Album Review: Ashley Monroe- Sparrow

I usually recoil when I encounter strings in country music.  Orchestral flourishes have spoiled otherwise perfect songs by the likes of George Jones.  Yet I thrill each time strings are introduced on Sparrow, the outstanding new album by Ashley Monroe.  Her songs about sex (“Hands on You”), death (“Sparrow”), heartache (“Paying Attention”) and family ties (“Mother’s Daughter”) lend themselves to the lush backdrops.


---
I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star.

---
The initial concept for this fine KCUR profile of Fatih Seferagic originated with me.

---
Glenn Branca has died.

---
Tony Kinman of the Dils and Rank & File has died.

---
Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit has died.

---
Drummer Jab’o Starks has died.

---
I was floored when I first heard Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.  I fully embraced the unexpectedly mature sound.  Focusing on the often hilarious lyrics my second time through deepened my admiration of the album.  Yet the melodramatically woebegone vocals of Alex Turner irritated me on the third listen.  My fourth run-through with the windows rolled down in rush hour traffic soured me on Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.  The album wilts in my whip.  I’ll reserve future spins of tracks including “Four Out of Five” for my next late-night pity party.

---
My lizard brain appreciates Five Finger Death Punch’s And Justice For None.  Wanna make something of it?  Here’s “Sham Pain”.

---
While I’m indifferent to the headliner, I’m awestruck by the lineup of the 2018 edition of the Soundset festival.

---
The strength of Cruzando Borders validates my enthusiasm for Los Texmaniacs’ performance at the Kansas City Folk Festival in February.

---
I repeatedly make the mistake of underestimating Terence Blanchard.  I almost didn’t bother listening to the ferocious Live, a protest album with a funk-oriented electric band.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Jill Scott- Woman

My world changed when I picked up a Japanese compilation of Stax singles that introduced me to the likes of William Bell, the Bar-Kays, the Dramatics and Frederick Knight in the early 1980s. I don’t know how or when Jill Scott came to love those same songs, but it’s clear that she also knows them inside and out.  Woman is a vibrant tribute to the classic sound of Stax Records.  The video for “You Don’t Know” will persuade skeptics.


---
I didn’t expect my  review of Van Halen’s concert last week to instigate a classic rock rebellion.  The show struck me as unequivocally terrible.  It ranks among performances by Guy, Rick Ross and Soundgarden as one of the worst efforts by a major act I’ve witnessed in recent years.  The outraged reactions to my observations compelled The Kansas City Star to issue a disclaimer.

---
I also reviewed a concert by Graham Nash.

---
An item about Be/Non is my latest contribution to KCUR’s Local Listen series.

---
The Popper’s ”I’m KC” may be cheesy, but it’s my song of the summer.

---
Kutt Calhoun’s EP Kuttin Loose doesn’t contain any surprises.  RIYL: early Tech N9ne, rap beefs, gangsta sh*t.

---
Howard Rumsey has died.  Here’s Marc Myers’ remembrance.

---
David Banner’s “My Uzi” might be the best song of 2015.  It’s not about what you think it’s about.

---
Torche’s Restarter is likely to be my favorite rock album of 2015.  RIYL: Nothing, sludge, Electric Wizard.

---
Blue Dialect, a collaboration between bassist Mario Pavone, pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, is astounding.  RIYL: Anthony Braxton, out, Myra Melford.

---
Ashley Monroe’s The Blade is a mess.  Only three or four of the tracks on the scattershot album are on point.  RIYL: uncertainty, Sturgill Simpson, indecision.

---
There’s nothing wrong with Richard Thompson’s Still, but I don’t intend to give the relatively unremarkable new album a second hearing.  I’ll count on There Stands the Glass readers to point out any hidden gems beyond the novelty goof “Guitar Heroes.”

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Ashley Monroe- Like a Rose

Oh, hell yes!  Ashley Monroe's new Like a Rose offers evidence that the Nashville establishment remains capable of producing proper traditional country albums.  Like a Rose is precisely the kind of honky tonk album that I'd been hoping Miranda Lambert, Monroe's bandmate in the Pistol Annies, would record.

Dozens of alt-country albums are issued every year.  I enjoy a lot of them.  Yet there's something about a slick major label production that adds a satisfying luster to the old-school sound that labels like Bloodshot just can't duplicate.  Like a Rose successfully filters the drinkin' and cheatin' songs of Gary Stewart through Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.  The title of "You Ain't Dolly (And You Ain't Porter)," the album-ending duet with Blake Shelton, reveals the era that inspired the project's rough-hewn sensibility.

Monroe's heroines keep it real.  One is "a dollar short and two weeks late."  Another has painful morning-after regrets.  A third begs her man to spice up their sex life.  "She's Driving Me Out of Your Mind" is an old-fashioned weeper.  "Used", the most conventional track, possesses the low-key angst associated with Alison Krauss.  The title track is one of the few positive songs.

Fans of Gary Allan, Shelby Lynne, the Mavericks, Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis are encouraged to board this train. 



---
I'd forgotten how much I loved Paid In Full until I heard Rakim perform much of the seminal album Wednesday.  Here's my review.

---
Jazz organist Melvin Rhyne has died.

---
I've spent much of my adult life embarrassing myself by confusing Alvin Lee with Albert Lee.  Alvin Lee died this week.

---
Tiny Horse has a video for its acclaimed song "Ride".

---
Ces Cru is on fire.

---
Olassa performed on a local television program.

---
Is it nostalgia, brain damage or good taste that causes me to adore the new self-titled album by Dallas' Mothership?  RIYL: Black Sabbath, Goblin Cock, Judas Priest.

---
The video for DJ Muggs' "Soundclash Business" is amusing.  My glowing review of his album is here.

---
The video for bentcousin's "bent paperboy" is appropriately charming.  My review of the British duo's debut album is here.

---
"For Those Who Love the Lizz"!  Gypsyhawk is my new favorite thing.

---
Between Krokus' Dirty Dynamite and a live album by Rhino Bucket, 2013 is already a banner year for aficionados of AC/DC knockoffs.  (I'm one of them.)

---
I listened to the entirety of Rhye's Woman.  It's smooove.  RIYL: Sade, Seal, George Michael.

---
Antonio Sanchez's New Life sounds like the best jazz album of 1994.  It came out this week.  Hey, I loved 1994.  RIYL: Michael Brecker, Steps Ahead, Tony Williams.

---
The trailer for a documentary titled The Power of Soul contains a couple tantalizing moments.

---
I love all readers of There Stands the Glass.  (Not really, but it's a nice thought.)  Even so, BGO's recent comment is one of the best in the history of this blog: I'd go see J.P. Harris if I had a designated driver and I didn't have to get up early the next day. Listening to him is a real throwback and the sincerity seems authentic. Who shows up for the likes of him anyways? Hipsters? Bumpkins? Old men like me? Dime-a-dance dames in fancy dresses?  Thanks, as always, BGO.

---
Kansas City Click: My top picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)