Album Review: Volbeat- Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie

The boy can’t help it.  I just can’t get enough of Volbeat’s Seal the Deal & Let’s Boogie.  The Danish band’s sixth studio album gives me the same sort of cheap thrills I get from big dumb rock albums ranging from ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres and Def Leppard’s Hysteria.  It’s as unchallenging as it is gratifying.  ”The Bliss” is representative of the simple-minded fun.


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I reviewed Roy Ayers’ appearance at the Blue Room.

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I discussed the Kansas City jazz guitarist Matt Hopper on KCUR.

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I analyzed M83’s concert at the Midland.

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I reviewed the incongruous triple-bill of Barenaked Ladies, OMD and Howard Jones.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I put my faith in Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner of the American Jazz Museum in an essay at Plastic Sax.

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I examined the work of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in an extended preview of the duo’s return to Kansas City.

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Dave Swarbrick has died.

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The Kansas City rock band the Philistines made a video for ”A Twitch of the Death Nerve”.

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The Kansas City duo Tidy Hippy has a video for ”French American Spanish Whatever.

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William Bell’s This Is Where I Live is a nice late-career statement by the soul veteran.  RIYL: Solomon Burke, made in the U.S.A., Charlie Rich.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: 1349 at the Riot Room

The malevolent sound of 1349 wasn’t the scariest thing at the Riot Room last Thursday.  Repugnant odors were far more horrifying than the music of the Norwegian black metal band.  Combined with the acidic smell of dry ice, the stench of dank hair that filled the air as hirsute members of the audience began headbanging to 1349’s opening selection “I Am Abomination” caused me to involuntarily retch.  The rancid funk couldn’t prevent me from grinning at the band’s face paint and the ostensibly evil hand gestures made by some of 100 or so fans and thrill-seekers who paid $15 to see the show.  It looked and sounded a lot like this.  Jackson May wrote a more respectful account of the show for Mills Record Company.


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I reviewed last night’s Winter Jam festival at the Sprint Center.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine. 

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I reviewed Matt Hopper’s First Love at Plastic Sax.

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Strange but true: a band named Agoraphobic Nosebleed created my favorite song of January. "Not a Daughter" floors me.

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The self-titled album by Bloodiest is RIYL: Tool, rawk, Big Black.

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On paper, Tortoise should be one of my favorite bands.  I admire the theoretical impulse behind the music.  The reality is quite different.  Like most other Tortoise projects, The Catastrophist does little for me.  RIYL: the lack of swing, Stereolab, soullessness.

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Dave Mustaine sounds like he’s running for office on Megadeth’s Dystopia.  He doesn’t have my vote.  Here’s the title track.

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I suppose I’m obligated to have a take on Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “White Privilege II”:  I prefer to atone in private.  Tying oneself up into knots in public is bound to backfire.

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Paul Westerberg and Juliana Hatfield are charming as the I Don’t Cares on the modest Wild Stab.  RIYL: The dB’s, demos, Alex Chilton.

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Adrian Younge’s Something About April II is kitschy fun.  RIYL: Isaac Hayes, blaxploitation flicks, Honey Cone.

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If Yes had been a black metal band, it would have sounded like Borknager.  Winter Thrice is RIYL: Game of Thrones, pomp, Coheed and Cambria.  The title track is glorious.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Charles Gatschet and Matt Hopper at the Dubliner

I'm fairly certain that I was the only person among the handful of listeners at the Dubliner on Sunday evening that wasn't somehow affiliated with the weekly Here's to the Roots showcase.  It's a shame.  The performance by Kansas City guitarists Charles Gatschet and Matt Hopper was exquisite.  Squarely in the duet tradition of Herb Ellis/Joe Pass and Bucky Pizzarelli/Ed Laub, the pair traded leads on standards and compositions by the likes of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk.  Following an awkward interview with the tasteful guitarists, Havilah Bruders added impressive vocals to beautiful renditions of "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Georgia."


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I reviewed the Kansas City Symphony and Yefim Bronfman on Friday.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about Vinson Cole to KCUR's Up to Date.

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I admired Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle's appearance at Take Five Coffee + Bar on Saturday.

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Andraé Crouch has died.

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Elena Obraztsova has died.

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Anthony Saunders sings on "Dreaming", a track from Dominique Sanders' forthcoming album.

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I had to lie down for a bit after watching Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, Larry Gray and Jack DeJohnette discuss their forthcoming ECM album.

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Kassé Mady Diabaté's Kiriké is wonderful.  RIYL: Toumani Diabaté, life, Habib Koité.

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"Recognition", a track from THEESatisfaction's forthcoming album, is RIYL: Dirty Projectors, funkateers, Shabazz Palaces.

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Daniel Herskedal's Slow Eastbound Train seems promising.

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A new release featuring Anna Netrebko served as my introduction to Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta."  I'm in love.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)