Anything interesting out this week? Anything you're catching up on from recent weeks?

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

the year has been slow for names i recognize. most of the ones ive listened to have been mostly duds.

i checked out the new curren$y and i wasnt really feeling it. a couple of tracks were okay/good but nothing i would want to go back to.

>the year has been slow for names i recognize. most of the
>ones ive listened to have been mostly duds.

Yeah, it's been a bit slow for me, too, but I also just haven't been listening as much. My backlog is deep right now. Some favs so far:

Hip hop/R&B:
RAP Ferreira - Bob's Son (this is good but not as memorable, for me, as Purple Moonlight Pages)

Jazmine Sullivan - Heaux Tales (could do without the skits after two or three listens)

Rhye - Home

Kota the Friend - Lyrics to Go vol 2

Ovrkast - Try Again (is this 2021? or is this a re-release?)

Madlib - Sound Ancestors (near the top of my listening so far for the year, easily)

But honestly, of those, only the RAP Ferreira, Ovrkast, and Madlib are getting steady play. Rhye will probably be a slow burn throughout the year, especially when it warms up a bit and can be chilled to outside in the evening.

Some other random releases:
Kacy & Clayton/Marlon Williams - Plastic Bouquet (Americana-ish)

Weather Station - Ignorance (worth the hype - love her voice, new sound for her that really pays off)

Chevalrex - Providence (some french slightly avant chamber pop - really crept up on me)

Buck Meek - Two Saviors (of Big Thief - just a great set of straight-forward tunes with a few really exceptional ones)

Caroline Shaw - Narrow Sea (pop music's favorite contemporary classical-ish composer -- this is a genuinely good release and it has Dawn Upshaw, a favorite singer of mine, on vocals -- highly recommended)

That said, there's a lot on my list that I've barely given an ear to yet. Some I have really liked on first listen or skim:

Femi Kuti/Made Kuti - Legacy + - liked Femi's half more but a good listen all the way through

Dam-Funk - Destination: Known - two-track EP, both long, nothing groundbreaking but I'll be returning

those YOD/Tha God Fahim releases seem really solid, just haven't been in the mood for them

Myka 9 - Nine Clouds (only listened to a few tracks but I liked what I heard a lot)

Black Country, New Road - For the first time - not sure how to describe these folks yet but I really liked the singles they released, looking forward to the full album

Black Nile - The Further Side - jazz but with beats/hip hop inflections -- I really liked this on first listen and am excited to go back. Good write-up from Bandcamp: https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/black-nile-the-further-side-review

A whole lot of jazz that I haven't touched yet but that looks really promising, too.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

i am going through my playlist of songs i felt are worth revisiting so far. its about 260 songs, i will probably finish listening today. there have been some good albums this year but only 2/3 that i would consider great. hopefully it starts picking up in march.

i havent checked out the below from the ones you listed. i will start going through them.


Hip hop/R&B:
Rhye - Home

Ovrkast - Try Again (is this 2021? or is this a re-release?)

Some other random releases:
Kacy & Clayton/Marlon Williams - Plastic Bouquet (Americana-ish)

Weather Station - Ignorance (worth the hype - love her voice, new sound for her that really pays off)
Chevalrex - Providence (some french slightly avant chamber pop - really crept up on me)

Buck Meek - Two Saviors (of Big Thief - just a great set of straight-forward tunes with a few really exceptional ones)

Caroline Shaw - Narrow Sea (pop music's favorite contemporary classical-ish composer -- this is a genuinely good release and it has Dawn Upshaw, a favorite singer of mine, on vocals -- highly recommended)

Some I have really liked on first listen or skim:
Femi Kuti/Made Kuti - Legacy + - liked Femi's half more but a good listen all the way through

Dam-Funk - Destination: Known - two-track EP, both long, nothing groundbreaking but I'll be returning

Black Country, New Road - For the first time - not sure how to describe these folks yet but I really liked the singles they released, looking forward to the full album

Black Nile - The Further Side - jazz but with beats/hip hop inflections -- I really liked this on first listen and am excited to go back. Good write-up from Bandcamp: https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/black-nile-the-further-side-review

Their first non-soundtrack album. I liked it, but I really liked Cave's last two albums where things can get pretty abstract.

----
I check for: Serengeti, Zeroh, Open Mike Eagle, Jeremiah Jae, Moka Only.

I haven't kept up with Nick Cave over the last few years (he's such a mood, I have to be there) but excited to check this out.


-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

----
I check for: Serengeti, Zeroh, Open Mike Eagle, Jeremiah Jae, Moka Only.

Freddie Gibbs - Pinata Deluxe (80some odd tracks of remixes, instrumentals, etc)

Roberta Flack - First Take Deluxe (physical came out last year, but now streaming -a dozen bonus tracks)

Yahzarah - The Ceremony

Donny Hathaway - Live at the Bitter End (was vinyl only/Record store Day, now streaming)

>Roberta Flack - First Take Deluxe (physical came out last
>year, but now streaming -a dozen bonus tracks)

Yeah, I need to spend some time with this

>Donny Hathaway - Live at the Bitter End (was vinyl only/Record
>store Day, now streaming)

On the one hand, I'll probably cop this bc at this point I've become a bit of a Donny completist BUT isn't this the same show from that Never My Love anthology but with, like, two additional tunes? Aggravating when they do this. (Unless I'm mistaken...)

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

I like several of these versions even more than the originals, and I say that as a huge fan of Piñata, which was my favorite album the year it dropped.

Glad this Piñata Deluxe dropped and put it on my radar.

Who is Cosima? Saw her listed on a new R&B list somewhere, gave her new ep a spin -- it's really really good! Her voice is unique in this space, literally: lower register, a bit unpolished, very emotive and immediate yet subtle at the same time.

Eager to listen again.

First line of the first song: "the first time I kicked you out the whole block was watching" -- that's just solid songwriting.

PHILLY is a strange break-up-to-find-new-love song where expected lines veer shift unexpectedly: "crying while we're breaking up/ but only cause it's what i'm suppposed to/do when someone says it's done/even if it's what I wanted"

and a great hook: "and i wonder if he drove to Philly just to see me/i wonder if he'd drive to Philly just to see me"

The production is unique too: PHILLY has some standard trap elements but is also really smart by incorporating vocals directly into the beat and smartly incorporates strings as an almost percussive element.

Need to spend more time but I need to go back and listen to more from her. Recommend a listen for sure!

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~