Album Review: Kanye West- Ye

I’ve long tolerated the erratic behavior of my favorite artist of the millennium.  I stuck with him when he cancelled a concert in Atlanta after I booked a non-refundable trip to see him at Philips Arena.  Even his unsettling flirtation with the current president didn’t phase me.  I’m firmly in the music-is-the-only-thing-that-matters camp.

Each of Kanye West’s first seven albums is a masterpiece.  Released today, his eighth album Ye ends that remarkable streak.  While it’s enormously entertaining and endlessly fascinating, Ye isn’t up to West’s colossal standard.

After listening to the 23-minute project on repeat for hours on end, I’ve concluded that only the druggy gospel of “Ghost Town”- a mashup of the styles of Queen, Rihanna and Kirk Franklin- is exceptional.  The punchline lyrics and inconsistent production on the other six tracks betray a lack of focus.

West flew higher than anyone for more than 15 years.  While Ye can’t be characterized as a crash landing, it’s an extremely bumpy return to earth.


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

---
I examined Grizzly Bear’s return to the Middle of the Map festival for The Kansas City Star.

---
I recently became obsessed with a premium brand of cream soda.  The empty calories infuse me with a fleeting sense of euphoria.  The silky production on J Balvin’s lightweight Vibras is similarly satisfying.  Here’s “Ambiente”.

---
Tia Fuller’s Diamond Cut is precisely the sort of thrilling mainstream jazz album I keep waiting for a Kansas City musician (other than Bobby Watson) to make.

---
The song titles and press release for Awase, the latest effort of Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, are painfully pretentious.  The music, however, is genuinely funky, albeit in a Swiss kind of way.  RIYL: Manu Katché, bass clarinet, the Esbjörn Svensson Trio.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Where the Bands Are

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry after I witnessed a professional music presenter lament the diminishing "culture of supporting live music" earlier this week.  My friend was addressing an audience of less than two dozen people as he introduced a five-piece band.  An hour later I began jockeying for position at several crowded nightclubs in Westport.  Elsewhere in Kansas City that evening, Icelandic band Sigur Rós performed to a reported 4,500 fans at Starlight Theatre while the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, an ensemble that regular attracts 1,000 people at its concerts, appeared at Helzberg Hall.  I need to invite my myopic pal out for a night on the town.


---
Here's my coverage of day one and day two of the Middle of the Map festival.  My five favorite performances so far?  The Appleseed Cast, Dutch Newman, Grizzly Bear, Owen Pallett and the Last Bison.

---
Hugh McCracken has died.

---
A television station documents a performance by Diane "Mama" Ray.

---
Here's a fundraising video for Kansas City's Fado Novato.

---
Dwight Frizzell made a promotional video for his chamber opera Darwin.

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

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)