Men, are you OK? You haven’t released an album I could consider a favorite all year. Perhaps by the end of the year, you will be shut out. One can only hope.
Shiina Ringo, Hojoya
Shiina sounds energized with other women to collaborate on Hojoya. My favorite, of course, is her collaboration with Nocchi because it’s really nice to hear Nocchi without a ton of effects.
Beyoncé, Act II: Cowboy Carter
The ambition on this album is on par with Shiina Ringo’s Shousou Strip. I’m just a tad frustrated it’s taken more than 20 years for an American artist to reach that level.
Tiffany Poon, Diaries: Schumann
I’m not usually moved by music from the Romantic Era, but Tiffany Poon’s enthusiasm for Robert Schumann spurred me to learn pieces from the Album for the Young. I can understand why she loves Schumann so much.
Kim Gordon, The Collective
I think I would be more interested in clipping if their albums sounded more like The Collective.
Sleater-Kinney, Little Rope
I would probably put this album on par with No Cities to Love.
Cocco, Beatrice
The storm clouds of Rapunzel seems to have returned.
Reissues
Utada Hikaru, SCIENCE FICTION
I’m not sure I’m on board with re-recording some of the early songs, but as someone trying to salvage some of my own 20-year-old project files from bitrot, I wouldn’t be surprised if some practical decisions went into some of these re-done tracks.
Onitsuka Chihiro, UN AMNESIAC GIRL First Code -2000-2003-
I don’t mind that Onitsuka Chihiro’s various labels have tried to mine this fertile period of her career.
Nakamori Akina, CRUISE (2024 Lacquer Master)
CRUISE came at a time of personal turmoil for Nakamori Akina, and the narrative surrounding this album seems to have doomed it as a lesser work among critics. It’s the first album of hers I owned, so perhaps I have a soft spot for it. But there’s a melancholy to this album that feels genuine.
Catalog
Aran Tomoko, Fuuyu Kuukan
It astonishes me this album was released in 1983. Even in 2024, Fuuyuu Kuukan has some unhinged moments that feel more at home on a Shiina Ringo album. Aran Tomoko has a versatile voice, rocking out on one track, then becoming demure on another. If it were released in 2024, Fuuyuu Kuukan easily competes with Cowboy Carter, brat and Hojoya.
John Zorn, Simulacrum
John Zorn’s Simulacrum ensemble could have easily filled out this portion of the half-year retrospective because only Zorn could bring out the heavy metal in organ improvisation. But this first outing pretty much sums up what you’ll hear on the group’s subsequent albums.
Tyler Childers, Rustlin’ in the Rain
Not gonna lie: this album show up on this list on the strength of “In Your Love” and the accompanying music video. But the rest of the album is also good, and at a running time barely 28 minutes, it’s no-nonsense about delivering those goods.
Olivia Rodrigo, SOUR
It’s clear Olivia Rodrigo is descended from the music DNA that gave us Avril Lavigne, and for some reason, I’d much rather listen to Rodrigo. Rodrigo has the cleverness and grit that I never got from Lavigne, who always struck me as a pastiche of a rocker grrl.
Haim, Women in Music, Pt. III
Oh, so that’s why everyone loses their shit over Haim.
Brian Fennell, Safety Songs
Youthful works from the guy who would eventually launch Barcelona and SYML.
Yellow Magic Orchestra, Naughty Boys
For years, I’ve been told that Yellow Magic Orchestra has been “influencial,” but I never encountered an explanation of why that’s so. Then I picked up Naughty Boys and could see the connective tissue between Kraftwerk and the many ’80s bands that dominated the airwaves in my youth.
Cocco’s first four albums loom pretty large over her discography, so it’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing her subsequent works to that early corpus. That said, Beatrice harkens back to the storminess of Rapunzel and has some of the catchiest songs she’s written since Emerald.
John Zorn, Simulacrum
Leave it to John Zorn to devise a hardcore jazz ensemble consisting of organ, guitar and drums, with the organ part played by John Medeski or Medeski, Martin and Woods.
Tyler Childers, Rustlin’ in the Rain
I’ll admit the video for “In Your Love” drew my attention to Childers, but I also love the concept behind this album: pitching modern day songs to Elvis Presley.
Onitsuka Chihiro, UN AMNESIAC GIRL -First Code 2000-2003-
No era of Onitsuka Chihiro’s career has been as thoroughly mined as her first three albums. With each jump to a new label — from EMI to Universal to Victor — a new compilation comes out to remind listeners what Onitsuka produced in those early years. This latest boxed set compiles Insomnia, This Armor and Sugar High along with B-sides and non-album singles. I didn’t pick up This Armor when it was first released, so it’s nice to have a physical copy.
Sleater-Kinney, Little Rope
It seemed like the band wandered a bit after Janet Weiss’ departure before finding their footing again on Little Rope. It sucks that it came in the wake of tremendous loss for Carrie Brownstein.
Ms. Dynamite, A Little Deeper
I remember seeing this album all over the UK press back in 2002, and I understand now why that was so.
Tiffany Poon, Diaries: Schumann
Poon has such an enthusiasm for the works of Robert Schumann that it spurred me to take out the Album for the Young and learn a few of the pieces geared for adults. Beethoven’s shadow looms over Schumann, but his works have fleeting moments of spice that hint at the coming dissolution of harmony later in the 19th Century. But Poon is not concerned about that future past. She just wants listeners to love Schumann as much as she does.
Kim Gordon, The Collective
I love that Gordon wanted to make this album more “beat-oriented.” I wonder sometimes if this album is what clipping ought to sound like.
Descendants, Milo Goes to College
How much more punk can you get with a 15-track album that totals 22 minutes in length? None. None more punk.
Cocco released her debut album Bougainvillea in March 1997, and 2022 marks her 25th anniversary. So she’s commemorating that achievement with a new album.
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, Planet Folks, March 30
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENRATION return with their first new album in 4 years, one year longer than their usual gap. At this point, I’ll just blame SARS-CoV2 for the delay, even if it’s not the reason.
Vinyl
Utada Hikaru, First Love, March 23 Utada Hikaru, Distance, March 23 Utada Hikaru, DEEP RIVER, March 23 Utada Hikaru, Ultra Blue, April 27 Utada Hikaru, HEART STATION, April 27 Utada Hikaru, Fantôme, April 27 Utada Hikaru, Hatsukoi, April 27 Utada Hikaru, BAD Mode, April 27
OMG Ultra Blue on vinyl! But yeah, I’m getting them all, except Hatsukoi, which I already have. By the way, I’m really liking BAD Mode.
I read about Big Pig when I was a teen-ager, but none of the record stores in Honolulu would carry Bonk. So when I spotted the album at the thrift shop, I picked it up. Singer Sherine Abeyratne is the big draw here, but a band with up to 5 drummers makes quite a sound. The album was released in 1988, so expect a lot of post-new wave.
Control Machete, Artillería Pesada, Presenta …
When rock en Español started getting traction in the US at the start of the 2000s, the genre was nearly pigeon-holed by rap-rock groups fashionable at the time. I drove to Dallas on a whim to catch the first Watcha Tour, and the evening was dominated by hip-hop and electric guitars. By the time Control Machete took the stage, I was getting worn.
So it’s my bad to have dropped the ball on this album.
Cocco, Kuchinashi
Cocco’s music let in a lot more sunshine after the birth of her son, but on this album and its predecessor, some of the storminess from her early work is creeping back in.
Test Pattern, “This Is My Street”
I so want the entire Test Pattern concert to be released on a physical audio medium. Yeah, I have the Documtary Now Blu Ray.
Antoine Reicha, Reicha Rediscovered, Vol. 3 (Ivan Ilić)
There are 57 variations on this 86-minute album. At various points, that theme keeps pounding at you. And yet, I feel compelled to take in all 86 minutes. Reicha really interrogates this theme, as does Ilić.
Siouxsie and the Banshees, Tinderbox
I’m an opportunistic Siouxsie fan — if I can find their albums for cheap, I’ll pick them up. I’m fond of Superstition, even if I recognize it’s probably not their best. But Tinderbox has so far convinced me why Siouxsie has a loyal following.
Soundtrack, The Crow
Rhino reissued this soundtrack on colored vinyl back in October 2020, and it sold out immediately. I was curious why, so I grabbed one of many copies on CD at the thrift shop. I understand — it’s a pretty good mixed tape of the predominate music of the mid ’90s.
Maxi Priest, Bonafide
I am old enough now not to care if you judge me for totally loving “Close to You”, but the rest of the album is actually quite enjoyable. I found myself digging it even though I’m clearly not the target market for it.
Anton Reicha, Reicha Rediscovered, Vol. 3 (Ivan Ilić), Jan. 8
I usually pose questions on the blog rhetorically, so I wasn’t expecting Ivan Ilić himself to answer a query about what’s up with the remainder of his Reicha Rediscovered series. The third volume was expected in 2020, but SARS-CoV2 had other plans.
Rhye, Home, Jan. 22
Liked Blood. Was lukewarm about Woman. So I’m approaching Home with caution.
Utada Hikaru, One Last Kiss EP, Jan. 27
Utada Hikaru’s new single — it’s called an EP, but it’s really a maxi single — serves as the theme song for a new Evangelion movie. Hikki fans will probably have the other tracks on this release, which compiles her previous theme songs for the film series.
Cocco, Kuchinashi, Feb. 17
Is it already time for a new Cocco album? [Checks calendar.] Actually, this album arrives 18 months after 2019’s Star Shank, which is 1.5 years quicker than Cocco’s usual turnaround time.
Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2, Apr. 2
Volume 1 of Cuttin’ Grass didn’t include tracks from A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, but Volume 2 does. It does not, however, include anything from Sound & Fury.
Vinyl
Soundtrack, Batman: Original Motion Picture Score (colored vinyl), Jan. 15
When Tim Burton’s Batman hit theaters in 1989, Warner Bros. tried to foist Prince’s album of songs for the movie as the official soundtrack. Fans wanting to hear Danny Elfman’s theme song were pretty miffed that they got a Prince album instead. So the label released Elfman’s score separately. I picked up an original vinyl pressing of the soundtrack a long while back, and I see it pop up in used bins from time to time. This reissue is part of Rhino’s annual Start Your Ear Off Right series.
bloodthirsty butchers, Mikansei, Jan. 20
I’m not aware of very many vinyl reissues of bloodthirsty butchers album. I wouldn’t mind seeing ones for yamane and Kouya ni Okeru bloodthirsty butchers.
Girl Talk, Feed the Animals, April 2021
Girl Talk is accepting orders for this second pressing of Feed the Animals. A recent e-mail announced orders are expected to ship at the end of April 2021 and includes packaging improvements.
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