Album in the crosshairs — Patsy Moore: What Surprises Us (2018)

In 2018, music of the flesh thrives hard while its more soulful counterpart ironically gives up more of its ghost, leaving the responsibility of holding down what remains to a shrinking handful of singer-songwriters like Patsy Moore, who reverently treat music as the spiritual nexus of mind and body. Moore’s latest album, What Surprises Us, […]

An album (or two) in my head 0066

I listened to Harriet Tubman’s latest album again — it’s crazy Deep Space Blackout, where the all-so-dope trio sees our Colson Whitehead and raises it with an ion thruster. Spaceways, Inc. is smiling all the way from Saturn. I’ve also been getting my sway on with a dancefloor-friendly release of vintage Metal, blended into Afrobeat. […]

Album in the Crosshairs: Saoul — The Juice (Independent Release)

I dig songwriter-musician Saoul Bumbu’s latest album, The Juice, for a reason similar to why I have a problem with much of modern Pop music recordings: the songs — even the ones performed by highly competent musicians — sound like the artists are simply playing by the numbers. And you then wonder if the culprit […]

Album in the Crosshairs: Annabel (lee) – The Cleansing (Youngbloods)

Learning that I received an opportunity to hear Annabel (lee)’s sophomore release — The Cleansing on the Youngbloods label — resulted in a feeling similar to what happens after visiting your parents and they present you with one of your favorite meals on your way out the door, wrapped and ready for you to enjoy […]

9 PRINCE ALBUMS I PLAY THE MOST

About a year after the release of Prince’s Dirty Mind album, Music industry publication Billboard attempted to answer the question “What is Black music” by creating a Black Singles chart. Reductionist tactics like Billboard’s are worthy of a lengthy post, but I’ll say only this for now: Black creatives and their output over the years […]

AN ALBUM (OR TWO) IN MY HEAD 0065

MAXWELL MAXWELL’S URBAN HANG SUITE 1996 20 years ago yesterday, after a bout of hesitation by Columbia Records and Modern Soul recording artist Maxwell, Urban Hang Suite was released to a consumer market where — for right or wrong reasons — American music executives and many performing artists cowered into creative capitulation by the powerful […]

ALBUM IN THE CROSSHAIRS: ANNABEL (LEE) – BY THE SEA… AND OTHER SOLITARY PLACES (NINJA TUNE / IF MUSIC)

ANNABEL (LEE) BY THE SEA… AND OTHER SOLITARY PLACES NINJA TUNE / IF MUSIC 2015 Beautifully lush at times, brilliantly spartan at others, but stylistically layered and engaging from start to finish, the new album By the Sea… and Other Solitary Places by the group Annabel(Lee) hits your senses like a soundtrack to an expressionist […]

AN ALBUM (OR TWO) IN MY HEAD (0062)

JOSÉ JAMES YESTERDAY I HAD THE BLUES: THE MUSIC OF BILLIE HOLIDAY BLUE NOTE 2015 An interesting personal but peripheral observation: I couldn’t immediately come up with a list of male baritone Jazz vocalists whom I listen to on a regular basis. My personal prejudice probably relegated baritones to R&B or Country-Western music, I’m not […]

AN ALBUM (OR TWO) IN MY HEAD (0061)

If you’re new to this series, be warned that my musical taste is all over the map, and many of the albums you’ll see here will not be covered by mainstream media. Kendrick Lamar, an artist whose album is featured this week, represents an exception. Linda Sharrock — unfairly remembered as only the wife of avant […]

AN ALBUM (OR TWO) IN MY HEAD THIS WEEK (0059)

A new release from Tony Allen, the drummer who arguably put the “Beat” in Afro Beat, and a 2-CD set from the unsung Bessie Jones are in my thoughts at the moment… TONY ALLEN FILM OF LIFE 2014 It’s hard for the general public to keep more than one name in their heads when it […]