Jimmy “Explosive Diarrhea” B’s 2019 Musical Obsessions

By Jimmy “Explosive Diarrhea” B:

Writing the end of the year obsession list is always a difficult task. I keep track of purchases in a spreadsheet, which should make it simple. But, compiling this list means two things. First, pulling records off the shelf and spending days reacquainting myself with music I bought early in the year. Second, I worry that I missed something important, and I always do. Anyhow, here is what I came up with.

De Lorians, De Lorians (2019). 

I was in a record store in Eugene, Oregon, and this album was being played by the righteous dude in charge that afternoon. Another guy and I were chatting about Les Claypool, when we heard the amazing prog sounds of De Lorians; we both nearly shit ourselves. The other guy beat me to the counter to reserve the store’s last copy. Luckily, he was even more a record junky than I am, and he found too many records and had to abandon De Lorians. I won the musical lottery, and bought one of the great prog rock/jazz fusion albums of the year.

Billy Cobham. 

I have known about Billy Cobham for a long time. He was in John Mclaughlin’s Mahivishnu Orchestra. For some reason, I always ignored his records in record stores. In 2019, I made the leap, and bought four of Cobham’s albums. Cobham is a great drummer, and his musical genre is jazz fusion. He is a fusion master. As a side note, I was in a stereo store talking to the manager about stereo gear and music. He took me into a side room and played Cobham for me on a $30K stereo system. It was fucking awesome.

Brain Tentacles, Brain Tentacles (2016). 

I am a huge Bruce Lamont fan. He is (usually) a saxophonist and was the heart of the Chicago metal band Yakuza. Lamont is a hard man to keep up with. He seems to be constantly recording. One of his recent projects is Brain Tentacles. I was really bummed out when Yakuza called it a day. But BT is a damn good substitute. It is aggressive metal with noisy sax parts. Dale gets a special shout out for helping me find this album. He kept telling me about a bunch of Relapse bands so when I visited the label’s website, I found BT. Thanks Dale!

Consider the Source, You Are Literally a Metaphor (2019). 

Consider the Source is from the East Coast, and I had been wanting to see them for years, but they never seemed willing to tour nationally. That all changed two years ago. This year they played Eugene, Oregon, in support of their brand-new album, …Metaphor. Mrs. B and I made the trek, and the show was great. For those who don’t know, CTS plays rock fused together with jazz and eastern music. They may be one of the most talented trios touring today—this is not the first time they made my year end list.

Sons of Kemet, Your Queen Is a Reptile (2018). 

I am really not sure why a queen is a reptile, but I also don’t give a fig! Sons of Kemet play a very accessible New Orleans style jazz that gets your head bobbing and your feet tapping. I described them to SoDak as a high-school jazz band gone rogue. This is a rather crass description, but there is an element of truth to it, but only because of the tuba. I can count on two fingers how many jazz recordings I have heard with a tuba (the other tuba album also made this list). This album has some good politics as well. It reminds me of some of the 1960s freedom jazz recordings.

Theon Cross, Fyah (2019). 

This is the other album with a tuba player. He is in fact the tuba player from Sons of Kemet. Either Cross is an absolute genius or I have underestimated the tuba. The man plays a lot of notes and forces that tuba to make odd sounds. It is awesome.

Max Roach, Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite: We Insist (1960).

I am always resistant to listening to the pioneers of modern jazz. I find much of it to be boring, John Coltrane for example. But I was intrigued by the title of this record so I bought it. This record is fucking great, and so are the politics. If you are hankering for some freedom jazz, this will tickle your taint.

I consider these next four picks to be comeback albums of sorts.

Sean Noonan, Tan Man’s Hat (2019). 

Anyone familiar with the kraut rock band CAN has heard of Malcom Mooney. Mooney was CAN’s original vocalist (it wouldn’t be appropriate to call him a singer). I figured he was either dead or retired, so I was ecstatic (I may have orgasmed) when I found out he was featured on a Sean Noonan record, and it is a fantastic record. All fans of CAN should buy this one.

The Huntress and the Holder of Hands, Avalon (2017). 

One of the great folk/bluegrass/pop bands I have seen live was Brownbird. I saw them open for The Devil Makes Three, and Brownbird blew the Three off the stage. Brownbird was a male and female duo who were romantically linked. One-half of the band was Dave Lamb who perished after a bout with cancer. MorganEve took a few years off, and then began her recording career anew. I believe she did another album besides Avalon, but I have not yet chased it down. Avalon is hauntingly beautiful and it is clearly MorganEve’s attempt at putting her grief into words and music. I teared up listening to Avalon.

Saint Vitus, Saint Vitus (2019). 

Yes, I know Saint Vitus has been putting out albums in recent years, and aren’t really a comeback band. But, in another way they are on the comeback trail. This album is missing Scott Weiner, and the sound is much closer to the Born Too Late album from the 80s. They have returned to the sound that made me love Saint Vitus in the mid-80s. Welcome back Saint Vitus.

Meat Puppets, Dusty Notes (2019). 

This album saw the Puppets reunited with their original drummer. I expected something musically resembling 1982 Puppets, but this album is like no other Puppets record. It is mellow, and experimental at the same time. With time, this could become my favorite Meat Puppets album

Here are a few other great records I bought in 2019, but my hands are cramping from my verbosity so I will be brief.

Orville Peck, Pony (2019). 

The songs on this traditional country album are a little hit or miss, but the hits are jaw droppingly good.

Goatman, Rhythms (2018). 

This album sounds like Goat, and Goat kicks ass.

Don Cherry, Brown Rice (1975). 

Experimental jazz from a master trumpeter.

Johnny Flynn, Silion (2017). 

Have you watched Detectorists? Then you know Johnny Flynn. He performed the theme song. I can’t get enough of his voice.

Dommengang, No Keys (2019). 

Great rock album.

Vanishing Kids, Heavy Dreamer (2018). 

I have said on this blog before, and I will say it again, Nikki from the Vanishing Kids has a stunning voice. The Kids have a great catalog, but this one may be their best album yet. Check it out.