi, father English. I heard about him when a Zionist front group tried to get him banned from Spotify. First studio album after several mixtapes. Finding his politics, with a gruesome one on Iraq, and a more affirmative one called "I Believe." B+(**)

Lowkey: Soundtrack to the Struggle (2011, Mesopotamia Music): More political here, with six "skits" that aren't even remotely funny, though there are some nuanced stories, as well as principled and sometimes even hopeful anthems. Music is more assured, the rap fast and sharp. Early intro: "I'm a product of the system I was born to destroy." Runs long: 95:08. A-

Lowkey: Soundtrack to the Struggle 2 (2019, Mesopotamia Music): In 2012, he decided to "step away from music and concentrate on y studies." He returned with a single in 2016, and finally with this album, built around samples of Noam Chomsky, who points out: "Today's Republican Party is the most dangerous organization in human history." At the moment, I'm up to 1933 in a memoir called Defying Hitler, and the SA is already doing things few Republicans can even dream of, but the Nazis were stopped 12 years later, while it's still unclear how evil the Republicans will become, or how long it will take to stop them. The extra study may have sharpened his critique of neoliberalis (cf. "Neoliberalism Kills People"), but hasn't sharpened his beats. New events intrude, like "McDonald Trump" and "Letter to the 1%." Also reprises "Long Live Palestine," because some things haven't changed. A-

Jackie McLean/John Jenkins: Alto Madness (1957, Prestige): Two alto saxophonists, both b. 1931, Jenkins a couple months older but McLean already had a half-dozen albums, with many more to come. Jenkins was also busy in 1957 -- include Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Teddy Charles, Clifford Jordan, Hank Mobley, Paul Quinichette, Sahib Shihab, and Wilbur Ware -- but nothing later until a reunion with Jordan in 1990. Backed by piano-bass-drums, McLean's title piece ran 11:48, Jenkins' two pieces added up to 13:14, and they blew through two standards (another 14:19). B+(**)

Grachan Moncur III: New Africa (1969, BYG Actuel): Trombonist, father was a bassist of some note, died June 3 at 85, played on two landmark Jackie McLean albums in 1963, which got him two Blue Note albums (1964-65; all four plus two more McLean albums Moncur played on were packaged under his name for the first 3-CD Mosaic Select box). Discography after that was rather spotty, with two BYG albums (1969-70, this is the first), a JCOA set in 1975, one on Denon in 1977, and two much later (2004-07). Quintet with Roscoe Mitchell (alto sax), Dave Burrell (piano), Alan Silva (bass), and Andrew Cyrille (drums), plus Archie Shepp (tenor sax) on the last track. B+(***)

Grachan Moncur III: Aco Dei De Madrugada (One Morning I Waked Up Very Early) (1969 [1970], BYG Actuel): Short album (4 tracks, 28:41), recorded in Paris with Fernando Martins (piano/voice), Beb Guérin (bass), and Nelson Serra de Castro (drums). B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Felipe Salles/Zaccai Curtis/Avery Sharpe/Jonathan Barber: Tiyo's Songs of Life (Tapestry) [05-20]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, June 12, 2022

Speaking of Which

I don't feel like doing a general survey this week, but I felt like jotting down a quote from Sebastian Haffner's 1938 memoir, Defying Hitler -- Brian Eno recommended the book recently so I thought I'd give it a try. Haffner is a pseudonym for a young German lawyer (Referendar, basically a clerk in the courts system), from a professional class family, with centrist politics breaking against the Nazis (as opposed to the many centrists who broke the other way). From page 224:

Nationalism -- that is, national self-reflection and self-worship -- is certainly a dangerous mental illness wherever it appears, capable of distorting the character of a nation and making it ugly, just as vanity and egoism distort the character of a person and make it ugly.

I don't know which German word was translated as "self-reflection," but I imagine it has more to do with mirror-gazing than with any sort of mental self-scrutiny. Aside from that quibble, this is a pretty apt definition. I've often noted that political appeals to patriotism work mostly as flattery, as least for those who identify with the nation, and who use that identity to elevate themselves apart from others, who are easy then to characterize as enemies.

The paragraph continues:

In Germany this illness has a particularly vicious destructive effect, precisely because Germany's innermost character is openness, expansiveness, even in a certain sense selflessness. If other peoples suffer from nationalism it is an incidental weakness, beside which their true qualities can remain intact; but in Germany nationalism kills the basic values of the national character. That explains why the Germans -- doubtless a fine, sensitive and human people in healthy circumstances -- become positively inhuman when they succumb to the nationalist illness; they take on a brutal nastiness of which other peoples are incapable. Only the Germans lose everything through nationalism: the heart of their humanity, their existence, their selves. This illness, which damages only the external features of others, corrodes their souls. A nationalist Frenchman can still be a typical (and otherwise quite likable) Frenchman. A German who yields to nationalism is no longer a German. What he achieves is a German Empire, maybe even a Great or Pan-German Empire -- but also the destruction of Germany.

Haffner underestimates the pathology of nationalism in other countries, while failing to note that one thing that made German nationalism so ominous was that Germany was a large and powerful country that could invoke the memory of past empires. In small countries, nationalism may be equally distasteful, but it's more likely to assume a defensive crouch. (Nationalists in Ukraine may be as personally noxious as Russian nationalists, but the aggressor there is the one with size, power, and history.)

Haffner also credits Germans with more cosmopolitanism than seems warranted. As recently as 1918, Germany was a monarchy with a powerful military caste, a landed aristocracy, and an industrial and commercial autocracy, bent on imperial conquest. It shouldn't be surprising that many Germans who had bought into such delusions would seek out dynamic new leaders -- rather than admitting that the ideas themselves were rotten. (This was well before Britain and France were forced to abandon their overseas empires.)

On the other hand, you can plug "America" into this paragraph and it makes more sense. American history has its share of blemishes and warts, but what we remember fondly, what we most of us identify as distinctively American, has come from the left: ending slavery, expanding democracy, equal rights, free speech, opportunity for immigrants, freedom to develop and create and prosper -- things that the right has sought at every juncture to hinder. Take those things away, as America's self-identified nationalists want to do, and America will, like Germany in the Nazi years, become a bitter, hardened, hollow shell of itself.

It's unnerving to read this section the week the House Select Committee on January 6 chose to unveil their findings. The thing I find most disturbing isn't what happened at the time, but how Republicans (especially on Fox News) are reacting. However briefly, at the time many Republicans, including Congressional leaders Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, instinctively sought to distance from the rioters and the inciters. But most of them have since reversed course, finding excuses first for Trump, eventually for the rioters. But what I heard after the Committee presentation was how many of them (especially on the Fox payroll) have adopted the rioters, most explicitly as martyrs to the Republican cause. While the insurrection was happening, I never for a moment doubted that it would be put down, that Congress would reconvene, and that the election results would be confirmed. My reasoning was simple: those were still things that the people believed in, regardless of the outcome. But seeing how so many Republicans have embraced both Trump's lies and the rioters' crimes, I'm less certain they will defend democracy next time around.

Back around the time GW Bush was reëlected in 2004 I bought a copy of Richard J Evans' The Coming of the Third Reich, figuring it was time to brush up on the signs of how a nation could come to embrace fascism. It's still on the shelf. Bush self-destructed shortly after the election. Initially, he decided to use his mandate to wreck Social Security, which I knew would backfire, due to technical obstacles built into its design, and also politically. His wars got worse, leading to sacking Rumsfeld and sidelining Cheney. Katrina hit, and suddenly a "heckuva job" wasn't enough. Congress went to the Democrats in 2006, ending any chance of going after Social Security. Then the banking system collapsed, and with it the economy. Bush finished his term with the lowest approval rating of any president ever.

While I never got to Evans' book, I did wind up reading Bejmanin Carter Hett's The Death of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall of the Weimar Republic, which covers the same ground in half as many pages (Haffner's corresponding section is less than half that long, but includes the now-familiar names). And I've read a good deal more specifically about the Nazis, as well as more broadly about fascism (e.g., Robert Paxton's The Anatomy of Fascism, which narrowly excludes "conservatives" like Francisco Franco, who are still fascists in my book).

As a leftist, I'm exceptionally sensitive to the slightest whiff of fascism, so points of similarity tend to resonate with me: each one implies the likelihood of others, and cumulatively they add up to a diagnosis. Still, it only matters if the insight scores political points. (We do still oppose fascists, don't we?) And most people are reluctant to use The F Word -- liberals because they're extra-careful to respect political differences, and conservatives because, well, it cuts too close to the bone. But with Trump and his fan base, we keep getting closer (e.g., see Zack Beauchamp: The January 6 hearings showed why it's reasonable to call Trump a fascist).

My considered view is that Trump is a Fascist, at least as long as he gets to be Der Führer/Il Duce, but America isn't ready for a Fascist dictatorship, and he isn't smart/skilled/driven enough to make it happen. On the other hand, the number of Americans who would welcome a Trump dictatorship has probably doubled in the last six years. That's scary, but still not a huge number. And while they have a lot of guns, Trump militia like the Proud Boys are a long ways from being able to terrorize "the left" like the SA did -- not least because the police and courts, bad as they are, are unlikely to roll over like their German equivalents. What Trump, like Hitler and Mussolini, does have up his sleeve is deep support from conservative elites, who thus far are right in their belief they can pull the puppet strings (at least where it matters, on taxes, regulation, and the courts). Hitler was especially ruthless where it came to consolidating power. Trump has no idea how to do that -- not that he wouldn't applaud giddily if someone slew his enemies.

In Trump's wake, there seems to be renewed interest in Richard Nixon, especially his conspiracy to cover up Watergate. For example, see: Woodward and Bernstein thought Nixon defined corruption. Then came Trump. If Trump seems worse than Nixon now, it's largely because Nixon (and Reagan and Bush-Cheney and dozens of lesser Republicans) set the bar so low. The concept behind Watergate was the exact same one that led Trump's staff to meet with Russians, and the dump of DNC emails was as damaging as anything they hoped to dig up at Watergate. The two were morally equivalent. Nixon and Trump shared several traits. Both lusted for power, and neither had any scruples about pursuing it. Both believed that as president they were above the law. (As Nixon put it, "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.") Both cultivated lists of enemies, and hurt themselves pursuing vengeance. Nixon broke new ground in raking in campaign money, and in manipulating the media. Trump followed suit, and probably topped him at both. (While Nixon seems to have been interested in money only for the power it could bring, Trump was after more money.) Nixon initiated the agenda of packing the Supreme Court, and Trump brought it to fruition. Nixon designed the reactionary political realignment (start from his "silent majority") which Trump kicked up to another level.

Trump left policy to his minions, who pursued corruption like never before, causing grave damage to the very concept of public service. Nixon was much more engaged, especially in foreign policy, where what he did was much worse. Nixon's escalation in Vietnam, and especially his "incursion" into Cambodia, were among the worst war crimes of the Post-WWII era. His coup in Chile was also murderous, just on a smaller scale, but forever a stain on America's reputation as a champion of democracy. Nixon still gets a lot of credit for his opening to China, but defense mandarins may be second-guessing him there. He was also responsible for promoting the regional power ambitions of countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia -- thinking both would be allies against the Soviet Union, they turned out to have their own agendas, with blowback.

Nixon also presided over the decision to ignore peak oil, replacing declining domestic oil production with imports, leading to the oil price shocks of the 1970s. One nearly immediate impact was that the trade surpluses the US had enjoyed for decades turned negative in 1970, never (so far, at least) returning. That produced a drag on the economy, and jump started the trend to ever greater inequality -- Republicans stoked this at every opportunity since, while Democrats did little to halt the trend. Longer term, Nixon's decision to keep gas cheap only accelerated today's climate crisis.

Finally, we should mention the one ridiculous piece of Nixon's foreign policy that Trump was especially suited for: the "madman theory," where the US tries to intimidate rivals by feigning insanity. Nixon was never quite insane enough to pull it off, although Reagan's careless rhetoric nearly did lead to a nuclear confrontation. But Trump was so volatile his military leaders went behind his back to reassure foreign leaders the US won't nuke them.

Speaking of Watergate, we've watched the first three episodes of the eight-episode Starz series Gaslit, which focuses on the turbulent marriage of Martha and John Mitchell (Julia Roberts and Sean Penn -- the latter under massive makeup, leaving only his grin and voice recognizable, and producing more cognitive dissonance by playing him as such a horndog), with major parts for John Dean (Dan Stevens, juggling his insecurity and scruples while pursuing his own romance) and G. Gordon Liddy (Shea Wigham, psychotic). They seem to be keeping their facts straight, while taking liberties with the characters -- mostly making them much funnier than you figured, and therefore much more interesting to watch. (Martha Kelly as Nixon secretary Rose Mary Woods is especially note-perfect. Brian Geraghty, who played a sociopathic kidnapper in The Big Sky, reprises that character as a "minder" assigned to keep Martha Mitchell from talking to the press.) We've started but never finished several recent series on recent political figures (Mrs. America, Impeachment: American Crime Story), but this one we are enjoying. Also note that historian Rick Perlstein is on board to keep the facts straight.

On the back story, this just appeared: Manuel Roig-Franzia: During Watergate, John Mitchell Left His Wife. She Called Bob Woodward.

Here are a few more links. I haven't made any effort to collect on the Jan. 6 hearings, or on Ukraine, nor do I have more to say about guns. (Breaking news is that some kind of deal has been made in the Senate, but that still doesn't guarantee passage.) I also avoided pieces on the economy, which are hard to sort out or make sense of. We seem to be stuck with more and more inflation, even if there's a recession, which Wall Street and the Fed seem to be in a race to trigger. Also nothing on elections (American, anyhow).

One gun story I don't have a link for -- it's in today's Wichita Eagle -- is Kris Kobach explaining how he gives his children "a chance to shoot a deer" once they turn 7. His preferred gun is the AR-15, because it's designed to minimize the kickback, making it easier for children to handle. He also likes the AR-15 for coyotes (probably because it improves the chances of hitting one without having to aim carefully). He doesn't describe this as hunting, and doesn't mention what they do with the carcass (assuming they hit something), so maybe they're just not very good shots. My father took us hunting, but we never held a gun until well into our teens, and then it was a single-shot bolt-action .22 rifle. He also had shotguns, and I shot them a few times later, but never liked hunting or target shooting. I'm reminded, though, of a story a few years back, when a small girl was given an Uzi at an Arizona shooting range, and lost control of the gun, killing her instructor. The story also notes that all three Republican candidates for KS Attorney General favor arming teachers. One is quoted about how "an armed society is a polite society." (I wonder what evidence they have. I haven't noticed many police becoming more polite once they realize a suspect is armed.) If elected, Kobach has vowed to target the ACLU, and to set up a whole task force dedicated to suing the Biden administration. He's nothing but a terrorist with a Harvard Law degree.

Jon Lee Anderson: [06-06] Can Chile's Young President Reimagine the Latin American Left?

Andrew Bacevich: [06-07] The F-Word (The Other One): Fascist, of course. I could have slipped this link in above inasmuch as the author offers his opinion (and several others) on whether Trump is a Fascist. ("My own inclination is to see him as a narcissistic fraud and swindler." Sure enough, and bad enough, don't you think?) But the bone he wants to pick is with Timothy Snyder: [05-19] We Should Say It. Russia Is Fascist. Snyder is a historian of 20th Century Eastern Europe, whose hatred for Nazi Germany is only matched by his loathing of Soviet Russia, leading him to identify strongly with anyone caught up in their savage machinery: Bloodlands is his big history book, but he's also written political tracts which try to defend liberal democracy against its modern foes, who are invariably rooted in the region's totalitarian past. In this, he's found that mapping his targets to Fascism is all it takes (QED), so that's what he does with Putin. On some level, this is more satisfying than the pundits who try to pigeonhole him as a Marxist (no evidence of that), the ghost of some Tsar (or Rasputin), or (more commonly) as a diehard KGB spook. No doubt Putin shares some traits with Fascists, but most are common to many right-wingers (nationalism, reactionary cultural tastes, a heavy hand defending the order), and few offer any insight into why Putin decided to invade Ukraine, or what he wants to achieve. Rather, the F-Word is a label which argues he needs to be stopped, because his aggression is insatiable. Bacevich is historian enough to debate the 1930s vs. now, but his reticence to use the F-Word may owe more to his wariness of getting caught into an inevitable war trap. Because in the end, war is what Snyder wants, and he wants it now, in Ukraine, against Putin, because he sees that conflict as some sort of cosmic struggle. ("If Russia wins in Ukraine, it won't just be the destruction of a democracy by force, though that is bad enough. It will be a demoralization for democracies everywhere.") Bacevich knows better than to give into that kind of ideological blackmail.

Jonathan Chait: [06-10] Republicans Respond to January 6 Hearings by Defending Trump: No remorse, no accountability. Probably much more like this. Probably more even worse. Trump's own: "January 6 was not simply a protest, it represented the greatest movement in the history of our country to Make America Great Again."

Jason Ditz: [06-10] Syria's Damascus Airport Shuttered After Major Israeli Attack.

Matt Ford: [06-08] The Supreme Court Keeps Chipping Away at Your Constitutional Rights. "What recourse do ordinary citizens have when federal agents violate their rights? After Wednesday, not much." Also on this, Ian Millhiser: [06-08] The Supreme Court gives lawsuit immunity to Border Patrol agents who violate the Constitution.

Sarah Jones: [06-09] Democrats Need a Vision. Fast. I meant to write more about this, but for now will merely note it. Also in this vein: Jason Linkins: [06-11] You Deserve the Good Life. Democrats Should Promise to Deliver It.

Ed Kilgore: [06-10] Rick Scott Backtracks, But His Plan Is Still Ultra-MAGA Madness: I only note this because I wrote a long critique of Scott's manifesto, in case I want to update it later. The main change seems to be an attempt to dodge the charge that he wants to raise income taxes, but he's made up for it by finding new ways to demean poor folk.

Markos Kounalakis: [06-09] The US Should Recognize Belarus's Government in Exile: Why? Because Putin isn't paranoid enough about US intentions on his border? (Or as the author puts it: "Recognizing Tikhanovskaya's government in exile would force Russia to worry about its western flank as it attacks eastern Ukraine.") Author also wants "to designate Russia a state sponsor of terror (SST)." The net effect would be to add insult to injury, making it even harder to negotiate peace. But the general principle just underscores how arrogant the US is in believing it has the right to pass judgment on who represents other countries.

William LeoGrande: [06-10] Biden's 'Summit of the Americas' showcases failed Cold War worldview: In excluding Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, another example of the US presuming it has the right to pass judgment on the political choices of other countries. Also Rosa Elizalde: [06-10] Storms at the Summit of the Americas.

Edna Mohamed: [03-25] Lowkey says he will 'not be silenced on Palestine' after push to remove him from Spotify: I've had this tab open for quite a while, meaning to check him out. Finally did last week (he's still on Spotify, also Napster), and will have reviews tomorrow. For whatever it's worth, "Long Live Palestine" is a small part of his repertoire -- at least compared to neoliberalism, or war in Iraq. (He was born in London, but his mother came from Iraq.)

Nick Parker/Bryan Pietsch: [06-12] 31 tied to hate group charged with planning riot near LGBTQ event in Idaho.

Christian Paz: [06-11] Can blaming corporate greed save Democrats on inflation? Let's concede that as far as 2022 is concerned, inflation is a political issue of some import. What Democrats need to be able to do is argue that they can deal with it better (for most people) than Republicans can, and corporate greed is an issue that should break their way, and is worth hitting on otherwise. Where Biden is most responsible for inflation is for letting the Russia-Ukraine War drag on, which is constricting the world market for food and fuel. I don't expect people to grasp that point, but peace could make a dramatic change in two of the most obvious categories.

Jeffrey St Clair: [06-10] Roaming Charges: The Politics of Limbo.

Robert Wright: [06-12] A case study in American propaganda: The Institute for the Study of War (aka the Kagan Industrial Complex).

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, June 6, 2022

Music Week

June archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 38065 [38015] rated (+50), 107 [107] unrated (-0).

Added a link to yesterday's Speaking of Which moments after posting. It's to an Alex Pareene post, What Do Cops Do?, which referred back to an Alexander Sammon piece I had already commented on (Why Are Police So Bad at Their Jobs?). I had to slip the PS inline because at the end of the paragraph I segued to another Sammon piece, then to three more pieces by Charles P Pierce. This last part should have been broken out into a separate entry, as the subject changed to the relentless scheming that Republicans practice to steal elections. I didn't break it out because I came to the pieces late, but also because also because this is stuff I've been following and commenting on for decades. Pierce's "Ratf*cking" pretty explicitly invokes David Daley's 2016 gerrymandering book, Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy. But in its cynically anti-democratic soul, it goes back at least as far as Nixon's plumbers, which I got an early glimpse into back in 1969, when I read Joe McGinniss: The Selling of the President 1968.

But back to the Pareene piece. He argues that most failures in policing can be explained by a simple rule of thumb: "They do what's easy, and avoid what is difficult." He gives various examples. He cites a study showing that when we hire more police, they arrest more people for misdemeanors ("that is, the unimportant shit"). He concludes: "It's easier to arrest a fifth grader than it is to save one's life. It is far easier to do 'crowd control' -- to restrain a panicking parent, perhaps -- than it is to enter a room currently occupied by a psycho with a semiautomatic rifle."

I don't cite Pierce often enough, but that's mostly because he posts lots of short pieces that can be redundant to the longer ones I tend to cite. However, if you don't have time to shop around, and are especially interested in the pathological (i.e., Republican) side of electoral politics, he covers a lot of ground, and offers a good summary of what's recent. Another blog I recommend for much the same reason is No More Mister Nice Blog. The main guy there signs his pieces Steve M., which I'm a bit subconscious about citing, but he has a keen eye for Republican pathology, and a healthy scepticism about how well Democrats deal with such problems. If all you follow is those two blogs, you'll be pretty well informed.

Not much on Ukraine yesterday, but I want to add one thought. It's not terribly surprising that Russia botched their invasion, and it's been gratifying to see how effective Ukrainians have been at countering the offensive. But that shouldn't blind you to the critically important truth, which is that Russia has a huge margin of strategic depth: it has a much bigger economy, has a lot more soldiers it can deploy, and has a base which is safe and secure from reprisals or subversion. While it's possible that Putin et al. will decide the war isn't worth it, it's more likely that they will keep trying different things until they come up with something that works. I'm reminded here of the US Civil War, which was little short of a disaster for the North at first, but Lincoln kept shuffling his generals until he came up with ones who were effective, ones who could leverage the Union's huge strategic advantages, and turn the war in their favor. Russia seems to be doing that recently, picking up small patches of ground, expensively but inexorably. Earlier, this prospect made me think that it was important to negotiate a fair end sooner rather than later. Now, I see it as more urgent than ever. A piece I recommended yesterday stands out: Ross Barkan: The War in Ukraine Can Be Over If the U.S. Wants It. But the title reminds me that a good many other wars could also be over if the U.S. was so inclined.

Fifth straight Speaking of Which. I still don't want to make a weekly practice of it, but hit a mental dead spot last week when I couldn't think of anything better to do. Had an urgent home repair to do today, and it wound up taking three hours instead of the 15-20 minutes it should have. Moreover, I'm beginning to think I should redo it before long. Much else is proving frustrating. Got some medical anxiety this week, so I don't really see clear sailing ahead.

Another fairly big ratings week. Pulled a lot of records off the upper reaches of the metacritic list, but they are often ones that I wouldn't have bothered with otherwise, and they seem to be falling into perhaps-too-easy piles: the better ones at B+(**) (12 this week), the not-so-great ones at B+(*) (16), with the also-rans at B (5), and nothing lower (not that further exposure wouldn't have turned me vicious; I just didn't bother trying to figure out where). I continue to have mixed feelings about the Ezz-Thetics reissues: Don Cherry's Where Is Brooklyn? and John Coltrane's live A Love Supreme were previous A- albums, and that hasn't hanged. The extras neither help nor hurt, which makes them redundant, but should I grade down for that? I was struck by how much I preferred the Antibes concert to the much-hyped Seattle one that appeared (and swept the Jazz Critics Poll) last year.

Christian Iszchak has been writing annotated monthly listening reports since January, but his entry for May switched to a Consumer Guide format, the best new example of such I've seen since Michael Tatum's Downloader's Diary. I discovered the Wiz Khalifa album there.

New records reviewed this week:

Bad Bad Hats: Walkman (2021, Don Giovanni): Indie rock band from Minneapolis, debut EP in 2012, third album, Kerry Alexander the singer. B+(*)

Band of Horses: Things Are Great (2022, BMG): Rock band, led by singer-songwriter Ben Bridwell, started in Seattle with an EP in 2005 and an LP in 2006, wound up in South Carolina -- same vector as Boeing's 787, but Boeing probably got a better tax deal from the move, as well as cheaper labor and quality control nightmares. Sixth studio album. Nice band. B+(*)

Nat Birchall: Afro Trane (2022, Ancient Archive of Sound): British saxophonist (tenor/soprano), first album 1999 but his real string starts around 2009, has embraced Coltrane as thoroughly as anyone in his generation, picking up (to cite two titles) the Cosmic Language and Sacred Dimension, lacking only the intense desire to see how far he can extend the logic. Still, this is hit first title to explicitly cite Trane, appearing after one called Ancient Africa. Third solo album, where he also plays keyboards, bass, and percussion, on three originals (all with "Trane" in the title) and three covers ("Acknowledgement," "India," "Dahomey Dance"). My guess is that he loses a bit of edge in forgoing the band, but the poise and balance pays off big. A-

Kaitlin Butts: What Else Can She Do (2022, self-released): Country singer-songwriter from Oklahoma City, released a single in 2013 ("Tornadoes and Whiskey") and an album in 2014 (Same Hell, Different Devil), then went quiet until more singles in 2019. Second album, barely (7 songs, 31:47). Strong sound and character, gets a bit heavy. B+(*)

Daniel Carter/Evan Strauss/5-Track/Sheridan Riley: The Uproar in Bursts of Sound and Silence (2018-21 [2022], 577): Carter is credited with voice on two tracks, on the third: flute, clarinet, soprano and tenor sax; Strauss plays keyboards, electric and acoustic bass, bass clarinet, and tenor sax; the others guitar and drums. Seems to have been Strauss who put the final tracks together, possibly over several years. B+(***) [cd] [08-25]

Cypress Hill: Back in Black (2022, MNRK): Latino hip-hop group from South Gate, near Los Angeles; a big deal when they appeared in 1991, only their third album since 2004. Haven't they heard that weed is legal, at least in California? B+(**)

Destroyer: Labyrinthitis (2022, Merge): Canadian band, from Vancouver, fronted by Dan Bejar, 13th album since 1996. Seems like they came up with a new rhythmic fascination here, but I never paid them any heed until Kaputt (2011) got so much attention, and noticed little beyond a knack for hooks. Ends with an off-kilter ballad that is pretty nice too. B+(**)

Dubstar: Two (2022, Northern Writes): English electropop group, released three albums 1995-2000, returned with One in 2018. Steve Hillier left in 2014, leaving founder Chris Wilkie and longtime vocalist Sarah Blackwood. B+(*)

Steve Earle & the Dukes: Jerry Jeff (2022, New West): His third tribute over the last decade to the (slightly) older generation of Texas singer-songwriters, outlaws only in the sense that they stayed outside Nashville's commercial norms: Townes (Van Zandt, 2009), Guy (Clark, 2019), and now Walker. None are as satisfying as last year's tribute to his son, J.T., probably because his son was a better writer and a weaker singer. B+(**)

Ebi Soda: Honk If You're Sad (2022, Tru Thoughts): Jazz-funk group from Brighton, UK, nominally a quintet but drummer Sa Schlich-Davies seems to be the only one on all tracks. Free enough to keep you on your toes. Yazz Ahmed (trumpet) is featured guest on one track. B+(*) [sp]

Tord Gustavsen Trio: Opening (2021 [2022], ECM): Norwegian pianist, albums since 1999, fifth trio album, this one with new bassist Steinar Raknes (also electronics) and long-time drummer Jarle Vespestad. Seems to be slowing down here, and when that happens one tends to lose interest. B+(*)

Hatchie: Giving the World Away (2022, Secretly Canadian): Australian singer-songwriter Harriette Pilbeam, second album, some say dream pop, but her bass lines reverberate somewhere between shoegaze and New Order, and she doesn't shy away from the drum machines. B+(**)

Horsegirl: Versions of Modern Performance (2022, Matador): Indie rock band, guitar-bass-drums (Nora Cheng, Penelope Lowenstein, Gigi Reece) from Chicago, first album, got the sound. B+(*)

Christopher Jacob: New Jazz Standards Vol. 5: The Music of Carl Saunders (2021 [2022], Summit): Saunders is a trumpet player, 79, mostly played in big bands (Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Bill Holman, Clare Fischer) and in support of singers (list headed by Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra). This seems to be Jacob's first album -- New Jazz Standards is a label series, with previous volumes by Sam Most, Scott Whitfield, Roger Kellaway, and Larry Koonse -- a trio with Darek Oles (bass) and Joe Labarbera (drums). Nicely done. B+(**) [cd]

Just Mustard: Heart Under (2022, Partisan): Irish band, mild-mannered shoegaze I guess (or metallic trip hop), Katie Ball is the singer, backed by two guitars, bass, and drums. Second album. B+(*) [sp]

Wiz Khalifa/Big K.R.I.T./Smoke DZA/Girl Talk: Full Court Press (2022, Asylum/Taylor Gang): Not exactly a tour de force for the rappers, so the secret ingredient seems to be Gregg Gillis (aka Girl Talk), even though his mix is much more inscrutable than the ones he served up for three superb 2006-10 mash-up albums. A-

Azar Lawrence: New Sky (2021 [2022], Trazar): Tenor saxophonist, recorded three albums for Prestige 1974-76, not much else until 2008, quite a bit since then. B+(*)

Lyle Lovett: 12th of June (2022, Verve): Country singer-songwriter, 12th album since 1986, although this one arrives a full decade after number 11, on a jazz label, with an instrumental written by Horace Silver ("Cookin' at the Continental"). Vocals follow: an offbeat original ("Pants Are Overrated"); three more standards ("Straighten Up and Fly Right"; "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You"; "Peel Me a Grape"); then six more varied originals. B+(**)

Nduduzo Makhathini: In the Spirit of Ntu (2022, Blue Note): South African pianist, ten albums since 2014, this his second for Blue Note. Mostly septet with sax (Linda Sikhakhane), trumpet (Robin Fassie Kock), vibes, bass, drums, and percussion. Guests are a couple of vocalists, and alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, whose big solo is the album's highlight. B+(**)

Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra: In the Valley (2019 [2022], Stricker Street): Bass clarinetist, fifth album since 2012, leads a 9-piece group: 4 reeds, 2 brass, piano, bass, drums. Big band arranging without the extra bombast. B+(*) [cd] [07-01]

Angel Olsen: Big Time (2022, Jagjaguwar): Singer-songwriter based in Asheville, NC; sixth album since 2012. Slow songs, driven home by repetition, like waves seeping into your consciousness. B+(*)

Kelly Lee Owens: LP.8 (2022, Smalltown Supersound): Welsh electronic musicians, sings some, based in London, despite title this seems to be her third album. Interesting mix, but mostly downers. B

Tess Parks: And Those Who Were Seen Dancing (2022, Fuzz Club): Singer-songwriter from Toronto, based in London, fourth album since 2013. Has depth and resonance, with a dark overcast. B+(***)

Sean Paul: Scorcha (2022, Island): Jamaican rapper, dancehall beats, eighth album since 2000. Upbeat toaster, surprised I hadn't played him before. B+(**)

Pkew Pkew Pkew: Open Bar (2022, Dine Alone): Punk band from Toronto, EP in 2013, debut album in 2016. B+(*)

PUP: The Unraveling of PUPTheBand (2022, Rise/BMG): Canadian post-punk band, acronym for Pathetic Use of Potential, same quartet since 2010 (Stefan Babcock singer), fourth album since 2013. Feels more like they're bulking up, but at some point I suppose it's natural to forget whether you're coming or going. B+(**)

Dave Rempis/Joshua Abrams/Avreeayl Ra + Jim Baker: Scylla (2021 [2022], Aerophonic): Chicago saxophonist (alto/tenor/baritone), trio with bass and drums, plus piano/electronics. Starts with gentle mbira, takes its sweet time to develop, ends with the raw power you expect. A- [cd] [07-08]

Alma Russ: Fool's Gold (2022, self-released): Country singer-songwriter, based in western North Carolina, second album. B+(**)

Scalping: Void (2022, Houndstooth): "Bristol techno, noise and hardcore supremos," first album, has vocals ("abstract doom saying") and industrial clatter. B+(**)

Louis Sclavis: Les Cadence Du Monde (2021 [2022], JMS Productions): French clarinetist, several dozen albums since 1981. Quartet with two cellists (Annabelle Luis and Bruno Ducret) plus percussion (Keyvan Chemirani, on zarb and daf). Upbeat, with a fresh Mediterrean air. A- [sp]

Shabaka: Afrikan Culture (2022, Impulse, EP): Last name Hutchings, born in London, parents from Barbados, best known for starring in the groups Sons of Kemet, Shabaka and the Ancestors, and The Comet Is Coming. Short album (8 tracks, 28:22), seems to be solo with percussion (kora, mbira, bells) added to his shakuhachi, clarinet, and bass clarinet. B [sp]

Shamir: Heterosexuality (2022, AntiFragile): Last name Bailey, grew up near Las Vegas, eighth album since 2015. First three songs have something to do with sexual identity. Not my problem B+(*)

Elza Soares: Elza Ao Vivo No Municipal (2022, Deck): Brazilian samba star, many albums since 1960, died in January at 91 (earlier sources gave her birth as 1937, but now we see 1930). This was recorded live, a few days before her death. The songs include one from 1960, another from 1968, but also four from the last decade, which seems to have been one of her strongest. A-

Sonic Liberation Front and the Sonic Liberation Singers: Justice: The Vocal Works of Oliver Lake (2021 [2022], High Two): Deummer Kevin Diehl's group, had a run of extraordinary albums starting in 2000, including a 2016 meeting with saxophonist Lake (Bombogenic). Down to five members here, plus four singers, with Lake credited as "Composer, Arranger Poet." His spoken poetry is striking enough, the multi-part vocals less so, and a sax solo (presumably Elliot Levin) reminds me where his real genius lies. B+(***) [cd] [06-10]

Caroline Spence: True North (2022, Rounder): Folkie singer-songwriter from Charlottesville, Virginia; fifth album since 2015. B+(**)

Carl Stone: Wat Dong Moon Lek (2022, Unseen Worlds): Not-so-minimalist composer, studied with Morton Subotnick, had a rock band called Z'EV, divides his time between Los Angeles and Japan. Strikes me as messy, a pastiche of vocal samples. B

Oded Tzur: Isabela (2021 [2022], ECM): Tenor saxophonist, born in Israel, studied Indian classical music under Hariprasad Chaurasia, based in New York, fourth album, since 2015, second on ECM, quartet with piano (Nital Hershkovits), bass, and drums. An brief "Invocation" and four longer pieces, the sax nicely centered and defined. B+(***)

Eddie Vedder: Earthling (2022, Seattle Surf/Republic): Former Pearl Jam honcho, third or fourth solo album (depending on whether you count a 2021 soundtrack, if not his first in more than a decade). I knew the name, but didn't make the link: Pearl Jam is a band I've never had the sightest interest in, but the sound comes back whole, and this is probably better than their average album. Not that I found any reason to care. B

Anna Von Hausswolff: Live at Montreux Jazz Festival (2018 [2022], Southern Lord): Swedish darkwave singer-songwriter, plays keyboards (especially pipe organ). Albums since 2010. B

Dallas Wayne: Coldwater, Tennessee (2022, Audium/BFD): Country singer-songwriter, from Missouri, albums since 1990, this one produced by Buddy Cannon. Title song is a retread from a 2000 album. Feels like getting old. B+(*)

John Yao's Triceratops: Off-Kilter (2018 [2022], See Tao): Trombonist, mostly based in New York but teaches at Berklee, has some big band experience, fourth album, a freebop quintet with two saxophonists (Billy Drewes and Jon Irabagon), bass, and drums. B+(***) [cd] [06-10]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Albert Ayler Quartet With Don Cherry: European Recordings Autumn 1964 Revisited (1964 [2022], Ezz-Thetics): Leaders play tenor sax and cornet, backed by bass (Gary Peacock) and drums (Sunny Murray), drawing on two sets in Copenhagen, one in Hilversum. B+(***) [bc]

Don Cherry: Where Is Brooklyn? & Eternal Rhythm Revisited (1966-68 [2022], Ezz-Thetics): Two albums that originally appeared in 1969, but were recorded two years apart: the first a blistering American quartet with Pharoah Sanders (tenor sax), Henry Grimes (bass), and Ed Blackwell (drums), a synthesis of the Coleman and Coltrane strands in avant-jazz; the second a mostly European nonet following his move to Sweden -- the only other American present was guitarist Sonny Sharrock, with vibes, gamelan, and bells among the extra percussion. Both have been trimmed slightly to fit on a single CD (79:51). A- [bc]

John Coltrane: Favorites [Naima/My Favorite Things/A Love Supreme] Revisited (1963-65 [2022], Ezz-Thetics): Live Quartet tracks (with McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones): his most famous composition, his most signature standard, and his most inspired album, adding up to 76:24. The latter is the same Antibes performance that has been reissued many times, including as the 2nd disc in the 2002 Deluxe Edition of A Love Supreme. This all strikes me as terribly redundant, but it's hard to complain while listening -- especially the latter, which strikes me as both more faithful and more adventurous than last year's archive find (A Love Supreme: Live in Seattle). A- [bc]

Los Golden Boys: Cumbia De Juventud (1964-69 [2022], Mississippi): Colombian cumbia group, founded 1960, a collection of "12 of the heaviest songs from their golden era," which evidently ends with the 1972 death of guitarist Pedro Jairo. Dates from the nine titles I was able to trace, so could be earlier and/or later. B+(***) [bc]

Old music:

Eddie Bo: Check Mr. Popeye (1959-62 [1988], Rounder): New Orleans pianist-singer, last name Bocage (1930-2009), Wikipedia says he "released more single records than anyone else in New Orleans other than Fats Domino," and he recorded for over 40 labels. But he sure sold a lot less than Domino. While these 14 cut from Ric are enjoyable, they're pretty easy to forget. B+(**)

Maggie Brown: Maggie Brown (2004, Riverwide): Country singer-songwriter, seems to be her only album -- Discogs also lists a 1970 single, but that seems unlikely; other sources get swamped by Oscar Brown Jr.'s daughter, but her discography is also spotty. That leaves me with Thom Jurek's rave review at AMG, where he begs comparison to Lucinda Williams. Seems like there should be more. B+(***)

Alma Russ: Next Town (2020, self-released): First album, started on fiddle and banjo before picking up guitar, has a small voice, takes a little getting used to. B+(*)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Hugo Fernandez: Ozean (Origin) [06-17]
  • Honolulu Jazz Quartet: Straight Ahead: The Honolulu Jazz Quartet Turns 20 (HJQ) [05-20]
  • George Lernis: Between Two Worlds (Dunya) [06-10]
  • Dmitri Matheny: Cascadia (Origin) [06-17]
  • Ben Morris: Pocket Guides (OA2) [06-17]
  • Alexander Smalls: Let Us Break Bread Together (Outside In Music) [06-10]
  • Spanish Harlem Orchestra: Imágenes Latinas (Ovation) [05-20]
  • Grant Stewart Quartet With Bruce Harris: The Lighting of the Lamps (Cellar) [06-17]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Speaking of Which

I started today reading this tweet by John Cardillo:

If we removed every Democrat from politics today we'd be the freest, strongest, safest, healthiest, wealthiest, fastest growing, and most stable powerful nation the world has ever known.

Our cities and the world at large would be peaceful and prosperous.

Leftists are a cancer.

The happiest edit would just be to just swap in "Republicans" for "Democrats" and "fascists" for "leftists," but that's not quite right. If you got rid of all of the Republicans in Congress, you'd still pitched debates over most important issues. You'd still have a long list of legacy problems, which Democrats would approach with different plans and urgencies, but at least most Democrats are able to admit when a problem exists, and to entertain the possibility of different solutions. Still, few Democrats would make that edit. All democracies have legitimate opposition parties. Wanting to purge one is an attack not just on that party but on democracy itself.

Still, it's hard to see how this Republican omnipotence could work. First, how could you arrive at it other than by excluding most of the people Republicans hate? Then wouldn't you have to convince the people you've excluded to not resist, either by resigning themselves to be ruled over by people who hate them, or by incarcerating or killing them.

Then there's the matter of whether Republican policies, given a free hand to implement them, actually do the things the tweet claims. For instance, if more guns made us safer, wouldn't the US already be the safest country in the world by now? Republicans are opposed to pretty much any reform of the private health care system, which is unique in the world and a long ways from making us the healthiest nation. And we've seen repeatedly that economic growth increases when Democrats have more power, not less. Maybe there's some wiggle room Republicans can claim definitions of "freest" and "strongest," but I can think of lots of ways we are neither. Conservatives tend to view life as a zero-sum game, so they expect their freedom, wealth, etc., to come at someone else's expense. And while you may expect that the superlatives touted in the first line should apply to everyone, conservatives only care for peak values, as their primary concern is social hierarchy.

I also don't get the cancer analogy. Despite my quip above, I don't see fascism as a cancer either. Cancer is a disease that eats you out from the inside. Racism is more like a cancer. Inequality too. Capitalism can be like a cancer if you don't keep it in check. One could say the same thing of bureaucratic government. But isn't fascism an external attack on the body, like bedbugs or bubonic plague? Sure, the left has on occasion tried to lead revolutions against entrenched orders that ruled through violent repression, but self-identified socialists have mostly been mild reformers -- and these days there is hardly other kind. The term simply means that we value an equitable society above the individual pursuit of wealth and power. (Republicans like to condemn the much broader class of all Democrats as socialists, by which time the term has lost all meaning. The term seems to have some cachet given their past success with red-baiting.)

But I suppose there is one reason conservatives may view socialism as cancerous rather than simply an external threat: socialists insist that it is possible to change social and economic relations, and that idea is corrosive to the principle that social hierarchy is natural and necessary to good order. As with religious dogmas, the first instinct is not to reason with them but to stamp them out. Further proof of this is how right-wingers have increasingly attacked reason and science to keep their followers from doubting their orders.

Maggie Astor: [05-31] Trump Policies Sent US Tumbling in a Climate Ranking: As you may recall, The Trump Administration Rolled Back More Than 100 Environmental Rules. The full impact of those changes accrues over much longer timespans, and in many cases may be irreversible. This includes some (but not all) of what amounted to a war against the very idea of climate change, and the science behind it. Trump also sent a powerful message to the rest of the world not to take climate change seriously, so although the US fell more than most nations in this ranking, the effect extended far beyond US boundaries (as should be expected, given that air flow is global). Economics recognizes what are called opportunity costs: losses that are incurred indirectly, when comparing how resources could have been used better than they were. Especially in the climate domain, it is likely that opportunity costs will swamp the actual damage Trump caused (which is itself a huge burden). For a primer on opportunity costs, see John Quiggin's book Economics in Two Lessons: Why Markets Work So Well, and Why They Can Fail So Badly -- the title refers to Henry Hazlitt's famous Economics in One Lesson, the second lesson that Hazlitt missed being the impact of opportunity costs. Speaking of Quiggin, relevant here is his post on Climate change after the pandemic. Also on climate change:

Ross Barkan: [06-01] The War in Ukraine Can Be Over If the US Wants It: It must have seemed deliciously ironic to start this piece with two nonogenarians from opposite ends of the political spectrum agreeing on the most eminently practical path to ending the war: in particular, the need to give Putin a face-saving exit path, by ceding Ukrainian claims to Donbas and Crimea (preferably with some sort of referendum that makes the concessions look like self-determination -- Zelensky and Biden also need a face-saving exit path). Many observers, including Anatol Lieven and Fred Kaplan, have settled on this basic compromise, as I have myself. Barkan's additional point here is also right: US arms and economic support for Ukraine should be tied to a desire and willingness to negotiate an end to the war. "Diplomacy is not appeasement. It is the only way out."

Philip Bump: [05-31] What if -- and bear with me here -- John Durham doesn't have the goods? Bump also wrote [06-01] A brief history of failed efforts to make Trump the Russia probe's victim. The special counsel has been investigating the tip that led the FBI to look at possible collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia about twice as long as Robert Mueller took to investigate Russia's electioneering, the various actual contacts made between Trump's people and various Russians, and the sundry attempts to cover up what did or did not happen, during which time he not only wrote a report but also obtained dozens of indictments and a fair number of convictions (many subsequently pardoned by Trump). Durham has brought one charge against a former Clinton lawyer, Michael Sussmann, who was acquitted last week. Bump may be giving Durham more credit than he deserves, but does a good job of summing up I'd be more tempted to describe as Bill Barr's parting effort to piss on the incoming Biden administration. (One thing Republicans understand is how much fun you can have investigating the opposition, which is also why they've fought efforts to investigate them, from Mueller to the Jan. 6 committee, so doggedly.) Of course, the story doesn't end with Durham's failures. He did what he was supposed to do, which is to generate some flak that will be taken as gospel by whoever still has an axe to grind over "the Russiagate hoax" -- Trump-lovers, sure, but especially Hillary-haters. For example, see Peter Van Buren: [05-30] Hillary Was In on Russiagate. Matt Taibbi probably has a whole file on this theme.

I've been pretty critical of Hillary, but don't have the interest or inclination to be a hater. I don't doubt the fact of Russian interference in the 2016 election. I think it was a dumb move on Putin's part, but he was probably right that Hillary would be more aggressive in sanctioning and marginalizing Russia. (She was, after all, Secretary of State under Obama when US Russia policy started to change.) He was also right that Trump's vanity, bigotry, and corruption could be played, but didn't get much out of it, given that Trump never cared enough to wrestle foreign policy from the neocons who've dominated it the last 20-30 years. (He might have had a better chance had he managed to keep Bannon and Flynn, who were among the Blob's first victims in his advisers.) But he was wrong in thinking nobody would notice or care. When Trump won, Clinton's fan club rushed to distribute blame elsewhere, and Putin was the easiest possible villain. Too easy.

I've resisted the "Russiagate" tide since its inception, not because I thought it was a hoax, but because it fed into two degenerate trends. First, it distracted from looking at other reasons Clinton lost, most importantly the piss-poor record New Democrats -- including Obama, who stocked his administration with so many he might as well have been a charter member -- had accumulated. And second, because it made conflict and possibly war with Russia much more likely (QED Ukraine). Also:

Kate Kelly/David D Kirkpatrick: House Panel Examining Jared Kushner Over Saudi Investment in New Firm: This kind of corruption was what I expected them to start investigating after the 2018 wins, and step up as new stories of payback and payouts emerge. We're talking $2 billion here, you know.

John E King: [05-28] Joan Robinson Changed the Way We Think About Capitalism. Profile of the path-breaking economist (1903-83), who collaborated with Keynes while keeping alive a connection to Marx, argues her "creative and heterodox thinking has much to offer us."

Sarah Jones: [06-04] White Christian Nationalism 'Is a Fundamental Threat to Democracy': Interview with Philip S Gorski and Samuel L Perry, authors of The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy. Chris Hedges covered much of this same ground in his 2007 book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, although as a minister Hedges is more insistent on separating religion from fascism. I'm sympathetic to his position, but not committed: it seems to me that "white Christian nationalists" are fascists first and foremost, their religion not so much telling them what to do as reassuring them that their prejudices are right and just, that they are impervious to critics, who are by definition not just wrong but evil. Jones also wrote: [06-03] Little Martyrs: A nihilistic religion worships the gun.

Júlia Ledur/Kate Rabinowitz: [06-02] There have been over 200 mass shootings so far in 2022. The actual number in the article is 232, which is actually down a bit from 240 at this point in 2021, but way above any previous year (155 in 2020). The killing of four people in Tulsa was the 20th since the much more publicized killing of 19 children an two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. I get the problem, and would like to see something done about it, but I don't see how Biden urges Congress to act on guns in rare prime-time address helps politically. It just reinforces the Democrats want to take your guns away and leave you defenseless as they take over the country and brainwash everyone to adopt their wokeness -- never mind that that's not even remotely in the cards, let alone that it doesn't make any fucking sense. Guns and crime (and make no mistake: guns are a big part of the crime problem) are a problem, but not a top-five, maybe not a top-ten problem (just off the top of my head: inequality, war, climate, political corruption, pollution, racism, personal debt, bad health care, bad education, crumbling infrastructure, rampant fraud and deceit, disinformation (maybe move that one up), worker powerlessness (maybe move that one up, too), the imminent loss of the right to birth control, whatever the term is for the fact that one political party has totally lost its grip on reality. Of course, these problems all intersect, and guns makes many of them worse: the Buffalo shooting was white supremacy, the Tulsa one was about health care, I don't know what Uvalde was about (beyond blood lust; you could say mental illness, but it would be easier to get rid of the guns). More on guns, shootings, etc.:

Alexander Sammon: [06-02] Why Are Police So Bad at Their Jobs? "It's not just Uvalde. Cops nationwide can't stop crimes from happening or solve them once they've occurred." Seems like a good question, although the answer is unlikely to be obvious or simple -- and once that touches on many interests and prejudices. I'm less bothered by "can't stop crimes from happening" -- not a job anyone can reliably do -- than "solve them once they've occurred" (maybe we're too hooked on the brilliant sleuths of tv?). But just for an example, following a near-dozen shootings here in Wichita over Memorial Day weekend, the police chief was arguing for more money to pay more overtime to put more police on the streets. How can that possibly result in less gunplay? Back when a few people started talking about "defund the police," they actually had some serious ideas about employing other people to address a broader number of social problems, instead of dumping all those cases on police to sort out. But few people heard those ideas. The more common reaction was to superfund the police, giving them more tools of war. Uvalde is likely to wind up as a case example of how that kind of thinking fails. [PS: See Alex Pareene: [06-02] What Do Cops Do?] Sammon also wrote: The RNC's Ground Game of Inches: "Inside the secretive, dubious, and extremely offline attempt to convert minorities into Republicans." Once you've decided the key to successful campaigns is trickery, never miss one." Also on the Republican ground game, Charles P Pierce: [06-01] They're Ratf*cking at Every Level. They're Ratf*cking in Every Direction. Also [06-02] Republicans Have Secured Their Gerryanders Through a War of Institutioal Attrition. Also, a reminder of what happens when they cheat their way into power: [06-02] You'll Be Shocked to Learn Trump's Social Security Bigwigs Immiserated Poor and Disabled People.

Jeffrey St Clair: [06-03] Roaming Charges: Tears of Rage, Tears of Grief. Quotes a David Axelrod tweet on how "The inexplicable, heart-wrenching delay in Uvalde underscores the indispensable role of police." St Clair adds: "Every police atrocity -- either by actions (Floyd, Taylor, Brown), negligence or incompetence -- will inevitably be used as a justification for more police power." He also quotes Brendan Behan: "I have never seen a situation so dismal that a policeman couldn't make it worse."

Emily Stewart: [06-02] Might I suggest not listening to famous people about money? Why, indeed, listen to celebrities about anything they're obviously being paid to endorse?

David Wight: [05-31] How the Nixon Doctrine blew up the Persian Gulf, undermined US security: He's specifically referring to the bit where Nixon and Kissinger decided to recruit regional powers with the latest US weapons, thinking they might provide a proxy barrier against the Soviet Union after the American fiasco in Vietnam. Two main recruits were Iran (still under the once-pliant but then megalomaniacal Shah) and Saudi Arabia (just starting its campaign to spread Wahhabism to would-be Jihadis). What could go wrong? What didn't? Both undertook their own agendas, which after the revolution in 1979 clashed. Iran has ever since been regarded as a hopeless enemy, although the Saudis and their followers have actually done more material damage to the US. The obvious lesson is that the US always thinks it can control its proxies, but never can. The most wayward offender is Israel, which not only enjoys carte blanche from America, but actively undermines the American political sphere.

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Monday, May 30, 2022

Music Week

May archive (finished).

Music: Current count 38015 [37953] rated (+62), 107 [114] unrated (-7).

After finishing last week with a mere 28 newly rated records, I ventured that "it is possible, but not quite probable, that I will pass 38,000 next week." It turns out I did so easily, with the highest new rating count in recent memory. I spent a fair amount of time last week bringing my metacritic file up to date, so the easiest thing to do was to pick off unheard albums from the upper reaches of the list.

I don't have a cached copy of last week's list, but working from this week's reviews I picked up (sorted by current rank; i.e., at the moment of writing): Kurt Vile (40), Sunflower Bean (50), Warpaint (51), Anaďs Mitchell (57), Kevin Morby (59), Porridge Radio (60), Sasami (62), Sea Power (63), Aurora (66), Ethel Cain (67), Tomerlin (73), Gang of Youths (80), Johnny Marr (84), Daniel Rossen (87), Bastille (105), Metronomy (119), Soul Glo (126), Che Noir (160), Max Cooper (194). Needless to say, I didn't spend a lot of time on these (although Vile and Cooper were pleasant surprises; the lower grades would probably sink even lower with more exposure). Ranked (top 200) late-May releases omitted above: Harry Styles (39), Craig Finn (114), Wilco (155), Mxmtoon (180). Tate McRae is (211), and Van Morrison is unranked (my 1 point will put him on the list, but thus far I've only added my points to albums on the list for other reasons).

That leave as my top-ranked unheard releases: Just Mustard (54: 05-27, playing now), Band of Horses (92), Destroyer (97), Boris (108), Eels (112), Everything Everything (113), Pup (121), Shamir (124), Eddie Vedder (129), Blossoms (132), Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard (133), Grace Cummings (136), Empath (138), Hatchie (141), Melt Yourself Down (142), Midlake (143), The Mysterines (145), Pillow Queens (148), The Regrettes (149), Voivod (153), Orlando Weeks (154), Bloc Party (157), Camp Cope (158), Cave In (159), Crows (162), Liam Gallagher (170), Ghost (171) Kathryn Joseph (176) Lykke Li (178), and most records from (181: Rammstein) on down. Scanning that list, the only ones (besides Just Mustard, which is sounding like a low B+) I'm likely to hit next week are Pup and Shamir (well, maybe Hatchie and/or Everything Everything).

I'm rather pleased with the range of this week's A- records. Also that I took a bite out of the unrated list, and that three of them turned out to be so good (if in totally different ways). I'd really like to cut the list way down, but it's proving difficult to even find the remaining albums. Daunting boxes are a lesser problem, as they'll take a big chunk of time: Richard Pryor (9CD), Frank Sinatra (14CD, but mostly albums I've already graded), Neil Young (10CD), plus another half-dozen in the 3-4CD range. On the other hand, about half of what's left I'd just as soon forget I have.

Highly recommended music history link: Phil Overeem's "Groundbreaking Women in U.S. Music: A History in 150 [or so] Albums": Greatest Hits From Two Essay Assignments.

With five weeks in May, I've added 241 records to the ratings database. See link up top for the monthly archive. I've done the indexing, but haven't yet added the Music Week introductions.

I published a rather rushed Speaking of Which yesterday. Some extra links I would have included had I known of them:

I also wanted to beat Bill Scher: [05-16] The Deeply Flawed Narrative That Joe Biden Bought with a heavy stick. The notion that Obama was a master of practical politics is little short of risible, but using that flimsiest of arguments as a cudgeon against Biden for having attempted (and, thus far, mostly failed) something more ambitious is sinister. Many of the people who think that Obama's star has dimmed (even ones who personally admire him) do so because we realize that his legacy of failure left us with a nation that was willing to give Donald Trump a try. I wish Biden was better able to overcome the damage that Trump (and others, of both parties) did, but it's hard to see how slamming Biden for being too ambitious helps. I also wanted to take a look at another piece of less-than-friendly advice for Democrats, from Matthew Yglesias: [04-14] Moderate Democrats should be popularists. Also saying something similar is Ezra Klein: [05-29] What America Needs Is a Liberalism That Builds. Often these days one gets the impression that the only thing "moderate" Democrats want to do is to chastise us for wanting government to actually do things that help the people who they depend on for votes.

New records reviewed this week:

Oren Ambarchi/Johan Berthling/Andreas Werliin: Ghosted (2018 [2022], Drag City): Australian experimental musician, mostly plays guitar and drums, many albums since 2008 (Discogs lists 83). The others are Swedish, play bass and drums, also play in jazz groups Angles and Fire! Orchestra (Berthling has much the longer resumé, with over 100 album credits). Four pieces, compelling bass lines with improvised guitar flares, very attractive. A-

Aurora: The Gods We Can Touch (2022, Glassnote): Norwegian singer-songwriter, last name Aksnes, third album, has an ethereal vibe that floats away from nominal electropop. B

Bastille: Give Me the Future (2022, Virgin/EMI): British indie band, fourth album. Blah blah blah. B

Bright Dog Red: Under the Porch (2022, Ropeadope): Improvising collective from Albany, founded and led by drummer Joe Pignato, fifth album since 2018, personnel varies but Eric Person (sax/flute) and Tyreek Jackson (guitar) have been on last three, plus this time Matt Coonan (rapper), a second saxophonist (Mike LaBombard), Cody Davies ("sounds"), and various bassists. B+(*)

Bruch: The Fool (2020, Cut Surface/Trost): Austrian singer-songwriter Philipp Hanich, fourth album, plays his own guitar, synthesizer, sampler, and drums, has additional vocals on two tracks. Songs in English, voice and demeanor about midway between Craig Finn and Stephin Merritt. Thus far I'm less taken by his songwriting, but that hardly matters when he cranks the guitar up. B+(***) [bc]

Chris Byars: Rhythm and Blues of the 20s (2022, SteepleChase): Tenor saxophonist, a retro-bop guy much as Scott Hamilton is retro-swing, but for once looks a bit farther back, but it's sometimes hard to tell with original compositions. Sextet with Zaid Nasser (alto sax), Stefano Doglioni (bass clarinet), John Mosca (trombone), bass, and drums. B+(**)

Ethel Cain: Preacher's Daughter (2022, Daughters of Cain): Singer-songwriter from Tallahassee, Florida; original name Hayden Silas Anhedönia, father was a Southern Baptist deacon, she sang in choir, came out first as gay then as transgender, left the church but carries lots of baggage, and churns up a lot of drama. B+(*)

Che Noir: Food for Thought (2022, TCF Music Group): Buffalo-based rapper, several albums since 2016, including a duo with Apollo Brown. B+(***) [sp]

Rachel Chinouriri: Better Off Without (2022, Parlophone/Atlas, EP): Pop singer-songwriter, born in London, parents from Zimbabwe, young enough she lists Lily Allen as an influence. Third EP, 4 songs plotting a break-up over 13:00. B+(*)

Max Cooper: Unspoken Words (2022, Mesh): From Belfast in Northern Island, got a PhD in computational biology while working as a DJ in a local techno club. Pursued the latter as a career, producing seven albums since 2014. Uses some word samples, but mostly beats -- which are superb when not complicated by avalanches of sound. B+(***)

Bryan Ferry: Love Letters (2022, BMG, EP): Four covers, 14:19: "Love Letters," "I Just Don't Know What to Do," "Fooled Around and Fellin Love," "The Very Thought of You." Not as daring as his early covers, but as poignant as age demands. B+(*)

Craig Finn: A Legacy of Rentals (2022, Positive Jams): Singer-songwriter, leads the Hold Steady and has run five solo albums on the side. A peerless storyteller, an ear for characters, pays a lot of attention to women. A fine voice, as musical talking as singing. A-

David Friend & Jerome Begin: Post- (2022, New Amsterdam): Begin composed, Friend plays piano, Begin processed through live electronics ("breaking the bounds of traditional solo piano music"). B+(*)

Gang of Youths: Angel in Realtime (2022, Warner): Australian rock group, from Sydney, fourth album, fairly diverse, with singer David Le'aupepe "of Samoan and Austrian-Jewish descent," lead guitarist Korean-American, and others from Britain, New Zealand, and Poland. Still strike me as a rather mainstream group, albeit a rather adept one. B+(*)

Keith Hall: Made in Kalamazoo: Trios and Duos (2019 [2022], Zoom Out): Drummer, opens with a tribute to Billy Hart, then seven trio pieces -- with Andrew Rathbun (tenor/soprano sax, bass clarinet, electroniccs) and Robert Hurst III (bass), an interlude, a set of duos with Rathbun, and a final piece for Max Roach. B+(***) [cd] [06-24]

Amanda Irarrázabal/Miriam van Boer Salmón: Fauces (2019 [2022], 577): Chilean bassist, several albums since 2012, duo with violin, a bit hard to get into. B [cd] [07-15]

Milen Kirov: Spatium (2019 [2022], Independent Creative Sound and Music): Pianist, from Bulgaria, came to US to study at University of Nevada, currently based in Los Angeles. Seems to be his first album, solo, runs over 77 minutes. B+(*) [cd] [06-05]

MJ Lenderman: Boat Songs (2022, Dear Life): Singer-songwriter from Asheville, North Carolina; second album. Aside from a little twang, I don't hear the country, but I do hear some Pavement. B+(**)

Johnny Marr: Fever Dreams Pts 1-4 (2021-22 [2022], BMG): Former member of the Smiths (1984-87), the The (1989-92), Electronic (1991-99), Modest Mouse (2007-09), the Cribs (2009), 7 Worlds Collide (2001-09), fifth album as leader. Or maybe it should be treated as a compilation, as it picks up three recent 4-song EPs, adding a fourth. Lots of solid, catchy rockers. B+(*)

Tate McRae: I Used to Think I Could Fly (2022, RCA): Canadian pop singer-songwriter, 18, first album after two EPs and who knows how much else -- Wikipedia credits her "years active" a starting in 2011, and divides her "Life and career" into five periods. I'm not quite blown away, but "You're So [Fucking] Cool" comes close. B+(***)

Metronomy: Small World (2022, Because Music): English electropop group, principally Joseph Mount, seventh album since 2006. B+(**)

Anaďs Mitchell: Anaďs Mitchell (2022, BMG): Folkie singer-songwriter, eighth album since 2002, not counting the folk supergroup Bonny Light Horseman (2020). Nice album. B+(**)

Billy Mohler: Anatomy (2021 [2022], Contagious Music): Bassist, second album, freewheeling quartet with two horns -- trumpet (Shane Endsley) and tenor sax (Chris Speed) -- plus drums (Nate Wood). A- [cd] [06-10]

Kevin Morby: This Is a Photograph (2022, Dead Oceans): American singer-songwriter, born in Lubbock but not particularly attuned to the Flatlanders (or anything country). Still has some song sense, citing Lou Reed as well as Bob Dylan among inspirations. B+(*)

Van Morrison: What's It Gonna Take? (2022, Exile): More prolific longer than any of his generational cohort, this is his 43rd studio album (vs. 41 for Neil Young, way ahead if you count live albums). He still has his voice, and a band that can play his trademark skiffle/swing. But it's got to be a bad sign when the first review offered by Google is from National Review. I wasn't curious enough to look there, but the first review I did look at summed it up: "the Belfast Blowhard continues to rant like your drunk redneck uncle." Actually, he's a lot more coherent than my late Uncle James ever was. Many isolated lines make sense to me, and a few I find amusing. Samples: "government keeps on lying/ everyone is just sad"; or "sometimes you can't have any pleasure/ sometimes it's just so ridiculous"; or "watching morons on TV"; or "this is just my opinion." And if you can tune out the rest, the music is warm and affirming, if not exceptionally so. B+(*)

Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge: Jazz Is Dead 011 (2022, Jazz Is Dead): Hip-hop producers, started this series a couple years ago, with most volumes featuring a notable (still living, but rarely still famous) 1970s figure. This one runs the gamut, with 8 tracks (36:26): Henry Franklin, Lonnie Liston Smith/Loren Oden, Phil Ranelin/Wendell Harrison, Katalyst, Jean Carne, Tony Allen, Garnett Saracho, The Midnight Hour. B+(*) [sp]

Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge: Jazz Is Dead 012: Jean Carne (2022, Jazz Is Dead, EP): Originally Sarah Jean Perkins, married 1970s jazz pianist Doug Carn, sang on his records then went solo, moving on to disco. Not sure when she picked up the 'e' (maybe when she dropped the husband). She plays along with the producers' slick grooves. Back to EP length (7 tracks, 24:36). B+(*) [bc]

Mxmtoon: Rising (2022, AWAL): Singer-songwriter from Oakland, based in New York, second album after a much-streamed 2018 EP. A very chipper pop album, with more than a little capacity for reflection. My favorite song here is about growing up: "Everything's gonna get better/ everything's gonna get worse/ when it gets hard, remember that's the way it always works." But that's hardly the only one. A-

Jason Palmer: Con Alma (2022, SteepleChase): Trumpet player, over a dozen albums since 2014. Quartet with Leo Genovese (keyboards), Joe Martin (bass), and Kendrick Scott (drums). B+(**)

Porridge Radio: Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky (2022, Secretly Canadian): British indie band, led by Dana Margolin (vocals/guitar), with keyboard (Georgie Scott) prominent in the mix. Albums since 2012, second one on a label I recognize. B+(*)

Potsa Lotsa XL & Youjin Sung: Gaya (2021 [2022], Trouble in the East): German alto saxophonist Silke Eberhard's band in its 10-piece ("XL") configuration, with gayageum (a plucked Korean zither) player Sung. B+(*) [bc]

Daniel Rossen: You Belong There (2022, Warp): Singer-songwriter, guitarist from Grizzly Bear, first solo album. B-

Sasami: Squeeze (2022, Domino): Singer-songwriter Sasami Ashworth, from Los Angeles, formerly played in Cherry Glazerr, second album, riding on hard beats and a bit of noise. B+(**)

J. Peter Schwalm & Stephan Thelen: Transneptunian Planets (2020-21 [2022], RareNoise): Synthesizers and guitars, lineup also includes Eivind Aarset (guitars), bass guitar, drums, and voice samples. Well equipped for their extraterrestrial ventures. B+(**) [cdr] [06-03]

Sea Power: Everything Was Forever (2022, Golden Chariot): British group, long known as British Sea Power -- not without a bit of irony, as their 2003 debut was The Decline of British Sea Power -- but this time decided to distance further from "a rise in a certain kind of nationalism in this world -- an isolationist, antagonistic nationalism." B

Soul Glo: Diaspora Problems (2022, Epitaph): Hardcore band from Philadelphia, or "post-hardcore," or (more descriptively) "screamo." Mostly black, including screamer Pierce Jordan (exception is the white drummer), which I only mention because I'm confused by the group name. Otherwise, the only thing "post-" about them is that they've doubled down on the intensity. B+(*)

Harry Styles: Harry's House (2022, Columbia): English pop star, started on X Factor, joined boy band One Direction, has done some acting and hosted Saturday Night Live, third solo album, all bestsellers. Not bad, but only "Love of My Life" stuck with me. B

Sunflower Bean: Headful of Sugar (2022, Mom + Pop): New York indie band, fronted by singer-bassist Julia Cumming, with Nick Kivlen (guitar) and Olive Faber (drums). B+(**)

Tomberlin: I Don't Know Who Needs to Hear This . . . (2022, Saddle Creek): Singer-songwriter, goes by last name, dropping Sarah Beth. Father was a Baptist preacher. Second album. Delicate songs, helped by occasional shows of strength. B+(*)

Kurt Vile: (Watch My Moves) (2022, Verve Forecast): Singer-songwriter from Pennsylvania, actual name, ninth album since 2008's Constant Hitmaker, which is something he's never been (although he started enjoying modest success with 2013's Wakin on a Pretty Daze). Recorded this leisurely at home but with a band, eventually accumulating 15 songs (73:44). B+(***)

Warpaint: Radiate Like This (2022, Virgin): Indie band from Los Angeles, four women, three lead vocalists, fourth album since 2010. Dream pop, fades fast. B+(*)

Wilco: Cruel Country (2022, dBpm): A likable group led by likable Jeff Tweedy, churning out albums since 1995, this 12th one extra long at 77:04. Not as country-ish as the title suggests, but you can also read it as political: "I love my country like a little boy/ I love my country cruel and stupid/ All you have to do is sing in the choir." In another song, he adds "we'd rather kill than compromise" -- not specifically about Ukraine, but the shoe fits. B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Jim Black: My Choice (2000-13 [2021], Winter & Winter): Drummer, originally from Seattle, studied at Berklee, based in Brooklyn and/or Berlin, many notable side credits since 1993 (when he appeared on Robert Dick's Third Stone From the Sun), most notably with Tim Berne and Ellery Eskelin. Led the quartet AlasNoAxis -- Chris Speed (tenor sax/clarinet), Hilmar Jensson (guitar), Skúli Sverrisson (bass guitar) -- through the six albums selected from here. Fusion instrumentation, but much more slippery. B+(**)

Peter Brötzmann/Fred Van Hove/Han Bennink: Jazz in Der Kammer Nr. 71: Deutsches Theater/Berlin/GDR/04/11/1974 (1974 [2022], Trost): Classic free jazz trio: tenor sax/clarinet, piano, and percussion. Piano is often dazzling, but the sax can rub you raw. B+(***) [bc]

Koichi Matsukaze Trio Featuring Ryojiro Furusawa: At the Room 427 (1975 [2022], BBE): Japanese saxophonist, plays alto and tenor, leads a trio with Koichi Yamazaki (bass) and Furusawa (drums), the 9th album in the label's J Jazz Masterclass Series, originally released in 1976 on ALM. Exceptional freebop. A- [bc]

Ephat Mujuru & the Spirit of the People: Mbavaira (1983 [2021], Awesome Tapes From Africa, EP): Mbira master from Zimbabwe (1950-2001), a Shona, left a handful of recordings, of which this short one (4 tracks, 22:57 is relatively early). B+(*) [bc]

Papé Nziengui: Kadi Yombo (1989 [2022], Awesome Tapes From Africa): From Gabon, sings and plays ngombi (harp) and nkendo (bells), with others on guitar, keyboards, ngomo (drum), and backing vocals. B+(***) [bc]

Sonic Youth: In/Out/In (2000-10 [2022], Three Lobed): Five previously unreleased recordings, mostly instrumental, totalling 44:45. Nothing special, but does a good job of presenting their sound, which is what they've always been most about. B+(**)

Norma Tanega: I'm the Sky: Studio and Demo Recordings 1964-1971 (1964-71 [2022], Anthology): Singer-songwriter, had a minor hit in 1966 ("Walkin' My Cat Named Dog"), turned that into an album, released another in 1971, turned to art later but was involved in several more music projects from the 1990s, died in 2019 (80). This collects the two albums and miscellaneous tracks. I find it grows tedious, but I do like the single. B-

They Shall Not Pass/No Pasaran! [Trost Live Series] (2007-22 [2022], Trost): Austrian free jazz label, decided they wanted to do a Ukraine benefit album, so they solicited live tracks from their roster: the ones I'm most familiar with are Schlippenbach, Full Blast [Brötzmann], Leandre, Amado, Vandermark, The Thing, Jim O'Rourke, with others (Bruch is the most surprising, possibly because it's rock) adding up to 18 tracks (126:31). Title refers to a Spanish Civil War slogan. Proceeds go to a Ukrainian artist collective Vandermark vouched for. Mixed bag, but interesting. B+(*) [bc]

Old music:

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (1955-2001 [2003], ATO): Soundtrack to a documentary, which doubles as a sweeping musical history of the South African struggle against Apartheid, with 29 short tracks. Miriam Makeba highlights, Abdullah Ibrahim provides the connecting background, and various choirs form the backbone. The latter isn't my favorite bit, but provides critical mass for the film. B+(**) [cd]

Milton Brown and the Musical Brownies: The Complete Recordings of the Father of Western Swing 1932-1937 (1932-37 [1995], Texas Rose, 5CD): Early Western Swing bandleader and vocalist, started in 1930 when he joined Bob Wills and Herman Arnsparger in the Wills Fiddle Band. In 1931 he joined W. Lee O'Daniel's Light Crust Doughboys, which had a regular radio gig, but Brown wanted to play dances, and to be paid, so he left to form his own band. He died in 1936 after a car accident, leaving a bunch of recordings that were released through 1937. Best known musicians in the group were Bob Dunn (steel guitar) and Cliff Bruner (fiddle), who went on to form the Texas Wanderers (with Moon Mullican). Wills soon followed with his Texas Playboys in 1934, and is best remembered today, but Brown was the real deal. A single-disc selection would be welcome, but owning it all lets you play random discs, with equal pleasure. Nice booklet. A- [cd]

Chris Byars: Jasmine Flower (2013, SteepleChase): Perhaps the most impressive of the young bop-oriented musicians featured on Luke Kaven's short-lived Smalls label, the saxophonist (here playing alto) found a later home on this Danish label, not that it's made him better known. Fifth album here (only the 2nd I've managed to find, after his Lucky Thompson tribute from 2011), mostly quintet with Stefano Doglioni (bass clarinet), John Mosca (trombone), Ari Roland (bass), and Phil Stewart (drums), plus James Bryars (English horn) on five cuts, piano on one. B+(**) [sp]

Chris Byars: The Music of Duke Jordan (2014, SteepleChase): Jordan was a bebop pianist from New York, played in Charlie Parker's 1947-48 quintet (with Miles Davis), married one of the great jazz singers of all time (Sheila took his name, but didn't have much of a career until after they divorced in 1962), recorded a couple dozen albums for the Danish label SteepleChase from 1973. Includes one vocal track with Yaala Ballin, and one piano solo by Mine Sadrazam. B+(***) [sp]

Chris Byars: A Hundred Years From Today (2017 [2019], SteepleChase): Sextet album I missed from a couple years back, same group as the new one, similar formula even though the titles are a couple centuries apart. Original pieces, written to honor old (but unnamed, as far as I can tell) masters. B+(***) [sp]

John Clark: I Will (1996 [1997], Postcards): French horn player, mostly played in big bands (Gil Evans, Carla Bley, Mike Gibbs, McCoy Tyner, George Russell, Bob Mintzer), led four albums 1980-97. Various front lines here, mostly anchored by Pete Levin (keyboards), Mike Richmond (bass), and Bruce Ditmas (drums). Deep into his horn, even while constructing elaborate framing. B+(**) [bc]

Tony Conrad With Faust: Outside the Dream Syndicate [30th Anniversary Edition] (1972 [2002], Table of the Elements, 2CD): Dabbled in lots of things, what we'd call multimedia now, including minimalist composition and/or drone music. In the 1960s he was part of the Theatre of Eternal Music (aka The Dream Syndicate), where he played violin along with La Monte Young and John Cale (whose viola bled into the Velvet Underground). The original LP had two side-long pieces (53:36 total), which fit on the first CD here. The 1993 CD added a third piece (edited down to 20:04), The second CD here offers a complete version (31:09) plus a couple of short pieces (6:54). The music is basically staunch beat and Velvet Underground drone, toned down to dark ambient. Comes in a small box with a nice booklet, plus a larger catalog of the label's other products: a useful overview of the whole scene. Conrad plays violin, with the krautrock group adding guitar/keybs, bass, and drums. A- [cd]

Jars of Clay: The Essential Jars of Clay (1995-2006 [2007], Essential/Legacy, 2CD): Christian rock group from Nashville, 12 studio albums to present, 7 up to when this compilation appeared. There is probably no genre I've avoided more assiduously (classical, metal, and new age included), so this could have spent more than 15 years on my unplayed shelf but for a housekeeping urge. Not that I'm inclined to reject professions of Christianity in country, blues, soul, or hip-hop, but making it your identity suggests a lack of worldly inspiration, or perhaps a cynical marketing tactic. Still, fairly innocuous. C+ [cd]

Jit -- The Movie (1991, Earthworks): Six songs from the movie, and six more for good measure, an exemplary compilation from Zimbabwe bypassing Thomas Mapfumo: Oliver Mutukudzi gets four (of 12) songs, John Chibadura and Robson Banda are also included. No song dates I can see, but the last song is by Tobias Areketa, who died in 1990. A- [cd]

The Mercenaries: Locks, Looks and Hooks (2006, Melted Vinyl): American rock band, first of nine by this name listed in Discogs (plus at least 12 article-less Mercenaries). This one released 5 albums 2001-09, of which this is number four. Actually, fairly good, not that anyone cares anymore. B+(*) [cd]

Mxmtoon: The Masquerade (2019, House Arrest): She identifies as "a young bisexual woman of color from a family of immigrants," the "color" coming from her Chinese-American mother (as opposed to her German-Scottish father). She started making YouTube videos at 17, self-released this debut album at 19, a batch of clever lo-fi tunes. [PS: Didn't bother with the acoustic versions, which on the digital are presented as CD2.] B+(*)

Mxmtoon: Dawn & Dusk (2020, AWAL): Combines two EPs (7 songs each, 20:40 + 22:44), so not technically her second album, but marks a transition to better production. Sample lyric: "everybody needs a different point of view." B+(**) [sp]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Tom Collier: The Color of Wood (Summit) [04-01]
  • Christopher Jacob: New Jazz Standards Vol. 5: The Music of Carl Saunders (Summit) [05-20]
  • Josh Sinton/Tony Falco/Jed Wilson: Adumbrations (Form Is Possibility) [06-03]
  • John Wasson's Strata Big Band: Chronicles (MAMA) [05-20]

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