Love Never Felt So Good: Music Midway in 2014

Top Shows of 2014
When I look at the list of my favorite live performances of the first six months of 2014, I'm certain that I'm one of the most fortunate people on the planet.

1. Bettye LaVette- Knuckleheads
2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- Midland theater
3. Pat Metheny Unity Group- Topeka Performing Arts Center
4. Marijuana Deathsquads- RecordBar
5. Kraftwerk- Sony Centre (Toronto)
6. Tony Bennett- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
7. Pharaoh Sanders- Blues Alley (Washington D.C.)
8. Nicola Benedetti- Folly Theater
9. Wolf Eyes- Riot Room patio
10. Pusha T- Midland theater

11. Suicidal Tendencies- Uptown Theater
12. Thy Art Is Murder- Aftershock
13. Regina Carter- Helzberg Hall
14. John Cale- Lawrence Arts Center
15. St. Vincent- Liberty Hall
16. Ladysmith Black Mambazo- Liberty Hall
17. Fitz & the Tantrums- KC Live
18. Allen Toussaint- Folly Theater
19. Black Label Society- Penn Valley Park
20. Bahia Orchestra Project- Helzberg Hall

21. Maze- Municipal Auditorium
22. Brad Mehldau Trio- Folly Theater
23. Jaleel Shaw with the Jeff Harshbarger Trio- Take Five Coffee + Bar
24. Brendan Kinsella- Grant Recital Hall
25. John Scofield- Folly Theater 

Top 50 Albums
Few things provide me with a bigger thrill than listening to an album for the first time.  Digital streaming, consequently, has been a godsend.  I've already listened to 234 new releases in their entirety in 2014.  My 50 favorites are listed below.  Here's a corresponding Spotify playlist.

1. St. Vincent- St. Vincent
2. Kris Bowers- Heroes + Misfits
3. Da Cruz- Disco e Progresso
4. Toni Braxton and Babyface- Love, Marriage & Divorce
5. Kelis- Food
6. Young Fathers- Dead
7. Danilo Pérez- Panama 500
8. Down- Down IV: Part II
9. Ambrose Akinmusire- The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint
10. Joyce Yang- Wild Dreams

11. Rick Ross- Mastermind
12. Drive-By Truckers- English Oceans
13. F*cked Up- Glass Boys
14. Takuya Kuroda- Rising Son
15. Skating Polly- Steilacoom
16. Ledisi- The Truth
17. Guided By Voices- Motivational Jumpsuit
18. Vampire- Vampire
19. Souljazz Orchestra- Inner Fire
20. Bohren & Der Club of Gore- Piano Nights

21. Against Me!- Transgender Dysphoria Blues
22. José James- While You Were Sleeping
23. Coltsblood- Into the Unfathomable Abyss
24. Jason Eady- Daylight & Dark
25. Juilliard String Quartet- Elliott Carter: The Five String Quartets
26. Angelique Kidjo- Eve
27. Regina Carter- Southern Comforts
28. The Pretty Reckless- Going To Hell
29. Perfect Pussy- Say Yes To Love
30. Leon Russell- Life Journey

31. De La Tierra- De La Tierra
32. Simone Dinnerstein- Bach: Inventions & Sinfonias
33. Pharoahe Monch- Post Tramatic Stress Disorder
34. Pat Metheny Unity Group- Kin
35. Future- Honest
36. Jack White- Lazaretto
37. Joshua Redman- Trios Live
38. Stephen Malkmus- Wig Out at Jagbags
39. Tech N9ne- Strangeulation
40. The War On Drugs- Lost In the Dream

41. Ume- Monuments
42. Bixiga 70- Ocupai
43. Diverse- Our Journey
44. Mike Dillon- Band of Outsiders
45. Lord Mantis- Death Mask
46. Michael Jackson- Xscape
47. Beck- Morning Phase
48. My Brothers & Sisters- Violet Music, Vol. 1
49. Zara McFarlane- If You Knew Her
50. Pharrell Williams- Girl

Reissues, Compilations and Soundtracks
1. Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978
2. The Sound of Siam, Volume 2- Molam & Luk Thung Isan from North-East Thailand 1970-1982
3. Miles Davis- Miles at The Fillmore: Miles Davis: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 3
4. Wheedle's Groove: Seattle's Finest In Funk & Soul 1965-75
5. Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton (soundtrack)

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Marijuana Deathsquads and Lizzo at the RecordBar

I want to join Marijuana Deathsquads.  The noise collective's thrilling performance Monday night at the RecordBar  gave me a sensation I haven't felt in years- I longed to make music with the musicians on stage.

Marijuana Deathsquads' presentation looked more like an industrious meth lab than a performance.  As two drummers kicked up dust, four guys hunched over laptops, mixers and other gadgets.  It was a bit like this, only darker, dirtier and much louder. 

There were only about 50 people in the RecordBar when Marijuana Deathsquads began its assault.  The room cleared quickly.  About 15 fans had the fortitude to withstand the band's overwhelming "Ewok Sadness", a sound which is somewhat akin to a mashup of Ministry and Schoolly D. 

It's back to the lab for me. 

An opening set by Lizzo- loaded with bangers like "Batches & Cookies" and "Faded"- was charming. 


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I reviewed Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Liberty Hall on Thursday and Gordon Lightfoot at the Uptown Theater on Sunday.

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The Kansas City-based folk musician Beth Scalet has died.

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The lyric video for Josh Berwanger's "Baby Loses Her Mind" is very funny.

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Farout is arguably the best rapper in the Indyground crew.  Billy Hoyle is his new five-song EP.  RIYL: Steddy P., 420, Ces Cru.

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Stooges drummer Ron Asheton has died.

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Road trip?  The lineup of Iowa City's Mission Creek Festival includes There Stands the Glass favorites Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Jason Isbell and Dessa.

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The kids are alright.  "Alabama Movies" is a new video from Skating Polly, a band of Okie kids. The children in Austin's Residual Kid channel Nirvana on "Friends".  And the fresh faces of Radkey, the pride of northwest Missouri, continue to pop up everywhere.  The damning anecdote at the 1:20 mark of the Radkey video is damning.  (Residual Kid tip via SS.)

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I hadn't heard of Mickey Guyton until I watched a live stream of her performance at SXSW.  She's going to be a star.  RIYL: Taylor Swift, absurdly adorable people, the Band Perry.

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Joyce Yang's excellent solo piano album Wild Dreams has inspired me to begin studying the work of Paul Hindemith.

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The My Husband's Stupid Record Collection blog is delightful.  (Initial tip via Euclid Records.)

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Eagulls is my new favorite classic rock band.  Eagulls is RIYL: Lords of the New Church, oldies, Joy Division.

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Shahin Novrasli's Bayati is an exceptionally daring piano trio album.  RIYL: Eldar Djangarov, Eastern Europe, ECM.

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I'm not sold on the party vibe of Major Lazer's Apocalypse Soon.

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Real Estate's Atlas is one of the best received releases of 2014.  I call baloney.  It's little more than a Christopher Cross tribute album.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original images of Marijuana Deathsquads and Lizzo by There Stands the Glass.)