18!!! Mammoth Grinder, Primal Rite, Sumac

Posted on December 12, 2018 by thecrosspollinator

@@@ Mammoth Grinder: Cosmic Crypt (Relapse, 2018) I haven’t heard a ton of metal this year that made me jump up and down but I snagged a few choices off a year end list at the AV club and this one led by the drummer for Power Trip looks engaging. It’s got a nice friendly mosh flavor to it. Just your meat and potatoes smackdown. It doesn’t have the same energy as Power Trip’s 2017 release which I really liked but it’s solid. It’s got a couple of the dudes from Iron Reagan whose name I like but about whom I know little.

@@@ Primal Rite: Dirge of Escapism (Revelation, 2018) This recording has a bit of a different feel to it than the Mammoth Grinder one above. That band name is very accurately chosen and this first tune is a bit math-y with a nice muscular stomp and some punk flavorings. The singer’s voice is fucked with and he sounds like he’s inside a big concrete tube and barely understandable. By the third tune Antivenom the water is at a full boil and the thrashing and grinding about is quite intense. I’m not feeling like this is best of 2018 for my list but it’s got a lot going for it.

@@@ Sumac: Love in Shadow (Thrill Jockey, 2018) Marketed as a largely improvised metal record there are four long ass pieces three of which clock in at over 15 minutes. I’m listening to the second tune right now and it is a noisy and energetic guitar record without being a full metal meltdown kinda record. The focus here is on playing as one would expect with 15 minute pieces. I like how it’s not a sloppy record by any means but it’s looser than most metal records. It is a big metal jam record. I like the sound of it and I will circle back on it when I have closer to 1 hour and 6 minutes.

YTD recordings listened to: 684
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 371
Not good music: 265

Best: 16
Honorable Mentions: 8

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Janelle Monae, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Converge, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac

Willie Rosario: Neuva Cosecha Side 2

Posted on December 12, 2018 by thecrosspollinator

WillieRosario_LadoB

#music

#vinylrecord

Nobody will defend Ocasio Cortez against sexist attacks cuz she’s (gasp) socialist!

Posted on December 12, 2018 by thecrosspollinator

From Salon here:

OcasioCortezSexism

I don’t see anyone from the centrist Democratic wing of the party calling out sexism the way they did to defend Hillary. Cuz she’s socialist no?

Conservatives are attacking her as stupid, Kellyanne Conway who has called out sexist attacks on her Conway ass just said today Ocasio Cortez doesn’t seem to know anything.

All this shit is sexist, straight up, and nobody gives a shit because Ocasio Cortez is advocating economic policies that both parties hate.

The stench of hypocrisy here is quite strong.

President Head-Up-His-Ass has lost the thread!

Posted on December 12, 2018 by thecrosspollinator

From Reuters here:

Impeachment

Are people really gonna riot for El Trump-o? Out of some great emotional connection I assume?

I find this highly unlikely.

‘

Music for 12/11/18!!! Yves Tumor, Balun, Kali Uchis

Posted on December 11, 2018 by thecrosspollinator

@@@ Yves Tumor: Safe in the Hands of Love (Warp, 2018) Today we spend a bit of time with Pitchfork’s most highly rated records of 2018 — #1 and #2 and #21 respectively. I’m not interested in the standard list entrants like No Name 25 and Kacy Musgraves, etc I’m looking for some music on the fringe. It opens up a tad jazzy and a lot electronic but upfront. After the bashing intro tune it moves into more standard dark electro territory with some nice glitching and chopped up, oscillating synths. It’s not mind blowing but it’s got energy and movement to it as it appears to shun grooves in favor of periodic outbursts. The third tune brings in a singer and moves from a more abstract sonic thing to a chopped up r&b vibe. The record completes some sort of arc and is pretty standard pop-tronic by the fourth tune. I liked the more adventurous early tunes.

@@@ Kali Uchis: Isolation (Universal, 2018) I’ve seen this record on more than one best of 2018 list. It’s marketed with Tyler the Creator’s and Bootsy Collins’ names attached but it’s a mash of sounds — some Latin, some funk, some modern electro r&b. She’s name dropping in this first tune and I don’t like that. I’m on the third tune and I like the sounds and the production but I don’t really like her or the tunes. I could go on and on as to why I might not like her singing but that’s intellectual justification. I wish the lyrics were smarter and maybe I would like her singing more.

@@@ Balun: Prisma Tropical (Good Child, 2018) #46 on NPR’s best 50 albums of 2018. I think I heard the pre-release single from these Puerto Rican folks doing a redraw of Puerto Rican music expectations. Man, I much prefer this to the Uchis record above. These guys are singing in Spanish and using Latin rhythms but the mashing up of influences, most notably indie electronic sounds is much more intelligent and flattering to the artists. More creative, that’s what I’m after. I would like it more if it hit a bit harder and it does strive for an angelic, quasi-New Age dreamy vibe that I usually am not into at all. But as I wrote earlier in this review, just taking Latin music and stuffing it inside an indie electronic turkey is a pretty creative thing to do.