Skip to main content

2019 - Six months in. These records don't suck.


In the first six months of 2019, these sixty-six recordings impressed me favorably. Some of them I'll rarely listen to again. Some will become old friends. The ten in bold stand out a bit from the rest of the pack.

I haven't been of a mind to write record reviews for some time now. However, if you want my spontaneous two cent's worth on any of these titles, I'll be happy to give you a quick take to affirm, bolster my support.

In no particular order:

21 Savage – I am > I was

Kel Assouf – Black Tenere

Deerhunter – Why Hasn’t Everything Disappeared

Divine Comedy – Office Politics

Stella Donnelly – Beware of the Dogs

Dream Syndicate – These Times

Du Blonde – Lung Bread for Daddy

Willie Farmer – The Man from the Hill

Felice Brothers – Undress

Flesheaters – I Used to be Pretty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vppn_T5b_Lo



Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel

Fleshtones – Budget Buster

Robert Forster – Inferno

Better Oblivion Community Center – s/t

Bellows – the Rose Gardener

Pinky Pinky – Turkey Dinner

Rhiannon Giddens – There is no Other

Patty Griffin – s/t

Guided by Voices – Zeppelin Over China

Guided by Voices – Warp and Woof

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruM6t_3q1p0



Aldous Harding – Designer

Durand Jones and the Indications – American Love Call

Jim Jones and the Righteous Mind – CollecticV

Alex Lahey – The Best of Luck Club

Mattiel – Satis Factory

Mdou Moctar – Ilana (The Creator)

Mekons – Deserted

Mystery lights – Too Much Tension

NOX Boys – out of Touch

Nots – 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdBZ-kFyEgI



Offset – Father of 4

J.S. Ondara – Tales of America

Peter Perrett – Humanworld

Jessica Pratt – Quiet Signs

Lucy Rose – No Words Left

Sebadoh – Act Surprised

Emerson Snowe – That’s Rock n Roll

Bruce Springsteen – Western Stars

Mavis Staples – We Get By

Tacocat – This Mess is a Place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6JC91j2lUc



Tough Shits – Burning in Paradise

Sharon Van Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow

Vandoliers – Forever

Andrew Wasylyk – Paralian

Yawpers – Human Question

Nicole Yun – Paper Suit

Raconteurs – Help Us Stranger

75 Dollar Bill – I Was Real

Kate Tempest – The Book of Traps and Lessons

Mega Bog – Dolphine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM6ddp3BMEM




Mike – Tears of Joy

Thea Gilmore – Small World Turning

Summer Cannibals – Can’t Tell Me No

Titus Andronicus – An Obelisk

Westside Gunn – Flygod is an Awesome God

Catenary Wires – To the Morning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkeWhRw0Xig



Comments

The people have spoken.

The resurrection of Peter Perrett

Back in the day, one of the little thrills of working at Kief’s (it was a record store, eh) was opening the boxes from an import distributor like Jem and rifling through the fresh forty-fives from the U.K. Having seen a listing for a single by a new group called the Only Ones that sounded appealing, I included it on an order in 1977.   Released on the band’s own Vengeance label, it was a curious packaging, a black sleeve with a grainy black and white photo on one side, depicting a band of mismatched misfits, including guitarist John Perry in a form-fitting, less than flattering fishnet onesie. Front and center in the photo, as he was on stage and in the studio, was a young songwriter named Peter Perrett - tousled hair, dour expression, black sleeveless shirt.   This is curious, thought I.   Quickly “Lovers of Today” went to the turntable for audition.   It was one of those moments. Everything about it was perfect. Great intro, a sinister a-part, decorate...

Better Ed than Dead

Ed Sheeran - He looks like Van Morrison, kinda, huh? Check the tats.   Ed Sheeran is the highest paid entertainer on the planet. I think. I don’t know. They say he’s worth 65 million. Anyway, I read that somewhere. God knows he travels light and doesn’t have to share that dough with an orchestra or anything. I saw Ed once. At least that I’m aware of. He opened for the Rolling Stones in 2015 (or was it 16?) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Just me and several thousand of my closest friends. He came out with a guitar in front of that throng and mesmerized the crowd. Okay, not really. Some kids seemed to like him. Old people, eighty percent of the attendees, treated him as a curiosity or mild irritant, not uncommon for a warmup act served up before the Stones’ Lions and Christians, bread and circuses exhibition. Later, he sang “Beast of Burden” with Mick. He was better than Dave Matthews. I see his ruddy little mug and tousled ginger top here and there in the ...

A snapshot of Southern Racism, part 1

I thought I had taken a snap of the Sumner Drug Store. Apparently, I was a sad-ass photo-documentarian. So for graphic relief, please enjoy this photo of the dog who first assailed and then greeted me at Robert Johnson's gravesite on Money Road, a few miles outside of Greenwood, Mississippi.  Tallahatchie County is basically a food desert. Let’s say you’re traveling and you want a can of mixed nuts to nibble on, something halfway healthy. In the small towns and rural areas of the Mississippi Delta you can’t find a can of mixed nuts to save your life. So, I was relegated to buying the little one- or two-ounce pouch numbers they sell in convenience stores. Anyway, I was visiting Sumner, one of the county seats, home to the courthouse where the animals who killed and mutilated Emmett Till were found not guilty by a jury of their all-white peers. My last time in town I had visited the Till Memory Project. I’d gotten a tour, plus a lot of wisdom from a fellow named Benjamin...