Makaya McCravenUniversal Beings(photo: turntablelab.com) I’m not afraid to admit that I don’t get jazz. In a weird way, I’m sort of proud of it. The reason I’m so attracted to punk rock is because it’s a less heady kind of music. That’s not to say that I don’t know what I like. Maybe I don’t get jazz but I can appreciate Thelonious Monk’s Underground, Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool, and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme even if it’s only...
Keys to the Kuffs JJ DOOM Pity the state of mainstream hip hop. Seriously, pity it. I’ve completely tuned out and shun it. It’s one of those weird situations where I don’t listen to it, but I just know it sucks. I was in an Uber the other day and speaking to the driver, who was a rap fan and had insights into the process. I could pinpoint what I disliked about it, and he had names for these different...
M.F. DOOM Mm..Food (Vinyl Me Please edition) You have to respect DOOM, OK? You just have to. I only needed a few listens of his latest album Born Like This to realize the man was doing something different. Something interesting. Something worthwhile. Working my way through his catalog, I spent my sweet time with Mm..Food and I can honestly say it was time well spent. After having properly digested the album, you’ve got to give it to the man for...
Miles Davis Sorcerer (Vinyl Me Please) Jazz is like art to me. I don’t understand it, I think it’s pretentious and I think it hasn’t been good for decades, but I know what I like when I experience it. What’s a person like me to do? It’s been more than a decade that I decided to give jazz a shot and I haven’t looked back since. I have my favorite artists, albums, and songs. I have no idea what makes...
St. Vincent Masseduction Every now and then I get really excited to talk about an album and right now it’s St. Vincent’s Masseduction. Of course, it’s a really good album that everyone should hear, but it’s also an album that I wasn’t sure about at first. On the first few listens I was, quite honestly, a bit disappointed at what I was hearing. But I’m someone who trusts Annie Clarke’s music, so I persisted, and now I...