Blog Entries [480 - 489]

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Weekend Roundup

Table of contents:

Rushed through this, reusing last week's TOC and section breakdown, even though it's getting hard to slot the post-election stories. Also, no doubt because the Electoral College vote was way back on Monday, I didn't run across much there. I suppose I should know better, but I'm still surprised that Trump's still jerking us around. He lost by more than 7 million votes, with Biden getting an absolute majority -- a feat that wouldn't even trigger a runoff in Georgia or Louisiana. The scandal is not that he got beat, but that the Electoral College system is so slanted and undemocratic that the vote there was even close to close. And as I note under a piece in the "fraud" section, if anyone has a right to complain about election counts, it's the Democrats, who significantly trailed the best available polling in select swing states and districts.

I should probably note somewhere that Wichita has been rocked by a series of earthquakes in the last couple days, ranging from 2.7 to 3.7. These are centered inside city limits, about 8-9 miles east and very slightly north of where we live. Newspaper says there were similar quakes around 1948, but nothing like them in my lifetime. They also doubt they have anything to do with fracking, but there are oil wells 15-25 miles northeast of there, on up past El Dorado. We have felt many earthquakes from Harper County, KS, and further down in Oklahoma, which are definitively caused by injection wells.

I am in a rush to wrap this up, as I have a Christmas project I need to be getting to.

Trump's Election Fraud, Etc.

On Monday, the Electoral College voted, as expected: Biden's 306 Electoral College votes make his victory official. Trump continues to contest the election, more desperately than ever.

Jonathan Chait: Trump floats coup plan that's so wild even Rudy Giuliani is terrified. "The crazies are turning on the crazier."

DC Report: Why the numbers behind Mitch McConnell's re-election don't add up. If Trump wasn't making such a ridiculous stink about how his election was stolen, we'd be seeing more stories like this one, about the real mystery of the election, which is where all those damn Republican votes came from. McConnell's approval rate in Kentucky is way down at 39%, but he somehow managed to defeat Democrat Amy McGrath by 19-points. Even more suspicious is Susan Collins' win in Maine, after trailing in literally every poll all year long. And why weren't the presidential races much closer in Florida, Ohio, and Iowa? It's possible to imagine some hidden pockets of Trump/Republican support, but the votes in many swing states/districts broke about as far Republican as poll margins of error allowed.

Igory Derysh: Michael Flynn says Trump could seize every voting machine across the country and "rerun" election.

Peter Dreier: The number of Democratic Socialists in the House will soon double. But the movement scored its biggest victories down ballot.

Andrew Prokop: Alternate electors: The latest far-fetched Trump plan to overturn the election, explained.

Aaron Rupar: Ron Johnson turned the Senate into a platform for discredited election conspiracy theories.

Alex Shephard: Republicans will never accept the election results.

Tessa Stuart: What the Democratic Party can learn from Stacey Abrams' success in Georgia.

Anya van Wagtendonk: Trump is reportedly considering making Sidney Powell a special counsel on election fraud.

Biden Prospects

See Building Biden's Cabinet for a survey of who's been selected for Biden's top administration positions, and who's being considered for still open slots. Another updated scorecard is Intelligencer's All of president-elect Joe Biden's cabinet nominees.

I've cited a number of articles critical of Biden's cabinet picks -- Jeffrey St Clair is by far the most caustic -- but my own druthers were finally articulated by Walter Shapiro: Give Joe Biden a break: "Sure, some of his Cabinet choices have been puzzling. But what's most important right now is that Biden feels comfortable with the people in his administration." Of course, the left can and should continue to offer advice and recommendations, but I don't see any value in carping. For all his problems, Biden was a lot better than Trump, and Biden's cautious reforms are still much better than what Trump and the Republicans have been doing. Besides, over the long term, the left has better solutions, and many of those will win out eventually, but only once they are embraced by mainstream Democrats, which will only happen when the spectre of Republican power fades.

Kate Aronoff: Biden isn't a lost cause for the left.

Gabriel Debenedetti: A Biden style of government is emerging: Lowest drama possible.

Barry C Lynn: How Biden can transform America: "The country thrived when its leaders broke up monopoly power. The president-elect won't need Congress to do so again." Also see Martin Longman's comment on Lynn's piece, How Biden can have a successful presidency without Congress. More on antitrust:

Alex Pareene: Jen O'Malley Dillon fell into Joe Biden's unity trap. For another take on this same "story":

Aaron Rupar: Biden's post-Electoral College speech was a stinging rebuke of Trump.

Alex Shephard: Sorry, the Hunter Biden story is still not a thing.

Emily Stewart: The debate over Joe Biden cancelling student debt, explained.

Marianne Sullivan/Christopher Sellers: 10 ways Biden should fix the EPA. Biden's appointment of Michael Regan, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, was a start. The 10 ways:

  1. Take quick climate action
  2. Restore the budget and staff
  3. Keep industry out
  4. Make environmental justice a priority
  5. Tackle toxic chemicals
  6. Reinvigorate science
  7. Enforce the law
  8. Upgrade data
  9. Be a stewart of information
  10. Partner with the American public

John Walsh: Can Biden-Harris 'just say no' to the endless war on drugs?

Alex Ward: Progressives, trying to sway Biden, send list with 100 potential foreign policy hires.

Li Zhou: Poll: A majority of voters want Joe Biden to advance policies that promote gender equality.

The Covid-19 Pandemic Surge

Latest map and case count: 17.7 million+ cases (14 day change +13%, total up 1.3 million in last week), 317,120 deaths (+21%), 113,929 hospitalized (+14%). Deaths hit a new high on Wednesday with more than 3,600. "The South is on a worrisome trajectory": Tennessee has the highest per capita rate in the country, while Georgia, Arkansas and South Carolina have all set weekly case records.

Remember when Trump said that after the election you'll never hear about Covid again?

American life has been fundamentally reordered because of the virus. Concerts, parades and high school basketball games continue to be called off. Countless people have found themselves jobless and struggling to afford housing. Many schools and colleges have held few or no in-person classes this fall. More than 397,000 cases have been linked to colleges and universities over the course of the pandemic. Thousands more cases have been identified in elementary, middle and high schools.

One class of story I didn't feel like going into is speculation about vaccine distribution. Anything that big is bound to have snafus, deliberate or not. And sure, in a society with as much inequality as America has, it's inevitable that we'll have line-jumpers and people left out. I will note that I saw a tweet from Cam Patterson claiming that over 1,000 people have been vaccinated at UAMS in Little Rock (where he's Dean, and I might add the best possible person for the job). I take that as a good sign.

Yasmeen Abutaleb/Ashley Parker/Josh Dawsey/Philip Rucker: The inside story of how Trump's denial, mismanagement, and magical thinking led to the pandemic's dark winter.

William Booth: Britain tightens lockdowns over virus mutation with 'significantly faster' transmission rates.

Apoorva Mandavilli: The coronavirus is mutating. What does that mean for us?

Lois Parshley: The many strange long-term symptoms of Covid-19, explained.

Brian Resnick: A wild mink in Utah has Covid-19. Veterinarians fear this is just the beginning.

Liz Theoharis: Making sense of mass abandonment amid abundance.

The Economy, Stupid

As I was trying to wrap this up, this story broke: Andrew Taylor: Congress reaches deal on major COVID relief package. As I understand it, the bill combines $900 billion for various relief programs (mostly for small businesses, but also a $300/week unemployment insurance bump -- vs. $600/week under CARES -- combined with a broader federal spending bill, which keeps the government funded through September. I generally skipped articles on negotiations for this bill, other than a couple warning about dire consequences if nothing happened. The bill is still far short of what Pelosi and Shumer were proposing last summer (which the House passed but Mitch McConnell blocked). More on this:

Sasha Abramsky: 2.7 million jobs in the arts have been lost since the pandemic began: "It's past time for the United States to make similar investments to protect the people and institutions who provide us with art, with song, with melody during good times and bad."

John Cassidy: A brazen Republican power play is blocking essential pandemic relief.

Thom Hartmann: Mitch McConnell is holding your community hostage until corporations are able to kill you without consequence. Not the way he's phrase it, but that's about the gist of McConnell's insistence on liability waivers for businesses.

Paul Krugman:

Timothy Noah: Republicans for recession: "How can you tell that the GOP has accepted Biden is the duly elected president? They're trying to destroy the economy."

Anna North: Millions of Americans are about to lose emergency paid leave during the pandemic: "The benefits expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn't act."

Emily Stewart: Whatever Congress does on stimulus, millions of workers are already screwed. "Even if there's another stimulus bill, unemployed workers are likely to see a lapse in benefits."

Still More on Donald Trump

I started this section for articles on the administration (after having broken out the more timely items above) and more generally on the man (and his awful family), but now it's just turning into the garbage bin.

Intelligencer Staff: The all-time funniest photos of President Trump: Funny is not the word that comes to mind here. Embarrassing is closer to the mark, with a bit of pathos thrown in.

Felipe De La Hoz: Trump's most vicious cultists aren't done with America: "They gleefully enabled a corrupt president for years. How will they satisfy their destructive appetites in the years to come?" Cue picture of Stephen Miller.

Susan B Glasser: Trump's new brand is loser.

Nicole Gaudiano: Trump appoints 1776 Commission members in last-minute bid to advance 'patriotic education'.

Jen Kirby: Attorney General Bill Barr contradicted Trump on voter fraud. Now he's resigning. One point is rarely made about Barr: he had a political agenda even before Trump became president, and he remained true to that agenda throughout his tenure. At some point, he realized he could use Trump's vanity to promote his agenda, which led him to write his op-ed on impeachment, which brought him to Trump's attention. He's often characterized as an enabler for Trump's subversion of Justice, but what we've really seen was Barr's own subversion, which he managed with a good deal less brown-nosing than many other Trump supplicants (e.g., Mike Pompeo, who, as I note elsewhere, also had his own private agenda). What Barr's resignation signifies is that he's calculated that from here on out, Trump is more of a liability than an asset. I think it's likely that most people in the Trump administration signed on because they thought they could use the power of the White House to advance their own goals, and they've been willing to suffer numerous indignities along the way. And in the end, most are likely to blame their own failures on Trump. Barr is different only in that he's shrewder, more deliberate, more efficient, and ultimately more dastardly. More on Barr:

Michael Kruse: Is Trump cracking under the weight of losing?

Jonathan V Last: Everyone Trump touches dies: The list.

Eric Lipton: In last rush, Trump grants mining and energy firms access to public lands: "The outgoing administration is pushing through approval of corporate projects over the opposition of environmental groups and tribal communities."

Nicole Narea:

Jonathan Swan: Officials increasingly alarmed about Trump's power grab. A lot of this reads like weird gossip and idle speculation, but Swan cites the New York Times for one of the more bizarre stories:

In and Around the Courts

Ian Millhiser:

Around the World

Gilbert Achcar: The first decade of the Arab revolutionary process.

Anand Gopal: America's war on Syrian civilians: "Bombs killed thousands of civilians in Raqqa, and the city was decimated. US lawyers insist that war crimes weren't committed, but it's time to look honestly at the devastation that accompanies 'targeted' air strikes."

Rebeca Gordon: It's almost twenty years since 9/11: Can we finally stop marching to disaster? Related:.

  • Jacob Silverman: The new language of forever war-making: "The post-9/11 consensus is crumbling, so America's hawks are inventing fresh rhetoric to justify imperialist disasters." Refers to a recent book by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies ("a conservative think tank notorious for lobbying for war against Iran"), with an essay: "Defending Forward: Securing America by Projecting Military Power Abroad." No surprise that they're still hung up with the Vietnam War debacle (the right's version of the German "stab-in-the-back" theory):

    A certain disastrous, interminable American war haunts these writers, but it's not the one you'd think: Panetta and McMaster diagnose their skeptics with Vietnam syndrome, a psychic and societal malady that tends to produce a dim view of American war-making. This "has saddled American strategic thinking for decades," Panetta laments. McMaster attributes it to a "simplistic but widely held belief" that the Vietnam War "had been unjustified and unwinnable."

    If only Vietnam syndrome were a real affliction, it might have saved us from two more protracted, unwinnable wars. Hundreds of thousands of lives would not have been lost. America's true malady is quite the opposite: We don't learn from our imperialistic misadventures. Reading "Defending Forward," one cannot help but fear that 20 years hence, the foreign policy elites of the day -- safely ensconced in think tanks, newspaper op-ed boards, military contractors, Foggy Bottom, and the E-ring of the Pentagon -- will still be making the case for forever war. And they will accuse their critics of suffering from "Afghanistan syndrome."

Conn Hallinan: Space Force: space gravy for contractors and useless for Covid: "Why not deploy diplomats to demilitarize space and save the money for earth-bound problems." Wasn't there a treaty at some point intended to keep space free of weapons systems? If so, there has been a lot of cheating around the edges, or loopholes. The US didn't need a Space Force to launch military systems beyond Earth's atmosphere, although most of the practical uses are in communications, surveillance, and guidance for missiles. As far as I know, China and probably Russia have focused on counter-measures to disrupt US satellite dominance. Needless to say, it's easier and a lot cheaper to wreck some other system than it is to build one that is secure. The big problem with diplomacy is that while it's easy enough to get the "have nots" to agree not to bother (cf. NPT), the "haves" all have political and economic interests promoting further militarization, even when no one has a clear idea what might justify it, or why. However, even simpler than diplomacy would be to just fold its satellite portfolio back into the Air Force and abolish its separate identity. After all, the only thing having a separate Space Force really does is to gin up yet another pointless arms race. Besides, it's not just impractical. It's prima facie ridiculous. Also:

Vijay Prashad: Donald Trump's final act: Snuffing out the promise of democracy in the Middle East.

Philip Weiss: Israel is going to keep on killing Palestinian boys, until US Jews endorse BDS.

Other Matters of Interest

Tahir Amin: We need to take on drug companies' abuse of the patent system. Actually, we really should abolish the whole system. The idea that one person (or worse, company) can file paperwork on an idea and thereby prevent anyone else from thinking up and working on similar ideas is abhorrent to free enterprise, let alone human ingenuity. Worse still is the idea that "owning" an idea entitles one to exact unregulated monopoly rents. The potential for abusing such a system should be obvious, but doesn't depend on thought experiments: we see abuse everywhere we look. Granted, there are ways to "overhaul" the system to make it less onerous: one could reduce patent terms; one could arbitrate reuse rates, and allow others to further develop based on patents; one could eliminate certain classes of patents; one could reject overly broad patent claims; one could deny patents on grounds of obviousness. Still, we'd be better off killing off the whole wretched system.

Siddhartha Deb: The blinding clarity of John Le Carré: "His novels of imperial decline speak to a world that has remained at war since his youth." The famous spy novelist died last week at 89. My wife declared it the "worst day since Reginald Hill died." More on the late novelist:

Peter E Gordon: The scars of democracy: "Theodor Adorno and the crises of liberalism." Review of Adorno's book (a translation of a 1967 lecture), Aspects of the New Right-Wing Extremism.

Sean Illing: Americans don't think like citizens. They think like shoppers. Interview with political scientist Ethan Porter, author of The Consumer Citizen. Illing makes a key point:

Most "consumer citizens" are very bad at understanding how government interacts with their lives. The costs of government (taxes) are very clear, but the benefits of government (public parks, drivable roads, safe food to eat) are harder for people to connect. That's probably unavoidable in a big, complex society like ours, but it also seems like a recipe for incoherent electoral outcomes. . . .

Part of what I'm getting at here is that to be a citizen you have to care about your country and you have to care about the people who make it up, but in a capitalistic society like ours, market logic shapes our relationship to nearly everything, including and especially people. We're not part of some shared project. We're all competing for money, for power, for status, for whatever advantages we can get.

Tyler Kepner: Baseball rights a wrong by adding negro leagues to official records: "More than 3,400 players from seven leagues that operated from 1920 to 1948 will now be considered major leaguers in a move that will shake up the record books." I've spent hundreds of hours scanning Major League record books, all after the 1969 addition of statistics from four early all-white leagues, and indeed know a lot about the 1880's American Association through its stats. I've read several books on the negro leagues and their stars, but have only seen occasional stats cited -- so one thing this signifies is that researchers have finally gotten a credible set of statistics together. As became immediately clear after Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers in 1947, the negro leagues were teaming with major-league talent. I started seriously following baseball in 1957, when I was six, and Robinson and Roy Campanella had just retired. A couple years later I recall my cousin and I picking white and black all-star games, and readily conceding that the black teams would win most (despite the white team looking a lot like our cherished major league champs, the New York Yankees). Later I found that Bill Veeck had seriously proposed making that thought experiment real: he owned the Philadelphia Phillies and wanted to field an all-black team. I've long considered integration to be the best thing that ever happened to Major League Baseball. Integrating the record books doesn't remove the tarnish on the Jim Crow era, when white players never officially had to test their talents against black opponents. (By the way, there are many stories of exhibition games, especially in Cuba, where they did, and you can guess how those turned out.) But at least young people, like I was, will get a better picture of the past.

John Koblin/Michael M Grynbaum: CNN and MSNBC fret over post-Trump future. My advice would be to find villains in the Republican Party and hound them mercilessly. That includes the obvious political figures, but also should look at the money people behind the party, the influence and corruption they seek. Sure, that's harder work than just going after Trump, but it dispenses with the easy temptation to try to smear Trump by contrasting him with the occasional Republican who strayed ever so slightly from his grip. People need to understand that the Republican Party is rotten top to bottom. If CNN and MSNBC can't do that, they don't deserve an audience.

Michael Lind: Progressives are a minority in America. To win, they need to compromise. Fair point, but what to compromise on is the rub, especially when the common slam against liberals is that by compromising so readily and by ceding so much ground, they call their own convictions into question.

Carlos Lozada: The great acceleration: "The virus isn't transforming us. It's speeding up the changes already underway." Washington Post book review editor, wrote a book about books about Trump, moves on here to the first speculative votes about the longer-term impact of the pandemic: Nicholas Christakis: Apollo's Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live; Fareed Zakaria: Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World; John Mickelthwait/Adrian Wooldridge: The Wake-Up Call: Why the Pandemic Has Exposed the Weakness of the West, and How to Fix It.

Ian J Lynch: Why can't the SEC just agree that bribing foreign governments is bad?: "Instead, it's scheduled to gut a rule forcing companies to disclose those bribes."

Andy Lee Roth/Mickey Huff: Corporate fact-checking services shouldn't be our defense against "fake news".

Luke Savage: They said tax cuts for the rich would create jobs. It never happened. Well, they were lying. And they knew they were lying. And most of the rest of us knew they were lying, and many said so at the time. And they did it anyway, knowing they'd be found out, but they didn't care. Related:

Colette Shade: The year we learned to live like life doesn't matter: "How the pandemic put a grotesque new face on the political normalization of brutality."

Jeffrey St Clair: The real resistance begins now: 25 groups that will keep fighting no matter who's president.

Vera Tolz: Short cuts. [article behind paywall, even though we fucking subscribe and I have the hard copy in front of me, but can't see for shit]

Alex Ward: How the US government hack happened, and what it means, explained by an expert: Interview with "cybersecurity expert" Jason Healey. The hack was accomplished by patching spy code into commercial software developed by SolarWinds and used by the various government agencies. More on cybersecurity issues:

  • Thomas P Bossert: I was the Homeland Security adviser to Trump. We're being hacked. Link to this asked even more hysterically "Is the US facing a Cyber Pearl Harbor?" I think the government has become far too cavalier about cyberwarfare, probably because they see it as a net positive, but also because they tend to be indifferent about collateral damage. The only real way to protect against such threats is to negotiate a modus vivendi where no one benefits from cyberattacks. On the other hand, while it seems clear that Russians have enjoyed a peek into US government computer networks, the actual damage is harder to assess, beyond the obvious embarrassment at allowing the breach to happen.

  • Jonathan Chait: Trump won't denounce Russia's hack because he's still subservient to Putin. The inevitable knee-jerk Cold War Liberal reaction. Trump may well be right that "The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control." On the other hand, he may well be confusing old and new Russia hacks, and out of the muddle getting overly defensive. I've never understood the line that Trump, with his wealth and power and ego and vanity, feels subservient to Putin, or anyone else. Sure, he may identify with Putin, because both are oligarchs whose contempt for democracy is cloaked by the trappings of nationalism. But the reason he doesn't fall for the Cold War stereotyping is simple enough: he realizes that both oligarchs have more to fear from their own people than from each other.

  • Fred Kaplan: The government has known about the vulnerabilities that allowed Russia's latest hack for decades -- and chose not to fix them.

  • Nancy LeTourneau: Amidst a massive cyber attack by Russia, Pompeo warns of China threat:

    This demonization of an enemy has become a pattern for Republicans. Ronald Reagan declared that the Soviet Union was an "evil empire" in 1983. As the Cold War ended, a new enemy emerged. Following the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush identified an "axis of evil" -- North Korea, Iran, and Iraq -- in order to justify his "war on terror" and invasion of Iraq. Now we're being told that China is our greatest threat.

    The United States does, indeed, face some serious threats. But they come in the form of a pandemic, climate change, income inequality, gun violence, and a racist criminal justice system. Republicans are in denial about those issues -- and have been for a very long time. Perhaps that's why they are so intent on exaggerating a foreign threat that supersedes everything else.

  • Ellen Nakashima/Josh Dawsey: Trump contradicts Pompeo in bid to downplay massive hack of US government, Russia's role. Of course, it's impossible to believe that either of these guys know what they're talking about. Rather, they both use news to reiterate their preconceived notions. That they are opposed is no problem as long as Pompeo remains publicly submissive, and Trump cares about nothing else. Of course, they take Trump's position as "so much like a paid Russian agent." Just as possible that the hack has done no real damage, because the relationship is less adversarial than suits hawks (like Pompeo) who seek to profit from more fright.

  • Raphael Satter/Christopher Bing/Joseph Menn: Hackers used SolarWinds' dominance against it in sprawling spy campaign.

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Music Week

December archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 34569 [34511] rated (+58), 215 [215] unrated (+0).

Another monster week. I seriously doubt that 50 will be the new 30, but the last few weeks have gone that way. The main reason is that I've been shackled to the computer all week. Jazz Critics Poll deadline was Sunday, so I've had a steady stream of ballots to process. Aside from a quick pass at Weekend Roundup, I've spent most of the rest of my time adding EOY lists to my aggregate file. I've fallen pretty far behind this week, but the standings look like they've begun to stabilize. Top five have maintained stable margins since last week: Fiona Apple, Run the Jewels, Phoebe Bridges, Bob Dylan, Waxahatchee. Last week's three-way tie for 6th between Dua Lipa, Haim, and Taylor Swift has broken as Swift has the momentum, then Haim, then Lipa, with Perfume Genius and Sault (Black Is) rounding out the top ten.

Biggest surprise on that list is Sault, whose second album, Untitled (Rise), is also rising, currently at 24. I gave both of the group's 2019 albums A-, but didn't find the new albums as impressive. On the other hand, the first came out as the Black Lives Matter protests broke out last summer, and many people took them as anthemic. Aside from RTJ4, there have been damn few hip-hop albums this year that pop critics have felt obligated to cover. After Run the Jewels, US black rappers are buried pretty far down the list: Freddie Gibbs (43), Megan Thee Stallion (46), Lil Uzi Vert (48), Clipping (66), Lil Baby (96), Open Mike Eagle (105), 21 Savage & Metro Boomin (119), Flo Milli (122), Public Enemy (124), Westside Gunn (125), Childish Gambino (127), Princess Nokia (133). I don't have any good theories why this should be so.[1] I also don't have many on my list (although I've heard all but 1 of the top 53 hip-hop albums): Run the Jewels (4), Enemy Radio (20), Megan Thee Stallion (22), Public Enemy (26), Aminé (31), Megan Thee Stallion EP (32), Black Thought (34), City Girls (38), Moor Jewelry (39), Kehlani (47), Bktherula (48).

[1] OK, here's a theory, from Emily Nussbaum's essay on Jenji Kohan, starting midway in a Kohan quote:

"And right now, the world is just 'Everyone back to their corners.'" In the Trump era, Kohan sees an urge to hunker down with one's own, "to just put your louspeaker up and say, 'This is me, and this is my worldview, and I don't want to know from yours.'"

I don't know about you, but I've heard the word "hunker" more times this year than in the past 70 combined.

I might as well offer my own Jazz Critics Poll ballot here:

New Releases:

  1. Mark Lomax II & the Urban Art Ensemble, 400 Years Suite (CFG Multimedia)
  2. Rich Halley-Matthew Shipp-Michael Bisio-Newman Taylor Baker, The Shape of Things (Pine Eagle)
  3. Dave Rempis-Jeff Parker-Ingebrigt Håker Flaten-Jeremy Cunningham, Stringers and Struts (Aerophonic)
  4. Aly Keïta-Jan Galega Bronnimann-Lucas Niggli, Kalan Teban (Intakt)
  5. Rudresh Mahanthappa, Hero Trio (Whirlwind)
  6. Kenny Barron-Dave Holland Trio Featuring Johnathan Blake, Without Deception (Dare2)
  7. Heroes Are Gang Leaders, Artificial Happiness Button (Ropeadope)
  8. Jason Kao Hwang, Human Rites Trio (True Sound)
  9. Dave Glasser, Hypocrisy Democracy (Here Tiz Music)
  10. Kevin Sun, (Un)seaworthy (Endectomorph Music)

Reissues/Historical:

  1. Borah Bergman-Perry Robinson-Steve Swell-Ray Sage, Quartets Trios Duos (2007, Mahakala Music)
  2. Horace Tapscott With the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, Ancestral Echoes: The Covina Sessions, 1976 (Dark Tree)
  3. Modern Jazz Quintet Karlsruhe/Four Men Only, Complete Recordings (1968-73, NoBusiness)

Vocal: Heroes Are Gang Leaders, Artificial Happiness Button (Ropeadope)

Debut: Immanuel Wilkins, Omega (Blue Note)

Latin: Aruán Ortiz With Andrew Cyrille and Mauricio Herrera, Inside Rhythmic Falls (Intakt)

Attentive readers will notice discrepancies between this ballot and my EOY Jazz List. The main one is that I decided to skip over albums that I have only heard from streaming or downloads. I've done this in the past for the historical category, but don't recall doing so for new releases before -- or maybe I just never had so many before. I've long suspected that CDs I receive are slightly more likely to get better grades than records I stream or download, mostly because I'm more likely to play them more times, so they may have an edge rising up my lists. (It's also likely that I'm a bit more inclined to replay albums on Napster than on Bandcamp, which I've found starts nagging me for a purchase on a third play.) Still, as I receive ever fewer promos, and spend more time streaming, the split has grown. I doubt the decision this year will result in me getting more promos next year. Still, I'm pleased to have been able to vote for the records I did, even though my highly approximate sorting left a bunch of very good records higher up my list:

  1. Ross Hammond/Oliver Lake/Mike Pride: Our Place on the Wheel (Prescott)
  2. Shabaka and the Ancestors: We Are Sent Here by History (Impulse!)
  3. Evan Parker/Paul Lytton: Collective Calls (Revisited) (Jubilee) (Intakt)
  4. Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra: If You Listen Carefully the Music Is Yours (Odin)
  5. Broken Shadows: The Tower Tapes #2 (Jazz Club Ferrara)
  6. Irreversible Entanglements: Who Sent You? (International Anthem)
  7. Jeb Bishop Flex Quartet: Re-Collect (Not Two -19)
  8. Jasper Høiby: Planet B (Edition)
  9. James Brandon Lewis/Chad Taylor: Live in Willisau (Intakt)
  10. Chad Taylor Trio: The Daily Biological (Cuneiform)
  11. Tani Tabbal Trio: Now Then (Tao Forms)
  12. Schlippenbach/Narvesen Duo: Liminal Field (Not Two -19)
  13. James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Molecular (Intakt)
  14. The Third Mind: The Third Mind (Yep Roc)
  15. Kahil El'Zabar: Kahil El'Zabar's Spirit Groove (Spiritmuse)

While it looks like these records got slighted, I should note that my slotting of them is less certain than where I ranked the CDs. Christgau makes a bit point about only rating records that he's played at least five times -- enough to be highly certain of his grades. I don't limit myself to records I am absolutely certain of -- no doubt partly because I don't have his gift of certainty about anything. I'd rather jot down as much as I know, when I know it, and revise when/if further experience so dictates. Consequently, every grade has an unstated extra dimension of uncertainty, which isn't clear from the ranked list. I've thought about ways to notate this (the simplest is to count plays, not that every spin occurs under equal or even fair circumstances), but decided it would be a bookkeeping nightmare. Besides, there are other dimensions, like time, that add to the fuzziness.

I did make one exception to the CD-only rule, for Mark Lomax's top-rated 400 Years Suite, but only after I broke down and bought a copy. I haven't received it yet, and it's possible I'll change my mind when I do, but I figured I should at least own a copy of what seems most probably the record of the year. As I've noted, I've pretty much given up on buying new music, but I got dispensation from my wife to order a few non-jazz CDs recently: Fiona Apple, Run the Jewels, Lucinda Williams, Lori McKenna -- all albums I graded A-, which Christgau graded A or A+. (See my Non-Jazz EOY list.) Good chance I'll upgrade RTJ4 and move it to the top of my list. I'm less taken by Apple's album, not that it isn't a big deal.

I've followed the same CD-only rule for Reissues/Historial in recent years, not just to favor publicists who service me but also because the category is usually swept by fine but minor additions to he works of major artists -- this year: Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, Art Blakey -- and I'd rather pick out some things that aren't automatically familiar. As I usually don't get these reminders of past glory -- Rollins in Holland is the only one this year -- the rule has been an easy excuse to stock my list with marginal but more interesting fare. That's what I did this year, going with a 3-CD box from NoBusiness that barely made my A- grade over the more obvious Rollins set.

One belated exception to the CD-only rule is the vote for Wilkins as Debut of the Year. Not seeing any debuts in my A-list, I originally left that blank, but was moved to give Wilkins another shot not for sweeping the category (something much hyped Blue Note artists win way too often) but because he did surprisingly well on main lists. I hate leaving form lines blank, so once I came around, I slipped him in. I have a lot of little-known artists in my A-list, but they all have previous records, even if they are even more obscure than their latest.

Next couple weeks should be much less frantic and stressful than the last two have been. I have a project for Christmas that should take me away from the computer, and I'll probably relax with favorite old music as the year winds down. Also thinking about resolutions for the new year. One thing that's pretty clear is that I'll be cutting back on the music tracking (the file has 5019 records so far) and reviewing (1256 records so far, which if not a record isn't far off the mark). Also have a couple of questions to answer this week.

Recommended music links: Dropped this as a regular feature, then this popped up:

New records reviewed this week:

Bruce Ackley/Fred Frith/Henry Kaiser/Aram Shelton: Unexpected Twins (2016 [2019], Relative Pitch): Cover a 2x2 diagram, so parsing left-to-right or top-to-bottom you get pairs of saxophonists -- Ackley plays soprano, Shelton alto -- and guitarists. B+(**)

Amaarae: The Angels You Don't Know (2020, Golden Child Entertainment): Ama Serwah Genfi, born in New York, parents Ghanaian, grew up in Atlanta and Accra, first album. Distinctive voice and rhythm, often surprises you, not least with the occasional bit of noise. Auteur's own description: "non stop affirmations and incantations 4 bad bitches." A-

The Avalanches: We Will Always Love You (2020, Modular): Australian electronica group, emerged in 2000 with an album pieced together from samples -- a novel technique at the time, making it seem like a one-shot, which it was until a second album appeared in 2016. This is a third, also built on sampling, "but it is less of a plunderphonics record than their previous material." Evidently having a name leads to touring, which favors live instruments and vocals. Feels cartoonish to me, which is to say only the catchiest, chintziest tracks click. B+(**)

Matt Berninger: Serpentine Prison (2020, Book): Singer for The National, first solo album, stripped down relative to the band. B+(**)

Bktherula: Nirvana (2020, Warner): Atlanta rapper Brooklyn Rodriguez, still in her teens, comes up with 11 short tracks (28:04). Christgau's rave got me to listen hard and long enough to warm to the album, but none of his points stick -- "environmental," "irresistible," "inexplicable," the Eno-Hassell "anthropological minimalism" and "ambient esoteric kitsch," even the more specific "haze of shrooms, lean, and percoset." Well, maybe inexplicable. Come to think of it, if you're unable to explicate, maybe all you do have left is atmosphere. Or maybe it doesn't matter. A-

Boldy James/Sterling Toles: Manger on McNichols (2020, Sector 7-G): Detroit rapper James Clay Jones III, mixtape assembled by producer Toles based on rhymes from 2007-10. B+(***)

Chouk Bwa and the Ångströmers: Vodou Alé (2017-18 [2020], Bongo Joe): Haitian group (Chouk Bwa Libète) and Belgian production duo (Frédéric Alstadt and Nicolas Esterie). B+(**) [bc]

Chubby and the Gang: Speed Kills (2020, Static Shock): British punk group, led by "Chubby Charles" (surname Manning-Walker), first album, 12 songs, 25:37. B+(*)

DJ Python: Mas Amable (2020, Incienso): Brian Piñeyro, based in New York but "of Ecuadorean and Argentine extraction," second album. Steady, fairly minimalist beats, talkover, has an appeal. B+(**)

Dorian Electra: My Agenda (2020, self-released): Last name Gomberg (or Fridkin Gomberg), from Houston, second album, short (25:10, but 11 tracks) but densly packed with plastic shrapnel. B

Dave Douglas: Marching Music (2019 [2020], Greenleaf Music): Famous trumpet player, presents "a new suite of compositions" for marching, "when you attend Climate Marches, Demonstrations for Equal Rights, Voting Rights Movements, and all other actions towards a just society" -- recorded before but released after the summer's George Floyd (et al.) protests, so prescient but a little slow on the draw. Backed by guitar (Rafiq Bhatia), bass, and drums. B+(***)

Duma: Duma (2020, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Kenyan duo, Martin Khanja (vocals) and Sam Karugu (guitar), based in Kampala, name means "darkness" in Kikuyu, music itself is most often called industrial grindcore or noise, although I recognize the scratchy, hoarse vocals and intense mechanical beats as metal -- conceptual enough to elicit some interest, but wearing all the same. B

Dutchavelli: Dutch From the 5th (2020, Parlophone): UK rapper Stephan Fabulous Allen, born in Birmingham, of Jamaican descent, first album. B+(**)

Roger Eno and Brian Eno: Mixing Colours (2020, Deutsche Grammophon): Eleven years younger, Roger Eno followed his brother into ambient music, working together on Apollo in 1983 (along with Daniel Lanois), and has independently produced 30-some albums before this new collaboration. Pretty. Also pretty long (75:15). B+(*)

Four Tet: Sixteen Oceans (2020, Text): British laptronica musician Kieran Hebden's principal alias. B+(*)

David Friesen With Orchestra and Quartet: Testimony (2018-19 [2020], Origin): Leader plays hemage bass (a small electric) and piano. Quartet includes tenor sax, vibraphone, drums, but most cuts are with the National Academic Symphonic Band of Ukraine. B [cd]

Gorillaz: Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez (2020, Parlophone): Pop machine band -- Damon Albarn and Remi Kabaka Jr. -- tied to a cartoon franchise since 2001, although they feel less cartoonish than Avalanches. With guests on most songs, often pairs like Elton John and 6lack, or Tony Allen and Skepta. B+(*)

Mickey Guyton: Bridges (2020, Capitol Nashville, EP): Nashville singer-songwriter Candace Mycale Guyton, several EPs since 2014 but nothing longer, got a big production for this one, but only for 6 songs, 18:58, all tightly clustered around 3:00. Got a Grammy nomination for the closer, where "it's a hard life on easy street," and "if you think we live in the land of the free/ you should try to be black like me." B+(**)

Hemingway, Phillips & Moore: Slips (2019, Ramboy): Drummer Gerry, bassist Barre, saxophonist/clarinetist Michael, with four more/less long pieces alled "Slaps," "Slips," "Sniffs," and "Slides." Spots I focused on are brilliant as expected, but my mind wandered too often to rate it higher. B+(**) [bc]

François Houle 4: RECODER (2019 [2020], Songlines): Canadian clarinet player, from Quebec, albums since 1992. All-star quartet with Gordon Grdina (guitar), Gerry Hemingway (drums), and Mark Helias (bass, also clarinet for duos on the six "Interlude" pieces). B+(***)

JPEGMafia: EP! (2020, Universal Republic, EP): Rapper Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, three albums, more mixtapes, evidently threw this 9 track, 27:09 EP together from "all singles released this year, mix of young and old." Defies convention, riding the CAPS LOCK except for "living single." B+(**)

Kacy & Clayton and Marlon Williams: Plastic Bouquet (2020, New West): From the outer orbits of country music, two cousins from Saskatchewan -- Kacy Anderson (vocals) and Clayton Linthicum (guitar) -- hook up with a country singer-songwriter from New Zealand. B+(**)

Kid Cudi: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen (2020, Republic): Rapper Scott Mescudi, returns to title of his first two albums (2009-10), although an intermediate album (2014) was subtitled The Journey to Mother Moon. B+(**)

Kirk Knuffke: Tight Like This (2019 [2020], SteepleChase): Cornet player, trio with tuba (Bob Stewart) and drums (Kenny Wollesen), six originals vs. covers from Louis Armstrong (title cut), Teddy Wilson, Pee Wee Russell, Gene Ammons, Nat Adderley, Cannonball Adderley, and Matt Wilson. B+(**)

Mário Laginha/Julian Argüelles/Helge Andreas Norbakken: Atlântico (2019 [2020], Edition): Piano, soprano/tenor sax, and percussion. Nice balance of forces, with the sax getting ever stronger. A-

David Lord: Forest Standards Vol. 1 (2016 [2018], BIG EGO): Guitarist, "operating in the bubble of Wichita, Kansas," teaches at Friends University and runs a studio called Air House Music Academy, not someone I know. First album under his own name -- he claims 16 albums as Francis Moss and with various rock bands -- twelve songs mostly named for fungus, recorded in California with Devin Hoff (bass), Chad Taylor (drums), and Sam Hake (vibes), mixed by Chris Shlarb (who plays guitar on two songs). B+(**)

David Lord: Forest Standards Vol. 2 (2018 [2020], BIG EGO): More songs about fungus and fruit, also recorded in Long Beach, with Billy Mohler taking over at bass and Jeff Parker adding a second guitar on 8 (of 14) pieces. B+(**)

Terrace Martin/Robert Glasper/9th Wonder/Kamasi Washington: Dinner Party (2020, Sounds of Crenshaw, EP): Two hip-hop/r&b producers, two jazz friends, for a 7-track, 23:03 EP, with Phoelix featured on 4, so I figure him for the singer. The sax is pretty laid back, but still a treat. B+(*)

Terrace Martin/Robert Glasper/9th Wonder/Kamasi Washington: Dinner Party: Dessert (2020, Sounds of Crenshaw, EP): Remixes, the 7 tracks trimmed to 20:34, with extra guests ranging from Herbie Hancock to Rapsody and Snoop Dogg -- best pickup is Cordae on "Freeze Tag." B+(*)

Terrace Martin: Village Days (2020, Sounds of Crenshaw/Empire, EP): Artist credit actually reads "a Terrace Martin project," the title preceded by "Sounds of Crenshaw presents." Typically scattered, with a bit of free jazz sax (Martin's main instrument, though I can't be sure it's him), and a closing "The Christmas Song" that won't be instantly obsolete. Seven tracks, 27:25. B+(**)

Gayelynn McKinney and McKinney Zone: Zoot Suit Funk (2020, Beatstix): Drummer, from Detroit. Father was a pianist, mother a singer. Debut album 2006. Leans into the funk here, but doesn't really connect until the title song closer. B+(*) [cd]

Victoria Monét: Jaguar (2020, Tribe, EP): Soul singer, born in Georgia, father French, creole ancestry on her mother's side, recorded singles and EPs from 2014. This one runs 9 songs, 25:27. B+(**)

Michael Moore Fragile Quartet: Cretan Dialogues (2019, Ramboy): Leader, an American long based in Amsterdam, plays alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, and melodica, backed with piano (Harmen Fraanje), bass (Clemens van der Feen), and drums (Gerry Hemingway). B+(***) [bc]

The NDR Bigband With Michael Moore: Sanctuary (2019, Ramboy): German big band, based in Hamburg, conducted by Tim Hagans, rarely appears ahead of the featured guest, and indeed I'm filing this under Moore (alto sax/clarinet/bass clarinet). But what impresses me most is the rich texture studded with gemlike details. B+(***) [bc]

PRAED Orchestra: Live in Sharjah (2018 [2020], Morphine): Inspired by Egypt, but recorded in the UAE, with a 13-piece band, including some avant surprises (Hans Koch, Martin Kuchen, Michael Zerang). Starts with some hideous vocals, which only become tenable when the groove pushes them into the background. Away from the vocals, this can be pretty impressive. B+(**)

Katie Pruitt: Expectations (2020, Rounder): Nashville singer-songwriter, originally from suburban Atlanta, raised conservative only to find she's not "Normal" -- nonetheless frames the album cover in church glass. B+(*)

Saint Jhn: While the World Was Burning (2020, Hitco): Rapper Carlos St. John Phillips, aka Ghetto Lenny, born in Brooklyn but parents from Guyana, spent considerable time there growing up. Third album. B+(**)

Oumou Sangaré: Acoustic (2020, No Format): Wassoulou singer-songwriter from Mali, albums since 1990, some major. Concept here probably not. B+(**)

Alvin Schwaar/Bänz Oester/Noé Franklé: Travellin' Light (2019 [2020], Leo): Swiss piano-bass-drums trio, plays eight standards from Ellington to Hancock. B+(*)

Ray Scott: Nowhere Near Done (2020, Jethropolitan, EP): Country singer-songwriter from North Carolina, five albums 2005-17, returns with six-songs, a 23:06 EP. More trad than neo, voice reminds me of someone I can't quite peg (Dave Alvin comes to mind). B+(**)

Squarepusher: Be Up a Hello (2020, Warp): English electronica musician Tom Jenkinson, fifteenth album since 1996. Racing beats, the chase sometimes amusing, a bit more ominous on "Vortrack." B+(*)

Emma Swift: Blonde on the Tracks (2020, Tiny Ghost): Australian singer, moved to Nashville in 2013. First album, after an EP and a few singles, nothing more than a batch of Bob Dylan covers: two each from Blonde on Blonde and Blood on the Tracks, four more -- she spends even more time on "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" than Dylan did. I don't quite see the point. B

Taylor Swift: Evermore (2020, Republic): A second "surprise" album this year, as with July's Folklore, eschews pop glitz for straightforward songcraft, although she continues to pay close attention to production details, and she's getting all the help she can use, including marquee features for Haim, National, and Bon Iver. All the pandemic has done has been to move her focus from arenas to your living room. Or sometimes bedroom. B+(***)

Jorma Tapio & Kaski: Aliseen (2019 [2020], 577): Finnish saxophonist (alto, tenor, flutes), played in Krakatau and Edward Vesala's Sound & Fury, leads a trio here with Ville Rauhala (bass) and Janne Tuomi (drums). Title is a "Finnish word for a shaman's trip to the underworld" -- a "dark, mysterious" search that the spooky bass and wooden flutes signify. B+(***)

Laura Toxvaerd: Tidens Strøm (2019, ILK Music, EP): Danish alto saxophonist, handful of records since 2002, composed and wrote lyrics for 6 songs (26:38), sung by Maria Laurette Friis, and backed by tuba, accordeon, and drums. I might object to the rather arch vocals, but the harsh sax cuts them effectively. B+(**)

Laura Toxvaerd: Drapery (2019, ILK Music): Slightly longer album, came out same day, a quartet with Gustaf Ljunggren (various strings/guitars), Peter Friis Nielsen (electric bass), and Marilyn Mazur (percussion, drums). B+(**)

Kelsey Waldon: They'll Never Keep Us Down (2020, Oh Boy, EP): Country singer-songwriter, from Kentucky, last three albums are aces, this one is dubbed an EP (7 songs, 31:29). The discount may be because these songs are covers, picked to raise some political hell. The ones from Dylan, Prine, and Neil Young are overly familiar, but the title track (from Hazel Dickens) is an anthem we need, and "Mississippi Goddamn" is still a howl they deserve. B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Sharhabil Ahmed: The King of Sudanese Jazz ([2020], Habibi Funk): Singer from Sudan, plays guitar, oud, other instruments. Not clear when these seven grooveful pieces were recorded, but they combine Middle Eastern and Congolese elements, and one picture shows congas as well as a drum set. A-

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time OutTakes (1959 [2020], Brubeck Editions): Released just ahead of what would have been the pianist's 100th birthday, the introductory product of a family label where there are many more musicians. Outtakes from Brubeck's most famous album, Time Out, a universally applauded masterpiece, famed for the use of unusual time signatures but really the title track is one of the catchiest tunes ever written. At best, this gives you the chance to hear the album slightly differently: repeating five songs, substituting for two more, then tacking on some studio banter that doesn't help. B+(***)

Nat King Cole: Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Best of Hittin' the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1943) (1938-43 [2020], Resonance): Single-disc sampler from 2019's 7-CD, 183-track box, which fared well in EOY polls (not that I got a chance to listen). Box is probably de trop, and even this selection feels redundant to other period compilations. B+(***)

George Lewis: Rainbow Family (1984 [2020], Carrier): Avant-trombonist, more than dabbled in electronics, credit here reads "atelier" (workshop), prominently flagging ICRAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique), also four musicians: Douglas Ewart (alto sax, flute, clarinet), Joëlle Léandre (bass), Derek Bailey (electric guitar), and Steve Lacy (soprano sax). Novel experiments in computer music. Still, the stars are computers, which everything else bounces off of. B+(**) [bc]

Prince Buster: Roll on Charles Street ([2020], Rock A Shacka): Cecil Bustamente Campbell (1938-2016), a major producer during the ska and rocksteady eras -- his "Oh Carolina" leads off the fabulous Tougher Than Tough compilation. These are billed as "classic and previously unreleased Prince Buster productions," with no dates, 12 (of 20) credited to Prince Buster or Buster All Stars, with Roland Alphonso and Don Drummond the most famous other names. B+(**) [bc]

Prince Buster: Let's Go to the Dance: Rock Steady Selection (1967-68 [2020], Rock A Shacka): "We select 20 rocksteady tunes which have never reissued until today after original release date in 1967-68." Mostly production efforts for other performers, leaving 6 songs released as Prince Buster and 1 as Buster All Stars. B+(**) [bc]

Kalie Shorr: Open Book: Unabridged (2019 [2020], Tmwrk): Country singer-songwriter from Maine, self-released her debut Open Book in 2019, after several EPs, and turned a lot of ears. This is a reissue, expanded from 13 to 17 tracks. My initial reaction was that she was overly jacked up, but later plays persuaded me that the songs were solid. That's even clearer here. I doubt the extra songs are worth re-buying the rest, but this is a good one to start with. A-

Yasanuki Takayanagi New Direction Unit: Axis/Another Revolvable Thing (1975 [2020], Blank Forms Editions, 2CD): Japanese guitarist (1932-91). Group includes reeds (Kenji Mori), bass/cello, and percussion. Rather abstract. B(*) [bc]

Old music:

Gene Russell: New Direction (1971, Black Jazz; [2020], Real Gone Music): Pianist (1932-81), often played electric, recorded four albums 1967-72, with a fifth released in 1981. Co-founder of Black Jazz Records. This is classic piano trio plus congas, a little fancier than soul jazz but funkier than mainstream. B+(***)

Gene Russell: Talk to My Lady (1974, Black Jazz): The pianist mostly plays electric here, wrote three songs, adds some narration to the closer. With Calvin Keys on guitar, plus bass, drums, and congas. B+(*)

Further Sampling:

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

Peter Evans/Joel Ross/Nick Jozwiak/Savannah Harris: Being & Becoming (2019 [2020], More Is More): Trumpet player, quartet with vibes, bass, and drums. [bc: 1/5, 9:43/50:11]: ++

Peter Evans Ensemble: Horizons (2018 [2020], More Is More): Trumpet, violin, synth, percussion. [bc: 2/7, 10:29/42:10]: +

Peter Evans: Standards (2020, More Is More): Trumpet and piano duets, 5 songs, sample is "Embraceable You." [bc: 1/5, 8:59/39:22]: +

Grade (or other) changes:

Serengeti: With Greg From Deerhoof (2020, Joyful Noise): Greg Saunier and David Cohn crossed paths several times, including a gig in Berlin that produced a 17:16 "I Got Your Password," leading to the long-distance collaborations added here: Saunier emailed music tracks, a bit fancier than the usual beat tracks, and Cohn added some of his more furious rhymes. [was: B+(*)] B+(***)

Sunny Sweeney: Recorded Live at the Machine Shop Recording Studio (2020, Aunt Daddy): Country singer-songwriter, from Houston, four studio albums since 2006. I never stuck with her albums, so I have no idea how many of these songs are how old, but she's been a consistent songwriter, and this works nicely as a best-of. [Was: B+(***)] A-

Immanuel Wilkins: Omega (2020, Blue Note): Alto saxophonist, grew up near Philadelphia, based in New York, first album, produced by Jason Moran, backed by piano (Micah Thomas), bass, and drums. Blue Note has a knack for picking up unknowns and hyping them into phenoms, so I was skeptical at first, but gave him another shot after he bum-rushed the polls, and was impressed: still more mainstream than avant, but pushing the window. [was B+(**)] A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet: Social Distancing (Saponegro) [01-29]
  • Zach Phillips: The Wine of Youth (self-released)
  • Alan Sondheim & Azure Carter: Plaguesong (ESP-Disk)
  • Fay Victor's SoundNoiseFunk: We've Had Enough! (ESP-Disk) **

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, December 14, 2020

Weekend Roundup

Table of contents:

I've been paying more attention to EOY album lists, this week than to news. Started collecting this late Saturday evening, but got swamped Sunday with my work compiling Jazz Critics Poll ballots, and that pushed my schedule back a day. Even so, I prioritized collecting links for possible future interest, and refrained from commenting much on them. Perhaps I'll come back mid-week and add some notes, as there is much to talk about here.

The extra day means that the Electoral College has now done its duty and elected Joe Biden president (see: Electoral College vote officially affirms Biden's victory). Also: William Barr is out as Attorney General. And: US virus death toll crosses 300,000 as vaccinations begin (more figures further down, in the usual place).

Trump's Election Fraud and Other Election Matters

Jamelle Bouie: The 'Trump Won' farce isn't funny anymore: "Republicans are now seriously arguing that elections are legitimate only when their side wins."

Ronald Brownstein: The Republican Party's widening assault on American democracy.

Jessica Corbett: Four stabbed after Proud Boys, told by Trump to "stand back and stand by," descended on DC for march.

Garrett Epps: Disbar Ken Paxton -- and then some: Texas Attorney General, who filed the Trump fraudsters' "Hail Mary" lawsuit to overturn elections in states that try harder to practice democracy than Texas does.

Matt Ford: The rabid illiberalism of Trump's desperate election deniers.

Rosalind S Heiderman/Elise Viebeck: 'The last wall': How dozens of judges across the political spectrum rejected Trump's efforts to overturn the election.

Harold Meyerson: Will it really be all over on December 14? That's when the Electoral College votes.

Ella Nilsen: Everything that needs to go right for Democrats to win the Georgia runoffs, explained. More on Georgia:

Cameron Peters:

Jim Rutenberg/Nick Corasanti: 'An indelible stain': How the GOP tried to topple a pillar of democracy.

David Siders: Trump unleashes an army of sore losers.

Margaret Sullivan: Don't buy into Trump's disapproval of Fox News. The network is working hard on his election-denial fantasy.

Biden Prospects

See Building Biden's Cabinet for a survey of who's been selected for Biden's top administration positions, and who's being considered for still open slots.

Medea Benjamin/Nicholas JS Davies: Can Joe Biden's America figure out how to stop creating terrorists? Tempting to quote the whole article for its many examples where the insertion of US forces has only led to more resistance and terror (not least by the US itself). But I'll limit myself to the end:

We have real problems to deal with in this century -- existential problems that can only be solved by genuine international cooperation. We can no longer afford to sacrifice our future on the altar of the Global War on Terror, a New Cold War, Pax Americana or other imperialist fantasies.

Matt Ford: Biden is finding new and inexplicable ways to screw up his cabinet picks.

Fred Kaplan: Looks like Biden will be able to bring back the Iran deal after all.

Dylan Matthews:

Alex Pareene: Is Joe Biden just being stubborn? "A theory about his strangest nominees and appointments." Interesting example:

Take what happened to Marcia Fudge. The Ohio representative was openly lobbying to be made secretary of agriculture, in order to focus the department's attention on hunger and food security. She believed she had the relevant experience for the job and had even gone to the press with plans for what she wanted to do if selected: Her goal, as she explained in an interview last month, was to change the perception that the department only exists to help rural whites.

"As this country becomes more and more diverse, we're going to have to stop looking at only certain agencies as those that people like me fit in," she told Politico. "You know, it's always 'we want to put the Black person in labor or HUD.'"

Then Joe Biden's team put Marcia Fudge in HUD and announced that former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack would be getting his old job back.

Daniel Politi:

Dylan Scott: What Joe Biden could do to bring down drug costs.

Emily Stewart: The debate over Joe Biden cancelling student debt, explained: "45 million Americans have student debt." More on student debt:

Alex Ward:

The Covid-19 Pandemic Surge

Latest map and case count: 16.4 million+ cases (14 day change +30%, total up 1.6 million in last week), 300,051 deaths (+67%), 109,331 hospitalized (+19%). Dec. 9 was the first day where deaths topped 3,000, the round number above and beyond such infamous days as 9/11 and Pearl Harbor.

Jerusalem Demsas: Study: Allowing evictions during Covid-19 could have caused nearly 11,000 unnecessary deaths.

Laurie McGinley/Carolyn Y Johnson/Josh Dawsey: FDA authorizes the first coronavirus vaccine, a rare moment of hope in the deadly pandemic. Generic headline, but the link I followed to this article focused on the dirty hand of politics: White House orders FDA chief to authorize Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Friday or submit his resignation.

The White House actions once again inject politics into the vaccine race, potentially undermining public trust in one of the most crucial tools to end the pandemic that has killed more than 290,000 Americans. It comes in the midst of a process that had been designed to show no shortcuts were taken in reviewing the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine as surveys show many people remain unsure whether they will get the shots.

Given that bureaucrats have an innate tendency to drag their feet under the guise of caution, the political pressure might have been a good thing. Still, much can go wrong in a process driven primarily by profit-seeking and political advantage, where much of the relevant data is kept closed off as proprietary.

Whet Moser: The pandemic's final surge will be brutal.

Achal Prabhala/Arjun Jayadev/Dean Baker: Want vaccines fast? Suspend intellectual property rights.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg: Trump and friends got coronavirus care many others couldn't: "Rudolph W Giuliani became the latest in President Trump's inner circle to boast about the treatment he received for Covid-19, as hospitals across the country ration care."

Peter Wade: Rudy Giuliani brags about getting 'celebrity' virus treatment.

David Wallace-Wells: We had the vaccine the whole time.

F Perry Wilson: A doctor on 9 things that could go wrong with the new vaccines.

Sarah Zhang: The next six months will be vaccine purgatory: "The period after a vaccine is approved will be strange and confusing, as certain groups of people get vaccinated but others have to wait."

Still More on Donald Trump

Jonathan Chait: How Michael Anton's 'Flight 93 Election' essay defined the Trump era.

Sean Illing: A book critic read 150 Trump-era books. Here's what he learned. Interview with Carlos Lozada, author of What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era.

Nicole Narea:

Rachel Ramirez: The high rate of executions during Trump's last weeks in office, explained: "Trump has scheduled more federal executions than any president in at least a century."

William K Rashbaum/Ben Protess/David Enrich: Manhattan DA intensifies investigation of Trump.

Matt Stieb: Trump's last-minute execution spree has begun.

Tim Wu: What really saved the republic from Trump?

Jonathan Zimmerman: What Donald Trump can learn from Grover Cleveland. Premise here is that if Trump runs and wins in 2024, he'll join Cleveland as the only person to win two non-consecutive presidential terms. So how did Cleveland manage to win an election after losing one? Strikes me that the author is overly concerned with the duo's sex scandals, but there are other striking differences -- Cleveland actually won the popular vote in the election he lost -- as well as similarities (Cleveland was probably the most conservative president the US ever had, at least until Trump redefined what that meant).

In and Around the Courts

Jane Mayer: Dianne Feinstein's missteps raise a painful age question among Senate Democrats. Related:

  • Alex Shepherd: The Democrats are too old: "A grim report about Diane Feinstein's cognitive decline underlines a larger problem with the leadership of the party."

Ian Millhiser: The Supreme Court hands down a loss for rogue law enforcement officers -- and a win for the religious right.

Andrew Prokop: Joe Biden's Justice Department will inherit an investigation into Hunter Biden.

Mark Joseph Stern: The Supreme Court rejects opportunity to roll back marriage equality.

Around the World

Jen Kirby:

Jessica J Lee: How we an build on Trump's North Korea policy.

Trita Parsi: House Dems united to support the Iran nuclear deal.

Cameron Peters: Iran's execution of journalist Ruhollah Zam, briefly explained.

Mitchell Plitnick: Israel-Morocco agreement plants long term seeds of conflict.

Elizabeth Shackelford: Why Trump's Somalia gambit won't make anyone happy.

Other Matters of Interest

Tariq Ali: On John Lennon and Mick Jagger.

Bryce Covert: How monopolies have taken over our everyday lives: Review of David Dayen's book, Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power. By the way, some recent pieces by David Dayen:

Melissa Gira Grant: Nick Kristoff and the holy war on Pornhub: "When Kristof turns his notebook in the direction of women with stories of trauma, the resulting narratives most often fall somewhere between beneficent voyeurism and journalistic malpractice."

Daniel A Hanley: The FTC's strong case against Facebook. More on Facebook:

Sarah Jones: Why is Mitch McConnell so obsessed with liability shields?

Nick Martin: Wall Street vultures are ready to get rich from water scarcity.

Nathan J Robinson:

Luke Savage: How McKinsey, the world's most elite consulting firm, helped turbocharge America's opioid epidemic.

Peter Hammond Schwartz: Why the Democrats failed again: On the cosmological emptiness of liberalism: "Right-wingers have a theory of human nature and the universe. Without such a narrative, liberals will keep losing."

Alex Shepherd: Fox News is in trouble: "The network is facing real, sustained competition from the right for the first time in its history."

Jeffrey St Clair: Roaming charges: negative creep. His usual snark about Democrats (not without reason).

For a month now, the Democrats have ceded the airwaves to Trump and some of the most lunatic lawyers in America, while Biden rolls out recycled cabinet picks no one, except a few K Street lobbyists, asked for or wanted. Meanwhile, Pelosi and Schumer can't even get a tiny relief check to the 12 million people about to have their water and heat turned off or face eviction from their homes . . .

Still, lots more here, like a chart which shows that the top 1%'s share of income in India has risen from 6% in 1980 to 21%.

New York Times: This week in obituaries (a few names from a long list):

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, December 7, 2020

Music Week

December archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 34511 [34444] rated (+67), 215 [210] unrated (+5).

I've been working very fast and very hard, as should be obvious from the ridiculously high rated total this week. I've been counting ballots for the Jazz Critics Poll (71 submitted so far, which is pretty good with six days to go). I've been toting up EOY lists. I've been playing things I'm seeing on these lists, though rarely giving them more than a single spin. (I should give those Schubert albums another shot; also seems likely that one or more of the hip-hop albums might click; on the other hand, Kimbrough got three spins today, thanks to having the CD, which I could play while making soup and coleslaw (separate projects, but both kitchen-based).

All this listening is causing my EOY lists for jazz and non-jazz to churn, but is having surprisingly little effect on the upper reaches. I haven't formally submitted a Jazz Critics Poll ballot, but nothing new has come close to top-ten level. This is probably because I've managed to hear more of what I've heard about this year than in any previous year. For instance, if you look at the current EOY Aggregate file, the top-rated records I haven't heard are:

  1. Deftones: Ohms (Warner Bros) {38}
  2. Code Orange: Underneath (Roadrunner) {24}
  3. Sorry: 925 (Domino) {21}
  4. Gorillaz: Song Machine,Season One: Strange Timez (Parlophone) {20}
  5. The Killers: Imploding the Mirage (Island) {19}
  6. Matt Berninger: Serpentine Prison (Book/Concord) {18}
  7. Helena Deland: Someone New (Luminelle) {18)
  8. AC/DC: Power Up (Columbia) {17}
  9. The Lemon Twigs: Songs for the General Public (4AD) {17}
  10. Touche Amore: Lament (Epitaph) {17}
  11. Nick Cave: Idiot Prayer (Bad Seed) {16}
  12. The Microphones: Microphones in 2020 (PW Elverum & Sun) {16}
  13. Poppy: I Disagree (Sumerian) {16}
  14. BC Camplight: Shortly After Takeoff (Bella Union) {15}
  15. Crack Cloud: Pain Olympics (Meat Machine) {15}
  16. Mark Lanegan: Straight Songs of Sorrow (Heavenly) {15}

Most of these are metal or near-metal -- things I almost never like. The frequency of unheard records increases after that, but I have to scroll down toward 330 to get a screen with more black than green (or blue), and from 582-624 colors outnumber black 27-16 (at 5-6 points, my own votes are starting to have more influence). My coverage of jazz is even deeper. At present, there are 111 albums with 9(2) or higher scores. Of those, I've heard all but the following (11, so less than 10%; I've heard the top 34):

  • Tyshawn Sorey: Unfiltered (self-released)
  • Camila Nebbia: Aura (Ears & Eyes)
  • Michael Formanek Quartet: Untamed . . . Pre-Apocalyptic (Out of Your Head)
  • Peter Evans: Being & Becoming (More Is More)
  • Jason Palmer: The Concert: 12 Musings for Isabella (Giant Steps Arts)
  • Dan Weiss Starebaby: Natural Selection (Pi)
  • Steve Swell: The Center Will Hold (Not Two)
  • Lynne Arriale Trio: Chimes of Freedom (Challenge)
  • George Lewis & Oxana Omelchuk: Breaking News Studio Dan (Ezz-thetics)
  • Tim Ray: Excursions and Adventures (Whaling City Sound)
  • Dave Douglas: Marching Music (Greenleaf Music)
  • 3D Jazz Trio: I Love to See You Smile (DIVA)

I recall looking the first three up on Bandcamp, and didn't find enough cuts to review. (I should recheck them for "Further Sampling," which I'm still doing -- just not very aggressively.) I already have a download of Douglas, so I'll get to that. I was surprised to find that I've only received one record from Pi this year. They usually do a very good job of servicing critics, but cut back when the lockdown hit, and started releasing digital-only home recordings. Besides, I've panned all of Dan Weiss's CDs, so maybe they're keeping track.

As far as the EOY Aggregate is concerned, I continue to cheat in ways designed to make the list more interesting. I ignore exclusive metal magazines -- although enough leaks through that the metal subset of the big list has reached 160 albums (I've heard 2: kind of liked one, and didn't hate the other). I pick up jazz that the big aggregators ignore (including some JJA lists, but I haven't dipped into the JCP ballots yet), and I look out for country and hip-hop lists, and somewhat less aggressively for electronica and world lists. I've heard 42 of the top 50 country/folk/Americana albums (84%, 135 albums listed), 47 of the top 50 hip-hop/rap albums (94%, 214 albums listed), 22 of the top 50 electronica albums (44%, although 9/10 and 14/16, 197 albums listed), and 31 of the top 50 world albums (62%, 80 albums listed).

I've also started to pick off some ballots from the Pazz & Jop Rip-Off Poll, although thus far my standard is to only pick names I've tracked in previous EOY Aggregates (many from Village Voice Pazz & Jop polls, or the Christgauvian Expert Witness Facebook group, so that warps the results toward Christgau's picks, as does the extra points for his grades). One such ballot came from Tom Lane, who followed up by sending me a much longer list via email (which I will count in due course; any reader who deigns to send me a ranked list via email is also likely to get counted).

My EOY lists were up to date as of last Friday (at least based on what I've found on Acclaimed Music Forums), but I've slipped a bit over the weekend. I should also note that I've depended a lot on lists by Phil Overeem, Chris Monsen, and Tim Niland.

One anomaly this week is that I threw in a cover scan for a mere B+(***) record. Just saw Gnod's record in the recommendations of a Bandcamp page, and my interest was piqued enough that I played it -- the only non-new record this week (not that 2017 is that old). Couldn't quite give it an A- (a bit too noise/metal for my taste within the limits of one spin), but wanted the cover anyway. My prerogative.

Current jazz/non-jazz split for new A-list albums: 69/48. Most years eventually even out. Maybe Christgau's December Consumer Guide -- out Wednesday for paying subscribers -- will offer some non-jazz candidates?

By the way, Michaelangelo Matos' new book, Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year, is coming out this week. I'd still argue for 1964, but he's a good deal younger than me. For a review, check out Jack Hamilton: The Great New Book About the Year That Changed Pop.

By the way, Matos passed along my favorite tweet of the week: "Pro-tip: Never say 2020 can't get any worse!"

New records reviewed this week:

Eivind Aarset & Jan Bang: Snow Catches on Her Eyelashes (2020, Jazzland): Norwegian duo, the former plays guitar and bass, the latter samples, mixes, and produces, with a few guest spots along the way (e.g., one track with Nils Petter Molvaer on trumpet). Ambient, washes over you gently. B+(*) [bc]

Backxwash: God Has Nothing to Do With This Leave Him Out of It (2020, Grimalkin, EP): Rapper Ashanti Mutinta, born in Zambia, moved to Canada at 17 to study computer science, transgender, pronouns she/her, which is part of the subject matter. Second studio album, short (10 tracks, 22:05, as was the first, Deviancy), but dense and heavy. B+(**) [bc]

Barrage: The Was and Is to Come (2020, Øra Fonogram): Bassist Alexander Riris composed these pieces, played by a Norwegian septet, with trumpet, three saxes, piano, and drums. Impressive at speed, loses a bit when they slow down. B+(***)

Ran Blake/Andrew Rathbun: Northern Noir (2018 [2020], SteepleChase): Duets, piano and tenor sax. Opens and closes with "Strange Fruit," which seems about right for the somber, measured intimacy. B+(**)

Urs Blöchlinger Revisited: Harry Doesn't Mind (2018 [2020], Leo): Tribute group for the late Swiss saxophonist (1954-95), a septet led by son Lino Blöchinger, also a saxophonist, playing the old compositions. B+(**)

Peter Brötzmann/Fred Lonberg-Holm: Memories of a Tunicate (2020, Relative Pitch): Tenor sax and cello duo, a small but loud subset of their Chicago Tentet. The former sometimes takes the edge off by switching to clarinet or tarogato, while the latter adds electronics. As Mark Corroto put it, "entertaining and exhausting." B+(*) [bc]

Paul Bryan: Cri$el Gems (2020, self-released): Los Angeles-based bassist, Discogs credits him with one previous album (from 2003), but he seems to do a lot of production work on the side, including Jeff Parker's Suite for Max Brown. Parker plays guitar here, Lee Pardini electric piano, plus three percussionists, in an album that puts groove first but isn't satisfied to leave it there. B+(*)

BTS: BE (2020, Big Hit): Korean boy band, big stars worldwide. I've seen them dance through their revolving vocals a few times, and they're a lot of fun to watch. Less fun to just listen to, and the 3:00 "Skit" in the middle here is dead time, not that the closing single ("Dynamite") doesn't make up for it. Short (8 tracks, 28:30). B+(*)

Conway the Machine: From a King to a GOD (2020, Griselda): Buffalo rapper Demond Price, brother of Westside Gunn, cousin of Benny the Butcher, mixtapes from 2015, first studio album. "It's all good crap." B+(***)

Conway the Machine/The Alchemist: Lulu (2020, Griselda/ALC, EP): Seven tracks, 22:42. B+(**)

Dezron Douglas & Brandee Younger: Force Majeure (2020, International Anthem): Bass and harp duets, recorded in their shared Harlem apartment between March and June, 2020. A unique item, the mesh and contrast of the instruments near perfect, but I doubt it's something I'll want to return to, except to recall what those months were like, and how to survive them. B+(***)

Kurt Elling: Secrets Are the Best Stories (2020, Edition): Jazz singer, impressed a lot of people but I've always found him way too mannered, and have even started to question his chops of late. Big help here musically from Danilo Perez (pianist and co-producer). B-

Enemy Radio: Loud Is Not Enough (2020, SplitSLAM): A Chuck D project, with DJ Lord Aswod and Jahi Torman, the sound as punched up as Public Enemy can bring it, the message even more deeply political. I missed this when it came out in April, but it belongs in the Spring/Summer soundtrack, and is not likely to lose relevance for quite some time. A-

Fleet Foxes: Shore (2020, Anti-): Mild-mannered rock group (chamber or baroque pop), formed near Seattle c. 2006, principally Robin Pecknold. Fourth album, I've never understood the critical interest in this group, but this at least is pretty easy listening. B

Satoko Fujii/Natsuki Tamura: Pentas: Tribute to Eric and Chris Stern (2019 [2020], Not Two): Piano and trumpet duo, four compositions each. No idea how the Sterns figure into this. B+(**)

Future/Lil Uzi Vert: Pluto x Baby Pluto (2020, Atlantic): Two rappers, title refers back to the 2012 album by Future (Nayvadius Wilburn) and the lead song from the latter's 2020 album. This got pretty severely panned, but I'm finding the dense, beatwise banter about par for the course. B+(*)

GoGo Penguin: Live From Studio 2 (2020, Decca): English piano trio -- Chris Illingworth, Nick Blacka, Rob Turner -- strong on rhythm, a crossover threat niche previously developed by EST and Bad Plus. Digital only, billed as an EP, really a short album (7 tracks, 35:18). B+(*)

Devin Gray: Socialytics (2019 [2020], Rataplan, EP): Drummer, composer, leads trio with names below and right of title: Dave Ballou (trumpet) and Ryan Ferreira (guitar). Short (6 tracks, 24:17), but Ballou makes a big impression. B+(**)

Devin Gray/Gerald Cleaver: 27 Licks (2019 [2020], Rataplan): Two drummers, duets, something of an acquired taste. B+(*) [bc]

Connie Han: Iron Starlet (2020, Mack Avenue): Pianist, from Los Angeles, second album (or third, counting a Richard Rodgers Songbook she did as a teenager). Impressive speed, wrote 5 songs, to 3 by drummer-producer Bill Wysaske, and 2 covers. Gets significant help from Walter Smith III (tenor sax) and, especially, Jeremy Pelt (trumpet). B+(**)

Elisabeth Harnik & Steve Swell: Tonotopic Organizations (2019 [2020], Fundacja Sluchaj): Piano and trombone duets, recorded in Vienna (the pianist's home turf). Limited, but notable streaks from both. B+(*) [bc]

Honey Harper: Starmaker (2019 [2020], ATO): Born William Fussell, grew up with country music in Georgia, seems to be based in UK now, debut album after an EP and singles. Not conventionally country, but maybe a glittered up stage rendition. B

Headie One: Edna (2020, Relentless): British rapper Irving Adjei, first album after several mixtapes. B+(**)

Ian Hendrickson-Smith: The Lowdown (2019 [2020], Cellar Live): Alto saxophonist, mainstream, his debut a memorable early Jazz CG find, continues in that vein, with Cory Weeds (tenor sax), Rick Germanson (piano), John Webber (bass), and Joe Farnsworth (drums). B+(**)

HHY & the Macumbas: Camouflage Vector: Edits From Live Actions 2017-19 (2017-19 [2020], Nyege Nyege): Jonathan Saldanha and/or his "cryptic collective" from Porto, Portugal, with a strategic intervention by dub producer Adrian Sherwood, working from Barcelos to Tenerife then editing the rhythm tracks under lockdown in Kampala. B+(**)

Jon Irabagon: I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues: Volume 3: Anatomical Snuffbox (2019 [2020], Irabbagast): Tenor saxophonist, has done a fairly wide range of work since staring with Mostly Other People Do the Killing in 2006, but opts for avant-screech here ("46:54 of brutal, non-stop, cataclysmic end-of-the-world guitars, saxophone, and drums"). I mostly blame the guitars (Mick Barr and Ava Mendoza), although drummer Mike Pride is someone I associated with such din. B- [bc]

Keefe Jackson/Jim Baker/Julian Kirshner: So Glossy and So Thin (2018-19 [2020], Astral Spirits): Chicago trio -- tenor/sopranino sax, piano/synthesizer, drums -- two track live at the Hungry Brain (21:38 and 23:45). B+(***) [bc]

Jubileum Quartet [Joëlle Léandre/Evan Parker/Agustí Fernández/Zlatko Kaucic]: A Uis? (2018 [2020], Not Two): Bass, tenor sax, piano, drums; a single 45:02 improv piece, recorded at Cerkno Jazz Festival, "celebrating 40 years of Kaucic's professional career as a musician." B+(**)

Junglepussy: JP4 (2020, Jagjaguwar): New York rapper Shayna McHayle, parents from Jamaica and Trinidad, several albums and mixtapes. Short album (10 tracks, 29:35). Murky early, snaps sharp toward the end. B+(*)

Will Kimbrough: Spring Break (2020, Daphne): Singer-songwriter from Mobile, Alabama; based in Nashville, had a group called Will and the Bushmen (1985-91), half-dozen or so solo albums since 1999, side credits with Todd Snider and Amy Rigby (well, also Jimmy Buffett and Rodney Crowell, but first things first; two co-writes here with Snider). Notes on two of the more political songs: "Cape Henry" is not about a Civil War battle; and it's easier to have a "Right Wing Friend" if that friend also loves John Prine (as my own do). A- [cd]

Mary Lattimore: Silver Ladders (2020, Ghostly International): Classically trained harpist from North Carolina, seventh album since 2013. Generally classified as experimental or ambient, a few notes convinced me to file her under new age -- that haven for acoustic music which neither swings nor rocks nor evokes trad or classical roots. B+(*)

José Lencastre/Hernâni Faustino/Vasco Furtado: Vento (2018 [2020], Phonogram Unit): Portuguese avant-jazz trio: alto sax, bass, drums. Continues to impress. B+(***) [bc]

Lil Baby: My Turn (2020, Quality Control): Atlanta rapper Dominique Jones, second album, half dozen mixtapes. Trap beats, clipped flow, still works. B+(**)

Lil Uzi Vert: Eternal Atake (2020, Atlantic): Rapper Symere Woods, from Philadelphia, second studio album, after four mixtapes. B+(*)

Brian Lisik: Güdbye Stoopid Whirled (2020, Cherokee Queen): Singer-songwriter from Akron, Ohio. Google identifies him as a journalist, but website is focused on music, including six previous albums. Some garage klang. Relatively short (10 songs, 32:37). B+(**) [cd]

Tkay Maidza: Last Year Was Weird (Vol. 2) (2020, 4AD, EP): Rapper/singer, born in Zimbabwe, first name Takudzwa, moved to Australia when she was 5. Has a 2016 album (Tkay), two short mixtapes since (with a 3rd volume promised for 2021), this one 8 tracks, 26:54. Weirdest is "You Sad," which isn't sad at all. B+(**)

Anna McClellan: I Saw First Light (2020, Father/Daughter): Singer-songwriter from Omaha, third album. Lo-fi, sounds like early Liz Phair -- real early. B+(*)

Flo Milli: Ho, Why Is You Here? (2020, RCA): Rapper Tamia Carter, from Mobile, first album, rolls up a couple 2019 singles ("Beef FloMix," "In the Party"). Good beats, plenty sass, not what you'd call deep. B+(*)

Keir Neuringer/Shayna Dulberger/Julius Masri: Dromedaries II (2020, Relative Pitch): Alto sax/bass/drums trio, leader has albums since 2010, including one from 2017 with this trio. B+(**) [bc]

Keir Neuringer & Rafal Mazur: The Continuum (2018 [2020], Fundacja Sluchaj): Alto sax and acoustic bass guitar duo, recorded live in Krakow. Circular breathing for continuous engagement, B+(**) [bc]

Guillaume Nouaux: Guillaume Nouaux & the Stride Piano Kings (2019 [2020], self-released): French drummer, debut was 1998 album Creole Pinasse Hot Jazz Band, not a lot since then but these piano-drums duets would seem to be a dream project. Two tracks each from seven retro-swing pianists: Bernd Lhotzky, Louis Mazetier, Luca Filastro, Chris Hopkins, Rossano Sportiello, Harry Kanters, and Alain Barrabes. A couple songs could have been better chosen, but most are bright and cheery. B+(***) [cd]

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs: Viscerals (2020, Rocket): Brit rock group, fairly hard (Bandcamp tags range from psych and stoner rock to sludge and doom metal), from Newcastle Upon Tyne. Bass riffs feel strong, guitar shrill, voice hoarse. Not clear if they're full of shit, but no harder to listen to than vintage Black Sabbath. B

Chris Potter: There Is a Tide (2020, Edition): Big time tenor saxophonist, plays more soprano than he should, evidently plays everything else in a pinch -- a polite way to describe the circumstances of this lockdown recording, a dubbed solo effort where his credits read: "piano, keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, drums, clarinet, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute, percussion, samples, and saxophones." He does a nice job comping behind one monster sax solo, but not much else of interest. B-

Abbey Rader/John McMinn: Duo From the Heart (2019 [2020], Abray): Drummer, "whose 'free' approach is heavily influenced by Buddhism." Records since 1979, including work with William Parker and Billy Bang. Duets, McMinn is an alto saxophonist who plays a lot of piano here. B+(**) [bc]

Eric Reed: For a Time Such as This (2020, Smoke Sessions): Mainstream pianist, started out with Wynton Marsalis, dedicated his first album to Art Blakey, has many more since 1990. Trio here with Alex Boneham (bass) and Kevin Kanner (drums), plus Chris Lewis (tenor/soprano sax on 4 tracks), and Henry Jackson (one gospel vocal). B+(*)

Matana Roberts & Pat Thomas: The Truth (2018 [2020], Otoroku): Alto sax and piano duets, recorded live in London. B+(**) [bc]

Frank Paul Schubert/Dieter Manderscheid/Martin Blume: Spindrift (2019 [2020], Leo): German saxophonist (alto, soprano), twenty-some albums since 2005, trio with bass and drums. Two long pieces, impeccable free jazz sets. B+(***)

Frank Paul Schubert/Alexander von Schlippenbach/Martin Blume: Forge (2020, Relative Pitch): Alto/soprano sax, piano, drums: one 47:30 improv piece, followed by a 6:47 encore. Another impressive outing, even more so. A-

Nadine Shah: Kitchen Sink (2020, Infectious Music): British singer-songwriter, fourth album (plus 2 EPs) since 2012. Has a distinctive voice, and this record breaks out of the folkie rut. B+(**)

Skurkar: Skjulte Motiver (2019 [2020], Øra Fonogram): Trondheim-based jazz band, two saxophones -- baritone (Jenny Frøysa) and alto (Amalie Dahl) -- bass (Oda Steinkopf), and drums (Emma Lönnestål). Starts free and punkish, settles into patterns. B+(***)

Spillage Village: Spilligion (2020, Dreamville/SinceThe80s/Interscope): Hip-hop collective from Atlanta, includes members of EarthGang and rapper JID, first major label outing after three digital-onlys. Framed as a take on religion, ranges far and wide, lost me a bit on "Hapi" (the Nile River God), where the rap parted to let the choir spill over. B+(*)

Bartees Strange: Live Forever (2020, Memory Music): Singer-songwriter from Oklahoma, actual surname Cox, debuted with an EP of National covers, then released this first album. Sharp-edged, kind of arty, rooted in garage rock, no interest in folkie confessionals. B+(*)

Talibam! With Silke Eberhard and Nikolaus Neuser: This Week Is in Two Weeks (2020, ESP-Disk): Group is a duo -- Matt Mottel (keyboards, guitar) and Kevin Shea (drums, from MOPDTK) -- with 30+ albums since 2007, joined here by two German horn players (alto sax and trumpet). B+(**)

Duval Timothy: Help (2020, Carrying Colour): Pianist, sings some, b. 1989, divides time between London and Freetown, Sierra Leone. I saw this pegged as jazz, but aside from the pure piano bits this is impossible to pigeonhole. B+(*)

Kali Uchis: Sin Miedo (Del Amor Y Otros Demonios) (2020, Interscope): Pop star, Karly-Marina Loaiza, born in Virginia, father from Colombia, where she moved at some point. Breakthrough album Isolation was one of my favorites in 2018. Switches to Spanish here -- "Without Fear (Of Love and Other Demons)." Loses more than a little in transition: not just the words I don't grok, but also the hooks I don't feel. B+(*)

Birgit Ulher/Franz Hautzinger: Kleine Trompetenmusik (2018 [2020], Relative Pitch): Two trumpet players, German and Austrian, more than a dozen records each since 1996/1998. B- [bc]

Luís Vicente/John Dikeman/William Parker/Hamid Drake: Goes Without Saying, but It's Got to Be Said (2020, JACC): Trumpet, tenor sax, bass, drums. Note says "recorded live at ZDB by Kellzo on the 19th July 2020." No idea where that is, or how they managed to get musicians from Portugal, Netherlands, and US together. The horn players have been on the free jazz scene for a while, but nothing like the world's greatest bass-drums team for inspiration. A-

Fay Victor's SoundNoiseFunk: We've Had Enough! (2019 [2020], ESP-Disk): Recorded last December, bet she's even more pissed off now. Adventurous group -- Sam Newsome (soprano sax), Joe Morris (guitar), Reggie Nicholson (drums) -- a little rough and unsteady, but she takes risks others cannot imagine. B+(**)

Virtual Company: Virtual Company (2018 [2020], Confront): Bassist Simon H. Fell, who died in June at 61, organized this "live" set at Café OTO, with Mark Wastell (cello, percussion) and pre-recorded fragments from Derek Bailey (guitar) and Will Gaines (tapdance) -- an "in-concert, virtual Company performance" (reference to Bailey's old avant-improv group, which Fell and Wastell played in). I've probably heard (and certainly appreciated) less by Bailey/Company than any of the other Penguin Guide demigods, and for that matter I've barely scratched Fell, but 46:37 is fascinating in a low-key, off-kilter way. A- [bc]

Working Men's Club: Working Men's Club (2020, Heavenly): Electropop group from Yorkshire, auteur Sydney Minsky-Sargeant. Seems like a throwback to 1980s new wave disco, a bit louder and shriller, which may turn into annoying should the initial thrill wear off. B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Victor Chukwu: Akalaka/The Power (1977-79 [2020], BBE): Combines two LPs of vintage Igbo highlife, the second title fully credited to Uncle Victor Chuks & the Black Irokos. One of my favorite African styles, not the slickest version but upbeat, a delight. A-

Full Blast [Peter Brötzmann/Marino Pliakas/Michael Wertmüller]: Farewell Tonic (2007 [2020], Trost): Reeds, electric bass, drums, trio going under the name of their 2006 debut. Front cover just shows the last names. Live shot. Crowd is really into it. B+(**) [bc]

Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live in Maui (1970 [2020], Experience Hendrix/Legacy, 2CD): "The trio's second-to-last performance in the U.S. during their final The Cry of Love Tour," on July 30, before his death (at 27) on September 18. Some parts have been plundered for previous posthumous product. This time, the presentation is as two complete sets (51:34, 48:44), no songs repeated. No surprises here, but a fair sampler from a major artist, enjoyable in its own right. B+(***)

Wolfgang Lackerschmid and Chet Baker: Ballads for Two (1979 [2018], Dot Time): German vibraphone player, young (22) at the time, in a duo with the trumpet legend. Originally released with Baker's name first. Nice showcase for Baker at his most laconic. B+(**)

Wolfgang Lackerschmid/Chet Baker: Quintet Sessions 1979 (1979 [2020], Dot Time): Second album together, also originally released with Baker's name first, with ample cover space for the stellar rhythm section: Larry Coryell, Buster Williams, and Tony Williams. Trumpet stars less here, but the rhythm makes up. B+(***)

Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987 (1983-87 [2020], Captured Tracks): Not a period when I paid much attention to pop music, but 28 tracks by as many artists, none I recall, but the guitar sound is distinctive, and everything is upbeat, so this coheres, about as much as Nuggets did for the late 1960s. The difference is that Nuggets mostly picked hits, so they jogged your memory, whereas this leaves you blank. B+(*)

Old music:

Gnod: Just Say No to the Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine (2017, Rocket): British rock band from Manchester, formed 2006, Discogs lists 34 albums, this particular title jumped out at me. Psych and/or drone, I gather, eases off a bit toward the end. Let's post the cover anyway. B+(***)

Further Sampling:

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

Mark Helias/Tim Berne: Blood From a Stone (2020, Radiolegs): Bass/alto sax duo. [bc: 1/5, 9:07/51:04]: +

The Human Hearts: Day of the Tiles (2020, self-released, EP): Franklin Bruno project. Christgau's a big fan, but I don't hear it. [bc: 3/6, 12:16/21:50]: -

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Brad Brooks: God Save the City (Brad Brooks)
  • The Grasso-Ravita Jazz Ensemble: Jagged Spaces (Grassvita Music) [01-15]
  • Roderick Harper: Evolving (R.H.M. Entertainment) [01-04]
  • Will Kimbrough: Spring Break (Daphne)
  • Brian Lisik: Güdbye Stoopid Whirled (Cherokee Queen)
  • Gayelynn McKinney and McKinney Zone: Zoot Suit Funk (Beatstix)
  • Larry Newcomb Quartet: Love, Dad (Essential Messenger) [02-05]
  • The Justin Rothberg Group: Hurricane Mouse (self-released) [01-01]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Weekend Roundup

Table of contents:

I've been paying more attention to EOY album lists this week than to news. Started collecting this Saturday evening, and figure I got enough.

Trump's Election Fraud

Plus a few more election-related stories, including the Georgia Senate runoffs. Note that: Biden's vote lead over Trump now more than 7 million.

Susan B Glasser: The President is acting crazy, so why are we shrugging it off? Well, we voted him out of office. What more can we do? And unless, in due course, he figures out some way to defy the eviction, why give him the satisfaction of attention? It's not like we don't have anything else to worry about.

Ryan Grim: Goldman Sachs log exposes David Perdue's stock trading claim as a lie. Actually, both Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have notorious stock trading scandals. (Steve M also reminds us that Loeffler is "the wealthiest member of the Senate" and "Loeffler's husband is literally the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange." Another tweet posted this picture of "one of Loeffler's 5 houses.") With enormous sums being spent on this race, scandals like that should be drummed into every voter's noggin. More on Georgia:

Benjamin Hart: Trump funds political future by claiming he won in 2020.

Zach Montellaro/Elena Schneider: Trump's post-election cash grab floods funds to new PAC.

Andrew Prokop:

Aaron Rupar:

Jeff Singer: Ohio's decade-old gerrymander still performed exactly as the GOP intended in 2020.

Peter Slevin: Trump's election-fraud bluster finds an audience.

Matt Stieb: DOJ investigating 'bribery-for-pardon' scheme involving White House.

Biden Prospects

We're starting to see announcements of Biden's picks for the cabinet and key staff positions -- see Joe Biden's cabinet begins to take shape.

Kate Aronoff: The problem with putting a BlackRock alum in charge of greening the economy: "Brian Deese, expected to head the Biden administration's National Economic Council, is a longtime adherent of a disastrous energy strategy."

David Atkins: Media must focus on larger truths during the Biden presidency: I'm not a betting person, but odds of this happening are pretty slim. Presumably they won't have to cope with Trump's "flood the zone with bullshit" approach to PR, but let's face it: they were suckers for bullshit; also a lot of it is endemic to using social media as a PR engine, which Biden's staff will continue to do, even if they're not as flagrantly duplicitous as Trump's staff have been. Atkins also wrote a piece on How do you deradicalize the Republican Party?. Well, it would help if the media got smarter and dug deeper, holding Republicans accountable not just for their frequent gaffes but for the real consequences of their demented programs. After all, what matters more than deradicalizing the Republican Party is defeating them. Do that, and they'll adjust on their own.

Rosa Brooks: It's time for a woman to run the Defense Department. Advertisement for Brooks' former boss, Michele Flournoy, although it could also reflect Brooks' own ambitions. I try to cut her some slack, mostly because her famous leftist mother Barbara Ehrenreich still seems to respect her, and this is one case where coming from a famous family is unlikely to have done her any favors. Still, I couldn't care less about the sex or race or religion of any government agency heads, but I'm unlikely to like anyone under serious consideration for the Defense Department. By the way, see Robert Wright/Conor Echols: Grading candidates for Biden's foreign policy team: Michèle Flournoy (grade even lower than expected; hell, even lower than Antony Blinken's).

Linda Pentz Gunter: In promoting new nuclear power, Biden-Harris back fiction over science.

Ben Jacobs: Harry Reid's former lieutenant on what it's like to fight Mitch McConnell. Interview with Adam Jentleson.

Paul Krugman:

Dylan Matthews: Joe Biden is taking office amid a poverty crisis: "Columbia researchers project that 5 million to 12 million more people will be in poverty in January than a year before."

David Roberts: Joe Biden should do everything at once. Nice to see some thinking about the Obama administration's failures to get things done given a hostile, obstructionist Republican Party. Subheds:

  • Obama's efforts to collect and spend "political culture" were mostly for naught
  • Two-party partisan politics really is a zero-sum game
  • Biden should run a blitz
  • The new rule of partisan politics is to act, not react

The Covid-19 Pandemic Surge

Latest map and case count: 14.8 million+ cases (14 day change +12%, total up 1.5 million in last week), 282,257 deaths (+48%), 101,190 hospitalized (+27%).

Chas Danner: Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for Covid-19.

Elaine Godfrey: Iowa is what happens when government does nothing.

Kasey Grewe: Headlines don't capture the horror we saw: "I chronicled what Covid-19 did to a hospital. America must not let down its guard."

Carolyn Kormann: Countdown to a coronavirus vaccine.

Robinson Meyer/Alexis C Madrigal: The US has passed the hospital breaking point: "A new statistic shows that health-care workers are running out of space to treat Covid-19 patients."

David Remnick: Atul Gawande on coronavirus vaccines and prospects for ending the pandemic.

David Roberts: The scariest thing about global warming (and Covid-19): "Shifting baselines syndrome."

Dylan Scott: America's failures have led to a new daily record in Covid-19 deaths.

Still More on Donald Trump

Kyle Cheney/Josh Gerstein: Barr taps Durham as special counsel, pushing probe into Biden era. John Durham has been investigating "the origins of the FBI's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election," looking (to little avail) or pin the investigation of Trump on Obama. By designating Durham a Special Counsel, Barr hopes to extend the witch hunt past Jan. 20.

"In an appointment secretly conferred on Durham prior to the election and only disclosed now that Barr concedes there is no evidence of election fraud to overturn the results, Barr is using the special counsel law for a purpose it was not intended: to continue a politically motivated investigation long after Barr leaves office," said House Intelligence chairman Adam Schiff in a statement.

More on Durham:

Jonathan Guyer: The lucrative after life of a Trump official: "Trump's former appointees are profiting from their time in the White House -- H.R. McMaster most of all."

Sarah Jones: White evangelicals made a deal with the devil. Now what?

Michael Klare: Trump's pernicious military legacy: "From the forever wars to the cataclysmic wars."

People seldom notice that Trump's approach to military policy has always been two-faced. Even as he repeatedly denounced the failure of his predecessors to abandon those endless counterinsurgency wars, he bemoaned their alleged neglect of America's regular armed forces and promised to spend whatever it took to "restore" their fighting strength. "In a Trump administration," he declared in a September 2016 campaign speech on national security, America's military priorities would be reversed, with a withdrawal from the "endless wars we are caught in now" and the restoration of "our unquestioned military strength."

Anita Kumar: Trump to restart foreign deals, breaking a post-presidency norm.

Martin Longman: Trump's maddening war against Section 230 which protects digital publishers. "It's not just Democrats for whom January 20th cannot come soon enough."

David Nakamura/Juliet Eilperin/Lisa Rein: As Trump rants over election, his administration accelerates push to lock in policy and staffing gains.

Administration officials are rushing to auction off drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, slash U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, implement new rules to limit drug prices and create a new personnel category for civil servants in policymaking roles that would strip them of most job protections. The Department of Homeland Security is racing to complete an additional 50 miles of wall barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the State and Treasury departments are preparing additional economic sanctions on China and Iran.

Senate Republicans -- who may lose their governing majority in January, depending on a pair of runoffs in Georgia -- are moving swiftly to confirm Trump's conservative picks to the federal courts and other nominees whose tenures will extend into the Biden presidency and beyond.

Sarah Okeson: Trump's ERA clears way for "Bhopal 2" here in the US.

Rachel Ramirez: The high rate of executions during Trump's last weeks in office, explained: "Trump has scheduled more federal executions than any president in at least a century." More specifically:

Brian Resnick: Why Trump taking credit for the Covid-19 vaccines could be a good thing: "After he leaves office, he can help convince supporters to get vaccinated for Covid-19." Wishful thinking, but don't expect he'd do it out of his deep well of public-spiritedness. On the other hand, he could probably make a bundle as a Pharma shill.

David Rohde: William Barr's break with Donald Trump: "The Attorney General is, at long last, defending American democracy." Jeez, he says one thing, carefully worded to technically accurate while a minimum of comfort to his enemies, and some people are eager to acclaim him as an American hero. The best I can say for Barr is that he, unlike Rudy Giuliani (to pick the most obvious example), has always known where the line of the law lies, and how to tripping over it and getting indicted or disbarred. That may occasionally irritate Trump, and feel free to enjoy Trump's agitation, but Barr has actually been a much more effective defender of his client than Giuliani has. If you need a reminder, look back at how Barr handled the Mueller Investigation, showing Mueller a great deal of personal respect while bottling up and defanging the Report. Again, contrast with Giuliani, who accomplished little more than getting his henchmen indicted.

Matthew Rosza: This Marxist philosopher foresaw the rise of Trumpism more than 80 years ago. Title like that I had to click, if nothing else just to get the name. Of course, 80 years ago isn't as far back as it used to be. In fact, it only takes you to 1940, which gives one plenty of time to observe the rise of Adolf Hitler. Sure, Trump isn't Hitler Redux, but you're hardly breaking new ground pointing out similarities. The name is Walter Benjamin, a special interest of mine in a time closer to then than to now, and the key point is:

Benjamin, a Marxist and a Jew who was thus obviously opposed to the Nazis, postulated that modern fascists succeed when they are entertainers. Not just any entertainer -- a circus clown or a juggler-turned-fascist wouldn't do. Specifically, modern fascists were entertainers with a distinct aesthetic, one that appeals to mass grievances by encouraging their supporters to feel like they are personally expressing themselves through their demagogue of choice.

Benjamin's insight, which appears to have been largely forgotten, is that keeping fascism out of power means recognizing how they use aesthetic entertainment to create their movements. That does require us to admit, cringe-inducing though it may be, that Trump is an artist -- albeit a tacky, shallow and transparently self-aggrandizing one. More importantly, his movement, the MAGA crowd, has a distinct aesthetic which he has created and honed for them.

There is, by the way, much more to Benjamin than the essay cited, and much more to he essay than the use it's put to here -- John Berger wrote a whole book, Ways of Seeing, based on the essay. There is much more to be gained by understanding Benjamin within the context of his time than in trying to use him to decipher fascism today. But it is also true that those of us who understood fascism through the critiques of Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and fellow thinkers had a leg up on you dogmatic anti-Marxist liberals. The other point I want to make is that fascist aesthetics are only such when adopted by fascists for fascist political aims. It's not random what fascists choose, but it's not commutative either: you don't become a fascist because you like swastikas or monster trucks or "reality TV," and you don't stop being a fascist because you hold to more conservative aesthetics.

In the Courts

Ian Millhiser:

Around the World

Dave DeCamp: President Trump orders to withdraw the 'majority' of troops from Somalia: "The Plan will reposition troops to neighboring countries to allow for 'cross-border operations'" -- ergo, business as usual, no big change. Also on the Somalia war you probably didn't know about:

Yossi Gurvitz: Israeli court rules that Nation State law calls for discrimination against Palestinian citizens.

Daniel Immerwahr: Fort Everywhere: "How did the United States become entangled in a cycle of endless war?" Review of David Vine's book, The United States of War: A Global History of America's Endless Conflicts, From Columbus to the Islamic State. I'm reminded here of point 2 in Mark Kurlansky's Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea: "Nations that build military forces as deterrents will eventually use them." Or as Madeleine Albright put it, "What's the point of having this superb military that you're always talking about if we can't use it?" War follows militarism. Put bases all around the world and what you're protecting soon reduces to little more than the bases themselves.

James North: Coverage of Israel's killing of Iranian scientist is marred by inaccuracy and inhumanity.

Richard Silverstein: Iranian authorities: Israeli assassination carried out remotely by satellite.

Alex Ward:

Other Matters of Interest

Jariel Arvin:

Paul Blest: The Democratic Party will keep betraying labor. It's time to launch a workers' party. Article paired with: Jonathan Smucker: Don't abandon the Democratic Party -- take it over. I answered this question after the Ralph Nader debacle in 2000. What bothered me wasn't throwing the election to Bush -- Gore campaigned the way he wanted to -- but the fact that even in Kansas, where Gore didn't campaign at all, he outpolled Nader 10-to-1. I realized then that the people you need to appeal to had already decided to be Democrats, and if anything that's even more true today. Sure, Democratic socialists and neoliberals have huge differences, and are joined today largely by fear of ever greater Republican fascism. But the path of political progress goes through the people, and the people most open to progressive proposals are already in the Democratic Party. Win there, or go home. (Of course, I have no problem with sitting outside practical politics when that's the only space you can be right in -- one of my formative political journals was called The Minority of One. Just don't pretend that doing so is some kind of viable political strategy.)

Zach Carter: The power of ideas and the idea of power: "The progressives won the debate about whether there is a power elite. Now they need to keep the corporate elite from destroying what's left of our democracy."

Jeffrey Frank: Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz tell the full sordid story of Spiro Agnew: A review of their book, Bag Man: The Wild Crimes, Audacious Cover-Up, and Spectacular Downfall of a Brazen Crook in the White House.

Christina Goldbaum/Will Wright: 'Existential peril': Mass transit faces huge service cuts across US.

Eric Levitz:

German Lopez:

Ed Morales: Privatizing Puerto Rico: "The rushed sell-off of the territory's electrical utility is part of a larger move to gut public goods for private profit."

Anna North: The government's failure to provide economic relief is killing people.

Alex Ross: Revisiting Hitler's final days in the bunker: Very hard to read this piece without trying to transpose Trump into Hitler's bunker -- not that Trump is Hitler, let alone that the "radical leftists" besieging Trump's White House are anywhere near as lethal as the Red Army bearing down on Berlin. But psychologically, it must bear some likeness, even if only in Trump's fevered delusions. Sure, Hitler fell harder, but when you start from the pinnacle of Trump's ego, the downfall must feel infinite.

Jeffrey St Clair: Roaming charges: Let's get small: Some snippets:

  • Joe Biden's cabinet is shaping up to be the most diverse group of ideological clones ever assembled.
  • According to Obama's book, the breakdown on intervening in Libya was as follows: Against: Biden, Gates, Mullen, Daley. For: HRC, Rice, Powers, Blinken. He, of course, was conflicted, but bombed Libya anyway.
  • Nancy Pelosi has now served as the leader of the Democrats in the House for as long as Leonid Brezhnev served as General Secretary of the Communist Party, 18 years.

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, November 30, 2020

Music Week

November archive (finished).

Music: Current count 34444 [34401] rated (+43), 210 [213] unrated (-3).

Not really sure why I feel so frazzled at the moment. I've been doing a lot of high speed clerical work: counting Jazz Critics Poll ballots (32 so far), adding EOY early lists to my aggregate file, fiddling with my jazz and non-jazz EOY files, and trying to wrap up this post and the November Streamnotes archive, while listening to as much as I can recall, track down, and stomach. The hardest part is deciding what to check out.

Sorry to hear of the death of Kali Z. Fasteau (aka Zusann Kali Fasteau). I wrote to her when I was researching my big William Parker/Matthew Shipp consumer guide. She generously sent me not just what I asked for but her whole catalog, starting with a 1975-77 collection of her work with her late husband, Donald Rafael Garrett, and she kept sending CDs up through her latest, in 2016. She played a wide range of instruments, none especially well, but she was a scene setter and often enough made her eclecticism work. I finally gave one of her records an A-: Piano Rapture (2014), where she finally impressed me with her piano, joined by various guests (notably Kidd Jordan and Mixashawn).

I've continued to fiddle with the format of "records I played parts of, but not enough to grade," including adding them to Streamnotes archive, and adding them to the Year 2020 list (although they are not yet in the EOY lists). I'm not very happy with them yet. But this week I went through most of the unheard records at Tim Berne's Screwgun Records Bandcamp. Only records flagged as ++ continue to be listed in the 2% EOY list prospects. Again, I still haven't made a complete pass through the tracking file to identify most of the albums that meet the 2% standard (but I did drop three of Berne's albums from the list I had, leaving 2).

New records reviewed this week:

AVA Trio: Digging the Sand (2018 [2019], Marocco Music): Giuseppe Doronzo (baritone sax/mizmar), Esat Ekincioglu (bass), and Pino Basile (percussion). Mediterranean groove and flavoring, some edge. B+(***)

Bad Bunny: El Último Tour Del Mundo (2020, Rimas): Puerto Rican rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, draws on reggaeton to create a kind of Latin trap rap. B+(*)

Alan Barnes: 60th Birthday Celebration: New Takes on Tunes From '59 (2019, Woodville): British clarinet/saxophone player, a swing guy, which partly explains why I expected him to be older, but also true that I've sampled him lightly (I've missed all 6 Penguin Guide recommendations in my database). Band is just horns on top of piano trio. Songs from his birth year, which nets him Jobim, Mancini, Quincy Jones, Quincy Jones, Ellington, Monk, and more modern figures (expected classics other than nothing from Kind of Blue). B+(**)

Beabadoobee: Fake It Flowers (2020, Dirty Hit): Born in the Philippines in 2000, Beatrice Laus moved to London when she was 3, credits Kimya Dawson for inspiration to start making music. First album after four EPs. Her pop is more robust than Dawson's anti-folk, but not free from its inspirational idiosyncrasy. B+(**)

Scott H. Biram: Fever Dreams (2020, Bloodshot): Singer-songwriter from Texas, drawl fated him for Americana but he started out in punk and still reminds me of "psychobilly." Twelfth album since 2000. Ends with a bizarre gospel remix. B+(**)

Scott H. Biram: Sold Out to the Devil: A Collection of Gospel Cuts by the Rev. Scott H. Biram (2019, Bloodshot): Likely to remain an oddity in his discography, but in some ways this rough and profane clash with sin and grace was the album he was born to sing. A-

Jeb Bishop: Centrifugal Trio (2019 [2020], Astral Spirits): Trombonist, early member of Vandermark 5, recorded this in Berlin with Antonio Borghini (bass) and Michael Griener (drums). B+(**) [bc]

Bonny Light Horseman: Bonny Light Horseman (2020, 37d03d): American folk-rock "supergroup" -- Anaïs Mitchell, Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats, The Shins), Josh Kaufman (The National, Hiss Golden Messenger). B

Cabaret Voltaire: Shadow of Fear (2020, Mute): Group from Sheffield, UK, formed in 1973, pioneered industrial electronica, I never went deep into their albums but like some compilations a lot. Last group album in 1994, but Richard H. Kirk has returned with a new album under the old name. Got the old groove back, too. B+(***)

Chloe x Halle: Ungodly Hour (2020, Columbia): R&B duo, sisters, last name Bailey, second album, cover features angel wings over big booties. B+(*)

Dan Clucas/Jeb Bishop/Damon Smith/Matt Crane: Universal or Directional (2018 [2020], Balance Point Acoustics): Cornet, trombone, bass, drums. Napster lists this under Bishop, and displays what seems to be the back cover, which does list Clucas first. Ends strong. B+(***)

Shemekia Copeland: Uncivil War (2020, Alligator): Blues singer, daughter of Johnny Copeland, debut 1998, ninth album. Notable lyric: "money makes you ugly/you're the living proof." Also: "we all give God the blues." Less than notable cover: "Under My Thumb." Gun song (probably anti-, but sometimes it's hard to tell): "Apple Pie and a .45." B+(*)

Miley Cyrus: Plastic Hearts (2020, RCA): Pop star, started as a Disney teen but is all grown now. Opens with a should-be hit ("WTF Do I Know"). Digital edition ends with three hard rocking tracks, including a harder take on "Heart of Glass." B+(**)

Hermine Deurloo: Riverbeast (2019, Zennes): Dutch, plays chromatic harmonica, albums since 1998. With Steve Gadd, Tony Scherr, and Kevin Hays. Slick and a bit funky, with a couple vocals (probably Gadd). B

The End: Allt Är Intet (2019 [2020], RareNoise): Norwegian saxophonist Kjetl Møster, has had many projects since 2004, even a solo album (title: Blow Job). Second with this group, which combines a remarkable number of things I can't stand, ranging from Mats Gustafsson at his squawkiest to church/opera vocals and death metal. Still not as bad as their eponymous 2018 effort. C [cdr]

John Fogerty: Fogerty's Factory (2020, BMG): Started in lockdown as a 7-cut EP remaking songs from Cosmo's Factory, with the singer's family as his band, expanded now to 12 covers. Has anyone ever sounded more quintessentially American? Depends on what America means to you, I guess. B+(*)

Funk Shui NYC: Shark NATO on a Plane (2020, Zoho): Fifteen-piece big band, short on brass (3 trumpets, 2 trombones) but doubles up on bass and percussion, i.e., funk quotient. B+(*)

Dave Gisler Trio With Jaimie Branch: Zurich Concert (2019 [2020], Intakt): Swiss guitarist, fair number of albums since 2008, trio with Raffaele Bossard (bass) and Lionel Friedli (drums), plus guest trumpet. B+(*)

Vinny Golia/John Hanrahan/Henry Kaiser/Wayne Peet/Mike Watt: A Love Supreme Electric: A Salvo Inspired by John Coltrane: A Love Supreme & Meditations (2019 [2020], Cuneiform, 2CD): I figure guitarist Kaiser is the catalyst here. He previously recorded several volumes of "electric Miles Davis" (Yo Miles!), and his guitar is the extra element here. Golia is as inspired a saxophone choice as Wadada Leo Smith was on trumpet, and Peet's organ adds to the electrification. B+(***) [dl]

Jahari Massamba Unit: Pardon My French (2020, Madlib Invazion): Hip-hop producer Otis Jackson Jr., better known as Madlib, and drummer Kariem Riggins. B+(*)

Benjamin Koppel/Kenny Werner/Scott Colley/Jack DeJohnette: The Art of the Quartet (2015 [2020], Cowbell Music/Unit, 2CD): Danish alto saxophonist, has been pretty prolific since 2002, joined by three relatively famous Americans. Unlikely they were ever a working band, much less one seasoned enough to justify the title, but they're such pros that they could have coalesced instantly. Runs long, and holds together. B+(***)

Benjamin Koppel/Tine Rehling/Henrik Dam Thomsen: Les Mobiles (2019 [2020], Cowbell Music): Leader plays soprano and mezzo saxophones as well as his usual alto, in a chamber jazz trio with harp and cello. B+(*)

Ingrid Laubrock: Dreamt Twice, Twice Dreamt (2019 [2020], Intakt, 2CD): German alto saxophonist, based in Brooklyn, subitles this "Music for Chamber Orchestra and Small Ensemble": the former is the EOS Chamber Orchestra (5 tracks), the latter (also 5 tracks) a trio with Cory Smythe (piano) and Sam Pluta (electronics), plus three guests (accordion, violin, electric harp). B+(*)

Lionel Loueke: HH (2019 [2020], Edition): Guitarist, from Benin, title honors Herbie Hancock. Solo, with loops, plays up the funk angle, doesn't dull or sweeten it with vocals. B+(**)

Tatsuya Nakatani/Shane Parish/Zach Rowden: Live at Static Age Records (2018 [2020], Astral Spirits): Percussion, nylon string guitar, double bass. B+(*) [bc]

The Michael O'Neill Quartet: And Then It Rained (2020, Jazzmo): Bay Area saxophonist, started in 1980s doing soundtracks, fifth album since 2004, with Michael Bluestein on piano, plus bass and drums. Lovely, a bit on the lush side. B+(**)

Bruno Parrinha/Abdul Moimeme/Carlos Santos: A Silent Play in the Shadow of Power (2020, Creative Sources): Artist order can be parsed multiple ways, but this is top-to-bottom, per Discogs. Recorded in Lisbon, live just before lockdown, credits in order: bass clarinet/alto sax, guitar, electronics, the latter two also "objects." Short with one 26:10 piece. Bigger problem is that while not quite silent it can be hard to hear. B- [bc]

Vanessa Perica Orchestra: Love Is a Temporary Madness (2019 [2020], self-released): Australian composer/arranger/conductor, first album, leading a conventional 17-piece big band. B+(**)

Ben Perowsky/John Medeski/Chris Speed: Upstream (2014 [2019], El Destructo): Drummer, studied with Alan Dawson at Berklee, many more side- than leader-credits (evidently this is the first in a decade). More famous trio mates, and this is almost a dream match up for them. B+(***)

Noah Preminger: Contemptment (2020, SteepleChase): Tenor saxophonist, impressive debut in 2007, solid ever since. Quartet with guitar (Max Light), bass (Kim Cass), and drums (Dan Weiss). B+(**)

Dave Rempis/Jeff Parker/Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Jeremy Cunningham: Stringers and Struts (2019 [2020], Aerophonic): Sax, guitar, bass, drums. Starts measured, and for once never blows any fuses. The guitarist contributes some of his finest work, but it's still top shelf Chicago avant-sax. In a year when Rempis dumped a dozen old tapes out as download-only, he put this one on a CD. A- [cd] [12-04]

Andrew Renfroe: Dark Grey EP (2019 [2020], self-released, EP): Guitarist, leads quintet with alto sax (Braxton Cook), piano, bass, and drums through five songs, 25:08, on his debut effort. Nice guitar texture. B+(*) [cd]

Ray Russell: Fluid Architecture (2020, Cuneiform): British guitarist, many records since 1971, ranging from free to fusion. Various lineups, most with bass and drums, some keyboards, three cuts with sax (Chris Biscoe). B+(**) [dl]

Luke Stewart: Exposure Quintet (2020, Astral Spirits): Bassist, has a previous solo album and some notable side-credits, lined up two saxophonists here (Ken Vandermark and Edward Wilkerson Jr., both credited with reeds), piano (Jim Baker), and drums (Avreeayl Ra). The saxophonists start out aggressive, but when they back off the piano remains central, and the bass solos justify their focus. A-

The United States Air Force Band: Jazz Heritage Series: 2019 Highlights (2019 [2020], self-released): Useless big band, reminds us that military music is to music as military justice is to justice -- to flip Robert Sherrill's book title around -- but not the worst thing the USAF wastes taxpayer money on. Nor is this anywhere near their worst album -- indeed, I rather enjoy the punchiness of the horns, also the TSgt.'s vocal on "Honeysuckle Rose" (where John Fedchock guests). B [cd]

Becky Warren: The Sick Season (2020, Becky Warren): Nashville singer-songwriter, two very impressive albums under her belt, more budget here, not sure that rocking harder doesn't blunt her songcraft (or maybe just tries to overcompensate). B+(***)

Kate Westbrook & the Granite Band: Earth Felt the Wound (2018-19 [2020], Westbrook): Jazz singer, notable painter, married composer-pianist Mike Westbrook, who wrote or arranged the music here, most matched to her lyrics. Band refers back to her 2018 album, Granite, with two guitars, electric bass, keyboards, sax (Rox Harding), and drums. One song in German veers toward cabaret. B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Bill Evans: Live at Ronnie Scott's (1968 [2020], Resonance, 2CD): Piano trio, with Eddie Gomez (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums). The drummer only lasted a few months, but At the Montreux Jazz Festival revived Evans, and the recently discovered live shots have generally been impressive. This one collects 20 songs (99:31) from a month in London. B+(***) [dl]

Frode Gjerstad/William Parker/Hamid Drake: Minneapolis Vol 1 (2000 [2020], Circulasione Totale): Norwegian avant alto saxophonist, started with Detail 1983-96, led Circulasione Totale Orchestra 1987-2011, has close to 100 small group records, including several more with this rhythm section -- including a 4-CD box on Not Two (2017, not clear when recorded). Looks like he's released a bunch of old tapes this year, including this 54:32 "Traffic Zone Centre" set. B+(*) [bc]

Frode Gjerstad/William Parker/Hamid Drake: Minneapolis Vol 2 (2000, Circulasione Totale): Slightly longer at 62:25, but takes a long time to get going, and while it may peak stronger, this isn't top shelf work from any involved. B [bc]

Hanging Tree Guitars (1991 [2020], Music Maker Relief Foundation): A dozen blues recordings, Timothy Duffy field recordings featuring guitar craftsman Freeman Vines and family. Unsure of the dates. A-

Charles Mingus: @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (1964-75, Sunnyside, 4CD): Two major groups on tour, the bassist and drummer Dannie Richmond common denominators. The stellar 1964 group had Johnny Coles (trumpet), Eric Dolphy, (alto sax/flute/bass clarinet), Clifford Jordan (tenor sax), and Jaki Byard (piano) -- their set had previously been bootlegged as The Complete Bremen Concert, with Dolphy co-headlining. The 1975 group was less famous at the time, but names you'll recognize today: Jack Walrath (trumpet), George Adams (tenor sax), Don Pullen (piano). Hard to tell from streaming, but I doubt the 1964 set adds much to the same group's Town Hall Concert, or for that matter the Paris and Cornell concerts from the same year. On the other hand, I'm not aware of any live material from the 1975 group -- the 1974 Mingus at Carnegie Hall is a different deal -- and it reminds me that few leaders were able to command their bands as authoritatively as Mingus. Also good to hear the new songs from Changes. A-

Old music:

Etran De L'Aïr: No. 1 (2014 [2018], Sahel Sounds): Tuareg group from Agadez, Niger, formed in 1995 but first album here: guitars, bass guitar, drums, singers named Ibrahim Mohamed and Hamidane Aboubacar Bouzou. As minimal as the desert. A- [bc]

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

  • Tim Berne: 7 Adobe Probe (2009 [2020], Screwgun): Septet, names big enough to put on front cover. [1/3, 37:00/75:36] ++
  • Tim Berne/Nasheet Waits: The Coanda Effect (2019 [2020], Screwgun): Alto sax/drums duo. [1/2, 9:53/48:57]: +
  • Tim Berne: Sacred Vowels (2020, Screwgun): Solo alto sax, his first ever. [2/12, 8:23/41:11] +
  • Matt Mitchell/Tim Berne: 1 (2010 [2020], Screwgun): Piano/sax duo. [1/5, 11:28/48:01] +
  • Chris Speed/Dave King/Reid Anderson/Tim Berne: Broken Shadows Live (2019 [2020], Screwgun): Ornette Coleman tribute band, nods to Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman, Julius Hemphill. [2/9, 13:01/61:43): ++
  • Sun of Goldfinger [David Torn/Ches Smith/Tim Berne]: Congratulations to You (2010 [2020], Screwgun): Early date of trio that produced 2019 title album, although may include other bits. [1/3, 13:55/56:28] +

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Guillaume Nouaux: Guillaume Nouaux & the Stride Piano Kings (self-released)

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Weekend Roundup

Table of contents:

I'm getting bored with this, just going through the motions, and Thanksgiving holiday no doubt depressed the news feed (Vox is way down, which may reflect turnover there), but started early enough there's still quite a lot here.

I'd like to dedicate this column to Lou Jean Fleron, who celebrated her 80th birthday today. Sixty-some years ago, she and her little brother Ken Brown attended a speech by Sam Rayburn (Speaker of the House, from Texas), and it inspired them both to study politics and become Democrats. Both wound up teaching political science. They've always been my heroes and role models, and no one has had more influence or provided more inspiration for my own considered political views than Lou Jean. I failed to write up the requested "story" for her Festschrift today, so the least I can do is dedicate this to her.

Trump's Election Fraud

As more votes have been counted, well, see Tim Dickinson: It actually was a landslide: 80 million votes and counting for Biden. Also note: "At 51 percent, Biden's share of the vote is the highest of any presidential challenger since FDR ousted Herbert Hoover in 1932." Trump got a lot of votes, too, but in the popular vote Biden is leading by over 6 million. The Electoral College margin appears to be 306-223. That it is that close attests to how the Electoral College bends the playing field in favor of the Republicans -- the party which has won four presidential terms while losing the popular vote, something the Democrats have never done. (The only other time a minority vote-getter became president was John Quincy Adams, in 1824, at a point when the Federalist Party had collapsed and the Whig Party not yet founded, so all major contenders were Democratic-Republicans. Andrew Jackson got the most votes, but no one got an Electoral College majority, so the House chose the president, in a deal brokered by Henry Clay.) Lots of people complain about the Electoral College, but with one party systematically benefitting from it -- and for that matter a party with nothing but contempt for democracy -- there's little chance of change. The only chance Democrats have is to win elections by even larger margins than Biden won this one.

Alexander Burns: Trump stress-tested the election system, and the cracks showed.

Gail Collins/Bret Stephens: Can this get any more pathetic? "The president and his enablers may look like fools, but they are causing real damage."

Aaron C Davis/Josh Dawsey/Emma Brown/Jon Swaine: For Trump advocate Sidney Powell, a playbook steeped in conspiracy theories.

Eliza Griswold: Trump's battle to undermine the vote in Pennsylvania.

Richard L Hasen: Trump's legal farce is having tragic results: "There is nothing funny about the Republican Party's multipronged attack on voting rights."

Rosalind S Heiderman: Wisconsin recount confirms Biden's win over Trump. Biden's lead actually increased by 87 votes.

Josh Marshall: The short, happy, bizarre defenestration of Sidney Powell.

Cameron Peters:

Daniel Politi: Biden sees lead increase in Milwaukee County after Trump pays for vote recount.

Philip Rucker/Ashley Parker/Josh Dawsey/Amy Gardner: 20 days of fantasy and failure: Inside Trump's quest to overturn the election.

Robert Shapiro: No, it wasn't a coup attempt. It was another Trump money scam.

Other Election Matters

Trip Gabriel: How Democrats suffered crushing down-ballot losses across America.

Will Wilkinson: Why did so many Americans vote for Trump? "To the dismay of Democrats, the president's strategy of ignoring the pandemic mostly worked for Republicans." I think that much is true. Trump's own illness story, his treatment and recovery, breathed substance into his message that we shouldn't let fear of the virus dominate our lives. Many people admired his defiance, even if they recognized he wasn't very smart or conscientious. Still, that only helped so much.

How could a president responsible for one of the gravest failures of governance in American history nevertheless maintain such rock-solid support? Democracy's throw-the-bums-out feedback mechanism gets gummed up when the electorate disagrees about the identity of the bums, what did and didn't occur on their watch and who deserves what share of the credit or blame.

When party affiliation becomes a central source of meaning and self-definition, reality itself becomes contested and verifiable facts turn into hot-button controversies. Elections can't render an authoritative verdict on the performance of incumbents when partisans in a closely divided electorate tell wildly inconsistent stories about one another and the world they share.

Mr. Trump has a knack for leveraging the animosities of polarized partisanship to cleave his supporters from sources of credible information and inflame them with vilifying lies. This time, it wasn't enough to save his bacon, which suggests that polarization hasn't completely wrecked our democracy's capacity for self-correction: Sweeping a medium-size city's worth of dead Americans under the rug turned out to be too tall an order.

Biden Prospects

We're starting to see announcements of Biden's picks for the cabinet and key staff positions -- see Joe Biden's cabinet begins to take shape.

Doug Bandow: Team Trump determined to drop foreign policy bombs in the way out: "Everything the outgoing administration is doing today seems coordinated to obstruct the Biden team tomorrow."

Christopher Campbell: The Biden popular front is doomed to unravel. Title makes sense but I'd argue that both left and right wings of the Democratic Party need each other more than they need to fear or dominate the other, that neither can afford to lose the other, especially given that Republicans even without Trump remain a unifying threat. But this article has little to do with its title. Much of it is a strange rationalization of Trump's unexpected success. And it ends with an observation that the dividing line between the parties isn't capital vs. labor (as it was during the New Deal/Great Society era) but growing vs. declining states/regions.

Megan Cassella/Ben White/Tyler Pager: Biden unveils diverse economic team as challenges to economy grow: "The president-elect intends to name Cecilia Rouse, Neera Tanden and Wally Adeyemo to senior roles in his administration." Article assumes Janet Yellen is pick for Treasury Secretary. Most of the commentary I've seen concerns Tanden, who runs the liberal think tank Center for American Progress, but is infamous as a critic of Bernie Sanders and his supporters. Tanden was picked to run the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Sanders is on the Senate Budget Committee.

Nancy Cook: Trump's 2016 transition defined his presidency. Biden's might, too. "The hallmarks were all there during Trump's transition -- off-the-cuff decision-making, high staff turnover and bitter internal battles. So far, Biden's transition has publicly been the opposite."

EJ Dionne Jr: Why they fight: "The Democrats are a big-tent party. The GOP isn't. That explains everything." Glancing through the comments, I see that Dionne's view -- basically a variant on the old Will Rogers joke (quote included) -- is limited by being inside the tent. One could imagine (and maybe even relish) the "democratic wing" purging the Party's more conservative elements, like the Republican right-wing did to "purify" their party. Indeed, that's likely to happen, although I doubt the left will ever be as successful as the right has been. But for now, the big difference isn't the diversity of opinion within the Democratic Party, but the fact that Democrats still imagine themselves as representing and supporting the entire country -- even regions, components, and classes that provide them little support -- whereas Republicans focus narrowly on their supporters, even if only to reinforce prejudices.

Jen Kirby: Joe Biden's foreign policy vision takes shape as he selects his team. Nominees to date:

  • Antony Blinken: Secretary of State (grade card)
  • Alejandro Mayorkas: Secretary of Homeland Security
  • Avril Haines: National Intelligence Director
  • Jake Sullivan: National Security Adviser
  • Linda Thomas-Greenfield: UN Ambassador
  • John Kerry: Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

More on these people:

Jackson Lears: Don't wish for a restoration: One common reaction of Democrats to Trump has been a wave of nostalgia for Obama, and that's been a driving force behind Biden's campaign. As Biden stocks his administration, it is inevitable that he will draw heavily on Obama veterans. However, I'm more inclined to view Obama's years as opportunity wasted -- not just through inaction but through futile attempts to appeal to elite but conventional interests:

The great danger is that much of the Biden administration will likely be composed of Washington insiders who are devoted to the failed policies of the past -- austerity at home, overextended military commitments abroad. To cling to those policies would be to pretend that the populist challenge to the Washington consensus in 2016 never happened.

This is part of a New York Review series of short articles on the 2020 elections. Also see:

  • Ben Fountain: What has minimalist democracy gotten us?

  • Wallace Shawn: Developments since my birth. That would be 1943. I've thought a good deal about my own birth date (in 1950, a week before a Chinese volunteer army reversed American gains in Korea) as a pivotal date in the decline of the nation.

    Barack Obama seemed to love the old rhetoric, and he may have been despised by Trump and his followers not simply because he was the first person of color to become president, and not simply because of the elegance of his speeches and the refinement and sense of self-respect evident in his demeanor, but because the words he used somehow harked back to the ethical aspirations expressed by President Kennedy (never mind that neither he nor President Kennedy lived up to them).

    Over the decades of my life, America's morale has declined, I'd say. There was a dignity to feeling kind and good. It was enjoyable. On the other hand, the lack of connection between what we felt we were and what we actually were was dangerous and led to the death of a lot of people. . . . But for those countless others, in the cities and towns of the USA and in countries far away, to whom America has not been good, the face of America has always and forever been the face of Donald Trump.

Ralph Nader: Biden needs to report Trump's wreckage in Executive Branch as markers.

When the Bidenites take over on January 21, they will find hollowed-out government law enforcement and shelved research projects. They'll see offices empty after government scientists and other civil servants were forced out. Other public servants will be sitting in what the Japanese call "window jobs," ordered to stop working on vital matters ranging from limiting climate disruption to stopping Wall Street rip-offs. The Trump administration turned important government jobs into do-nothing positions.

Heavily censored federal CDC workers, benumbed from prohibitions on what they can say, and who were ordered not to speak the words "climate change" will receive their rescuers with deep relief. EPA workers who were ordered to repeal or weaken over 100 environmental safeguards -- unleashing deadly toxins into people's air and water -- will feel the breaking of the restraints imposed on sound science.

Specialists who were told to weaken or eliminate about 50 occupational health and safety standards and literally shut down enforcement at OSHA will also start to see the early dawn.

Biden's team will discover destruction or theft of public records, spectacles of looting and plunder of public trust and public property.

They will hear stories of corporate lobbyists coming in and out of the agencies as if they owned the government because they did. Trump turned over the federal government to Big Business, as has never before happened, brazenly, openly, and endlessly. His nominee to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) into nothingness, marauding Mick Mulvaney, openly said the agency's mission was to protect Wall Street Big Banks and unscrupulous payday lenders!! Mulvaney abandoned tens of millions of defrauded Americans. . . .

Unlike the entering Obama Administration back in 2009, the Biden Administration must come in with a determined mindset as they begin restoring the rule of law and reversing Trump's cruel and crazy policies. Biden's team will also need to start restoring past services and initiating new services for the citizenry.

They must not let the Trumpster outlaws escape and become immune fugitives from justice. If Trump's wrecking crew escapes the arm of the law, for sure they and their base will return with a vengeance in two and four years.

Osita Nwanevu: The Democrats' maddening cowardice is carrying over into the Biden era.

Richard Silverstein: Biden's Middle East policy will face an unholy right-wing alliance.

Jamie Stiehm: Why Biden has it harder than FDR and Lincoln: For starters, he doesn't have their Congressional majorities, and most likely won't have any sort of majority in the Senate. But even though Obama had a majority in Congress in 2009, he had a great deal of trouble getting his relatively modest legislative proposals passed.

Astra Taylor: How the Biden administration can free Americans from student debt.

Laura Weiss: The government's human cruelty will outlive Trump: "Immigration agencies won't suddenly clean up their act when the president leaves office. What's Biden going to do about their systemic abuses?"

The Covid-19 Pandemic Surge

Latest map and case count: 13.3 million+ cases (14 day change +12%), 266,357 deaths (+29%), 91,635 hospitalized (+38%). The change rates have lowered a bit, but still 1 million cases in the last week (151,247 on Nov. 28). At the current rate, we'll hit 18 million cases and 300,000 deaths by January 1. Note that constant rate is not the worst possible scenario (see Higgins below).

Bryce Covert: New York's feckless, scientifically illiterate response to the Covid second wave.

Marissa Higgins: Amid holiday season, Dr Anthony Fauci gets brutally honest about possible coronavirus spike.

Umair Irfan: Covid-19 vaccine efficacy results are not enough: "What the latest Covid-19 vaccine announcements from AstraZeneca-Oxford, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna can and can't tell us."

Melody Schreiber: Pharma executives are profiting from Covid vaccine press releases: "The timing of the announcements, and their lack of detail, are raising worries about insider trading and unrealistic expectations."

Still More on Donald Trump

Isaac Arnsdorf: Trump races to weaken environmental and worker protections before January 20th.

Dan Barry: 'Loser': How a lifelong fear bookended Trump's presidency: "The president's inability to concede the election is the latest reality-denying moment in a career preoccupied with an epithet."

Kyle Cheney/Josh Gerstein: Trump pardons former national security adviser Flynn. The first, and in some ways, the safest of Trump's post-election pardons. Even so, Trump made Flynn wait in line behind the Thanksgiving turkey. More on Flynn:

Zak Cheney-Rice: Losing hasn't changed Trump's stance on white supremacy: "His continued resistance to renaming military bases that honor Confederates -- though it has no obvious political benefit -- confirms his true beliefs." Doesn't strike me as a very good example. In fact, I don't think Trump qualifies as a white supremacist -- unlike some of his followers, and many of their forebears -- although he often has racist impulses, and consistently rejects all efforts to acknowledge much less correct past racism. I'd also argue that his position does have political benefit, at least within his base, which is all he really care about. A lot of Trump supporters are in denial about racism, both past and present, and one reason Trump is important to them is that he saves them from having to examine their own beliefs and acts. On the other hand, it's very likely that all of those bases will be renamed under Biden, and the issue will die there.

Lee Fang: Another official dismissed at the Pentagon as Trump continues unusual shake-up.

Lisa Friedman: EPA's final deregulatory rush runs into open staff resistance.

Charlotte Klein: Here's what a lame-duck Trump might do: List from subheds follows. The ones to worry about are the irreversible acts, especially military strikes.

  • Pardon his cronies and the connected
  • Attack Iran's main nuclear site
  • Bring back firing squads
  • Make it easier to pollute
  • Preserve Confederate monuments
  • Make it even harder to claim asylum

Philip Allen Lacovara: Yes, the Biden administration should hold Trump accountable. Author is "a former president of the DC Bar, served as counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor." More thoughts on prosecuting Trump:

  • Andrew Weissmann: Should Trump be prosecuted? "Being president should mean you are more accountable, not less, to the rule of law." Weissman "was a senior prosecutor in the Mueller investigation."

Martin Longman: How Trump killed political blogging.

Jonathan Martin/Maggie Haberman: How Trump hopes to use party machinery to retain control of the GOP.

Eric L Muller: The one word that bars Trump from pardoning himself: "The question shouldn't be whether the president can pardon himself but whether he can grant himself a pardon -- and those are not the same thing."

Olivia Nuzzi: The final gasp of Donald Trump's presidency.

Madison Pauly: Will Trump's accusers finally get their day in court?

Walter M Shaub Jr: The presidential transition meets Murphy's Law: In this case, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy, the very literal embodiment of Murphyism. Since this article, Trump allowed Murphy to release transition funds. But she still stands as a prime example of how Trump's intransigence is reflected among his loyal minions.

Asawin Suebsaeng: Trump's already gaming out a 2024 run -- including an event during Biden's inauguration.

Jeff Wise: The people v Donald J Trump: "The criminal case against him is already in the works -- and it could go to trial sooner than you think." Opens with the example of Silvio Berlusconi, who went from billionaire media magnate to prime minister of Italy to jail. I wrote about the Berlusconi precedent four years ago (which built on something I wrote in 2006, Mobsters in Suits), so it seems fitting that other people are writing about it now.

Obama Has a Book to Sell

Barack Obama's memoir, A Promised Land, came out last week, as did most of the press coverage.

Murtaza Hussain: Obama book explains how birtherism made Trump's presidency.

Fred Kaplan: Obama had a remarkable grasp of complexity and ambiguity. Is that good for a president?

Around the World

Ramzy Baroud: Expansion and mass eviction: Israel 'takes advantage' of Trump's remaining days in office.

Dave DeCamp: Israel suspected in assassination of top Iranian scientist: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, "head of an Iranian military nuclear program." More:

Jason Ditz: Israeli airstrike kills 19 in eastern Syria, mostly Pakistani militia members:

Continuing a tactic of anticipating a US-Iran War, Israel seems to keep trying to provoke the conflict, with a Thursday morning strike in eastern Syria killing at least 19 Shi'ite militia members, declared "pro-Iranian fighters" by the Israeli press. . . .

This is the third Israeli attack against Shi'ites in Syria in just over a week. Iran did comment on the first one, which killed mostly Iraqi and Lebanese Shi'ites, and threatened retaliation over it. They did not specify when or how they would retaliate.

Roger Harris: US intervenes as Venezuela prepares for high stakes election.

Jacob Silverman: Mike Pompeo is a global arsonist. Can Biden put out his fires?

Other Matters of Interest

Joel Achenbach: Did the news media, led by Walter Cronkite, lose the war in Vietnam? Why is this even coming up now? As someone who lived through the era, and who regularly watched TV coverage in real time, I can assure you that the news media was fully behind the war effort until the hypocrisy and false claims became undeniable. Even so, they never quite grasped the real lessons of the war, which is why any suggestion that the war was ever winnable is so risible. The "revisionist" argument that the US could have prevailed had it not been for the American people's loss of willpower is nothing more than the "stab-in-the-back" claim that aided the rise of the Nazis in Germany, its "success" leading to yet another, even more disastrous war. Look at the people pushing it in the 1990s, and you'll find the same people who led us into Afghanistan and Iraq, who used martial myth to rally support for the Bush and Trump regimes, and the interminable waves of right-wing zealots in Congress and the Courts.

David Atkins: Not everything can move to Substack or the Times. Evidently, two (of three) co-founders of Vox have left: Ezra Klein to the New York Times, and Matthew Yglesias to do his own thing at Substack. Others trying their hand at Substack subscriber newsletters include Andrew Sullivan, Glenn Greenwald, and Matt Taibbi. (Article doesn't mention Taibbi, but does name Casey Newton, who used to cover Silicon Valley for The Verge.) I figure Sullivan-Greenwald-Taibbi to be temporary holding patterns: all three have grown apart from their hosts, but I doubt any of them are viable as isolated oracles. I'm more troubled by the Vox founders, not least because Vox has been my most reliable news filter over the past four years. Perhaps its business model has failed, and the founders have jumped ship based on inside information. But to my mind, leaving your own company to work for the behemoth New York Times or to freelance (which, again, may just be a stall) seems like a bad move.

Paul Demko: How one of the reddest states became the nation's hottest weed market: I suspected as much last time I visited Tulsa, where I saw billboards touting access to "medical marijuana," and my right-wing relatives (not to my knowledge actual users) bragging about how easy it is to get.

Christopher Bonanos: David Dinkins deserved better: "His mayoralty was not the overt failure that it once seemed." The former New York City mayor died last week, at 93. Dinkins was mayor from 1989 to 1993, following Ed Koch, and followed by Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg.

Jonathan Chait: 'Republicans remain opposed to any policies that would reduce fossil-fuel use'. That seems like a far more explicit declaration than even the oil, gas, and coal companies are used to pushing. Until recently, they've been satisfied just throwing shade on climate change concerns, but more and more they're losing out to renewables on purely economic terms -- never mind the fact that what makes fossil fuel sources affordable is how the industry has escaped having to pay for its externalities.

Charles Duhigg: How venture capitalists are deforming capitalism.

Todd C Frankel/Brittney Martin/Andrew Van Dam/Alyssa Fowers: A growing number of Americans are going hungry: "26 million now say they don't have enough to eat, as the pandemic worsens and holidays near."

Amanda Frost: The Supreme Court has to choose between Trump and the nation's founders: "Are the court's conservatives the devout originalists they claim to be or partisan hacks? A key immigration case will provide the proof."

Michael M Grynbaum/John Koblin: Newsmax, once a right-wing also-ran, is rising, and Trump approves. More on Newsmax:

  • Alex Shephard: How Newsmax became Trump TV: "Chris Tuddy's conservative cable news network is gaining viewers by telling them Trump can still win."

Rebecca Heilweil: Parler, the "free speech" Twitter wannabe, explained.

Sean Illing: A historian on the perils of chaotic White House transitions: Interview with Eric Rauchway, author of Winter War: Hoover, Roosevelt, and the First Clash Over the New Deal. I mentiond this piece in Music Week, but figured it bear repeating, and belongs here. The transition from Hoover to Roosevelt in 1932-33 is relevant inasmuch as it started with an incumbent president being thrown out in favor of a new party, in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis -- less of an economic crisis now, but the pandemic more than makes up the difference. It was worse then because the transition period was two months longer, but less bad then because Hoover didn't have many of the powers that presidents have today (e.g., the ability to launch nuclear weapons at supposed enemies). It was similar in that Hoover, like Trump today, refused to recognize the election results as a popular verdict on his administration, and continued to pursue his dangerous policies until the very end.

Ian Millhiser: The Supreme Court fight over Trump's last-ditch effort to rig the census, explained: "The Court must decide whether to follow the Constitution's clear test -- or to rubber-stamp an illegal effort by Trump."

Jeffrey St Clair: Roaming charges: Dumb all over, again.

Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins: The liberal establishment is 'a stranger to self-examination': "A conversation with Pankaj Mishra about Biden's closer-than-expected victory, the sterile state of mainstream intellectual culture, and his new book Bland Fanatics."

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Music Week

November archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 34401 [34356] rated (+45), 213 [220] unrated (-7).

A day later than usual. Got distracted on Monday, and was too tired to write an introduction. I did the cutover when I got up Monday, and resisted the temptation to sneak in anything extra during the day, so chalk the high rating count up to hard work. Invites went out for the Jazz Critics Poll on Wednesday, so I've had a few ballots to count (16 at present, typically about 12% of the total). They've given me some listening suggestions, as well as motivated me to get to some queue items (e.g., Sonny Rollins).

The first EOY lists have started to appear. I've added Mojo and Uncut to my metacritic file (which at some point I should rename my "EOY Aggregate"). I compiled Mojo (including genre side-lists, except for soundtracks) from a scan of the glossy magazine, but for Uncut, I went to the more easily usable Acclaimed Music Forums (half-dozen more lists there already; while they frown on "single-critic" lists, like mine, they do an especially thorough job of collecting lists from European sources).

Both Mojo and Uncut picked Bob Dylans' My Rough and Rowdy Ways as the year's best record. Dylan is pretty clearly among the top three contenders this year, along with Run the Jewels' RTJ4 and Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters. Mojo had Apple at 2 and RTJ at 8. Uncut had Apple at 22, and no mention of RTJ4. I don't see any rappers at all on their list (even Brits, although there are a dozen-plus Black artists, including some Americans -- Thundercat came in at 5, and I don't see any Brits until Jarvis at 8, Shirley Collins 9, and Laura Marling 10). Early lists tend to be disproportionately British, and short on hip-hop.

My own working EOY lists are here, split into jazz and non-jazz. Usually they start with a strong jazz bias, which evens out over the season, as I scour over the vast array of pop and specialty lists. However, so far I've been looking mostly at jazz ballots, so the jazz list is the one that's seen a growth spurt this week (and probably for the next 2-3 weeks -- I've already added two more A- entries for next week's report: Luke Stewart: Exposure Quintet, and Dave Rempis: Stringers and Struts).

Phil Overeem noted that every record in my non-jazz list is marked with **, which means that I streamed or downloaded it. (Actually, there are two exception: Al Gold's Paradise, a blues album from a jazz publicist, and Thank Your Lucky Stars: Girl in Her 29s, which the artist was kind and/or desperate enough to send me.) I still get a fair number of jazz promos -- down at least 50% from the days when I was writing Jazz Consumer Guide for the Village Voice, and all the way to zero this week -- but haven't bought more than a couple dozen CDs in any of the last 5-8 years, and zero so far this year. Admittedly, that changes the way I listen to music, and you can take that as a caveat if you want. It does reduce the chance of adding any new music to my all-time list. On the other hand, it presents a pretty level playing field.

One new feature this week is that I finally added a section on "records I played parts of, but not enough to grade." I've thought about this before, but it always seemed like a bookkeeping headache. Still, last week I was going through the year's list promoted by a jazz publicist, seeking out items he hadn't sent me, and was left with two albums that were only partially available on Bandcamp. So I played what I could, and noted that for future reference. They are not counted as graded in my database, so won't inflate rated counts. I decided to go with four levels:

  • ++ indicates a record I'd like to hear more of; it is a solid prospect for an A- or B+(***) grade.
  • + is a record I like but don't consider an A- prospect; it probably falls in the middle of the B+ range.
  • - is a decent, maybe even a good record, but definitely not an A- or B+(***) prospect, and not worth my time pursuing; it's probably a low B+ or a B, though probably no worse.
  • -- is a record I have no desire to hear more of; it's not necessarily a bad record, but not worth the time.

I don't know how many more of these I'll do, but I run across partial selections at Bandcamp several times each week, and many other records that aren't available on streaming sites at least make a song or two available, even if only on Soundcloud or YouTube. One thing I do in the EOY lists is try to compile a list of records which by reputation have a 2% or better chance of an A- grade, so they are the most obvious prospects. I could also see doing this for back catalog items, which are particularly hard to find.

For now, the plan is to have a single section in Music Week each week, and two sections (new and historical) in the music year file. I'm not adding them to the EOY files, although they'll have some influence in the 2% sections. They won't show up in any of the database files, but I will be able to see comments in the source files. I might at some point figure out how to generate a collective list, but that will require some programming, so isn't in the cards for now. For now, I'm not adding them to the Record Guides, although I could see an argument for doing so.

One thing I was aware of while writing Sunday's Weekend Roundup was that I had written various conflicting things on Trump's post-presidential prospects. There is much speculation but no answers. I have no real idea, and chances are neither does Trump. For one thing, there's a very real question as to whether he will be prosecuted (there is very little doubt but that he will be hit with civil lawsuits, some of which are already in progress). Trump's public profile will have some bearing on those cases. In some ways, I think the main benefit from keeping the option to prosecute "on the table" is that the threat may force him to moderate his behavior. And I may add that I don't want to muzzle him to stifle his political impact, but just because he's been such a painfully tiresome presence in our lives.

The only reason I'm returning to this is that I wanted to pass on a link: Sean Illing: A historian on the perils of chaotic White House transitions. The historian is Eric Rauchway, and he recently wrote a book on the long stretch (November to March) from the 1932 election defeat of Herbert Hoover to the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt. I've talked about my notion that you can divide US history into four long partisan eras, each initiated by a major president and ended by a one-term failure: Jefferson to Buchanan (1800-1860), Lincoln to Hoover (1860-1932), Roosevelt to Carter (1932-1980), and Reagan to Trump (1980-2020). One thing I hadn't really thought about was how painful the transitions were between those eras. One can also throw in the transition from Adams to Jefferson in 1800-01, which like Hoover-Roosevelt was so bad it led to a constitutional amendment (the former separated the elections of presidents and vice-presidents, the latter moved the inauguration date up from March to January to shorten the lame duck period). The Buchanan-Lincoln transition period was when the Civil War started (although Rauchway doesn't blame Buchanan for that -- nonetheless, many pre-Trump polls of historians ranked Buchanan as the worst president ever). The Carter-Reagan transition was benign only in comparison to the others: it was conspicuously marked by Reagan's back channel negotiations with Iran to release the American embassy hostages only after Carter left office. What makes Hoover so relevant is the degree of crisis the nation faced then and is facing now.

One more week before we wrap up the November Streamnotes archive. I expect it will be a busy one. We have no plans for Thanksgiving. I may try to cook a nice dinner for two, but I don't even have plans at present, and I'm unlikely to go out shopping. No guests, not even virtual ones. We're pretty severely hunkered down, as Kansas pandemic numbers have kept shooting up.

Lina Allemano's Ohrenschmaus: Rats and Mice (2019 [2020], Lumo): Canadian trumpet player, based in Toronto, first record a 1998 quintet that listed William Carn first, seems to have a Berlin connection -- appeared in Satoko Fujii's Orchestra Berlin, and recorded this trio there: Dan Peter Sundland (electric bass) and Michael Griener (drums), group name translates to "festival for the ears." B+(***) [bc]

Lina Allemano: Glimmer Glammer (2019 [2020], Lumo): Solo trumpet, rarely done, rarely successful, but a game effort. B+(*) [bc]

The Awakening Orchestra: Volume II: To Call Her to a Higher Plain (2019 [2020], Biophilia): Big band, directed by Kyle Saulnier, released a Volume I in 2014 and an Interlude in 2016. Cites George McGovern for inspirational "higher plain" quote, but I have to wonder whether the word intended wasn't "plane." Tracts on patriotism, divided into two parts: "The Pessimist's Dilemma" and "The Optimist's Folly," each embedding a short symphony. One vocal bit, but mostly lets the music talk, speaking volumes. B+(***)

Baby Queen: Medicine (2020, Polydor, EP): Bella Latham, South Africa-born, London-based, don't know if she's done anything else. Six songs, 22:47, half sly talky grooves ("Buzz Kill"), half pop genius ("Internet Religion," "Want Me"). Title song synthesizes both. A-

Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brotherhood: Live (2019 [2020], International Anthem): From Chicago, credited with clarinet, keys, and vocals, band has tenor sax, electronics, bass, two drummers, "auxiliary instruments," and more vocals. Can get intense, probably for good reason. Her fan base is pretty intense, too. B+(**) [bc]

Alabaster DePlume: To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 (2020, International Anthem): British spoken word artist, from what I hear, plays tenor sax and guitar here, with voice (his and others) used for background color. Cy & Lee are only identified as "two men with learning difficulties" DePlume befriended in Manchester, who worked on music with him, finding it to have a calming effect. One can see why. B+(**)

Fox Green: The Longest April (2020, self-released): Alt/indie band from Little Rock, Wade Derden singer-guitarist, with Cam Patterson (guitar), Steve Kapp (upright bass), and Dave Hoffpauir (drums), plus a true connoisseur's selection of guest spots (Peter Stampfel, John Kruth, Adam Weiner, Lisa Walker), plus various backup vocals on most tracks. Clear, easy-going country rock. Inspired concept: "The Day Marc Bolan Went to Nashville." B+(***) [bc]

Sam Gendel: Satin Doll (2020, Nonesuch): Saxophonist, several albums but first on a major label, pitches this as "a futuristic homage to historical jazz." Standards, 1950s jazz tunes as well as older Ellington and "Stardust," tweaked with synths, which is itself an older vision of the future. B

Sam Gendel: DRM (2020, Nonesuch): Solo experiments with vintage instruments -- antique synths and drum machines, a sixty-year-old nylon-string guitar -- with voice. Loose-limbed and out of kilter, reminds me a bit of Arto Lindsay, but not that good. B

Julian Gerstin: Littoral Zone (2020, self-released): Subtitled (back cover but not front or spine) "Percussion for Mollusks." Implies that he's mostly working with shells, but details list four dozen percussion "instruments," including Fanta bottle, rice cooker, and espresso maker, as well as most of the Afro-Latin kit. Lovely within its limits, which expand a bit with guest marimba on three tracks, even more with clarinet on one. B+(***) [cd]

Ben Goldberg/Kenny Wollesen: Music for an Avant-Garde Massage Parlour (2020, BAG Production): Clarinet player, spent the pandemic lockdown period from March 19 to August 27 recording 137 pieces for his Plague Diary, and has since kept adding to it, hitting 186 on November 16. That's mind-numbingly long for me -- I don't even have the stomach to add up the times (the pieces range from 1:26 up to 24:54, with the mean close to 7 minutes). This duo with percussionist Kenny Wollesen seemed more tractable (21 songs, 64:49). B+(**)

Majamisty Trio: Organic (2019 [2020], Sokoj): Piano trio, from Serbia: Maja Alanovic (piano), Ervin Malina (bass), and Lav Kovac (drums). B+(**)

Carla Marciano Quartet: Psychosis: Homage to Bernard Herrmann (2019 [2020], Challenge): Alto/sopranino saxophonist, Italian, several albums starting with Trane's Groove in 2002. Quartet adds Alessandro La Corte (keyboards), Aldo Vigorito (bass), and Gaetano Fasano (drums). Herrmann (1911-75) was an American composer, mostly wrote soundtracks, including themes here from Taxi Driver, Marnie, Twisted Nerve, Psycho, and Vertigo, plus a John Williams piece to close. Intense, nothing atmospheric here. B+(***) [cd]

Rob Mazurek/Exploding Star Orchestra: Dimensional Stardust (2020, International Anthem): Large group -- my count is 13, but short on horns with just trumpet (Mazurek and Jaimie Branch) and flute (Nicole Mitchell) -- seventh album since 2007. Instead, he's rounded up a lot of electronics, strings, and rhythm, with occasional words by Damon Locks. Doesn't swing like Sun Ra did, but bops along with comparable cosmic flair. A-

Charles McPherson: Jazz Dance Suites (2020, Chazz Mack Music): Two major pieces, titles on the cover -- "Song of Songs" and "Sweet Synergy Suite" -- as well as "Music and Motion." The second has more motion, and more impact from Terrel Stafford (trumpet). The alto saxophonist is lovely throughout. B+(**) [bc]

Megan Thee Stallion: Good News (2020, 300 Entertainment): Rapper Megan Pete, from Texas, first studio album after a good mixtape and an even better EP. Big production, with one song ("Circles") listing 24 writers, and most of the rest featuring guests as prominent as Young Thug, SZA, and Beyoncé. Beats super sharp, hooks ascendant. Not sure that freeing your ass will liberate your mind, but so far, so good. A-

Todd Mosby: Aerial Views (2020, MMG): Guitarist, first album, produced by Will Ackerman (guitarist, new age guru, founder of Windham Hill Records). Various lineups, violin the best match, some vocal bits. B [cd]

Pa Salieu: Send Them to Coventry (2020, Warner Music UK): British rapper, last name Gaye, born in Slough, spent his early years with relatives in Gambia, moved back to UK at age 10, turned to music after a friend was killed. First album. Dense, not easy to follow. B+(**)

Ivo Perelman/Matthew Shipp: Amalgam (2020, Mahakala Music): Tenor sax and piano duets. They've done a lot of them lately -- 10 albums with 17 CDs -- so it's hard to tell what this one adds. B+(**)

Margo Price: Perfectly Imperfect at the Ryman (2018 [2020], Loma Vista): Country singer-songwriter, recorded this between her second and third studio albums. Snappier than Sunny Sweeney's new live album, but also less consistent. B+(**)

Jason Robinson: Harmonic Constituent (2019 [2020], Playscape): Saxophonist (tenor/soprano, also alto flute), albums since 1998. Each piece "inspired by a technical, and sometimes impressionistic, aspect of the oceanography, tidal dynamics, and geography specific to the coastline" near Mendocino, CA. With Joshua White (piano), Dave Gress (bass), and Ches Smith (drums). A-

Bree Runway: 2000and4Eva (2020, Virgin EMI, EP): British rapper/singer Brenda Wireko Mensah, first album (or mixtape), although length (21:45 including a bonus remix with Rico Nasty) looks more like an EP. B+(***)

Lori Sims/Andrew Rathbun/Jeremy Siskind: Impressions of Debussy (2020, Centaur): Piano, soprano sax, piano. Sims teaches at Western Michigan, seems to be strictly classical, no other albums I could find. The others are established postboppers. B

Chris Stapleton: Starting Over (2020, Mercury Nashville): Nashville singer-songwriter, fourth album, deep roots, solid voice, pretty fair songs (well, "Watch You Burn" is more than fair, at least until the climax). B+(**)

Dayna Stephens: Right Now! Live at the Village Vanguard (2019 [2020], Contagious Music, 2CD): Mainstream tenor saxophonist, from Berkeley, studied at Berklee, impressed me first on side credits, but he's putting a solid resumé together as a leader. Quartet with Aaron Parks (piano), Ben Street (bass), and Greg Hutchinson (drums). B+(***) [cd]

Kevin Sun: (Un)seaworthy (2019 [2020], Endectomorph Music): Tenor saxophonist, fourth album (counting his eponymous group Mute), all winners. Trio with Walter Stinson (bass) and Matt Honor (drums). Feels like he's master the whole tradition, and can pick his way through anything. A- [cd] [11-27]

Sunny Sweeney: Recorded Live at the Machine Shop Recording Studio (2020, Aunt Daddy): Country singer-songwriter, from Houston, four studio albums since 2006. I never stuck with her albums, so I have no idea how many of these songs are how old, but this might work as a best-of, or at least as a sampler. B+(***)

Tani Tabbal Trio: Now Then (2020, Tao Forms): Drummer, originally from Chicago, played in James Carter's peak period quartet, with Roscoe Mitchell, many others. Not much as leader -- website lists five previous albums on Tabbalia label, but links go to the now defunct CDBaby, and other sources don't recognize them. So probably not a debut at 66, but an impressive arrival: a trio with Adam Siegel (alto sax) and Michael Bisio (bass), with Bisio contributing four pieces to Tabbal's six. I love the balance between the two, and how Siegel builds on their rhythm. A-

Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii/Ramon Lopez: Mantle (2019 [2020], Libra): Japanese trumpet-piano duo, a marriage as well as a long-time partnership, his name first for a change. Plus a drummer -- always good to have one of those. B+(***) [cd]

Thaba: Eyes Rest Their Feet (2020, Soundway): Duo from different continents, met online: South African singer/songwriter Khusi Seremane, who died at 41 before this was released, and American producer/musician Gabriel Cyr, drawing on musicians from Antibalas. Doesn't seem to belong either here or there. B+(*)

Micah Thomas: Tide (2019 [2020], self-released): Pianist, from Columbus, OH, first album, a trio with bass and drums. B+(**)

Peeter Uuskyla/Tellef Øgrim/Anders Berg/Per Anders Nilsson: Isn Hi Lagt Sae På Fjellvatna (2020, Simlas): Swedish drummer, I recognize him from one of Peter Brötzmann's best trios, has his own trio with Øgrim (guitar) and Berg (bass), adding Nilsson (sax) this time, a little extra shrill to go with the thrash. B+(***) [bc]

The Warriors of the Wonderful Sound: Soundpath (Composed by Muhal Richard Abrams) (2018 [2020], Clean Feed): Big band, previous album listed alto saxophonist Bobby Zankel ahead of the group name, this one lists Marty Ehrlich (another alto saxophonist) as co-producer and conductor. One 41:34 composition by AACM founder Abrams. B+(***)

WHO Trio: Strell: The Music of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (2018 [2020], Clean Feed): Group name from artist initials: Michael Wintsch (piano), Gerry Hemingway (drums), Bänz Oester (bass). Fifth group album, spaced every 4-6 years since 1999. Usual songs, rendered delicately. Hemingway sings "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing." B+(***)

Wood River: More Than I Can See (2020, Enja/Yellowbird): Charlotte Greve, plays sax and keyboards but mostly sings here, backed by guitar, bass, and drums. Long on texture, vocals nice enough, much prefer the sax. B

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Dave Alvin: From an Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings ([2020], New West): Former Blaster, went solo in 1987 and has produced some terrific albums since. No idea where or when these sixteen songs come from -- hype suggests many come from opportunistic studio dates, not part of regular album projects -- but most feature his signature melodic ease and deadpan delivery. B+(***)

Don Cherry: Om Shanti Om (1976 [2020], Black Sweat): Recorded in Rome for a television broadcast, an example of Cherry's global eclecticism, where he plays pocket trumpet, flute, and kora, accompanied by Gian Piero Pramaggiore (guitar, flute), Nana Vasconcelos (percussion, berimbau), and Moki Cherry (tambura), with uncredited vocals as the grooves elicited sing-along. B+(*) [yt]

Jay Clayton/Fritz Pauer/Ed Neumeister: 3 for the Road (2001-02 [2020], Meistero Music): Jazz singer, backed by piano and trombone. (Pauer died in 2012.) B+(**)

Sonny Rollins: Rollins in Holland (1967 [2020], Resonance, 2CD): Three dates on two days in early May, with local musicians: Ruud Jacobs (bass, d. 2019, package dedicted to his memory) and a young (25) drummer, Han Bennink. This comes after his most avant records for Impulse, at the start of a hiatus (his second), which he broke in 1972. Not all first rate, but great to hear his unique sound, especially when he picks up the pace, and the CDs come with a substantial booklet, so gets extra credit for historical import. A- [cd] [12-04]

Horace Tapscott/Michael Session: Live in Avignon, France 1989 (1989 [2020], The Village): Piano and tenor sax duo. Session only has one album under his own name, but played in Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan Peoples Orchestra and related groups. He makes a strrong impression here. B+(***)

René Thomas: Remembering René Thomas: Rare and Unreleased (1955-62 [2020], Fresh Sound, 2CD): Belgian guitarist (1927-75), moved to Paris in early 1950s, recorded an album for Vogue, moved to Canada in 1956 then US, leaving a second album (Guitar Groove, then back to Europe in 1962. This starts with a sextet led by Jaccques Pelzer (alto sax), then some live trio tracks, some work with Bobby Jaspar (tenor sax/flute), quartets with piano-bass-drums, and one track with Jimmy Smith (organ). B+(***)

Old music:

Dave Alvin: Blue Blvd. (1991, Hightone): Second solo album. Solid. B+(***)

Dickie Landry: Fifteen Saxophones (1977 [2011], Unseen Worlds): Saxophonist, from Louisiana, four albums 1973-78, a Solo released in 2006 (one track called "12 Saxophones"), did some work with Philip Glass, website has more on his photography and paintings. Title cut is probably just what he says: 15 saxophones overdubbed into thick, shimmering sheets of sound. Other self-descriptive titles: "Alto Flute Quad Delay," "Kitchen Solos." B+(**)

Horace Tapscott: Songs of the Unseen (1978, Interplay): Pianist (1934-99), born in Houston but moved to Los Angeles as a child and became the focal point there for avant-jazz, not just through his Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. This is solo, a title he would reuse for his autobiography (published posthumously in 2001). I don't have the patience to decide just how brilliant this impressive but mixed set is, but I have no doubt he's one of the era's most important jazz pianists. B+(***) [yt]

Horace Tapscott Sextet: Dial 'B' for Barbra (1980 [2006], Nimbus West): With trumpet (Reggie Bullen), two saxes (Gary Bias and Sabir Mateen), bass violin (Roberto Miguel Miranda), and drums (Everett Brown Jr). A- [yt]

Horace Tapscott: The Tapscott Sessions Vol. 9 (1983 [2001], Nimbus West): The pianist released seven volumes of solo piano sessions 1982-84, on vinyl only and long out Vols. 8-11 came out much later, the first two from the same period, less clear about the others. B+(**)

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

  • Emi Makabe: Anniversary (Greenleaf Music) -
  • Raf Vertessen Quartet: LOI (El Negocito) +

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • None.

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Weekend Roundup

Blog link.

Table of contents:

Trump still refuses to concede. I thought he was a national embarrassment before the election, but hadn't even anticipated this. My apologies to all the pundits I made fun of for expecting, and even "war gaming," his intransigence. Jimmy Kimmel has started calling his lame duck period Squattergate.

Trump's Election Fraud

No serious observer thinks Trump has a chance of stealing back the election at this point, but as best I can figure, continuing to press his case does three things Trump's likely to regard as positives: it keeps his name at the top of the news, thereby keeping Biden and the Democrats from building on their win; it shows his base he's willing to fight for them (well, himself), even when the cause seems lost; and it lays the foundation for a scorched earth resistance against Biden and everything the Democrat-Socialists want to do. The downside, of course, is that it makes him look like a jerk and an asshole who has no concern for any part of the country beyond his following, but let's face it: you already knew that. I know a lot of people who thought they couldn't possibly despise him more than they did on November 3, but most of them now admit they were wrong: he's even more loathsome than they imagined.

David Atkins: Trump is staging a comically incompetent coup.

Dana Bash/Gloria Borger: Trump told ally he's trying to get back at Democrats for questioning legitimacy of his own election. "The President, this source said, 'doesn't see' how bad the aftermath of all of this could be for the country, and for democracy itself. As usual, he's focused on himself."

John Cassidy: Rudy Giuliani is a hot mess.

Christina Cauterucci: Shame the random, unknown government officials aiding Trump's coup attempt.

Jonathan Chait:

Kyle Cheney: Trump campaign cuts Sidney Powell from president's legal team. Just when she was upstaging Rudy Giuliani as the biggest laughing stock on retainer. Another take: Walter Einenkel: Trump campaign now says lady who lied with Giuliani for 2 hours at presser not really on legal team.

Chas Danner: Federal judge rebukes Trump's effort to overturn Pennsylvania election results: "In a scathing ruling, the judge said the Trump campaign was trying to 'disenfranchise almost 7 million voters.'" Also on this: Ian Millhiser: A Republican judge just tore into Trump's election lawyers for their incompetence.

Timothy Egan: Donald Trump is leaving behind blueprints to end democracy.

Garrett Epps: In election litigation, an ominous sign.

Edward B Foley: If the losing party won't accept defeat, democracy is dead. This has become a common thread for pundits, especially at the Washington Post:

Matt Ford: The unpardonable sins of Lindsey Graham. Also on Graham:

Masha Gessen: The coup stage of Donald Trump's presidency. Right after the election, I ridiculed efforts to describe Trump's refusal to accept plain results a coup, but he's persisted so steadfastly that there's little doubt that a coup is precisely what he would like to see. What escapes him is how one might work, but as long as he refuses to concede the fort, he has hopes that some kind of force might still come to his rescue. Gessen, on the other hand, has seen plenty of coups (successful and otherwise).

In the coup stage of his Presidency, Trump has continued to be Trump: he has shown no ability to plan or plot, but plenty of resolve and willingness to act. He fired military brass and the chief of election cybersecurity, Chris Krebs, for daring to contradict him. He garnered more than seventy million votes. He has showcased considerable power, in other words, but so far it doesn't seem to be enough to persuade Americans that he will keep it. For now, Trump's coup attempt seems doomed.

But, as is his way, Trump is succeeding even as he fails. His project all along has been to destroy the political order as we have known it. An overwhelming majority of Republican elected officials are hedging their bets on the coup attempt -- whether in order to humor Trump or appease his base, they have neglected to recognize the results of the election. The Tuesday-night incident at the Wayne County election board showed that at least some election officials will do Trump's bidding.

Alex Isenstadt: Trump threatens to wreak havoc on GOP from beyond the White House. Hey, bring it on!

Ed Kilgore: Rudy melts down over Trump and 'voter fraud' during insane press conference.

Jen Kirby: A Trump official is still blocking Biden's presidential transition. House Democrats want answers. GSA Administrator Emily Murphy.

Robert Mackey: Defeated Trump campaign tells supporters "The Left HATES YOU" in fundraising emails: The left hates Trump, not Trump supporters. Feels sorry for their mental anguish, and sometimes fears how irrationally they may act out. But the left's programs would actually help most Trump supporters. Just maybe not Trump.

Ian Millhiser: Trump's lawsuits challenging the election have turned into a clown show: "Republican officials aren't just losing. They're embarrassing themselves." Pictured: Rudy Giuliani.

Andrew Prokop: How long can Trump keep disputing the election results?

David E Sanger: Trump's attempts to overturn the election are unparalleled in US history.

Anya van Wagtendonk: Trump lashes out at fellow Republicans as his legal challenges to election results fail.

Li Zhou: 73 percent of Republican voters are questioning Biden's victory: Per a Vox poll.

Other Election Matters

Ross Barkan: The Biden campaign's decision not to knock on doors was a huge mistake.

Gabriel Debenedetti: Election night with Biden's data guru.

Fintan O'Toole: Democracy's afterlife: "Trump, the GOP, and the rise of zombie politics."

It is impossible not to think, in this in-between moment, of Antonio Gramsci: "The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear." Something is dying, but we do not yet know what. Is it the basic idea of majority rule or is it the most coherent attempt to destroy that idea since the secession of the Confederacy? Something is trying to be born, but we cannot yet say what it is either. Is it an American version of the "managed democracy" or "electoral autocracy" that is the most rapidly expanding political form around the world? Or is it a radically renewed republic that can finally deal with the unfinished business of its history? The old is in a state of suspended animation; the new stands at a threshold it cannot yet cross.

I would have gone elsewhere with the Gramsci quote. Most Democrats seem to be suffering from PTSD. They've been so traumatized by Trump that they've lost faith in their own basic principles, so they hardly campaign on them. Moreover, they regard Trump as such an anomaly that they fail to recognize that he's part and parcel of the Republican Party. They fret over the Republican base falling for Trump's folly, when it would be more accurate to point out that Trump is the one who fell for the crazed, vicious worldview. On the other hand, there are Democrats who see this clearly, yet they were unable to prevail in the primaries -- mostly due to the tsunami of Bloomberg cash, and the panic of pandemic. I still have faith in the left's clarity and reason, but O'Toole is haunted by darker thoughts:

The historic question that must be addressed is: Who is the aberration? Biden and perhaps most of his voters believe that the answer could not be more obvious. It is Trump. But this has been shown to be the wrong answer. The dominant power in the land, the undead Republican Party, has made majority rule aberrant, a notion that transgresses the new norms it has created. From the perspective of this system, it is Biden, and his criminal voters, who are the deviant ones. This is the irony: Trump, the purest of political opportunists, driven only by his own instincts and interests, has entrenched an anti-democratic culture that, unless it is uprooted, will thrive in the long term. It is there in his court appointments, in his creation of a solid minority of at least 45 percent animated by resentment and revenge, but above all in his unabashed demonstration of the relatively unbounded possibilities of an American autocracy.

Andrew Prokop: Georgia's Republican secretary of state just certified Biden's victory.

Michael Tomasky: What did the Democrats win?

Li Zhou: Why Republican women candidates had such a strong year. As I recall, in 2018, when Democrats elected a lot of new women to Congress, the number of Republican women in the House remained constant. This year it's jumping from 22 to 36, while the count of Democratic women is little changed, at 105. How exactly does that justify this headline?

Biden Prospects

I've been avoiding speculation on Biden cabinet picks, figuring what will be will be, but just noticed this one: Biden chooses Antony Blinken, defender of global alliances, as Secretary of State. You may recall mention of Blinken last week. Robert Wright has been writing a series on Grading Biden's foreign policy team, and I linked to his assessment of Blinken, with its overall grade of C- (teacher's comment: "Tony is bright and studious but needs to do a better job of learning from past mistakes"). Wright followed up with a report card on William Burns, who fared considerably better at A- (B grades for military restraint and international law).

Kate Aronoff:

  • Joe Biden can't compromise with the rising seas.

  • Democrats' fear of the Green New Deal is tearing the Party apart: "Why are party leaders so scared of a policy that's demonstrably popular?" I have a slightly different question. Given that GND doesn't have any intrinsic definition (unlike, say, single-payer health insurance), what is keeping Democratic Party leaders from just picking out a few things they like and calling it their GND? Most likely it's that Republicans have had some success at condeming GND as an extreme radical-liberal project, and mainstream Democrats are used to running scared from Republican attacks. It's worth stepping back and thinking about this a bit. There are two directives to GND: one is to accelerate public infrastructure development, specifically to provide plentiful energy while reducing carbon emissions, thereby reducing climate change without crippling the economy. The second is to make sure that the jobs created come with livable wages and benefits. Why should any Democrats oppose either of those programs? One might argue about how much to spend how soon, and how to pay for it -- which shouldn't be the big deal opponents try to make it out to be. But those are just basic principles, especially for someone like Joe Biden, who's talked a lot about climate change and better wages. If you do those basic things, what does it matter what you call it?

Peter Beinart: The Biden problem. Specifically, about foreign policy: Biden has moved significantly left on domestic policy, but if anything mainstream Democrats (especially those calling themselves "security Democrats" during the impeachment process) have retrenched even deeper into American exceptionalist orthodoxy.

Thomas Geoghegan: An FDR-size executive order for Biden: "With one stroke, the new president could revive the labor movement and help repair the post-pandemic economy."

Even with a hostile Senate, there is at least one executive order that could do more to transform the country than single-payer health care or the Green New Deal -- indeed, an order that could help pave the way toward those goals. Biden could require as a condition in every federal contract that every supplier of a good or service have a collective bargaining agreement -- unless there is no such supplier that can perform that contract at a reasonable cost or comparable quality. Such an executive order would do more to revive the labor movement than many a federal law -- and it wouldn't require Mitch McConnell's permission.

Dylan Matthews: 10 enormously consequential things Biden can do without the Senate. From the unnumbered subheds (although there are major caveats in the small print, and even so I'm not sure Biden is on board for many of them):

  1. Fight climate change
  2. Forgive student debt
  3. Expand immigration
  4. Ease the ban on marijuana
  5. Reverse Trump's rollback of air pollution and lead poisoning rules
  6. Cut back on factory farming
  7. Create a postal banking system
  8. Crack down on Wall Street
  9. Crack down on monopolies
  10. Expand access to health care

Luke Savage: Joe Biden should take a hard look at what Obama did in 2009 -- and do exactly the opposite. By the way, a pretty good book on Obama's transition and initial choices is Reed Hundt: A Crisis Wasted: Barack Obama's Defining Decisions, especially given that Biden is inheriting the worst recession America has faced since the one Obama inherited (in some ways it's arguably worse, in which case you might want to supplement your reading with Adam Cohen: Nothing to Fear: FDR's Innter Circle and the Hundred Days That Created Modern America). One of the biggest mistakes Obama made was to put off proposing any big infrastructure projects because they weren't "shovel ready" and he thought only short-term stimulus (like tax breaks and cash) would be necessary. (Feel free to blame Larry Summers for that decision. Also note how tightly Summers and Timothy Geithner limited Obama's choice in economic advisers.)

Dylan Scott: What Biden could do to expand health coverage -- without Congress. But: "Undoing Trump's health care actions won't be as easy as it sounds." Some problems are bureaucratic, but most were built into the program, even before Trump and the Republicans started beating on it.

Rob Urie: Democrats and the canard of 'too far left'.

The Covid-19 Pandemic Surge

Latest map and case count: 12.3 million+ cases (14 day change +59%), 256,581 deaths (+62%), 83,227 hospitalized (+50%). The mapmaker had to shift the scale to restore some gradation to what had become a vast red blob.

Lavender Ali: How China crushed coronavirus.

Eleanor Cummins: Why we can't comprehend 250,000 Covid deaths. Statistics, sure, but don't underestimate the truth Upton Sinclair discovered: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it."

James Hamblin: How Trump sold failure to 70 million people: "The president convinced many voters that his response to the pandemic was not a disaster. The psychology of medical fraud is simple, timeless, and tragic."

Elliot Hannon: Tyson Foods supervisors allegedly bet on how many plant workers would get coronavirus.

Umair Irfan: Pfizer and BioNTech have applied for emergency approval for their Covid-19 vaccine.

German Lopez: The next Covid-19 superspreading event: Thanksgiving.

Alexis Madrigal/Whet Moser: How many Americans are about to die? "A new analysis shows that the country is on track to pass spring's grimmest record."

Nick Martin: Scott Atlas, star disciple in Trump's Covid death cult: "The task force adviser is there to incite the president's base and facilitate the slow, deadly violence of our failed federal response to the pandemic."

Anna North: Why restaurants are open and schools are closed.

Amy Qin/Vivian Wang/Danny Hakim: How Steve Bannon and a Chinese billionaire created a right-wing coronavirus media sensation: "Increasingly allied, the American far right and members of the Chinese diaspora tapped into social media to give a Hong Kong researcher a vast audience for peddling unsubstantiated pandemic claims."

Katie Shepherd: Trump coronavirus adviser tells Michigan to 'rise up' against new shutdown orders.

John Wagner/Colby Itkowitz/Michelle Ye Hee Lee: Donald Trump Jr, the president's eldest son, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Also might as well note: Kate Riga: Rick Scott becomes the 6th member of Congress to test positive this week. Also: Sean Collins: Sen. Kelly Loeffler has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ed Yong: Hospitals know what's coming: "'We are on an absolutely catastrophic path,' said a COVID-19 doctor at America's best-prepared hospital."

Still More on Donald Trump

Chas Danner: Lara Trump is considering Senate run in North Carolina: In 2022, for retiring Senator Richard Burr's seat.

Juliet Eilperin: Trump officials rush to auction off rights to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before Biden can block it.

Randall D Eliason: The case against indicting Trump. Author recently wrote Yes, going after Trump's law firms is fair game, so he's drawing some fine distinctions.

Paulina Firozi: Trump administration exits Open Skies treaty. This was announced six months ago, but it's still shocking to see it happening, especially with Trump heading out the door.

Danny Hakim/Mike McIntire/William K Reshbaum/Ben Protess: Trump tax write-offs are ensnared in 2 New York fraud investigations.

David M Halbfinger: For Netanyahu and Israel, Trump's gifts kept on coming: "Allowing the convicted spy Jonathan Pollard the ability to emigrate to Israel was just the latest in a long list of prizes for America's closest ally in the Middle East." I always gag when I see "ally" in this context. Allies are concerned with your welfare. Allies come to your aid. Israel does whatever it wants, and expects Americans to clean up the mess, and pay them billions every year for the trouble. The twenty-year debacle of the Global War on Error isn't all Israel's fault, but it would never have happened without Israel: first, by generating so much bad will, but also by providing the inspiration for the neocon approach, which is to always project power, and suffer the consequences of perpetual war. As for Pollard, good riddance. But the list doesn't end there, and in every other respect we've been ill-served by the Trump administration's slavish prostration to Israeli ego and arrogance. Also on Pollard:

Sean Illing: How TV paved America's road to Trump: Interview with TV critic James Poniewozik, author of what I regard as the single most useful book on Trump, Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America.

Jill Lepore: Will Trump burn the evidence?: "How the President could endanger the official records of one of the most consequential periods in American history."

Steve M.:

  • This is asymmetric warfare, and the GOP has the advantage:

    One of the main reasons we're in this mess is that Republicans have spent years preparing their voters for a moment like this -- and Democrats haven't.

    As I often say, the right-wing media and Republican officials tell GOP base voters every day, whether or not we're in election season, that Democrats are evil, deceitful people who are responsible for all the ills of the world, occasionally in partnership with alleged allies such as antifa or the jihadist movement. Republicans voters have heard this for so many years that they don't need to be persuaded that Joe Biden -- who seems like a decent, human person to us -- is either the mastermind or the unwitting dupe of a fiendish plot cooked up by all-powerful supervillains to steal an election. Of course Biden and his henchmen could fake a couple hundred thousand votes in six states! Of course they could conceal the evidence so deftly that President Trump's lawyers and investigators can't uncover it! The absence of evidence isn't proof that the election was honest and fair -- it couldn't possibly be! Democrats are too evil! No dyed-in-the-wool Republican voter needs evidence to be persuaded that something terribe happened. Our malign nature is an article of faith! Proof isn't necessary. . . .

    And the mainstream media seems incapable of imagining the possibility that the Republican Party might be dangerous and malignant. Surely it's just Donald Trump! Or Trump plus Republicans temporarily in thrall to him! Surely the party's four years of coddling Trump aren't a sign that there's something inherently wrong with the party, any more than the GOP's extreme positions on climate change and gun ownership and abortion and the regulation and taxation of rich people and corporations are signs that the party can't be trusted! Despite all that, the GOP is seen not only as a respectable center-right party but as the party of normal Americans, while the Democratic Party is the party of non-whites and effete white freaks and weirdos.

  • Who's really addicted to Trump? Republicans and journalists. Starts with a link to a Frank Bruni column, anticipating the pains of withdrawal from our daily Donald Trump fix. SM sagely comments:

    Get a grip, Frank. It's fine to keep writing about Trump, at least for now. Trump is still with us. He destroys democracy a little more every day. People who study fascism express serious concern about his ongoing efforts to overturn the results of the election.

    But if we can ever be rid of him, we'll be fine. Trust me, I know. Years ago I obtained a copy of The Book on Bush: How George W. Bush (Mis)leads America by Eric Alterman and Mark Green, as well as The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, a biography of Bill O'Reilly by Marvin Kitman. There was a time I thought I'd read these books. But Bush and O'Reilly passed from the scene and I just . . . didn't. I gave the books away. If I think about Bush or O'Reilly now, I remember how much I despised them and how angry I was at the damage they'd done to America. But I rarely think about them. I'm much more concerned with the people who are actively doing harm today.

    That's how I'll be once Donald Trump is no longer a figure of influence in America. I'll be fine. The rest of his critics will all be fine.

Jonathan Mahler: Can America restore the rule of law without prosecuting Trump? Long article, covers a lot of possible grounds for prosecution. "No ex-president has ever been indicted before, but no president has ever left office with so much potential criminal liability."

Ben Mathis-Lilley: White nationalist appointed by Trump to Holocaust Commission praised Jeffrey Epstein for not being "a pussy" -- isn't this the ultimate Trump headline?

Philip Rucker/Ashley Parker/Josh Dawsey: Trump privately plots his next act -- including a potential 2024 run: Well, he filed the paperwork to campaign in 2020 the day after inauguration in 2017, so he understands how campaign finance works as a racket, and is not coy about getting in early. In the UK, the opposition party has what they call a "shadow cabinet": an MP designated to respond politically to each cabinet minister. Trump could proclaim himself Shadow President, and demand air time to respond to every Biden appearance. He might find that more fun than he ever had actually being president. On the other hand, he'll lose much of his immunity from prosecution and civil lawsuits when he leaves office (not that being an ex-president and a billionaire won't cut him some slack), so he might be better off toning down his profile. Check out the Mahler article above for an outline of the cases that could (and probably should) be brought against him.

Claudia Sahm: Is Trump trying to take the economy down with him? "His Treasury secretary is shackling the nation's central bank and closing an emergency program for local governments." The New York Times Editorial Board on this: Mnuchin's inglorious endgame.

Richard Silverstein: Trump wanted to attack Iran, they talked him out of it . . . for now. A Trump military attack on Iran has been a great fear for some time now, perhaps as an "October surprise," or as a lame duck parting gift. This gives you an indication of how close he came to doing it. After all, "Trump loves wreckage."

Emily Stewart: Why Trump and McConnell are trying -- and failing -- to push through Fed pick Judy Shelton.

James Webb: Ending 'endless wars' could cement Trump's foreign policy legacy: Well, maybe if had done it three years ago, and secured policy changes with clear directives, redeployments, and personnel changes, he'd have a legacy. Instead, he escalated the wars erratically, gave "allies" a free hand to expand their own wars, repeatedly hired (and had to fire) hawks like John Bolton, subverted possible efforts at diplomacy. A.J. Muste used to say: "There is no way to peace; peace is the way." Just one of many things Trump never came close to understanding. I think it is true that Trump won votes in 2016 because Hillary Clinton tried to out-hawk him (remember her "commander-in-chief test"?). Conservative anti-war pundits invested great hope in Trump as an alternative to the neocon/neoliberal war nexus. Even today, Doug Bandow is writing: Donald Trump isn't gone yet and I already miss him. What he's really saying is that he doesn't trust Biden, and fears that Biden will be worse than Trump, because Biden has always gone along with bipartisan defense and security posturing. Still, he could have just said that, as Beinart and others cited above have done, but he still relishes the idea that conservatives are good guys -- even Trump.

Robin Wright: What will a vengeful president do to the world in his final weeks?

Obama Has a Book to Sell

Barack Obama is doing a press tour to promote his memoir, A Promised Land, reportedly the first of two volumes (one for each term). I watched the first half of his interview on Jimmy Kimmel. It was refreshing to see a major political figure with a self-effacing sense of humor, talking about a recognizably normal family life. I turned it off before Kimmel got around to promised questions about the issues and events that constitute his legacy. Four years of Donald Trump helps us remember what his appeal was, slightly different from how twelve years of Obama and Trump have dulled our sense of how awful George W Bush was.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: On Barack Obama's A Promised Land. Flagship New York Times review. Book sounds awful -- not in the same way ghost written books for Bush or Trump would be, but a long, deep, blinkered trawl through a deeply heartfelt worldview that was rarely up to what was needed. Especially troubling is his inability to counter Republicans even a decade after the fact. Then there is this:

With foreign policy, he is less guarded. He even manages a kind of poetic jingoism, where nearly every criticism of the United States is mere preface to an elegant and spirited defense. In this sense Barack Obama defies the stereotype of the American Liberal for whom American failure on the world stage is not the starter course but the main. He is a true disciple of American exceptionalism. That America is not merely feared but also respected is, he argues, proof that it has done something right even in its imperfectness. "Those who complained about America's role in the world still relied on us to keep the system afloat," he writes, a reactionary position, as if it were innately contradictory to question America's outsize role and also expect America to do well at the job it chose to give itself.

All that talent, and the best he could do for American jingoism was make it more poetic?

Ryan Grim: Obama book: Rahm Emanuel cooked up deal to promise Larry Summers Fed Chair. The way I understood the story is that Summers and Tim Geithner were the only candidates for Treasury, and Geithner refused to consider any other position, so Summers had to settle for the Council of Economic Advisers -- a position he used to prevent anyone else from offering advice to Obama. The real question nobody's answered is why anyone wanted to hire either of them, let alone put them in charge of the recovery. Both were, after all, totally in the pocket of the big banks, as they amply proved. Sure, Summers wanted the Fed Chair job even more, but due to staggered terms it wouldn't open up for a year. When it did, Obama reappointed Ben Bernanke -- a big mistake, I always thought, for while he wasn't the worst ever, you'd think Obama would have gone with his own person, given how much power the Fed Chair has to make or break his economy.

Constance Grady: In his new memoir, Obama defends -- and critiques -- his legacy.

John F Harris: Could Obama have been great?

Peter Kafka: Obama: The internet is "the single biggest threat to democracy." I would have said money, and its control over media. There's a lot more money in the Internet now than 4, 8, 20 years ago, and it's taken a toll, but Fox News still bothers me a lot more than Facebook.

Osita Nwanevu: Barack Obama doesn't have the answers: "The former president seems unable to reckon with the failures of his presidency and diagnose the Republican Party's incurable nihilism."

Alex Shephard: Barack Obama, media critic.

Paul Street: The real v. the liberal fantasy Obama presidency: Two excerpts from Hollow Resistance: Obama, Trump, and the Politics of Appeasement: Street's recent book.

Around the World

Masha Gessen: The abortion protests in Poland are starting to feel like a revolution.

Fred Kaplan:

Terrence McCoy: Bolsonaro ran against corruption. Now, he'll have to find another slogan. You'd think so, but Trump ran on the same anti-corruption themes he used in 2016. The key is getting people to believe that it's only corruption when someone else does it.

Mitchell Plitnick: Pompeo's attack on BDS is an assault on free speech. That's kind of the lowest common denominator reaction to Pompeo, whose main thrust is less that you can't say you don't like Israel's human rights abuses as that you can't do anything about it. The whole point of BDS is to do something tangible that can lead to real changes but that doesn't incite or condone violence. Israel would rather face violence, which they're used to dealing with, than BDS, which questions their morality. However, free speech does come into play here, because the only way to counter the logic of BDS is to prohibit discussion of it.

Alex Ward:

Other Matters of Interest

Reed Albergotti: Apple is lobbying against a bill aimed at stopping forced labor in China.

Dean Baker: "Protecting intellectual property" against China means redistributing income upward.

Damian Carrington: Renewable energy defies Covid-19 to hit record growth in 2020.

Jonathan V Last: The Republican Party is dead. It's the Trump cult now.

JC Pan: Charles Koch got the free-market dystopia he wanted. Now he'd like your approval. "The same billionaire who refashioned the American political system to suit his needs is now calling for bipartisan cooperation -- on his terms." Also on Koch: Garrison Lovely: The reputation launderers: "Talking with monsters like they're not monsters isn't journalism -- it's cowardice."

Jeremy W Peters:

Jeffrey St Clair: Roaming charges: The gang that couldn't sue straight.

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, November 16, 2020

Music Week

November archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 34356 [34320] rated (+36), 220 [223] unrated (-3).

I continued my post-election practice of starting each day with a couple of vintage jazz CDs, although I stopped tweeting about it at some point. I published the previous week's selection, so might as well follow it up with this week's (as best I recall):

  • Don Byas: Don Byas on Blue Star
  • Charles McPherson: But Beautiful!
  • Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um
  • Sonny Rollins: Falling in Love With Jazz
  • Sidney Bechet: The Legendary Sidney Bechet
  • Duke Ellington: The Far East Suite
  • Coleman Hawkins: A Retrospective 1929-1963 [2CD]
  • Earl Hines: Piano Man! (ASV's 1928-41 big band comp)
  • Roy Eldridge: The Nifty Cat
  • Ben Webster/Buck Clayton: Ben and Buck
  • Ben Webster/Harry Edison: Ben and Sweets
  • Lester Young: The "Kansas City" Sessions

Only a couple A- records on that list (very solid ones). The Mingus (A+) got an encore spin. Only one today, as I had to venture out early. The practice cut down on my listening, especially from the demo queue (which I'm working on now). Still got a fairly decent haul. Several records I was tipped to from Facebook posts (e.g., Aesop Rock, Harald Lassen, Big Mama Thornton). Several came from Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide: I already had Thelonious Monk and Elizabeth Cook (both of them) at A-, Margo Price at B+(*), and Low Cut Connie at B, so I checked out the rest (aside from Slim Gaillard, who I like enough to have given his 4-CD Properbox Laughin' in Rhythm an A-, but didn't expect the 2-CD Verve reviewed to improve on the 1-CD Verve from 1994, Laughin' in Rhythm). Pleasant surprise from the list was Rodney Rice, but where he was nice and comfy, I wound up preferring Tim Barry's anger (choice cut: "Prosser's Gabriel"). The Barry tip, by the way, came from Napster, explained thusly: "because you like Johnny Cash." They're often wrong (not least about what I like), but for someone I had never heard of that was a pretty good tip. One caveat: given its 2-hour-plus length, I only played the record once. Still left me feeling it's more likely to get better than worse.

I noticed this Richard Scheinin tweet:

Sad news: the passing of Andrew White, one of the most brilliant & exciting saxophonists I've ever witnessed. An outrageous character, too. Brilliant man. Coltrane transcriber. Oboist. Electric bassist with Stevie Wonder and Weather Report. R.I.P., genius.

I've heard a few records White played on, but his name never stuck in my mind, and I don't have anything by him in my database. I searched for records online and came up empty. Wikipedia credits him with 42 albums, but they're self-released, and I'm not finding them anywhere. (I did find some YouTube videos -- one fairly long one I listened to was pretty impressive.) Seems like getting his music organized on Bandcamp would be a good project for his estate.

I've done some work on the Christgau website (not updated yet). I have all of the And It Don't Stop Consumer Guides in my database, and have written a bit of code that drops the most recent reviews out (supposedly this is an incentive for people who pay for their subscription). The transition from PHP 5 to 7 broke the old database code (and other stuff), so I'm having to go through dozens of files and rewrite code. Started that project way back, got distracted, but now I'm finally intent on plugging through to the end, at which point it'll be possible to update the database.

I can also tell you that Francis Davis and I will be doing another Jazz Critics Poll this year. Invites should be going out real soon now. (I heard "over the weekend" but haven't seen mine yet.) If you think you should be invited but haven't been in the past, or have been and haven't heard from us within the week, please send email and make your case. NPR will publish the headline results, and I'll publish all the gritty details, as usual. To help out, I've prepared a version of my music tracking file that omits my grades and only lists jazz albums. It covers everything I've noted since December 1, 2019, plus some earlier 2019 albums that were so obscure I hadn't noticed them in the 2019 music tracking file. Obviously, the list is far from complete.

I still haven't done any fine tuning for my own EOY lists, but you can see them in their initial state here: Jazz and Non-Jazz. I did a bit of reshuffling, but I'm still not very happy with the ordering -- especially non-jazz, where I own virtually none of the records and haven't replayed any (other than Dua Lipa) since they came out. Also, I've barely started the 2% section on prospects I haven't heard (but would like to).

EOY lists should start appearing around Thanksgiving, which is next week. (I've given zero thought to cooking for anyone, then or pretty much forever.) Meanwhile, my metacritic file offers a few hints as to how the year's shaping up.

I'm sitting on a tough question about African music. Would be nice if you asked me more.

New records reviewed this week:

Aesop Rock: Spirit World Field Guide (2020, Rhymesayers Entertainment): Rapper Ian Bavitz, quick with his words, sharp with his beats. B+(***)

Susan Alcorn Quintet: Pedernal (2019 [2020], Relative Pitch): Pedal steel guitarist, common in traditional country music but rarely used in jazz. Discogs credits Alcorn with 25 albums since 2000 -- many free jazz collaborations, but still more than I expected. Quintet here, mostly strings -- violin (Michael Feldman), double bass (Michael Formanek), guitar (Mary Halvorson) -- plus a drummer (Ryan Sawyer). All original compositions, although I think I hear bits from folk songs. B+(**)

Tim Barry: Live 2018 (2018 [2020], Chunkasah): Country singer-songwriter, started in Virginia punk bands -- (Young) Pioneers, Avail -- solo albums since 2006. Never heard of him before, but Napster recommended him "because you like Johnny Cash." Collects two hour-long sets, no hits, no duplicate songs. Some striking songs. In one he gets 28 years for a moment, when he took credit after his sister shot a man who abused her. In another, he's the one getting shot, in Iraq. Most striking song is "Prosser's Gabriel," about a slave rebellion in 1800 and the city's crumbling monuments to slaverholders (a/k/a "rich white motherfuckers"). Presented as a time capsule, with "nothing glossed over." He adds, "it's a lot to absorb." And advises, "be fucking resilient." A-

Noah Bless: New York Strong: Latin Jazz! (2020, Zoho): Trombonist, studied in Cincinnati, moved to New York in 1990, appeared on dozens of mainstream and Latin jazz albums, not much under his own name. Percussion as expected, nice trombone leads. B+(*) [cd]

Will Butler: Generations (2020, Merge): Arcade Fire member, brother of frontman Win Butler, third solo album, has a couple of well-hooked songs, ends with one on George Washington which starts like Randy Newman. Turns out "Fine." B+(***)

Carla Campopiano: Chicago/Buenos Aires Connections, Vol. II (2020, self-released): Flute player, from Argentina, moved to US in 2011 and teaches in Chicago. Second album, a short one (27:02), one original, seven covers, tango classics, two sung by Alba Guerra. U [cd]

The Nels Cline Singers: Share the Wealth (2020, Blue Note): The guitarist's long-running project with Trevor Dunn (bass) and Scott Amendola (drums), augmented here by Skerik (sax), Brian Marsella (keyboards), and Cyro Baptista (percussion), none of whom sing. B+(*)

Cortex: Legal Tender (2019 [2020], Clean Feed): Free jazz quartet from Norway -- Thomas Johansson (trumpet), Kristoffer Berre Alberts (sax), Ola Høyer (bass), Gard Nilssen (drums) -- fourth album. Neither horn dominates, but hits strong notes, while the rhythm stays fresh. A-

André Fernandes: Kinetic (2020, Clean Feed): Portuguese guitarist, studied at Berklee, lived in New York for a while, returned to Lisbon. Ten (or more) albums since 2003. Quintet with alto sax (Perico Sambeat), keyboards (Xan Campos), bass, and drums. B+(**)

Rich Halley/Matthew Shipp/Michael Bisio/Newman Taylor Baker: The Shape of Things (2019 [2020], Pine Eagle): Tenor saxophonist from Portland, had been playing for a while but got serious after he retired from his day job, and has been producing excellent records every year. Had been using locals, but picked up a world-class rhythm section last year, and they're even better this time out. A- [cd]

Theo Hill: Reality Check (2020, Posi-Tone): Pianist, plays Rhodes and synthesizer here, fourth album, trio (Rashaan Carter and Mark Whitfield Jr.) plus vibes -- Blue Note star Joel Ross. B+(*)

Jaga Jazzist: Pyramid (2020, Brainfeeder): Norwegian acid jazz group, 7th studio album since 1996, on an electronica label (new, but last three were on Ninja Tune). Horns down to two (trombone and tuba, with guitarist-keyboardist Lars Horntveth also playing a bit of clarinet and sax), guitar and synths up. Pretty good groove band, adept at avoiding the ruts. B+(**)

Harald Lassen: Human Samling (2020, Jazzland): Norwegian saxophonist, also plays piano, couple previous albums. His sax takes a back seat to the guitar-keyboards-electric bass, shading to soften the fusion groove. B

José Lencastre/Jorge Nuno/Felipe Zenícola/João Valinho: Anthropic Neglect (2019 [2020], Clean Feed): Brazilian guitarist Nuno, background in "psychedelic rock," joins Portuguese sax-bass-drum trio. Three pieces, 39:11, the fast one most immediately compelling, but the slow one also develops a fine burn. A-

Nicole Mitchell/Moor Mother: Offering: Live at Le Guess Who (2018 [2020], Don Giovanni): Flutes and vocals, both also credited with electronics. Camae Ayewa's poetry is often worthy, but long stretches here are hard to take in. Probably more interesting to watch. B

Ikue Mori/Satoko Fujii/Natsuki Tamura: Prickly Pear Cactus (2020, Libra): Japanese drummer, credited with electronics here, part of New York's No Wave noise-punk movement c. 1980, Discogs lists 40 albums since 1992, swaps quarantine files with the even more prolific piano-trumpet duo. B+(**) [cd] [12-04]

Oneohtrix Point Never: Magic Oneohtrix Point Never (2020, Warp): Daniel Lopatin, electronica, albums since 2007. This one seems all over the place, but a few passages are so sublime there may be more to it. B+(*)

Lee Ranaldo & Raül Refree: Names of North End Women (2020, Mute): Sonic Youth guitarist, has dabbled in experimental pursuits, ranging from avant-noise to jazz, on dozens of releases since 1987. Refree is a Spanish (Catallan) producer, Raül Fernandez Miró, with 16 releases since 2002. Songs here, oblique ones, eased into. B+(*)

Rodney Rice: Same Shirt, Different Day (2020, Moody Spring Music): Country singer-songwriter, from West Virginia, based in Colorado, second album. Identifies working class. Voice has a bit of John Anderson and John Prine, but mellower. B+(***)

Scott Routenberg: Inside (2020, Summit): Pianist, plays electric keyboards here, with occasional guests, most likely socially distanced. B [cd]

Sad13: Haunted Painting (2020, Wax Nine): Sadie Dupuis, side project from her band Speedy Ortiz (which also started out as side project, though I know not to what), second album. I can't say as I get much from it, but doesn't seem like the concept is sad. B+(*)

Alexa Tarantino: Clarity (2020, Posi-Tone): Alto saxophonist (also soprano, flute, alto flute), second album, backed by piano (Steven Feifke), bass (Joe Martin), and drums (Rudy Royston). B+(*)

Trees Speak: Ohms (2020, Soul Jazz): Arizona group, synthesizers, draws on Krautrock but reminds me more of the equally vintage Mother Mallard. B+(*)

Andreas Tschopp Bubaran: Tambuk (2019 [2020], Enja/Yellowbird): Swiss trombonist, first (2017) album Bubaran, kept that for his group name, both album names derived from Indonesian gamelan music. Both groups have trumpet, second trombone, guitar, and drums. B [bc]

Savina Yannatou & Joana Sá: Ways of Notseeing (2020, Clean Feed): Voice and piano duo. I can't follow the words, if indeed that's what they are. The notes refer to John Berger's eye-opening book, Ways of Seeing. B

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Blue Note Re:imagined 2020 (2020, Blue Note): Date in smaller print, but probably important as they could be recycling this formula for some time. Samples from the label's 1960s golden age (Herbie Hancock, Eddie Henderson, Joe Henderson, Andrew Hill, Bobby Hutcherson, McCoy Tyner, Donald Byrd, Dodo Greene, and especially Wayne Shorter) remixed by up-and-coming UK jazz stars. They (and other labels) have gone down this rathole before. At best, the records are amusing for a while. At worst, they aren't. B

Brian Eno: Film Music 1976-2020 (1976-2020 [2020], Astralwerks): It was inevitable that his ambient electronica would find a home in films. As early as 1978, he had enough for his first Music for Films. No idea how much more followed, but 15 of 17 tracks here came later, including several previously unreleased and one new one to stretch the window. B+(*)

Mort Garson: Music From Patch Cord Productions (1968-74 [2020], Sacred Bones): Canadian composer, electronic music pioneer, an early (1967) adopter of the Moog synthesizer. Some vocals, pop moves. B+(*)

Mort Garson: Didn't You Hear? (1970 [2020], Sacred Bones): Soundtrack for an "experimental film." Title track (reprised at the end) is pretty awful. Moog filling not so bad. B

The Heshoo Beshoo Group: Armitage Road (1970 [2020], We Are Busy Bodies): South African jazz group, only album, two sax players (Henry and Stanley Sithole), guitar (Cyril Magubane), bass, and drums. Guitarist the steady hand here, playing off the township jive groove like Wes Montgomery on the blues. B+(***)

Space Funk: Afro Futurist Electro Funk in Space 1976-84 (1976-84 [2019], Soul Jazz): Fifteen obscure funk tracks with synths and space themes -- only group name I thought I recognized is Funk Machine, but that's only because it's so rote. Nothing here that Dr. Funkenstein couldn't bump into a higher orbit. B+(*)

Peter Stampfel/The Dysfunctionells: Not in Our Wildest Dreams (1994-96 [2020], Don Giovanni): No "&" on the cover, and the group -- Rich Krueger plus four (or more) -- can stand on their own, and appear to have sought out the folk legend. Sloppy on all counts, especially when trashing pop hits, but also when covering Have Moicy! B+(**)

Cecil Taylor/Tony Oxley: Being Astral and All Registers/Power of Two: Live at the Ulrichsberg Festival, May 10th 2002 (2002 [2020], Discus Music): Cover adds quote marks, dots, and a dash to the title, but it's really just two piece titles, totalling 59:41, and the sub at the bottom could just as well be the real title. The pianist's later recordings almost all feature drummer Oxley, most (like this one) duos. How many anyone needs is unclear, but since Taylor's death in 2018, it's been nice to get periodic reminders. B+(***) [bc]

Neil Young/Crazy Horse: Return to Greendale (2003 [2020], Warner): From a live tour in support of a well-regarded but minor enough to be easily forgotten album. The original 10 songs ran 78:19. This one reprises all ten, in order, two shortened by less than a minute, the rest a bit longer (total 80:36), not stretched but just a bit relaxed. No need to own both, but for the moment relaxed works for me, not least on long yarns that are packed with tension. A-

Old music:

Rodney Rice: Empty Pockets and a Troubled Mind (2014, self-released): Country singer-songwriter, first album, has an easy way about him but doesn't slight hard subjects. B+(**)

Sad13: Slugger (2016, Carpark): Singer-songwriter Sadie Dupuis, away from her band Speedy Ortiz (between their 2nd and 3rd albums). Has some moments, but in general I don't see the point. B+(*)

Big Mama Thornton With the Muddy Waters Blues Band: 1966 (1966 [2004], Arhoolie): Famed for recording "Hound Dog" before Elvis, but worth exploring at greater length. I had two of her CDs in my database, both at A-: Hound Dog: The Peacock Recordings (1952-57 [1992], MCA), and Ball N' Chain (1965-68 [1989], Arhoolie), which mixes six tracks from this album with other live tracks (some with Buddy Guy). Here she borrows the band for a San Francisco gig, with Waters and Samuel Lawhorn on guitar, Otis Spann piano, Luther Johnson bass, Francis Clay drums, James Cotton harmonica, and Everett Minor tenor sax. Terrific band, maybe a bit fancy for Thornton. Padded with alternate takes. B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • David Friesen With Orchestra and Quartet: Testimony (Origin)
  • Jihee Heo: Are You Ready? (OA2)
  • Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii/Ramon Lopez: Mantle (Libra)

Ask a question, or send a comment.

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