New in Expert Witness:

• Speedy Ortiz: Foil Deer (Carpark) A-
• Foxymorons: Fake Yoga (Foxyphonic) A-
• Ought: Sun Coming Down (Constellation) A-
• Lord Huron: Strange Trails (IAmSound) B+
• Beach House: Depression Cherry (Sub Pop) **
• Beach House: Thank You Lucky Stars (Sub Pop) **
• Low Cut Connie: Hi Honey (Contender) **
• Speedy Ortiz: Major Arcana (Carpark) *

New in Expert Witness:

• Lana Del Rey: Honeymoon (Polydor/Interscope) A-
• Jazmine Sullivan: Reality Show (RCA) A-
• Halsey: Badlands (Astralwerks) A-
• Lana Del Rey: Ultraviolence (Polydor/Interscope) ***
• Carly Rae Jepsen: Emotion (Schoolboy/Interscope) ***
• Adele: 25 (XL/Columbia) **
• Madonna: Rebel Heart [Deluxe] (Interscope) *

New in Expert Witness:

• Grimes: Art Angels (4AD) A
• Sophie: Product (Numbers) A-
• Janelle Monae: The Electric Lady (Bad Boy/Wondaland) ***
• Björk: Vulnicura (One Little Indian) *
• Grimes: Visions (4AD) *

Also, thanks to Chris Drumm for transcribing this oldie:

• Getting What You Need [August 8, 1974]

New in Expert Witness:

• Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman: Lice (Rhymesayers/Stones Throw) A-
• Vince Staples: Hell Can Wait (Def Jam) A-
• Vince Staples: Summertime '06 (Def Jam) B+
• Lady Leshurr: Mona Leshurr (Gutter Strut) ***
• A$AP Rocky: At.Long.Last.A$AP (Polo Grounds) **
• Big Grams: Big Grams (Epic) **
• Homeboy Sandman: White Sands (Stones Throw) *

New in Expert Witness:

• Have Moicy 2: The Hoodoo Bash (Red Newt) A-
• Asylum Street Spankers: The Last Laugh (Yellow Dog) A-
• The Ragpicker String Band: The Ragpicker String Band (Yellow Dog) A-

New in Expert Witness:

• Oneohtrix Point Never: Garden of Delete (Warp) A-
• Arca: Mutant (Mute) A-
• Arca: Stretch 2 (UNO NYC) B+
• The Knife: Shaken-Up Versions (Brille/Mute) ***
• Arca: Stretch 1 (UNO NYC) ***
• Arca: Xen (Mute) **

Robert Christgau's memoir, Going Into the City, was picked in Seattle Times critics' best books of 2015.

New in Expert Witness:

• Tinariwen: Live in Paris (Anti-) A-
• Lost in Mali (Riverboat) A-
• Sidi Touré: Alafia (Thrill Jockey) B+
• Terakaft: Alone (Ténéré) (Out Here) B+
• Samba Touré: Gandadiko (Glitterbeat) ***
• Boubacar Traoré: Mbalimaou (Lusafrica) ***
• Lobi Traoré: Bamako Nights--Live at Bar Bozo 1995 (Glitterbeat) **
• Samba Touré: Albala (Glitterbeat) **

New in Expert Witness:

• Jinx Lennon: 30 Beacons of Light for a Land Full of Spite, Thugs, Drug Slugs, and Energy Vampires (Septic Tiger) A-
• Craig Finn: Faith in the Future (Partisan) A-
• Public Image Ltd.: What the World Needs Now (PiL Official) *

Carola Dibbell's novel, The Only Ones was listed by the Washington Post as one of the Best science fiction and fantasy books of 2015.

New in Expert Witness:

• Khat Thaleth: Third Line: Initiative for the Elevation of Public Awareness (Stronghold Sound) A-
• Mark Rubin Jew of Oklahoma: Southern Discomfort (Rubinchik) A-
• Sleaford Mods: Chubbed Up + (Ipecac) ***
• Neil Young + Promise of the Real: The Monsanto Years (Reprise) **
• Algiers: Algiers (Matador) **
• Sleaford Mods: Key Markets (Harbinger) *

Robert Christgau also has a new article at BN Review:

• Mapping the Earworm's Genome: book review of John Seabrook: The Song Machine

New in Expert Witness:

• Last Exit: Iron Path (ESP-Disk) A-
• Aram Bajakian: There Were Flowers Also in Hell (Sanasar) A-
• Big Lazy: Don't Cross Myrtle (Tasankee) ***
• Last Exit: Head First Into the Flames (DMG/ARC) **
• The Esoteric Circle: George Russell Presents the Esoteric Circle (Flying Dutchman) *

We've also added some archival pieces by Carola Dibbell:

• Bonnie Raitt as Feminist Heroine (1975)
• New Dolls: Professionalette (1976)
• Shaun Cassidy Isn't Perfect (1979)
• Are DNA (1980)
• Si Kahn's Home Truths (1980)
• Pure Coquette: Taana Gardner (1981)
• Esther Phillips With a Twist (1982)

Our books were selected for the "Reading Room" page of the Oprah's Favorite Things issue of O. To quote:

4. THE ONLY ONES by Carola Dibbell (Two Dollar Radio) Dibbell's major accomplishment (besides publishing her first novel just shy of 70) is her narrator, Inez, blessed and cursed with immunity in a society ravaged by plagues. Inez's voice--a fragmented vernacular that is wise, tough, and humane--elevates this dystopian novel in which, after a botched experiment leaves her an unwitting mother, every choice is a desperate one.

8. GOING INTO THE CITY: PORTRAIT OF A CRITIC AS A YOUNG MAN by Robert Christgau (Dey St.) The legendary rock critic remembers the people, places, ideas, and art that have informed his writing. Pay special attention, as Christgau has, to the women: Ellen Willis, a powerful cultural critic who teaches him the meaning of loss; and his wife of 40 years, Carola Dibbell (also on this list with The Only Ones), who's coauthor of the marriage he considers his greatest work.

New in Expert Witness:

• Laurie Anderson: Heart of a Dog (Nonesuch) A+
• Jeffrey Lewis & Les Bolts: Manhattan (Rough Trade) A

New in Expert Witness:

• Mbongwena Star: From Kinshasa (World Circuit) A-
• Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba: Ba Power (Glitterbeat) A-
• Tal National: Kaani (Fat Cat) A-
• Tal National: Zoy Zoy (Fat Cat) A-

Carola Dibbell's website was crippled for a few days but is back up now. Unfortunately, the outage occurred while she is promiting her novel, The Only Ones, in Portland, Oregon. She appears Friday night, October 23, 7-9PM at Late Night Library's All Fines Forgiven, reading and conversing with Amelia Gray.

New in Expert Witness:

• John Kruth: Splitsville (2008, Smiling Fez) A-
• John Kruth: The Drunken Wind of Life: The Poem/Songs of Tin Ujevic (Smiling Fez) A-
• Amy Lavere and Will Sexton: Hallelujah I'm a Dreamer (Archer) A-
• Old Man Luedecke: Domestic Eccentric (True North) B+
• Kinky Friedman: The Lonelinest Man I Ever Met (Avenue A) ***
• Guy Davis: Kokomo Kidd (M.C.) **
• Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty) *
• Guy Davis: Juba Dance Featuring Fabrizio Poggi (M.C.) *

Robert Christgau and Carola Dibbell will be appearing at the Texas Book Festival in Austin, TX:

• Saturday, October 17, 4PM, Robert Christgau will be in conversation with Jeff Salamon
• Sunday, October 18, Noon, Carola Dibbell will be reading with Colin Winnette

Carola Dibbell will be speaking and reading from The Only Ones in Portland, Oregon:

• Thursday, October 22, 4-5:15 PM, Carola will give a public talk at Portland State University
• Friday, October 23, 7-9 PM, Carola will be reading and in conversation with Amelia Gray at Late Night Library's All Fines Forgiven, Clinton Street Theater

New in Expert Witness:

• The Bottle Rockets: South Broadway Athletic Club (Bloodshot) A-
• Jason Isbell: Something More Than Free (Southeastern) A-
• Wussy: Public Domain, Volume 1 (Shake It) ***
• Daniel Romano: If I've Only One Time Askin' (New West) **
• Ashley Monroe: The Blade (Warner Bros.) **
• Kacey Musgraves: Pageant Material (Mercury) *

Also a technical note: for some time now, the Random A-List page has been stuck in a rut where the same dozen items appear nearly every time you load the page. This was a consequence of the ISP installing some server-side caching software: a good idea in terms of overall performance, but crippling in this case. I've disabled the caching, so the page works now. I've also added a convenient "reload" link near the top. By the way, the page has a couple options built in: if you add to the URI ?xgr=[ABCDE][mp] you can generate a grade for an exact grade (m for minus, p for plus, so ?xgr=Cp for C+. You can also use ?gr=[ABCDE] for a whole letter grade including plus/minus. There are a few cases with parameterized options like this that have never been properly documented.

New in Expert Witness:

• Future: Monster (free mixtape) B+
• Future: DS2 (Deluxe Edition) (Epic) A-
• Migos: Yung Rich Nation (300 Entertainment/Quality Control/Atlantic) B+
• T.I.: Da Nic' (Grand Hustle) ***
• Drake & Future: What a Time to Be Alive (Cash Money/Epic) **
• Young Thug: The Barter 6 (300 Entertainment/Atlantic) **
• Migos: Rich Nigga Timeline (free mixtape) *
• Future: 56 Nights (free mixtape) *

New in Expert Witness:

• Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experment: Surf (Free) A
• Paris: Pistol Politics (Guerrilla Funk) A-
• STS X RJD2: STS X RJD2 (RJ's Electrical Connections) ***
• Akrobatik: Built to Last (Playaktion) **
• P.K. (Park Kultury): Get Lost (H.S.I.) **
• Public Enemy: Man Plans God Laughs (Spitdigital) *

Robert Christgau and Carola Dibbell will be at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Saturday, September 20:

• Christgau will appear on the 1PM Modern Families panel, conversation with Kate Bollick and Augusten Burroughs (North Stage) [link].
• Dibbell will appear on the 5PM New Brave World panel, readings and conversation with Laura van den Berg and Andrew Ervin (North Stage) [link].

They also have an event scheduled for Austin, TX (October 18).

In addition, Dibbell has an event sponsored by the Portland Public Library (October 23) in Portland, OR.

New in Expert Witness:

• Le Grand Kallé: Le Grand Kallé: His Life, His Music (Sterns Africa) A-
• Youssou N'Dour: Mballax Dafay Wax (FM) A-
• Amara Touré: 1973-1980 (Analog Africa) B+
• Verckys et l'Orchestre Vévé: Congolese Funk, Afrobeat & Psychedelic Rumba 1969-1978 (Analog Africa) ***
• Highlife on the Move: Selected Nigerian and Ghanaian Recordings From London & Lagos--1954-66 (Soundway) *

New in Expert Witness:

• Jamie XX: In Colour (Young Turks) A-
• Diplo: Random White Dude Be Everywhere (Mad Decent) A-
• Shamir: Ratchet (XL) A-
• Major Lazer: Peace Is the Mission (Mad Decent) B+
• Funkadelic: First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate (The C Kunspyruhzy) **
• In the Mix: Dancepop Anthems (Astralwerks) **
• Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü (Mad Decent) **
• Glitterbeat: Dubs and Versions I (Glitterbeat) *
• Duck Sauce: Quack (Fool's Gold) *

New in Expert Witness:

• Boz Scaggs: A Fool to Care (429) A-
• Leonard Cohen: Can't Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour (Columbia/Legacy) A-
• Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard: Django and Jimmie (Legacy) ***
• Richard Thompson: Still (Fantasy) **
• Bruce Springsteen: High Hopes (Columbia) *
• Elvin Bishop: Can't Even Do Wrong Right (Alligator) *