Taylor Swift – Midnights: Only listened once this week, no great new revelations other than “You’re on Your Own, Kid” is growing on me.
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – Ella and Louis: Transitioning to winter is always hard for me, but these duets make the seasonal change more bearable.
Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee: Remember last week when I said my obsession with this album was a bit, uh, obsessive? Yeah, ‘nuff said.
Fela Kuti & the Africa 70 – Gentleman: I haven’t listened to Fela in a long time. I need to not make that mistake too many more times in my life.
Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen / Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Maternity Beat: I was intrigued by Thomassen’s reputation as a revolutionary (and noisy) jazz musician and the themes of motherhood on this record. Although there are frequent descents into the generic twaddle of so-called experimentation (especially with the vocals), those are more than offset by the record’s intensity and excitement.
Prince – Controversy: This one concludes my and Bob’s latest series of conversations, which were focused on the first four Prince albums. This one gets beat up too much in reviews; it’s as good as Dirty Mind.