An Album (Or Two) In My Head 0068

I’m listening to fresh-from-the-factory Soul Jazz that hits from another decade and planet, and a Fania release from even further back … Nicholas PaytonDrip2023Paytone Records Payton pulled off transtemporal travel when his album took it back to ‘79 — peace be unto O.D.B. I plead to the headz: let’s not re-ignite debates about Jazz purity, […]

“The Other Black Girl” Floored Folks in Book Form, and It’s Now a TV Series

The show started streaming on Hulu last night. Those with eyes have witnessed this real-life story before: people guilty of working while Black in White spaces while the latter thinks it’s trying sooo hard to decriminalize the former’s daily identity that the outcome can be outrageously funny. And simply outrageous. You can replace “Black” with […]

Aural Dive: “Perfect Day” by Al Green

Last week, I digested my weekly two-hour assortment of new tracks to possibly like. I always listen to all of them at least once, except I stumbled upon Al Green’s “Perfect Day”. And when I say stumbled, you can probably interpret it more like “I goofily tripped”. I was like, “Is that Al Green?” It’s […]

An Album (Or Two) In My Head 0067

You’re looking at three albums this week, instead of two. The Leyla McCalla and Matthew Shipp albums were obvious choices for me, but Hannah Jadagu has kept me curious about what’s next for her … Breaking the Thermometer Leyla McCalla2022Anti Records I’m drawn to the deep-dish Americana Folk, enriched by three distinct ingredients that redefine the […]

Album in the Crosshairs: Saoul — Popsicle | 2023 | Phreakyamind Inc

Saoul’s Popsicle may be one of the most sobering groovalicious parties in your ear this summer — a satisfying album in the face of “cookie-cutter” celeb culture and politico worship that have packaged themselves to become a new phallic north star for unicultural market appeal. Had enough of unhealthy celeb admiration, and public debates about […]

Scene & Heard: Jenny Hates Techno

Some of you have been waiting for this: a modern Punk band that doesn’t sound like a 90s Pop doppelganger. Welcome to Jenny Hates Techno. I really appreciate the pairing of band members John M. Ellison on guitar and “Boo” Dixon on bass. They probably listened to the same bands you and I did growing […]

Marion, Kansas Police Raids Town Newspaper, 98-Year-Old Owner Dies

We should call out attacks on the press in all towns, large and small … I rarely read a local news headline from the Midwest that says, “Kansas Newspaper Owner Died in the Line of Duty After Police Raid”. So, yeah. I started digging. The decedent is 98-year-old Joan Meyer, co-owner of the Marion County […]

An Album (Or Two) In My Head 0066

Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane With Eric DolphyJohn Coltrane2023Impulse Records Call this document the Book of Coltrane III, recorded in the summer of 1961, just predating his quintet’s now-iconic Live at the Village Vanguard releases. This means we are treated to the stellar nebula of Coltrane’s new genesis — a revelation, if you […]

Lizzo Blitz

Hmph. That lawsuit … The latest news about Lizzo ain’t surprised me — until I read the weight-shaming part. And then you could see the mushroom cloud over my skull. I was like — no lie — “Holy Deckard-in-the-director’s cut … ” And then I laughed at her Replicant azz. I became serious after that. […]

Album in the Crosshairs: Annabel (lee) — “Live Covers”; Further Out Recordings (2023)

Fiercely creative musicians like Sheila Ellis and Richard E — collectively known as Annabel (lee) — will always grab my attention. And the group’s ability to show the world another unfamiliar property of their musical superpowers with every release made me ask a near-rhetorical question a few months ago: “What’s next?” Live Covers, the duo’s […]