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Mon Jan 02 2023
Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4
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Tue Jan 03 2023
Buffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield
Good album but only hints at the great things that are to come from all the iterations of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. A lot of elements on this album are repeated to greater effect on later projects. I recognize this is not judging the work on its own terms, but I can’t forget the existence of the other works and I can’t I hear the things in their later, more refined and capable form.
3
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Wed Jan 04 2023
Live Through This
Hole
Competent, by the numbers. You know, like Uptown jazz.
2
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Thu Jan 05 2023
Songs From A Room
Leonard Cohen
I have spent a lot of time with this album in my life. Like others we’ve heard so far, this is good but only hints at how good his later work becomes.
4
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Fri Jan 06 2023
Talking Book
Stevie Wonder
Superstitious is one of my favorite songs.
4
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Sat Jan 07 2023
Elephant Mountain
The Youngbloods
3
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Sun Jan 08 2023
The Bends
Radiohead
5
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Mon Jan 09 2023
Two Dancers
Wild Beasts
The shtick gets old and this one sags in the middle. “Underbelly” is great and refreshing near the end but not enough to make up for the previous 4 or 5 tunes straight with no perceptible shift in tone.
2
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Tue Jan 10 2023
Pink Flag
Wire
It struck me how meticulously clean the drums were.
3
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Wed Jan 11 2023
With The Beatles
Beatles
Dead serious. 3 stars. It’s competent and, as a Beatles fan, I love the shuffle-beat skiffle of their roots. But this s not why we love the Beatles. It isn’t why they’re iconic and it doesn’t merit being on the list of 1001 albums I need to hear.
3
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Thu Jan 12 2023
Talking With the Taxman About Poetry
Billy Bragg
There’s a weird association in my head between Bragg and Robyn Hitchcock, which is strange because I listened to Hitchcock in High School and I didn’t discover Bragg until my 20s. Now, though, when I hear either I think of the other.
3
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Fri Jan 13 2023
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Mudhoney
I tried to like it. I really did. And any one of those songs is fine. Good, even. But, man that album felt like a slog to me. There’s just so much of it. And every song is not as [adjective] as [contemporary reference band].
2
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Sat Jan 14 2023
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club
5
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Sun Jan 15 2023
American Idiot
Green Day
Like, it’s fine. This is probably the Apex of Green Day.
3
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Mon Jan 16 2023
Ill Communication
Beastie Boys
Almost called a 4.
3
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Tue Jan 17 2023
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
3
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Wed Jan 18 2023
You've Come a Long Way Baby
Fatboy Slim
I don’t have Fatboy Slim nostalgia goggles?
4
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Thu Jan 19 2023
The Age Of The Understatement
The Last Shadow Puppets
Really liked what was going on here. Title track was fantastic. Might be gimmicky? I might not care.
4
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Fri Jan 20 2023
The Clash
The Clash
3
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Sat Jan 21 2023
The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe
I think I didn’t understand what Janelle Monáe was, before.
4
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Sun Jan 22 2023
Screamadelica
Primal Scream
Probably guilty of things I’ve marked other albums down for. Don’t care, I’m real into this stuff.
4
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Mon Jan 23 2023
John Prine
John Prine
3
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Tue Jan 24 2023
Too Rye Ay
Dexys Midnight Runners
All one volume, screamed at the tippy-top of the singer’s range. All one energy, at one of two tempos. Awful. “Eileen” is s finger and deserved hit status. The whole album is a dog. Maybe they were important for Ireland or something.
2
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Wed Jan 25 2023
Murmur
R.E.M.
Not my favorite REM album. The REM lyrical formula where they string together some unrelated phrases to simulate depth of thought is pronounced on this one. It’s fine, though. Way better than Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
3
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Thu Jan 26 2023
This Is Hardcore
Pulp
Man, I totally forgot about Pulp.
4
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Fri Jan 27 2023
OK Computer
Radiohead
My first five. I sang along with some songs I haven’t heard in 20 years. This might be too subjective a reason, but I’m going to choose to lean into it. People go on about Kid A, but OK Computer is my Kid A.
5
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Sat Jan 28 2023
Graceland
Paul Simon
The Boy in the Bubble seems weirdly prophetic. I could never hear Call Me Al again and be okay with it. A lot of gems on this album, though.
4
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Sun Jan 29 2023
Mask
Bauhaus
3
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Mon Jan 30 2023
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
The Kinks
3
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Tue Jan 31 2023
The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
4
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Wed Feb 01 2023
Bongo Rock
Incredible Bongo Band
The album for today is a novelty album called "Bongo Rock." A bunch of covers, most of them predictable. It's an hour twenty minutes long. Most of it, mildly entertaining at best. Then it stops me entirely in my tracks with a cool 70s slow funk arrangement of "Sing, Sing, Sing." Then immediately loses me again with a lazy instrumental "(I can't get no) Satisfaction."
2
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Thu Feb 02 2023
Gentlemen
The Afghan Whigs
I guess I was aware of the Afghan Whigs but never spent much time paying attention to them. Was surprised to find out this is an album about being sad about having a boner. This is Incel Rock. I didn’t care for it, and “Angst in My Pants” is my favorite Sparks song.
1
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Fri Feb 03 2023
Soul Mining
The The
3
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Sat Feb 04 2023
We Are Family
Sister Sledge
3
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Sun Feb 05 2023
69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
Almost defies critique. I’ve docked other albums for sprawling of Lodi g focus, but it works here. It exists entirely within its own set of rules, so if isn’t fair to impose a set of rules onto it in order to review it. I’m going to default to five stars.
5
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Mon Feb 06 2023
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Iron Butterfly
2
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Tue Feb 07 2023
Mermaid Avenue
Billy Bragg
I love this album so much.
5
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Wed Feb 08 2023
Lust For Life
Iggy Pop
I don’t know if this is the best Iggy Pop album, but The Passenger is for sure my favorite Iggy Pop song.
4
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Thu Feb 09 2023
Imagine
John Lennon
Starts and ends strong, but not even close to Lennon’s best post-Beatles work. “How?” shamelessly rehashes “Long and Winding Road.” It’s the most blatant example of how lazy this album is. Lennon, at his worst, is a sanctimonious fuck and he gets a bunch of it out of his system here.
2
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Fri Feb 10 2023
My Aim Is True
Elvis Costello
Every tune a single.
5
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Sat Feb 11 2023
Who's Next
The Who
Good album, but sags a little in the middle. “Going Mobile” is, generously, lazy.
3
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Sun Feb 12 2023
Actually
Pet Shop Boys
When it’s good, it’s great. But it isn’t good all the way through.
3
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Mon Feb 13 2023
The Poet
Bobby Womack
3
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Tue Feb 14 2023
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Beatles
I was going to under-rate this to make sone sort of statement, but the break after “64” to the intro of “Lovely Rita” is one of my favorite sounds.
5
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Wed Feb 15 2023
All Directions
The Temptations
Man, I totally forgot about “Run Charley Run.”
4
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Thu Feb 16 2023
Seventh Tree
Goldfrapp
It pulled me in and lost me several times, but “Monster Love” won me over.
3
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Fri Feb 17 2023
At Budokan
Cheap Trick
3
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Sat Feb 18 2023
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
4
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Sun Feb 19 2023
Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod Stewart
3
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Mon Feb 20 2023
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
A Tribe Called Quest
I might have the nostalgia goggles on for this one a little bit.
5
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Tue Feb 21 2023
Seventeen Seconds
The Cure
I’m not ashamed to say “I prefer their later stuff.”
2
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Wed Feb 22 2023
Elastica
Elastica
It’s fine.
3
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Thu Feb 23 2023
Frampton Comes Alive
Peter Frampton
3
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Fri Feb 24 2023
Call of the Valley
Shivkumar Sharma
I don’t know enough about this music to know if this is a good example, but I had a good time listening to it.
4
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Sat Feb 25 2023
Moving Pictures
Rush
3
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Sun Feb 26 2023
Garbage
Garbage
I love Garbage.
4
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Mon Feb 27 2023
Haut de gamme / Koweït, rive gauche
Koffi Olomide
3
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Tue Feb 28 2023
Kenya
Machito
This is an excellent example of this sort of thing.
5
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Wed Mar 01 2023
american dream
LCD Soundsystem
4
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Thu Mar 02 2023
Songs Of Love And Hate
Leonard Cohen
5
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Fri Mar 03 2023
Trafalgar
Bee Gees
2
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Sat Mar 04 2023
Queen Of Denmark
John Grant
Inventive, interesting. Disarmingly simple in execution. Novel without being overly quaint or precious. “Sogourney Weaver” is my new favorite song.
5
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Sun Mar 05 2023
Apocalypse Dudes
Turbonegro
4
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Mon Mar 06 2023
I See A Darkness
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
3
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Tue Mar 07 2023
The Chronic
Dr. Dre
3
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Wed Mar 08 2023
Destroyer
KISS
2
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Thu Mar 09 2023
A Date With The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
Pablum.
2
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Fri Mar 10 2023
Heavy Weather
Weather Report
My favorite version of Birdland.
4
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Sat Mar 11 2023
Bat Out Of Hell
Meat Loaf
2
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Sun Mar 12 2023
In It For The Money
Supergrass
3
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Mon Mar 13 2023
Another Music In A Different Kitchen
Buzzcocks
3
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Tue Mar 14 2023
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
4
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Wed Mar 15 2023
E.V.O.L.
Sonic Youth
Pretty sure there’s a better Sonic Youth album to be on this list.
2
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Thu Mar 16 2023
High Violet
The National
3
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Fri Mar 17 2023
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
4
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Sat Mar 18 2023
Ready To Die
The Notorious B.I.G.
Setting aside Biggie’s contribution to the nature of rap and what it was, this is an amazing album in terms of what makes an album interesting regardless of the specific content. It plays like a prog rock concept album in that regard. No one’s pulled it off as well since.
5
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Sun Mar 19 2023
Tres Hombres
ZZ Top
3
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Mon Mar 20 2023
Dust
Screaming Trees
4
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Tue Mar 21 2023
Either Or
Elliott Smith
3
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Wed Mar 22 2023
Harvest
Neil Young
4
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Thu Mar 23 2023
Rid Of Me
PJ Harvey
4
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Fri Mar 24 2023
Surfer Rosa
Pixies
4
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Sat Mar 25 2023
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Frank Sinatra
5
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Sun Mar 26 2023
Life's Too Good
The Sugarcubes
4
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Mon Mar 27 2023
m b v
My Bloody Valentine
3
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Tue Mar 28 2023
Fisherman's Blues
The Waterboys
3
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Wed Mar 29 2023
Planet Rock: The Album
Afrika Bambaataa
The production on the album doesn’t exactly hold up. I would have picked something more recent if there’s only one Afrika Bambaataa album listed. Putting that aside, there’s a lot here to enjoy.
4
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Thu Mar 30 2023
The Contino Sessions
Death In Vegas
4
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Fri Mar 31 2023
Scott 2
Scott Walker
His first album is a 5, I think.
4
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Sat Apr 01 2023
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
PJ Harvey
4
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Sun Apr 02 2023
Something Else By The Kinks
The Kinks
3
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Mon Apr 03 2023
Green Onions
Booker T. & The MG's
4
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Tue Apr 04 2023
The Velvet Underground & Nico
The Velvet Underground
4
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Wed Apr 05 2023
Eli And The Thirteenth Confession
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro is hard to rate, I think. I think she’s great, but sometimes an individual tune just misses me.
This album is pretty great. It coalesces into something like an over-arching narrative by the end or feels like one to me.
4
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Thu Apr 06 2023
Repeater
Fugazi
Why wasn’t I into Fugazi in the 90s?
5
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Fri Apr 07 2023
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
The Go-gos built a formula that works. Is it good? Maybe?
3
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Sat Apr 08 2023
This Is Fats Domino
Fats Domino
5
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Sun Apr 09 2023
Kenza
Khaled
4
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Mon Apr 10 2023
Myths Of The Near Future
Klaxons
4
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Tue Apr 11 2023
Deja Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4
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Wed Apr 12 2023
Trout Mask Replica
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2
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Thu Apr 13 2023
American Gothic
David Ackles
4
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Fri Apr 14 2023
Casanova
The Divine Comedy
This is my kind of weird. Not what it pretends to be. There’s something eldrich lurking in the lyrics that never reveals itself.
4
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Sat Apr 15 2023
Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Aphex Twin
I mean, it’s fine.
3
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Sun Apr 16 2023
Sunshine Superman
Donovan
4
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Mon Apr 17 2023
Walking Wounded
Everything But The Girl
3
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Tue Apr 18 2023
Nothing's Shocking
Jane's Addiction
I’ve always been reluctant to admit that Jane’s Addiction is good.
But it is.
4
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Wed Apr 19 2023
Bringing It All Back Home
Bob Dylan
4
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Thu Apr 20 2023
The Sounds Of India
Ravi Shankar
4
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Fri Apr 21 2023
Live At Leeds
The Who
3
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Sat Apr 22 2023
Hard Again
Muddy Waters
5
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Sun Apr 23 2023
Under Construction
Missy Elliott
4
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Mon Apr 24 2023
3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Arrested Development
I might have had the nostalgia goggles on for this one. I can’t tell.
4
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Tue Apr 25 2023
Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
Spiritualized
3
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Wed Apr 26 2023
This Nation’s Saving Grace
The Fall
3
View Album
Thu Apr 27 2023
Chirping Crickets
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3
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Fri Apr 28 2023
Larks' Tongues In Aspic
King Crimson
4
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Sat Apr 29 2023
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
Aretha Franklin
5
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Sun Apr 30 2023
Closer
Joy Division
4
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Mon May 01 2023
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill has the goods, for sure. I’m not sure the narrative of the concept lands all the way through, but it’s a solid effort.
3
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Tue May 02 2023
Mothership Connection
Parliament
Make my funk the P-Funk.
5
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Wed May 03 2023
Doggystyle
Snoop Dogg
2
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Thu May 04 2023
I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
Merle Haggard
Outlaw Country! Or starts out that way. Then it shifts to sad-sack country.
3
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Fri May 05 2023
Remain In Light
Talking Heads
4
View Album
Sat May 06 2023
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
I never liked this. This listen did not change my mind. My current standard for ratings is that if it is better than Bongo Rock it gets three stars. I concede here in the notes that this album is, but I’m rating it two stars anyway. They’re lucky they aren’t getting one star for not really being better than my only one star rating, Afghan Wigs.
2
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Sun May 07 2023
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3
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Mon May 08 2023
They Were Wrong, So We Drowned
Liars
It just didn’t go anywhere.
2
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Wed May 10 2023
Black Metal
Venom
This is another one that was such a big deal at the time but so much came after it that it now seems quaint by comparison.
3
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Thu May 11 2023
Superfuzz Bigmuff
Mudhoney
4
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Fri May 12 2023
...And Justice For All
Metallica
3
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Sat May 13 2023
Live At The Harlem Square Club
Sam Cooke
Best live album I’ve heard on the list so far. Fewer of the sort of live mishaps that generally show up (I’m looking at you, Cheap Trick at Budokan).
5
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Sun May 14 2023
Nixon
Lambchop
4
View Album
Mon May 15 2023
Legalize It
Peter Tosh
4
View Album
Tue May 16 2023
At Newport 1960
Muddy Waters
5
View Album
Wed May 17 2023
Toys In The Attic
Aerosmith
4
View Album
Thu May 18 2023
Truth And Soul
Fishbone
5
View Album
Fri May 19 2023
Document
R.E.M.
3
View Album
Sat May 20 2023
Hot Rats
Frank Zappa
4
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Sun May 21 2023
Heroes
David Bowie
4
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Mon May 22 2023
Juju
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4
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Tue May 23 2023
Kid A
Radiohead
4
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Wed May 24 2023
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus
5
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Thu May 25 2023
Unhalfbricking
Fairport Convention
Not my kind of music, but I recognize this is a good album if I put my preference aside. It’s produced well and all the performances are sincere and proficient.
4
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Fri May 26 2023
Pornography
The Cure
3