Music Week

I added a new section to Monday's Music Week post.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, February archive (closed).

Tweet: Music Week: 49 albums, 3 A-list

Music: Current count 43749 [43700) rated (+49), 46 [44] unrated (+2).

New records reviewed this week:

• Ab-Soul: Soul Burger (2024, Top Dawg): [sp]: B+(***)
• Beatenberg: The Great Fire of Beatenberg (2024, Leafy Outlook): [sp]: B+(***)
• BigXthaPlug: Take Care (2024, United Masters): [sp]: B+(**)
• Fashion Club: A Love You Cannot Shake (2024, Felte): [sp]: B+(**)
• Foxing: Foxing (2024, Grand Paradise): [sp]: C+
• Friko: Where We've Been, Where We Go From Here (2024, ATO): [sp]: B+(*)
• David Gilmour: Luck and Strange (2024, Sony): [sp]: B
• Girl Ultra: Blush (2024, Big Dada, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
• Groovology: Almost Home (2024 [2025], Sugartown): [cd]: B
• Muriel Grossmann: The Light of the Mind (2024, RR Gems): [sp]: B+(***)
• Tim Heidecker: Slipping Away (2024, Bloodshot): [sp]: B
• Eugenie Jones: Eugenie (2024 [2025], Open Mic): [cd]: B+(**)
• Justice: Hyperdrama (2024, Ed Banger/Because Music): [sp]: B
• Jerry Kalaf: Safe Travels (2024, self-released): [cd]: B
• Kehlani: Crash (2024, Atlantic): [sp]: B+(**)
• Kehlani: While We Wait 2 (2024, Atlantic): [sp]: B+(**)
• Khruangbin: A La Sala (2024, Dead Oceans): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ravyn Lenae: Bird's Eye (2024, Atlantic): [sp]: B+(**)
• Los Campesinos!: All Hell (2024, Heart Swells): [sp]: B+(*)
• Nobro: Set Your Pussy Free (2023, Dine Alone): [sp]: A-
• Nobro: Live Your Truth Shred Some Gnar (2021 [2022], Dine Alone): [sp]: B+(**)
• Nobro: Sick Hustle (2020, Dine Alone, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
• NxWorries: Why Lawd? (2024, Stones Throw): [sp]: B+(***)
• Noel Okimoto: Hō'ihi (2024 [2025], Noel Okimoto Music): [cd]: B
• Pearl Jam: Dark Matter (2024, Republic): [sp]: B+(**)
• Benjie Porecki: All That Matters (2024 [2025], Funklove Productions): [cd]: B+(**)
• Shellac: To All Trains (2017-22 [2024], Touch and Go): [sp]: B+(*)
• Jae Sinnett: The Blur the Lines Project (2024 [2025], J-Nett Music): [cd]: B+(*)
• Steve Smith and Vital Information: New Perspective (2024 [2025], Drum Legacy): [cd]: B
• Dave Stryker: Stryker With Strings Goes to the Movies (2024 [2025], Strikezone): [cd]: B-
• Rose Tang & Patrick Golden: A White Horse Is Not a Horse (2024, ESP-Disk'): [cd]: B+(***)
• Leon Thomas: Mutt (2024, EZMNY/Motown): [sp]: B+(**)
• Richard Thompson: Ship to Shore (2024, New West): [sp]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Old music:

• Louis Armstrong: Satchmo Sings (1955, Decca): [sp]: A-
• Louis Armstrong: Louis and the Angels (1957 [2001], Verve): [sp]: B-
• Louis Armstrong: Satchmo Plays King Oliver (1959 [1960], Audio Fidelity): [r]: B+(***)
• Louis Armstrong & the All-Stars: Satchmo Plays King Oliver (1959 [2000], Fuel 2000/Varèse Sarabande): [sp]: B+(**)
• Louis Armstrong/Dukes of Dixieland: Louie and the Dukes of Dixieland (1960, Audio Fidelity): [r]: B
• Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington: The Great Summit: Complete Sessions (1961 [2000], Roulette, 2CD): [sp]: B+(**)
• Louis Armstrong: Let's Do It: Best of the Verve Years (1957-65 [1995], Verve, 2CD): [r]: B+(*)
• Louis Armstrong: Disney Songs the Satchmo Way (1968 [1996], Walt Disney): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Loves Cole (1972, Atlantic): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Dream Dancing: Ella Fitzgerald & Cole Porter (1972-78 [1978], Pablo): [sp]: A-
• Ella Fitzgerald/Joe Pass: Take Love Easy (1973 [1974], Pablo): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: "Fine and Mellow" (1974 [1979], Pablo): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1975 (1975 [1993], Pablo/OJC): [r]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald/Joe Pass: Fitzgerald and Pass . . . Again (1976, Pablo): [r]: B+(*)
• Ella Fitzgerald With the Tommy Flanagan Trio: Montreux '77 (1977 [1989], Pablo/OJC): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Lady Time (1978, Pablo): [sp]: B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Ludovica Bertone: Migration Tales (Endectomorph Music) [04-18]
• Frank Carlberg: Dream Machine (Red Piano) [02-21]
• Daniel Garbin: Rising (6x20) [03-10]
• Rodney Jordan: Memphis Blue (Baxter Music) [03-14]
• Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner: The Music of Anthony Braxton (Pi) [02-28]
• Tobias Meinhart: Sonic River (Sonic River) [04-18]
• Patricio Morales: La Tierra Canta (Northsound) [04-01]
• Isabelle Olivier: Impressions (Rewound Echoes) [03-21]
• Mitch Towne: Refuge (Cross Towne) [04-04]
• Simón Willson: Bet: Live at Ornithology (Endectomorph Music) [02-28]
• Jeong Lim Yang: Synchronicity (Sunnyside) [01-31]

Daily Log

Picked up a few more names to follow on Bluesky (starting with Robert Christgau's followees): Michael Hull, Kevin M. Kruse, Stephen Piccarella, Ann Powers, Joe Levy. Most of the other names I recognize, some I might consider following (Ari Berman, Carl Wilson, Craig Jenkins, Nona Willis Aronowitz, Will Hermes, Eric Weisbard). TPM might be worthwhile, as it's free advertising for them, unlike their paywalled website. I was at 6 following, with 12 followers. I haven't posted anything since the Music Week plug. Looking at Christgau's 2018 followers now. Added: Jeffrey D. Callahan, Scott Lemieux, Bret Saunders, Brad Luen, Michaelangelo Matos, Chris Monsen, Alfred Soto, Tom Lane, B. Burton. Most people in list don't have clearly identifiable names. The people I added are mostly music writers -- as are many of the people I recognized but skipped over, as I don't really want to load up on music right now.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, February archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 58 albums, 17 A-list

Music: Current count 43700 [43642) rated (+58), 44 [30] unrated (+14).

New records reviewed this week:

• Kasey Chambers: Backbone (2024, Metropolitan Groove Merchants/Essence Music Group): [sp]: B+(**)
• Jax: Dear Joe, (2024, Atlantic): [sp]: A-
• Ella Langley: Hungover (2024, Sawgod/Columbia): [sp]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Amadou & Mariam: La Vie Est Belle (1998-2022, Because Music): [sp]: A-

Old music:

• Amadou & Mariam: La Confusion (2017, Because Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Louis Armstrong: What a Wonderful World (1967 [1988], MCA): [r]: A-
• Louis Armstrong: Rhythm Saved the World [The Original Decca Recordings: Volume 1] (1935-36 [1991], Decca): [sp]: B+(***)
• Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra: Heart Full of Rhythm [The Original Decca Recordings: Volume 2] (1936-38 [1993], MCA): [sp]: A-
• Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra: Vol. III: Pocketful of Dreams (1935-38 [1995], Decca Jazz): [sp]: A-
• Louis Armstrong: The Complete Town Hall Concert 1947 (1947 [2004], Fresh Sound): [r]: A-
• Louis Armstrong: The Best Live Concert (1965 [1976], Disques Festival): [sp]: A-
• Louis Armstrong: The Best Live Concert Vol. 1 [Jazz in Paris] (1965 [2000], EmArcy/Gitanes Jazz): [sp]: B+(***)
• Louis Armstrong: The Best Live Concert Vol. 2 [Jazz in Paris] (1965 [2000], EmArcy/Gitanes Jazz): [sp]: B+(***)
• Louis Armstrong and Friends [Jazz in Paris] (1933-39 [2001], Gitanes Jazz/EmArcy): [sp]: B+(***)
• Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (1925-29 [2000], Columbia/Legacy, 4CD): [sp]: A
• Louis Armstrong: The Best of the Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (1926-28 [2000], Columbia/Legacy): [sp]: A
• Digonek Street Band: Primal Economics (2018, Accurate): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong: Ella & Louis (1956-57 [2021], Ober Enterprises/20th Century Masterworks): [sp]: A-
• Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong: The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve (1956-57 [1997], Verve, 3CD):
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (1956 [1997], Verve, 2CD): [cd]: A-
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book (1956 [1997], Verve, 2CD): [cd]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald With Duke Ellington and His Orchestra: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book (1957 [1999], Verve, 3CD): [cd]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book (1958 [2000], Verve, 2CD): [cd]: A-
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Books (1959 [1998], Verve, 4CD): [cd]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: The Very Best of the Gershwin Song Book (1959 [2007], Verve): [sp]: A-
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book (1960-61 [1993], Verve, 2CD): [cd]: A
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book (1963 [2005], Verve): [cd]: [was: B+] B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book (1964 [1997], Verve): [cd]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Like Someone in Love (1957, Verve): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald at the Opera House (1957 [1986], Verve): [sp]: A-
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert (1958 [1988], Verve): [sp]: A-
• Ella Fitzgerald: Get Happy! (1957-59 [1989], Verve): [sp]: A-
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald Sings Sweet Songs for Swingers (1958-59 [1959], Verve): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Hello, Love (1957-59 [2004], Verve): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas (1959-60 [2002], Verve): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie (1961 [1989], Verve): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Swings Gently With Nelson (1961-62 [1993], Verve): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Rhythm Is Our Business (1962 [1999], Verve): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Sings Broadway (1962 [2001], Verve): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald/Count Basie: Ella and Basie! (1963 [1997], Verve): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: These Are the Blues (1963, Verve): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Hello, Dolly! (1963 [2005], Verve): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella in Japan: 'S Wonderful (1964 [2011], Verve, 2CD): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Whisper Not (1966 [2002], Verve): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Brighten the Corner (1967, Capitol): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas (1967, Capitol): [r]: B-
• Ella Fitzgerald: Misty Blue (1967 [1968], Capitol): [sp]: B
• Ella Fitzgerald: 30 by Ella (1968 [2000], Capitol): [sp]: B+(*)
• ELla Fitzgerald: Sunshine of Your Love (1968 [1969], MPS): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella (1969, Reprise): [sp]: B+(*)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Things Ain't What They Used to Be (And You Better Believe It) (1969 [1970], Reprise): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald in Budapest (1970 [1999], Pablo): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella à Nice (1971 [1982], Pablo): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald/Count Basie/Oscar Peterson/Stan Getz/Roy Eldridge/Eddie Lockjaw Davis/Ray Brown/Harry Edison/Al Grey/Tommy Flanagan/Ed Thigpen/Keeter Betts: Jazz at the Santa Monica Civic '72 (1972 [1991], Pablo, 3CD): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Fitzgerald: Live in London (1974, Pablo): [sp]: B+(**)
• Greta Keller: Greta Keller Sings Kurt Weill (1953, Atlantic): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ella Mae Morse: Capitol Collectors Series (1942-57 [1992], Capitol): [sp]: B+(**)
• Bobby Vee: Legendary Masters (1959-68 [1973], United Artists): [r]: B

Grade (or other) changes:

• The Brill Building Sound (1957-67 [19993], ERA, 4CD): [cd]: [was: A-]: A
• Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 91965-68 [1998], Rhino, 4CD): [cd]: [was: B+]: B+(***)

Rechecked with no grade change:

• Swamp Dogg: Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th St (2024, Oh Boy): [sp]: B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Steve Allee Big Band: Naptown Sound (Jazzville) [03-15]
• Deepstaria Enigmatica: The Eternal Now Is the Heart of a New Tomorrow (ESP-Disk) [02-25]
• Sylvie Courvoisier/Mary Halvorson: Bone Bells (Pyroclastic) [03-25]
• Ensemble C: Every Journey (Adhyâropa) [03-08]
• Jonah David: Waltz for Eli (Swish Tap) [02-28]
• Satoko Fujii Tokyo Trio: Dream a Dream (Libra) [02-28]
• The Haas Company Featuring Samuel Hällkvist: Vol. 3: Song for Mimi (Psychiatric) [05-01]
• Jon Irabagon: Server Farm (Irabbagast) [02-21]
• Ben Markley: Tell the Truth (OA2) [02-28]
• Gina Saputo: Daydream (GSJQ Productions) [04-18]
• Jim Snidero: Bird Feathers (Savant) [02-21]
• Rose Tang & Patrick Golden: A White Horse Is Not a Horse (ESP-Disk') [12-20]
• Rodney Whitaker: Mosaic: The Music of Gregg Hill (Origin) [02-28]
• Clay Wulbrecht: The Clockmaster (Instru Dash Mental) [05-02]

Daily Log

On X, Nathan Robinson Christopher Rufo, saying:

The libs truly do not know what's coming. It's imperative that Trump, Musk, and the administration keep up the relentless pace. Every action creates permission for greater action in the future.

I commented:

Two big differences between FDR and Dems today is that the former named enemies and insisted on acting fast. FDR saved banking in a week. 100 days is a cliche because his were real. ACA only appeared after allt he lobbies signed off, and didn't take effect for 3 years . . .

Obviously, I could have gone way past their character limit. Next up was going to be Rove's "we're an empire, and when we act" boast, deprecating the "reality-based" community. We ridiculed him at the time, but now we're finally seeing his game plan in action.

Before I made that comment, I also posted:

FYI, I've been blocked from Facebook, and they've vowed to permanently delete my account. I don't know why, but I hadn't posted anything other than a matter-of-fact comment on server shopping in over a week. It did, however, happen right after I opened a blue sky account.

I was jumpy enough I didn't dare link to the Bluesky account. I also made a comment on the next tweet I saw, by Pelham:

Can someone explain why Adolf Hitler who tried to ethnically cleanse an entire population was a bad guy.... and Netanyahu/Trump who try to ethnically cleanse an entire population are good guys?

My comment:

Who says they're "good guys"? They don't. They've spent all their careers trying to prove how bad they are. That's a big part of their appeal. They see themselves as different from Hitler, because Hitler failed and led to ruin, but they haven't done that yet, so they're cool.

Ran out of characters at the end, as I was originally thinking, "so they're still good. Er, bad!" That particular post already had 2K replies, so I didn't look at any of them.

Further down the X rathole, there's a link to a Wall St. Journal articlle by Sadanand Dhume [02-12] called "If Indians and Pakistanis Can Relocate, Why Can't Gazans?" Subtitle: "Population transfers aren't a Trump innovation. There are plenty of examples from the 20th century." I mean sure, mostly involving Hitler, Stalin, or Churchill, with a secondary tier of Mao, Enver, and Ben-Gurion. That's pretty rarefied company for Trump to aspire for. Granted, the partition and subsequent wars in India, Ireland, and Palestine occurred after Churchill left office, but he did more than anyone to set the tables. Among 20th century monsters, he clearly belongs in the top tier. Further down the feed, Rick Perlstein commented on Dhume's article (making an obvious point):

American right-wingers will probe and probe the boundaries of the possible, and if you dont' think they'll arrive soon at Nazi territory, you are naive.

Alan MacLeod also commented (making another obvious point) on Dhume's article:

More than 1 million people were killed in the India/Pakistan partition this ghoul is holding up as a model for Gaza.

MacLeod also linked to a piece he wrote [02-10]: The Pentagon is recruiting Elon Musk to help them win a nuclear war.

Nathan J Robinson asks: "is the Trump administration really going with 'if the government declares something to be a fact, then it thereby becomes a fact'"? Of course they are. They've proven that all it takes to spout a "truth" is an account on Trump's "Truth Social." Pretty soon he's going to start suing anyone who disagrees with him of violating his intellectual property.

Tweet from Jesse Brenneman:

America is finally being run like a business: a business acquired by private equity that's being stripped for parts before being liquidated.

Daily Log

Got up this morning with a brainstorm of worries over the server change: nothing with the new server, but wondering what kind of havoc the old server might still wreak. For instance, is it still sending out admin emails? And what will I have to do to stop payment if/when they bill me for another month? I received notice a few days back that they'd bill me on Feb. 13. They offered a phone number to update information, an email address to write to, and a web page which has a contact form. I used all three of those to tell them that we're done, and not to bill me anymore. The phone number went to an answering machine. The email bounced (as did letters to two other previously functional accounts. The web form accepted my input, but didn't echo or confirm it (evne though I provided an email address). So they're hiding. Not a good sign.

When I got up, I hadn't received notice that they had billed me. Twelve hours later, still no notice, so they seem to have gotten the message and honored it. No courtesy of an email, but that's ok. First thing I did this morning was to delete all of my old server admin email -- several thousand messages I never got around to reading, not least because there was damn little I could do about them without any support from the vendor or from cPanel. I hadn't had Thunderbird running the last couple days, so the latest message it picked up was a couple days ago, When I ran it, there were no new ones. (Usually, when I restart it there are a couple hundred messages to download.) Hours later, still no new email. I sent test messages to my two POP accounts, and Thunderbird fetched them both, so the accounts have migrated to the new server. At this point, I'm not receiving any WHM email, which probably means that it's being directed to the mailbox on the new server. I need to look into that, but for today at least, I'm enjoying the peace and quiet. Everything appears to be working on the server, and while I haven't looked at much there, I haven't received any complaints from my clients.

One thing I have thought about doing is to create a Bluesky account. I took initial steps to doing that tonight. I have 0 followers, 1 following (@bsky.app), and 2 posts. I opened up a subscriptions planning file, which has details, as well as comments on other social media. While their suggestions weren't very useful, I did manage to add a couple names to follow (Robert Christgau, Astra Taylor), so I'm getting some stuff in my feed.

I also got my Facebook account blocked, about as rudely as possible. It complained about violating their social standards -- which I figured don't amount to much now that they've restored Trump -- but didn't explain what or how. The threat not only blocked me: it went further and promised to delete my account after a short period. When I clicked to appeal my execution, the only thing they wanted from me was for me to turn my camera on so they could look at me (or my office or what books I have on my shelf?). There wasn't even an option to explain that I don't have a camera. Finally, I went to another machine, logged in, and got the same block message. I uploaded a video, which they can now take days or weeks to review. They did allow me to download my data, so I did that.

Daily Log

I posted this to Facebook's Expert Witness group:

No Music Week today, or probably this week, or maybe forever if I can't figure out this server mess. I did manage to send off 10-12 letters last week looking for proposals, but each of them came back raising various doubts. So until I settle on something, or just give up and pull the plug, everything else is on hold. Anyhow, I have nothing to report: I haven't listened to a single piece of new music this past week -- although I have been killing time with old music from Louis Armstrong and/or Ella Fitzgerald. here's Armstrong's "hillbilly number" (a standout in what's probably his best album): YouTube link to "Don't Fence Me In," from The California Concerts.

I also added a comment:

Of course, we all know that the "hillbilly" was actually Cole Porter, and that eh song was a huge hit for Armstrong's "fishing buddy" Bing Crosby. And being a Porter song, it also got more reverential treatment from Ella Fitzgerald: YouTube link to version in The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books.

Daily Log

Note to self: revisit Hobsbawm pp. 306-308.

Daily Log

Woke up thinking about the "weird" book, coming up with some general principles that I wanted to jot down while they were fresh in mind:

• Start from several assumptions that are merely asserted, as they would take a different book to argue fully. The first is that the Trump election of 2024 was a disaster, and will eventually be recognized as such. Trump is a fraud, but that is only one aspect of his more general horribleness (perhaps not the choice word, but one that will do for here; criminality is broader than fraud, but still doesn't exhaust his full range of horribleness). Aspects of his horribleness will of course be mentioned, but we will assume that our readers are people who already hate (another less than choice word for a range of emotions and intuitions that include disgust, disturb, enrage, ridicule, and befuddle) Trump and/or all he stands for, so they need no persuasion. (People who do need a different book, and someone should write one, but that would be a distraction and disservice here.)

• We need to define conservative and liberal not as political philosophies -- something they are arbitrarily incompetent at -- but as psychological profiles, which we all share in various ways and degrees. While we're at it, let's dispose of "progressive" as an ill-considered attempt to rebrand liberal. One might note that conservatism as proven far more durable as it's always willing to adapt to support whoever's on top, be they monarchs, aristocrats, slave plantation owners, factory owners, or financiers and their spiritual kin, grifters. Liberals, on the other hand, get tripped up by their insistence on timeless principles, especially their reluctance to extend their benefits to others.

• For political movements, the best terms seem to be the relatively value-neutral left and right. The left seeks to extend the benefits of political action to everyone. The best word for the political structure the left seeks is democracy. The right, on the other hand, seeks to limit political benefits to its own beneficiaries, starting with its donor class of the super-rich, and to keep everyone else under control, by ideological means (including religion) if possible, but failing that with force. As such, the right seeks to seize and consolidate power. While the right can imagine its foes plotting the same, the left more generally seeks to counteract and dissolve power. (Examples can follow here.)

• While the left may see democracy as a timeless (and utopian) ideal, there is no single timeless term for what the right seeks. While they may idealize a single omnipotent ruler -- think of how they think of God, or such lesser approximations as kings and/or dictators (where Hitler unavoidably holds pride of place) -- we need to find a word that conveys how they conceive of their rule: autocracy, plutocracy, oligarchy, kleptocracy, and kakistocracy all get to some part of this without quite being right. I'm not sure that any of these are better than fascism, although one of the initial points of the book is that we should dispense with the term because it's confusing and distracting beyond the few people -- mostly on our side, plus a tiny sliver on the other side who are beyond redemption -- who actually understand it.

Daily Log

Finally getting around to writing some letters to possible Reseller Hosting vendors. Initial candidates are listed below. Replies are collected here:

• Asura: Submitted sales ticket.
• Entirely Digital/OLM: No email address available. I used their ticket system to contact their sales department.
• Fast Comet: Sent email, but I have doubts, especially about pricing.
• GlowHost: Email available, but instead submitted support ticket, as they promised both tech and sales review.
• Green Geeks: Mail sent.
• InterServer: Questions: support, migration, cPanel, email. Sent email.
• IonBlade: Email sent.
• a href="https://www.namecheap.com/hosting/reseller/"> Namecheap: Mail sent.
• No Frills: Mail sent.
• ScalaHosting: Lots of questions added in PS. Sent email.
• 20i: Sent message in form.

• HostArmada: Sent email.
• SkyNet Hosting: Sent message in sales ticket form.
• 20i: Sent message in form.
• UltaHost: Email address hidden, form doesn't work.
• Stablepoint: Pricing looks dubious. Offers support tickets, but only chat with sales.
• B3 Clouds: Sent using sales queries form. Offers support email address, but not sales.

Daily Log

Robert Christgau's Dean's List came out yesterday. I split it into separate essay and list files, as I've been doing since I organized the Pazz & Jop section of his website. I looked at the Expert Witness group discussion of the list, and noticed David Everall asking "Does everyone share his enthusiasm for the Louis Armstrong album?" I wrote a fairly answer:

Armstrong struggled for several years before his death. He played no trumpet on his last couple albums, and the few available live shots are weak and failing. The latest live album I had at A- was "Sparks" (1964). "Fleischmann's" has some later takes, but also much earlier material (back to 1937), and I have it as a high B+. His classic live sets are from the 1950s, the very best being "The California Concerts" (1951-55), which I think Bob has mentioned but hasn't reviewed. So I was prepared to pan "Live in London," but it sounded pretty good, and after several plays I gave it a very solid A-. Two things especially impressed me: he sounds very settled, almost serene, both in voice and trumpet, staying safely within his limits but still indubitably his unique self; and for the first time, he incorporates his iconic 60s hits into his live set, so you get a sense of him capping his whole career. I don't know what in this makes it the record of the year, but it a very good, and most welcome, addition to his discography. (Since Bob counted his 20, I'll point out that you can look up my list, which after you weed out the mostly redundant black lines comes to 61.) But I will point out that I like it more than I do his 2-5 picks (and that his 6 was my number 1 non-jazz in 2023, a belated promotion after he first pushed another and then a third Buck 65 2023 release ahead of it; also that I have his 7-11 at A-, and "Kampire" clearly ranked higher in my separated-out old music list; also his 12-20 has my top 2024 album -- which like "B-Boy" I settled on in 3-4 plays at the time and haven't played since -- plus 5 more A-, and 3 lesser "not for me" but still good albums).

The 2-5 picks are: Wussy [***], Phelimuncasi & Metal Preyers [low A-], Adrianne Lenker [***], and Eminem [**]. The 7-11 picks, all A-, are Tucker Zimmerman, Kampire Presents: A Dancefloor in Ndola, Chappell Roan, Previous Industries, Charli XCX (although two of those [Roan, XCX] only after regrades. From 12-20: Heems/Lapgan (19) is my top non-jazz pick, with Unholy Modal Rounders (20) also an A (on the archival list); A- for Buck 65/Doseone (another upgrade), Fake Fruit, Billie Eilish, Jason Moran (so 4, not 5); below that: Doechii [***], Beyoncé [**], Rosie Tucker [***]. By the way, I've revisited 4 (of 6) B+ records -- Wussy was too recent to raise any doubts in my mind, and I only played Tucker after the CG, which rated this record before her previous one (or "their," since I've been informed she's one of "those").

This list does make me think that Bob should change up his style, possibly reverting all the way to his 1969-71 CG style, where he made snap judgments and just blurted out whatever was on his mind, or even nothing but a grade, and possibly throw in some ACN with occasional thoughts on oldies he's played, rip-off boxes, whatever else might generate a bit of enthusiasm (or terror or despair, as there's no shortage of that abouts).

Personally, I really loved the real early stuff, before he even had the idea of turning capsule reviews into an art form. (For much the same reason, I loved Paul Williams' Outlaw Blues, where he had no pretensions of anything beyond his own immediate reaction to music he found genuinely exciting.) Granted, he got really good at it, but the standards he set for himself are getting in the way of being actually useful. I've heard complaints about quality, but he's still coming out with very interesting finds and takes. The more obvious problem is declining quantity and responsiveness. Why couldn't he deliver a review on a Jason Isbell that even I liked within a month of its release? (Weathervanes, released 2023-06-09, reviewed by me 2023-06-26, and I was inhibited there because I always grade Isbell a notch or two below Bob; he didn't deliver his A- until 2024-06-12, literally a year after its release, so now it appears in his 2024 Dean's List, not in 2023 when everyone else knew about it.) Why admit that Hurray for the Riff Raff "sounds like an A" a year after its release (2024-02-24) but not slot it in a Dean's List that is his shortest since the 1970s? (This year's list has 74 albums, but 22 are 2023 or earlier, so 52 from 2024. Looking at the CG Stats page -- which is easier than looking at the actual Dean's Lists, and close enough for now -- he already had 60 A-/A/A+ albums in 1970, 55 in 1971, 59 in 1972, 52 in 1973, 53 in 1974, 46 in 1975, 50 in 1976, 58 in 1977, 67 in 1978, 62 in 1979; in the 1980s he average over 70, which shot up further with the A-list format in the 1990s, but the total number of albums reviewed dropped sharply after 2009 (from an average of 450 to 250 for 2010-12, and a slow decline after that, to 152/138/154/147 for 2020-23).

By the way, the 2024 CG Stats line (which I can see but you can't until I update the database): 14 A, 37 A-, 10 B+, 13 ***, 13 **, 5 *, total 92. This is down 37.4% from 2023: 29 A, 54 A-, 13 B+, 23 ***, 18 **, 9 *. The actual decline isn't nearly this steep: if I throw out all of the 2023 releases with 2024 review dates, 147 drops to 105. If he plays the same amount of catch up in 2025, the 2024 figure of 92 will rise to 134. He actually wrote 153 reviews in 2024, which is down from 167 in 2023.

Looking at the actual Dean's Lists shows them capped at 30 through 1979, up to 40 in 1979-80, then 60 in 1981, after which it becomes variable: 59, 70, 50, 49 (+5 "pending"), 58 (+4 +5 jazz), 55, 60, 58, 67, 62, 59, 64, 60, 71, 64, 78, 82, 82, 84 (2000, which included 6 '99 releases -- something he's done at least since 1983, just never this extensively before).

From the comments: Iris Demento:

More than ever before though, and he says this upfront: he doesn't know who much of the fork list is, and the hustle of Finding the Good Music seems like something he's losing energy and patience for. And you can make the case that almost no one else his age is even looking as far as doechii and GNX (Thank fucking god for Ren's demotion btw.) but does he even know the ice spice or the sheer mag existed? And those are people he's A-listed!

Also this:

Iris Demento: my sincere belief is that as he faces mortality, fascism, the collision of the two, that the grades at this point - really since he insisted Mount eerie was just an A but still higher on his decade list than tribe which he insisted was still an A+ - are "you get the gist"

Christian Iszchak: Also this from his response to a comment re Charli: "It is of course totally possible that I'll change my mind again. None of this stuff is written in stone and shouldn't be. You just honestly observe and register your own responses and draw you own conclusions as best you can."

Iris Demento: Christian a sane response from virtually anyone but the person whose GREATEST GIFT IS WAITING UNTIL HE KNOWS WHAT HE THINKS or whatever he's been peddling for the last 65 years

Music Week

Expanded blog post, February archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 31 albums, 1+3 A-list

Music: Current count 43642 [43611) rated (+31), 30 [30] unrated (+0).

New records reviewed this week:

• _thesmoothcat & Wino Willy: Ready, Set (2024, Sinking City): [bc]: B+(*)
• Being Dead: Eels (2024, Bayonet): [sp]: B-
• Kimmi Bitter: Old School (2024, self-released): [sp]: B+(**)
• Body Count: Merciless (2024, Century Media): [sp]: B+(***)
• Kaitlin Butts: Roadrunner! (2024, Soundly Music): [sp]: B+(*)
• Luke Combs: Fathers & Sons (2024, Columbia Nashville): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ernest: Nashville, Tennessee (2024, Big Loud): [sp]: B+(**)
• Jake Xerxes Fussell: When I'm Called (2024, Fat Possum): [sp]: B+(**)
• Homeboy Sandman: Nor Can These Be Sold (At Least by Me) (2024, self-released): [bc]: B+(**)
• Ale Hop & Titi Bakorta: Mapambazuko (2025, Nyege Nyege Tapes): [sp]: B+(***)
• Inert: 2Inert (2024, self-released): [sp]: B+(**)
• Sarah Jarosz: Polaroid Lovers (2024, Rounder): [sp]: B+(**)
• Cody Jinks: Cody Jinks Sings Lefty Frizzell (2024, Late August): [sp]: B+(*)
• Merce Lemon: Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild (2024, Darling): [sp]: B+(*)
• Post Malone: F-1 Trillion (2024, Mercury/Republic): [sp]: B
• MC Lyte: 1 of 1 (2024, Sunni Gyrl/My Block/Vydia): [sp]: B+(**)
• Scotty McCreery: Rise & Fall (2024, Triple Tigers): [sp]: B+(*)
• Lizzie No: Halfsies (2024, Miss Freedomland/Thirty Tigers): [sp]: B+(**)
• Joy Oladokun: Observatiosn From a Crowded Room (2024, Amigo): [sp]: B+(***)
• PyPy: Sacred Times (2024, Goner): [sp]: B+(***)
• Red Clay Strays: Made by These Moments (2024, RCA): [sp]: B
• Reyna Tropical: Malegría (2024, Psychic Hotline): [sp]: B+(***)
• Chase Rice: Go Down Singin' (2024, Broken Bow): [sp]: B+(***)
• Serengeti: Palookaville (2024, CC King): [sp]: A-
• Brittney Spencer: My Stupid Life (2024, Elektra): [sp]: B+(**)
• St. Lenox: Ten Modern American Work Songs (2024, Don Giovanni/Anyway): [sp]: B+(***)
• Billy Strings: Highway Prayers (2024, Reprise): [sp]: B+(*)
• Jesse Terry: Arcadia (2024, Wander): [sp]: B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Homeboy Sandman: Rich 2.5 (2023-24 [2025], self-released): [sp]: B+(***)
• My Black Country: The Songs of Alice Randall (2024, Oh Boy): [sp]: B+(***)
• Super Disco Pirata: De Tepito Para El Mundo 1965-1980 (1965-80 [2024], Analog Africa): [sp]: B+(***)

Old music:

• None

Grade (or other) changes:

• Loud, Fast & Out of Control: The Wild Sounds of '50s Rock (1951-59 [1999], Rhino, 4CD): [cd]: [was: B+]: A
• Corb Lund: El Viejo (2024, New West): [sp]: [was: B+(***)]: A-

Megan Moroney: Am I Okay? (2024, Columbia Nashville): [sp]: [was: B+(***)]: A-

Unpacking: Two packages, still unopened.

Daily Log

Nathan J Robinson tweet [02-02]:

My biggest worry was that Trump would be popular, because he would have learned lessons from the first term. I forgot that Trump has the brain of a goldfish and learns nothing. Looks like his presidency will be a calamity. Now my big worry is that there is no credible opposition.

Daily Log

Benjamin Balthasar tweet [02-01]:

Democrats are takign the path of Starmer's Labour: crush yr left wing base, offer nothing substantive, and wait obediently for the GOP to wreck the country so - as the only alternative - they can pick up the scraps in a country that no longer expects anything from government

Tweet tries (but is foiled by X) to link to Doug Sosnik: [01-31] Trump Is Already Failing. That's the Key to a Big Democratic Rebound. Article notes: "Doug Sosnik was a senior adviser to President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 2000 and has alao advised governors and U.S. senators."

Jan 2025

Mar 2025