Crushingly funny stand-up star Patrice O'Neal, who died of a diabetes-related stroke last fall at 41, dressed like a pimp and riffed like a philosopher. On this posthumous disc, recorded last April, he brings finely-wrought nastiness (his jag on the semiotic distinction between "smelly" assholes and "stinky" ones), does racial and political dissections ("they're lining up to see who gets to rebuild Haiti...without Haitians!"),  and goes on brilliant kamikaze runs. Poignantly, some of his best riffs interrogate his own flawed soul: "You ever have trouble giving a fuck about stuff your supposed to give a fuck about?," he asks in a bit about tsunamis. It's the audacity of Richard Pryor crossed with the honesty of Louis CK. It's missed.

Listen to "Hate People Touching Me":

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• Photos: Random Notes

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.