Round three includes a few records I’ve been meaning/waiting to hear for years (in some cases, decades) and others from years ago I hadn’t heard of until recently.

41. Charles Mingus, “Let My Children Hear Music” (1972): Late-period Mingus although you’d never guess since it’s as robust as early or prime-period Mingus (his artistry was that consistent.) The large ensemble allows his intricate arrangements to swell, and breathe, even on the recitation track.

42. Rosali, “No Medium” (2021): I’m far from the first to claim having trouble telling her voice apart from Aimee Mann’s in a blind test; how matter how uncanny the resemblance, her music is its own thing. Love how the acoustic opener gives little inclination to how electric and loud she can be.

43. Madonna, “Evita: The Complete Motion Picture Soundtrack” (1996): Just like JCS (the only Webber/Rice show I know well), the cheesiness gets by on its conviction & verve. An icon playing an icon requires a balancing act here steadied by the vulnerable catch in Madge’s vocals (trained or not.)

44. Bastille, “& (Ampersand)” (2024): Relatively stripped-down arrangements are most encouraging for a band so beholden to bombast & “Blue Sky & The Painter” proves Dan Smith hasn’t lost his knack for hooks (it’s this album’s “Pompeii”); the rest, while thoughtfully crafted tend to blur together.

45. The Auteurs, “After Murder Park” (1996): Third time not the charm as it pales somewhat compared to their first two. Blame Britpop oversaturation or just falling into formula although lyrics (“Unsolved Child Murder”) are still sharp, anticipating Haines’ next project more than the wan music.

46. ELO, “A New World Record” (1976): With such eccentric hit singles (“I’m TAKING / a DIVE!”), of course the deep cuts lean towards orchestral appropriations and operatic flourishes. Lynne could’ve sold out after “Evil Woman”; instead, he crafted a concise distillation of oddball pop, and it sold. 

47. Marika Hackman, “Big Sigh” (2024): I can name numerous singers I like whom Hackman reminds me of but I’m not yet sure what distinguishes her from them. For example, Cassandra Jenkins could craft a blurry, sonic playground like “Vitamins” but would she title one of her catchiest songs “Slime”?

48. Don Armando’s 2^nd Ave Rhumba Band, “Deputy of Love” (1979): See, disco can be campy *and* classy. This August Darnell production even quotes the “Bonanza” theme with some subtlety. Happily, there’s nothing restrained about the glorious cover of “I’m An Indian Too” from Annie Get Your Gun.

49. Echobelly, “Lustra” (1997): Follow-up to “On” (an all-time fave) didn’t get a US release at the time which tells you more about record co. hijinks than a dip in quality. While not as brisk or sparkly, Sonya Madan’s still in fine form with guitars occasionally edging closer to shoegaze bliss.

50. Liza Minnelli, “Results” (1989): Like Streisand & Barry Gibb a decade before, Liza & Pet Shop Boys mesh together beautifully covering Sondheim, Tikaram, Elliman and of course Tennant/Lowe (even if “Rent” retains more power when sung by a boy.) A gutsy experiment that shouldn’t work but does.

51. a.s.o., “a.s.o.” (2023): I dug trip-hop in the 90s & still love it now; the prospect of trying to recreate that sound has promise & I wouldn’t necessarily mistake this for Morcheeba, Portishead, etc. but it’s merely pleasant—a sonic bath agreeably wafting overhead but nothing that lingers on.

52. The Upsetters, “Return of the Super Ape” (1978): A massive sound that’s also most intimate with each percussive clang and ting nearly synchronizing with heavy basslines, its vocals alternately smooth like a calm breeze and as dense as a clogged drain. The reggae Kinks to the Wailers’ Beatles?

53. Original Cast Recording, “Operation Mincemeat” (2023): As I attempt to appreciate modern musicals more, this British WWII-set one is a prize, conforming to genre conventions & also slyly rewriting them, tempering period swing jazz with newer genres, accentuating story but never obscuring heart.

54. Jens Lekman & Annika Norlin, “CORRESPONDENCE” (2019): A year-long, two-way musical conversation between two Swedes. Mostly acoustic with some orchestral flourishes, he muses on endless beauty and badly-aged movies, she on cults and lengthy winters; they both find solace in each other’s words.

55. Hot Chocolate, “Cicero Park” (1974): Why is top 10 hit “Emma” forgotten but “You Sexy Thing” still gets played up the wazoo? Debut LP from these Brits is almost a Steely Dan informed by funk & soul rather than jazz & irony with nary a weak cut in the bunch—even the one called “Disco Lady” rocks.

56. Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily, “Love In Exile” (2023): Even though Aftab’s sinuous vocals naturally dominate, this is more a communion between the three artists than singer-with-backup. Often stretched out to nearly fifteen minutes, their “songs” develop into epic, freeform poems.

57. Dory Previn, “Dory Previn” (1974): Less noteworthy for her vocals than her point of view, she’s almost the Shelley Duvall of pop music except not necessarily eccentric; quirky, for sure—even her most conventional tunes emit perspective and feelings that are homegrown rather than manufactured.

58. Elton John, “The Fox” (1981): Not difficult to see why this flopped as it sounds like little else of its time (apart from the yacht rock of “Chloe”). Since the title track & “Breaking Down Barriers” could fit on any of his prime 70s albums, call this one ambitious, overreaching & underrated.

59. Foxing, “Nearer My God” (2018): If I were 15 years younger this could’ve hit me as directly upon release as Death Cab For Cutie’s “Transatlanticism” did. This is far more experimental and messier but after a few songs one admires their ever-widening scope and refusal to settle for less.

60. The Soundcarriers, “Celeste” (2010): Deftly aims for that precarious spot midway between The Doors & Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66: plenty of organs, flutes and mind-melting harmonies like a less bro-tastic Fleet Foxes. Somehow both cool & uncool in equal measure, deliberate anachronisms & all.