Loose Tabs

See blog post.

Daily Log

Looked at Facebook today, and was struck by how many friends from the "Contacts" list have died: Kathy Hull, Elsie Pyeatt, Mary McDonough Harren, Jane Silver, Sonia Mayrath, James Lynch, Bill Xcix Phillips. Of the 17 names in the list (algorithmically, I presume, selected from my master list of 119 "friends"), 14 really are/were friends, one is a person I've met a couple times (Phyllis Bennis), two others are people I've corresponded with but never met (John Litweiler and Richard Cobeen, the latter as best I recall also deceased). I've tried to keep the "friends" definition pretty literal, although it looks like about 25-30% of my 119 are people I've never met, but know only through email. (I've ignored nearly all friend requests from musicians, and I haven't tried to use my friends list as a way of promoting my writing, so the reader/fans I added early on are exceptions and not a general rule.) Scanning through my list of 119, I see more dead people: David Schweitzer, Jack Williams, Fred Fleron, Alice Powell, Elizabeth Fink. Sometimes I wonder whether I should trim my "friends" list, but those would be painful cuts.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, April archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 37 albums, 5 A-list

Music: Current count 44107 [44070) rated (+37), 25 [24] unrated (+1).

Last Monday I could anticipate, and to some extent dread, a full schedule of forthcoming events. We did finally get some help with the yard, and got quite a lot done, not that much feels finished. I saw my eye doctor, who seemed much more pleased with the surgery results than I am. I can drive without glasses for the first time ever, and driving at night is much improved. I still have a bit of astigmatism, so he wrote me a new prescription which he says will be "amazing," but I haven't filled it yet. For reading and computer he suggested I try over-the-counter "readers," which I already had, but so far they aren't much help. The computer distance is by far my worst case now, and it remains very frustrating -- not so much when I'm just typing words in, as I'm doing now, as when I need to read and copy information. That especially impacts time-wasting activities like listmaking and blogging, which it what I tend to do when I can't figure out what else to do.

There was a very nice memorial service for Francis Davis on Friday, which we were able to follow on Zoom. One of the speakers there was Allen Lowe, who later posted this on Facebook. He starts with "I'm not going to say much here," then goes on for seven paragraphs. [PS: Also on Substack: A Tribute to Francis Davis.] I've also just seen this screed on Facebook. I'm not finding this particular one on his Substack, but I am finding this (knocking Phil Freeman for his "Trumpian approach to music writing" -- whatever that's supposed to mean) and this (disparaging most other critics, except for a list of eight, at least two departed, and three I've never heard of). I've subscribed, unpaid, which I understand means I'll only get to read every other post. His pieces are so scattershot that's probably just as well.

I'm sitting on an invitation to write something of my own re Davis, but for now am beset by more than the usual FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt, an acronym I heard a lot in business management circles). One thing I have noted is the extraordinary consistency among the various obits I've read. I don't disagree with anything I've read, but I've been trying to figure out if I have anything more to add, and thus far I don't have much. One thing for sure is that I have very little to contribute in terms of personal anecdotes. We've had a long relationship, but it's mostly been focused on poll business, so if/when I do start writing, it's likely to be more on what the poll does, how it works, and why we value it.

I got one question about whether I'd be taking over the poll. The obvious answer is that I already did that, a couple years ago, when Francis became too ill to keep it going. The question now is whether we continue it, and the answer there seems to be yes, at least for now. I've been wanting to do some website work, but like so many of my projects, that's just been hanging in limbo.

I won't go into the long list of things I should work on this week, but for now I'll just note that I have enough pent-up Loose Tabs for a post. Further out is another Books post, which is probably good because I haven't updated the index for the previous one yet. In terms of indexing drudgery, I'll note that I did manage to add February to the 2025 Streamnotes index, but with the closing of the April 2025 file, I'm still two months behind.

I should note the death of David Thomas, of Pere Ubu. Of all of the late-1970s punk-era bands, they were the one I felt closest to, and the loss of Thomas seems to be affecting me most personally. Still, I haven't started replaying records yet, although that may well happen next week. (My most played record this past week was Have Moicy!, although I didn't start with it until a week or two after Michael Hurley's death.) One thing I could see myself indulging in is Pere Ubu's Bandcamp, which has several dozen bootleg show tapes. Any suggestions of where to start?

I don't have much to add on this week's music, other than to note that the 1970s Strata-East catalog is being reissued, and I expect to look much deeper into it. I also wound up looking at Craft's reissues from the Prestige/Bluesville catalog, which in one case led me back to an old Yazoo collection I had missed. I should look deeper into both of those catalogs.

New records reviewed this week:

• Archer: Sudden Dusk (2024 [2025], Aerophonic): [cd]: A-
• Charlie Ballantine: East by Midwest (2024 [2025], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
• Ludovica Bertone: Migration Tales (2023 [2025], Endectomorph Music): [cd]: B+(***)
• Blockhead: It's Only a Midlife Crisis if Your Life Is Mid (2025, Future Archive): [sp]: B+(**)
• Marilyn Crispell/Thommy Andersson/Michala Østergaard-Nilsen: The Cave (2022 [2025], ILK Music): [sp]: B+(*)
• Korham Futaci: Heavyweight Rehearsal Tapes (2024 [2025], PUMA): [sp]: A-
• Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson: What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow (2025, Nonesuch): [sp]: B+(***)
• Ghais Guevara: Goyard Ibn Said (2025, Fat Possum): [sp]: B+(***)
• Phil Haynes/Ben Monder: Transition[s] (2024 [2025], Corner Store Jazz): [cd]: B
• Phil Haynes: Return to Electric (2023 [2025], Corner Store Jazz): [cd]: B+(**)
• Daniel Herskedal: Movements of Air (2024 [2025], Edition): [sp]: B
• Hiromi's Sonicwonder: Out There (2025, Telarc): [sp]: B
• Larry June, 2 Chainz & The Alchemist: Life Is Beautiful (2025, The Freeminded/ALC/Empire): [sp]: B+(**)
• Nancy Kelly: Be Cool (2024 [2025], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
• Alison Krauss & Union Station: Arcadia (2025, Down the Road): [sp]: B+(**)
• Medler Sextet: River Paths (2024 [2025], OA2): [cd]: B+(**)
• Tobias Meinhart: Sonic River (2024 [2025], Sonic River): [cd]: B+(**)
• Leszek Możdżer/Lars Danielsson/Zohar Fresco: Beamo (2023 [2025], ACT Music): [sp]: B+(*)
• Napoleon Da Legend & Giallo Point: F.L.A.W. (2025, Legendary): [sp]: B+(***)
• Arturo O'Farrill/The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra: Mundoagua: Celebrating Carla Bley (2022 [2025], Zoho): [sp]: B+(***)
• Alberto Pinton's Relentless: Allt Större Klarhet (2024 [2025], Moserobie): [cd]: B+(***)
• Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness: Sextet (2024 [2025], Reva): [cd]: B+(**)
• Private Property: Private Property (2025, Kraakeslottet Platekompagni): [bc]: B+(***)
• Michael Sarian: Esquina (2024 [2025], Greenleaf Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Ray Suhy/Lewis Porter Quartet: What Happens Next (2023 [2025], Sunnyside): [sp]: B+(*)
• Unity Quartet [Helio Alves/Guilherme Monteiro/Gili Lopes/Alex Kautz]: Samba of Sorts (2022 [2025], Sunnyside): [cd]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Scrapper Blackwell: Mr. Scrapper's Blues (1962 [2025], Craft): [sp]: A-
• Blind Gary Davis: Harlem Street Singer (1960 [2024], Craft): [sp]: A
• Vince Guaraldi Trio: Jazz Impressions of a Boy Named Charlie Brown (1964 [2025], Craft, 2CD): [bc]: B+(**)
• Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver/Stanley Cowell/Cecil McBee/Jimmy Hopps]: Music Inc. (1970 [2025], Strata-East): [sp]: B+(**)
• Music Inc. [Charles Tolliver/Stanley Cowell/Cecil McBee/Jimmy Hopps]: Live at Sluggs' Volume I & II (1970 [2025], Strata-East): [sp]: B+(***)
• The Soul and Songs of Curtis Mayfield: The Spirit of Chicago (1958-64 [2024], Craft): [bc]: B+(**)

Old music:

• Scrapper Blackwell: The Virtuoso Guitar of Scrapper Blackwell (1925-34 [1991], Yazoo): [sp]: A-
• Dean & Britta: L'Avventura (2003, Jet Set): [sp]: B+(**)
• Dean & Britta: Back Numbers (2007, Rounder): [sp]: B+(*)
• Dean & Britta: A Peace of Us (2024, Carpark): [sp]: B+(*)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Jon Gold: Chasing Echos (Entropic) [04-28]
• Joel Harrison: Guitar Talk Vol. 2: Classical Duos (AGS) [04-18]
• KnCurrent: KnCurrent (Deep Dish) [05-01]
• Le Vice Anglais: Vas-y (4DaRecord) [03-21]
• Carol Liebowitz/Nick Lyons: The Inner Senses (SteepleChase LookOut) [06-01]
• Mira Trio: Machinerie (4DaRecord) [03-14]
• Billy Mohler: The Eternal (Contagious Music) ** [03-07]
• James Moody: 80 Years Young: Live at the Blue Note March 26, 2005 (Origin) [05-16]
• Simona Premazzi/Kyle Nasser Quartet: From What I Recall (OA2) [05-16]
• Ches Smith: Clone Row (Otherly Love) [06-06]
• Julia Úlehla and Dálava: Understories (Pi) [05-02]
• Inés Velasco: A Flash of Cobalt Blue (self-released) [06-06]
• Michael Waldrop: Native Son (Origin) [05-16]
• Dan Weiss Quartet: Unclassified Affections (Pi) [06-06]

Daily Log

Some notes from the Zoom session of the Francis Davis memorial:

Father Christopher's "homework":
  Kind of Blue
  Best Years of Our Lives
  Bernard Malamud: The Assistant

Terry Gross eulogy:

47 years together

4.5 years copd & parkinson's
last august home hospice

Billie Holiday: "I'll Be Seeing You"

someone from Fresh Air
Dev health care
Allen Lowe?
Chris?
Corby?

I heard there were 33 people on the zoom.

Quick check for restaurants out 21st W, then N on Maize:

• Mexico Viejo (e of Ridge)
• Emperor's Japanese Grill (ne Ridge)
• Pho Chopstiz (hw Ridge)
• Krua Thai (w of Ridge)
• Kobe Steak House of Japan (ne Tyler)
• On the Border (w Maize)
• Wasabi Sushi Bar West (e Maize, just past T-Mobile)
• Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews (e Maize)
• Bella Luna Cafe West (w Maize)
• LongHorn Steakhouse (e Maize)
• Sesame [Lebanese] (w Maize, front of Target)

We tried the Thai, which was not as good as the Thai restaurant that used to be in the spot, but was quite satisfactory.

Laura got a new phone: Samsung S25+. They sold us a bunch of accessories, that I'm finding somewhat dubious. What kind of charging accessories are best: one source calls for a 45W charger with a 5A usbc cable.

Daily Log

Global Learning Center is doing a dinner/speech Saturday evening with William Barclay speaking. He "worked for more than two decades in financial markets, both stock and derivatives. He writes frequently for Dollars and Sense magmazine. Recently he was a co-editor of The Political Economy of California, a Dollars and Sense reader." I tried looking him up, but haven't found much: one 2011 article on Common Dreams; one recent article from Real Clear Markets. There is a good deal more on him here (seems to go more as Bill Barclay; involved in DSA).

We were invited to dinner with him on Friday, at Saigon. I've never gotten the hang of ordering Vietnamese food, and their menu has always confused me to the point where I'm always frustrated and disappointed with whatever I get. (I've eaten there a half-dozen times, at the behest of friends who like the place a lot.) So I thought I'd take an advance look at the menu, and see if I can make sense out of it. Bottom line seems to be: just buy the soup, sucker.

There are about 90 numbered dishes, plus B:1-12, plus 3 dinner specials for 2, plus drinks.

• Appetizers: egg rolls, spring rolls, crab rangoon, lettuce wraps, kim chi, chicken w/almond, pork w/peanuts, egg drop soup.
• Banh Trang: rice papers to wrap meat (pork, beef, chicken, shrimp) and sliced cucumber/carrots/lettuce/cilantro.
• Hot pot (for 2): Mongolian soup.
• Soup: hu tieu (clear noodles), pho (rice noodles), mi (egg noodles), kim chi (with rice). Each as various meat combinations (beef, chicken, meatballs, shrimp/squid) or just vegetables.
• Bun (boiled noodles, various meat/vegetable combos).
• Fried noodles: rice, egg, crispy (various meats).
• Vegetarian dishes (with rice or noodles).
• Rice: steamed, fried, broken steamed (various meats).
• The family/special dinners offer some dishes not on the regular menu.

Back on Jan. 18, 2025, I ordered a book from Amazon: Chuck Eddy: Terminated for Reasons of Taste: Other Ways to Hear Essential and Inessential Music. The book was "shippped," and I was charged $11.10 for it. I never got the book. The "order details" now say that "Your package may be lost." Because the book has been shipped (allegedly on Jan. 18, 2025), I cannot cancel the order. Because I haven't received the book, I cannot return it. The order number is 113-3670472-6157805. The seller was Book Club Treats.

When I attempt to "communicate" with Book Club Treats, I'm routed to Amazon's "Seller Messaging Assistant." Dialog (canned questions and multiple choice answere):

What can I help you with? An order I have placed.

Is this what you need help with? [select book]

Which of the following do you need help with? [options: WHen will I get this?; Get an invoice for this; Return this; Other]

Please select one of the following options or enter a short question in the ext box below, and I can help you. I didn't get this.

Since Amazon is handling the customer service for this order, you'll need to talk with an Amazon Customer Service Associate. OK, connect me.

After connection, I now have to search through previous orders to find the right item again. I go through four screens of orders before finding the right one from Jan. 18, 2025. That brings me back to a screen where I have multiple choices, including:

• Order is late
• Problem with delivery: offers option to Track package, or I need more help. Track package tells me "Your package may be lost," and offers to "Contact seller" (which I did several steps ago).
• Undeliverable package
• Can I cancel my order
Shipped to wrong address

I finally found an option for a callback from Amazon. I got a call back almost immediately, but it hung up. A couple minutes later I got a second call, and the agent identified the issue and said he would have to escalate it to get a refund. He clarified that the item was shipped, but UPS had "lost" the package. It took him several minutes to file the paperwork, and send me email confirmation, promising that the refund would be processed within two business days.

It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry at this point. On the one hand, the maze is clearly designed to frustrate returns and to inhibit customers, resigning themselves to their fate. On the other hand, if you do persist, they can appear decently supportive, and can do so rather efficiently. (Amazon's callbacks are very hard to find, but once you get to them, they are very efficient, especially compared to places that make you hang on the line for an hour or more before speaking to a person who can do anything. The trend is clearly to insert more AI agents along the path. While in theory they could provide many answers and solve many common problems, in practice that's not their purpose.

I later decided to leave a reivew of the vendor, Book Club Treats, but couldn't. The dialog ran me back through my order history to find the vendor, which I couldn't do because the order was too old. I couldn't find any other way of contacting the vendor, let alone leaving a review.

Daily Log

Trump tweet, evidently pre-election:

If Kamala wins, you are 3 days away from the start of a 1929-style economic depression. If I win, you are 3 days away from the best jobs, the biggest paychecks, and the brightest economic future the world has ever seen.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, April archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 35 albums, 7 A-list

Music: Current count 44070 [44035) rated (+35), 24 [33] unrated (-9).

I'm still in taking-it-easy mode, hoping that a few more days (or weeks or months) will aid in recovering from recent traumas -- I'm more optimistic about the eye surgery and the end of winter (although the last couple days have been pretty miserable) than about the world at large -- and give me time to plot a sensible path forward. I go to see the optometrist mid-week, which should give me a second opinion, some numbers, and possibly some answers on my eyes.

My impression is mostly favorable. I watch TV and go on walks without glasses. I can drive either with or without -- probably a bit better without, but with is good enough I've kept using them. I can still read, not great but no worse than before. (I've never used glasses for reading, so one question is whether they'd make a difference now.) Computer work is still iffy, so I might need some correction just for that. Many things are brighter, and that can cause some strain. It's also a good excuse not to kick myself for not getting much writing or programming done.

I did manage to publish a Loose Tabs on Thursday, and have added a couple items over the weekend, including a couple obituaries/remembrances of the late Francis Davis. I have a longstanding project to update and upgrade his Jazz Critics Poll website. That's on hold for the moment as we try to figure out what to do without him. Meanwhile, I've already collected a couple bits for the next Loose Tabs post. No regular schedule, but the outlet is there if I need it.

I'm expecting this week to be super lightweight. Aside from the doctor, I have some house work scheduled, and some shopping planned. I found some interesting things in the demo queue this week, although the A- albums (except for Dean Wareham) barely made the lower reaches the A-list. Several misses were also quite close, probably hampered by limited plays, with one becoming the first HM I posted a link to on Bluesky. I'm up to 96 followers there.

New records reviewed this week:

• Benefits: Constant Noise (2025, Invada): [sp]: B+(**)
• Peter Brötzmann/Jason Adasiewice/Steve Noble/John Edwards: The Quartet: Cafe Oto, London, February, 10 & 11, 2023 (2023 [2025], Otoroku): [bc]: A-
• Anla Courtis & Lehtisalo: 1972 (2025, Full Connect): [bc]: A-
• Christopher Dammann: Sextet (2024 [2025], Out of Your Head): [cd]: B+(***)
• John Dikeman/Sun-Mi Hong/Aaron Lumley/Marta Warelis: Old Adam on Turtle Island (2022 [2025], Relative Pitch): [bc]: B
• Trygve Fiske Sextet: The Flowers. The Dance. The Rumble and the Stumble. (2025, Slaraffensongs): [sp]: B+(**)
• Food House: Two House (2025, self-released): [sp]: B
• GFOTY: Influenzer (2025, Girlfriend): [sp]: B+(*)*
• The Hemphill Stringtet: Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (2025, Out of Your Head): [cd]: B+(***)
• Jacob Felix Heule/Teté Leguía/Sanishta Rivero/Martín Escalante: An Inscrutable Bodily Discomforting Thing (2021 [2025], Kettle Hole): [cd]: B+(***)
• Homeboy Sandman & Illingsworth: Dancing Tree (2025, self-released, EP): [bc]: B+(***)
• Homeboy Sandman & Yeyts.: Corn Hole Legend (self-released, EP): [bc]: B+(*)
• Eunhye Jeong/Michael Bisio Duo: Morning Bells Whistle Bright (2023 [2025], ESP-Disk): [cd]: A-
• Ingrid Laubrock: Purposing the Air (2022-24 [2025], Pyroclastic, 2CD): [cd]: B-
• Will Mason Quartet: Hemlocks, Peacocks (2024 [2025], New Focus): [bc]: B+(**)
• Joe McPhee & Paal Nilssen-Love: I Love Noise (2022 [2024], PNL): [bc]: B+(***)
• Paal Nilssen-Love Circus With the Ex Guitars: Turn Thy Loose (2024 [2025], PNL): [bc]: B+(***)
• Adam O'Farrill: For These Steets (2025, Out of Your Head): [cd]: A-
• Samo Salamon & Ra Kalam Bob Moses Orchestra: Dream Suites Vol. 1 (2023 [2025], Samo): [cd]: A-
• Jaysun Silver: No Excuses! (2025, self-released): [bc]: B+(*)
• Skrillex: Fuck U Skrillex U Think Ur Andy Warhol but Ur Not!! <3 (2025, Atlantic/Owsla): [sp]: B-
• The Third Mind: Live Mind (2024 [2025], Yep Roc): [sp]: B+(**)
• The Tubs: Cotton Crown (2025, Trouble in Mind): [sp]: B+(*)
• Mathilde Grooss Viddal/Friensemblet: Tri Vendur Blés Ho I Den Høgaste Sky (2025, Losen): [sp]: B+(*)
• Dean Wareham: That's the Price of Loving Me (2025, Carpark): [sp]: A-
• Christian Winther: Sculptures From Under the City Ice (2025, Earthly Habit): [sp]: B+(**)
• Wolf Eyes: Wolf Eyes X Anthony Braxton (2024 [2025], ESP-Disk): [cd]: B+(*)
• Y: Y (2025, Hideous Mink, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
• James Zito: Zito's Jump (2024 [2025], self-released): [cd]: B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Peter Brötzmann Trio: Hurricane (2015, Old Heaven Books): [bc]: B+(***)
• Charles Mingus: Mingus in Argentina: The Buenos Aires Concerts (1977 [2025], Resonance, 2CD): [cd]: A-
• Charles Mingus: Reincarnations (1960 [2024], Candid): [sp]: B+(**)
• Spectacular Diagnostics: Raw Game [Ten Year Edition] (2015 [2025], Vinyl Digital): [sp]: B+(***)

Old music:

• Charles Mingus/Max Roach/Eric Dolphy/Roy Eldridge/Jo Jones [Jazz Artists Guild]: Newport Rebels (1961 [2024], Candid): [sp]: B+(***)
• Charles Mingus: Charles Mingus and the Newport Rebels (1960 [2010], Candid): [sp]: B+(**)
• Charles Mingus: The Complete Town Hall Concert (1962 [1994], Blue Note): [sp]: B+(*)
• Phew: Phew (1981, Pass): [sp]: B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Alberto Pinton's Relentless: Allt Större Klarhet (Moserobie) [03-14]
• Ryan Truesdell: Shades of Sound: Gil Evans Project Live at Jazz Standard Vol. 2 (Outside In Music) [05-30]

Daily Log

I seem to have destroyed the microwave oven, so should shop for a new one. Major issue there is that I built myself a pretty limited space, on the assumption that a small unit would suffice. The old Panasonic NN-SD3725 (900w) measures 11hx13dx19w, leaving me no more than 1 inch height, maybe 2 inches depth, more width. After much teeth-gnashing I wound up buying the one in bold.

• 11.0 x 14.0 x 19.0: Avanti 0.9 cft 900w $74.99
• 10.2 x 13.0 x 17.3: Comfee EM720CPL-PMB 0.7 cft 700w $80.00
• 10.2 x 13.0 x 17.3: Black + Decker EM720CB7 0.7 cft 700w: $89.99
• 10.2 x 12.3 x 17.8: Frigidaire 0.7 cft 700w $89.99
• 10.7 x 14.7 x 18.6: Chefman 0.9 cft 900w $99.96
• 11.0 x 14.4 x 19.0: Commercial Chef 0.9 cft 900w $99.97
• 10.7 x 13.2 x 18.6: Sharp ZSMC0962KS 0.9 cft 900w $99.99
• 11.0 x 14.5 x 19.0: West Bend WMBW92W 0.9 cft 900w $99.99
• 11.4 x 14.7 x 19.1: Magic Chef white 0.9 cft 900w $102.80
• 11.4 x 14.3 x 19.4: Cuisinart CMW-70 0.7 cft 700w $102.99
• 10.7 x 14.7 x 18.7: Toshiba ML-EM09PS(SS) 0.9 cft 900w $109.99
• 11.8 x 14.7 x 20.6: Sharp SMC1161KW 1.1 cft 1000w $109.99
• 11.5 x 14.5 x 19.0: GE GCST09N1W 0.9 cft 900w $109.99
• 10.7 x 14.8 x 18.8: Comfee CMO-MMP02AA(at) Apricot 0.9 cft 900w $113.44
• 11.8 x 14.7 x 20.6: Sharp SMC1162KS 1.1 cft 1000w $119.99
• 11.5 x 14.8 x 19.1: Panasonic NN-SB438S 0.9 cft 900w $124.95
• 12.0 x 15.5 x 20.3: GE GCST11X1WSS 1.1 cft 950 w $124.89
• 10.7 x 13.2 x 18.6: Black + Decker 0.9 cft 900w $129.99
• 11.5 x 14.7 x 19.2: Panasonic NN-SB458S 0.9 cft 900w $139.95
• 11.8 x 16.3 x 20.6: Toshiba ML4-EM12PA(BS) 1000w $139.99
• 11.8 x 16.0 x 20.6: Toshiba EM131A5C-BS 1.2 cft 1000w $139.99
• 12.9 x 14.8 x 20.5: Cuisinart CMW-100 1.0 cft 1000w $199.99
• 11.5 x 16.4 x 19.1: Breville BMO650SIL1BUC1 0.9 cft 1000w $249.95
   
• 11.4 x 15.6 x 19.5: Black + Decker ES9P032NA 5-in-1 Air Fryer Combo 0.9 cft 900w $169.99
• 11.8 x 18.0 x 20.6: Toshiba ML2-EC10SA(BS) Air Fryer Combo 1.0 cft 1000w $189.99 (+3.1 back so too deep)

PS [04-21]: I just noticed that I marked the 1000w Sharp, but actually ordered the 900w Sharp. I think the marking was accidental, but having received the 900w unit, I rather wish I had bought the larger one. I was worried about space, but clearly we had room for the larger unit. Most frozen dinners spec time for an 1100w unit, so the extra power should be a plus (although in practice, it seems to make little difference). I don't particularly like the unit so far. The buttons don't engage very readily. The compartment is small and dark, with just a tiny bit of light from behind a grill. It was easier to set the time than with the previous unit, but I miss the knob control (not that it was really all that great). Not worth the trouble to send it back, but not a very satisfying experience.

Loose Tabs

See blog post.

Music Week

Expanded blog post, April archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 30 albums, 5 A-list

Music: Current count 44035 [44005) rated (+30), 33 [26] unrated (+7).

I had my second cataract surgery on Tuesday. When I took the tape off that evening, it was bright and blurry, but less dramatically so than after the first eye. I had some bruising below the eye, but it seemed minor. I was more struck by how creepy the loose, aged skin of the eyelids seemed. What I had feared was the the if the right eye recovery was as slow as the left seemed, I could have diminished vision for a few weeks. (It had been about a month now, and the left eye was still blurry, although the amount of light passing through the lens was more, and bluer.) But the blurriness in the right eye cleared up right away that morning. When I went to see the doctor, he not only cleared me to drive, but told me I could drive without glasses. I drove home with glasses, deeming them close enough to what I was used to, but I've since stopped using them for walks and TV. I haven't done much driving since, but haven't had any problems.

I have an appointment to see my regular optometrist a couple weeks out, so I expect we'll get some better measurements then. The biggest question is what, if anything, the expensive toric lens in the left eye has done. It was supposed to correct for significant astigmatism -- which the right eye had very little of, so we went with the standard lens there. The expectation is that I will need glasses for reading, although in the past I've never used them. (I didn't need them at first; while my bifocals help a little, it usually suffices to hold the book a bit closer.) I've been reading OK, both with and without glasses, all through this period.

What seems more likely is that I'll want glasses for the computer screen -- a focal distance of about 30 inches (I would have guessed less, but just measured it). I seem to be having more trouble with computer work this week (or month) -- although there could be other factors at work, including psychological ones. I'm going through a period where I have very little inspiration to do much of anything, or even to assign any blame for my sloth.

Speaking of which, this week's haul is down a fair amount from the last couple weeks, although 30 albums has long been my definition of a solid week's work. Most of the A-list came late in the week, thanks to Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide. Two of those records got lower grades at first, raised more on reflection than on further listening. [PS: Also upgraded: The Delines.]

I should also mention Dan Weiss' RiotRiot Report, which I haven't really worked my way through yet -- but I'm pleased to see the Ex and YHWH Nailgun (and Mekons, rated much higher here), and probably need the extra encouragement to get to Skrillex.

I perhaps should note an unusual degree of ambivalence about this week's grades. I could just as easily have upgraded the Art Pepper and/or the Kenny Dorham live set. Instead of giving the latter a third play, I went into his back catalog, and didn't so much get diminishing returns as flagging interest. Same thing for Birchall: pick any one of his albums and it's likely to sound fabulous, but play five in a row and they all start to sound the same. I know Pepper well enough to hedge my bets. I hardly know Diblo Dibala at all.

While I have very little real work to show for last week, I did manage to go back and fill out my long-neglected Streamnotes: Year 2024 Index, from which I had skipped the last four months. I still haven't done any for 2025 yet (other than to create the empty file). I've almost always done these on the same day I opened a new monthly file, but as they take 2-3 hours each, I started putting them off. While the indexes may not be of much use to readers, they help me find old reviews (avoiding inadvertent re-reviews, or at least helping with re-grading; I've already found several records I reviewed for a second time). I'd promise to catch up this week, but this is one of those computer tasks that I'm having eye trouble with.

No plans for the upcoming week. Good chance I will publish a "Loose Tabs" later in the week. I've collected a few items for it, and they don't have a lot of shelf life. Unlikely I'll do a books post this week, although I would like to get back to it. More useful would be to get to my planning documents, especially the one for household tasks.

New records reviewed this week:

• MC Paul Barman: Tectonic Texts (2025, Househusband): [sp]: B+(***)
• Basic: Dream City (2024 [2025], No Quarter, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
• Nat Birchall Unity Ensemble: New World (2023 [2024], Ancient Archive of Sound): [bc]: B+(***)
• Nat Birchall: Dimensions of the Drums: Roots Reggae Instrumentals (2024, Ancient Archive of Sound): [sp]: B+(***)
• Corook: Committed to a Bit (2025, Atlantic): [sp]: A-
• Silke Eberhard Trio: Being-a-Ning (2024 [2025], Intakt): [sp]: B+(***)
• Craig Finn: Always Been (2025, Taramac/Thirty Tigers): [sp]: A-
• Ayumi Ishito: Roboquarians Vol. 2 (2021 [2025], 577): [bc]: B+(*)
• Clemens Kuratle Ydivide: The Default (2024 [2025], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Andy Fairweather Low: The Invisible Bluesman (2025, Last Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Myra Melford: Splash (2024 [2025], Intakt): [sp]: B+(***)
• Gurf Morlix: A Taste of Ashes (2024 [2025], Rootball): [sp]: B+(**)
• Elias Stemeseder/Christian Lillinger + Craig Taborn: Umbra III: Live Setting (2021 [2025], Intakt): [sp]: B+(**)
• Macie Stewart: When the Distance Is Blue (2023-24 [2025], International Anthem): [sp]: B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Champeta w/Edna Martinez: Diblo Dibala Special ([2024], NAS): [os]: A-
• Kenny Dorham: Blue Bossa in the Bronx: Live From the Blue Morocco (1957 [2025], Resonance): [cd]: B+(***)
• Paul Dunmall/Paul Rogers/Tony Levin: The Good Feelings (2009 [2024], 577): [bc]: B+(**)
• Joe Henderson: Multiple (1973 [2025], Craft): [sp]: A-
• Freddie Hubbard: On Fire: Live From the Blue Morocco (1967 [2025], Resonance, 2CD): [cd]: B+(**)
• Rob Mazurek: Alternate Moon Cycles [IA11 Edition] (2012 [2025], International Anthem): [sp]: B+(**)
• Mac Miller: Balloonerism (2014 [2025], REMember Music/Warner): [sp]: B+(***)
• Art Pepper: Geneva 1980 (1980 [2025], Omnivore): [sp]: B+(***)

Old music:

• Nat Birchall Unity Ensemble: Spiritual Progressions (2021 [2022], Ancient Archive of Sound): [bc]: B+(**)
• Nat Birchall: The Infinite (2022 [2023], Ancient Archive of Sound): [bc]: B+(**)
• Kenny Dorham: Blues in Bebop (1946-56 [1998], Savoy Jazz): [sp]: B+(**)
• Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contrasts (1957 [1992], Riverside/OJC): [sp]: B+(**)
• Kenny Dorham: Quiet Kenny (1959 [1986], New Jazz/OJC): [sp]: B+(***)
• Kenny Dorham: Jazz Contemporary (1960, Time): [sp]: B+(***)
• Kenny Dorham: Whistle Stop (1961 [2014], Blue Note): [sp]: B+(***)

Grade (or other) changes:

• The Delines: Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom (2025, Decor): [sp]: [was: B+(**)] A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Kris Adams/Peter Perfido: Away (Jazzbird) [05-01]
• Christopher Dammann: Sextet (Out of Your Head) [02-07]
• Satoko Fujii This Is It!: Message (Libra) [05-09]
• The Hemphill Stringtet: Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill (Out of Your Head) [04-04]
• Eunhye Jeong/Michael Bisio Duo: Morning Bells Whistle Bright (ESP-Disk) [03-14]
• Melissa Kassel & Tom Zicarelli Group: Moments (MKMusic) [05-01]
• Adam O'Farrill: For These Steets (Out of Your Head) [03-28]
• Jordan VanHemert: Survival of the Fittest (Origin) [05-16]
• Wolf Eyes: Wolf Eyes X Anthony Braxton (ESP-Disk) [02-14]

Daily Log

Got this email from HP today:

Thanks for trusting us since 2021 to provide you with hassle-free printing. To maintain the high quality of service while keeping up with rising costs, we're updating the price of your Instant Ink plan for your OfficeJet Pro 9015e.

They're raising the price of my bare minimum 10-page-per-month plan by 20%. Their "product" is nothing but hassle. Their quality of service is none. I've spent countless hours trying to figure out a functional interface to the printer/scanner. Most of the interfaces that CUPS sets up simply do not work. (I finally found one that usually works from one machine only.) SANE doesn't work. Much of this dysfunction seems to be designed purely to hook you on their ink program. The printer has to be configured through their wifi interface, which allows you to print from your phone, but not from your computers (but at least it keeps them monitoring your ink supplies). I got cartridges from them once, after those provided with the machine ran dry (about 10 pages in). And now, if you cancel your subscription, the cartridges you already have stop working (or so they say).

New cell phone options (via T-Mobile; skipping fold phones, and fuck Apple):

• $1299.99: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
• $1199.99: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
• $1199.99: Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
• $1099.99: Google Pixel 9 Pro
• $999.99: Samsung Galaxy S25+
• $999.99: Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
• $899.99: Samsung Galaxy S24+
• $859.99: Samsung Galaxy S25 256GB
• $799.99: Samsung Galaxy S25 128GB: 0.4mm thinner, 5g lighter than S24; no display change; same battery rating, but slightly better performance (13:09h vs 12:06h)
• $699.99: Samsung Galaxy S24
• $699.99: Google Pixel 9
• $649.99: Samsung Galaxy S24 FE

Music Week

Expanded blog post, April archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 56 albums, 8 A-list

Music: Current count 44005 [43949) rated (+56), 26 [25] unrated (+1).

My second eye cataract surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning. While I'm optimistic longer term, after a month, my left eye doesn't seem to be much improved over its previous state. This hasn't had much adverse effect on me, probably because the right eye was always a bit better, and could compensate for the left. So I'm worried of having more debilitating vision loss after tomorrow, even if the longer term prospect is better. Accordingly, I've tried to tie up as much as I could the last few days.

That involved posting a Book Roundup on Saturday, and a Loose Tabs on Sunday, as well as today's Music Week. (Some minor updates today, generally flagged with change bars -- I've added some book covers to the Book Roundup post without marking them.) Also good that I finished reading Christopher Lasch's The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy. Much of interest there, but not as well focused on the title as I had hoped -- although posthumous books are bound to be lacking something or other. Don Malcolm wrote in to suggest I follow that with Lasch's "magnum opus," The True and Only Heaven (1991). Later for that, although maybe I can scratch something out of reviews and synopses, which would easily be more cost-effective. I have mixed views both on progress and on the conservative mores Lasch espouses, which are unlikely to be moved much by reading another 592 pages.

Meanwhile, I've started Mark Fisher's Capitalism Realism: Is There No Alternative?, which is pretty short (120 pp, although at my rate I'm still unlikely to finish it before surgery). I also have a bunch more books waiting in the wings, to read whenever I'm able. (Three, including Richard J Evans' long biography of Hobsbawm, arrived just today.) But worst comes to worst, I have a long list of TV series to watch. (Currently we're deep into Astrid et Raphaëlle.)

Worth noting that the rated counter rolled over another thousand mark (44). Odds are pretty good that I'll hit 45,000 by the end of the year, but I'm far less certain about 50,000. The full A grade for Mekons may have started as a typo, as I had A- several places in my far-from-normalized system, but when I saw it once, I chose to stick with it. The Hood and Isbell albums are upgrades, although the latter doesn't count as such, since I first encountered it this week. It led me back to Hood, and when Hood got better, so did it -- albeit differently.

I notice that I'm writing more reviews like Backxwash, where I don't explain why I like it but I do, and Black Country, New Road, where I dismiss a well-regarded album just because I can't bother to care. Neither of those reviews do anything for me as a critic, but they're data points in case you're interested. At this stage, that's often the best I can do with my attention span.

While this week has been fairly productive in terms of writing -- three posts, roughly 23k words (per wc, probably 20k using my inline word count program) -- I've gotten very little else done. I expect even less in coming weeks. One thing I've fallen behind on is my "pick hit" posts to Bluesky (actually, I've done even worse at recommending articles, which was my origijnal plan). Most of this week's batch didn't come out until today, and I still haven't done late adds Hood and Isbell, so those at least you're reading about here first.

New records reviewed this week:

• 2hollis: Star (2025, Interscope): [sp]: B+(**)
• Carl Allen: Tippin' (2024 [2025], Cellar): [sp]: B+(***)
• Florian Arbenz/Michael Arbenz/Ron Carter: The Alpine Session: Arbenz Vs Arbenz Meets Ron Carter (2024 [2025], Hammer): [sp]: B+(**)
• Backxwash: Only Dust Remains (2025, Ugly Hag): [sp]: B+(***)
• Barker: Stochastic Drift (2025, Smalltown Supersound): [sp]: B+(***)
• Believers [Brad Shepik/Sam Minaie/John Hadfield]: Hard Believer (2023 [2025], Shifting Paradigm): [sp]: B+(***)
• Black Country, New Road: Forever Howlong (2025, Ninja Tune): [sp]: B
• Blacks' Myths Meet Pat Thomas: The Mythstory School (2023 [2025], self-released): [bc]: B+(**)
• Bonnie "Prince" Billy: The Purple Bird (2025, No Quarter): [sp]: B+(***)
• Xhosa Cole: On a Modern Genius, Vol. 1 (2023 [2025], Stoney Lane): [sp]: B+(***)
• Geoffrey Dean Quartet: Conceptions (2024 [2025], Cellar Music): [cd]: B+(*)
• The Delines: Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom (2025, Decor): [sp]: B+(**)
• The Ex: If Your Mirror Breaks (2025, Ex): [bc]: A-
• Bryan Ferry/Amelia Barratt: Loose Talk (2025, Dene Jesmond): [sp]: A-
• Nnenna Freelon: Beneath the Skin (2024 [2025], Origin): [cd]: A-
• Dave Hanson: Blues Sky (2024 [2025], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
• Nick Hempton/Cory Weeds: Horns Locked (2023-24 [2025], Cellar Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Lilly Hiatt: Forever (2025, New West): [sp]: B+(*)
• Jason Isbell: Foxes in the Snow (2025, Southeastern): [sp]: B+(***)
• Japanese Breakfast: For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) (2025, Dead Oceans): [sp]: B+(*)
• Kaisa's Machine: Moving Parts (2024 [2025], Greenleaf Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Kelela: In the Blue Light (2024 [2025], Warp): [sp]: B+(**)
• Knats: Knats (2025, Gearbox): [sp]: B+(*)
• Kedr Livansky: Myrtus Myth (2025, 2MR): [sp]: B
• Manic Street Preachers: Critical Thinking (2025, Columbia): [sp]: B+(*)
• Nicole McCabe: A Song to Sing (2025, Colorfield): [sp]: B+(**
• Mekons: Horror (2025, Fire): [sp]: A
• Billy Mohler: The Eternal (2025, Contagious Music): [sp]: B+(***)
• Silvano Monasterios Venezuelan Nonet: The River (2024 [2025], self-released): [cd]: B+(**)
• Patricio Morales: La Tierra Canta (2022 [2025], Northsound): [cd]: B+(*)
• Matthew Muñesses/Riza Printup: Pag-Ibig Ko Vol. 1 (2023 [2025], Irabbagast): [cd]: B+(***)
• Marius Neset: Cabaret (2025, ACT Music): [sp]: B+(*)
• The Nightingales: The Awful Truth (2025, Fire): [sp]: B+(*)
• Oklou: Choke Enough (2025, True Panther/Because Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Organic Pulse Ensemble: Ad Hoc (2024, Ultraääni): [bc]: B+(**)
• Ben Patterson Jazz Orchestra: Mad Scientist Music (2023 [2025], Origin): [cd]: B+(*)
• Perfume Genius: Glory (2025, Matador): [sp]: B
• Porridge Radio: The Machine Starts to Sing (2025, Secretly Canadian, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
• Bobby Rush/Kenny Wayne Shepherd: Young Fashioned Ways (2025, Deep Rush/Thirty Tigers): [sp]: B+(**)
• Mark Turner: We Raise Them to Lift Their Heads (2019 [2025], Loveland Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• The Weather Station: Humanhood (2025, Fat Possum): [sp]: B+(*)
• Yseult: Mental (2024, Y.Y.Y): [sp]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Johnny Bragg: Let Me Dream On ([2025], ORG Music): [sp]: B+(*)
• Erik Friedlander and Michael Nicolas: John Zorn's Bagatelles: Vol. 2 (2019 [2025], Tzadik): [sp]: B+(**)
• Mary Halvorson Quartet: John Zorn's Bagatelles: Volume 1 (2019 [2025], Tzadik): [sp]: A-
• Krautrock Eruption: An Introduction to German Electronic Music 1970-1980 (1970-80 [2025], Bureau B): [sp]: B
• Salsa de la Bahia Vol. 3: A Colection of SF Bay Area Salsa and Latin Jazz: Renegade Queens (1991-2025 [2025], Patois, 2CD): [cd]: B+(*)
• Serengeti: Mixtape 2 ([2025], self-released): [bc]: B+(*)
• Trigger: John Zorn's Bagatelles: Vol. 3 (2019 [2025], Tzadik): [sp]: B+(*)

Old music:

• Xhosa Cole: Ibeji (2021-22 [2022], Stoney Lane): [sp]: B+(**)
• Miles Davis: The Lost Septet (1971 [2000], Sleepy Night): [sp]: A-
• TEST: TEST (1998 [1999], AUM Fidelity): [sp]: B+(***)

Grade (or other) changes:

• Patterson Hood: Exploding Trees and Airplane Screams (2025, ATO): [sp]: [was: B+(***)] A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Phil Haynes/Ben Monder: Transition[s] (Corner Store Jazz) [04-21]
• Phil Haynes: Return to Electric (Corner Store Jazz) [04-21]
• Jacob Felix Heule/Teté Leguía/Sanishta Rivero/Martín Escalante: An Inscrutable Bodily Discomforting Thing (Kettle Hole) [03-07]
• Chris Jonas: Backwardsupwardsky (Edgetone) [03-04]: LP
• Nancy Kelly: Be Cool (Origin) [04-18]
• Medler Sextet: River Paths (OA2) [04-18]
• The Reddish Fetish With the Jersey City All Stars: Llegue (F&F) [05-01]
• Sextet: Pitch, Rhythm and Consciousness (Reva) [04-22]
• Unity Quartet [Helio Alves/Guilherme Monteiro/Gili Lopes/Alex Kautz]: Samba of Sorts (Sunnyside) [04-18]

Loose Tabs

See blog post.

Book Roundup

See blog post.

Mar 2025

May 2025