I was certain Florida-Georgia Line was the worst band I’d ever encountered the first time I attended a performance by the pop-country act. The duo’s new Can’t Say I Ain’t Country is another batch of calculated bro-country gewgaws, but my antipathy toward the style has waned. Not only does Florida-Georgia Line no longer offend me, I’ve come to respect the hustle. Aspiring to be the country version of Maroon 5 is a savvy business decision. And I genuinely enjoy singing the lyric “lookin’ like a line from a Vandross song” over the canned production of “Talk You Out of It.” I’m also amused by the lustiness of the Ronnie Milsap-style slow jam “Told You.” Only the infuriating stomp-and-shout “Simple” and the crass corniness of “Women” make me want to break things.
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I reviewed Elton John’s Kansas City swan song at the Sprint Center.
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I reviewed Blake Shelton’s collaboration with Trace Adkins, Lauren Alaina, John Anderson and the Bellamy Brothers at the Sprint Center.
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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.
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I take note of Karrin Allyson’s Some of That Sunshine at Plastic Sax.
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“I Love a Groove”. The “word-jazz” artist Ken Nordine has died.
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I pray that the inherent pleasures of state-of-the-art pop will never sound stale to me. While the album is immediately gratifying, the aggrieved tone of Ariana Grande Thank You, Next makes it less enjoyable than last year’s Sweetener. Here’s “Bloodline”.
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Shake it on down. Signs, the latest release by the Tedeschi Trucks Band, makes me want to sell all my earthly possessions in order to follow the groovy blues/soul/rock/jam band around the globe. RIYL: the Band, tie-dye, Leon Russell. Here’s “Hard Case”.
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Sincerely, the P, the bittersweet finale of the longstanding Los Angeles hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs, is endearing.
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I’m pained to report that Songs of Freedom, Ulysses Owens Jr.’s well-intentioned album of socially conscious songs like “Mississippi Goddam,” has no bite. Toothless and stuffy, the all-star project sounds as if it’s aimed at the residents of blue state nursing homes.
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I adore Kid Koala’s new ambient-oriented album Music to Draw To: Io. RIYL: Pink Floyd, astral projection, Daniel Lanois. Here’s “All For You”.
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Even though there’s not a single original note on Texas Queens 5, I can’t can’t stop listening to the collaboration between the Japanese roots revivalist group Bloodest Saxophone and a few Texas based vocalists. Here’s “Losing Battle”.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
1 comment:
Total on the random, but... I came across this blog a number of years ago and really dug your writing and your embrace of a wide range of musical styles, artists. You made me rethink my rather kneejerk rejections of certain popular artists. I think I wrote a comment back then thanking you for turning me onto a particular rap artist. Haven't been back here in awhile (no idea why), but just thought I'd google There Stand the Glass blog and see if you were still at it. And here you are still on the job, letting people know how much great music is out there, talking up local artists, and just being an all around cool dude with a wide open ear for all musics. I appreciate your commitment to the blog and to always being willing, like with this post, to rethinking your own musical tastes (though I'm not sure I can walk across that bridge to liking Florida-Georgia Line. Heh). Cheers.
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