Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

The Slackers, “Sabina”

To start off on the right foot here, the Slackers don’t have any bad records. But they have ones I love more than others. The Great Rocksteady Swindle didn’t totally resonate with me initially, so I didn’t listen to it much. But I decided to rock it hard for a week or so, playing it every night, for reasons that are unclear to me. Great decision as it turns out. The record is a banger, an upper tier record from them, up next to Wasted Days and Redlight.

The Hit Pack, “Never Say No To Your Baby”

A Motown track from 1965, the heavy horns here really sound a little more like Stax than like Motown, especially from 1965.

Rufus Thomas, “Funky Mississippi”

Yeah, see, those horns!

DJ Vadim, “Your Revolution”

DJ Vadim’s second album, U.S.S.R. Life From The Other Side, found the abstract hip-hop producer working with MCs on most of the tracks, which largely was an improvement. I think abstract hip-hop can sometimes get a little lazy, and having to make sure things will work with someone actually rapping makes sure that he tightens things up.