If you missed previous posts in this series, here are the ones for January, February, March, April, May, and June.
July was a quiet month for new releases, contrasting sharply with the whirlwind of current events. I usually add 20 to 30 albums to my library each month, but this July, I only found eleven worth including. Out of those, only a few managed to spark any real excitement.
Without further adieu, let’s dive into the reviews.
My Favorite Album of July 2024
Live Vol. 1
By Billy Strings
Billy Strings has long been a favorite in the jam-band scene, known for his relentless touring schedule—over 200 dates a year—and collaborations with legends like Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, David Grisman, The String Cheese Incident, Widespread Panic, Leftover Salmon, and even Tool (!).
He’s also garnered critical acclaim, with the International Bluegrass Music Association naming him Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year in 2016. Rolling Stone listed him among the top artists to know in 2017. His 2019 album, Home, won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, and he clinched Entertainer of the Year from the International Bluegrass Music Awards in both 2021 and 2022, along with Song of the Year in 2022.
Despite these bona fides, I hadn’t delved into Billy’s work, sampling his music in a cursory way. As much as I enjoy bluegrass, I didn’t feel compelled to add another artist from the genre to my collection. However, with the release of his first official live album, I decided it was time to give him a proper listen.
Holy shit was I wrong.
I knew Billy Strings could play, but I didn’t realize he could play!
If you think, as I did, that his talent was limited to acoustic bluegrass, you’re in for a surprise. His guitar playing is electrifying, literally and figuratively. There’s a moment when he flips a switch, and his acoustic sound turns electric.
You need to see it to believe it. Take a minute from your life and watch this clip from the second song on Live Vol. 1. It marks the moment I completely lost my mind. I’ve been dancing at my stand-up desk to this album all month long.
After falling in love with this album, I listened to an interview with Billy on WTF with Marc Maron. He talked about his challenging upbringing, with parents struggling with meth addiction and often facing an empty refrigerator in his trailer home. Despite the hardships, he demonstrated a deep love and gratitude his father and extended empathy and understanding to his parents and others. His story about his father’s guitar is particularly moving, and if it doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you might need to check in with a therapist.
I’m thrilled to have finally recognized the genius of this young man, and I’m eager to start digging into his catalog.
Two Albums from Two Favorite Bands
Evolve, by Phish
Evolve is exactly what I expect from a Phish studio album. It has quality songs coming in under the five minute mark, a few Trey-tastic guitar solos, ballads that no Phish fan asks for, mid-tempo harmonies sung by middle-aged men, a continuation of “Yay, the world is beautiful and profound!” songwriting, a chorus or two repeated in the round, rising strings, some real rockers, a song or two with elements inspired by the world of stage musicals, etc.
It may sound like I’m complaining, but I’m not. I’ve followed these four incredibly talented musicians for over thirty years. They have provided the soundtrack to so many of favorite memories (not to mention so many of the memories I’ve long since forgotten). The music on Evolve is what I expect from a Phish studio album, and it’s exactly what I want: a snapshot of new songs that, on stage, will continue to evolve.
Dr. Dog, by Dr. Dog
Dr. Dog’s self-titled album begins with “Authority,” which blankets the listener with beautifully melodic lyrics whose 350 words have more sense in their sounds than in their meanings (“I was under persuasion / a syndicated occasion / On the opening night of the fight for the likes of the allegorical rainbow bright / Believe you me, it’s an oversight”). It’s quintessential Dr. Dog, and I was so happy to hear it.
The album continues with more of the same: mid-tempo rock and roll with lots of words, but right around the fifth song, the album takes a surprising turn into slow town. “What A Night’ll Do” is a 1950s crooner’s dream; “Tell Your Friends” seems inspired by Pet Sounds-era Brian Wilson; “Still Can’t Believe” is slow and sweet, “Fine White Lines” is a half-spoken Bowie-style ballad with backing harmonies, and then we get back to the mid-tempo rocker on “White Dove” before falling back into a beautifully sung ballad,”Handyman.” The album ends with “Love Struck,” another mid-tempo tune, though this one features M. Ward (whom you may know from She & Him, with Zoey Deschanel).
As with Phish, Dr. Dog delivered exactly what I wanted.
No surprises. No regrets.
One Album From a Guilty Pleasure
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce), by Eminem
In 1999, Eminem released The Slim Shady LP and white America went crazy. Not only was this white rapper co-signed by Dr. Dre, but on the very first song, “My Name Is…,” listeners heard:
Well, since age 12, I felt like I'm someone else
cause I hung my original self from the top bunk with a belt.
Got pissed off and ripped Pamela Lee's tits off
and smacked her so hard I knocked her clothes backwards like Kris Kross.
I smoke a fat pound of grass
and fall on my ass
faster than a fat bitch who sat down too fast.
"Shady, wait a minute, that's my girl dog!"
I don't give a fuck, God sent me to piss the world off.
With Em, God got what He wanted.
No rappers have pissed off the world like Eminem (though an argument could be made for N.W.A.). It wasn’t just the extremely violent misogyny in his lyrics; it was the fact that his white skin helped him cross over, bringing rap to the white masses in ways it hadn’t done before.
It’s now 25 years later. Eminem has won awards, sold over 220 million records, earned his flowers from highly respected black rappers, demonstrated his sense of humor and acting chops in movies, admitted to, conquered, relapsed into, and reconquered his addictions, raised three daughters, two of whom graduated college, and continued to try to piss people off.
- Is he anachronistically writing songs about Christopher Reeves on an album made in 2024? Yes.
- Do the anachronisms continue with references to Kurt Cobain, Kim Kardashian and Ray-J, South Park, Family Guy, Jack Kevorkian, and the PC Police? Yes.
- Is he attacking trans celebrities just to be immaturely offensive? Yes.
- Is he just as irreverent about Diddy, Will Smith, Bill Cosby, Kyle Rittenhouse, Alec Baldwin, and more? Of course.
- Does he have a line about how he shoots puppies while his daughter watches? Yes.
- Is he an incredibly gifted writer and deliverer of complex rhymes? Yes.
- Is there anything new here? No.
- Am I disappointed? No.
- Am I spotting a trend this month? Maybe.
Six Fusion Albums
Solar Music
By Butcher Brown
Butcher Brown is a band from Virginia. that fuses elements of jazz, rock, funk, and hip-hop. This 2023 album contains some instrumentals and some with vocals (sung and/or rapped). It has a mature sound, and it’s obvious the band is full of talent, but I’m not sure I’ll be hitting play on this again anytime soon.
Yellow
By Emma-Jean Thackray
This album reached the #1 spot on the UK Jazz Albums chart. Located in London, Thackray blends traditional jazz, hip-hop, and electronic music —highly composed jazz with synthesizers and a drum machine. Her compositions remind me, particularly the vocals, of Kamasi Washington. It’s all very diggable.
Outerstate
By Kessoncoda
Another contemporary jazz-fusion album that blends jazz and electronica, Outerstate comes from a London duo that has found an interesting meeting point between jazz and electronica. The tunes, while busy, are generally on the mellow side with intriguing bass lines, soaring background voices (sometimes mimicked by horns), and a vibrant piano. I’ve enjoyed this one.
Home
By A Song for You
It’s not accurate to call this a jazz-fusion album — maybe R&B/Soul. A Song for You is a vocal ensemble made up over 50 different artists from all over the planet led by a Berlin-based soul singer and a creator born in Malaysia, raised in Australian, and of Indian heritage.
It’s a gorgeous album that complements a specific mood: specifically, being alone with wine and candles.
Orile to Berlin
By RAH & The Ruffcats
This album fits nicely into the Afro-jazz/funk music I’ve been listening to this year. The Ruffcats describe themselves as “Your favorite funk-soul-space-jazz band,” and I might agree.
However, they’re accompanied on this album by RAH, aka Rapturous Apollo Helios, a Nigerian singer/rapper who adds his vocals atop their incredible music. I’ll keep my eye on The Ruffcats; not so much on RAH.
The Fish Factory Sessions
By Greg Foat & Gigi Masin
Blending electronica and jazz keyboards, Greg Foat and Gigig Masin create a smooth yet exotic soundscape that includes aspects of soundtrack music, psychedelia, and 60s California soft-soul.
I hit play on this one a number of times throughout the month, and I didn’t regret it once.
One Album That Knocked My Socks Off
They Live, by Pleasurewood
Remember that French movie from the 1970s — or was it a TV show? — that had the Hammond B3 organ rolling solos atop a funky beat before a trippy guitar came in to get you moving? Remember how, sprawled out on the rug in front of the TV, you couldn’t help but speed along in the slick sports car as it raced around the twists and turns of the Riviera, the woman with the cigarette and the sunglasses in the passenger seat with a gun strapped high on her shapely thigh?
Yeah, turns out you’re just listening to They Live from Pleasurewood.
Don’t wait. Snag it now and enjoy.
And those are the albums I added in July. Pleasurewood and Billy Strings surprised me. Phish, Dr. Dog, and Eminem performed as well as I’d expected. And six new fusion artists were brought to my attention, four and a half of whom retained it.
Let’s see what August will bring.