Music Week (8:3)

A few select reviews from week 3 of month 8 (August)

After publishing last week’s Music Week (8:2) on Wednesday, I let this post slip until Saturday. I had the idea of writing a compare-and-contrast piece, between my second-week-of-August post and Robert Christgau’s August Consumer Guide, which I expected the same day, but didn’t appear until Saturday. Two problems followed: it took me several days to get anything started; then I wrote much more than I had planned. Probably to little avail, as for the first time, Yahoo’s algorithm trapped my post in my spam folder (while allowing the “shareable assets” to pass through). (Did I mention that Yahoo Mail Really Sucks yet? It was down again for most of Friday, but up again, so far, today.)

Usually, when a CG appears, I post it on the website (locked up to create some artificial scarcity), and look up everything I hadn’t heard. I held back this week. I wanted to write about how surprised I was by that particular batch of unheards (mostly unheard-ofs), and I didn’t want my second-guessing to get in the way. I follow him (and various others, but none else for so long, or to such variegated effect), and I render my own grades, but I don’t want to be seen as checking his work. So those albums will (mostly) hold until next week.

Besides, I played a lot while I was first waiting on his post, then plodding my way through mine. As it happened, the Paul McCartney album was one I checked out before I saw his review. I initially wrote it down as a B, before adding a note that I liked the last song. Since I hadn’t published the review, I figured I should go ahead and recheck it, resulting in the revised review below. I finally got into the CG albums, but given my surplus, I held them back for next week. (More on that when I post the complete Music Week notes.)

I will note that two albums confused me from the CG: Gurf Morlix is pretty prolific (and good but not all that memorable), so I assumed the new review was a new record I hadn’t heard, but checking showed that Christgau had reviewed it in April, when it came out, and I had heard it shortly thereafter; I also forgot that I had reviewed the R.A.P. Ferreira/Kenny Segal, which came out in late 2025. My checking there failed because I didn’t go back far enough, and I had missed logging the file in my 2025 metacritic charts. I discovered that pretty late. Rather than muck with my arguments, I left it on the unheard list.

Rated count for the week-plus came to 53, but when the full Music Week airs, you’ll find somewhat fewer albums (46, I think). Since I was trimming, I decided to hold back the releases that aren’t out yet. As for the CG albums, I did keep the complete Mary Lee’s Corvette back catalog, including the Dylan cover touted in the CG. I’ve always hated Blood on the Tracks, a view that most of my friends (including my wife) find incomprehensible. That Mary Lee Kortes sings it with even more verve and affect than the original only made it worse. For me, anyhow. Should be out later today, or tomorrow.

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Angles 4: Angles 4 (2024 [2026], Relative Pitch): Quartet version of Swedish saxophonist’s Martin Küchen’s Angles project, the 10th since 2007 in my database, ranging from 3 to 9 in size, here with Mattias Ståhl (vibes), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass), and Kjell Nordeson (drums). They all sound superb here. A−
[Bandcamp]

Phoebe Bridgers: Lost Weekend (2026, Dead Oceans): Singer-songwriter, third solo album since 2017, with her girl group Boygenius (2023) splitting the break. Huge critical support here (91/25 at AOTY), Spencer Kornhaber calls it “a perfect album for a frustrating decade,” Ann Powers dubs her “the most revered singer-songwriter of the selfie generation.” I’ve listened enough to verify that there’s something here, so I take my indifference as further evidence that I’m over the hill. Love and grief themes have little resonance for me these days. Sonically, the synths sweep away the folk roots (which make “Haunted” so appealing). The shifts convince me of her mastery. B+(***)

Margaret Glaspy: I Am Both (2026, ATO): Folkie singer-songwriter, fourth album since 2016, has a similar number of EPs. Spotify tells me she’s my favorite artist, which makes me wonder about the modern surveillance state (I have her down for 1 A-, 2 ***, and 1 **; based on recent plays in the car, I would have guessed Chuck Berry). Skeletal songs, so direct they demand attention. “Turns out freedom ain’t free,” but at least “they’re allowed to change their minds.” A−
[Bandcamp]

Homeboy Sandman/Jack Splash: Resonance Frequency (2026, Dirty Looks): New York rapper Angel Del Villar III, prolific since 2007, with a Los Angeles-based producer Matthew Kahane, whose work started with Cee Lo Green in 2002. He lifts this with much more than the usual slack beats. Unlike most of Homeboy Sandman’s output, this runs to real LP length: 13 songs, 40:20. A−
[Bandcamp]

Paul McCartney: The Boys of Dungeon Lane (2026, Capitol): Twentieth “solo studio album” (per Wikipedia; 27th if counting Wings) since 1970. I liked the Beatles as much as anyone during their prime, somewhat less for their post-Pepper period. But his solo career has ranged from disappointing to embarrassing: the best record I’ve heard was an oldies set from 1999, but I haven’t heard most (this makes 11). This one promises Liverpool nostalgia, but on first pass, only the final song (”Momma Gets By”) delivered much. A revisit showed considerable songcraft, and more than a few details of interest. B+(**)

Justin Pierce: Sway (2025 [2026], Justin Pierce Music): Tenor saxophonist, based in Dallas, seems to be his first album (Discogs has some credits with UNT lab bands, c. 2012), hype sheet says he’s been playing locally to “delighted audiences,” with wife Ashley Pierce singing. She jumps right in with the title tune, then “Honeysuckle Rose,” sits out for an instrumental (”Jody Grind”). Two more instrumentals, from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, with her returning on well-chosen standards — “Moon River” and “L-O-V-E” are standouts. As for the sax, imagine Harry Allen playing the Nat King Cole songbook, with a perfectly fine replacement for the late Rebecca Kilgore. A−
[Bandcamp]

PLRLS: Sleeping in a Dress (2026, Si): Baltimore quintet, pronounced “plurals,” post-punk “with a certain operatic/surfy twang and bizarre danceability,” which is to say they sound a lot like the B-52s, or perhaps even more like the Waitresses. Ten songs, 28:23. B+(***)
[Bandcamp]

Sweeping Promises: You Say I Romanticize (2026, Sub Pop): Post-punk duo, Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug, met in Arkansas, moved to Boston, then to Lawrence KS (unless I got that backwards). Third album. First one claimed a Liliput influence. They’ve only gotten stronger and more direct. A−
[Bandcamp]

Riverside Jazz Collective: Stomp Off, Let’s Go! (2018, self-released): New Orleans trad jazz group, seems to have been a one-off, as even Bandcamp doesn’t offer more. Benny Amon (drums), Alex Belhaj (guitar), and Kris Tokarski (piano) seem to be the leaders, but the only other player I recall is trombonist Charlie Halloran. Several members take vocals (Belhaj twice). A superb set. A−
[Bandcamp]