Taylor Swift – Midnights: I didn’t listen a lot this week. I’m hearing more cracks and fewer pleasant surprises than I heard on early listens to her best albums. I hope that changes. A Silver Mt. Zion – Horses in the Sky: I was out of town and I missed my dog, so it’s no wonder I ended up with… Read more »
Amelie Lens – Fabric Presents Amelie Lens / Deep Dish – Global Underground 021 Moscow / Darren Emerson – Global Underground 020 Singapore / Danny Tenaglia – Global Underground 004 Athens: I was on a bit of a GU kick this week (with one of my favorite Fabric mixes thrown in) as I navigated some tough deadlines at work. Taylor… Read more »
Jon Hopkins – Immunity: There are points on this record where the sound is like walking out of a crowded club and stepping into the open night, where the air is cool and the streetlights glow against the black sky and the extroverted expectations of the club deflate like an exhalation of air. Danilo Plessow – Fabric Presents Danilo Plessow… Read more »
Underworld – Pearl’s Girl: I first heard this single while I was driving to a gig in Trenton NJ. That night, I was playing alongside a sitar player, a drummer, a pianist, a trumpet player, and whoever else showed up. I was so floored by “Pearl’s Girl (14996 Version)” that I incorporated the bass melody throughout our three-hour set of… Read more »
Various Artists – Alterity: I wonder why I don’t listen to more experimental electronic dance music. This has most of the things I love about dance music, and it scratches my itch to challenge my ears and my brain with sounds I’ve never heard before. Ben Watt – Buzzin’ Fly, Vol. III: The beginning of the week was cold and… Read more »
Low – Hey What: This is a good balance of noisy chaos and accessible (maybe even pretty) indie songwriting. It’s not an easy album, but it’s not super difficult either, and it’s worth the effort. There are a lot of layers, both in sound and words, and it’s the kind of record that reveals itself slowly. Pharoah Sanders – Karma:… Read more »
Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers: This album continues to unfold as I enter my second week of listening. “Worldwide Steppers,” “Crown,” and “Auntie Diaries” jumped out this week. As usual, Kendrick challenges us to think about hard things: good and bad, innocent and criminal, dark and light. Also, I love the way he included his longtime… Read more »
I wasn’t impressed when I listened to Promises last year, so when I heard that Pharoah Sanders died, I decided to try again. The repeated motif is hypnotic, the strings border on inspired, and I love Sanders’ singing on “Movement 4,” but the sax is terrible. This is the kind of dodgy, ‘80s-inspired playing that led to my hatred of… Read more »
Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers: This is my first pass through Mr. Morale, and like all his records, listening is challenging. Not just deciphering the album’s meaning, but also reconciling it with my desire for Lamar to be the moral compass for modern music. But as he says on this album, “Kendrick is not your savior.”… Read more »
I’ve never heard Back to Back before now, so I decided to research the album. Google led me to what might be the most curmudgeonly review I’ve ever read on Amazon. But I get what the guy is saying. Hodges’ playing is so good that he makes me forget that saxophone is my second-least favorite instrument. The rhythm section is… Read more »