March Recap

Top Five Performances
1. The Big Ears Festival
My capsule reviews of 30 sets.
2. Leikeli47- Encore Room
My Instagram clip.
3. Metallica- Sprint Center
My review.
4. Ryan Keberle & Catharsis- Mod Gallery
My review.
5. Eric Church- Sprint Center
My review.

Top Five Albums
1. Solange- When I Get Home
I no longer pine for new music from Erykah Badu.
2. Little Simz- Grey Area
A true boss.
3. Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom- Glitter Wolf
Delirious chamber jazz.
4. Willie Clayton- Excellence
Take me to the river.
5. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah- Ancestral Recall
Generational brilliance.

Top Five Songs
1. Townes Van Zandt- “Sky Blue”
Buried treasure.
2. 2 Chainz with Kendrick Lamar- “Momma I Hit a Lick”
I want it, I want it, I want it.
3. The Wild Reeds- “Moving Target”
Garage-rock perfection.
4. Zara McFarlane- "East of the River Nile”
New life for an Augustus Pablo gem.
5. Nick Lowe- “Love Starvation”
Pure pop for old people.

I conducted the same exercise in January and February.

(Original image of Dwight Andrews and Leo Wadada Smith at the Big Ears Festival by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Solange- When I Get Home

How I detested A Seat at the Table!   I didn’t hear what others claimed to like about Solange’s 2016 breakout album.  While I’ve admired Solange for more than a decade, I’m hardly a Stan of Beyoncé’s sister.  That’s why I’m enormously pleased to report that Solange has realized her potential with When I Get Home.  The new album equals or betters efforts by like-minded neo-soul and progressive jazz artists including the Internet, Flying Lotus, Robert Glasper and SZA.   While it doesn’t contain any so-called “bops” (ugh), When I Get Home represents everything I love about the current musical moment even as it recalls the seminal work of Stevie Wonder and Erykah Badu.  And no, I haven’t watched the accompanying album-length video.


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I reviewed the first of Eric Church’s two concerts at the Sprint Center for The Kansas City Star.

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I reviewed Norman Brown’s The Highest Act of Love at Plastic Sax.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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Bluegrass giant Mac Wiseman has died.

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Jazz guitarist Ed Bickert has died.

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Mark Hollis of Talk Talk has died.

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Drummer Andy Anderson has died.

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André Previn has died.  What a life!  I’ve long employed his solo piano improvisations as sublime background music.

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The jazz critic and producer Ira Gitler has died.

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Zara McFarlane’s four interpretations of Augustus Pablo’s “East of the River Nile” are positioned at the precise center of my musical wheelhouse. 

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Offset’s Father of 4 is so weak that I’m embarrassed for the rapper and for myself for intently listening to all 58 minutes of it.  Here’s “Quarter Milli”.

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Guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King are in thrall of Ornette Coleman on the thorny Love Hurts.  I love it, of course.  Here’s “Tomorrow Is the Question”.

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While attending the rock festival isn’t at the top of my bucket list, I’m consistently impressed by the scale of Rocklahoma.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Young Fathers- Dead

A certain subset of my friends doesn't realize it yet, but Young Fathers' Dead is going to be our shared go-to album of 2014.  It's often difficult to find common musical ground in friendships that aren't based on music.  The Scottish trio has us covered.  Dead's synthesis of hip-hop and indie-rock appeals to listeners partial to Joy Division, Chvrches, Yeezus and/or Death Grips.  "Get Up" and "Low" are the album's would-be hits.  As the gloomy title suggests, Dead isn't a typical party album, but the stuff my friends and have been going through lately isn't exactly a picnic.


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Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, El DeBarge, SWV and Slick Rick made me happy on Sunday.  Here's my review.

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Here's a list of the hundreds of artists performing at this week's Folk Alliance Conference in Kansas City.

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I finally listened to the Shy Boys' self-titled album.  It's solid.  RIYL: The Four Freshmen, dreaming, Weezer.

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Look at those fuc… Wait a minute- Hunter Long's "Preliminary Studies #3" is really good.

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Bob Casale, Devo's guitarist, has died.

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"The Worst Songs of All Time?" episode of All Songs Considered has become a meme of sorts.  Because mocking incontestably "bad" music is pointless, I made a list of ten songs I loathe by artists I love: Chuck Berry- "My Ding-A-Ling"; Beyoncé- "Drunk In Love"; The Clash- "Train In Vain"; Aretha Franklin- "Freeway of Love"; Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell- "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"; Jay-Z- "Girls, Girls, Girls"; Bob Marley- "Jamming"; Dolly Parton- "9 to 5"; Bruce Springsteen- "Glory Days"; Tech N9ne- "Slacker."

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Zara McFarlane's If You Knew Her has all the attributes of an important album.  I expect If You Knew Her to be the toast of the Starbucks and Pitchfork cliques in the next few months. RIYL: Nina Simone, the next big arty thing, Cécile McLorin Salvant.

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The dudes in Behemeth might hunt me down if they happen to stumble upon my perspective, but the Polish metal band's new release The Satanist is actually an excellent Christian rock album.  After all, people who expend so much energy quoting scripture and denouncing God obviously has a thing for J.C.

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9th Wonder was a "Hip-hop Fellow" at Harvard.

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I'm not really interested in Chino Moreno's Depeche Mode fetish.  Here's Crosses' audaciously titled "Bitches Brew".

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Morning… Dreaming… by Thomas Clausen and Steve Swallow is RIYL: Chick Corea, zen, Carla Bley.

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I don't even recognize Grieves in the rapper's new video for "Shreds".  RIYL: Atmosphere, weird changes in physical attributes, Ces Cru.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)