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An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links Social Media My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
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Saturday, August 8, 2026 Music Week
Music: Current count 46385 [46366] rated (+19), 18 [11] unrated +7). Advance Music Week appeared August 6 on Substack. It is also archived here. My cutoff was done before the Substack post, but the introduction is revised/rewritten the day or two after. I also published Loose Tabs (8) this week, on August 3, which was a recap of my August 1 Loose Tabs with further thoughts. After racking up 184 reviews in July, I'm down to 19 this week (6 below + one revisit). I knew I wasn't going to keep the pace up this week. My cousin, Max Brown, died in January. He owned a ranch near Douglass, 30-40 miles southeast of Wichita, and the estate set up an auction of his equipment, tools, furniture, guns, and so forth for August 6. His nephew and nieces were coming up for that, and I spent some time with them, taking the opportunity to rustle up a fairly substantial dinner, mostly old family favorites. So that roughly cut my week in half. But by the time that was done, I had gotten caught up in several tech crises. Unfortunately, these are not the sort of tech crises that one can research, troubleshoot, and find technical solutions to. These are tech crises wrapped up in an oozing blanket of corporate strategy, of the sort that Cory Doctorow wrote about as Enshittification. For some reason, Toyota is not satisfied just selling cars. They've put a rather crappy computer console in the middle of the dashboard, and now they see that as an opportunity to squeeze more money out of their customers. Or also to charge third parties for the opportunity to prey on their customers: the car came with "free trial subscriptions" to AT&T and Sirius XM, which as far as I can tell are worthless. There are other deals with Amazon and Apple streaming services, which tie in with their decision not to include (or even offer) a CD player. Their "Toyota Connect" trial subscription ended July 31, which may (or may not) have something to do with lots of connection glitches, some of which occurred dangerously while I was driving on the highway. I'll rant about this more later. My more immediate problem is with Yahoo email. My email address originally came from a local cable operator, but shortly after we moved here, they sold out to Cox, who changed my address (adding a "2" to the user name). I've had that address since 2002, but in 2024, Cox decided to stop supporting email (which, quite frankly, they were pretty bad at), so they sold their address list to Yahoo. That was annoying, but I managed to jump through their hoops and get Thunderbird working with their POP and SMTP servers. That was working ok until August 4, when I stopped receiving email. It took me another day to really notice what was going on. The error message says: "Server error - Please try again later." We are now four days later, with no successful RETR requests. I'll spare you further technical detail, although I can assure you that I've spent many hours since then examining every aspect of the protocol, and I'm confident that the problem is not on my end. I've also spent many hours trying to get help from Yahoo. I haven't found any customer support, or any way to contact a human agent. I have spent 6-8 hours with their chatbot, going over all the possible changes I could make on my end to possibly remedy the problem. Note, however, that the chatbot is blissfully unaware of the meaning of the "server error" message: the only thing they are trained to do is to blame the customer's configuration for any mistakes. Still, I managed three times to steer it around to the point of offering to let me continue by speaking to an actual human. Yet each time after I agreed, they told me that none was available. Yahoo's webpage says as much. They sort of imply that if I had some kind of pair tier account, they would have offer 24/7 service, but it isn't clear how real that offer is. The things they offer service help on are routine user tasks. Quite possibly they are following the Cox model, where the people who actually run the servers are firewalled so the customer service people can't bother them. The assumption here is that our system is perfect, so all problems are yours (mostly due to your ignorance and/or incompetence). I don't know what I'm going to do about this. For now, I can still read email using Yahoo's webpage app, and also, oddly enough, on my phone — which I never use for email, although I do have an IMAP/SMTP account set up there. The web app is pretty horrible. It is very slow and awkward to work. And I can't move mail to my archives. And while it probably keeps a record of sent email, that's not the same as having the archive on my own machine. But for now, suffice it to say that I'm still sorting through August 4 email, and have yet to look at any of today's email today. I hoped to get some free time after the Mid-Year Poll, but we're off to a horrible, depressing start. With problems coming so fast, and solutions so slow, I'm starting to worry about bumping unprepared into another poll season. I am still expecting to run an end-of-year poll, but I'm hoping that will be my last, and that I can find someone else to carry it forward. I'm running out of years to . . . well, waste isn't the right word, but there are other things I still want to work on. A few weeks ago, I decided to read up on AI, so I picked out four books I thought might be helpful (in the Recent Reading, to the left). For the most part, they were (I have some reservations about Robert Wright's The God Test, which I anticipated from the title, but had hoped he wouldn't get stuck there). I should write up some notes on them. My plan was to sign up for an LLM (probably Claude), and see what I can do with it. Now that, and much more, will have to wait until I can work through the email problem. In the meantime, I picked up a book on Venezuela I bought back when that seemed to be the most pressing Trump war policy problem. By the way, last week's two full-A albums (Laurie Anderson: Let X = X, and Swamp Dogg Contemplates the Afterlife) are still in heavy rotation. (Cover images added.) That's another reason I've had less time for new music this week. I should also note that the main source for what I did manage to listen to last week was Phil Overeem's July list. After catching up there, I'm finding it surprisingly hard to figure out what to play next. I've paid little attention My own promo bin — disorganized again, but mostly full of future releases (as far out as October). I haven't been collecting a metacritic file, so I've mostly been leaning on a few sources (like Overeem, Dan Weiss, and Jeffrey Callahan) who are still doing the work to find things first (and that list is nowhere near complete). Apologies if you've sent me mail I haven't noticed yet. I set thull2 [at] tomhull.com up back when Cox was giving me aggravation. It still gets through, is checked regularly, and pops up alerts I sometimes notice, but can find it easily enough, and archive the messages in my local folders. I'm not at this point saying you should use the alternative email address. I don't see it as being a real solution down the road. But it is available now. PS: Even before the email problem, I expected to have a lot of highly technical issues to work through in the next month or two: changes to the jazz critics poll website, possibly to other websites (Robert Christgau's, mine, maybe more), investigating email alternatives for the poll, investing in some AI tools, as well as making some changes to my home stereo setup (which also flops over into the car problem). I have two email lists that I use to discuss such things. (Perhaps I should also look into public forums, which I used long ago, but not so much lately.) One list is specific to the jazz critics poll. The other is more oriented to the Christgau website. If you would like to help, or at least just enjoy listening to me banging on about such things, let me know, and I will sign you up. New records reviewed this week: Badger Hunt: Full Moon in My Pocket (2026, self-released): Brooklyn-based duo of Miles Lee Elissor (TX) and James McCarthy Walker (SC). Looks to be their second album, skipping three Free Noise compilations on their Bandcamp. Noisy, often in a good way. B+(**) [bc] Concrete Rock: New York DIY (2026, Desert Island): Eleven short songs (35:09) by eleven groups, only one I've heard of (CS Cleaners, and that just last week), all new songs written for this release, inspired by Sidney Salk's "collection of comps from the 70s-90s," from punk to no wave to generic indie. B+(*) [bc] Graham Coxon: Castle Rock (2026, Transgressive): English singer-songwriter, ninth studio album since 1998, was in Blur 1988-2002, leaving before the band's first hiatus, but also later reunions (2009, 2023). Some catchy songcraft, at least to open. B [sp] CS Cleaners: What's This? (2026, Wharf Cat): Brooklyn-based post-punk band, first album after a 2023 EP, claim influences from "NYC downtown music from CBGB's diverse first wave through no-wave's mutations and deconstructions," but with hooks as well as overtures. B+(***) [sp] Doseone & Height Keech: Wood Teeth II (2026, Hands Made, EP): Rapper Adam Drucker, from Idaho, was a cofounder of Anticon. Six songs, 15:42, kind of a metal vibe. B+(**) [sp] Kelela: New Avatar (2026, Warp): Singer-songwriter from DC, last name Mizanekristos, parents Ethiopian, third studio album since 2015 (also has remixes and a live album), electropop with soul airs. B+(**) [sp] Mark Lomax, II & the Urban Art Ensemble: Black Odes: A Reclamation Suite (2026, CFG Multimedia): Drummer from Columbus, Ohio, with many records since 1999, should be a major figure but few people are aware of him, or for that matter his brilliant saxophonist, Edwin Bayard. Part of the problem is that the streaming interface on his website is hard to find let alone trust. This seems to have four pieces, of indeterminate length, promising "jazz, classical, hip-hop, and poetry are brought together to imagine a world where racism never existed." Long on concept, but hard to track in this form. B+(***) [os] Henrik Olsson: Antumbra Ensemble (2025 [2026], Cuneiform): Guitarist, (13) on Discogs (1 is a Swedish drummer; no bio here, but album was recorded in Denmark), debut album, a septet with alto sax, trumpet, trombone, tuba, electric bass, and drums, loosely modeled on Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus and "Rock in Opposition" bands like Henry Cow. Frenzied, for sure, but that's all I hear here. B [dl] Mon Rovîa: Bloodline (2026, Nettwerk): Folkie singer-songwriter, but in Monrovia, Liberia, but adopted by an American family when he was seven, and grew up in Chattanooga, where he developed a fondness for folk music. B+(*) [sp] Navy Blue: Sir Render (2026, Freedom Sounds): Rapper Sage Elesser, more than a dozen albums since 2020, serious thoughts over mild underground beats. This winds up his "Knighthood" trilogy, following on Memoirs in Armour and The Sword and the Soaring. Probably worth more study than I can muster. B+(***) [sp] Odd Okoddo & Ogoya Nengo: Palagoma (2026, From Cool Waters): From Nairobi, Kenya, the former a duo of dodo singer-songwriter Olith Ratego and drummer Sven Kacirek, the latter an 83-year-old folk artist. B+(***) [bc] Henrik Olsson: Antumbra Ensemble (2025 [2026], Cuneiform): Guitarist, (13) on Discogs (1 is a Swedish drummer; no bio here, but album was recorded in Denmark), debut album, a septet with alto sax, trumpet, trombone, tuba, electric bass, and drums, loosely modeled on Henry Threadgill's Very Very Circus and "Rock in Opposition" bands like Henry Cow. Frenzied, for sure, but that's all I hear here. B [dl] Lido Pimienta: Caribenya (2026, Anti-): Singer-songwriter from Colombia, grew up in Canada (Toronto), fifth album since 2010, titles and lyrics in Spanish. B+(*) [sp] Speaker Music: Synoptic Audio (2026, Planet Mu): Techno producer DeForrest Brown Jr., from "the deep South," based in New York, has several albums since 2019, long on theory as well as esoteric technology. This one, for instance, is manipulated then played on a speaker array and re-recorded using an omnidirectional mic to pick up all the room vibrations. No doubt the method adds to the sonic depth, but I was more interested before it consumed the album (and I felt the need to turn it down a bit). B+(**) [bc] Vince Staples: Cry Baby (2026, Loma Vista): Los Angeles rapper, seventh studio album since 2015, has come up with a different sound here, thin beats, moderate speed, words basic enough for rock, a combination I find appealing, much more than anything else he's done. A- [sp] Frank Trompeter/Richard Gilman-Opalsky: Antifascist Freedom Music (2026, Mahakala Music): Saxophonist (tenor/alto/soprano) from Chicago, has several albums going back to 2001, in a duo with the drummer, who also plays wood flutes. The jazz is certainly free, if a bit shrill. But maybe that's what the times call for. B+(**) [bc] Twisted Teens: Florida Water Blues (2026, Going Underground): New Orleans-based post-punk band, third album in quick succession, songs written by bassist C.P.N. Hollywell, sung by guitarist Cas P. Ian, 13 songs run an unrushed 42:29. Gets more interesting when it veers into swamp rock. B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Lekan Animashaun: Low Profile (1977-86 [2026], Strut): Nigerian baritone saxophonist, a long-time fixture in the bands of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, seems to be the only album under his name, two tracks totaling 23:03. Original album didn't come out until 1995. B+(***) [sp] Los Orientales De Paramonga: 1972-1976 (1972-76 [2026], Analog Africa): Peruvian group, from somewhere north of Lima, recorded several albums in this time period. Really nice guitar and percussion. Vocals come and go, over 25 songs (73 minutes). Probably not major, but very pleasant. A- [sp] Gary Stewart: One Track Mind (1970-73 [2026], Delmore Recording Society): Country singer-songwriter (1944-2003), made a big splash with his 1975 debut album (Out of Hand), which got MCA to finally round up a bunch of older singles and miscellany as You're Not the Woman You Used to Be. The search for his juvenilia continues here, in the label's third collection of "previously unreleased, pre-RCA recordings." Starts strong, in excellent voice, but my mind slides off the track by the end. Recording dates approximate. B+(**) [sp] Gary Stewart: King of the Honky Tonks Live (1981 [2025], Gary Stewart): Live shot, from near the end of his RCA phase. So lots of familiar songs, a fair alternative to the many best-of compilations RCA has released from the period. B+(**) [sp] Old music: Twisted Teens: Twisted Teens (2024 [2025], Chain Smoking): New Orleans-based post-punk group, first album, looks like the initial releases were on cassette, first in Germany then in the US before other labels got involved. 11 songs, 32:08. I was expecting something tighter and grimmer, but instead they remind me of the Dead Milkmen. B+(***) [sp] Grade (or other) changes: Ratboys: Singin' to an Empty Chair (2026, New West): Chicago indie rock band, Julia Steiner the singer, guitarist David Sagan the other principal, sixth studio album since 2015. Sounded fine when I gave it an initial play, but evidently not much of a listen. [was: B+(**)] A- [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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