@@@ Spoon: Hot Thoughts (Matador, 2017) I’ve always thought Spoon overrated but I check every record as these guys are critical darlings. To me these guys are a funk band trapped in a white boy indie band’s body. They’re TRANS, so to speak. They bit a Led Zeppelin drum intro on the second tune and immediately go angular. I don’t think I like the singer — if he had David Bowie vibes I might appreciate it more. Oops that was the third tune, interwebz situation. I’m on the fourth tune and I’m sure the singer is the most awesome guy ever but I don’t like his microphone work.
@@@ Smino: blkswn (Zero Fatigue/Downtown, 2017) Hip hop off the Apple Music new music section. Same with the Spoon record. This first tune is syrupy with a blunted feel. I like the arrangement on this first tune, minimal, slinky and funky. The sounds here far surpass the tunes. There are a few guest vocalists so you might find a vocalist you dig. Or you could just listen for the sounds, plenty of folks do that. The MCs aren’t awful they don’t elevate the tunes for me.
@@@ Fit for an Autopsy: The Great Collapse (Entertainment One, 2017) Some of the metal on the Apple Music new music section is mainstream leaning, but this is not one of those choices. Ah wait, they’re doing that common Linkin Park move where it’s rough and heavy in the verse and it soars in the chorus. They either have two singers or a shapeshifting one — it lurches from caveman growling to quasi-operatic art school singer in the chorus. The band can be quite rough — not crazy molten, methed out metal but some more than solid work through herk-a-jerk moves. It’s all right, solid B- but check for yourself.
YTD recordings listened to: 194
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 106
Not good music: 72
Buys: 1
Honorable Mentions: 1
Possibles: Chris McGregor, Dave Arner Trio, Zomby, Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Fofoulah, Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Leviathan, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Janelle Monae, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Gentleman Surfer, Satoko Fuji, Divanhana, Moken, Juan Atkins, Drone, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Aethenor, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, James Brandon Lewis, Yotoco, Tinariwen, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Power Trip, Reverend Payton, J.I.D., Oddisee
The Cross Pollinator 