YTD recordings listened to: 520
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 301
Not good music: 191
Buys: 14 (not all 2012 releases)
Possibles: Le Super Borgou De Parakou, Left Lane Cruiser/James Leg, Cedric Pescia: John Cage Sonatas, Chatham County Line, Dennis Bovell, Seluah, Donnie and Joe Emerson, Rodrigo Amado (2010), Zani Diabate, Isaiah Toothtaker (2011), Ondatropica, Lianne Le Havas, Alexandra Grimal
@@@ Alexandra Grimal: Owls Talk (Aparte, self-released, 2012). With Gary Peacock, Lee Konitz, and Paul Motian. Mid temp and inward looking improvisation. The rhythm section is mixed nice and high which I love and the tones of the recording are natural and intimate. Beautiful but not cheesy in the least. I would like to make time to listen to the whole record, but unless this record completely falls apart it’s gonna make it onto my best of 2012 records.
@@@ Bestial Holocaust: Into the Goat Vulva (Iron Bonehead, 2011) You just can not fuck with the band name and album title. On a scale of 1 to 10 these guys are a very respectable 8.75 on the Upset-O-Meter. I believe these gents are from Bolivia, and I can’t really tell if they’re singing in Spanish or not, but as we’ve discussed here repeatedly today’s metal isn’t about listening to lyrics and these guys live up to their name as they thrash in a most genuine manner. Oh, I think they’re rockin’ it en Espanol.
@@@ Altar of Plagues: White Tomb (2009) I believe epic-ness is what these guys are going for as the album opens up slowly with as a womb. That long intro segues into a pretty assault — not as in your face as some metal bands. These guys are both upset and existentially bummed out — lyrics like ‘everything is falling’. I would call this artistic metal, a little less brutal and a tad more sophisticated. BTW, I like both sophisticated metal and brutal meltdown hateful metal, it’s all good.
@@@ Nude Beach: II (2012) Guitar pop with a Tom Petty sound-a-like mixed pretty noticeably down in the mix. I’m into the second song and we’re firmly into Alex Chilton/Big Star territory. I would take the guitars down a bit, turn the treble down on the whole affair and get a charisma shot for the singer (or at least turn him up in the mix) — he doesn’t carry the weight of the rest of the band. Now in the third tune, Some Kinda Love, the singer is right there in the middle of the mix so I think the record could have been made with more focus and would have come out better. The band does have good energy and plays well.
@@@ Blackberry Smoke: The Whipporwill (Southern Ground, 2012). Good ol’ boy rock. Strong playing, excellent guitar tones. A few too many mainstream musical elements, as there is a certain poppiness to the record. To be honest I could stand to have it more redneck. You know, Sweet Home Alabama.
