Kent B Poop ’10



cover of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way  Buy New or Used via amazon
Sharon Jones & the Dap KingsI Learned the Hard Way
Of course, it’s a little retro, but she doesn’t mimic the Motown or Stax mold. The songs are subtle with no killer bridges or gloss; yet they slowly take hold. It’s mature music about love and relationships gone bad. It’s soul.



cover of The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme
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cover of Four tet  - There is Love in You
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The Radio Dept.Clinging to a Scheme Wonderful melodies, the Pet Shop Boys but less smarmy
Four tetThere is Love in You Ambient techno that is warm and hypnotic.



cover of Lucky Soul – A Coming of Age  Buy New or Used via amazon
Lucky SoulA Coming of Age
This girl group revival hasn’t hit me yet. Lucky Soul comes close with the uplifting energy of Katrina and the Waves and a British accent.



cover of Portico Quartet – Isla  Buy New or Used via amazon
Portico QuartetIsla
I could describe this as new age minimalist jazz with trance-like percussion and Kenny G solos, except I really like it. It’s not yuppie jazz. It’s not yuppie jazz…….



cover of Shakira - Sale el Sol  Buy New or Used via amazon
ShakiraSale el Sol
Although most Americans missed it, Shakira’s “Waka Waka” sparked World Cup Fever with global good will that would make Bono jealous. Multi-lingual pop that is a throwback to her earlier albums, heavy with Columbian rhythms and a few ballads.


cover of The Contrast – God of Malfunction
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cover of Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
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The ContrastGod of Malfunction / SuperchunkMajesty Shredding
Two unassuming power pop bands. Superchunk took a nine years break to dump their punk sound for a sweet twin guitar attack and songs like “My gap feels weird”. The Contrast’s sixth album was produced by Little Steven (their 2008 Perfect Disguise is even better).


cover of Robert Wyatt – For the Ghosts Within
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cover of Laurie Anderson – Homeland
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Robert WyattFor the Ghosts Within / Laurie AndersonHomeland
Two old weirdo’s who haven’t lost a step. Wyatt includes seven jazz standards that he talks/croons with a breathy musicality. He also adds Middle Eastern flare, great sax solos, and some whistling. Laurie Anderson tells stories about America. It’s ethereal intellectual stuff that’s over my head except the opening line, “It’s a good time for bankers”.


cover of Neil Young - Le Noise
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cover of Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain’t No Grave
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Neil YoungLe Noise       /      Johnny CashAmerican VI: Ain’t No Grave
We’re not dead yet! Well, yes and no. Neil bats about 500, but the production’s loud, with heavy reverb and chunky garage riffs. Johnny Cash’s final(?) album is far more than that. The voice is frayed but the spirit isn’t as he looks back at a life well lived and redemption that is already here.



WORLD (African Reissues Rule)
Konono No.1 Assume Crash Position
D.O. Misiani & Shirati JazzKing of History (classic 70 Benga beats form Kenya)
Rikki Ililonga & Musi-O-TynyaDark Sunrise
Etoile De DakarOnce a Time in Senegal
AfroCubism (self-titled)
AmanazAfrica



COMPILATIONS
Africa 50 Years of Music (“We are all Africans”) – an 18 CD Box)
The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria,
African Pearls: Congo – Pont Sur Le Congo
Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sound in 1970s Nigeria
Nigeria Special, Vol. 2 Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds and Nigerian Blues 1970
Next Stop… Soweto, Vols 1-3. Vol. 1 has Township vocals that could have been lifted from the classic Indestructible Beat of Soweto, but in Vol. 2, R & B and funk start moving in. You can forget the African connection, it’s like an undiscovered (but charmingly sloppy) Mar-Keys album with Ernie Isely on guitar. Vol 3 jazz – like lost funky Blue Note Classics.



RECYCLED OLD STUFF
Roy BrooksEthnic Expression
CatalystThe Complete Recordings Vol. 1, Vol 2
Soft MachineNDR Jazz Workshop
John Carter & Bobby BradfordMosaic Select
Ella Mae MorseRocks (Overlooked 40s vocalist who helped pave the way for rockabilly and Elvis),
V.A.Cave of Clear Light – The Pye and Dawn Records Underground Trip 1967-1975
V.A.Looking Towards the Sky (Ember Records)
These two compilations of English psychedelic, folk and progressive sounds that are not all lava lamps and trippy poetry. There is actual song structure with guitar solos that go places. A couple of ringers like Donovan and an undercover Stevie Winwood pitch in, but my favorite is the group – Demon Fuzz.
The FleshtonesIt’s Super Rock Time
Tommy Keene Tommy Keene You Hear Me – A Retrospective
A garage band and power pop journeyman who have been around for years and finally get their due.
KaleidoscopePulsating Dreams (where David Lindley got his start with a prescient mix of world music, old blues and 60s San Francisco psychedelia – although it doesn’t quite hold up for two CDs.



IT’s OLD BUT A-LIVE!
Hot TunaLive at the New Orleans House
Otis ReddingLive on the Sunset Strip
Moby GrapeLive The sound quality sucks. They recorded only one great album, this isn’t it.
V.A.The T.A.M.I. Show Great concert DVD that includes The Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys. But who booked Leslie Gore and James Brown on the same bill?



JAZZ
Alan HoldsworthBlues for Tony
John McLaughlinTo The One (70s fusion lives)
Keith Jarrett & Charles HadenJasmine
Paul MotianLost in a Dream
Thomas Stronenen/FoodQuiet Inlet
Jason MoranTen
Matthew Shipp4d
Steve Coleman & Five ElementsHarvesting Semblances and AffinitiesThe Mark Lomax TrioThe State of Black America
Jerome SabbaghI Will Follow You
The Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion EnsembleMiles Away
AngleEpileptical West
Kenny WernerNo Beginning, No End



CLASSICAL
Isabelle Faust / Alexander MelnikovBeethoven Complete Sonatas
Arcadi Volodosin Vienna
Joyce DiDonatoColbran, the Muse
Alexander MelnikovShostakovich, The Preludes & Fugue
Hilary HahnHigdon & Tchaikovsky
Veronica CangemItalia 1600 Argentina 1900
Paavo JarviBeethoven Symphony No. 9
Retrospect TrioPurcell: Ten Sonatas in Four Parts
LanggaardMusic of the Spheres



WORTHWHILE
Tom PettyMojo
Elizabeth CookWelder
Cinema Red and BlueCinema Red and Blue
QuadronQuadron
Grinderman2



I’M SO ASHAMED
cover of Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite  Buy New or Used via amazon
Kylie MinogueAphrodite. She’s still cute as a button, and in search of vacuous love on the 70s dance floor. It’s mindless infectious fun where the bass line and drum machine kick in after 20 seconds of a slow sparkly intro. The tile “Can’t Beat the Feeling” pretty much sums it up – just don’t tell anyone.



MARKETING MADNESS

cover of Robyn – Body Talk
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cover of Bruce Springsteen – The Promise
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RobynBody Talk 1, Body Talk 2, Body Talk / Bruce SpringsteenThe Promise
Enough already. Two legitimate artists who know how to shill. Robyn’s fan (me included) shelled out for two EPs and then she drops plans for the third and, instead, releases a Body Talk 3 “Best of”. The Boss again releases “Darkness” outtakes with a (limited edition) kitchen sink box set. Skip it, but pick up his London Calling: Live in Hyde Park (DVD).



IS IT JUST ME, OR DOES THE PRODUCTION SUCK
Black KeysBrothers
Smith WesternsSmith Westerns
No AgeEverything in Between



INDIE MIND CONTROL

cover of Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
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cover of Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
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Arcade FireThe Suburbs / DeerhunterHalcyon Digest
The Suburbs gets a solid B+ and some of it almost rocks, but enough of these “Indie”” favorites who are a little too serious, a little too talented, and try to dazzle you with multi genres of music. I take the Fleshtones and a six pack, and, uh, also Kylie Minogue (see above).