#^d 2015-02-16
#^h Music Week
Music: Current count 24527 [24491] rated (+36), 501 [500] unrated (+1).
I shot most of my wad on Friday's
Rhapsody Streamnotes, but since then I was pleasantly surprised by
three straight jazz vocal albums: Denia Ridley's became an old friend
over three plays; the late Maureen Budway caught my attention with a warm
"White Cliffs of Dover," annoyed me with a song about fireworks and freedom,
then redeemed real American music with a marvelous Gershwin medley; and
young Katie Thiroux came up with a novel approach to singing standards
while playing bass, helped by superb spots for guitar and sax. Never heard
of any of these women before (although pianist David Budway does sound
familiar -- let's see, I had his 2011 A New Kiss as a mid-B+, and
he played behind Chris McNulty on a forgettable 2005 album). Was also
pleasantly surprised by H2 Big Band's vocals, although a check of the
credits reveals the name of René Marie, who's often on that level. Those
are four albums I wouldn't have bothered searching out to stream, but
I listened to them because publicists took the trouble to mail hard copies
to me. More often, big bands and singers are the bane of my existence,
so this just goes to show you never can tell.
Still, two of those four albums will most likely be packed away to
the basement, never to be played again. I have five of those cheap six-row
120-CD cases on top of a desk blocking a window, which were filled with
Jazz CG albums several years ago. I've been going through them, packing
everything B+(**) and below into baskets to carry to the basement --
effectively that opens up about half of those shelves, soon to be filled
with higher-rated CDs currently in piles on the floor. The half that
remained are all exceptionally good, often great albums, virtually none
of which have been played since I reviewed them. I've always liked the
idea of maintaining a library, but despair of ever finding time to use
it. Same problem exists, to a greater or lesser extent (I'm not sure),
with print. I probably have enough surplus to endow a small library.
Wonder how one goes about doing that.
By the way, while I only added a half dozen or so lists to the
EOY Aggregate last week,
but they managed to make two changes in the top ten: Caribou had run
in 5th place ever since the near-beginning but slipped to 6th behind
Flying Lotus a week ago; since then it shot back to 5th, even opening
up more space (6 points) than Flying Lotus enjoys over 7th place
Aphex Twin (3 points). The other big change is that Angel Olsen moved
into 10th place, 3 points ahead of Beck (now tied for 11th with Spoon).
Also worth noting that Taylor Swift has continued to climb, now in
15th place, as has D'Angelo, now in 20th. Can't say there will be no
changes in the future -- actually waiting on one promised email, and
I'll add Christgau's list if he ever parts with it (or I'll just pick
it up in dribs and drabs, like Tune-Yards and TV on the Radio from
last week's
Expert Witness).
By the way, Christgau's memoir, Going Into the City: Portrait of
a Critic as a Young Man, will be released on February 24 (preorder
links from
Amazon and
Barnes & Noble; and here's an excerpt just posted at
Rolling Stone). I haven't heard anything about promoting it on
the website yet, but I imagine I'll have to get busy on that. Carola
Dibbell's novel The Only Ones comes out on March 10, and we've
already done a lot more work on
promoting it.
New records rated this week:
- Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet [RAAQ]: Intents and Purposes (2014 [2015], Enja): guitar-vibes-bass-drums quartet, has a nice intricacy but short on juice [r]: B+(*)
- Tony Allen: Film of Life (2014, Jazz Village): Afrobeat drummer works the electronics to add shimmer and chime; too bad the vocal slumps [r]: B+(**)
- Andrew Barker/Paul Dunmall/Tim Dahl: Luddite (2012 [2014], New Atlantis): avant sax trio, drummer earns top billing, saxophonist sometimes at his peak [r]: B+(**)
- Big Lazy: Don't Cross Myrtle (2014, Tasankee): guitar-bass-drums trio, prefer tight and tidy rockish tunes, especially surf guitar, to improv [r]: B+(***)
- Blu: Good to Be Home (2014, Nature Sounds, 2CD): long mixtape, beats merely functional but raps get stronger as he goes on (and on) [r]: B+(***)
- Wade Bowen: Wade Bowen (2014, Amp): Texas variant of the standard hard touring Nashville country hound, ambivalent about success and still arrogant [r]: B+(*)
- Maureen Budway: Sweet Candor (2014 [2015], MCG Jazz): late jazz singer's belated debut album showcases a fine voice; Gershwin medley tops Americana [cd]: B+(**)
- Cornershop: Hold On It's Easy (2015, Ample Play): 20th anniversary memento, recasts first album with lots of Elastic Big Band brass [r]: B
- The Cunninlynguists: Strange Journey, Volume Three (2014, Bad Taste): underground rap mixtape, exceptional flow when they hit their stride [r]: B+(***)
- Disappears: Irreal (2015, Kranky): postpunk band, started with short sharp songs but have now moved over to repeated Wire-like figures [r]: B+(***)
- Bob Dylan: Shadows in the Night (2015, Columbia): makes his long-feared crooner move, minus the voice and arrangements, even the songs, he needs [r]: C
- Emika: Klavirni (2015, Emika): electronica artist shows off her classical piano chops on meditative miniatures, cheating once in a while [r]: B+(*)
- George Ezra: Wanted on Voyage (2014, Columbia): heard that a "big voice" is something good to have, tried it and became overbearing [r]: B-
- Free Nelson Mandoomjazz: Awakening of a Capital (2014 [2015], RareNoise): Scottish trio, fuzzy electric bass riffs smeared with snarling sax, a formula [cdr]: B+(***)
- Chantale Gagné: The Left Side of the Moon (2014 [2015], self-relased): pianist from Quebec, picked up her perfect band: S Wilson/P Washington/L Nash [cd]: B+(***)
- Rhiannon Giddens: Tomorrow Is My Turn (2014, Nonesuch): roots songster employs T-Bone Burnett for coming out, casts wide net, catches some [r]: B+(**)
- Ja, Panik: Libertatia (2014, Staatsakt): I figure they're Germany's answer to TV on the Radio, maybe crossed a bit with Flaming Lips [r]: B+(*)
- Oliver Lake/William Parker: To Roy (2014 [2015], Intakt): dedicated to late trumpeter Roy Campbell, alto sax-bass duet, somber but stirring [cd]: A-
- Lupe Fiasco: Tetsuo & Youth (2015, Atlantic): I thought the woefully misunderstood "Lasers" was marvelous, but have no clue about this [r]: B+(*)
- J.D. McPherson: Let the Good Times Roll (2015, New Rounder): Okie singer-songwriter, dresses his country impulses up as rockabilly [r]: B+(**)
- Gurf Morlix: Eatin' at Me (2015, Rootball): folksy singer-songwriter, songs pretty easy going -- this time, anyhow [r]: B+(**)
- Mr Twin Sister: Mr Twin Sister (2014, Twin Group/Infinite Best): electropop group, added "Mr" to name, presumably to suggest they've grown up -- less bubbly, more angst [r]: B-
- Pitbull: Globalization (2014, Polo Grounds/RCA): highly commercial party rap, no critical visibility, sales tanked too, crass but I get a charge off it [r]: B+(**)
- Denia Ridley & the Marc Devine Trio: Afterglow (2014 [2015], ITI Music): standards singer, front-loaded with Gershwin/Porter, ends on a blues note [cd]: B+(***)
- Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love (2015, Sub Pop): strategic comeback, 90+ metacritic scores; strikes me as their blandest, not most irritating [r]: B+(*)
- Jim Snidero: Main Street (2014 [2015], Savant): mainstream alto sax guy, but with a glorious tone and a rhythm section that mixes things up [cd]: A-
- Jazmine Sullivan: Reality Show (2015, RCA): grappling with success, or putting on a front, running the gamut from "Dumb" to "Stupid Girl" [r]: B+(***)
- Jamie T: Carry On the Grudge (2014, Virgin): transposes pop hooks with Clash power, not that I detect corresponding principles [r]: B+(**)
- Aki Takase/Ayumi Paul: Hotel Zauberberg (2014 [2015], Intakt): builds a magic mountain of piano-violin minimalism, then sneaks in Bach/Mozart [r]: B+(***)
- Katie Thiroux: Introducing Katie Thiroux (2014 [2015], BassKat): bassist-singer, superb standards, guitar and sax help out but bass ties it together [cd]: A-
- Paul Thorn: Too Blessed to Be Stressed (2014, Perpetual Obscurity): country singer-songwriter bemoans mediocrity, resigns himself to stray dogs and Jesus [r]: B+(**)
- Joanna Wallfisch with Dan Tepfer: The Origin of Adjustable Things (2014 [2015], Sunnyside): Brit singer-songwriter backed by piano only for intimate feel [cd]: B+(*)
Old records rated this week:
- Cornershop: Hold On It Hurts (1993, Merge): missed that first album, pop barely emerging from a punk cocoon, weird then, almost prophetic now [r]: B+(***)
Grade changes:
- Cornershop: Woman's Gotta Have It (1995, Warner Brothers): rechedked this, nearly as gnarly as the first and just a bit more of a missing link [r]: [was: B+] B+(***)
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Daniel Bennett Group: The Mystery at Crown Castle (Manhattan Daylight)
- Laura Dickinson: One for My Baby: To Frank Sinatra With Love (Blujazz)
- Paul Elwood: Nice Folks (Innova)
- Otzir Godot: In- (Epatto)
- Ross Hammond: Flight (Prescott): advance, April 14
- Tony Malaby/Mark Helias/Tom Rainey: The Signal Maker (Intakt): advance, March
- Nilson Matta: East Side Rio Drive (World Blue)
- Chris McNulty: Eternal (Palmetto): March 24
- John Raymond: Foreign Territory (Fresh Sound New Talent): advance, April 28
- Schlippenbach Trio: Features (Intakt): advance, March
- Bjørn Solli: Aglow: The Lyngør Project Vol. 1 (Lyngør): May 4
- Songsmith Collective (Blujazz)