Odds & Ends 154
Fumbling towards ecstasy
Rodrigo Amado This Is Our Language Quartet: Wailers
Sadly not reggae, just Joe McPhee switching to tenor for some hot double sax action; it doesn’t maintain the singular intensity of the title track (or of their tenor-soprano A History of Nothing), but it’s always worth hearing two masters do their thing over a creative rhythm section (“Wailers”, “Hot Folk”, “Theory of Mind III (for Joe)”)
NMIXX: Heavy Serenade EP
Little correlation this time between ambition and quality: throwback spelling bee “Ideserveit”, which sounds like “Turtle Power”, hits big; so does “Loud” with its distorted intro, quantized harmonies, and Tantalus-referencing Pride-coded lyric by Lily (“Loud”, “Ideserveit”, “Heavy Serenade”)
Producer Jeff Rosenstock makes the sound typify mid-budget indie rock, so the interest’s almost all in singer Augusta Koch—for the grain of her rasp, for her journey of self-discovery and self-struggle for the purpose of self-improvement, for the ska album I want her to try next time (“I Want That for You”, “Talk Past Each Other”, “Fix Her”)
Subset of the infinite K-J boyband that seems to have selected the competent ones, with pretty high-register singing, one good rapper, and some enthusiasm and pace; if their catchiest hook is borrowed from the Cranberries, at least it’s not one of the most overused ones (“Crush”, “Sticky”, “Ode to Love”)
Elucid & Sebb Bash: I Guess U Had to Be There
Deft and stylish politically aware avant-rap that’s enjoyable in its own right, as long as you’re not reminded Elucid’s other partner is the deftest and most stylish polit—oh, there he is on track 7 (“The Lorax”, “Hands n Feet”, “Fainting Goats”)
Jason Moran Plays Duke Ellington
With Monk an intermediary, solo Moran’s odd accents and melodylets bring a fresh angle to Duke, and “Black and Tan Fantasy” is breathtaking, and no matter how good it is I’m still gonna miss Johnny Hodges (“Black & Tan Fantasy”, “Lotus Blossom”, “Fleurette Africaine”)
Itzy: Motto EP
Three bangers to start—title track out-Eurodancing the Euros, one called “Glitch” that sounds like the potential for a 404 rather than a hardware meltdown, one that inserts “chatbot” and “algorithm” into a Korean rap while sounding like “One Minute Man”—then five solo efforts that don’t reach the same heights, though Lia’s moderately powered ballad “Asylum” is moving (“Motto”, “You and I”, “Glitch”)
Not from Wellington, New Zealand, but Jakarta—the mild yearning over janglegaze could’ve fooled me (“Painted Room”, “Endless Time”)
Roc Marciano: 656
Indie rap minimalism, sleek and accomplished, though I do breathe a sigh of relief when a guest shows up seven tracks in (“Rain Dance”, “Yves St. Moron”)
Anitta: Equilibrivm
Unexpectedly evincing an interest in making a good album doesn’t entirely work here—note how much more expressive Marina Sena is on her guest spot (though Anitta does hold her own against a Shakira who sounds like she first heard the beat ten minutes before recording)—but her biz support means she’ll probably manage it sooner or later (“Mandinga”, “Naña”)
XngHan&Xoul: Glow mini-album
Re-emerging after getting cancelled from boyband Riize for not being a virgin, Seunghan’s lost some vowels, gained his own dance crew, and made riskier music (there’s an Afrobeats one!), restyling himself as a straight Troye Sivan, whom I don’t think ever had to worry about the virgin thing (“Dancing Anyway”, “Wishlist”)
Effie: Pullup to Busan 4 More Hyper Summer It’s Gonna Be a Fuckin Movie EP
Korean hyperpop, distinguishable from hyper K-pop by its rampant individuality, achieved at only a slight cost in music (“2025기침”, “More Hyper”)
Vũ Thanh Vân: Cuộc đào tẩu của Vũ Thanh Vân
From Vietnam comes the best Sarah McLachlan album since… actually I wouldn’t know, I haven’t heard any Sarah McLachlan albums (“Con Mồi & Thợ Săn”, “Không Quan Tâm”)