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Sunday, February 25, 2018

Too late to write an intro, but you know the drill.

Some scattered links this week:

• Matthew Yglesias: The 4 biggest political stories of the week, explained: President Trump endorsed some gun reforms -- well, sort of, but he also endorsed nonsense like arming teachers (at least any who were ex-Marines); Robert Mueller's investigation heated up -- especially for Paul Manafort; HHS is undermining the Affordable Care Act ("Insurers will be able to deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions on these short-term plans, meaning a better deal for those who don't have any preexisting conditions -- but that will drain the regular market of many customers, leaving those with significant health care needs facing higher costs"); Pennsylvania got a new congressional map. Other Yglesias posts this week:

  • Donald Trump's CPAC speech is a reminder that he's not really in charge of his White House: "He riles up crowds, but nothing he says actually matters or reflects administration policy."

  • The Parkland conspiracy theories, explained.

  • Confessions of a Russiagate true believer. Dubious premise here: "Trump isn't an idiot."

  • Last night, Democrats flipped a Kentucky state legislature seat in a district that Trump won by 49 points.

• Jill Abramson: Do You Believe Her Now? "It's time to reexamine the evidence that Clarence Thomas lied to get onto the Supreme Court -- and to talk seriously about impeachment." "Her" is Anita Hill, and I believed her then (unlike. e.g., Joe Biden). One thing worth reminding ourselves of is that a big part of the reason Hill's charges carried so much weight was that Thomas ran the government office responsible for investigating and enforcing charges of sexual harassment, so there was some reason for holding him up to a higher standard. As for impeachment, I've long thought that the best case against Thomas would be for the longstanding conflict of interest caused by his wife working for a right-wing lobby shop. Republicans have long felt like they had a problem with appointees drifting toward more liberal positions. One solution to that was to pick more ideological candidates, and another was to keep them on a tight payroll leash. Thomas fits both bills (as, by the way, did Scalia). Not going to happen, of course, but worth recalling.

• Julia Belluz: Guns are killing high school kids across America at alarming rates: "Firearms killed more 15 to 19 year olds than cancer, heart disease, and diabetes combined in 2016." Total 16,111 from 2010-2016, an average of 2300 per year, "more deaths than the next 12 leading causes of teen deaths combined." Meanwhile, Donald Trump wants to arm teachers, claiming that will deter kids from bringing guns to school. His proposal is so insane I expected it to be laughed away almost instantly, but he's stuck to it, doubled and tripled down, despite the revelation that there were armed guards at Parkland High School and they did nothing to stop the shooter. Some links:

  • German Lopez: Why the NRA wants you to talk about arming teachers: "Arming teachers isn't just a ridiculous idea. It's a deliberate distraction. When something like this consumes attention, the public and lawmakers don't talk about the real issue."

    This is also true about the focus on mental health care. Every time there's a mass shooting, gun rights activists -- including Republicans and the NRA -- argue that the real problem behind mass shootings is the shooter's mental health.

    Don't have the link, but I read a column last week by Cal Thomas arguing that we need to put some serious investment into mental health, with the focus more on locking up crazies than on helping them. There's virtually no chance that Thomas would actually back a serious program on mental health, even one that was overwhelmingly punitive.

  • Jane Coaston: Donald Trump said an armed teacher "would have shot the hell outta" the Parkland shooter.

  • German Lopez: Trump: armed officer at Florida school "was not a credit to law enforcement, that I can tell you".

    "There's never enough training," Coby Briehn, a senior instructor at Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training, told Klepper. "You can never get enough."

    The FBI's analysis of active shooters between 2000 and 2013 has another relevant data point: "Law enforcement suffered casualties in 21 (46.7%) of the 45 incidents where they engaged the shooter to end the threat." These are people trained to do this kind of thing full time, and nearly half were wounded or killed.

  • Emily Stewart: Multiple armed officers hung back during Florida school shooting, reports say.

  • Rachel Wolfe: Trump: 10 to 20 percent of teachers are "very gun adept." Reality: not even close.

  • Matt Martin: I've been shot in combat. And as a veteran, I'm telling you: allowing teachers to be armed is an asinine idea.

  • German Lopez: The case against arming teachers.

• Juan Cole: Top Ten Signs the US Is the Most Corrupt Nation in the World (2018 Edn.). Cole dismisses Afghanistan right out of the box, then makes his case by toting up the money at stake and in play. It's been a while since I looked at Cole's site -- he was an essential blogger back in the heyday of the Bush/Iraq War -- but I also noticed his What Does Netanyahu Corruption Case Tell Us About Trump's Fate? I should also note that he's been covering energy issues; e.g., Despite Coal Lobby, Australia to Double Solar Energy in 2018; and In Anti-Trump Surge, Renewables Make 18% of US Electricity and Impel Job Growth.

• Antonio Garcia Martinez: How Trump Conquered Facebook -- Without Russian Ads: Actually, this does explain how some of the Russian trolls worked, much like Trump's own social media minions. This includes both efforts to zero in on possible Trump supporters and to bum out likely Hillary voters, hopefully suppressing the vote. Among other things, this article shows that Trump got more bang for the advertising buck by creating more outrageous ads and aiming them at people more likely to pass them along.

• Emily Stewart: Study: Conservatives amplified Russian trolls 30 times more often than liberals in 2016. I'm rather skeptical of several of these findings; e.g., "Conservatives approach the situation from the start with greater reactivity to threat, a greater prior belief of danger in the world." I think many conservatives would disagree, pointing out how liberals are the ones who constantly harping on pseudo-threats, everything from guns to fracking to global warming. On the other hand, I suppose I can accept that "liberals appear to have more of a need to think critically than conservatives." But what the basic numbers show is that Russian trolls were much more aligned with American conservatives, and that they fed each other in symbiotic ways. They were amplified because they fed into this alignment, and in many ways they simply amplified conservatives' own political interests. Why Russia should do this doesn't make a lot of sense. One theory is that Russia wants to undermine democracy and general welfare in America, and many conservative policies effectively do just that. Another is that oligarchs and/or nationalists -- Putin at various times wears both of those hats -- seem to have some sort of mutual admiration society, which is the most obvious common denominator between the foreign leaders Trump most obviously admires.

  Recently in my Twitter feed I noticed an image of an article which proclaims: "Russia 'is a bigger threat to our security than terrorists'." I eventually tracked this down to a piece published in England, and while I couldn't read the actual article -- it was behind some sort of paywall -- I gather that the gist was that Britain should spend more money on "defense" weaponry, which is the same pitch neocons here in America have made of anti-Russian alarmism for ages. Still, even if you agree that the threat of terrorism has been overhyped, isn't the exaggeration of "Russian threat" more of a provocation than a solution? Would North Korea, to pick a timely example, be even more of a threat had we simply ignored them once it was clear that the truce had held, instead of repeatedly attempting to isolate and cajole them? America's "enemies" these days are virtually all enemies of convenience: countries we could have better relations with but we hold old grudges, pick at festering wounds, and feel the need to project the dual threats of our military might and our universalist ideology. And all that generates unnecessary blowback, sometimes acts of terror but more often in the form of petty resentments, like trolling for Trump.

  Some more, generally skeptical, links:

  • Thomas Frank: The hysteria over Russian bots has reached new levels.

  • Cas Mudde: Democrats beware: the Trump-Russia inquiry isn't the path to power.

  • #Russiagate Skeptics Take a Beating.

• Matthew Avery Sutton: Billy Graham was on the wrong side of history: Graham, who died last week at 99, was a big deal in the 1950s when I was a child. My grandmother, especially, loved him. She was the most bigoted person I knew back then, a model for me to rebel against. And while I gave the fundamentalist church of my parents a fair try, going so far as to earn a Boy Scouts God & Country medal, even back then I was more than a little suspicious of Graham (or for that matter of any of the evangelists who got their mugs on television). The turning point for me was the Vietnam War. And while even then I must have recognized that there were lots of perfectly respectable Christians opposed to the war, the media savvy that Graham had plied so successfully in making himself the face of Christian America had much to do with my rejection of both God and Country. Graham faded, at least from my view, after Nixon, but I did notice that he was the pastor the Bushes called to get wayward George W. back on the straight and narrow. Last I noticed was his son Franklin, picking up the family business, vowing to follow US troops into Iraq to convert the heathens -- a mission that wasn't so warmly embraced by the Occupation generals. As Sutton notes, the evangelical movement Graham did so much to politicize has gotten more narrow-minded and vindictive over the years, becoming a pillar of a Republican Party that increasingly makes the Book of Revelations' locusts look benign.

  Some others who remember Graham:

  • Cecil Bothwell: Billy Graham and the Gospel of Fear.

  • Martin Cizmar: 6 Sickening Details You Won't Read in Billy Graham's Fawning Obituaries.

  • Jeff Greenfield: When Richard Nixon Used Billy Graham.

  • Colin Kalmbacher: Let's Not Forget Famed Evangelist Billy Graham was an Aspiring War Criminal.

  • Bob Moser: The Soul-Crushing Legacy of Billy Graham.

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Music: current count 29386 [29345] rated (+41), 375 [375] unrated (+0).

Only one record from my jazz queue this week, and only two other "new" records: a guitar band from Niger recommended by Christgau, and a slice (two of three CDs) from the first serious effort to cash in on Ornette Coleman's death -- courtesy of a reader who didn't think the third leg of this stool was worth the trouble. I played the latter at least three times before deciding that it would be recommended if you didn't have to pay much more than I did -- but I certainly can't see forking over $100 for the "budget" edition. Makes me wonder if Benardo has been taking business correspondence courses along with the world's most demanding home schooling on the drums.

Only one recent reissue/compilation, too, sort of a consolation prize as the new Youssou N'Dour bootleg Christgau recommended in the same post proved too elusive for my hacking talents (or, rather, beyond my patience). Maybe it, too, will someday show up unbidden in my post. Meanwhile, I've been playing old jazz, partly because I've been working hard on my Jazz Guides, and partly because it was easier than thinking up (or, ugh, researching) new things to check out.

There is, actually, a small bit of logic to the old picks. I started by looking for old jazz records marked in my database with a U: stands for "ungraded," the initial default state of my new mail, but also used for old records that I haven't played since I started keeping grades, and otherwise don't remember well enough to specify. These constitute most of the "375 unrated" noted above, and it occurred to me that it would be easier to stream them than to dig the LPs out (assuming I still have them), dust off the old turntable, and flip the damn things over.

Then, once I played the unrated Kenny Barron record (Scratch), I noticed a PG 4-star album by Barron (Green Chimneys), and found it as well. Everyone else on the old music list had at least one unrated album (although I didn't actually find any of the unrated DeJohnettes). How many more depended on how quickly my interest waned, with the exercise not yielding much to crow about. Still, I'll most likely keep poking around a bit as I try to wrap up the Jazz Guide(s). Next on my search list is Ricky Ford, but neither of his two unrated records are on Napster. Still, pointed me to a Mal Waldron record I missed. Alas, not a great one.

Substantial progress on the Jazz Guide(s) last week. I finished going through the gigantic Jazz 00's file, and started working back through a scratch file of Streamnotes reviews, including the year-and-a-half's worth written since I started compiling the book(s). I've worked backwards through about four months of them. This brings my page totals to 1616 (21st Century) + 756 (20th Century). Both files are growing at this point, the newer one 4-5 times as fast as the older -- but given that I have to jump around to add each entry, "fast" really isn't the right word. I have no way of estimating how much longer this mop-up phase will take. I also need to look through my JCG/JP/RG file to see if there are any marginal entries I missed, and I need to take another pass through compilations and archival releases. Still, at this point I'm not trying to be too perfectionist. I just want to get to a point where I can say I've packaged what I've written over the past fifteen years, and this is what it looks like. Turning that into a real book (or books) and/or a website, cleaning up the writing, filling in holes, etc., is a next stage thing, hard even to imagine at this point. Before I move on, I'd at least like to be able to distribute what I have, at least to a few friends and associates. How I do that? Right now I have no real idea.

New records rated this week:

• Ornette Coleman: Celebrate Ornette: Brooklyn Prospect Park (2014 [2016], Song X, 2CD): [cdr]: A-
• Samo Salamon/Howard Levy: Peaks of Light (2017 [2018], Sazas): [cd]: B+(***)
• Tal National: Tantabara (2018, Fat Cat): [r]: B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries rated this week:

• Youssou N'Dour: Africa Rekk: Réédition (2016 [2017], Jive/Epic): [r]: B+(**)

Old music rated this week:

• Kenny Barron: Scratch (1985, Enja): [r]: B+(**)
• Kenny Barron: Green Chimneys (1983-87 [1988], Criss Cross): [r]: B+(***)
• Carla Bley: Tropic Appetites (1973-74 [1974], Watt): [r]: B+(*)
• Carla Bley: Dinner Music (1976 [1977], Watt): [r]: B+(**)
• Carla Bley: Social Studies (1980 [1981], Watt): [r]: B+(*)
• Carla Bley: Live (1981 [1982], Watt/ECM): [r]: A-
• Carla Bley: Heavy Heart (1983 [1984], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• The Carla Bley Band: I Hate to Sing (1981-83 [1984], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(***)
• Carla Bley: Night-glo (1985, Watt/ECM): [r]: B-
• Carla Bley: Sextet (1986-87 [1987], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Carla Bley: Fleur Carnivore (1988 [1989], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(***)
• Carla Bley/Steve Swallow: Go Together (1992 [1993], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Carla Bley: Big Band Theory (1992 [1993], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow: Songs With Legs (1994 [1996], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• The Carla Bley Big Band: Goes to Church (1996, Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Carla Bley: Fancy Chamber Music (1997 [1998], Watt/ECM): [r]: B
• Carla Bley/Steve Swallow: Are We There Yet? (1998 [1999], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Carla Bley: 4X4 (1999 [2000], Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Jack DeJohnette: The DeJohnette Complex (1968 [1969], Milestone): [r]: B
• Jack DeJohnette: Pictures (1976 [1977], ECM): [r]: B-
• Jack DeJohnette: New Directions (1978, ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Jack DeJohnette: Special Edition (1979 [1980], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• Jack DeJohnette New Directions: In Europe (1979 [1980], ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Any Denio/Pavel Fajt/Csaba Hajnóczy/Gabi Kenderesi: The Danubians (1999 [2000], Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(***)
• Keith Jarrett/Jack DeJohnette: Ruta and Daitya (1971 [1973], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• Keith Jarrett: Facing You (1971 [1972], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• Keith Jarrett: Arbour Zena (1975 [1976], ECM): [r]: B-
• Keith Jarrett: The Survivor's Suite (1976 [1977], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• Keith Jarrett: Nude Ants (1979 [1980], ECM, 2CD): [r]: B+(**)
• Keith Jarrett: Personal Mountains (1979 [1989], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• Michael Mantler: Something There (1983, Watt/ECM): [r]: B
• Michael Mantler With Don Preston: Alien (1985, Watt/ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Michael Mantler: Live (1987, Watt/ECM): [r]: B-
• Michael Mantler: Many Have No Speech (1987 [1988], Watt/ECM): [r]: C+
• Michael Mantler: Folly Seeing All This (1992 [1993], ECM): [r]: B
• Michael Mantler: Cerco Un Paese Innocente (1994 [1995], ECM): [r]: B+(*)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Heather Bennett: Lazy Afternoon (Summit)
• Dogwood: Hecate's Hounds (Nusica.org)
• Thomas Johansson: Home Alone (Tammt Z)
• Lucas Niggli: Alchemia Garden (Intakt): March 16
• Aruän Ortiz Trio: Live in Zürich (Intakt): March 16
• Sara Serpa: Close Up (Clean Feed): March 18
• Bill Warfield Big Band: For Lew (1990-2014, Planet Arts): March 9

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Late. No time for an introduction. This is what I came up with in a day of checking the usual sources. Obviously, there's much more to report, but the framework remains the same.

Some scattered links this week:

• Matthew Yglesias: The 4 stories that drove politics this week: A gunman killed 17 at a Florida high school; All the different immigration bills failed in the Senate; The White House's Rob Porter story unraveled; There were a bunch of other scandals: including expense abuses at EPA and VA. Other Yglesias pieces:

  • Watch a teenage Parkland survivor's powerful call for legislative action.

  • Last February, Trump signed a bill making it easier for people with mental illness to buy guns.

  • Trump's plan does nothing for America's real infrastructure problem.

  • The questions about Melania Trump's parents' immigration status, explained.

  • Democrats just flipped a GOP-held Florida legislature seat in a district Trump won.

  • Study: DACA increased immigrants' education, labor force participation, and productivity.

  • Minnesota Democrats prevail in a critical special election, holding on to a Trump country seat.

  • Trump's infrastructure proposal, explained.

• Andrew J Bacevich: The War That Will Not End: Review of Steve Coll's new book, Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, effectively a sequel to his 2004 book Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, From the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001: it's oft remarked that "9/11 changed everything," but as far as America's perverse interest in Afghanistan is concerned, 9/11 was merely a convenient dividing line for two lengthy volumes on the same tale of ignorance, arrogance, and misadventure. Bacevich's opening paragraph is chilling:

  Steve Coll has written a book of surpassing excellence that is almost certainly destined for irrelevance. The topic is important, the treatment compelling, the conclusions persuasive. Just don't expect anything to change as a consequence.

  Bacevich notes that the American delusion continues past the scope of Coll's book, quoting Mike Pence's recent pronouncement, "I believe victory is closer than ever before."

  And by the way, US military forces are deployed many more places. The only reason people noticed Niger, in the central Sahara, is that four US soldiers were killed there last year. For a long report: Rukmini Callimachi, et al.: 'An Endless War': Why 4 U.S. Soldiers Died in a Remote African Desert.

• Alexia Fernandez Campbell: This is America: 9 out of 10 public schools now hold mass shooting drills for students. As the conclusion states, "This trend is super depressing." I don't actually recall any of those "duck and cover" atomic attack drills back in the 1950s, even though we all knew that Wichita was a prime target, with military industries, an Air Force base, and a ring of Titan missile silos. I do recall drills for fires and tornadoes -- neither was very likely, but not unheard of. One thing about drills is that they tend to normalize and routinize the threat. We stopped doing atomic bomb drills not because the threat went away but because we realized such drills really didn't do any good. And while I imagine fire and storm drills have continued, the main thrust there has long been prevention: build safer buildings, and prevent fire hazards. On the other hand, mass shooting drills seem to be driven by the fear that nothing can be done to prevent such incidents -- that they are as inevitable as storms and earthquakes. That's pretty much the gist of Josh Marshall: Our Collective Impotence Feeds the Power of Guns, but it shows a lack of political will to face the mythology that's built up around guns and killing (see Taibbi, below). By the way, one of the myths is exploded in Paul Ratnet: Just 3% of Americans own more than half of the country's guns.

• Joyce Chen: Donald Trump's Alleged Affair With Playboy Playmate: 6 Things We Learned. This is a separate story from the one Chen reported on in Stormy Daniels Details Alleged Donald Trump Fling: 8 Things We Learned, although the "things" are pretty much all of a piece. Still, some details may gross you out; e.g.: "Trump told Daniels that he believed his wealth and his power are linked to his hair."

• Ryan Cooper: The rise and fall of Clintonism: Reviews two books -- Michael Tomasky: Bill Clinton and Amie Parnes/Jonathan Allen: Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign -- but the books themselves don't fully support the author's overarching thesis, nicely summed up in his conclusion:

  In the context of postwar politics, the upper class accommodated itself to a truce in the class war, for about three decades. But when the system came under strain, the elites launched a renewed class war, leveraging stagflation to destroy and devour the welfare state. Clintonism could work in the early stages of that process, buoyed by the economic bubble of the 1990s. But when the inevitable disaster struck, it would become an anchor around the neck of the Democratic Party -- and it remains one to this day.

  Thomas Frank's Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? provides a more trenchant critique of Clintonism, but Cooper's outline occasionally adds something.

• Masha Gessen: Trump Has Created an Entire Class of People Who Are Never Safe:

  Many Americans understand how important it is for every person in this land to feel safe. The most commonly advanced argument for sanctuary cities (or towns, or states) is that immigrants must feel safe reporting crimes -- they must know that the police will not be monitoring their immigration status. This is the simplest expression of the thesis that none of us are safe unless all of us are safe.

  Trump seems to understand this instinctively. Tyrants -- or aspiring tyrants -- thrive when populations feel unstable and under threat. His Administration's ongoing attack on sanctuary cities is more than the belligerent demand for total compliance: it is part of an effort to insure that some of us are never safe, in order to insure that no one is ever really safe.

• Rakeen Mabud/Eric Harris Bernstein: Does America believe in public infrastructure anymore? Yglesias explains the mechanics of Trump's infrastructure proposal above, but one thing he doesn't make clear enough is that the only real reason for designing the plan that way is to pave the way for auctioning off public works to private owners, allowing them to set up toll traps to recoup their investments and to further line their pockets. Such a scheme should be laughable but lots of people have been snowed by the argument that the public can't be trusted to safeguard let alone advance the public interest, so we're better off handing the job over to private interests. Give it a mere minute's thought and you'll realize that's nuts, yet I read an op-ed in the Wichita Eagle (some "Fox News contributor," I forget who) arguing that the TVA and other government properties should be privatized.

  Still, see Paul Krugman: Trump Doesn't Give a Dam:

  And even the $200 billion is essentially fraudulent: The budget proposal announced the same day doesn't just impose savage cuts on the poor, it includes sharp cuts for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy and other agencies that would be crucially involved in any real infrastructure plan. Realistically, Trump's offer on infrastructure is this: nothing.

  That's not to say that the plan is completely vacuous. One section says that it would "authorize federal divestiture of assets that would be better managed by state, local or private entities." Translation: We're going to privatize whatever we can.

  Krugman also wrote: Budgets, Bad Faith, and 'Balance'.

• Andrew Prokop: The new Mueller indictments tell us a lot about Russian trolls: The link promised "What Mueller's new Russia indictments mean -- and what they don't." The indictments seem to show that various Russians were acting as internet trolls, spreading false information to influence the 2016 elections, but doesn't directly tie them either to Putin or to Trump. None of the Russians are likely to be arrested or tried, so I suspect this is merely the foundation to something else. There was, by the way, another new indictment, a Richard Pinedo, of which we know very little; see David Kurtz: Mueller Playing It So Damn Close to the Vest. Next on the burner, see Emily Stewart: Rick Gates is reportedly about to plead guilty to Robert Mueller.

  Also, in light of the indictments, Nate Silver tries to factor How Much Did Russian Interference Affect the 2016 Election? He doesn't come up with an answer, but he does note "the magnitude of the interference revealed so far is not trivial but is still fairly modest as compared with the operations of the Clinton and Trump campaigns" and "thematically, the Russian interference tactics were consistent with the reasons Clinton lost." In other words, "the Russians were at least adding fuel to the right fire." Still, I'm struck by how much more the Trump and Clinton campaigns spent -- $617 million by Trump and pro-Trump super PACs, $1.2 billion by Clinton. Alignment between Trump and Russia doesn't prove collusion, but it is some form of symbiosis. As for Clinton, the burning issue remains what did she do with all that money? And why didn't she get more value for what she spent? That's the same question I was left with after reading Shattered. Also, note that other Russian activities haven't been factored in here -- e.g., the DNC email hacks, which many believe to have been Russian work but haven't been proven.

  Of course, it's not just the Russians who meddle in other people's elections. For a primer, see Scott Shane: Russia Isn't the Only One Meddling in Elections. We Do It, Too.

• Richard Silverstein: If Israeli Police Take Down Bibi, Don't Expect Much Good to Come of It: Pretty detailed explanation of the corruption case against Netanyahu.

• Matt Taibbi: If We Want Kids to Stop Killing, the Adults Have to Stop, Too:

  Over two decades ago, I traveled to a city in the Russian provinces called Rostov-On-Don to interview a psychiatrist named Alexander Bukhanovsky.

  Bukhanovsky, now deceased, was famous. If you've seen the movie Citizen X, about the capture of serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, Bukhanovsky was the guy played by Max Von Sydow. He was the Soviet Union's first criminal profiler.

  One of the first things he said was that both Russia and America produced disproportionate shares of mass killers.

  "Giant militarized countries," he said, "breed violent populations."

  Bukhanovsky at the time was treating a pre-teen who had begun killing animals. He told me this young boy would almost certainly move on to killing people eventually. He was seeing more and more of these cases, he said.

  Nikolas Cruz, the 19 year-old just arrested for shooting and killing 17 people in Parkland, Florida, supposedly bragged about killing animals. He reportedly even posted photos of his work on Instagram.

  There will be lots of hand-wringing in the coming days about gun control, and rightfully so -- it's probably easier to get a semi-automatic rifle in this country than it is to get some flavors of Pop Tarts -- but with each of these shootings, we seem to talk less and less about where the rage-sickness causing these massacres comes from.

  The single most salient fact of life during my lifetime -- nearly seventy years -- is that the US has continuously been at war abroad. Even during the decade between the approximate end of the Cold War and the advent of the War on Terror, the militarist ethos was so imbued in American thought that we came up with "humanitarian" rationales for a half-dozen interventions (Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, Colombia, Kosovo, East Timor, what'd I miss?). And since 2001, that attitude has hardened into an obsession with targeting and killing individuals. Taibbi notes:

  In an era of incredible division and political polarization, military killing is the most thoroughly bipartisan of all policy initiatives. Drone murders spiked tenfold under Obama, and Trump has supposedly already upped the Obama rate by a factor of eight. The new president apparently killed more civilians in his first seven months in office than Obama did overall, making use of our growing capacity for mechanized murder.

  "We are killing these sons of bitches faster than they can grow them now," a CIA official reportedly told a subordinate with glee some years back. Another CIA vet told the Washington Post the agency had become ""one hell of a killing machine." . . .

  These aren't just scenes from bad movies. They're foundational concepts in our society. We're conditioned to disbelieve in the practicality of nonviolence and peace, and to disregard centuries of proof of the ineffectiveness of torture and violence as a means of persuasion.

  On the other hand, we're trained to accept that early use of violence is frequently heroic and necessary (the endless lionization of Winston Churchill as the West's great realist is an example here) and political courage is generally equated with the willingness to use force. JFK's game of nuclear poker with Nikita Khruschev is another foundational legend, while Khruschev is generally seen as a loser for having backed down. . . .

  Gun control? I'm all for it. But this madness won't stop until we stop believing that killing makes us strong, or that we can kill without guilt or consequence just by being "precise." What beliefs like that actually make us is insane and damaged, and it's no surprise that our kids, too, are beginning to become collateral damage.

  Note that the Florida shooter wasn't a veteran, but was in ROTC, so war and the military were very much on his mind. Also that the gun used in the Florida shooting, and indeed in many recent mass shootings, was designed for America's wars abroad. See: Tim Dickinson: All-American Killer: How the AR-15 Became Mass Shooters' Weapon of Choice. Also related: Marcus Weisgerber: Obama's Final Arms-Export Tally More Than Doubles Bush's.

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Music: Current count 29345 [29288] rated (+57), 375 [378] unrated (-3).

I took a break last week from compiling EOY lists, and as such from searching for 2017 records I had missed, to compiling my old reviews into my Recorded Jazz in the 21st Century guide book. Even made some notable progress on it, finishing the Jazz '00s artist list, and reaching midway in the groups list (52% to be precise, Le Boeuf Brothers). That brings the draft file up to 1518 pages. I'll probably finish up the groups this week, reaching a little over 1550 pages. I then need to go back and pick up things I missed, mostly because I've continued to write new reviews since I started compiling in August 2016, but also because there's some fringe stuff I wanted to include but it's filed elsewhere in the database (e.g., Latin, African, rock).

Once I've done all that -- end of February is a possibility but not a lock -- I'm not sure what happens next. I'll probably make a PDF available and issue an RFC (request for comments). I need to look into tools for converting LibreWriter files into E-book format(s). I'm sure it would take a massive further effort to edit it into a worthwhile book -- maybe more than I can ever do (especially given that I don't have a lot of time to work with). I really don't know what happens next. I certainly didn't expect to be stuck at this stage for eighteen months, but that's the size of it.

A side effect of working on the Jazz Guide(s) is that I started checking out old jazz records. First one was the Italian group Scoolptures, in my database but with nothing I'd heard, so seemed like a good idea to give them a try. After that I found it easier to think of old records to check out than new ones, and they sort of took over the week.

At some point I looked at Milo Miles' blog -- probably because he had an RIP post on John Perry Barlow, and as I scrolled through past posts I noticed a long one on Cuneiform Records: they're going on some kind of hiatus, where they'll continue to take orders but not release new records -- usual gripes there about the forces killing the record business. For some time now, they've used Bandcamp as a promo tool but made very little music available to the public there, but last week I noticed that the entire second Fast 'N' Bulbous album was available. (I reviewed it, Waxed Oop, gave it an A-.) Turns out that virtually all of their records are on Bandcamp now, so I started filling in some of the jazz titles I had missed.

I've also noticed that ECM's back catalog is now mostly up on Napster. Thus far the only things I've looked up have been a couple of records that intersect with other artists I've been looking up -- Raoul Björkenheim has several albums on Cuneiform, but also two Krakatau albums on ECM, so it made sense to serialize them below. Still, a lot more unheard ECM to work through sooner or later. I've been working on this stuff pretty quickly, looking for wider rather than deeper coverage. Sometimes that's easy, sometimes it's frustrating. The Tippett-Dunmall-Dean albums tend to blur together. I'm listening to a series of Curlew albums now, and they're even more of a mixed bag.

One last note on Barlow. Seems like he was always identified as a Grateful Dead lyricist, but I never knew or cared whatever that was supposed to signify. I knew him through his work in Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), where he was an important advocate for free software and a free internet. The recent FCC decision to end net neutrality is just further proof that his work is more needed now than ever.

New records rated this week:

• David Bertrand: Palmyra & Other Places (2017, Blujazz): [cd]: B+
• Girma Bèyènè & Akalé Wubé: Éthiopiques 30: "Mistakes on Purpose" (2017, Buda Musique): [r]: A-
• Nick Biello: Vagabond Soul (2016 [2018], Blujazz): [cd]: B+(**)
• Harley Card: The Greatest Invention (2015 [2018], self-released): [cd]: B+(*)
• Fred Farell: Distant Song (2016 [2018], Whaling City Sound): [cd]: B+(*)
• Craig Fraedrich: Out of the Blues (2017, Summit): [cd]: B-
• Brad Garton/Dave Soldier: The Brainwave Music Project (2017 [2018], Mulatta)
• James Hall: Lattice (2016 [2018], Outside In Music): [cd]: B+(*)
• Jupiter & Okwess: Kin Sonic (2017, Glitterbeat): [bc]: B+(**)
• Rich Krueger: Life Ain't That Long (2017 [2018], Rockink): [r]: B+(**)
• Julian Lage: Modern Lore (2018, Mack Avenue): [r]: B
• David Murray feat. Saul Williams: Blues for Memo (2016 [2018], Motéma): [r]: B+(**)
• Negative Press Project: Eternal Life: Jeff Buckley Songs and Sounds (2017, Ridgeway, 2CD): [cd]: B+(*)
• Quelle Chris: Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often (2017, Mello Music Group): [bc]: B-
• Cecilia Sanchietti: La Verza Via (2017 [2018], Blujazz): [cd]: B+(*)
• Dr. Lonnie Smith: All in My Mind (2018, Blue Note): [r]: B-
• Spellling: Pantheon of Me (2017, self-released): [bc]: B
• Edgar Steinitz: Roots Unknown (2017 [2018], OA2): [cd]: B+(***)
• Bobo Stenson Trio: Contra La Indecisión (2017 [2018], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• Hideo Yamaki/Bill Laswell/Bjorn Björkenheim/Mike Sopko/Dominic James: Inaugural Sound Clash for the 2 Americas (2017, MOD Technologies): [r]: B+(***)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries rated this week:

• Mulatu Astatke: Mulatu of Ethiopia (1972 [2017], Strut): [r]: B+(***)

Old music rated this week:

• Raoul Björkenheim & Krakatau: Ritual (1988-90 [1996], Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(***)
• George Cartwright: Dot (1994, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(*)
• George Cartwright: The Memphis Years: Terminal Moraine (2000, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(**)
• Curlew: Live in Berlin (1986-87 [1990], Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(***)
• Curlew: Bee (1990 [1991], Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(***)
• Curlew: A Beautiful Western Saddle (1993, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(*)
• Curlew: Paradise (1996, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(**)
• Curlew: Fabulous Drop (1998, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(***)
• Curlew: Meet the Curlews (2002, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(**)
• Curlew: Mercury (1998, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(***)
• Elton Dean/Howard Riley/Paul Rogers/Mark Sanders: All the Tradition (1990, Slam): [r]: B+(***)
• Elton Dean: The Vortex Tapes (1990, Slam): [r]: B+(**)
• Elton Dean Quintet: Silent Knowledge (1995 [1996], Cuneiform): B+(***)
• Elton Dean Quartet: Rumours of an Incident (1996 [1997], Slam): [r]: B+(**)
• Elton Dean/Paul Dunmall/Tony Levin/Paul Rogers/Roswell Rudd/Keith Tippett: Bladik (1996 [1997], Cuneiform): [bc]: A-
• Paul Dunmall Octet: The Great Divide (2000 [2001], Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(*)
• Paul Dunmall/John Adams/Mark Sanders: Totally Fried Up (1998 [1999], Slam): [r]: B+(**)
• Vinny Golia/Aurora Josephson/Henry Kaiser/Mike Keneally/Joe Morris/Damon Smith/Weasel Walter]: Healing Force: The Songs of Albert Ayler (2006 [2007], Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(***)
• Franz Koglmann: Schlaf Schlemmer, Schlaf Magritte (1984 [1993], Hat Art): [r]: B+(*)
• Franz Koglmann: About Yesterday's Ezzthetics (1988 [1989], Hat Art): [r]: B+(*)
• Franz Koglmann: A White Line (1989 [1990], Hat Art): [r]: B+(**)
• Eero Koivistoinen: Helium (1999 [2001], Texicali): [r]: B+(**)
• Eero Koivistoinen & UMO Jazz Orchestra: Arctic Blues (2005-16 [2016], Svart, 2CD): B+(*)
• Krakatau: Volition (1991 [1992], ECM): [r]: B
• Krakatau: Matinale (1993 [1994], ECM): [r]: B+(*)
• Mujician: The Journey (1990, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(**)
• Mujician: Poem About the Hero (1994, Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(**)
• Mujician: Colours Fulfilled (1997 [1998], Cuneiform): [bc]: A-
• Mujician: Spacetime (2001 [2002], Cuneiform): [bc]: B+(***)
• Scoolptures: Materiale Umano (2009, Leo): [r]: B+(**)
• Scoolptures: White Sickness (2009 [2011], Leo): [r]: B
• Scoolptures: Please Drive-by Carefully (2012 [2013], Leo, 2CD): [r]: B+(**)
• Scorch Trio: Brolt! (2007 [2008], Rune Grammofon): [r]: B+(**)
• Keith Tippett: Mujician Solo IV (Live in Piacenza) (2012 [2015], Dark Companion): [r]: B+(**)

Grade (or other) changes:

• Raoul Björkenheim//Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/Paal Nilssen-Love: Scorch Trio (2002, Rune Grammofon): [bc]: was A-, B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Peter Kuhn: Dependent Origination (FMR -17)
• Peter Kuhn Trio: Intention (FMR)
• Roberta Donnay & the Prohibition Mob Band: My Heart Belongs to Satchmo (Blujazz): February 28
• Electric Squeezebox Orchestra: The Falling Dream (OA2): February 16
• Hal Galper Quartet: Cubist (Origin): February 16
• Sergio Galvao/Lupa Santiago/Clement Landais/Franck Enouf: 2X2 (Origin): February 16
• Mike Jones/Penn Jillette: The Show Before the Show: Live at the Penn & Teller Theater (Capri): March 16
• Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas: Sound Prints: Scandal (Greenleaf Music): April 6
• Sahkers n' Bakers: Heart Love (Little i Music): February 14 (digital)/May 26 (CD)

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Thursday, January 11, 2018

I've been reading David Frum's Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic, and generally finding it useful in its clear and principled critique of Trump's vanity, authoritarianism, and corruption, and how Frum's fellow conservatives have squandered whatever principles they may have had (probably not many) in becoming toadying enablers to such a public menace. Among other things, he's finally convinced me that the Russians had something to do with electing Trump, especially (not quite the same thing) by releasing the Podesta hack mere hours after the "Access Hollywood" tape. (By the way, what we need to really clarify the issue isn't a more complete record of Trump-Russia contacts, but a much better understanding of the various Trump/Republican cyber efforts, which seem to have had an outsized impact on election day. My guess is that expertise and data flowed both ways, not that I've seen any proof of that. We do have proof of high-level contacts, which suggests intent to collude, but how did that get turned into meaningful acts?)

The book is not without faults, such as his fawning over General H.R. McMaster (among other things a Vietnam War defeat denier), or his own background as a G.W. Bush speechwriter (reportedly the guy who coined the "axis of evil" phrase). Based on the intro, at some point I expected him to finally explain why Trumpism is bad for conservatives, and he finally takes a shot at that on pp. 206-207:

Maybe you do not much care about the future of the Republican Party. You should. Conservatives will always be with us. If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy. The stability of American society depends on conservatives' ability to find a way forward from the Trump dead end, toward a conservatism that can not only win elections but also govern responsibly, a conservatism that is culturally modern, economically inclusive, and environmentally responsible, that upholds markets at home and US leadership internationally.

He then spends another page expanding on what enlightened, principled conservatives believe in and should be doing -- none of which has any currency within the actual Republican Party, at least as constituted in the White House and Congress. He doesn't say this, but the closest match to his ideal conservative politician is Barack Obama. On the other hand, his beloved Republicans have already realized that they cannot win fair democratic elections, so grasp at every campaign trick and every tactical manoeuvre at their disposal: huge money, bald-faced lies, gerrymandering, filibusters, packing the courts. They know full well that their policies are extremely unpopular, but they persist in pushing them through, hoping that come election time they can turn the voters' ire against opponents who are often caught up in their own corruption and incompetence.

If you look back at how the Republicans formed their coalition -- one that has never been overwhelmingly popular, one that has often had to depend on low voter turnout to edge out narrow wins -- you'll find that they have repeatedly swapped away responsible establishmentarian (which is a form of conservative) positions to capture blocks willing to vote against their own economic interests. It wouldn't be difficult to imagine conservatives who didn't pander to racial or other prejudice, who accepted that abortion is a private matter, who favored sensible restrictions on guns, who favored a much lower profile for the military, who didn't feel threatened by immigration, who understood the need to protect and preserve the environment, who recognized that equal justice is essential for any sort of free and fair society. Republicans took those positions not out of ideological conviction but because they hoped to capture significant blocks of irrational voters. Indeed, it's not uncommon for conservatives in other countries to accept high progressive taxes and a robust social welfare net, because those policies have proven effective at building stable middle class nations. (For example, right-leaning parties in Switzerland and Taiwan were responsible for creating universal health care systems -- if only to take the issue away from left-leaning parties.)

But not only have Republicans undermined their traditional values by opportunistic demagoguery, they've surrendered control of the party to a very small cabal of extremely wealthy donors, who've imposed an extreme laissez-faire economic doctrine on top of all the bigotry and invective they've built the Party on. The problem there is not only does their ideology not work for the Party's base voters, it doesn't work as a governing philosophy. Thus far, Republican rule has blown up three times: under Nixon's skullduggery, under Bush I's corruption, and under Bush II's war and much more. And the prospects of Trump solving any of those problems are about as close to zero as you can get. The fact that Republicans keep bouncing back after each disaster is the chief political problem of our times, especially as it appears they've doubled down each time. Until they're totally repudiated, nothing in the party will get better.

Some scattered links this week:

• Matthew Yglesias: The 4 most important stories in politics this week: The government shut down for six hours; What the bill actually does: the budget deal that ended the shutdown; DREAMers in the balance: one of the most pressing problems not addressed in the bill; Another senior White House official resigned in disgrace: Rob Porter. The first three were all tangents of the shutdown/budget deal, so I expected more. Other Yglesias pieces this week:

  • Congress still isn't taking the opioid crisis seriously: compares $6 billion for opioid issues in the budget deal to that extra $160 billion for the Pentagon. I'm not sure that's a very useful way to look at the problem: the real fix to the opioid crisis is an overhaul of the whole healthcare system, not just some band-aid clinics. On the other hand, the defense budget should be determined by the risk left in the international system after the diplomats have done what they can to ensure peace, and that's the exact opposite of what Trump et al. are doing.

  • The proof is in: Republicans never cared about the deficit: Actually, this has been clear for a long time, especially when Republicans want to pass tax cuts -- deficits exploded following the Reagan and Bush tax cuts, and no one doubts they will again following Trump's own $1.5 trillion cut. Similarly, none of the military build-ups under Reagan, Bush, or Trump were funded with additional taxes; indeed, they were done same time taxes were being cut, simply adding to the deficits. So the only thing new here was that the Republicans allowed some non-military spending that Democrats particularly wanted -- stuff that if anything makes the Trump regime look a bit less brutal and callous.

  • Democrats flipped a Missouri state legislature seat that Trump won by 28 points: Democrats lost another Missouri seat 53-47, in a district Trump won by 59 points.

  • Congress should swap a DACA fix for something Republicans actually care about: Yglesias suggests further tax cuts, but that's already been done, and was done with no Democratic support whatsoever, so I don't see how this works. Moreover, there's not a lot that Republicans want to do that Democrats can in good conscience go along with. Wall funding, maybe, because the wall is stupid and wasteful but ultimately changes very little.

  • The Trump Show is addling our brains and blinding us to what matters. Offers a sample list of stories that have gotten buried under Trump's tweets:

    • Ben Penn reported that Labor Department political appointees spiked an internal economic analysis of a new rule governing the handling of tips received by millions of workers in the food service industry. If the suppressed report is correct, the rule the Trump administration is promulgating could cost workers billions of dollars in lost income.
    • The Centers for Disease Control reported that flu hospitalizations in the United States are taking place at a record pace, while Vox's own Sarah Kliff reported on how Congress's defunding of Community Health Centers is creating a crisis of health care access for 26 million Americans.
    • In separate CDC news, Lena Sun of the Washington Post reported that CDC efforts to halt new outbreaks of exotic infectious diseases abroad are headed for an 80 percent cut.
    • Kriston Capps reported for CityLab that the Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering new work requirements for recipients of public housing assistance, measures that would impose hardship on some of the most deprived people in the country.
    • Separately, Rachel Cohen and Zaid Jilani of the Intercept reported on HUD consideration of proposals to raise rents for public housing users.
    • Yet another HUD story has reporters from both the Washington Post and CNN uncovering considerable evidence that HUD Secretary Ben Carson's son, who does not work at HUD, is nonetheless intimately involved in HUD business mostly in ways designed to benefit himself personally.
    • Mick Mulvaney, who is still serving as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau while Trump fails to nominate anyone at all to fill the job on a permanent basis, stripped the CFPB's fair lending office of enforcement powers.
    • Alan Rappeport of the New York Times reported that not only has the payday lending industry won a number of regulatory favors from the Trump administration, they'll be repaying the president personally by holding their annual retreat at the Trump Doral Golf Club.
    • We had two significant train derailments, even as Trump revealed his infrastructure "plan" to be essentially a giant magic asterisk.

    By the way, for more on the CFPB, see Sheelah Kolhatkar: The Steady, Alarming Destruction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

• Jeff Bezos' Quest to Find America's Stupidest Mayor: So Amazon is taking bids from cities/counties/states to host their "HQ2," offering some large number of office jobs to the winner, i.e., the taxpayers willing to offer them the biggest kickback. Businesses do this all the time, and the bigger the prize they can offer, the more saliva they have to wade through. Is this a good deal, even locally? Most likely not. Of course, it's even worse for the federal government, where the zero sum game adds up to zero. There should be a federal law to either outlaw tax allowances for developments or to tax them punitively. That wouldn't end all such bidding, but it would be a good start, and taxing other enticements could follow. As for the supposed paybacks:

  However, most research indicates that the cost to state and local governments for these subsidies typically outweighs the benefits in terms of employment and tax revenue, including in the cases of Amazon's growing network of fulfillment centers.

  A new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute looking at employment in counties that managed to land a fulfillment center in the last 15 years found no evidence that overall employment increased, and in some instances employment even fell relative to comparison counties. The implication was that the commitments made to win Amazon's facilities -- subsidies likely worth over $1 billion dollars in total -- usually were enough of a drag on the rest of the economy, either by imposing a higher tax burden or diverting resources, to more than offset any jobs and spending created by Amazon.

  One side note: Contrary to the article, Amazon has collected sales tax here in Kansas (one of the highest in the country) for many years now, but in our case at least that has little if any effect on whether we buy locally or through Amazon. Price, selection, and home delivery are our main reasons for buying on Amazon. I realize some people hate Amazon on principle, but I'm not one of them. Still, doesn't mean I'm not bothered about some of the shit they pull. For instance, the reason we pay sales tax is they opened a distribution center in southeast KS, with a lot of local perks for the jobs. They closed that as soon as the initial perks expired (but they still collect KS sales tax).

  Baker also wrote: Three Percent GDP Growth and Democrats' Irresponsible Opposition to Trump Tax Cuts. Note that he's not saying that opposition was irresponsible. Just that some of the reasons Democrats gave for opposing the bill were less than helpful: especially worries about increasing federal debt, and the argument that a 3% GDP growth rate was impossible -- although he does admit that nothing in the bill gets us anywhere near 3%. He should also acknowledge that an extra $1.5 trillion in debt will place downward pressure on public spending, and that would hurt the economy, as well as the people's valuation of government services. We would, for instance, be better off if the government left tax rates unchanged and simply spent an extra $1.5 trillion, especially on infrastructure but actually on pretty much anything. He goes into more nuts and bolts on GDP growth, but the bottom line there is that lowering taxes on the rich doesn't do a thing for GDP growth. The trick there -- what is needed to get past our current sluggish recovery -- is to pay workers more, creating more demand and luring more currently unemployed people into the workforce (standard unemployment rates are exceptionally low now, but labor participation rates are still well below 2007 levels, which helps explain why this recover doesn't feel as strong as previous ones.)

• Dan Balz: White House under John Kelly is not so calm and competent after all: That's still mostly Trump, but people who thought Kelly himself was "calm and competent" have begun to have doubts -- and, really, this dates back before the Porter/Sorensen scandals. In particular, it's been pretty clear that Kelly was instrumental in getting Trump to back down from any bipartisan DACA deal, so he seems as much an ideology-driven activist as guys he's banished like Bannon and Gorka. I think he's still safe from external cries for his head (e.g., John Nichols: John Kelly Has Got to Go) but having embarrassed the petulant president, he's suddenly on thin ice. Another Kelly piece: Heather Digby Parton: John Kelly's True Self and ICE's Mission Creep: Tyranny Is Spreading.

• David Dayen: Senate Republicans Kept Provision to Fight High Drug Prices Out of Spending Bill, Democrats Say.

• Leo Gerard: Donald Trump's broken trade promises:

  The U.S. Commerce Department announced this week that the 2017 trade deficit rose to the highest level since 2008. . . . The Commerce Department reported the trade deficit rose 12 percent during Trump's first year in office, that the goods deficit with China jumped 8 percent to a record $375.2 billion, that the overall non-petroleum goods deficit shot up to an unprecedented high of $740.7 billion. Those terrible numbers testify to an administration dawdling, not performing for American workers who voted for Donald Trump based on campaign promises of quick and easy action to cure bad trade.

  I note this because I'm a bit surprised by the numbers, although most likely they're a continuation of past trends. Trade deficits dropped after 2008 because the economy crashed, resulting in less trade. If nothing else changed (and damn little did), it makes sense that trade deficits would have risen with the slow recovery. On the other hand, I've heard charges that Trump's treasury has been suppressing the dollar to improve exports, and I've noticed several instances of "punitive" tariffs (one that Boeing lobbied for would have added three times the cost of competing Canadian aircraft; it has since been struck down). I wouldn't go as far as the author in crediting "right thinking" to Trump officials like Wilbur Ross or Peter Navarro, nor would I whine about China "stealing trade secrets from American companies." Trump may be trying to renegotiate NAFTA, but he's finding that he's up not just against Canada and Mexico but many US businesses (including farmers) that have a stake in the status quo. Indeed, a big part of the rationale for his tax bill was that it would make it more attractive for foreigners to invest capital in the US. For that to happen, the US will need to run higher trade deficits, so foreigners will have more capital to return to the US. And what happens then is less that the new capital will generate jobs than that it will inflate asset prices, increasing inequality, while turning more and more American businesses into siphons for the rich abroad.

• Thomas Gibbons-Neff: Trump Wants a Military Parade. But Not Everyone Is in Step. The official story is that Trump got the idea watching a Bastille Day parade in France. He assumed that if a second-rate power like France could put on a good show, a nation which spends more than ten times as much on soldiers and high-tech gadgetry could put on something really spectacular -- something he might cite as proof that he had "made America great again." Of course, it might have just been his fetish for large crowds and high ratings. But the first image that popped into my mind was stock footage of the parades of missiles and tanks the Soviet Union used to put on -- used by the American press to whip up Cold War fears, not least by reminding us that the Soviet system was close-minded, militaristic, and sinister. (Nowadays the same footage is most often used to represent North Korea.) The second image, of course, was of Nazi parades meant to psych up the Volk to launch WWII. The third was the military parade in Egypt where Sadat was assassinated. None of these images seem fitting for a peaceful democracy -- although you can appreciate Trump's confusion, as the America he seeks to "make great again" scarcely qualifies on either count. Indeed, one wonders why France march-steps: nostalgia for their former globe-spanning empire? some kind of complex over their having been reduced to a bit role in NATO? maybe they feel some need to intimidate their revolution-minded citizens? Colbert reacted to Trump: "He knows Bastille Day is about poor people chopping off rich people's heads, right?"

  Among the reactions to Trump's parade: Jonathan Freedland: Trump's desire for a military parade reveals him as a would-be despot; Alex Ward: Ex-Navy SEAL calls Trump's military parade idea "third world bullshit".

• Umair Irfan: Puerto Rico's blackout, the largest in American history, explained.

• Fred Kaplan: No Time to Talk: "Trump's foreign policy is all military, no diplomacy. We're starting to see the consequences." Trump's tilt toward the military reflects a belief that force (and only force) works -- that all America has to do is act like a Great Power (which Obama manifestly failed to do) and the world will fall in line. In such a world, adding to the military reinforces US primacy, while diplomacy (successful or not) undercuts it. Accordingly, Nikki Haley's job at the UN isn't to negotiate consensus; it's to bark out threats and orders. The problem is that the only way conflicts actually end is through agreement. Sometimes this can be very one-sided, as in the German and Japanese surrenders in WWII, but usually it's more complicated, involving more give-and-take. That's a worldview Trump cannot even conceive of, and that's not likely change, as it suits the neocons in his administration. They believe that it's actually good for conflicts to fester indeterminately, as long as the only response the president can conceive of is building up more power. Obama and Kerry (if not necessarily Clinton) could occasionally see another way out, but Trump cannot.

  Kaplan also wrote on nuclear strategy: Mattis Goes Nuclear: "Trump's secretary of defense has recently adopted some dubious and dangerous ideas about nuclear strategy." This piece fits in neatly with Matt Taibbi: Donald Trump's Thinking on Nukes Is Insane and Ignorant. It's certainly the case that Mattis isn't ignorant, and it's possible he's not insane either, but he's certainly deluded if he thinks he can see any strategic use for nuclear weapons. While Taibbi makes occasional reference to Trump's mental state, his article is actually more focused on the US military's latest strategizing on nuclear weapons, including the proliferation of "low-yield" warheads as part of a trillion dollar "modernization" program -- i.e., he's at least as troubled by what "adults" like Mattis are thinking as what Trump might foolishly do. One thing Taibbi and Kaplan don't do is explain why the nuclear bomb mandarins are pushing such an ambitious program now, and why it makes sense to people like Trump (aside from the obvious points about insanity and ignorance). What we're seeing is the convergence of two big ideas: the neocon notion that world order can only be enforced by a single global power, one that forces everyone else to tremble and pay tribute, and the conservative notion that the rich are rightful (and righteous) rulers. This trillion dollar nuclear "modernization" is the sort of thing big businesses do precisely because their smaller competitors cannot afford to. This actually fits well with the neocon hysteria over other countries' "nuclear ambitions" -- how dare anyone else try to compete with us?

  By the way, one other point occurs to me. Trump has long styled himself as the consummate dealmaker, so many people assumed he'd use his skills to negotiate (and in some cases re-negotiate) deals with America's adversaries. But actually, the deals Trump has done throughout his career are a very limited subset: alliances, based on mutual greed, to be satisfied at the expense of someone else (or, rather often it seems, his investors). About the only deal he's worked so far was with the Saudis: he sold them arms (and blanket support for their imperial ambitions in Yemen and elsewhere). But even that deal only worked because the Saudis were so eager to suck up to him -- a posture he's used to in the business world, but much rarer in world affairs. Of course, even that wasn't his own work. It was, at best, something others pitched to him in ways he could understand.

• Patrick Lawrence: A major opening at the Pyeongchang Olympics -- but not from Mike Pence: "Kim Jong-un's sister and the South Korean president have lunch, while Mike Pence rattles the sabers ever louder." Lawrence makes several points:

  First, we can discard all assertions in the American press that Moon, the South Korean president, had suddenly turned hostile toward the North in conformity with U.S. policy after his election last May. . . .

  Second, there is as of now no evident intention in Washington to approach the negotiating table, as all other nations traditionally involved in the Korean crisis urge. This appears to hold true under any circumstances. . . .

  Third, in view of Pence's remarks in Tokyo and Seoul, we must conclude that there are no moderating voices on foreign policy left in the Trump administration -- to the extent, I mean, that there may have been any from the beginning. There had been intermittent suggestions that tempering perspectives in the executive were keeping things at least minimally civilized. Read Pence's remarks and imagine they were uttered by Mattis or H.R. McMaster, Trump's ever-belligerent national security adviser; either of the other two could have made those statements verbatim. By all appearances, these figures are now interchangeable. In short, the military runs the White House on the foreign policy side -- this without any inhibiting pressure one can detect from other quarters.

• Dara Lind: Trump's draft plan to punish legal immigrants for sending US-born kids to Head Start: "Or getting insured through the Children's Health Insurance Program, or getting assistance to heat their homes."

• Anna North: Trump's long history of employing -- and defending -- men accused of hurting women: Rob Porter, of course, but note the list also includes Andrew Puzder, Trump's Secretary of Labor nominee who was forced to withdraw due to assaulting his (now ex-) wife. Related: Jen Kirby: John Kelly has a history of believing men over women. And since these articles appeared, Kirby has also written about Trump speechwriter David Sorensen: A second White House aide resigns over domestic abuse allegations. Also see: David Remnick: A Reckoning With Women Awaits Trump: One reason the spousal abuse charges against Porter, Sorensen, and ultimately Kelly, blew up so fast is that they fit in perfectly with what we know and despise about Trump himself:

  Donald Trump is the least mysterious figure in the history of the American Presidency. His infantile character, duplicity, cold-heartedness, and self-dealing greed are evident not merely to the majority of the poll-answering electorate but, sooner or later, to those who make the decision to work at his side. . . . Sooner or later, Trump's satraps and lieutenants, present and former, come to betray a vivid sense of just how imperilled and imperilling this Presidency is. In their sotto-voce remarks to the White House press, these aides seem to compete in their synonyms for the President's modesty of intelligence ("moron," "idiot," "fool"); his colossal narcissism; his lack of human empathy. They admit to reporters how little he studies the basics of domestic policy and national security; how partial he is to autocrats like himself; how indifferent he is to allies. They are shocked, they proclaim, absolutely shocked. In the past few days, it has been Trump's misogyny, his heedless attitude toward women and issues of harassment and abuse, that has shocked them most. And those who know him best recognize the political consequences ahead.

• Mark Schmitt: The Art of the Scam:

  Most American workers this month will see their take-home pay go up, some a little and a few quite a bit, as the new tax act takes effect and less money is withheld for federal income taxes.

  But for many, the gift will be short-lived. Because the law was rushed and written in a partisan frenzy, withholding may not be accurate and you might owe money to the I.R.S. next year. You might even be advised to file new forms so that more money is withheld -- and then the forms and withholding amounts are likely to change again later in the year and then again every year thereafter as the cuts for individuals head toward expiration. . . .

  It's the experience of the scam economy, where nothing is certain and anything gained might disappear without warning. It's an economy where risk is shifted onto individuals and families, financial predators lurk behind every robocall and pop-up ad, work schedules are changed without notice and Americans have endless choices about savings, education, health care and other needs but very little clear guidance about how to make those choices wisely or safely. . . .

  A proposal for paid family leave recently floated by Ivanka Trump and Senator Marco Rubio takes the policy of "give with one hand, take away with the other" to an absurd extreme: New parents could pay for leave from their future Social Security payments, trading a week of paid leave for a week of retirement benefits, as if people could make a rational, informed choice between needs that will typically fall 40 years apart in the life cycle.

  Finally, this administration has eagerly taken down the guardrails intended to protect individuals from the worst predators: the "fiduciary rule," which had required investment advisers to act in the interest of their clients; the hard-fought rules that protect students from worthless for-profit colleges and student loans they can't repay; and even the recent Labor Department rule requiring that employees receive the tips that are intended for them. Virtually every enforcement action of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been put on hold or canceled -- even the investigation of the Equifax hack that disclosed the financial records of millions of people -- exposing all of us to even more scams and tricks.

  It bears noting that all this is happening at the same time people are encouraged to grab as much money as they can now because without it their future looks increasingly bleak -- a practice increasingly free of scruples, as certain political leaders attest.

• Alex Ward: Israel just attacked Syria. That's scary, but nothing new. I've been reading that the US military's favorite option for dealing with North Korea is what they call a "bloody nose" attack: the US swoops in, blows some shit up, causes some hurt, but in a limited way that doesn't invite the escalation of a full-scale response. This is basically what Israel has been doing to Syria, repeatedly, since well before civil war broke out, and it's happened a half-dozen times or more during the war. Syria doesn't want to fight Israel, so they don't respond in kind, let alone escalate. The assumption is that North Korea doesn't really want to fight either, so would hold back and be humiliated rather than risk massive destruction. If you believe that, you have to ask yourself why you let North Korea's missiles and nuclear bombs worry you in the first place. Of course, introspection isn't a strong trait of anyone in the Trump administration, least of all the blowhard-in-chief.

  By the way, for more on what we're risking in Korea see: Yochi Dreazen: Here's what war with North Korea would look like. Also, a reminder of the last time the US made war on North Korea: David McNeill: Unknown to most Americans, the US 'totally destroyed' North Korea once before.

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Monday, February 5, 2018

Music: Current count 29288 [29253] rated (+35), 378 [378] unrated (+0).

I got to most of this week's count after posting January Streamnotes, but there are a couple of surprises below. I've continued to add to my EOY Aggregate. One new list was Ann Powers' Top 10 Underheard Albums, and three of those records were unknown to me, all on the folk side of Americana. One, by Anna Tivel, proved quite good (the others, well, not so good), so that was my first post-freeze A-. The second was Wu-Tang's The Saga Continues, which first showed up at number 100 on the Banquet Records list. The Stampfel album wasn't available when I looked last year, but showed up when I went looking for this year's album (unavailable on Napster).

Shortly after posting Weekend Roundup, I noticed several quoteworthy tweets:

From LOLGOP (presumably satire, quoting Paul Ryan's presumably sober "pleasantly surprised her pay up $1.50 a week," but the perspective rings true):

Charles, a Koch brother in Wichita, said he was pleasantly surprised that his pay went up $26,923,076 a week . . . he said [that] will more than cover the cost of buying several more Paul Ryans.

From Rep. Keith Ellison (also a bit of a stretch, but shows some understanding of how corporate CEOs think these days):

"Kimberly-Clark, maker of paper products like Kleenex, Viva paper towels, Cottonelle bathroom tissue and Huggies diapers, announced earlier this month it would use its tax cut windfall to pay the costs of closing 10 factories and dumping as many as 5,500 workers."

I also want to link to a piece by Dean Baker, which provides a bit of plausible corrective to expectations of financial collapse under Trump (like yesterday's link to Nomi Prins): It Actually Doesn't Feel at All Like 2006: Refusing to Learn the Lesson of the Housing Bubble. I've come to similar conclusions based on a few less informed hunches: we're beginning to see a small housing bubble, but I doubt anything comparable to 2006 is possible now -- partly because banks are a bit better regulated (although Republicans hope to change that), but more importantly because I can't see that ordinary Americans will again be willing (or, perhaps more important, able) to take on the extraordinary debt they did in the run up to 2008. This doesn't mean the economy won't run into some severe bumps in the years ahead. Baker mentions some problem areas, like the stock bubble. Two more I'll mention are: I expect corruption and deceit to spread out from the White House into even more corporate boardrooms, leading to a long series of scandals and failures; and deregulation is likely to channel capital investment into increasingly risky ventures, some of which will turn into major disasters. I might add a third point, but I'm less certain about how it will play out: over the last forty years, the rich have made a huge power play to amass ever greater wealth, which at least in the US has largely involved capping and withering the welfare and prospects of an overwhelming majority of Americans. Surely they can't keep tightening the screws indefinitely without something snapping.

Paul Krugman covered this same turf last Friday, asking Has Trumphoria Finally Hit a Wall. Baker responded: Taking Issue with Paul Krugman, We're Still Not at Full Employment. I suspect Krugman would agree with Baker's point. All of this appears to have been written before Monday's big market slip -- for that, see Matt Phillips: Dow Jones and S&P Slide Again, Dropping by More Than 4%. Probably not coincidentally, Trump's pick to take over the Fed, Jerome Powell, was sworn in today, replacing Janet Yellen. My impression is that for once Trump didn't pick the worst possible nominee, but that remains to be seen -- he's certainly got investors nervous.

I've started reading David Frum's Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic, which 50-pages in is sober and useful, not that there aren't occasional embarrassments: e.g., his description of Gen. Michael Flynn as a "battlefield commander" (he was an "intelligence" officer), his ridiculous praise for Gen. H.R. McMaster, and his line about the "wise men" of the American foreign policy establishment, immediately followed by a quote from Sen. John McCain. Frum is smarter than most arch-conservatives, but one should not forget that he made his own pitch for membership in the "wise man" club by inserting the "axis of evil" line into GW Bush's 2003 SOTA.

New records rated this week:

• Samuel Blaser With Marc Ducret/Peter Bruun: Taktlos Zurich 2017 (2017 [2018], Hatology): [r]: B+(*)
• Dawn Clement: Tandem (2017 [2018], Origin): [cd]: B+(*)
• George Cotsirilos Quartet: Mostly in Blue (2017 [2018], OA2): [r]: B+(*)
• Rose Cousins: Natural Conclusion (2017, Old Farm Pony): [r]: B
• Duchess: Duchess (2015, Anzic): [r]: B+(**)
• Duchess: Laughing at Life (2016 [2017], Anzic): [r]: B+(*)
• Harris Eisenstadt: Recent Developments (2016 [2017], Songlines): [r]: B+(**)
• Satoko Fujii: Solo (2017 [2018], Libra): [cd]: B+(**)
• Camilla George Quartet: Isang (2016 [2017], Ubuntu Music): [r]: B+(*)
• Dua Lipa: Dua Lipa (2017, Warner Brothers): [r]: B+(**)
• Kate McGarry/Keith Ganz/Gary Versace: The Subject Tonight Is Love (2017 [2018], Binxtown): [cd]: B+(**)
• Mdou Moctar: Sousoume Tamachek (2017, Sahel Sounds): [r]: B+(*)
• Juana Molina: Halo (2017, Crammed Discs): [r]: B+(*)
• Musique Noire: Reflections: We Breathe (2017, self-released): [cd]: B+(*)
• Arturo O'Farrill & Chucho Valdes: Familia: Tribute to Bebo & Chico (2017, Motema): [r]: B+(**)
• Allison Pierce: Year of the Rabbit (2017, Masterworks): [r]: B
• Stuart Popejoy: Pleonid (2017, Leo): [r]: B+(**)
• Margo Rey: The Roots of Rey/Despacito Margo (2017 [2018], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
• Jamie Saft: Solo a Genova (2017 [2018], RareNoise): [cdr]: B+(***)
• Ryuichi Sakamoto: Async (2017, Milan): [r]: B+(*)
• Peter Stampfel and the Brooklyn & Lower Manhattan Fiddle/Mandolin Swarm: Holiday for Strings (2016, Don Giovanni): [r]: A-
• Anna Tivel: Small Believer (2017, Fluff and Gravy): [r]: A-
• Traxman: Tekvision (2017, Teklife): [r]: B-
• Ty Dolla Sign: Beach House 3 (2017, Atlantic): [r]: B+(*)
• Michael Waldrop: Origin Suite (2017 [2018], Origin): [cd]: B-
• Wu-Tang: The Saga Continues (2017, eOne): [r]: A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries rated this week:

• Louis Armstrong: The Standard Oil Sessions (1950 [2017], Dot Time): [r]: B+(**)
• Azar Lawrence: Bridge Into the New Age (1974 [2017], Prestige): [r]: A-
• Lucky Thompson: In Paris 1956: The All Star Orchestra Sessions (1956 [2017], Fresh Sound): [r]: B+(*)
• Lucky Thompson: Complete Parisian Small Group Sessions 1956-1959 (1956-59 [2017], Fresh Sound, 4CD): [r]: A-
• Trevor Watts Amalgam: Closer to You (1976 [2018], Hi4Head): [bc]: B+(***)

Old music rated this week:

• Derek Bailey/Evan Parker/Hugh Davies/Jamie Muir/Christine Jeffrey: The Music Improvisation Company (1970, ECM): [r]: B
• Cecil Taylor: Garden 2nd Set (1981 [2015], Hatology): [r]: B+(***)
• Colin Vallon Trio: Ailleurs (2006, Hatology): [r]: B+(**)

Grade (or other) changes:

• Mary Gauthier: Rifles & Rosary Beads (2018, In the Black): [r]: [was B+(***)] A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Dan Block: Block Party: A Saint Louis Connection (Miles High)
• Owen Broder: Heritage: The American Roots Project (ArtistShare): March 1
• Dave Liebman/Tatsuya Nakatani/Adam Rudolph: The Unknowable (RareNoise): cdr, February 25
• Bobby Previte: Rhapsody (RareNoise): cdr, February 25
• Steve Tyrell: A Song for You (New Design): February 9

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Can't say as I really felt any energy or appetite for doing a roundup this weekend. Still, practically wrote itself:

Some scattered links this week:

• Matthew Yglesias: 4 big stories from a very weird week in Washington: It's a "new American moment" (Trump's "state of the union" speech); we talked a lot about a memo (the Nunes memo, accusing the FBI of picking on Trump for "deep state" political reasons); Trump has an infrastructure plan ("all that's missing, basically, are the details"); Amazon is (maybe) going to revolutionize health care (maybe) -- some kind of new joint venture between Amazon, Berkshire, and JP Morgan. Other Yglesias pieces:

  • The Steele dossier, explained, with Andrew Prokop.

  • Trump's new infrastructure "plan," explained: "No money, no details, and no explanation of how it works." Well, some numbers, but they're beyond ridiculous. The federal government would pony up $200 billion, but from spending cuts elsewhere (and presumably not military), not from new revenues (which the tax bill will shrink by $1.5 trillion), so the net stimulus effect will be negative. The expectation is that the federal money would then be matched at a 6.5/1 ratio by state and local governments, despite the fact that the latter have nowhere near that kind of borrowing power -- so the key idea is to nudge them into forming "public-private partnerships," which will put tollgates on everything they do, so the public will wind up paying much more for the infrastructure development than would be the case if government did it all itself. Why?

    A more cynical view would be that the main issue here is Trump likes to talk about the idea of a big infrastructure package, but Trump doesn't actually run the Trump administration. Neither congressional Republicans nor the veteran GOP politicians and operatives who do run the Trump administration want to see a big federal infrastructure package. If they wanted one, they would have done a deal with Barack Obama when he was president and called over and over again for one.

    What they actually want is cuts in the social safety net -- cuts that Democrats aren't going to agree to and that aren't especially popular.

    Now Trump has a thing that he can say is his plan, congressional conservatives can propose paying for it with safety net cuts that Democrats won't agree to, and Republicans can try to pass the whole thing off as an example of gridlock or obstruction rather than reflecting the fact that conservatives don't favor spending more money on federal infrastructure.

  • If Trump acted normal, he'd be an unpopular president with an unpopular agenda: actually, he is, but if he acted normal, we'd be talking about how unpopular that agenda is, instead of what a boor and moron he is.

    It's worth emphasizing that the Trump Show does have some real strategic benefits for Trump.

    For starters, it ensures that all but the very biggest policy stories are deprived of oxygen. The typical American has never been exposed to a robust news cycle about the administration's move to allow broadband internet providers to sell private user data, its various assaults on non-climate environmental policy, the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or budget proposals that starve the very job training and vocational education programs Trump touted in his State of the Union address.

    While some of Trump's antics and culture war battles are misfires that turn off even voters who might be sympathetic to his policy agenda, overall, he does better during the Trump Show. In moments when he manages to effectively fracture American society along racial lines, he regains the loyalty of the white voters who continue to make up a large majority of the electorate. Trump's actual execution of the politics of racial demagoguery is often not so deft, but the basic concept of elevating racial conflict and downplaying banal public policy debates makes perfect sense for him. . . .

    Whether his erratic behavior sinks him in the end, meanwhile, is likely to have less to do with political perceptions than with actual policy outcomes. During campaign 2016, I worried -- as did many observers -- that Trump's erratic, impulsive behavior would get the country ensnared in a disastrous war or crash the American economy. So far, he hasn't done either of those things.

    That's a low bar, to be sure. But it's not a given that a president will clear it; just ask George W. Bush.

  • In Kennedy's speech, Democrats rediscovered Barack Obama's compelling vision: "America is about equality, across all dimensions."

    Trump's game is to pit people against each other and get them so caught up in their internecine games that they don't notice the wholesale looting of America that's taking place under his administration.

  • Donald Trump as no solutions for America's big problems: Useful list here.

    The Puerto Rico saga is marginal to American politics because Puerto Rico itself is a marginal part of the country -- an island physically separated from the mainland, whose residents lack representation in Congress or the right to vote in presidential elections.

    But the sad state of that island is worth dwelling on, because the devastation of Hurricane Maria remains the one real crisis that Trump's dealt with that hasn't simply been self-inflicted. He's been inattentive, ill-informed, dishonest, and ineffective, capping it with tonight's solemn pledge of solidarity that's totally disconnected from the actual reality on the ground.

    Most of the problems Trump is ignoring are chronic rather than acute, and if the country needs to suffer through a few more years of neglect we'll make it. Puerto Rico is facing acute problems and the president is, likewise, doing nothing.

    If we're lucky, those of us on the mainland won't have to find out what it's like to live through that. But Trump makes it clear on a daily basis that if we ever do, there's no way he's going to rise to the occasion.

  • Trump's approval rating is below 50% in 38 states: Map is interesting. Note that he's below 50% here in Kansas, as well as Nebraska and Utah, Mississippi and South Carolina. He's only under 40% in one state that he actually carried, but it's a big one: Texas.

  • The truth about the Trump economy, explained: The low unemployment rates Trump touted in his SOTA, like most other growth statistics, are easily explained as extensions of trends established over the past 5-6 years, which is to say under Obama. Trump hasn't caused them, but he hasn't blown them up either. On the other hand, that growth partly masks a longer-term weakness in the economy, which is why workforce participation is still below 2000 levels: there may be a lot of jobs, but not very good ones. The one area where Trump has had a discernible effect is the stock market boom, which started under Obama but has been boosted further by Trump's deregulation agenda, and now by business tax cuts. Nonetheless, last week was a rough one for Wall Street, which has been blamed on fear of interest rate hikes, but like all bubbles is mostly a matter of the investor class having more money than it knows what to do with.

    It's largely forgotten now, but back during the mid-aughts (a time of more rapid wage growth than what we saw in 2017, incidentally), it was commonplace in conservative circles to proclaim that we were living through a "Bush Boom" touched off by his game-changing tax cuts and deregulation. That story, obviously, eventually ended in tears, as a poorly supervised financial system channeled inequitably shared growth into an unsustainable pyramid of debt that eventually collapsed.

    For another explanation of the current economy, see Dean Baker: It's Still the Yellen-Obama Economy. For a view of how it may end, see: Nomi Prins: Here Comes the Next Financial Crisis.

  • An immigration crackdown is a recipe for national decline.

  Yglesias also contributed to: The real state of the union in 2018, explained.

• Glenn Greenwald: In a Major Free Speech Victory, a Federal Court Strikes Down a Law that Punishes Supporters of Israel Boycott: Story has a local angle, as it was a Kansas Mennonite who challenged the state law. Note that the governor who signed that law is the new US "ambassador at large for religious freedom."

• Jacob Hacker: Trump's tax cuts are worse than fiercest critics claim: Introduces a term that's unlikely to mean anything to anyone:

  The problem isn't just that the cuts will make inequality worse -- if that were the case, then adding more tax cuts for the middle class and poor would fix things. Nor is the issue that driving up the debt will threaten popular social programs like Social Security and Medicare -- though it certainly will.

  The fundamental problem concerns not redistribution but predistribution: all the ways in which government rules and activities change how American capitalism distributes its rewards in the first place. Predistribution policies -- like public investments in infrastructure, education, research and development, and the regulation of labor and financial markets -- built the American middle class. And the collapse of such investment and regulations is the main reason that the middle class has experienced stagnant wages, plummeting bargaining power and a declining share of national income since the late 1970s. If we are going to tackle American inequality, we need to take seriously the imperative of changing how markets work. . . .

  Thus, the biggest defect of tax cuts -- any tax cuts -- is that they represent a huge lost opportunity to invest in our future. If the past generation has taught us anything, it's that tax cuts for investors and a soaring stock market do little or nothing to help most Americans. By contrast, we know that public investments in productive physical and human assets do help, and they disproportionately help the less well off. Rich people have plenty of private capital to invest. Those who aren't rich have their human capital (which rests on public investments) and the public capital that we all share as citizens: transportation and communication networks, shared scientific knowledge fostered by public R&D spending, civic institutions and so on.

  If we really want to boost growth, we need to return to the successful investment model that really made America great in the 20th century. And that requires more revenues, not less; a more effective IRS, not a weaker one; and, yes, new taxes, such as a levy on carbon emissions that threaten our planet and a surcharge on short-term financial speculation that threatens our economy.

  Two (possibly more) points here: the real sources of inequality lie outside of the tax code: the real engine of inequality is the drive for profit, which we tend to overlook by viewing it as the natural state of capitalism. In fact, inequality can be limited or even rolled back by political policies which: increase competition, which both reduces and spreads out profits; strengthen labor, which distributes gross margins more equitably to workers; and progressive taxation, which redistributes profits through public works and services. Conversely, inequality can be increased by opposite policies, as we've seen repeatedly over the past forty years. Hacker's "predistribution" policy point is important, but relatively minor -- effectively, a subset of the third point, that reducing government income is itself an intrinsic goal of the right's push for tax cuts. It's not just that the right doesn't want government to help people; the right doesn't want people to get in the habit of looking to government to help themselves. (On the other hand, they can get pretty agitated when they need help themselves.)

  Hacker's leaning against the fact that the only time we tend to talk about inequality is when considering tax bills, and even there the right likes to muddy the waters by offering chump change to the masses. It is true that strongly progressive taxation (combined with direct income redistribution) could compensate for inequality built into the private sector economy, but hardly anyone on the left is pushing for rates that would effectively cap private wealth (or, beyond occasional mentions of a "basic income" for significant income support). Rather, both sides struggle to move the scrimmage line a bit (for marginal income rates between 33-39%, although the right has been more ambitious in their proposals to eliminate estate taxes and vastly reduce taxes on capital gains and business income -- matters of import to the very rich, but esoteric to most people). [PS: Just noticed this, pace my generalization: Hamilton Nolan: The Estate Tax Should Be 100 Percent. Nolan also wrote: The Entire Rationale for These Tax Cuts Is Bullshit. Found these links by following Alex Pareene: Tom Steyer Has Too Much Money.]

• Ezra Klein: How democracies die, explained: Ruminations based on a new book by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die.

  Demagogues and authoritarians do not destroy democracies. It's established political parties, and the choices they make when faced with demagogues and authoritarians, that decide whether democracies survive.

  "2017 was the best year for conservatives in the 30 years that I've been here," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week. "The best year on all fronts. And a lot of people were shocked because we didn't know what we were getting with Donald Trump."

  The best year on all fronts. Think about that for a moment. If you want to know why congressional Republicans are opening an assault on the FBI in order to protect Trump, it can be found in that comment. This was a year in which Trump undermined the press, fired the director of the FBI, cozied up to Russia, baselessly alleged he was wiretapped, threatened to jail his political opponents, publicly humiliated his attorney general for recusing himself from an investigation, repeatedly claimed massive voter fraud against him, appointed a raft of unqualified and occasionally ridiculous candidates to key positions, mishandled the aftermath of the Puerto Rico hurricane, and threatened to use antitrust and libel laws against his enemies.

  And yet McConnell surveyed the tax cuts he passed and the regulations he repealed and called this not a mixed year for his political movement, not a good year for his political movement, but the best year he'd ever seen.

  Richard J Evans has written a couple of relevant book reviews on the the most exercised of analogies: A Warning From History and Rule by Fear -- the former on a new biography of Hitler, the latter a broader history of "the rise and fall of the Third Reich." Back during the Bush years I found the analogy tempting enough that I bought a copy of Evans' own book, The Coming of the Third Reich, but I never got around to reading it. (I read Cullen Murphy's more explicitly topical Are We Rome? instead, partly because at the time I knew considerably less about Rome. Most recently I've been reading Tony Judt's essays from the Bush years, When the Facts Change, which reminds me how awful Bush was, while at the same time bringing to mind Michael Lewis' intro to the 2010 reprint of Liar's Poker, his book about financial scandal in the 1980s, a tale he finally had to deem "how quaint.")

• PR Lockhart: Trump's reaction to the NFL protests shows how he fights the culture war. Not sure this subject is worth this much reading, but I'll note that I think the reason many conservatives take a special delight in football is that they relate to the idea of the strong dominating the relatively weak through force and violence. That's a view peculiar to fans. The players, and observers who actually watch the play and not just the markers, know that what really matters is teamwork. And while most plays are intricately planned, there's also a fair amount of leeway for improvisation. You also see teamwork in baseball and basketball, but in no other sport is it so central as it is in football. That makes the players more like workers, and helps foster solidarity -- a point which more than any (other than opportunism, I guess) explains Trump's vituperation. He's bothered less by supposed disrespect for the flag than by his disgust that the owners can't control their workers.

• Josh Marshall: First Take: The 'Nunes Memo' Is Even Weaker Than Expected. Also see: Zack Beauchamp/Alex Ward: The 9 biggest questions about the Nunes memo, answered; Alex Emmons: Nunes Memo Accidentally Confirms the Legitimacy of the FBI's Investigation.

• Dylan Scott: Trump's abandoned promise to bring down drug prices, explained: Something Trump mentioned in the SOTA, then gestured to Democrats that now would be a good time for them to applaud.

• Emily Stewart: The Trump administration's surprising idea to nationalize America's 5G network, explained: "Nobody thinks it's a good idea, including the FCC." Well, as their handling of the "net neutrality" matter shown, the FCC doesn't work for the public interest any more; it's been captured by the industry it was meant to regulate. I doubt Trump's people will pursue this further, because it's a non-starter with the corrupt cabal known as the Congressional Republicans, and the communications industry has been more bipartisan than most, so they have a fair number of Democrats in their pocket as well. But on the surface, sure, why not nationalize the 5G network? It would be easier (and cheaper) for the federal government to raise the investment. They wouldn't have to engineer all sorts of cutouts and paywalls to recoup their investment. And they could make it a point to provide inexpensive, reliable service everywhere instead of having private companies cherry-pick a few lucrative markets. This sort of thing hasn't happened often in the past because it's rare for Congress to interfere in a market private companies think they can make money. (The Post Office and the TVA are two such exceptions.)

  Stewart also wrote: Paul Ryan tweets -- then deletes -- brag about public school worker who saw $1.50 pay raise. Fact check: that's a weekly pay check, so the deduction change nets out to less than four cents per hour.

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

With 154 records below (not counting 3 regrades), this is a pretty substantial collection -- down a shade from 161 in December, but otherwise the most of any month in 2017 except for January (155). January is usually a big month because I can draw inspiration from the great many EOY lists summing up the previous year. Still, while this year's yield is comparable to past years, it feels strangely incomplete. The most obvious difference is that last January I discovered 9 new A- records from 2016, whereas this month's total is down to 4 (the other 3 A- records this month are 2018 releases, but January 2017 had 8 new releases at A-, so the overall drop is from 17 to 7). More evidence: looking at my 2017 EOY lists for Jazz and Non-Jazz, the A-list split between Jazz/Non-Jazz is 81/56. In most years the Jazz/Non-Jazz split is relatively even (e.g., 81/83 in 2015, although they diverged a bit more in 2016: 75/67). Aside from some random statistical noise, I assume these changes are mine and not the world's. I have some theories about this, but right now they're so off-the-wall I don't dare try to enumerate them.

As I do every year, I just copied off my working Year 2017 list to keep a frozen copy (the former list will continue to collect 2017 releases for another year). My 2017 list currently includes 1037 new albums, by grade: A: 0; A-: 139; ***: 167; **: 290; *: 275; B: 117; B-: 39; C+: 7; C: 2; C-: 0; D+: 1, ungraded: 8. It also includes 97 old music albums, by grade: A: 1; A-: 20; ***: 25; **: 21; *: 18; B: 8; B-: 2; C+: 1. C-: 1, ungraded: 2. Total albums 1134. This is actually up a bit from 2016 (1074) and 2015 (1110, but down from the last few years, like 2014 (1166).

The main source for my list suggestions is my EOY Aggregate, which currently lists 2615 records from 281 lists. This is down quite a bit from 2016, which probably has something to do with my own shorter-than-usual non-jazz A-list. (Also hurts that the Village Voice has only published their top 100 albums, whereas most years the list tops 1500 albums. Jazz is better represented because I've credited at least one point to every album mentioned in the Jazz Critics Poll.)

While I've no doubt missed a lot of obscure gems, I'll note that (thanks to streaming) I've heard 94 of Pazz & Jop's top-101 albums (exceptions: Power Trio (at 65), Elder, Ty Dolla Sign, Converge, Ariel Pink, Juana Molina, U2); also 97 of my EOY Aggregate's top-101 (save: The Horrors (73), Grizzly Bear, Mac DeMarco, Kevin Morby). Maybe one of the reasons I haven't found as much good non-jazz this year as usual is that I've spent too much time listening to stuff other people seem to like.

Most of these are short notes/reviews based on streaming records from Napster (formerly Rhapsody; other sources are noted in brackets). They are snap judgments, usually based on one or two plays, accumulated since my last post along these lines, back on December 31. Past reviews and more information are available here (10685 records).

Recent Releases

21 Savage/Offset/Metro Boomin: Without Warning (2017, Epic): Atlanta rappers, Shayaa Bin Abraham-Joseph and Kiari Kendrell Caphus (of Migos), with producer Leland Wayne. Underground beats, so understated you're never quite sure what's up. B+(*)

Fatima Al Qadiri: Shaneera (2017, Hyperdub, EP): Electronica producer, born in Senegal, grew up in Kuwait, based in Berlin, has two albums and a bunch of EPs. Whiffs of Arab music mixed in with the electronics. Five cuts, 21:09. B

Wali Ali: To Be (2016-17 [2017], Mendicant): Guitarist, Discogs describes him as "disco-soul guitarist," noting he did session work for Rick James, Patrice Rushen, Teena Marie, Gladys Knight, Marvin Gaye, etc. He doesn't mention any of those names on his website, but has an alternative list of names including Taj Mahal, Peter Tosh, and Stanley Turrentine, and the Broadway musical "Mule Bone." He also says "his sound combines the music of Miles and Trane with that of Hendrix and Santana," but I'm mostly hearing Wes Montgomery, and rather liking that. B+(**) [cd]

As Is Featuring Alan & Stacey Schulman: Here's to Life (2017 [2018], self-released): Guitar and vocals, standards (more or less), backed by various musicians with some strings, sax (David Binney), and featured spots for Grégoire Maret (harmonica). Some sweet spots. B [cd]

Cardi B: Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 (2016, KSR): Rapper Belcalis Almanzar, from the Bronx, got major label push for the hit single "Bodak Yellow" -- top song of 2017 according to the Pazz & Jop critics poll -- but no albums yet, just a bunch of singles and two short mixtapes. This one runs 33:10 with four skits that could easily be disposed of, and songs that tease you without quite delivering. B+(**)

Cardi B: Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 2 (GBMV2) (2017, KSR): Shorter at ten cuts, 28:26, skits down to just one, but guests up -- learning to delegate, or cut corners. Released in January, well before her big single in June. B+(*)

Jeff Baker: Phrases (2017 [2018], OA2): Jazz singer, handful of albums since Jeff Sings Chet in 2003, writes about half of his songs here, drawing on Bonnie Raitt, Billy Joel, and Ryan Adams for standards. Brings in some first-rate musicians including Darrell Grant (piano), Steve Wilson (alto sax), Geof Bradfield (tenor sax), and Marquis Hill (trumpet), plus a string quartet. B [cd]

Julien Baker: Turn Out the Lights (2017, Matador): Singer-songwriter from Memphis, not that anything she does suggests Memphis or Tennessee or any particular geography, other than perhaps the Moon. Slow, full of striving and, I guess, regret; nothing I'm particularly partial to, but not unappealing, either. B

Django Bates' Beloved: The Study of Touch (2016 [2017], ECM): British pianist, has bounced around a lot since 1990, ranging from avant to fusion, playing with Dudu Pukwana and George Russell, recently doing a big band Saluting Sgt. Pepper (not very good). This is a mainstream piano trio, with Petter Eldh (bass) and Peter Bruun (drums). B+(*)

Stefano Battaglia: Pelagos (2016 [2017], ECM, 2CD): Italian pianist, prolific since 1988 including several volumes of Bill Evans Compositions, picked up by ECM in 2005. Solo here, sometimes prepared. B+(**)

Beck: Colors (2017, Capitol): Slacker hero back in the 1990s, turned soul man for his peak run, maturing into some kind of pop icon -- this is his 6th straight top-10 album, starting with Sea Change in 2002; i.e., the point when I stopped taking any real interest in whatever he was doing. Clearly he knows a lot about working the studio. Less clear why he bothers. B

Dave Bennett: Blood Moon (2017, Mack Avenue): Clarinet player, first album was a tribute to Benny Goodman, second subtitled Songs of Great Clarinetists, on 2013's Don't Be That Way he became one himself. Continues in a retro-swing vein, with Reg Schwager on guitar and Dave Restivo on piano. B+(**)

Bibio: Phantom Brickworks (2017, Warp): Electronica producer Stephen Wilkinson, from England, caught my ear with the more pop Mind Bokeh (2011), but has lately settled into ambient, best just a bit of piano with synth washes. B

Bicep: Bicep (2017, Ninja Tune): DJ/production duo from Belfast in Northern Ireland, Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar. First album, after a long run of singles and EPs since 2010. Nice mix of bounce and sonic flair. B+(**)

Big K.R.I.T.: 4Eva Is a Mightly Long Time (2017, Multi Alumni/BMG, 2CD): Not as big as it looks -- 22 cuts, 84:48 -- but clearly could have been edited into something more impressive, stunning even. As is, it no doubt takes a lot more effort to sort through than I can give it, and I can't swear it's worth it, but I'd give it fairly decent odds. I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more EOY list support. B+(***)

Raoul Björkenheim Triad: Beyond (2016 [2017], Eclipse Music): Trio, recorded in Helsinki, the guitarist joined by Ville Rauhala on double bass and Ilmari Heikenheimo on drums. Playing this after the Ecstasy quartet, I can't help but feel that something's missing. But not the guitarist. B+(**)

Blanck Mass: World Eater (2017, Sacred Bones): Solo project by electronica producer Benjamin John Power, also dba Fuck Buttons. Massively orchestrated shards of sound, something I usually hate but find somewhat rousing here. B+(*)

Samuel Blaser With Marc Ducret/Peter Bruun: Taktlos Zürich 2017 (2017 [2918], Hatology): Trombone-guitar-drums trio, fractures in interesting ways. B+(*)

Anouar Brahem: Blue Maqams (2017, ECM): Oud player from Tunisia, filed under jazz due to the company he keeps -- here: Django Bates (piano), Dave Holland (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), with Manfred Eicher producing, making sure nothing untoward happens. With different company he'd be New Age, but not as good. B+(**)

Bully: Losing (2017, Sub Pop): Alt/indie band, principally singer Alicia Bognano, from Minnesota but studied audio engineering in Nashville and worked an internship in Steve Albini's Chicago studio. Second album. B+(**)

Daniel Caesar: Freudian (2017, Golden Child): Canadian singer-songwriter, Ashton Simmonds; soft, slow, slinky neo-soul in a near-falsetto, often beguiling, can drag a bit. B+(*)

Chronixx: Chronology (2017, Soul Circle Music/Virgin): Jamaican singer-songwriter Jamar McNaughton, second album, father was a singer known as Chronicle, so he started out as Little Chronicle. In a sort of "neo-trad" move, would like to revive the classic sound of '70s reggae, but Jah doesn't seem to be willing. B+(*)

Cigarettes After Sex: Cigarettes After Sex (2017, Partisan): Slowcore band, originally from El Paso, principally Greg Gonzalez -- an appealing idea, I once thought, but this is the first group that delivers on the concept, perhaps because I hear more than a little Neal Tennant in his voice. Still doesn't find redemption in dance, or much of anything else, so this may be a passing fancy. A-

Cleric: Resurrection (2017, Figure, EP): Jorden Hodgetts, techno DJ/producer from Manchester [UK], 18 records (mostly EPs) since 2012. Five cuts, 23:15. Tasteful beats. [Napster has this mixed in with another Cleric, see below.] B+(*)

Cleric: Retrocausal (2018, Web of Memory): Avant-metal, post-hardcore, and/or noisecore band from Philadelphia. Played this by accident, expecting more mild techno, but didn't find the initial thrash unlistenable, but are the blood-curdling screams really necessary? [Rare case where I halted album midway.] B-

The Clientele: Music for the Age of Miracles (2017, Merge): British indie band, initially formed in 1991 but waited until 2000 to release their debut album, took a break after 2010, so this is some sort of comeback. Rather lush, strings even, horns too, adding to its catchy grace. B+(***)

George Cotsirilos Quartet: Mostly in Blue (2017 [2018], OA2): Guitarist, born in Chicago, based in Berkeley, sixth album, mostly trios but adds pianist Keith Saunders here. All originals, mostly genteel postbop groove pieces. B+(*) [cd]

The Courtneys: II (2017, Flying Nun): Vancouver girl group qua alt/indie band, guitar-bass-drums, landed on a label now owned by Warner but famous for breaking guitar-pop groups from New Zealand (The Bats, The Chills, The Clean), mostly because the shoe fits -- although I'd say they sound more like the Feelies. B+(**)

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio: D'Agala (2017 [2018], Intakt): Swiss pianist, based in New York; following AllMusic I filed her under Avant-Garde -- an early album was titled Music for Barrel Organ, Piano, Tuba, Bass and Percussion -- but she's regularly worked in avant-jazz circles, especially since moving to Intakt in 1999. Trio here with Drew Gress (bass) and Kenny Wollesen (drums). B+(***) [cd]

CunninLynguists: Rose Azura Njano (2017, A Piece of Strange Music/RBC): Hip-hop crew from Lexington, Kentucky, around since 2002 (Will Rap for Food). Underground beats, r&b a little soft around the edges, but I like the rapper -- seems like the voice of reason. B+(**)

CupcakKe: Ephorize (2018, self-released): Chicago rapper Elizabeth Harris, with her fifth album in three years, coming off her Marilyn Monhoe and Queen Elizabitch tours, coming up on her 21st birthday in March -- talk about living fast. More audio porn, less social realism, sometimes you wish she'd slow it down a bit and relish how ridiculous life can get. B+(***)

Scott DuBois: Autumn Wind (2017, ACT): Guitarist, quartet gets front cover mention -- Gebhard Ullmann (tenor sax/bass clarinet), Thomas Morgan (bass), Kresten Osgood (drums) -- but the fine print reveals more wind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon) and a string quartet, recorded separately after the fact. I'm not sure that the extras matter much, although sometimes the winds do kick up mightily. B+(***)

EABS: Repetitions (Letters to Krzysztof Komeda) (2017, Astigmatic): Polish group, acronym stands for Electro-Acoustic Beat Sessions, the electric including guitar, bass, and turntables, plus trumpet, tenor sax, drums, with Marek Pedziwiatr playing both piano and synths. The compositions draw on the legendary pianist, dating from 1962-67, but juiced up with the beats and even a rap intro (and some later vocals, in English). B+(***) [bc]

EMA: Exile in the Outer Ring (2017, City Slang): Singer-songwriter, initials for Erika Michelle Anderson, from South Dakota, third studio album, dense electopop, some spoken word. B+(**)

Eminem: Revival (2017, Aftermath/Shady/Interscope): Starts with a bitch about how he's lost his stardom, but he somehow managed to snag the sample of the year -- no less than Beyoncé singing the "Walk on Water" refrain. It's clearer than ever that he has a signature style: tightly wound raps rising from fierce to batshit crazy, played off against irresistible pop hooks. Sometimes the batshit even rings true, especially when he takes on Trump and racism. A-

Peter Evans/Agustí Fernández/Mats Gustafsson: A Quietness of Water (2012 [2017], Not Two): Trumpet, piano, unspecified sax, none of these players particularly noted for calm contemplation of nature. They play an elaborate shell game where the instruments pretend to be something else or merely hide in each other's murk. B+(*)

Agustí Fernández/Albert Cirera/Ramon Prats: The Liquid Trio Plays Bernoulli (2017, Sluchaj Fundacja): All originals, jointly credited, only Bernoullis I can find mention of are Swiss mathematicians -- Wikipedia has pages on seven of them, most famously Jacob (1654-1705, Bernoulli numbers) and Daniel (1700-1782, Bernoulli's principle). Piano, saxophones, and drums, in an often-exciting thrash. B+(***)

Fleet Foxes: Crack-Up (2017, Nonesuch): Seattle "baroque pop" group, third album since 2008, the top-rated EOY Aggregate album that I hadn't bothered checking out -- number 27 as I write this -- and for good reason. Not that it's really awful. More like it's bland and affectless, leaving one to wonder what anyone hears in it. C+

Danny Fox Trio: The Great Nostalgist (2016 [2018], Hot Cup): Pianist, based in New York, has a couple previous albums, mostly trios like this one with Chris van Voorst van Beest (bass) and Max Goldman (drums). B+(***) [cd]

Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest (2017, Because Music): Daughter of French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and British actress Jane Birkin, born in England, first album in 1986, second in 2006, this her fifth overall. Synth-based music, dream pop, lyrics effortlessly flowing between English and French -- the latter I'm unable to follow but find charming nonetheless. B+(**)

Hillary Gardner/Ehud Asherie: The Late Set (2017, Anzic): Standards singer, based in Brooklyn, one-third of the vocal group Duchess. Just the pianist for accompaniment, with Asherie turning in a particularly sensitive job.l B+(*)

Mary Gauthier: Rifles & Rosary Beads (2018, In the Black): Folk singer, has some good records under her belt, co-wrote these songs with veterans and spouses with their peculiar experiences and their usual rationalizations for their "service" -- no jingoism here let alone bloodlust, nothing that challenges my anti-military instincts, but I come away with little interest or empathy, no matter how remarkable the social realism. [PS: On further reflection, I was a bit harsh. The multiple writers make this less consistent than Becky Warren's War Surplus, but diversity has its merits and charms.] A-

Ghostpoet: Dark Days + Canapés (2017, Play It Again Sam): British singer-songwriter Obaro Ejimiwe, not really a rapper but not much of a singer either. Fourth album, nice groove, not as down as trip hop. B+(**)

Perfect Giddimani: Live My Life Again (2017, Giddimani): Greg Rose, from Jamaica, adopted the name Perfect for his first album back in 2006, title Giddimani, merging those names in 2011 for Back for the First Time. Includes a catchy song on Trump, but mostly hit and miss. B+(*)

Justin Gray & Synthesis: New Horizons (2017 [2018], self-released): Bassist, from Toronto, plays electric but preferred instrument seems to be bass veena, which seems to pair well with tabla (Ed Haney), strings and lots of percussion. B+(**) [cd]

Jeff Hamilton Trio: Live From San Pedro (2017 [2018], Capri): Drummer, best known as co-leader of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, runs a splashy little piano trio on the side, with Tamir Handelman and Christoph Luty. One song each from Hamilton and Handelman, two from J. Clayton, a few other standards including "In Walked Bud." The pianist is swift and deft, but you notice the cymbals plenty too. B+(**) [cd]

Natalie Hemby: Puxico (2017, GetWrucke): Singer-songwriter, first album, named for her Missouri hometown. Based in Nashville, where she has a couple dozen songwriting credits, including co-credits on a big chunk of Miranda Lambert's last two albums. B+(**)

Nona Hendryx & Gary Lucas: The World of Captain Beefheart (2017, Knitting Factory): Lucas' project (labor of love?): he played guitar in Beefheart's Magic Band in the 1980s, and in 2005 formed a jazz group with Philip Johnston called Fast 'N' Bulbous. Otherwise, he pops up in all sorts of odd places -- my database shows him with Pulnoc and doing a Max Fleischer tribute. Hendryx is a singer, the strongest voice in '70s Labelle, but she's wanders downtown, most memorably working with Bill Laswell's Material. Mixed bag of songs, but most as unexpected as Monk, which gives them plenty to chew on, and leaves you with "Tropical Hot Dog Night" stuck in your synapses. A-

Robyn Hitchcock: Robyn Hitchcock (2017, Yep Roc): English singer-songwriter, twenty-first studio album since 1981. I'm surprised not to find any of them previously rated in my database, as I'm pretty sure I had an old LP or two -- none of the titles look familiar, but Globe of Frogs (1988) has a song I recall ("Balloon Man"). B+(*)

Ibeyi: Ash (2017, XL): French duo, second album, twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz (vocals/piano) and Naomi Diaz (percussion), born in Paris, the name Yoruba for twins, their father Cuban percussionist Anga Diaz, their mother French-Venezuelan singer Maya Dagnino. B+(*)

Ishmael Ensemble: Songs for Knotty (2017, Banoffee Pies, EP): Principally Pete Cunningham (sax, bansuri, keyboards, synthesizer), with Russel Ramirez (trombone), others coming and going (clarinet, guitar, drums, two different vocalists). Filed it under jazz due to the horns, but closer to electronica, ambient sometimes. Four songs, 21:51. B

Japanese Breakfast: Soft Sounds From Another Planet (2017, Dead Oceans): Singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner, from Oregon, of Korean and Jewish descent, previously fronted several bands, went solo in 2016 and this is her second album. Guitar layered over keyb, plays both ends of alt/indie and electropop, making it look remarkably easy. B+(**)

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: Soul of a Woman (2017, Daptone): Retro soul singer, formed the Dap-Kings and started recording in 2002, never great but she made a strong effort. Not sure when this was recorded, but Jones suffered a stroke while watching the 2016 election returns and died a few days after, making her one of the first victims of that mega-disaster. B+(*)

Stacey Kent: I Know I Dream: The Orchestral Sessions (2017, Okeh): Jazz singer, originally from New Jersey, studied in England, where she married saxophonist Jim Tomlinson and stayed. Tomlinson produced, rounding up a huge orchestra which fits neatly in place, occasionally adding nice touches, never crowding the singer -- adept in her usual several languages. B+(**)

Kondi Band: Salone (2017, Strut): Based in Brooklyn, a collaboration between Sorie Kondi, a thumb piano player from Sierra Leone, and producer DJ Chief Boima, an American who traces his own roots back to Sierra Leone. B+(***)

The Koreatown Oddity: Finna Be Past Tense (2017, Stones Throw): Los Angeles "MC/Producer," has ten albums (most only available as cassettes, if that) since 2013, this the first on a label you've heard of. Starts with two songs about dinosaurs. Interesting, but gets sloppy toward the end. B+(**)

LeeAnn Ledgerwood: Renewal (2016 [2017], SteepleChase): Pianist, from Ohio, has a record as far back as 1990 but not sure how many since. Trio, with Ron McClure on bass and Billy Hart on drums. Two originals, covers a mix of songbook and jazz standards plus a piece from Hindemith. B+(**)

Ted Leo: The Hanged Man (2017, SuperEgo): Singer-songwriter from Indiana, in various mostly punkish groups, most notably Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (1999-2010), first album under just his own name. Some catchy moments, but don't stick with you. B

Gregory Lewis: Organ Monk Blue (2017 [2018], self-released): Organ player, the fifth of his Organ Monk titles, returning to trio format after his more expansive (and trans-Monkish) Breathe Suite. I've always regarded his albums as a clever gimmick, but he gets more out of less here than I imagined possible. Obvious credit goes to guitarist Marc Ribot, but the organ continues to do the heavy lifting, gliding in and out of recognizable Monk, funk, and soul. A- [cd]

Lil Uzi Vert: Luv Is Rage 2 (2017, Atlantic): Symere Woods, rapper from Philadelphia, first studio album after several mixtapes, including Luv Is Rage (2015) and an EP Luve Is Rage 1.5 (earlier 2017). Tight beats, tight raps, runs long, doesn't sink in. B+(*)

L'Orange: The Ordinary Man (2017, Mello Music Group): Seattle-based beatmaster, nine releases since 2011 mostly with a co-headline rapper, goes with featured guests here. A little scattered, but stays interesting. B+(***)

Luka Productions: Fasokan (2017, Sahel Sounds): Luka Guindo, from Mali, "rapper, producer, and multi-instrumentalist," second album, describes this as "new age music from Africa" but it's closer to ambient electronica, with mostly spoken words over the very spare beats. B+(**)

Daniele Luppi/Parquet Courts: Milano (2017, 30th Century/Columbia): Short album (9 songs, 29:58), the concept an evocation of Milan in the 1980s. Luppi was born in Italy in 1972, based in Los Angeles but known more as a soundtrack composer and producer, his best known record a collaboration with Danger Mouse called Rome. He plays synthesizer, celesta, violin, and electric harpsichord and is credited with editing, mixing, and art direction. This time he recruited Parquet Courts for a retro punk feel and added vocalist Karen O on four songs and some horns -- the highlight of the closer ("Café Flesh"), possibly the year's jazz-funk masterpiece. B+(***)

Mad Professor/Jah9: Mad Professor Meets Jah9 in the Midst of the Storm (2017, VP): Prolific dub produces, born Neil Fraser in Georgetown, Guyana, with younger Jamaican singer Janine Cunningham. Plods along under lots of echo at an easy pace, intrinsically appealing without leaving much of an impression. B+(**)

Aimee Mann: Mental Illness (2017, SuperEgo): Singer-songwriter, in 'Til Tuesday before going solo in 1993, nine studio albums since, this the first I've heard since 1995's I'm With Stupid. Acoustic guitar, strings, sounds surprisingly like Joni Mitchell, although I can't quite remember why. B+(*)

Roc Marciano: Rosebudd's Revenge (2017, Quality Control/300/Atlantic): Rakeem Calief Myer, from New York, has several albums/mixtapes, shows an interest in the drug trade but otherwise seems firmly grounded in underground culture. B+(**)

Marker: Wired for Sound (2017, Audiographic): Ken Vandermark group: two guitars, Macie Stewart on keyboard and violin, plus a drummer, Vandermark credited with reeds. At times they play like a guitar band or an organ outfit -- fun when Vandermark honks along or takes a squawk break, but they lack economy, stretching two (of three) pieces past 20 minutes, and can get tedious. Still, there are stretches where they might be onto something. B

JD McPherson: Undivided Heart & Soul (2017, New West): Retro-rocker, could be rockabilly but doesn't rock that hard. B+(*)

Michete: Cool Tricks 3 (2017, self-released, EP): Underground pop star, touted by Pitchfork as "the worst queer rapper you need to listen to," fresher when the first batch came out -- lyrics like "I'm a stupid girl/I'm a dumb bitch" and "I wanna get hit by a car" need to be funnier, if not smarter. B [sc]

Miguel: War & Leisure (2017, ByStorm/RCA): Soul man, Miguel Pimentel, from San Pedro [CA], fourth studio album, an album I go back and forth, up and down on, catchy enough but I must be missing something. B+(*)

Roscoe Mitchell: Discussions (2016 [2017], Wide Hive): Art Ensemble of Chicago founder, AACM legend, still going strong at 77, although his instrumental credit is down to sopranino saxophone. Large group, 19 pieces including a string quartet, oboe, bassoon, tuba, two flautists, two percussionists, electronics. Arch, awkward, refuses to settle into anything resembling a groove, yet remarkable in its own peculiar way. B+(**)

Mdou Moctar: Sousoume Tamachek (2017, Sahel Sounds): Tuareg guitarist from Niger, recorded this in Portland, OR, solo, so while he may be thinking rock he rarely pops out of his low-key, almost hypnotic groove. B+(*)

Mount Kimbie: Love What Survives (2017, Warp): British electronica duo, Dominic Maker and Kai Campos, third album. Genres include post-dubstep, future garage, and art pop -- latter makes more sense, for better or worse. B

Mr. Lif & Brass Menazeri: Resilient (2017, Waxsimile): Boston rapper, underground, several excellent albums both on his own and by his group the Perceptionists. Teams up here with a Bay Area Balkan brass band, sometimes rapping over the deep brass, often laying back and letting them run. Not as inspired (or maybe I mean frenzied?) as their old country models (at least the ones I've heard), but has some novelty value. B+(*)

Simon Nabatov/Max Johnson/Michael Sarin: Free Reservoir (2016 [2017], Leo): Russian avant-pianist, left for Rome in 1979, studied at Julliard in New York, since 1989 based in Köln. Piano trio, sharp and vibrant. B+(***)

Youssou N'Dour: Seeni Valeurs (2017, Jive/Epic): From Sénégal, emerged from Etoile de Dakar quite young as a star, and has dominated since the mid-1980s, but while his Nonesuch albums (2002-10) got notice in the US, his more recent releases hardly cause a ripple. First I heard of this was in an isolated EOY list, and I've yet to find a single review or press release -- it does show up on numerous streaming sites, and for sale as a download. Strikes me as masterful, especially as the rhythm adds layers upon layers. A-

Maciej Obara Quartet: Unloved (2017, ECM): Polish alto saxophonist, first record on ECM, with Dominik Wania (piano), Ole Morten Vågan (bass), and Gard Nilssen (drums), recorded in Oslo. Obara originals plus one Komeda cover, but he yields a lot of space to the piano, adding little beyond soft shadings. B

The Ed Palermo Big Band: The Adventures of Zodd Zundgren (2017 [2018], Cuneiform): Saxophonist, has led this big band since 1977, mostly pursuing an unhealthy obsession with Frank Zappa. Here he refracts Todd Rundgren songs through a Zappa prism and scales them up to big band size. Back in the 1970s I was a big fan of Rundgren, even writing a feature piece on him for the Village Voice -- one that I calculated took a full 24 hours just to make a single pass through his discography. I lost interest after that, but recognize a few bits here, most obviously "Hello It's Me." About the best I can say for Zappa was that I enjoyed a few minutes of Hot Rats. He always struck me as pretentious, his art a peculiar "freakiness for squares," and I've never found jazz efforts, either to canonize or to riff on him, fruitful -- Jean-Luc Ponty's 1969 King Kong is probably the most famous, and barely a B. I'd normally go easy on Palermo's pop culture humor and schmaltz, but the more Zappa he injects, the less amusing I find it. C+ [cdr]

Evan Parker/Mikolaj Trzaska/John Edwards/Mark Sanders: City Fall: Live at Café Oto (2014 [2017], Fundacja Sluchaj): What I think of as Parker's everyday trio -- as opposed to his venerable trio with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton, with at least 15 albums over 30 years (1983-2013) -- plus the Polish alto saxophonist (also on bass clarinet). Recorded on Parker's 70th birthday, he sticks with tenor, B+(**) [bc]

Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band: Front Porch Sessions (2017, Family Owned): Three-piece country blues outfit from Brown County, Indiana, with Jayme Peyton as the Reverend, playing antique guitars (1930 steel-bodied National, 1934 wood-bodied National Trojan Resonator, a 1994 reproduction of a 1929 Gibson acoustic, and "a three-string cigar box guitar"), backed by Breezy Peyton on washboard and Max Senteney on drums, suitcase, and five-gallon plastic bucket. Young enough to have picked up pointers from Squirrel Nut Zipper records, although Charley Patton remains the holy grail. B+(**)

Lucas Pino: The Answer Is No (2017, Outside In Music): Tenor saxophonist, calls his group the No Net Nonet (a previous album title). Does a nice job weaving in the horns, one result being that the solos that stood out were trumpet and trombone. B+(***)

Leslie Pintchik: You Eat My Food, You Drink My Wine, You Steal My Girl! (2018, Pintch Hard): Pianist, seventh album since 2004, mostly trio plus percussion (Satoshi Takeishi), adding horns (Ron Horton and Steve Wilson) on two cuts, accordion on two others. Mostly originals, two standards, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" especially nice. B+(**) [cd]

Stuart Popejoy: Pleonid (2017, Leo): Bass guitarist, member of Bassoon ("avant-riffmetal trio") and Iron Dog ("electric improvisation trio"), first album, a single 59:35 composition hacked out by algorithms and played by Sarah Bernstein (violin), Avram Fefer (alto sax), Steve Swell (trombone), and Kenny Wollesen (vibes/drums). B+(**)

Portico Quartet: Art in the Age of Automation (2017, Gondwana): British instrumental jazz-rock group, half-dozen albums since 2007, early albums distinguished by their use of hang, but that was replaced by samples after Nick Mulvey left in 2011, and their new work is mostly electronic groove music, rather fetching. B+(**)

Protomartyr: Relatives in Descent (2017, Domino): Detroit alt/indie band, Joe Casey singing, backed by guitar-bass-drums, fourth album, sort of a cross between the Fall and the Hold Steady, an impressive trick but less urgent and distinctive than either. B+(***)

Dan Pugach Nonet: Plus One (2017 [2018], Unit): Drummer, based in Brooklyn, large band comes in a couple of configurations -- one with Ingrid Jensen on trumpet. Given to bombast, with Nicole Zuraitis on four vocals that add little other than a change of pace. B- [cd]

Queens of the Stone Age: Villains (2017, Matador): I figured them for more of a hard rock outfit, which they were twenty-some years ago when I first made their acquaintance, but this is well within alt/indie norms, moderately catchy, a little bit interesting, as best I recall. B

Real Estate: In Mind (2017, Domino): Alt/indie band from New Jersey, Martin Courtney the voice, fourth album since 2009, has an easy pop feel but not much jangle (so not another Feelies). B

The Regrettes: Feel Your Foolings Fool! (2017, Warner Brothers): Nominally a punk band led by singer Lydia Night and guitarist Genessa Gariano, no doubt got their major label deal because they know a thing or two about pop hooks as well. B+(**)

Dave Rempis/Matt Piet/Tim Daisy: Hit the Ground Running (2017, Aerophonic): Alto/tenor sax-piano-drums, a rather impromptu show arranged as a benefit to Planned Parenthood (or Refugee One) on the occasion of Trump's inaugural -- something to take one's mind off the great American catastrophe. Pretty diverting while it lasts. B+(***) [bc]

Margo Rey: The Roots of Rey/Despacito Margo (2017 [2018], Origin): Mexican-American singer-songwriter/actress takes a turn as a jazz standards singer, scattering a couple of songs in Spanish among "The Nearness of You," "Nature Boy,' "Speak Low." Distinctive voice, thoughtful band. B+(**) [cd]

Eve Risser/Kaja Draksler: To Pianos (2017, Clean Feed): Piano duets, Risser from France, Draksler from Slovenia. Both are fine pianists, but don't generate the energy, say, of the Kris Davis-Craig Taborn duets, although some of the problem here may be that it's so quiet at times that I lost track. B

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Async (2017, Milan): Japanese keyboardist, first noted in the rock group Yellow Magic Orchestra, vast discography: Wikipedia counts 19 studio albums since 1978, 6 live albums, 6 compilations, 5 EPs, and uncounted soundtracks. First album after a battle with throat cancer, which isn't evident except perhaps that he tried a little harder. B+(*)

Christian Sands: Reach (2017, Mack Avenue): Mainstream pianist, looks like he cut four albums 2002-09 then this one, with a bunch of side credits in between -- mostly with Bobby Sanabria or Christian McBride. Steady hand, mixes his guests up with Marcus Strickland (tenor sax/bass clarinet) most notable, two covers from Bill Withers and Barry Mann-Cynthia Weill-James Horner. B+(**)

Rev. Sekou: In Times Like These (2017, Zent): Raised in rural Arkansas, based in New York, full name Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, public intellectual, political activist, Pentecostal pastor, recruited Luther and Cody Dickinson to beef up his blues licks, preaches truth to power but I can't say much for the music. B-

Serengeti: Jueles/Butterflies (2017, self-released): Credits: "David Cohn as Kenny Dennis, Jade as Jueles, Nedelle Torissi as Stace, Rob Kleiner as Presto Stevens." More singing than rapping, what spoken vocals there are usually buried as background noise, so harder than ever to follow. B+(*)

Nadine Shah: Holiday Destination (2017, 1965): British singer-songwriter, mixed Norwegian and Pakistani descent, third album plus a couple EPs. Nothing especially exotic about her music, but it flows and hangs together well. B+(*)

Siama: Rivers: From the Congo to the Mississippi (2016, Siama Music): Last name Matuzungidi, from Congo, played in various soukous bands there, and later as things got dicier migrated through Uganda, Kenya, Dubai, and Japan. He's picked up some nuances over the years, but what impresses here are the echoes of soukous. B+(**)

Steve Slagle: Dedication (2017 [2018], Panorama): Alto saxophonist, mainstream with terrific tone and poise, also plays soprano on one cut and flute on another, backed by piano trio (Lawrence Fields, Scott Colley, Bill Stewart), Roman Diaz's congas on five cuts, and long-time collaborator, guitarist Dave Stryker, on more. B+(***) [cd]

Peter Sommer Septet: Happy-Go-Lucky Locals (2017, self-released): Tenor saxophonist, also plays clarinet, group covers the big band bases without the depth that makes those bands big -- a second saxophonist, a trumpet, a trombone, piano, bass, and drums. Three originals, some Ellingtonia (including Mingus' "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love"), a Monk, a Gershwin tune. B+(**) [cd]

Sparks: Hippopotamus (2017, BMG): Brothers Ron and Russell Mael, from Los Angeles, cut their first record in 1972, flashed their wit with their sophomore album title, A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing (not actually much good), enticed me briefly when they were picked up by Island -- a label I listened to everything on in 1974, not just because they were the only label that regularly serviced me -- then fell out of my favor and beneath my radar. Indeed, their only record since 1980 I've noted existence of was 1994's Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins -- easily their second best title (way better than Terminal Jive, Whomp That Sucker, Angst in My Pants, or Music You Can Dance To). As crass and garish as their prime, but closer to light opera. Inadvertent self-critique qua song: "I Wish You Were Fun." B

Mavis Staples: If All I Was Was Black (2017, Anti-): Jeff Tweedy produced and wrote all the songs -- three, including the title track, co-credited to Staples. Political songs, but I wouldn't call them protest songs -- more about building things, like movements. I won't argue with the "when they go low, we go high" sentiment, but it offers no clue as to how low they actually go. B+(***)

Harry Styles: Harry Styles (2017, Columbia): English singer-songwriter, famous (in some circles) as one-fifth of the boy band One Direction (2010-15; after Zayn Malik's departure they carried on as a quartet, until they split up in 2016), appeared in Dunkirk so can claim to be an actor, debut album: something hard, something soft, the accumulated life experiences of a 23-year-old celebrity. B

Kevin Sun: Trio (2017 [2018], Ectomorph Music): Tenor saxophonist, also plays C-melody (2 cuts) and clarinet (3), based in Brooklyn although this was cut near Boston. First album, with Walter Stinson on bass and Matt Honor on drums. The original pieces -- two group-credited -- take a while to sink in, but the album really comes alive on the one cover, a resplendent "All of Me." Sun also writes a blog worth checking out. He's young enough to cite Steve Lehman as a "key influence," but I find his writing about Lester Young more interesting. A- [cd]

Steve Swell: Music for Six Musicians: Hommage À Olivier Messiaen (2017, Silkheart): Avant trombonist, many records since 1996, second recent Hommage to a modern classical composer -- the previous Kende Dreams to Bartók. The strings -- Jason Kao Hwang on violin/viola, Tomas Ulrich on cello, but no bass -- got on my nerves a bit at first, and I still could use more trombone. With Rob Brown (alto sax), Robert Boston (piano/organ), and Jim Pugliese (drums). The Messaien references, of course, are way over my head. B+(***) [cd]

Thiefs: Graft (Le Greffe) (2017 [2018], Jazz & People): Nominally a French-American trio -- Christophe Panzani (sax, woodwinds, electronics), Keith Witty (bass, electronics), David Frazie Jr. (drums, acoustic and electric) -- augmented by Aaron Parks (piano, keyboards) on 6 (of 11) cuts plus five guest vocalists: best known is spoken word artist Mike Ladd, most interesting is "rappeur franco-rwandais" Gaël Faye. B+(**) [cd]

Tricky: Ununiform (2017, False Idols): Trip hop producer Adrian Thaws, 13th album since 1995, slow and smoky, with a wide range of guest vocalists. B+(*)

The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note: Veterans of Jazz (2017, self-released): Big band, standard 17 pieces plus vocals from "Technical Sgt. Paige Wrobel," with "Colonel Larry H. Lang, Commander and Conductor." You've no doubt heard that "military justice is to justice as military music is to music" (a Robert Sherrill book title) and variations on that. This isn't exactly the music they were referring to, but it isn't much better. In particular, they've managed to wring all the spontaneity and individual flair out of jazz, once again saving the village by destroying it. D+ [cd]

Valley Queen: Destroyer (2017, self-released, EP): Los Angeles group, Natalie Carol vocals/guitar, Shawn Morones guitar/vocals. Five songs, 24:26; Bandcamp as a bonus: a cover of a Destroyer song. B-

Ecca Vandal: Ecca Vandal (2017, Dew Process): Australian pop star, first album, fairly low budget, runs hot and cold, the hot stuff (e.g., "Price of Living") most impressive. B+(**)

Ken Vandermark: Momentum 2 & 3 (2016 [2017], Audiographic, 2CD): Website treats album as eponymous but the previous Momentum 1: Stone (a 6-CD box with various lineups) was credited to Vandermark -- not that this matches any of those. Nor is the "&" clear: one group here, a sextet, performing two pieces (the 10-part "Brüllt" and the 2-part "Monster Roster") on one day, totalling 104:45. With Nate Wooley (trumpet), C. Spencer Yeh (violin, voice, electronics), Christof Kurzmann (ppooll), Jasper Stadhouders (electric bass, electric guitar), and Tim Daisy (drums). The horns are everything you'd expect, but without them the rhythm and electronics rarely amount to much. B+(*) [bc]

David Virelles: Gnosis (2016 [2017], ECM): Pianist, born in Cuba, moved to Canada around 2001 and studied at University of Toronto. Fifth album, fairly large group with flute, clarinet, strings, and lots of percussion. Impressive piano player, but this winds through a lot of ponderous spots. B+(*)

Mark Wade Trio: Moving Day (2017 [2018], self-released): Bassist-led piano trio, with Mark Harrison on piano and Scott Neumann on drums. Second album, originals plus two covers. B+(**) [cd]

Trevor Watts/Veryan Weston/Alison Blunt/Hannah Marshall: Dialogues With Strings: Live at Café Oto in London (2017, Fundacja Sluchaj): The former a long-running duo, alto/soprano sax and piano; the latter another duo, violin and cello. The interaction is heated, the strings if anything more feverish and far harsher than the piano-sax. B+(*) [bc]

Weird Beard [Florian Egli/Dave Gisler/Martina Berther/Rico Bauman]: Orientation (2017 [2018], Intakt): Swiss saxophonist, also plays clarinet, the group adding guitar, electric bass, and drums to an album which is far from weird, a pleasant groove which occasionally rises to something more. B+(**) [cd]

Wiki: No Mountains in Manhattan (2017, XL): Patrick Morales, grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side, joined the hip-hop collective Ratking, out now with his first album. Voice has a wry twist, lyrics too. B+(**)

Roy Woods: Say Less (2017, OVO Sound/Warner Brothers): Young r&b singer-songwriter from Ontario, actual name Denzel Spencer, first album after an EP. B+(**)

Msafiri Zawose: Uhamiaji (2017, Soundway): From Tanzania, grew up in a famous musical family, plays a style called Gogo-Fusion, has several previous albums. Mostly breaks down to soft-toned trance-like rhythms, seductive but going nowhere. B+(*)

Zola Jesus: Okovi (2017, Sacred Bones): Nicole Hummel, aka Nika Roza Danilova, born in Phoenix, grew up in Wisconsin, four EPs, five albums, touring band mostly synths and drums, dark, inflated, and melodramatic -- what they call "goth," I guess. B

Recent Reissues, Compilations, Vault Discoveries

Acetone: 1992-2001 (1992-2001 [2017], Light in the Attic): The pitch: "what if Chet Baker had played with the Velvet Underground?" Los Angeles trio, cut four albums and an EP 1993-2000. Bassist-singer Richie Lee doesn't sing much like Baker let alone play trumpet, while guitarist Mark Lightcap's Velvets licks don't go much beyond "Pale Blue Eyes" -- not that anything here is that fetchingA sampler with nine previously unreleased tracks (out of 16) trying to make a case for the group. Soft, slow, at best they remind me of another (better) '90s group: the Vulgar Boatmen. B

Airstream Artistry: Jim Riggs' Best of the TWO (1991-2008 [2017], UNT, 3CD): Various UNT student bands directed by Riggs. The early material, in particular, struck me as relatively bright and pleasing, but not so much so as to preclude fatigue by the third disc -- not sure if it's them or me, nor do I much care to find out. B+(*) [cd]

Otim Alpha: Gulu City Anthems (2004-15 [2017], Nyege Nyege): From Uganda, as is the label, touted as the originator of "electro acholi," culled from eleven years of recordings with producer Leo Palayeng, "a mixture of traditional Acholi 'Larakaraka' wedding songs and bubblegum electronics." Intense rhythm, but rather one-note. B [bc]

Louis Armstrong: The Standard Oil Sessions (1950 [2017], Dot Time): A radio shot for "Musical Map of America," recorded in San Francisco but meant to represent New Orleans, never broadcast, acetates long languishing among Armstrong's collection. Features Jack Teagarden and Earl Hines on the cover, Lyle Johnson (clarinet) and Clancy Hayes (guitar) in the fine print, and unknown bass and drums. Standard set, too much talk, but typically brilliant. B+(**)

Boombox: Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro and Disco Rap 1979-82 (1979-82 [2016], Soul Jazz, 2CD): No prehistory here -- nothing antedates "Rapper's Delight," the only names I know are Spoonie Gee and the Treacherous Three. More imitation than innovation, but as a collection of party rhymes this is hard to beat. A-

Boombox 2: Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro and Disco Rap 1979-83 (1979-83 [2017], Soul Jazz, 2CD): Like the previous volume, nothing here you're likely to have heard before -- some relevant numbers: after the first hit, "Rapper's Delight," in 1979 50-some rap records appeared by the end of the year, and over 100 more the following year, so there's a lot of obscurities to choose from. Just not a lot of variety, as everyone's recycling the same party beats, and pretty much the same rhymes. B+(***)

Kenny Burrell: A Generation Ago Today (1966-67 [2018], Verve): Guitarist, started in bop in the fifties but had developed a silky smooth sound by the mid-sixties, nicely suited to swing tunes, including three from Benny Goodman here -- although the dedication is more specifically to Goodman's pioneering guitarist, Charlie Christian. Phil Woods helps out on alto sax. B+(*)

Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture (1977-93 [2017], Soul Jazz, 2CD): New edition of a 2008 compilation, seems to differ by dropping songs, although with various product configurations it's hard to be sure. Dancehall evolved from reggae and rocksteady much like new wave did from disco, mostly by tightening and compressing the groove and favoring talkie singers. Not sure how this stacks up against the only other dancehall comps I have in my database -- VP's Dancehall 101 (released in two volumes in 2000; I've only heard Vol. 1, which came with a remix disc) -- but my impression is that this leans earlier, and is no doubt better documented. Mostly artists I've heard, even some memorable songs ("Murder She Wrote," "Diseases"). B+(***)

Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3: Experimental German Rock and Electronic Music 1971-81 (1971-81 [2017], Soul Jazz, 2CD): Two previous albums, one from 2010 with more of the obvious Krautrock stars: Can, Amon Düül, Tangerine Dream, Faust, Cluster, Popol Vuh, Neu, Ash Ra Tempel; a second from 2013, most returning with a few more names (Michael Hoenig, Michael Rother); now this one, where the names I recognize are a small minority. Choice cut: "White Overalls," by La Düsseldorf. B+(*)

Gary Husband: A Meeting of Spirits (2005 [2017], Edition): British jazz/fusion/prog drummer/keyboardist, long associated with Allan Holdsworth, Billy Cobham, and (lately) John McLaughlin. Recorded this solo piano album about the time he was recruited for McLaughlin's 4th Dimension band, and it makes for a helluva job application -- six originals set as interludes among ten McLaughlin tunes. B+(*)

Azar Lawrence: Bridge Into the New Age (1974 [2017], Prestige): Tenor saxophonist, cut three albums 1974-76 then nothing until 2007. This is his first, five pieces, as many lineups, just piano (Jo Bonner) and percussion for the shortest track, much more for the others -- Woody Shaw and Jean Carn on two, the vocals not too intrusive; Arthur Blythe and Mtume on the other two, with Julian Priester (trombone) and Hadley Caliman (flute) on one of those. Still, all unfied by the leader's fierce saxophone, seeking to merge avant and black power into something cosmic: a sign of times that didn't last. A-

Legacy: Neil Slater at North Texas (1982-2015 [2017], UNT, 4CD): The big one, four discs and a very substantial booklet chronicling Slater's direction of various UNT lab bands over three decades. Big band music, sometimes notable, often generic but never sloppy or half-assed. Not something I spent much time on (other than the half-day it took just to play it once), but UNT has produced more top-notch jazz musicians than any other college outside of the New York-Boston nexus, and Slater most likely had a lot to do with that. B [cd]

The Lloyd McNeill Quartet: Asha (1969 [2017], Soul Jazz): Flute player, recorded a handful of albums from 1968-80, later becoming better known for his drawing and painting. Quartet includes Eugene Rush (piano), Steve Novosel (bass), and Eric Gravatt (drums), Postbop, some would say "spiritual." B+(*)

The Lloyd McNeill Quartet: Washington Suite (1970 [2017], Soul Jazz): Marshall Hawkins takes over the bass slot for a similar first side, but the second turns toward Third Stream with an additional woodwind quintet. B

Willie Nelson: Willie's Stash Vol. 2: Willie Nelson and the Boys (2011-12 [2017], Legacy): A dozen standards -- one old Nelson song and no less than seven Hank Williams tunes -- from the sessions that produced Heroes (2012), with songs Lukas and Micah as "the boys." Nice, but Nelson tended to hide behind his guests on Heroes, and the boys don't give him much cover. B+(*)

New Orleans Funk Vol. 4: Voodoo Fire in New Orleans 1951-77 (1951-77 [2016], Soul Jazz): First New Orleans Funk volume came out in 2000. I thought it was terrific when I reviewed it in Recycled Goods, but didn't notice later volumes until this one. Mixed bag, but the high points are revelations, and the rest is pretty hopped up. The exception in many ways -- among them the only song I recognize, is James Waynes' "Junco Partner" (one of those highlights, perhaps my favorite version ever). A-

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo Vice Versa: Viajando Com O Som: The Lost 1976 Vice Versa Session (1976 [2017], Far Out): Brazilian composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, all around legend, his discography starting in 1961 and continuing past his 80th birthday. First side strikes me as sloppy psychedelia but the folk tune expanded into the 26:36 closer is a rhythmic romp that could have inspired the Miles Davis accolades the label likes to quote. B+(**)

Punk 45: Les Punks: The French Connection: The First Wave of French Punk 1977-80 (1977-80 [2016], Soul Jazz): Following five volumes of UK and US punk -- all good, my favorite their survey of Cleveland and the Mid-West, Extermination Nights in the Sixth City -- nineteen mostly short (three 4:07-4:09 cuts, only 4 more over 3:00) cuts by groups I've never heard of (including a Stooges cover). Mostly in English, mostly derivative, still much fun. B+(***)

The Replacements: For Sale: Live at Maxwell's 1986 (1986 [2017], Rhino, 2CD): Major 1980s alt-rock band, recorded this after their two greatest albums -- Let It Be and Tim -- and before original guitarist Bob Stinson left, after which it was shelved, leaving the band's only live recording as 1985's The Shit Hits the Fans (a cassette-only 1985 release of a show from 1984). Reasonably well behaved here, but still harsh and jerky, raw. B+(**)

Space, Energy & Light: Experimental Electronic and Acoustic Soundscapes 1961-88 (1961-88 [2017], Soul Jazz): Early electronica, mostly before it transformed from avant to dance music, although minimalists rarely neglected their beats. Released on 3-LP, with one piece trimmed to fit onto a single CD (81:17 drops down to 78:55). Only a couple artists familiar to me, an interesting mix but a bit spacey. B+(**)

Sun Ra: Discipline 27-II (1972 [2017], Strut/Art Yard): Just the keyboardist's name on the cover, although I've also seen this co-credited to His Astro Intergalactic Infinity Arkestra, more or less his long-time large band with Marshall Allen and John Gilmore the best-known names. The music is as shambling as ever, I could have done without the "space ethnic voices" that show so little discipline on the long title cut. B

The Revelators: We Told You Not to Cross Us . . . [20th Anniversary Edition] (1997 [2017], Crypt): Garage punk band from Columbia, Missouri. Reissues their first album, adding six bonus cuts, a healthy dose of angst and thrash with a beat you can pogo to. B+(***) [bc]

Soul of a Nation: Afro-Centric Visions in the Age of Black Power: Underground Jazz, Street Funk & the Roots of Rap 1968-79 (1968-79 [2017], Soul Jazz): A fertile area to explore, as soul got markedly more political from 1968 to 1972, as did avant jazz, and the two spawned various cross-currents, some famous, many underground. Aside from Gil Scott-Heron's famous "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" -- lately familiar as the theme to the TV series Homeland -- this leans toward jazz, not a bad idea, but only Joe Henderson breaks out from the African grooves (in the least topical piece here). Meanwhile, the "roots of rap" idea vanishes after Scott-Heron. B+(*)

Buddy Terry: Awareness (1971 [2017], Mainstream/Wewantsounds): Tenor saxophonist, third of five 1967-72 albums, started with Prestige playing soul jazz but this pushes some edges, at least well into postbop territory. With Stanley Cowell (piano), Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet), guitar, two basses, drums, and Mtume's congas. B+(**)

Lucky Thompson: In Paris 1956: The All Star Orchestra Sessions (1956 [2017], Fresh Sound): Collects four sessions from March-May 1956, in Paris with large (8-10 piece) French bands led by Henri Renaud, Gérard Pochonet, and Dave Pochonet -- I can't attest to their "all star" status, although Martial Solal is in on twelve cuts. The bands offer too much of too little, but the saxophonist is often superb. B+(*)

Lucky Thompson: Complete Parisian Small Group Sessions 1956-1959 (1956-59 [2017], Fresh Sound, 4CD): One of the great post-WWII tenor saxophonists, born in South Carolina, grew up in Detroit, joined Erskine Hawkins' big band straight out of high school, certainly understood bebop -- he played on Charlie Parker's legendary septet -- but retained a swing feel. He moved to Paris in 1956 and cut these luscious small group sides with various locals (notably pianist Martial Solal) and American expats like Kenny Clarke and Emmett Berry. A-

Trevor Watts Amalgam: Closer to You (1976 [2018], Hi4Head): Alto/soprano saxophonist, a major figure in the British avant-garde from 1969 on although he didn't get into the habit of releasing records under his own name until after 2000. Amalgam was his first group, a sax trio, and their first record, Prayer for Peace (1969) is a landmark. This is a later edition of the group, with Colin McKenzie (bass guitar) and Liam Genockey (drums), the first four cuts released by Ogun in 1979. Reissue adds five more tracks (24:04) to the original four tracks (40:30). Fast bits are immediately compelling; slower parts take longer to sort out. A- [bc]

Old Music

EABS: Puzzle Mixtape (2012-15 [2016], self-released): Mixtape assembled from sets at Klub Puzzle in Wroclaw, with the Electro-Acoustic Beats System septet and various guests, starting with rapper Jeru the Damaja. Mixed bag after that, like they're trying to come up with a Robert Glasper-like hip-hop/jazz fusion, but are more scattered. B+(*) [bc]

Fast 'N' Bulbous: Waxed Oop (An Impetuous Stream Bubbled Up) (2009, Cuneiform): Guitarist Gary Lucas formed this Beefheart tribute band in 2005 with Philip Johnston (Microscopic Septet) leading the septet's horn section -- Rob Henke on trumpet, but more important are anchors Dave Sewelson (bari sax) and Joe Fiedler (trombone), waxing eloquent and adding some swing to Don Van Vliet's blues base. Opens and closes with the guitarist's twisted blues licks, making me wonder (even though I love the horns) if he doesn't have a more stripped down album somewhere. A- [bc]

Luka Productions: Mali Kady (2016, Sahel Sounds): Bamako-based DJ/producer Luka Guindo, something (unlike his later "new age" album) you could infer from this mashup, a mix of Malian styles speeded up with hefty dose of hip-hop. B+(*)

New Orleans Funk Vol. 3: Two-Way-Pocky-Way, Gumbo Ya-Ya & the Mardi Gras Mambo (1959-84 [2013], Soul Jazz): All but two cuts 1964-70: a Professor Longhair classic early, and a Dirty Dozen Brass Band retro-grinder late (if indeed I got the date right), which makes it more soul than funk, at least compared to Vol. 4. B+(***)

The Replacements: All for Nothing/Nothing for All (1985-90 [1997], Reprise, 2CD): The early albums, up through Let It Bleed (1984) were on independent Twin/Tone, after which the group got a major contract and released four albums on Sire. The first disc here samples those four albums, taking four cuts from each (my grades: A, A-, B, ?). All but two cuts on the second disc are previously unreleased. The former are still front-loaded. Nothing spectacular on the latter but you often glimpse the rowdiness that made them so attractive in the first place. B+(***)

The Replacements: All Shook Down (1990, Sire): The last group album before Paul Westerberg went solo, one I didn't bother with back at a time when I only heard records I bought. Probably more disappointing at the time than it is now: it has more in common with Westerberg's later solo career than with the raucous band he led. B+(*)

The Revelators: Let a Poor Boy Ride . . . (1998 [2009], Crypt): A second album, recorded in Austin, but I'm not finding any evidence it was released at the time. It builds on its predecessor, a bit less punk, a bit more rave up, the extra space filled up by fierce growl and soaring riffs. A- [bc]

Cecil Taylor: Garden 2nd Set (1981 [2015], Hatology): Previously known as Garden Part 2, released in 1990, the six original cuts reduced to five but expanded from 41:23 to 47:13. Solo piano, typically deep and frequently explosive. B+(***)

Revised Grades

Sometimes further listening leads me to change an initial grade, usually either because I move on to a real copy, or because someone else's review or list makes me want to check it again:

Raoul Björkenheim Ecstasy: Doors of Perception (2017, Cuneiform): Finnish guitarist (born in Los Angeles but grew up in Finland and has bounced back and forth), plays well-amped electric but not fusion or any other obvious style. Group, often styled with uppercase C-T-S, is a quartet, with saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen adding seamless harmonic depth (especially with the bass sax), Jori Huhtala (bass), and Markku Ounaskari (drums). By the way, right on for the cover poster: "Donald, eres un pendejo." [was: B+(***)] A-

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: The Nashville Sound (2017, Southeastern): Second songwriter in Drive-By Truckers, on his own for a decade now and folks who've followed him and care swear this is his masterpiece. I can't fault the songcraft or doubt his authority, but don't care much either. [Was: B+(**)] B+(***)

Princess Nokia: 1992 Deluxe (2017, Rough Trade): Nuyorican melting pot rapper, Destiny Nicole Frasqueri, released a single as Wavy Spice, guested with Ratking, repackaged last year's mixtape into this debut studio album. Beats no flashier than recent DIY norms (Lil Uzi Vert and Wiki come to mind), and sometimes she submerges in them, but sometimes she pops up and surprises you. [Was: B] B+(***)

Notes

Everything streamed from Napster (ex Rhapsody), except as noted in brackets following the grade:

• [cd] based on physical cd
• [cdr] based on an advance or promo cd or cdr
• [bc] available at bandcamp.com
• [sc] available at soundcloud.com

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, January 29, 2018

Music: Current count 29253 [29219] rated (+34), 378 [373] unrated (+5).

Ran out of time again, so I'll have to let the lists speak for themselves. The reviews will show up in Streamnotes later this week/month, so I probably mean Wednesday, although I'm not sure how I'll manage that either. My mother's birthday -- she would have been 105 -- I usually mark the day with some home cooking (or Chinese, which is most of what we ate together in 2000). But I'm likely to take a break this year and go out for some inferior fried chicken. (I can match hers, but for some reason Strouds can't.)

Wednesday is also the likely freeze date for my 2017 list. Seems too early, partly because I didn't get much closure from the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll. Some hope they will eventually manage to post the ballots, but I'm informed their web platform change made that difficult. Nothing on Glenn McDonald's site either, so they've probably frozen him out -- I have little doubt that if he had the data it'd be up now. Still, I noticed a few more pieces dribbling out at the Voice. Here's what I know about so far:

• Pazz & Jop: It's Kendrick's and Cardi's World. We're All Just Living in It. Top 100 albums, top 50 singles.
• Robert Christgau: Personal, Political, and Otherwise: King Kendrick Rules Pazz & Jop
• Alex Frank: SZA, Lorde, and the Pazz & Jop Rise of Songs of the Self
• Sasha Frere-Jones: Cardi B: In Control of Pazz & Jop Singles
• Liz Pelly: Pazz & Jop: Outsiders, Punks, and Poets Raise Their Voices
• Carl Wilson: 2017 Pazz & Jop Surprises: Slowdive (Yes!) Taylor (Meh)
• Pazz & Jop Comments: Top Albums and Singles
• Pazz & Jop Comments: Further Listening
• Pazz & Jop Comments: Protests and Escapes
• Pazz & Jop: Top 10 Albums by Year, 1971-2016
• Michael J Agovino: 2017: The Year in Jazz

After a long hiatus, I did manage to make a bit of progress on the jazz guides. Up to Adam Schroeder in the Jazz '00s file, 80% (minus the groups which I've been collecting for later), bringing the 21st Century guide to 1351 pages. Still, progress is erratic, and I wouldn't bet on much soon.

As I said, no time left to comment, but I will note that one album I initially graded B+(***) based on a download but bumped up after the publicist sent a CDR. Doesn't happen often, but sometimes extra plays do help (at least if the record is good to start with).

New records rated this week:

• Cardi B: Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1 (2016, KSR): [r]: B+(**)
• Cardi B: Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 2 (2017, KSR): [r]: B+(*)
• Stefano Battaglia: Pelagos (2016 [2017], ECM): [r]: B+(**)
• Beck: Colors (2017, Capitol): [r]: B
• Dave Bennett: Blood Moon (2017, Mack Avenue): [r]: B+(**)
• Bibio: Phantom Brickworks (2017, Warp): [r]: B
• Bicep: Bicep (2017, Ninja Tune): [r]: B+(**)
• Raoul Björkenheim Triad: Beyond (2016 [2017], Eclipse): [r]: B+(**)
• The Clientele: Music for the Age of Miracles (2017, Merge): [r]: B+(***)
• The Courtneys: II (2017, Flying Nun): [r]: B+(**)
• Charlotte Gainsbourg: Rest (2017, Because Music): [r]: B+(**)
• EMA: Exile in the Outer Ring (2017, City Slang): [r]: B+(**)
• Peter Evans/Agustí Fernández/Mats Gustafsson: A Quietness of Water (2012 [2017], Not Two): [r]: B+(*)
• Mary Gauthier: Rifles & Rosary Beads (2018, In the Black): [r]: B+(***)
• Nona Hendryx & Gary Lucas: The World of Captain Beefheart (2017, Knitting Factory): [r]: A-
• Robyn Hitchcock: Robyn Hitchcock (2017, Yep Roc): [r]: B+(*)
• Ibeyi: Ash (2017, XL): [r]: B+(*)
• Ted Leo: The Hanged Man (2017, SuperEgo): [r]: B
• Aimee Mann: Mental Illness (2017, SuperEgo): [r]: B+(*)
• The Ed Palermo Big Band: The Adventures of Zodd Zundgren (2017 [2018], Cuneiform): [cdr]: C+
• Leslie Pintchik: You Eat My Food, You Drink My Wine, You Steal My Girl! (2018, Pintch Hard): [cd]: B+(**)
• Christian Sands: Reach (2017, Mack Avenue): [r]: B+(**)
• Rev. Sekou: In Times Like These (2017, Zent): [r]: B-
• Siama: Rivers From the Congo to the Mississippi (2016, Siama Music): [r]: B+(**)
• Harry Styles: Harry Styles (2017, Columbia): [r]: B
• Kevin Sun: Trio (2017 [2018], Ectomorph Music): [cd]: A-
• Steve Swell: Music for Six Musicians: Hommage À Olivier Messiaen (2017, Silkheart): [cd]: B+(***)
• Zola Jesus: Okovi (2017, Sacred Bones): [r]: B

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries rated this week:

• Kenny Burrell: A Generation Ago Today (1966-67 [2018], Verve): [r]: B+(*)
• The Replacements: For Sale: Live at Maxwell's 1986 (1986 [2017], Rhino, 2CD): [r]: B+(**)
• Buddy Terry: Awareness (1971 [2017], Wewantsounds): [r]: B+(**)

Old music rated this week:

• Fast 'N' Bulbous: Waxed Oop (An Impetuous Stream Bubbled Up) (2009, Cuneiform): [bc]: A-
• The Replacements: All Shook Down (1990, Sire): [r]: B+(*)
• The Replacements: All for Nothing/Nothing for All (1985-90 [1997], Reprise, 2CD): [r]: B+(***)

Grade (or other) changes:

• Raoul Björkenheim Ecstasy: Doors of Perception (2017, Cuneiform): [cdr]: was B+(***) A-

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Louise Baranger: Louise Baranger Plays the Great American Groove Book (Summit)
• Sarah Buechi: Contradiction of Happiness (Intakt): February 16
• Kaze: Atody Man (Libra)
• Daniel Levin/Chris Pitsiokos/Brandon Seabrook: Stomiidae (Dark Tree)
• \\livingfossil//: Never Die! (self-released): February 2
• Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton: Music for David Mossman: Live at Vortex London (Intakt): February 16
• Samo Salamon/Howard Levy: Peaks of Light (Sazas)
• Dolores Scozzesi: Here Comes the Sun (Café Pacific): March 1
• Mike Vax & Ron Romm: Collaboration (Summit)

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

I figured the big political story of the week was Trump going to Davos, announcing "America is open for business," and hat-in-hand begging foreign capitalists to invest in America. He'd probably tell you that the reason he's courting foreign investment is to create jobs for Americans, but that's merely a second-order side-effect. The reason capitalists invest money is for profits -- to take more money back out of America than they put in. By "open for business" Trump means "come rip us off -- we'll make it easy for you."

Trump's Davos mission effectively ends any prospect that Trump might have actually tried to implement some sort of "economic nationalist" agenda. The odds that he would do so were never very good. The balance of corporate power has swung from manufacturing to finance, and that has driven the globalization that has undermined America's manufacturing base while greatly increasing the relative wealth of the top percent. Trump himself has benefited from this scheme, not really by working the finance and trade angles as by offering rich investors diversifying investments in high-end real estate.

None of this was really a secret when Trump was campaigning. To the extent he had concrete proposals, they were always aimed at making it easier for businesses, including banks, to screw over customers (and employees), policy consistent throughout his own long career. Given that's all he ever wanted to do, it's not just laziness for him to kick back and let the Republican Party policy wonks go crazy. It's not even clear that Trump cares about his signature anti-immigration stance. Sure, the hard-liners he's surrounded himself with have been able to keep him in line (although his occasional thrashing adds confusion to the issue, and thus far camouflage -- much ado last week about his seemingly generous offer on the "dreamers" wrapped up in numerous unpalatable demands).

Some scattered links this week:

• Matthew Yglesias: The 4 most important politics stories of the week: The government reopened (until February 8, anyhow); Trump released his hostage demands; Mueller is working on obstruction of justice; Pennsylvania Republicans got some bad news: embattled Rep. Pat Meehan is retiring, and the Supreme Court ruled against a gerrymander map which gave Republicans a 13-5 House margin. Other Yglesias pieces this week:

  • Trump's latest interview shows he's not really the president.

  • Corporate America's tax cut celebrations, explained.

  • The real reason DREAMers are at risk.

• Dean Baker: The Corporate Tax Cut Bonanza.

• Jane Coaston: In 2008, Hillary Clinton's faith adviser was accused of sexual harassment -- and was kept on: More telling, his victim was reassigned. Still, for me the more shocking (at least more dispiriting) aspect of the story is that she had a "faith adviser." Didn't that sort of role go out of fashion with Rasputin?

• Masha Gessen: At Davos -- and Always -- Donald Trump Can Only Think in the Present Tense: Notes that Trump managed to get through Davos without making any outrageous faux pas, while media ignored anything of longer-term import:

  Reading the U.S. media, you would think that all the attendees of Davos 2018 cared about was whether Donald Trump obeyed the teleprompter and sounded reasonably civilized while inviting the moneybags of the world to invest in the United States. [George] Soros's remarks got a bit of coverage, while the more visionary conversation seemed not to register at all. This shows how provincial we have become. Our chronic embarrassment -- or fear of embarrassment -- when it comes to our President may be a new phenomenon, but our lack of imagination is not. The American political conversation has long been based on outdated economic and social ideas, and now it's really showing.

  By the way, I haven't seen this in any piece on the web, but Seth Myers, in a subordinate clause, mentioned that no American president had attended Davos before Trump since 2000. That means the last US president to take advantage of the opportunity to pander before the global elites was . . . Bill Clinton. Even there, it's possible that the lame duck was more interested in lining up contributors to his future foundation than anything else. I think I actually recall a story about Clinton in Davos: if memory serves, he skipped out on the ill-fated Camp David negotiations between Barak and Arafat -- his inattention contributing to both failure and the breakout of the so-called Al-Aqsa Intifada following that failure. Should be some sort of cautionary tale, but it's probably true that Trump had nothing better that he was capable of doing.

  For more on what Soros had to say, see: John Cassidy: How George Soros Upstaged Donald Trump at Davos.

• Ryan Grim/Lee Fang: The Dead Enders: "Candidates who signed up to battle Donald Trump must get past the Democratic Party first."

• German Lopez: Marshall County, Kentucky, high school shooting: what we know: For starters, two dead, eighteen others injured. Among the factoids:

  • The shooting comes a day after another shooting at a high school in Italy, Texas, where a 16-year-old student shot a 15-year-old girl, who is now recovering from her injuries.
  • This part of Kentucky has seen school shootings in the past, the AP reported: "Marshall County High School is about 30 minutes from Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky, where a 1997 mass shooting killed three and injured five."
  • So far in 2018, there have been at least 11 school shootings . . .

• Kali Holloway: Trump isn't crazy, he's just a terrible person: Interview with Allen Frances, the psychiatrist who wrote the DSM entry on narcissistic personality disorder. Frances also has a more general book: Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump. Such a book could be interesting, but his answers in the interview don't guarantee that it will be.

• Patrick Lawrence: Now the US is playing spoiler role in Korea, Syria and elsewhere. But why? News items include new, arbitrary and unilateral sanctions against North Korea and Russia, and an avowal to leave US troops in Syria after ISIS has been defeated (meaning, driven from its previous territory). One can think of other cases where the US is acting aggressive arbitrarily with no evident hope or interest in advancing a diplomatic solution. Trump's mandarins seem to regard diplomacy with such phobia they can't even imagine how to accept surrender, much less consider any form of compromise. On Syria, also see Patrick Cockburn: By Remaining in Syria the US Is Fuelling More Wars in the Middle East.

• Charlie May: The Koch brothers are "all in" for 2018 with plans to spend up to $400 million: As Charles Koch said, "We've made more progress in the last five years than I had in the previous 50."

• Sarah Okeson: Making the world safe for loan sharks: "Trump's consumer protection office helps payday loan companies exploit borrowers." Moreover, they don't even have to try changing the law. They can just stop enforcing it: Paul Kiel: Newly defanged, top consumer protection agency drops investigation of high-cost lender.

• Andrew Prokop: Trump's attempt to fire Robert Mueller, explained: The event in question actually happened last June, when the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the order. Trump was subsequently talked down by White House staff. Strikes me as one of many cases where Trump's default position is to think he can do anything he wants -- even something which is not a very good idea. Very likely Trump ran into problems like that even before becoming president: businessmen routinely check with lawyers before carrying out their arbitrary whims, and probably get shot down a lot. So I wouldn't make a big deal out of this particular incident, but it does illustrate that Trump thinks he's above the law, and that could well turn into a problem. For more, see: Emily Stewart: Lindsey Graham: firing Mueller "would be the end" of the Trump presidency; Esme Cribb: Gowdy to GOP Colleagues: Mueller Is 'Fair' So 'Leave Him the Hell Alone'; Jeffrey Toobin: The Answer to Whether Trump Obstructed Justice Now Seems Clear.

• Daniel Rodgers: The Uses and Abuses of "Neoliberalism", plus comments Julia Ott: Words Can't Do the Work for Us, Mike Konczal: How Ideology Works, NDB Connolly: A White Story, and Timothy Shenk: Jargon or Clickbait?, plus a reply by Rodgers. I haven't sorted through all of this, but Konczal is certainly right that there is a coherent and dangerous ideology there, even if the word "neoliberalism" isn't an especially good summation of it. My own experience with the word is largely conditioned by the following:

  • I first encountered the word as used by British leftists like David Harvey -- author of A Brief History of Neoliberalism (2005); also see his interview, Neoliberalism Is a Political Project, Thinking Through David Harvey's Theorisation of Neoliberalism, and (more graphically) RSA Animate: Crises of Capitalism -- so it always struck me as an Anglicism, preconditioned by the fact that in British politics the Liberal party is distinct from Labour and rooted in 19th century laissez-faire. Similar liberals once existed in the US, but they generally made their peace with labor in the New Deal Democrats, while conservatives have turned "liberal" into a broad curse word meant to cover any and all leftist deviancies.
  • Granted, since the 1970s a faction of Democrats have wanted to stress both their traditional liberal beliefs and their opposition to social democracy/welfare state, usually combined with support for an aggressive anti-communist foreign policy. Some actually called themselves neoliberals. Later the term became useful to opponents for describing so-called New Democrats, with their eager support for business interests, globalization and ("humanitarian") interventionist foreign policy -- the Clintons, most obviously.
  • Meanwhile, a group which single-mindedly promoted an aggressive, hegemony-seeking foreign policy came to call themselves neoconservatives. While they tended to support conventional conservative causes in domestic policy, they frequently styled their prescriptions for other countries as neoliberalism -- presumably to give it a softer edge, although the agenda meant to impose austerity in government while liberating capital everywhere. For a while I was tempted to treat this as a unified ideology and call it "neoism."

• Danny Sjursen: Wrong on Nam, Wrong on Terror: Reviews a long list of books about America's Vietnam War seeking to reverse in theory the actual results of the war: failure, withdrawal, and defeat. (One book he doesn't get around to is Max Boot: The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam.) Sjursen points out that many of today's prominent War on Terror architects became officers shortly after Vietnam, so their education was formed in understanding (or more often misunderstanding) that war's lessons. That should give them a head start in rewriting imaginary Wars on Terror -- you know, the kind where we get to win.

• Matt Taibbi: How Donald Trump's Schizoid Administration Upended the GOP: Taibbi continues to worry about the health of our two-party system.

  Pre-trump, the gop was a brilliant if unlikely coalition -- a healthy heaping of silent-majority racial paranoia, wedded to redundant patriotism and Christian family values, in service of one-percenter policies that benefited exactly the demographic the average Republican voter hated most of all: Richie Rich city dwellers who embraced globalist economics, read The Economist and may even have been literally Jewish. In other words, Jared Kushner.

  Just 12 months later, all of those groups are now openly recoiling from one another with the disgusted vehemence of a bunch of strangers waking up in a pile after a particularly drunken and embarrassing keg party. Polls show that conservative Christians, saddled with a president who pays off porn stars and brags about grabbing women by the pussy, are finally, if slowly, slinking away from the Trump brand.

  Yacht-accident victim Rupert Murdoch and other GOP kingmakers are in a worse spot. They've watched in horror as once-obedient viewers shook off decades of Frankensteinian programming and went rogue. Since 2016, the audience has turned to the likes of Breitbart and Alex Jones' InfoWars for more purely distilled versions of the anti-government, anti-minority hysteria stations like Fox once pumped over the airwaves to keep old white people awake and agitated enough to watch the commercials. An October Harvard-Harris poll showed 61 percent of Republicans support Bannon's movement to unseat the Republican establishment. . . .

  A year into this presidency, in other words, the Republicans have become a ghost ship of irreconcilable voter blocs, piloted by a madman executive who's now proved he's too unstable to really represent any of them, and moreover drives party divisions wider every time he opens his mouth.

  Taibbi misunderestimates Republicans at all levels. For the base, it would be nice to think that they flocked to Trump over fifteen generic conservative clones because they wanted a candidate who would protect safety nets like Social Security, who would "drain the swamp" of moneyed special interests, who would avoid war, and who might even have the bold imagination to replace crappy Obamacare with single payer. You can find support for all those hopes in Trump's campaign blather, but if you paid more than casual attention you'd realize he was simply the biggest fraud of all. Rather, it's more likely that the base flocked to Trump because they recognized he was as confused and filled with kneejerk spite as they were. Where they misjudged him wasn't on policy; it was in thinking that as a billionaire he must be a functional, competent sociopath -- someone who could act coherently even with an agenda that made no sense.

  On the other hand, all the Republican donor establishment really wanted was a front man who could sell their self-interest to enough schmoes to seize power and cram their agenda through. While Trump wasn't ideal, they realized he had substantial appeal beyond what more reliable tools like Paul Ryan and Mike Pence could ever dream of. Perhaps some recognized the downside of running a flamboyant moron, but even so they've managed to overcome incredible embarrassments before and bounce right back: witness the Tea Party outburst and their triumphant 2010 election just two years after GW Bush oversaw the meltdown of the entire economy. So Trump proves to be a complete disaster? They'll steal what they can while they can, maybe lose an election, and bounce right back as if nothing that happened was ever their fault.

  For more on how they do this, see: Ari Berman: How the GOP Rigs Elections.

• Rachel Wolfe: The awards for 2018's quintessentially American restaurants all went to immigrants.

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