Rabshakeh

Seikatsu Kojo Iinkai – Live In Masuda

I like Shipp live but he has had a tendency to over record in the last decade or so.

I don't think we have a favourite releases of the year thread yet. (If we do, by all means shut me up and point me in the correct direction.) Anyway, for anyone who wants to, please post your favourite records released during the last 14 months or so. Starting with me, I think that the records that I have enjoyed most have been: - The Fay Victor vocal Herbie Nichols record seemed to me to be in the spirit of classic vocalists like Betty Carter without being derivative. - Matthew Shipp - New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz - This strikes me as one of the first Shipp records in a while that has something fresh to say. I really enjoyed the very gutsy chord work. Nice to hear it because I had given up on recorded Shipp. - The Ahmed box was a lot of fun, if overall quite uneven. I enjoyed the Monk/Rouse dynamic, which didn't get boring despite the extremely long tracks. Other than that, I'm not sure there's much I'd rush back to immediately.

I bought it ages ago on a tip from a bloke I knew on twitter. It was still impressively underpriced for such a good record.

Has it been reissued?

Dick Hyman, Dick Wellstood – Stridemonster! The Duo Pianos Of Dick Hyman / Dick Wellstood (1985)

JAMAHA!! – Extended Nose (1986) Steve Reid – Odyssey Of The Oblong Square (1977) Listened to both of these records for the first time.

Thanks

I really love that one. Great stuff.

I think that the CD that I posted is a comp of this record and another.

John Butcher Solo and With Toshimaru Nakamura - Cavern With Nightlife

Guy Klucevsek, Ain't Nothin' But A Polka Band – Polka From The Fringe

Roscoe Holcomb - Close to Home Listening to this today I am struck by how much it sounds like Holcomb learned his songs from records. There are moments where the phrasing seems identical to the likes of Dock Boggs or Frank Hutchison.

Is this a recent reissue? I had missed it. I always wanted to own this record.

Someone posted this a day or two back. I looked it up on Discogs but I couldn't figure out which records it is sourced from.

I was recently surprised to find an office junior who was a big fan of Lonnie Johnson. She (29 at the time) seemed to have mostly heard his later records and was surprised to find out about his pre-war recordings. Streaming is weird in that, whilst it has produced a generation of people who see music as background fodder, it does mean that for those who are hooked, Lonnie Johnson is no more distant than The Deftones or Steps.

Mrs H Sings - Songs Dance and Mischief On the Yoto (a robust piece of hardware for children's audio books and songs). Mrs H is a children's entertainer based in London. Her weekly sing a longs are basic parenting round these parts. (Not a joke: a local childcare practitioner recommended that a friend attend an event as part of dealing with a low level bout of post-natal depression). Surprisingly, her recordings are incredibly excellent. Original children songs recorded with a charming trad jazz band. It is a good deal more impressive than Tuba Skinny or your average Syncopated Times 2010s New Orleans vocal fare.

Nala Sinephro – Endlessness This one made a lot of Jazz year end lists, particularly outside of the jazz establishment. It might be the most highly rated jazz release of the last year. It is interesting to me how a record like this comes to represent the genre of jazz to so many people: it is essentially low key chill out electronica with Alice Coltrane type model harp. It is pretty good as background music goes. I can see why people like it. And the spiritual jazz references do help it sound like something that is worth listening to. But it is jazz in the way that a Vauxhall Corsa with a spoiler glued to it is a Formula One race car. Rebecca Trescher Tentet – Character Pieces This isn't great the whole way through but do like it. It sounds like its own thing.

Tomin – A Willed And Conscious Balance Another from the recent end of year lists. Not a bad record at all, but not one I'll revisit. In line with other more recent International Anthem releases, I guess. I sometimes feel like this cohort of musicians just don't feel that their music needs to be exciting.

This is great. Didn't know about this.

Don Cherry - Brown Rice Back from Rome for three minutes and already playing the Don Cherry record. I miss the days of Agharta being the kids' favourite. At least that had four sides.

Fred Anderson - The Missing Link

Art Ensemble of Chicago - Les Stances a Sophie Sadly not the Nessa version.

On the basis of this performance, I question how much AI knows about 2023... At least one of those five albums exists, so that's a step, I guess.

I accept that the top-linked page is just thumbnails, but the underlying reviews are no better. No doubt, this is a feature of Bandcamp's editorial preferences. I'm sure that Mr Sumner could write better reviews than the original reviews. I would not presume to judge a writer by the copy that he or she generates for a platform like Bandcamp, which is essentially a corporate copyrighting job, no different to "Top 5 Best Footbaths in Yekaterinburg". I certainly don't expect Mr Sumner to appear here and start to slag off Bandcamp's editorial process. Overall, I appreciate anyone bringing records to my attention, and I like the fact that these are a different set to those that have appeared on other lists. But whatever the case may be, it is not true at all that it is rare to encounter a good album review or that criticism of these particular album reviews reflects the impossibility of pleasing everyone.