Nov 2, 2014
Third Quarter 2014 Wrap-Up
best to worst, and very ultra-brief
The Pretty Great
Run The Jewels, Run The Jewels 2 (Mass Appeal)
The force and feel of 1990-era Ice Cube, minus most of the extraneous bullshit
Angaleena Presley, American Middle Class (Slate Creek Records)
Coal miner’s daughter pops pills in dry counties, strolls Winn-Dixie aisles, reads Scripture, stays single
Leonard Cohen, Popular Problems (Columbia)
Wry cantor groans the shuffle blues
Spider Bags, Frozen Letter (Merge)
Scrappy NC range lifers go “hi-fi,” disappoint everybody but me
Aphex Twin, Syro (Warp Records)
Pretty damn strong beats for a 5/5 Resident Advisor rating
The Pretty Good
Orlando Julius with the Heliocentrics, Jaiyede Afro (Strut)
Elio Villafranca and the Jass Syncopators, Caribbean Tinge: Live From Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (Motéma Music)
Flying Lotus, You’re Dead (Warp)
Cory Branan, The No-Hit Wonder (Bloodshot)
Chingari, Bombay Makossa (Abstract Logix)
Nehruviandoom, NehruvianDOOM (Lex Records)
Deerhoof, La Isla Bonita (Polyvinyl)
Vince Staples, Hell Can Wait (Def Jam)
The Heliocentrics & Melvin Van Peebles, The Last Transmission (Now-Again Records)
David Virelles, Mbókò (ECM)
The Pretty OK
Jason Moran, All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller (Blue Note)
Jessie J, Sweet Talker (Lava / Republic)
Ariana Grande, My Everything (Republic)
Ex Hex, Rips (Merge)
Tove Lo, Queen Of The Clouds (Island)
Jessie Ware, Tough Love (Universal / PMR)
Otis Browne III, The Thought Of You (Blue Note)
The Pretty Meh
The Juan Maclean, In A Dream (DFA)
Prince, ART OFFICIAL AGE (NPG)
Nico & Vinz, Black Star Elephant (Warner Brothers)
Luke Winslow-King, Everlasting Arms (Bloodshot)
Bill Frisell, Guitar In The Space Age (OKeh)
The Pretty Blarrgghhh
Peru Bravo: Funk, Soul & Psych from Peru’s Radical Decade (Tiger’s Milk)
Calvin Harris, Motion (Columbia)
Mary Lambert, Heart On My Sleeve (Capitol)
HAERTS, HAERTS (Columbia)
Jamie T, Carry On The Grudge (Virgin Records)
Cooly G, Wait ‘til Night (Hyperdub)
FKA twigs, LP1 (Young Turks)
