The Best

At the heart of it, it’s classic Kim Gordon: deadpan ultra-cool phrasing, even when she’s just saying seemingly random things (con-dit-ion-er), uneasy settings, riding cross the breeze. Musically it’s an industrial trap record, though, and that’s where things take on a decidedly Dutch tilt. It goes hard. Her most famous work in Sonic Youth goes pretty hard, of course, but it’s a different setup altogether here, and one that knocks everything you thought you knew about Kim Gordon into a cocked hat. It doesn’t work on paper – it could never work on paper. Yet it’s all bangers. Kim Gordon and MC Ride when? Also it has to be said that she’s older than my father. What a legend.

The bailout referred to is the payment of reparations to slave owners in the wake of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. That should give you an idea where this new record from warrior-poet Moor Mother is going, and if it makes you uncomfortable you should probably give up now. Maybe take up a hobby drinking warm milk and sleeping through the night without wetting yourself. This is a set of queasy ambient soundscapes rife with suffering and pain, strung together with Camae Ayewa’s signature confrontational poetry, half hip hop and half knotted jazz. It’s not accessible – it’s the exact opposite of accessible, in fact – but it is wildly powerful and required listening, at least once.

Part of it is probably because I’ve gotten back into psych pop/rock again, thanks to a sudden, out-of-nowhere urge to listen to Odyssey And Oracle that bloomed into other paths. Part of it is that Chad Ubovich has been a background presence in a lot of stuff I’ve listened to over the past fifteen years, including his work with Mikal Cronin, his stint in Fuzz with Ty Segall, and of course previous Meatbodies records. So it’s the right band coming in at the right time again, but it’s more than just vibes. Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom shows Ubovic et al. willing to layer melodies and dig deeper in search of that Great Psychedelic Meaning. There’s all the requisite fuzzy drone riffs, of course, and the semi-ambient backdrops, but there’s something altogether more Beatles happening between the lines here, and that pop leavening leaves the record much stronger for its presence.

In the midst of a name-sealing run, Brooklyn’s MIKE has some fun. There’s nothing urgent or world-shattering about Pinball, but it’s a great collab album, there’s some fun wordplay, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Most metal bands become hollow shells of their former selves once they age. The great bands of the late 70s and the 80s burned out by 1992 for the most part, and anything they released after that is suspect. The exception is Priest, who seem to just keep rolling as hot as they ever did. The most immediate comparison is 1990’s barnburner Painkiller, but subsequent listens reveal that they’re still banging the classics around as hard as they ever did.

Decent enough beats and a great flow, plus some solid rhyming. Just don’t let the man sing.

The Rest

Ariana Grande – eternal sunshine ★★★☆ (Republic/UMG) In which she gets divorced, examines her sometimes toxic relationship with the media, and finds comfort in friends and family.

Homeshake – CD Wallet ★★★☆ (Dine Alone) Lo-fi bedroom grunge/shoegaze, slow enough to weed out the casuals and heavy enough to suit the bedwetters.

Bolis Pupul – Letter To Yu ★★★☆ (Deewee) Club tracks in the process of being deconstructed, on the thin line between ambient and banger.

Torrey – Torrey ★★★☆ (Slumberland) Like alt-rock being swept away by the crashing force of the ocean, Torrey’s debut melds Pixies-esque vibes with a heavy layer of obscuranta a la My Bloody Valentine.

Dave Harrington, Max Jaffe, Patrick Shiroishi – Speak, Moment ★★★☆ (AKP) A jazz summit improvised and recorded on the first afternoon of their meeting.

Norah Jones – Visions ★★★☆ (Blue Note) Gentle pop soul, deftly handled.

GHLOW – Levitate ★★★☆ (PNKSLM) Chaos recorded, nuclear-grade industrial punk.

Anja Huwe – Codes ★★★ (Sacred Bones) Electro-goth solo work from a long-time front person.

samlrc – A Lonely Sinner ★★★ (Starrcade) Post-gaze, interesting samples, goes long.

HIJSS – Stuck On Common Ground ★★★ (Heavy Psych Sounds) Mid-range psych rock, stirring in spots but overall like reheated oatmeal.

Discovery Zone – Quantum Web ★★★ (RVNG) Play-it-safe by-the-numbers synth pop, great for your next corporate retreat.

Tomato Flower – No ★★★ (Ramp Local!) Some good moments of guitar-driven work here and there but overall wishy-washy psych rock with some experimental sections that tend to fall flat.

Real Farm – Compare What’s There ★★★ (Strap Originals) Post-punk done mostly well but with a flabby middle that exhausts more than it entertains.

Oisin Leech – Cold Sea ★★★ (Outside) One half of the Lost Brothers doing whispery, cold-weather folk music that turns in and in on itself.

Ralfy The Plug & ItsManMan – Out The Slums ★★★ (Stinc Team) Nothing special, but some bangers here and there.

Bleachers – Bleachers ★★☆ (Dirty Hit) A major step back from the last Bleachers record, this one feels like Antonoff wants to be everyone but can’t be anyone particularly well.

Lamplight – Lamplight ★★☆ (Western Vinyl) Light psych, light country, light indie rock. Light.

Slow Hollows – Bullhead ★★☆ (Danger Collective) Chill to the point of being frozen.