April Recap

Top Five Performances
1. Khatia Buniatishvili- Folly Theater
My review.
2. Matt Otto, Danny Embrey, Sam Copeland and Brian Steever- Black Dolphin
My review.
3. Tatsuya Nakatani & Assif Tsahar- 1900 Building
My review.
4. tenThing- Helzberg Hall
My Instagram footage.
5. Bill MacKay- Mills Record Company
My Instagram footage.


Top Five Albums
1. Anderson Paak- Ventura
My review.
2. Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan- Epistrophy
My review.
3. Caroline Shaw/Attacca Quartet- Orange
Yet another Big Ears Festival encounter.
4. Brooks & Dunn- Reboot
My review.
5. Angelique Kidjo- Celia
Afro-Cuban makeovers.


Top Five Songs
1. Reba McEntire- “Stronger Than the Truth”
The hard stuff.
2. Kevin Abstract- “Big Wheels”
Squeaky.
3. Randy Rogers Band- “Drinking Money”
Gonna spend it all in one place.
4. Lizzo- “Jerome”
I’d hate to be him.
5. Pup- “Scorpion Hill”
Dark thoughts.


I conducted the same exercise in January, February and March.

(Original image of Bill MacKay by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan- Epistrophy

I deliberately avoided appearances by Bill Frisell at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville last month.  I reasoned that I should focus on showcases by artists I’d never seen.  Even though I’ve heard the guitarist perform seven or eight times, I’m beginning to wonder if my reasoning was faulty.  Epistrophy, a set of astounding duets between Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan recorded at the Village Vanguard, is yet another addition to the already staggering mountain of evidence that Frisell may be the most brilliant musician of our time.  

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I reviewed Chris Tomlin’s concert at the Sprint Center for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed the Joshua Redman Quartet’s concert at the Folly Theater for Plastic Sax.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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Angry Ethiopian jazz?  Sign me up.  Black Flower’s Future Flora is RIYL Hailu Mergia, trippy jams, Sons of Kemet.

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Lizzo tries way too hard on Cuz I Love You.  The anonymous production on her ostensible breakout album makes her alacrity even less appealing.  At least I’ll always be able to say “I saw her when.”.

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The Budos Band pummels a single good idea into the ground on V.  RIYL: Link Wray, repetition, the Ventures.  Here’s “Ghost Talk”.

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Relentless Doppelganger, a live stream of malevolent bots creating entirely credible death metal, is as impressive as it is terrifying.

(Original image of Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Lalah Hathaway at KC Live

I've witnessed performances by Tony Bennett, Deborah Brown, Joyce DiDonato and Bettye LaVette this year.  Lalah Hathaway out-sang all of them at the KC Live stage in the Power & Light District on Sunday.  About 5,000 people attended the free concert.

From the vocal trickery of the Grammy-winning "Something" to the emotional histrionics of the big hit "Forever, For Always,  For Love", Hathaway's repertoire allowed her to demonstrate that she's among the best vocalists in popular music. 

Poor Ruben Studdard didn't stand a chance against Donny's daughter.  He and Hathaway shared a band.  The concert was successful in part because the needless ambient noise I complained about in my review of Eric Benét's recent concert in the same space was blessedly silenced on Sunday. 


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I reviewed the 18th & Vine Jazz & Blues Festival.

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Paul Revere has died.

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Flying Lotus's stunning new album You're Dead! is equal parts hip-hop, jazz and electronic music.

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Jason Moran's All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller RIYL: Meshell Ndegeocello, high concept, Joni Mitchell.  Here's a recast rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'.

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It was nice to see the longtime There Stands the Glass favorite Lazerbeak support Lizzo on the Late Show with David Letterman.  (My notes on Lizzo's 2014 appearance at the RecordBar are here.)

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Mark Kozelek has jokes.

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Bill Frisell's new surf-oriented Guitar in the Space Age is RIYL: The Ventures, baby boomers, Steely Dan.

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The self-titled album by Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn is wondrous.  RIYL: banjer, Raymond Fairchild, no frills.

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My selections among the recently nominated candidates for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in order: Chic, N.W.A., Lou Reed, Kraftwerk and War.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Radkey- Spotify Sessions

My friends look at me as if I'm a heretic every time I mention Radkey's striking resemblance to the Misfits and Glenn Danzig.  I guess I didn't get the memo that pointing out the obvious characteristic of the St. Joseph trio is forbidden.  I happen to adore Danzig, so my taboo commentary isn't an indictment.  My primary concern about the young band's prospects are related to the quality of their songs.  The raw power of Radkey's live performances, however, is incontestable.  That's why the new Spotify Sessions is my favorite Radkey recording.


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I would have enjoyed last week's concert by François Rabbath even more if the woman next to me hadn't been chomping on gum.  Here's my review.

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I reviewed a concert by Sarah McLachlan at Starlight Theatre.

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I review Everette DeVan's new album at Plastic Sax.

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D/Will's 13-minute mixtape Ready. Aim. Beautiful is nice.

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The blasphemers behind the Studio Rio project have extracted the original vocals from iconic songs and recast them in Brazilian settings.  Listen to them mess with Billie Holiday's "You've Changed".  Welcome to the future.

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Drums are dumb.  That's my takeaway from Scott Feiner's A View From Below.  A Brazilian hand drum replaces a drum kit on the fascinating release.  The trio's keyboardist provides the low end while the fusion-happy guitarist is given plenty of room to meander.

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Lizzo's new album LizzoBangers is delightful.  RIYL: Lazerbeak, honesty, Missy Elliott.

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I can't believe that I'm infatuated with a Judas Priest album in 2014. Redeemer of Souls is surprisingly solid.

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As a concept album, CunninLynguists' Strange Journey, Volume Three is terrible.  As pure entertainment, it's very good.  RIYL: Grieves, rhyming dictionaries, Aesop Rock.

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Mournful Congregation's Concrescence Of The Sophia is RIYL: funerals, Tombs, 20-minute death metal jams.

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Kendrick Lamar parodied ignorant rappers on "Backseat Freestyle."  Most of These Days, the new album by his label mate Ab-Soul, sounds like the moronic music Lamar mocked.  Largely because it could have been great, the project infuriates me.  Here's Lamar's contribution to the mess.  RIYL: Kendrick Lamar, darkness, Jay Rock.

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Ginger Baker's Why? is RIYL: Charlie Watts' jazz, Charles Mingus, Jack Bruce's jazz.

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A lot of the cool kids are touting Forgetting the Present, the latest release by the Mogwai-affiliated Remember Remember.  My verdict?  It's a propulsive new age album.  RIYL: Shadowfax, the healing properties of crystals, Nightnoise.

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Bill Frisell goes surfing.

(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.)