I forgot about Eugene Chadbourne. The cassettes and albums I bought directly from the musician were in regular rotation in what now seems like a different lifetime. The 1985 document Country Protest was my favorite of that bygone era.
Chadbourne came to mind for the first time in years during my initial spin of Zoh Amba’s startling new album Eyes Full. Like Chadbourne, Amba is a rare talent capable of successfully navigating the contrary crosscurrents of punk-inspired avant-folk and freak-jazz.
The thrills Eyes Full provides me are what I suppose other people derive from Big Thief and a dubiously acclaimed unnamed 2026 album. By merging the sensibilities of Anthony Braxton, Woody Guthrie and Minutemen, Eyes Full is the rare singer-songwriter album that speaks to me.
I didn’t see it coming. Amba’s collaborative noise-jazz album The Flower School was my #35 album of 2023. Jazz musicians invariably fail when they turn to rock. Amba and their antecedent Chadbourne are wonderful exceptions who get it right.