yancey – i’ll check out the ghetto fabulous gang. the live seu jorge album piqued my interest, but i’m not into live recordings….

Gene Vincent: This collection is totally legit, and encompasses all the major recordings. I had a serious Vincent stage in college, and I never got tired of reading the stories about how he would pull up his pants onstage to flash his mangled leg (from the Korean War I think, or maybe a motorcycle accident) to incite the crowd. Amazing rockabilly here.

David Nzomo: As yesterday’s Smithsonian gushing made clear, I am the choir when it comes to their output. But even for them, this is a true standout record. The record is just reverbed guitar and a sad, sad voice.

Ghetto Fabulous Gang: I think this is our third French hip-hop record in the past week, and I must say that I like the stuff. In terms of beats, there isn’t much of a differentiation between France and America, except that France sounds five years behind, thereby, in hip-hop terms, making them about six months ahead. The MCs are by no means the greatest, and there’s definitely a gimmick factor, but I still like it.

Hot Snakes: A live Hot Snakes record. Of course I am all over this.

Marnie Stern: People keep telling me to check this one out; I haven’t yet, but the Pitchfork review was fairly positive.

Eats Tapes: This Tigerbeat act is somewhere between DAT Politics and Kid 606, kinda kitschy and goofy but with some strong musical elements, too.

Hans Vonk: The boards have been all over Pentatone’s arrival, and this record seems like a good one.

Heartaches: Straight-forward trashpunkrock.

Somali Songs in Swahili: Tuneful and melodic, more studio than field recording.

Seu Jorge: The sound quality is good, anyway.