I've got a migraine, bear with me.
Ty Segall: First Taste (Drag City)
You have to use song titles to tell Segall's records apart, and I think I've worked harder to try to distinguish them than he or his fans have. This is the one with "I Worship the Dog" and "When I Met My Parents (Parts I & III)." Secret tip: when each song starts, the little timeline bar on your computer goes back to the beginning.
Florist: Emily Alone (Double Double Whammy)
Not awful indie folk group from Brooklyn, led by singer-songwriter Emily Sprague; some of the guitar playing (solid riffs on "Celebration") and singing recalls Big Thief and/or White Album-era Lennon-McCartney with far less interesting songs and considerably more grim humorlessness ("death will come in a cloud of love," etc.). There's some intimacy, some pleasing double-tracking, some word-salad poetry slamming. Fave lyric: "I also have eyes."
Burna Boy: African Giant (Atlantic)
Nigerian singer pushes pop with West African flavor, but the record takes too damn long to go not much of anywhere; it's easily at its most compelling when it focuses on history and legacy, but musically it's just too ordinary, going out of its way to blend in with bland Hot 100 ambient noize, though it's not without its pleasant, even soothing throwback qualities.
Bon Iver: I, I (Jagjaguwar) [c]
Not that it's a shocker, but fuck this chopped-up insubstantial AM radio crybababy wank and fuck the system that continues to reward him for releasing the same ludicrous album every three years.
Marika Hackman: Any Human Friend (Sub Pop) [r]
London-based singer-songwriter sets herself apart; she has chops, plays the drums, writes serious stuff and understands her own talents. She kicks this off with a pleasing acoustic trifle but launches into the flawlessly constructed melodic pop "The One" with considerable fanfare because she knows it deserves it. "Blow" has a nice nocturnal beat and handclaps. "I'm Not Here You Are" is catchy '80s pop in the MGMT sort-of-ironic-but-not-really fashion with good guitar. There's a little Tori Amos and a little St. Vincent but it's all more human and direct than any obvious reference points, and kissing and fucking all night, sure, please.
Sleater-Kinney: The Center Won't Hold (Mom + Pop)
Speak of the devil: you know, Annie Clark will turn us all into fucking boring formalist robots if we let her. Pete Quaife left the Kinks because of "Tin Soldier Man"; Janet Weiss is a bigger loss for a better reason, and a far more significant element to this band's longtime appeal. This stuffiness, this lack of personality (from a band of so much personality), it's suffocating. Those who are showering this with praise, I wonder if they're actually hearing the record itself or just hearing what they want to hear. Greil Marcus is completely correct to state that St. Vincent, whose self-constructed image has never been as profound as her fans think, is a fraud and that the record is an act of theft, and I say that without having anything like the investment in Sleater-Kinney that he does. Inspirational Sentiment, from Amber Morris the first time I played the record on the office speakers: "I hate this. I fucking hate this."
Oso Oso: Basking in the Glow (Triple Crown)
Do not adjust your set -- this band formed in 2014 in Long Beach, NY and is now getting absurd amounts of credit for ticking all the emo boxes and doing literally nothing else. Innovation abounds.
Taylor McFerrin: Love's Last Chance (From Here)
Bobby's son, jazz-R&B fusion with a feather touch of relationship-oriented angst but mostly NPR-friendly lite entertainment; the sort of thing you'd hear at a hotel bar that hosts live music three nights a week and you're like "Man these guys are bringin' it." That's not a criticism.
ALSO RECOMMENDED:
Pere Ubu: Long Goodbye (Cherry Red) [the tweens are gonna love it]
FOR THE AMBIENT FILES:
Andre Bratten: Pax Americana (Smalltown Supersound)
Felicia Atkinson: The Flower and the Vessel (Shelter Press)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION TO COME:
* Ride: This Is Not a Safe Place
Sarathy Korwar: More Arriving
Nerija: Blume
Shura: Forevher
REJECTS:
Night Moves: Can You Really Find Me
Trash Kit: Horizon
Ada Lea: What We Say in Private [NYIM]
Beyonce: The Lion King- The Gift
Clark: Kiri Variations [NYIM]
B Boys: Dudu [NYIM]
Angie McMahon: Salt
Clairo: Immunity [I knew what this would sound like before I played it because of the cover]
Of Monsters and Men: Fever Dream
Chance the Rapper: The Big Day [lol jesus]
Strange Ranger: Remembering the Rockets
The Regrettes: How Do You Love?
Eilen Jewell: Gypsy
Lillie Mae: Other Girls
Oh Sees: Face Stabber
Uniform: Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back [NYIM]
The Murder Capital: When I Have Fears
Blanck Mass: Animated Violence Mild
Fionn Regan: Cala
The Hold Steady: Thrashing Through the Passion
ORPHAN TUNES:
Ada Lea "Easy" [What We Say in Private]
ARCHIVAL GRADE CHANGES:
Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d. city (Interscope 2012) = [hr] -> [A+]
Saint Etienne: Words and Music (Heavenly 2012) = [hr] -> [A+]
Kelela: Hallucinogen (Warp EP 2015) = [hr] -> [A+]
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