The Top Songs, Albums, Livestreams and Concerts of 2020 (So Far)

The Top 25 Songs of 2020 (So Far)
1. Zsela- “Drinking”
Misery loves company.
2. 070 Shake- “Guilty Conscience”
Pop perfection.
3. Pongo- “Uwa”
Pure joy.
4. Little Simz- “Might Bang, Might Not”
“A one-woman army.”
5. Thundercat featuring Steve Arringtona and Steve Lacy- “Black Quails”
“Am I keeping it real?”
6. Future featuring Drake- “Life Is Good”
Is it, though?
7. Sleaford Mods- “Second”
Miscount.
8. Mozzy featuring King Von and G Herbo- “Body Count”
Let the bodies hit the floor.
9. Earl Sweatshirt featuring Maxo-  “Whole World”
Dank.
10. Bob Dylan- “Murder Most Foul”
He contains multitudes.

11. Six9ine- “Gooba”
I wish I didn't love it so much.
12. Polo G, Stunna 4 Vegas & NLE Choppa feat. Mike WiLL Made-It- “Go Stupid”
Genius.
13. Roy Ayers, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge- “Synchronize Vibration”
Everybody loves the sunshine.
14. J Balvin- “Amarillo”
Not-so-mellow yellow.
15. Playboi Carti- “@Meh”
Dadaism.
16. Ashley McBryde- “First Thing I Reach For”
Downward spiral.
17. Kehlani featuring Jhené Aiko- “Change Your Life”
Essential R&B.
18. Moneybagg Yo featuring DaBaby- “Protect Da Brand”
Goon squad.
19. Sam Hunt- “Hard to Forget”
There stands the glass.
20. Laura Marling- “Strange Girl”
Trouble child.

21. Sa-Roc- “Hand of God”
Dexterous.
22. Against All Logic featuring Lydia Lunch- “If You Can’t Do It Good, Do It Hard”
Can’t stop. Won’t stop.
23. Terrace Martin featuring Denzel Curry, Daylyt, Kamasi Washington and G Perico-“Pig Feet”
Rage.
24. Chloe x Halle- “Don’t Make It Harder On Me”
Supreme(s).
25. Tony Allen and Hugh Masekela- “Agbada Bougou”
Immortals.


The Top 25 Albums of 2020 (So Far)
1. Peter CottonTale- Catch
My review.
2. Jay Electronica- A Written Testimony
My review.
3. Beatrice Dillon- Workaround
My review.
4. Flying Lotus- Flamagra (Instrumentals)
My review of the original album.
5. Bad Bunny- YHLQMDLG
My review.
6. Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist- Alfredo
My review.
7. Clarice Jenson- The Experience of Repetition as Death
My review.
8. Ambrose Akinmusire- On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment
The best working band in jazz.
9. Run the Jewels- RTJ4
One-two punch.
10. Jennifer Curtis and Tyshawn Sorey- Invisible Ritual
Avant-garde hoedown.

11. Mac Miller- Circles
His self-awareness is devastating.
12. Jóhann Jóhannsson- Last and First Men
My review.
13. José James- No Beginning No End 2
Even the Billy Joel cover pleases me.
14. Gil Scott-Heron- We’re New Again: A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven
An almost perfect tweak.
15. Childish Gambino- 3.15.20
My review.
16. Blackstarkids- Surf
Kansas City N.E.R.Ds.
17. Nicolás Jaar- Cenizas
Dark shadows.
18. Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts VI: Locusts
My review.
19. Jeremy Pelt- The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1
Heartbreakingly gorgeous.
20. Kaja Draksler Octet- Out For Stars
My review.

21. Bad Bunny- Las Que No Iban a Salir
Even Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG also-rans are excellent.
22. Sara Serpa- Recognition
Anti-colonialism chamber-jazz.
23. Yaeji- What We Drew
Forward-thinking electro-pop.
24. Mike and the Moonpies- Touch of You: The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart
My review.
25. Kassa Overall- Shades of Flu: Healthy Remixes for an Ill Moment
Exhibit #2,637 in the case of the jazz/hip-hop continuum.


The Top 10 Concerts of 2020 (So Far)
1. Post Malone, Swae Lee and Tyla Yaweh- Sprint Center
My review.
2. Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin- Folly Theater
My Instagram image.
3. Roddy Ricch with Cuuhraig and Xslapz- Uptown Theater
My review.
4. Luciana Souza, Chico Pinheiro and Scott Colley- Folly Theater
My review.
5. Jerry Hahn, Gerald Spaits and Todd Strait- Black Dolphin
My Instagram clip.
6. Pavel Haas Quartet with Boris Giltburg- Folly Theater
My review.
7. Bill Frisell’s Harmony- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
My review.
8. Miranda Lambert with the Randy Rogers Band and Parker McCollum- Sprint Center
My review.
9. The New Pornographers with Diane Coffee- The Truman
My Instagram clip.
10. Joseph with Deep Sea Diver- Madrid Theatre
My Instagram clip.


The Top 10 Livestreams of 2020 (So Far)
1. Bang on a Can Marathon #1 (Mary Halvorson, Vijay Iyer, Meredith Monk, etc.)
2. Bang on a Can Marathon #2 (Iva Bittová, Roscoe Mitchell, Terry Riley, etc.)
3. Daniel Barenboim- at Pierre Boulez Saal
4. Post Malone- Nirvana at home
5. Stacey Pullen- Movement at home
6. A Night For Austin (Alejandro Escovedo, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, etc.)
7. Molly Hammer- at the Gem Theater
8. KC Bands Together (Samantha Fish, The Greeting Committee, Krystle Warren, etc.)
9. Bill Frisell- Blue Note at home
10. Kandace Springs- Blue Note at home

(Screenshot of Roscoe Mitchell performing on the Bang On a Can Marathon by There Stands the Glass.)

March 2020 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

My memories of the concerts I attended during the first week of March seem like implausible fever dreams.

Top Five Performances
1. Luciana Souza, Chico Pinheiro and Scott Colley- Folly Theater
My review.
2. The Pavel Haas Quartet with Boris Giltburg- Folly Theater
My review.
3. Bill Frisell’s Harmony- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
My review.
4. Stephen Martin’s 5529 jam session- 5529 Troost
My Instagram clip.
5. Nick Schnebelen- Uptown Theater
The blues-rock stalwart almost upstaged headliner George Thorogood.

Top Five Albums
1. Jay Electronica- A Written Testimony
My review.
2. Childish Gambino- 3.15.20
My review.
3. J Balvin- Colores
In spite of everything, spring is here.
4. Hailu Mergia- Yene Mircha
Life itself.
5. Nicolás Jaar- Cenizas
Dark shadows.

Top Five Songs
1. Duck Sauce- “Captain Duck”
Wot.
2. Bob Dylan- “Murder Most Foul”
Jukebox hero.
3. Meredith Monk- “The Games: Downfall”
Hee-haw.
4. Aoife O’Donovan- “Bull Frog’s Croon: iii. Valentine”
I feel like going home.
5. Run the Jewels featuring Greg Nice and DJ Premier- “Ooh La La”
Gangstarrs.

I conducted the same exercise for Feburary and January.

(Original image of Stephen Martin’s jam session by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Jay Electronica- A Written Testimony

What a time we living in/just like the scripture says/earthquakes, fires, and plagues/the resurrection of the dead.- Jay Electronica’s “The Neverending Story”

A Written Testimony couldn’t be timelier.  The long-awaited arrival of an official Jay Electronica album clocks in as much of the world’s population confronts calamity.  Everything about A Written Testimony hits home.  Because I maintain an (intermittently) halal household and regularly visit mosques, I don’t blink at the album’s foundation in Islam.  Still mourning a December death, I appreciate the spiritual meditations on the 39-minute recording.  As someone with suddenly precarious employment prospects, I share the artist’s skepticism of several of our shared institutions.  The bleak A Written Testimony provides an entirely apropos soundtrack for this pivotal moment.

(Original image of the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: The Mosh Lives Tour at Aftershock

As I stood in line outside the men's room at Aftershock on Saturday, I witnessed a group of strangers bonding over their military service.  Enlisted men with close-cropped hair swapped literal and figurative war stories with shaggy veterans.  The encounter made me proud to be a metal fan. 

I paid $20 to bang my head and push and shove the other members of the capacity audience of 450.  Emmure headlined a six-band bill that also featured Volumes, Thy Art Is Murder, Gideon, Sworn In and On The Shoulders Of Giants.

Thy Art is Murder, a gnarly Australian band, gave my favorite performance.  Violent songs like "Reign of Darkness" and "The Purest Strain of Hate" almost incited a jubilant riot.  There are worse ways to die than getting trampled in a mosh pit in Merriam, Kansas. 

Tuscaloosa's Gideon was almost as riveting.  Hearing the sweaty dudes in the mosh pit shout along to every hardcore outburst without breaking stride impressed me. 

Volumes, the Los Angeles-based band I had been most excited about seeing, was enormously disappointing.  I was surprised to find that the two vocalists were bros.  I can live with that, but their total frat move antics and the band's thin sound were unacceptable.

When you're sandwiched between Thy Art Is Murder and Emmure, that weak sh*t just doesn't cut it.  After all, "The Key To Keeping the Show Fresh Is… I'm Dead".


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My notes on Regina Carter's performance Sunday at Helzberg Hall are at Plastic Sax.

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Approach's 2013 album Make-Out With Violence is temporarily available as a free download.

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Mac Lethal meets Ellen.

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Gwar's Dave Brockie has died.

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Only Madlib's imaginative production makes Piñata, the bafflingly acclaimed album by Freddie Gibbs, bearable.  Not a fan.  RIYL: Shoutouts to TechN9ne, Jay Rock, Earl Sweatshirt cameos.

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"We Made It", a new track by Jay Z and Jay Electronica, is tone-deaf. 

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My Hank Williams collection was complete- until now.  The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 will be released in May.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original expert photography by There Stands the Glass.)