Fri, 08:29: It's been a week since the cultural Molotov cocktail that was the release of Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter," and I must say, I love it more each time I listen to it. Whether or not it's "country music" (it's more of an album that's in conversation with country music, and Black people's unsung history with and contributions to it, than a "country album" itself) is beside the point; it's really just a deeply informed (as usual), *Beyoncé* album, which in my opinion is among the best of her entire career.
As it happens, Sheryl Crow released a new album on the same day, "Evolution." And even though this one could never hope to have the same cultural footprint (I wonder how many people, even Sheryl Crow fans, are even aware of it), I have to say: this one is easily *her* best album in 15 years, with catchy melodies and hooks more like her early stuff than she's released in ages. It's a much shorter album (10 tracks, 41 minutes) but so far I have just been listening to both albums back and forth, and have listened to them eight times each so far.