Flying Basket – Akira Sakata & Jim O’Rourke with Chikamorachi & Merzbow – I love Akira’s sax for sure, but this avant garde jazz composition goes on a bit – B-
Southern Drawl – Alabama – One of those bands I prefer when Brad Paisley is name droppin’ em, this is so redneck it’s distracting. Still, when they are rocking it they can get you off, it’s kinda like shouting “nigga” on a rap song when you sing along, it is so wrong singing about shooting deer – C+
Uncomfortable – Andy Mineo – Christian rap, and the amazing grace is it is sure better than Christian rock. The title track is as intelligent as it can be when the performer isn’t that hot – C-
Back To The Woods – Angel Haze – A brutal sounding sophomore effort by Haze, filled with hard hard hard beats and a darkness that can be quite disconcerting. Her second excellent album from a woman who can’t stop her darkest thoughts for an instant – B+
Long Live – Atreyu – Is there a genre deader than rock and roll? Week in and week out I review terrible albums by lousy hardrockers like these guys. The singer screams pretty well – C-
The Names – Baoi – From the Twin Towers on the album cover, apparently Vampire Weekend synth player Chris Baoi isn’t fucking around here. That it is well done is a testament to his seriousness. Not a vanity project, and not quite good enough for a solo career, consider it an art project – B-
La Di Da Di – Battles – Experimental electronic music manipulation through maths – C+
Nashville Obsolete – Dave Rawlings Machine – Gillian Welch’s buddy, expect to see a lot of him at the Americana awards – C+
To Those Left Behind – blessthefall – Christian screamo – C-
Bang 3, Pt 2 – Chief Keef – Performs drill which means trap, which means lots of snare drum -on the first song he sings about peeing – D+
Higher Truth – Chris Cornell -Chris was responsible for one great album, Superunknown with Soundgarden, and I saw em at Roseland and they were great and year after year decade after decade, I’ve written how I am a huge fan but this album or the other doesn’t cut it, but you know? I am not a fan, and this is a folkie bore of a terrible album by a a man whose sole remaining grace is he isn’t smarmy – D-
Introducing Darlene Love – Darlene Love – I loved “Forbidden Nights” but over an album one Phil Spector rip off over heavy duty vocals after another gets old, older than I could have possibly imagine. Oddly, the two exceptions are both from Elvis Costello. Especially his Brutal Youth take out, “Still Too Soon Know” -over produced of course, but the adulterous duet with Bill Medley is a special moment – C
Digital Cook – David Cook – When last heard from, Cook had given up not much of a career despite winning American Idol to become a missionary. Everybody applauded and forgot him and this MOR balladeering won’t remind em – C-
Rattle That Lock – David Gilmour – While Roger Waters comes to terms with his Pink Floyd past between golf rounds with Bill Clinton, Gilmour has followed that instrumental Floyd with a mix of MOR tracks from rockabilly to the blues to jazz. As tasteful as you could hope for, yes that is Crosby and Nash singing harmonies on”A Boat Lies Waiting”. But it doesn’t add up to the Floyd, it adds up to half the Floyd – C
Tesla – Flux Pavilion – Dubstep guy adds heavier still beats to reggae songs, House anthems and other genre exercises – C
Didn’t He Ramble – Glen Hansard – The Swell Season guy means it maaaan – C-
30 TRIPS AROUND THE SUN: THE DEFINITIVE LIVE STORY 1965-1995 – Grateful Dead – Beyond useless, this is misleading – F
Country Evolution – Home Free – Five piece country harmony band who broke through on “The Sing Off”. Unbearable – D-
Crosseyed Heart – Keith Richards – It isn’t as bad as we expected, the human riff machine can still buckle down when he fancies (when: I saw the Stones in 2012 and Mick carried them), and hey it is at least as good as A Bigger Bang, but he can’t sing and the songs aren’t very good . It’s lucky the man is Keith Richards, it really is – C-
High Loops And Higher Loops – Iman Omari – Errol Anderson in Noisey wrote Omari “has been slow-cooking his spacey, mosaic textured R&B dreamscapes at the radar’s edge”. These are strangely beautiful sounds and while a little goes a long way, it still goes a long long way – B
Honeymoon – Lana Del Rey – Lana is like a magician with only one trick, but the trick is turning water into wine. This is her third collection of a sad songs about sad things, dreamy high on the beaches of ambience and mood. Topped off by a “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” that seems to shimmer away the track – B+
The State I’m In – Leigh Nash – This Sixpence None The Richer singer releases an album of irreproachable country songs, Leigh’s voice has just enough undertow to suggest depth without solemnity, her ballads are subtle enough to draw you in and her singing is clear, clean and unadorned enough to gain your trust. Try “Cruel Heart” or “Chicago” or “”Tell Me Now Tennessee” -try anything, she co-wrote them all. Leigh name checks Dottie West but she reminds me of mid-period Iris DeMent without sounding like her at all – Album Of The Week – A
A Raw Youth – Le Butcherettes – Alt blues guys with a chick lead singer and a lot of bottle – B-
All A Man Should Do – Lucero – “Went Looking For Warren Zevon’s Los Angeles” is the name of one song. I bet they don’t find it and if that is snide, it is an OK song, they are all ok, tasteful and a little boring – C+
Run Wild – Lydia – These guys are better than your average emo band, I think the male – female vocals helps on what amounts to indie pop – B-
GO:OD AM – Mac Miller – The former indie sensation is a responsible modern rapper, whether singing about being a parent one day (because his Mommy wants him to) or waiting for the weeknd (with Miguel) or using the excellent Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano on the album set closer, this is the weed smoker as settled white rapper. His second best album, it might have nothing to do with you, but the beats are great, the man can rap, and it is as grown as you’d could possible hope for -C+
Sorry – Meg Myers – well tonsilled blues alt singer songwriter with a lot of pain she wants to share, and does so pretty darn well even if we could live without her wanting to fuck us till she can feel us in her bones – B-
Panic Stations – Motion City Soundtrack – Excellent old timers pop punkers influenced by Superchunk who steadily improve over the years – B
Pagans In Vegas – Metrics – Emily Haines would love to be Gwen Stefani but she doesn’t have ska to lean on and she needs it, so instead Emily leads stodgy synth poppers on yet another snoozer – C-
In Return – Odesza – Lameass electronica – D
In The Cards – Robert DeLong – This LA singer songwriter electronica guy is the exception to every rule you have about hating this type of the music. He sounds, literally, like nobody else, and if he was a better songwriter he would be untouchable – B+
Songs To Play – Robert Forster – I was never much of a The Go- Betweens fans, a little too pastoral for my taste, and this album by the band leader hasn’t changed my mind. I eagerly await Robert Christgau’s “A” review around six weeks from now – C
Threat To Survival – Shinedown – Of all those bands that arrived in the wake of Nickelback, these guys were the best and this is the best at doing what it does -melodic, unpleasantly, aggressively indifferent – C-
Polaris – TesseracT – Hard hitting UK metal band with two lead singers though would you call it harmonizing? First song: “Dystopia” -in case you were wondering what you’re getting yourself into – C+
Abysmal – The Black Dahlia Murders – A gallop pounder which leans so heavily on their drums, they shoulda moved it further up in the mix than they did.Everything sticks to the drums, even the guitar riffs – B-
Back On Top – The Front Bottoms – Brian Sella is looking down the barrel of thirty years old, but still acts as though he has just got out of college last year, with great lyrics and not great songs: a singer songwriter and that’s all but is it enough? Hey man, I love him but no fucking way – B
Sorry All Over The Place – The Kickback – In the market for a local rock band with songs called “Sting’s Teacher Years”… and who can make it stand up? – B
Just For Fun – Timeflies – Synth pop duo with heavier than normal beats try real hard to have fun but can’t jump and shake hard enough – C
The Turnpike Troubadours – Turnpike Troubadours – I am just gagging to love this Americana country band, “Fall Out Of Love” is the first Jason Isbell influenced by I’ve heard and the whinnying fiddle on album opener “The Bird Hunters” is fabulous, but in all honesty I can’t listen to em for any length of time without nodding off – C-
Crossfaith – Xeno – Electronica meets metalcore from Japan, and if that sounds great it is because it is – B
Inside Out – XXI – Different mix of beats and core – C+
Songs From The Arc Of Life – Yo Yo Ma And Kathryn Scott – It is like having treacle poured down your ears till it comes out of your nose – D
