#^d 2017-03-06
#^h Music Week
<table align="right" style="padding-left: 12px">
<tr><td><img src="/ocston/img/cds/beansontoast-rolling.jpg"></td></tr>
<tr><td><img src="/ocston/img/cds/chicagoedge-decaying.jpg"></td></tr>
<tr><td><img src="/ocston/img/cds/velkro-toolazy.jpg"></td></tr>
</table>

<p>Music: Current count 27862 [27834] rated (+28), 385 [391] unrated (-6).</p>

<p><a href="/ocston/arch/rhap/rh1702-1.php">Streamnotes (February 2017)</a>
came out last week, actually on March 1 (but I backdated it). March draft
file is open now, starting with 17 records listed below. At this point no
real direction as to what I'm covering: I picked off a few 2016 releases
that I hadn't bothered with before -- ones that got some attention from
the EOY lists. Highest rated album from my
<a href="/ocston/nm/notes/meta2016.php">EOY Aggregate List</a> I haven't
heard is Metallica's <i>Hardwired . . . to Self Destruct</i>, in 83rd.
Highest point in the list where there are three or more straight unrated
records starts at 230: Andy Stott, Wild Beasts, Woods, The Body, then
after one I've heard (Clipping) there's The Drones and Fat White Family.
Next cluster of 5+ I haven't heard starts at 291: Opeth, Roly Porter,
Ty Segall, St Paul &amp; the Broken Bones, Sunflower Bean, Suuns, Tedeschi
Trucks Band, Thrice, Wild Nothing, and Zayn.</p>
<p>Also checked out Christgau's
<a href="https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/expert-witness-with-robert-christgau-turn-to-eros">
picks last week</a>: Syd's <i>Fin</i> closes strong enough I could see
grading it up, but three or four plays didn't quite convince me, and I
didn't enjoy Nnamdi Ogbonnaya's <i>Drool</i> at all. I gave NxWorries'
<i>Yes Lawd!</i> the same grade months ago, but still haven't checked
out the John Legend album yet (fwiw, the only Legend album I have heard
is a B).</p>

<p>The old Ken Vandermark records I happened to notice on his
<a href="https://vandermark1.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp</a> page
as among the few I hadn't heard. A bit disappointed that the two
FME records only hinted at how good the band was on two records I
had previously rated A-: <i>Cuts</i> and <i>Underground</i>. I
need to check more closely for whatever I've missed (though my
<a href="/ocston/nm/get_gl.php?n=Ken+Vandermark">grade list</a>
seems pretty comprehensive).</p>

<p>Achieved a milestone of sorts in the Jazz Guide project: got up to
date with my Streamnotes reviews, copying the 20th century ones into
a book file which now measures 459 pages, and the later ones into a
long text file that I'll eventually fold into the 21st century book.
Next step on 20th century is to go through the database files and add
all the rated-but-unreviewed albums in as stubs. I knocked the first
(and probably shortest) of those files off today, for jazz artists
who first appeared before 1940. As with every step on this project,
it's been a slow slog.</p>

<p><hr class="brk"></p>

<p><b>New records rated this week:</b></p>

<ul>
<li><b>AMP Trio: <i>Three</i></b> (2016 [2017], self-released): [cd]: <b>B</b></li>
<li><b>Courtney Marie Andrews: <i>Honest Life</i></b> (2016, Mama Bird): [r]: <b>B+(*)</b></li>
<li><b>Beans on Toast: <i>Rolling Up the Hill</i></b> (2015, Xtra Mile): [r]: <b>A-</b></li>
<li><b>Beans on Toast: <i>A Spanner in the Works</i></b> (2016, Xtra Mile): [r]: <b>B+(**)</b>
<li><b>Gianni Bianchini: <i>Type I</i></b> (2016 [2017], self-released): [cd]: <b>B+(**)</b></li>
<li><b>Carlos Bica &amp; Azul: <i>More Than This</i></b> (2016 [2017], Clean Feed): [cd]: <b>B+(***)</b></li>
<li><b>Chicago Edge Ensemble: <i>Decaying Orbit</i></b> (2016 [2017], self-released): [cd]: <b>A-</b></li>
<li><b>Marc Ducret Trio+3: <i>Métatonal</i></b> (2014 [2015], Ayler): [bc]: <b>B+(**)</b></li>
<li><b>The Hotelier: <i>Goodness</i></b> (2016, Tiny Engines): [r]: <b>B+(*)</b></li>
<li><b>Sarah Jarosz: <i>Undercurrent</i></b> (2016, Sugar Hill): [r]: <b>B+(**)</b></li>
<li><b>Lisa Mezzacappa: <i>Avant Noir</i></b> (2015 [2017], Clean Feed): [cd]: <b>B+(**)</b></li>
<li><b>Nnamdi Ogbonnaya: <i>Drool</i></b> (2017, Father/Daughter/Sooper): [r]: <b>B-</b></li>
<li><b>Old 97's: <i>Graveyard Whistling</i></b> (2017, ATO): [r]: <b>B+(***)</b></li>
<li><b>Eivind Opsvik: <i>Overseas V</i></b> (2016 [2017], Loyal Label): [cd]: <b>B+(***)</b></li>
<li><b>Keith Oxman: <i>East of the Village</i></b> (2016 [2017], Capri): [cd]: <b>B+(**)</b></li>
<li><b>Noah Preminger: <i>Meditations on Freedom</i></b> (2016 [2017], self-released): [cd]: <b>B+(***)</b></li>
<li><b>The Reunion Project: <i>Veranda</i></b> (2016 [2017], Tapestry): [cd]: <b>B+(**)</b></li>
<li><b>Hiromi Suda: <i>Nagi</i></b> (2015 [2017], BluJazz): [cd]: <b>B+(*)</b></li>
<li><b>Syd: <i>Fin</i></b> (2017, Columbia): [r]: <b>B+(***)</b></li>
<li><b>Thee Oh Sees: <i>A Weird Exits</i></b> (2016, Castle Face): [yt]: <b>B+(*)</b></li>
<li><b>Keith Urban: <i>Ripcord</i></b> (2016, Capitol Nashville): [r]: <b>B</b></li>
<li><b>Velkro: <i>Too Lazy to Panic</i></b> (2016 [2017], Clean Feed): [cd]: <b>A-</b></li>
<li><b>Ryley Walker: <i>Golden Sings That Have Been Sung</i></b> (2016, Dead Oceans): [r]: <b>B+(*)</b></li>
</ul>

<p><b>Old music rated this week:</b></p>

<ul>
<li><b>Double Tandem [Ab Baars/Ken Vandermark/Paal Nilssen-Love]: <i>OX</i></b> (2012, dEN): [bc]: <b>B+(***)</b></li>
<li><b>FME: <i>Live at the Glenn Miller Café - Feb. 27, 2002</i></b> (2002, Okka Disk): [bc]: <b>B+(***)</b></li>
<li><b>FME: <i>Montage</i></b> (2005 [2006], Okka Disk, 2CD): [bc]: <b>B+(**)</b></li>
<li><b>Lean Left: <i>Live at Area Sismica</i></b> (2012 [2014], Unsounds): [bc]: <b>B+(***)</b></li>
</ul>

<p><hr class="brk"></p>

<p><b>Unpacking:</b> Found in the mail last week:</p>

<ul>
<li><b>Chicago/London Underground: <i>A Night Walking Through Mirrors</i></b> (Cuneiform): advance</li>
<li><b>MEM3: <i>Circles</i></b> (self-released): March 24</li>
<li><b>The Microscopic Septet: <i>Been Up So Long It Looks Like Down to Me: The Micros Play the Blues</i></b> (Cuneiform): advance</li>
<li><b>The Ed Palermo Big Band: <i>The Great Un-American Songbook: Volumes I &amp; II</i></b> (Cuneiform, 2CD): advance</li>
<li><b>Daniel Weltlinger: <i>Samoreau: A Tribute to the Fans of Django Reinhardt</i></b> (Rectify): March 31</li>
</ul>