Album Review: Vieux Farka Touré- Mon Pays

Vieux Farka Touré has served as my mental health counselor for the past ten days.  It's my understanding that his new album Mon Pays addresses the horrors afflicting his native Mali, but the album has consoled me as I struggle with my decidedly less dramatic personal issues.  The rapturously beautiful album lacks the startling "new thing" element that characterized his father Ali Farka Touré's crossover albums in the 1990s.  Yet Mon Pays' sense of familiarity brings me comfort.  Blessed relief is just a click away.

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Tim Finn wrote a remembrance of Abigail Henderson.

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Sathima Bea Benjamin has died.

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ReJoyce, a new Joyce DiDonato compilation, contains six previously-unreleased tracks.

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I reviewed Harold O'Neal's Man On the Street album at Plastic Sax.

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I recently stumbled across Dereck Higgins talking about the French label BYG Actuel on his YouTube channel.  I love everything about this guy.

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Kentucky Knife Fight's Hush Hush is RIYL: The Hold Steady, Lucero, Vic Chesnutt. 

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A$AP Ferg's Trap Lord is as harrowing as Mon Pays is comforting.

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The EPK for Linda Oh's Sun Pictures reflects the album's charms.  RIYL: Kurt Rosenwinkel, Matt Wilson, Todd Clouser.

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Light In the Attic is releasing a massive box set of material originally released by Lee Hazelwood Industries.

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Here's footage of Steve Coleman's Five Elements tearing it up.

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Four Fists is a new collaboration between P.O.S and Astronautalis.  RIYL: TV On the Radio, Nine Inch Nails, Beck.

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The trailer for Narco Cultura is fantastic.

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This week's new releases of interest to There Stands the Glass include Tamar Braxton, Richard Buckner, Neko Case, Joyce DiDonato, Dave Holland's Prism (here's a fusion-tastic sample), Jaheim, King Khan & The Shrines, Kreator, John Legend, Glenn Lewis, Nine Inch Nails, North Mississippi Allstars, Okkervil River, Raheem DeVaughn, a collaboration between Julian Lage and Fred Hersch, a new version of Verdi's Requiem and the Numero Group's Forte compilation.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Dreams I'll Never See

The disorienting sense that my recent reality is actually an extended waking dream was heightened by my experiences in an odd little town at Lake Erie last week.

Soon after I checked into a 1950s-style motel, I heard a band performing nearby.  A stellar version of "The Weight" sounded as if it was being played by the Avett Brothers.  I quickly made the one-block walk to the biker bar that was hosting the band.  

The musicians- a motley crew of middle-aged rockers in sequins and blue jeans- wasn't much to look at.  And they didn't sound good in close proximity either.  The band launched into a bevy of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers Band and Molly Hatchet covers when I grabbed a seat.  Several bikers played air guitar to "Dreams I'll Never See".  I washed down a sandwich prepared by Chef Mic with a couple beers as I observed the surreal scene.

As I tried to collect myself back at the motel, the band transformed again as it launched into a series of excellent covers of frat-rock songs like "Expressway to Your Heart."  Wake me up when it's over.


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I wrote a fall jazz preview for The Kansas City Star.

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Yet another piano trio!  I reviewed the Paul Shinn Trio's Reason Pure at Plastic Sax.

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Billboard cites the success of Strange Music.

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Reach's Loosies is available as a free download.  RIYL: KRS-One, Gang Starr, Rakim.  (Via Tony's Kansas City.)

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D/Will's Lamb & Lion is also available at Bandcamp.  RIYL: Kanye West, Gil Scott-Heron, A Tribe Called Quest.

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The Numero Group published the track listing of its new Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label compilation.

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Yeah, I watched MTV's VMA show on Sunday.  Pontificating on drummed-up controversies isn't my thing.  The fact that not a single rock or EDM act performed at the event is far more interesting to me than the calculated shenanigans of pop stars.

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Buika shines in a Tiny Desk Concert.

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Dent May's Warm Blanket is RIYL: Destroyer, George Harrison, Randy Newman.

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The Akku Quartet's Stages of Sleep album is RIYL: Tortoise, Pink Floyd, Charles Lloyd.

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The new releases of the most interest to me this week include titles by Avenged Sevenfold, Belle & Sebastian, Big Sean, Black Joe Lewis, Devil Driver, Franz Ferdinand, Robbie Fulks, Goodie Mob, Juicy J, Lorde, Maps for Travelers, Dent May (see above), Pieces of a Dream and Quiet Corral.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here every Wednesday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Julian Waterfall Pollack Trio- Waves of Albion

For a guy who claims to have had his fill of piano trios, I'm spending a lot of time listening to the format in 2013.  The passing of Cedar Walton served as a bittersweet excuse to dig out a few of the pianist's recordings from the Museum of Dead People located in my dusty basement.  Hearing Walton work with David Williams and Billy Higgins on the sublime Manhattan Afternoon soothed my troubled soul. 

Walton's lyrical work helped me gain an even deeper appreciation of Waves of Albion, the excellent new album by Julian Waterfall Pollack.  Pollack and his colleagues don't attempt to replicate the work of Walton, Williams and Higgins.  Instead, they work in the entirely different conception associated with Brad Mehldau and Esbjörn Svensson. 

With Waves of Albion, Pollack contributes something new to the stylish sound of the new millennium.  A sense of deep spirituality pervades the album.  Elegiac versions of "Amazing Grace" and "Shenendoah" serve as its emotional core.  Jazz pianists including Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams have explored sacred music.   Yet to my knowledge, Pollack is the first of the new wave of pianists to explore religious themes. 

While the title of "I Don't Believe In Love Anymore" indicates that Pollack had other things on his mind as he composed the mournful piece, I hear it as a spiritual elegy.  Even a cover of Bon Iver's "Flume" sounds like a devotional exploration.  As with the recordings of Mehldau and Svensson, the sound field of Waves of Albion places each musician on equal footing.  Bassist Noah Garabedian propels each selection with no less force than Pollack or drummer Evan Hughes. 

How sweet the sound, indeed.


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I reviewed a concert featuring Peter Frampton, B.B. King, Sonny Landreth and Davy Knowles.

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Pianist Marian McPartland has died.

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Albert Murray has died.

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Allen Lanier of Blue Oyster Cult has died.

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"Scars" is the latest video from Krizz Kaliko.

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Here's an EPK for Samantha Fish's Black Wind Howlin' album.

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I've only listened to Earl Sweatshirt's Doris twice.  It's going to take time to decide if the dense album is a classic, a disjointed mess or merely an interesting experiment.  RIYL: Bob Dylan, OFWGKTA, The Chronic.

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Derrick Hodges' disappointing Live Today sounds more like a resume than a proper album.  RIYL: Robert Glasper, Stevie Wonder, Stanley Clarke. 

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King Krule's "Easy Easy" picks up where the Jam and the Arctic Monkeys left off.  (Tip via S.S.)

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Jashwha Moses' fine roots-rock-reggae album No War On Earth is RIYL: Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, Augustus Pablo.

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Diarrhea Planet's I'm Rich Beyond Your Wildest Dreams is a shockingly great.  RIYL: Green Day, Tame Impala, Fidlar.

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My friend at The Daily Record turned me on to Terrace Martin's 3ChordFold. Guests include Kendrick Lamar, Robert Glasper and Snoop Dogg.  The lush production is recommended to fans of those artists.

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Gosh!  Bakersfield, the 2013 album by Vince Gill and Paul Franklin, contains worlds of fun.  RIYL: Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Chris Hillman.

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Volto!'s Incitare is a solid jazz fusion album.  RIYL: Tool, instrument shops, Billy Cobham.

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A recent interview with Orrin Keepnews about the early days of Riverside Records is pretty great.

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Minimal research alert. Good Vibrations appears to be a movie about the Undertones, the troubles in Ireland and a music retailer.

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What a huge week for exciting new releases!  The list includes A$AP Ferg, Belle & Sebastian, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, Stefano Bollani and Hamilton de Holanda, Crocodiles, Devildriver, Diarrhea Planet, Bob Dylan's Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10, Earl Sweatshirt's Doris, Tim Easton, Robbie Fulks, Philip Glass, the Greencards, Juicy J, Krizz Kaliko's Son of Sam, King Krule, Black Joe Lewis, No Age, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Ty Segall and Superchunk.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Tompall Glaser, 1933-2013

My dad wore out the grooves of Wanted!: The Outlaws.  The album resounded hundreds of times in our home in the years following its release in 1976.  I relished the repetition, although I was a little creeped out by the lusty way my dad sang along to the songs about women.  Tompall Glaser, one of the four artists featured on the compilation, died Tuesday.  Glaser's rendition of "T For Texas" was my introduction to Jimmie Rodgers.  Put another log on the fire.


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Eydie Gormé has died.  (Video selection via BGO.)

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Jody Payne, Willie Nelson's guitarist, has died.

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Akkilles' Something You'd Say is streaming at Bandcamp.  RIYL: Sea Change, America (the band), Toro y Moi.

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Bowinero's Asterism is recommended if you like Antennas Up, Modest Mouse, Young the Giant. 

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The Floozies' new single ""Love, Sex and Fancy Things"" is RIYL: "Blurred Lines," "More Bounce To the Ounce" and "Suit & Tie."

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Antennas Up has a new video for The Awkward Phase".

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Red Kate's When the Trouble Comes is RIYL: the Big Boys, the Wipers, Naked Raygun.

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The video for Tech N9ne's "Party the Pain Away" is what you thought it was. 

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Dolls on Fire created a video for "Fem vs the Volcano".

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Tim Finn checks in with Matt Pryor of the Get Up Kids.

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I'm glad hundreds of thousands of people are excited about Kendrick Lamar's explosive verse on Big Sean's "Control."  I dig it too.  A similar reaction supposedly greeted Coleman Hawkins' famous solo on "Body and Soul" in 1939.  My ongoing fantasy is that a similar number of active music lovers will lose their collective minds over a new solo by someone like Rudresh Mahanthappa. 

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Thanks in large part to the contributions of Julian Lage, Gary Burton's Guided Tour is one of my favorite jazz albums of 2013.  Here's the EPK.

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The critical acclaim that's greeted Grant Hart's unlistenable new album The Argument strikes me as insane.

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Music critics occasionally know what they're talking about.  Ka's The Night's Gambit is every bit as good as the scores of breathless reviews suggest.  RIYL: Ghostface Killah, Rakim, Cut Chemist.

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The National's set at last weekend's Outside Lands festival featured the Kronos Quartet and Bob Weir. My interest in the mopey band is renewed.

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Myron & E's retro soul album Broadway sounds incredible.  Unfortunately, it's done in by extremely awkward lyrics.

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José James' new Come To My Door EP compliments his stunning full-length 2013 album.

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I recommend No Age's An Object to fans of the harsh post-punk sound of 1983. 

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Trillwave 3 is the deliriously fun new mixtape by mashup masters the Hood Internet. 

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I'll eventually get around to listening to this week's new releases by Glen Campbell, Bela Fleck, Valerie June, K. Michelle, Stevie Stone, Washed Out and Barrence Whitfield and the Savages.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Revocation- S/T

I'm going through some extremely difficult stuff at the moment.  While my first instinct is to throw a pity party while I put soul tracks like "I Wish It Would Rain" on repeat, I'm using Revocation's new self-titled album to help me work out a bit of my frustration.  The Boston-based band has created one of the year's most devastating albums.  The opening track "The Hive" is representative of the project.  It's brutal music for bleak times.  


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George Duke has died.  I recently wrote about Duke here and here.

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"Cowboy" Jack Clement has died.

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Tech N9ne claims that "I'm gonna be the first rapper to cross over to black folk" on "B.I.T.C.H.".  His new album debuted at #4 on Billboard's Top 200 chart.

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Christian McBride's first album of 2013 didn't do anything for me.  I'm hoping for different results from his new Out Here release.  Here's the EPK.

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CSS turned me on to As Mercenárias in their charming episode  of "What's In My Bag?"

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Myron & E's "Do It Do It Disco" is my jam.  RIYL: Sam and Dave, Joe Simon, the Dells.

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I enjoy The Vigil, Chick Corea's new old-school fusion release.  The amazing album cover is, ahem, truly memorable.

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The Flaming Lips and Animal Collective are participating in Cassette Store Day.  Of course they are.

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Here's a video for "Of Many, One", a track from the forthcoming album by Brian Haas and Matt Chamberlain.  RIYL: the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Critters Buggin, Philip Glass.

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One of my preachers is also a folk singer.

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Here's a nice video feature about Afropunk.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: The Pitch Music Showcase

The annual Pitch Music Showcase is one of my favorite events of the summer.  Friday's party was no exception.  Here are the three best things I took in during the three-and-a-half hours I spent in Westport.

1. Gee Watts at the Riot Room patio
I was charmed by the way in which the young rapper adapted his performance to the pitifully meager audience of about a dozen members of his entourage and 20 unrelated onlookers.  He set the tone by referring to the intimate setting as a "poetry reading."  Although he performed a few off-color selections like "Nasty", his low-key delivery on wrenching material like  "Premature Hate" floored me.  Between selections, Watts shared his views on God, capitalism and friendship.  He even broke down one or two of his songs in the style of Rap Genius.

2. La Guerre at the RecordBar
I've seen Katlyn Conroy perform several times as a member of Cowboy Indian Bear.  I've also enjoyed her recordings.  Not until I witnessed her sing for about a dozen people at the RecordBar, however, did I grasp that her voice is a truly magnificent instrument.

3. Info Gates at the Riot Room patio
Info Gates, a hip-hop producer, songwriter and performer, was joined by Ubiquitous, Godemis and Les Izmore.  It looked and sounded a lot like this.


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I reviewed Saturday's concert by the Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, Gogol Bordello and the Virgins.

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Strange Music continues to crank out product.  "Why Me", is a track on Krizz Kaliko's new Son of Sam album, his fifth in six years.

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Mills Record Company provides a nice analysis of the significance of the Get Up Kids' Four Minute Mile.

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Mary Halvorson's stellar set at last weekend's Newport Jazz Festival is available as a free download.  RIYL: Henry Threadgill, Marc Ribot, Charles Mingus.

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I'm looking forward to hearing this week's new releases by Gary Burton, the Civil Wars, Chick Corea, Iwrestledabearonce, Christian McBride, Old Crow Medicine Show, the Polyphonic Spree, Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition, Revocation, Terje Rypdal, Beating The Petrillo Ban: The Late December 1947 Modern Sessions and Mutazione - Italian Electronic & New Wave Underground 1980 - 1988

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Kansas City Click: Amon Amarth open for Rob Zombie at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater on Monday.

The Floozies perform Tuesday at Crossroads KC.

T.J. Martley performs with Bill McKemy and Matt Leifer at Unity of Kansas City North on Wednesday.

John Velghe & the Prodigal Sons appear at Knuckleheads on Thursday.

(Original image of Gee Watts by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review- Daora: Underground Sounds of Urban Brasil

Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical changed my life 23 years ago.  I had been only vaguely aware of Jorge Ben, Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso prior to purchasing the David Byrne-curated CD.  Hearing a handful of their most accessible songs on a single set opened my ears to a universe of sounds.  I feel much the same way about the new compilation Daora: Underground Sounds of Urban Brasil.  The lengthy album contains contemporary hip-hop, funk, post-MPB, indie rock, Afrobeat and reggae of Brasil.  About a third of it is astoundingly great.  Having only been aware of a handful of the featured artists, I've embarked on a delightful new journey of discovery.

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I reviewed Tuesday's concert by the Postal Service and Mates of State.

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Kerry Strayer, a major player on Kansas City's jazz scene, has died.

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Serj Tankian sings the hook on Tech N9ne's "Straight Out the Gate".

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Numero Group is reissuing material recorded for Kansas City's Forte label.

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Minden's video for "What's More Than Appropriate?" transfixed me.  The Way Back's video for "Terrified" is less ambitious.

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I tried to get into F**k Buttons, but all I hear is a stylish version of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

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Homebodies will be able to watch live streams of this weekend's Lollapalooza, Pickathon and Newport Jazz festivals.

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"I'm up against brass cleaning!"  Footage of Action Bronson's appearance at an old folk's home makes me smile.

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Ole Smokey's remixes of classic rock, funk, jazz and pop tracks are a hoot. 

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

J.J. Cale, 1938-2013

I've been obsessed with attending performances of live music since I was about 13.  Before my tastes coalesced, I hit shows indiscriminately.  If I could get a ride and afford a ticket to a concert that admitted kids, I was there.  My inexperience and ignorance led me to a lot of unlikely places in the pre-internet era.   

I recall not knowing what to expect as I sat in the balcony of the Uptown Theater for a J.J. Cale concert.  I didn't know the difference between J.J. Cale, John Cale or John Cage at that point.  I was just glad to be part of the mix. 

My enthusiasm waned as Cale played his distinctive Tulsa shuffle on a dimly-lit stage.  That laid-back sound isn't designed to appeal to an agitated teenager.  While I've grown to appreciate Cale's contributions and enormous influence on the likes of Eric Clapton and Dire Straits, I never really acquired a taste for his music. 

Cale died last week.


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Writer and musician Mick Farren has died.

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Tim Finn chats with Tech N9ne about Something Else.

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I fell in love with Superchunk's "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo" before I even heard it.

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This could be the exact moment the jazz audience evaporated". (Via There Stands the Glass reader PF.)

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Quest's new Live In Paris album reminded me of Richie Beirach's greatness.  RIYL: Dave Liebman, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner.

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The music video for King Khan & the Shrines' "Darkness" is mesmerizing.  RIYL: the White Stripes, Percy Mayfield, Bobby Womack.

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Geoffrey Keezer's new The Heart of the Piano is a syrupy and sentimental solo piano album.  RIYL: John Lewis, Danny Wright, Ahmad Jamal.

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I suppose that suggesting Lil B is Based God an emperor with no clothes is missing the point.

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I hope to listen to the new albums by Five Finger Death Punch, Buddy Guy, Chante Moore, T. Hardy Morris, Roomful of Blues, Robin Thicke and John Zorn after spend quality time with Tech N9ne's Something Else.

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Kansas City Click: Mates of State opens for the Postal Service at the Midland on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mike Tramp of White Lion appears at Aftershock on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Going Grippy Grappa

Jay-Z kept me out of a San Diego jail this week.

My otherwise perfect vacation rental is periodically sullied by a moronic gaggle of hard-partying teens across the alley.  They break out the beer bongs at 11 a.m.  (Fine by me.)  They start doing shots at 7 p.m.  (Whatever.)  The ear-piercing screaming resumes at 11 p.m.  (That's my bedtime after a sun-soaked day.)  The kids rally for a final bout of debauchery around 3 a.m.  (Not cool.) 

Their excellent taste in music is the only reason those kids are still alive.  Although they look and act as if they'd listen to Wiz Khalifa or Mac Miller, the oblivious knuckleheads bump nothing but Magna Carta... Holy Grail.  I'm more inclined to ask them to stop shouting over Jay-Z than to impale them with beach umbrellas.

Once or twice, when I know they're in recovery mode, I've hit 'em with Grippy Grappa, the excellently-titled new album by the Cypriot band Monsieur Doumani.  Imagine Gogol Bordello and the ghost of Herbie Mann on an ouzo bender.  Check out "The System" and "Young Upwardly-Mobile Professional".  I've never been to Greece, let alone Cypress, but Grippy Grappa allows me to better relate to the people of the financially distressed region.

Here's a proper review of Grippy Grappy in Sing Out! magazine.


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Faye Hunter of Let's Active has died.

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The remix of "Bender" features Tech N9ne, Mac Lethal, Irv Da Phenom, JL, Joey Cool, Dutch Newman and Godemis.  

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Radkey is the subject of a solid feature from Noisey.

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Jordan Geiger of Hospital Ships shares a few of his favorite recordings.

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"Sauce Remix" by One is RIYL: Landmark Entertainment, The Popper, James Christos.  (Via Tony's Kansas City.)

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"Sophisticated Ignorance" is the latest offering from Steddy P and DJ Mahf.  RIYL: Cypress Hill, Kottonmouth Kings, Afroman.

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Corky Carrel wrote a beautiful review of Guy Clark's new album.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Care to know what's not cool or played-out in hip-hop?  Here's a "Banned Artists/Track List for a room at turntable.fm.  I like over a third of the banned items on the elitists' list.

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The collaboration between Elvis Costello and the Roots sounds exactly like you'd think it would sound.

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George Duke's Dream Weaver has sublime moments mixed among the cheese.  (And I kind of like the cheese.)  RIYL: George Duke, Al Kooper, George Clinton.

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The music video for Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" flies over my head.

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Willie Sugarcapps is a new semi-supergroup of Americana artists including Will Kimbrough and Grayson Capps.  "Gypsy Train" is pretty.  RIYL: Mary Gauthier, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt.

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Jim Pepper Fest will include a "reunion of the Free Spirits," the "world's first jazz-rock fusion band (1965-1967)" featuring Larry Coryell and Rakalam Bob Moses.

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Swimm's excellent Feel EP is available as a free download at Bandcamp.  RIYL: U2, INXS, T. Rex.

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As soon as I summon enough courage, I'll listen to Van Dyke Park's new album Songs Cycled.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Searching for Snoopy with Billy Cobham

I reached adolescence right as the nascent punk movement began to defy the established tenants of everything my friends and their older brothers had spent the last few years teaching me.  As a twelve-year-old, I'd accepted the conventional wisdom of my peer group that the elite musicianship displayed by bands like Kansas and Emerson, Lake & Palmer were among rock's finest achievements.

These suburban pundits explained that jazz fusion giants like Bill Bruford and Billy Cobham were even more evolved.  I bought into it.  The majestic sounds seemed to elevate my mundane existence.  Then I discovered girls and the Ramones.  The boys' club of smoke and Allan Holdsworth jams immediately lost its appeal.

I traded away the majority of my prog-rock and fusion collection.  Cobham's Spectrum stayed.  The amazingly prescient 1974 album anticipated Thriller, synth-pop and hip-hop. (Aerosmith, Earth, Wind & Fire, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and my dad's country albums never left my rotation.)

I suffered a few pangs of nostalgia when I learned that a "lost" Billy Cobham album would be issued this week.  That sensation turned to queasiness as I listened to  Compass Point.  The lengthy 1997 session is solid, but I'm not satisfied by the middle ground between blustery fusion and blissed-out smooth jazz.

That said, "Snoopy's Search/Red Baron" will always be my jam.


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James "T-Model" Ford has died.

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"Fragile", a new song by Tech N9ne featuring Kendrick Lamar, is great.

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Here's a professionally-produced video documenting ZZ Ward's June 29 performance at 7th Heaven on Troost.

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St. Joseph's Dsoedean has issued Continue To Move.  RIYL: Modest Mouse, the Killers, the Shins.

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"Hive" is Earl Sweatshirt's best song to date.

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James Cotton's fine new album Cotton Mouth Man is consistently entertaining.  Even so, the beautifully-recorded project gives me the blues.  Cotton's lost his voice, so his stand-ins include Joe Bonamassa, Gregg Allman, Keb Mo, Darrell Nulisch, Ruthie Foster and Delbert McClinton.  While that's great news for Alligator Records' sales team, it's a drag for people who want the sort of raw and nasty blues Cotton made decades ago.  The cancer-stricken Cotton does the vocal work on the final track "Bonnie Blue."  It's easily the best song on the album.

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Kid the Wiz appears to be the next big thing.  RIYL: 2024 (the year), "Let Me Clear My Throat," "Jam On It."

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The boys in Fidlar put the rock portion of my record collection (circa 1981) in their bags at Amoeba Records.

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Beck's two new singles- "Defriended" and "I Won't Be Long"- are really good.

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Reuben Fowler's new big band album Between Shadows is RIYL: Tom Harrell, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Maria Schneider.

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Andrew W.K. is among the people subjected to a brutal beating in the gruesome video for Run the Jewel's "'36' Chain."

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Here are two new songs by Torche.  RIYL: Husker Du, Thin Lizzy, Sleep.

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Care to confirm every cliche about Portland's music scene?  Here you go.  Speaking of stereotypes, I monitored chatter in the "Indie While You Murder" room at turntable.fm about the comparative merits of skiing in Jackson Hole versus Aspen as DJs played Girls and Surfer Blood.  Ugh.

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In response to Big Steve NO's recent comment, I'm glad I made auditioning the Pet Shop Boys' Electric my musical priority on Tuesday.  Not only is it shockingly good, Electric made me realize that my beloved Magnetic Fields is really just a Pet Shop Boys tribute band.  The track-by-track commentary at Spotify is illuminating.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Orrin Evans- ...It Was Beauty

My previous post and the accusatory slings and arrows regularly fired my way to the contrary, I don't detest swing.

In fact, I'm a shameless fanboy of mainstream jazz pianist Orrin Evans.  While I don't wake up each morning eager to spend my day consuming piano trio albums, Evans' new …It Was Beauty (his twentieth release!) avoids the usual pitfalls of the format.  Only two tracks- "Dorm Life" and "Hats Off to Rebay"- fail to stave off tedium. 

Evans, one of the more intriguing theoreticians in jazz, helps keep things fresh by using several bassists, including two on a couple tracks.  A version of "African Song" is stunning.  It's one of several selections that shine with the freedom I associate with the late Esbjörn Svensson.

Fortunately, I watched the ill-advised homemade EPK for …It Was Beauty only after I'd already fallen in love with the album. 


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Sound the Alarm, Booker T's new album, is two or three bum tracks away from being an album-of-the-year contender.

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Is the world ready for Y-Love, a "black Orthodox Jewish rapper"?

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Howlin, the new throwback album by Jagwar Ma, isn't my thing.  RIYL: (the vastly superior) Tame Impala, Oasis, 1985.

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Soft Will, the new throwback album by the Smith Westerns, is my thing.  RIYL: (the vastly superior) My Morning Jacket, Badfinger, 1985.

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Young Jeezy's "It's a Cold World" is embarrassingly awful.

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I'm glad to have discovered New Zealand's Meth Drinker.  RIYL: oblivion, Black Sabbath, drinking meth.

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At a different point in my life, I might have eaten up the Restorations' new album LP2 like a cow in cabbage.  RIYL: Fugazi, Gaslight Anthem, Big Country.

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Ellery Eskelin's Mirage is an excellent new free jazz album.  RIYL: beautiful chaos, pedal steel, chess.

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Don Cavalli is a convincing French bluesman.  "Tempermental" is RIYL: JD McPherson, Lloyd Price, the Black Keys.

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I still haven't forgiven T.I. for his lackluster concert at the Sprint Center earlier this year.  Even so, I like his new "Problem" featuring B.o.B.

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"This Is the Place", a dusty slow jam from Springfield's Kansas City Express, is amazing.  Hey, BGO- can you provide any context for this forgotten relic?

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Tech N9ne is billed third- behind Insane Clown Posse and Twistid- in the highly-anticipated annual announcement video for the Gathering of the Juggalos.

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Sure, I laugh at Juggalos.  I don't laugh at Maggots.  Slipknot remains woefully under-appreciated.

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The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 Another Self Portrait?  Oof.  But yeah, I'm in.  (First spotted via a posting by Big Steve NO.)

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Of all the albums slated for release this week- the list includes titles by Ace Hood, Phil Anselmo, Court Yard Hounds, George Duke, Tom Kennedy, Peter Leitch, Mayday, Soft Metals, the Steve Swallow Quartet and A Road Leading Home: Songs By Dan Penn- I'm most interested in hearing Border Wars, the new release from longstanding There Stands the Glass favorites The Architects.

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Kansas City Click: Night Beds performs at the RecordBar on Monday.

The Green Lady Lounge hosts Steve Lambert on Tuesday.

Joe Nichols plays Kanza Hall on Wednesday.

Buckwheat Zydeco will fill the dance floor at Knuckleheads on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

What Rabbath Wrought

I've long viewed my enthusiasm for European improvised music with suspicion.  François Rabbath's astounding performance at Park College earlier this week helped me realize that my love of projects like Dan Nicholls' new album Ruins is more than a pretentious affectation.

Through both his innate brilliance and his willingness to disregard established conventions, the Syrian-born and Paris-based Rabbath creates music without boundaries.  (Here's my review.)

Why then, I asked a colleague last night, don't more area musicians follow his lead by ignoring the formal mandates of the classical, folk and jazz worlds?  My friend brought me back to earth by suggesting that most professional musicians in Kansas City are forced to make their livings by playing music that conforms to established forms.  He's right.  I suppose that playing "Someone To Watch Over Me" in a cocktail lounge night after night might extinguish the creative spark.

In addition to being free from the American cultural mandate to swing, many experimental European musicians are also immersed in international folk and classical traditions.  And that's how a restless music obsessive ends up listening to At Home, the new album by Polish trumpeter Maciej Fortuna, as he folds laundry in Kansas.


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I reviewed Friday's concert by Matchbox Twenty, the Goo Goo Dolls and Kate Earl.

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I reviewed Dave Alvin's debut at Knuckleheads.

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Toshi Seeger has died.

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KCPT chats with Kerwin Young.

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Here's footage of Radkey performing at the Bottleneck this week.  ("Maybe the Misfits...")

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An Olathe man was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer outside a Chief Keef concert in Oklahoma City.

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I hadn't clued in to Lake Street Dive until a dude at last month's Los Lobos concert raved about the band. 

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Confession time- I actually bought Ellen Foley's Spirit of St. Louis album in 1981.  Here's the video for the cringeworthy lead track.

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A person I don't know intended the following Facebook comment as a compliment to both bands: "Jethro Tull was the Radiohead of the '70s."  I concur (for entirely different reasons).

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Counting Nickels and Dimes With Jay-Z

A lot of the critical backlash directed at Jay-Z's Magna Carta... Holy Grail is undeserved.  Many critics are feigning surprise at the rapper's gloating.  They're  shocked (shocked!) that a hip-hop album would include such content.  Magna Carta... Holy Grail sounds like a million bucks to me. 

I don't begrudge Jay-Z his success.  He earned the right to brag about buying museum-quality art.  My idea of wealth revolves around the ability to buy ten-dollar beers at concerts and sporting events without flinching.  (I'm a long way from achieving that level of financial security.)

The uproar over Jay-Z's so-called excesses parallels one of my pet peeves.  A lot of people conflate artist's personas with the quality of their music.  That's ridiculous.  Just as horrible people make great music, nice people regularly produce inferior sounds.  I don't want or expect Jay-Z to be my friend.  As he suggests of "Nickels and Dimes", the relationship couldn't possibly be healthy anyway.

For that matter, I don't really have any interest hanging out with musicians.  I expect a lot- everything, really- from music.  I don't expect or demand any personal connection with the people who produce those sounds.


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That said, I'd be willing to throw back a Guinness or two with Ian McLagan.  I reviewed his appearance at Danny's in Lenexa on Saturday night.

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The video for Trampled Under Foot's "Bad Bad Feeling" looks great.  The band's Badlands album is released on July 9.

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All the cool kids are raving about Laura Mvula.  I remain unconvinced.

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Reminder- Plastic Sax is my other music blog.

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I covet the new The Chicago Blues Box: The MCM Records Story.

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I'm looking forward to hearing this week's new releases by Ciara, Donell Jones, King Tuff, Omar and the Howlers, Robert Pollard, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Thundercat and Chucho Valdes.  First, however, I expect to be enlightened by In Search of the Miraculous.

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Kansas City Click: Deafheaven hit the RecordBar on Monday.

Mindless Behavior appear Tuesday at the Midland.

Marcia Ball returns to Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Big B opens for the Dirty Heads at the Midland on Thursday.

Take Five Coffee + Bar hosts Todd Strait on Friday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: King Carnage- Ounce of Mercy, Pound of Flesh

A lot of people think I’m kidding when I profess my affection for black metal.  The truth is that I pretty much love everything.  I have a special affinity, however, for the extreme sounds associated with black metal.  The bludgeoning provided by Ounce of Mercy, Pound of Flesh, the new album by the obsure King Carnage, hurts so good.  This is precisely the sort of unforgiving malevolence that adds a necessary balance to my spiritual and earthly existence. 


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Little Willie Littlefield, the man who behind the original version of “Kansas City,” has died.  One of the great controversies in popular music centers on the provenance of the song.  Did Littlefield write it, as he maintained, or do Leiber and Stoller deserve the official credit they've been given? 

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Here’s a video for Schwervon!’s “Cyclone.”

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The video for Despistaos’ ”Kansas City” is the visual equivalent of a love letter to the town.  (Via Tony’s Kansas City.)

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Atmosphere’s excellent new song ”Bob Seger” isn’t really about the Detroit rocker.

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Euclid Records' new arrivals videos never fail to mesmerize me. 

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I’ve been involuntarily exposed to a terrestrial classic rock station for several hours a day for the past week.  The twenty year period beginning in 1965 is reduced to a 500-song playlist.  What a travesty.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Dessa- Parts of Speech

I pondered the fleeting nature of fame as I watched Paula Cole perform three weeks ago.  Cole won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1998.  So how did she end up playing a free concert at a suburban shopping mall for a few hundred curiosity seekers 15 years later?  Cole hasn't lost any of her talent or good looks.

Part of every popular artist's challenge is fending off the relentless waves of fresh talent.  One significant “new” contender is Dessa.  Part of the prodigiously gifted Doomtree crew from the Twin Cities, Dessa updates the confessional singer-songwriter rock associated with Cole and other Lilith Fair-style musicians on her latest solo album. 

Because that sensibility isn’t my thing, I most appreciate the tracks on Parts of Speech that hew most closely to hip-hop.  ”Warsaw” is my favorite song while ”Call Off Your Ghost” does nothing for me.  A sparkling interpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s “I'm Going Down,” not surprisingly, delights me.

It's a strong effort, but there’s probably not a “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?”-size hit on Parts of Speech.  Those coveted shopping mall gigs are going to have to wait. 


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A triple bill of Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys and Alejandro Escovedo exceeded my expectations.  Here’s my review of Saturday's concert at Knuckleheads.

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The three free new songs by Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 are RIYL: “Suit & Tie,” Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson. 

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The Abnorm’s new mixtape is titled The Soular Powered Project.

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I’ve met several members of Bloodstone and I’ve had extensive dealings with a one-time manager of the Kansas City-based band.  But until a few days ago, I never knew that Bloodstone starred in a movie.  Here’s the  trailer for “Train Ride to Hollywood.”

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Telarc Records will issue Trampled Under Foot’s new album this month.  Here’s an excellent  EPK.

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The video for Cowboy Indian Bear’s “I Want a Stranger’s Heart” is effective.

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Here’s a nice video recap of the 2013 edition of the Middle of the Map festival.

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Here’s murky footage of Mayor Sly James singing “It’s Not My Cross to Bear.”

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Steve Paul filmed a portion of “a mid-afternoon show of santeria/conga/rumba music” on a recent trip to Cuba.

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Sunday’s BET Awards was the most entertaining music-themed award show I’ve watched in years.  The segments featuring Charlie Wilson and R. Kelly were excellent.  I loved the performances by Janelle Monae, Robin Thicke, Tamela Mann and Kendrick Lamar. 

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I’m not too proud to admit my affection for In a Warzone, the entirely derivative new album by the Transplants.  RIYL: Rancid, Blink-182, Slightly Stoopid. 

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I have absolutely no reservations about sharing my enthusiasm for Otis Clay’s new album Truth Is.  It’s first-rate soul-blues.  ”All That’s Missing Is You” is my jam.  RIYL: Sharon Jones, Tyrone Davis, Jerry Butler.

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This week’s most compelling new releases include albums by Akkilles, Deap Vally, The Fall, the Joe Farrell Quartet and Joe.  The latest from John Scofield is at the top of my list.

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Kansas City Click: Diarrhea Planet is on Tuesday’s bill at the Riot Room.

The Bottle Rockets perform at Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Matt Stillwell appears on the KC Live! stage on the Fourth of July.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Bobby "Blue" Bland, 1930-2013

I was astounded the first time I saw Bobby "Blue" Bland.  I don’t recall many details about the performance at his co-headlining appearance with B.B. King at the Uptown Theater in in 1979 or 1980.  It was the composition of the audience that surprised me.  I was one of just a few white people at the show. 

Even a surly teenager from the suburbs could recognize that Bland’s music was universal.  Yet aside from his appearances at festivals, the six or seven Bland concerts I attended were barely integrated even after the blues boom of the mid-’80s reacquainted white audiences with the form.   I still fail to comprehend why- unlike his longtime associate B.B. King- Bland never crossed over to a mainstream audience. 

Bland’s presentation- squall and all- was impeccable.  He always carried a large band.  Maybe Bland’s health stood in the way.   Even back at that show at the Uptown over thirty years ago, Bland seemed frail.  In spite of the physical challenges he faced, Bland never failed to deliver.  Even his final Kansas City appearance at the 2011 edition of the Rhythm & Ribs Jazz & Blues Festival was solid.  I envy those who saw him in his prime.

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My review of Widespread Panic’s concert last weekend has displeased a lot of people.

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I participated in a discussion of the Best Kansas City Music of 2013 (so far) on KCUR’s Up To Date.

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KCUR catches up with Charles Love of Bloodstone.

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A collabo between Tech N9ne and the Doors?  Makes sense to me.

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I have no idea what's going on in this weird art film about Don Cherry.

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There Stands the Glass reader Phil turned me on to the East River String Band podcast.

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I don’t care for most of what's in Julieta Venegas' bag.

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Dear Diary, I grew up hearing David Allan Coe’s ”If That Ain’t Country” played in my home. I didn’t think anything of it when I was a kid.

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I'm looking forward to spending quality time with this week's new releases by Amon Amarth, Andy Bey, Booker T, Bosnian Rainbows, India.Arie, Smith Westerns, Mavis Staples, Transplants, Wale and Yellowjackets after I listen to Dessa’s Parts of Speech's  album.

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Ornette Coleman’s 1970 album Friends and Neighbors has been reissued.  RIYL: proof of the existence of a higher power, genius, America.

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Kansas City Click:  My official picks are published here.  Bonus pick: Adam Marsland appears at the RecordBar on Friday. He's RIYL Billy Vera, Alex Chilton, Har Mar Superstar.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Where Are We Now? Music Midway in 2013

Best Albums (Spotify playlist)
Thanks to seamless streaming services, I've listened to over 225 new releases in their entirety during the first six months of 2013.  These are indeed "the days of miracle and wonder."

1. Pat Metheny- Tap: John Zorn’s Book of Angels, vol. 20
2. The Grisly Hand- Country Singles
3. Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge- Twelve Reasons To Die
4. Kvelertak- Meir
5. Kanye West- Yeezus
6. José James- No Beginning No End
7. Mark Lowrey- Tangos for 18th Street
8. A$AP Rocky- Long Live A$AP
9. Barbara Hannigan and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France- Dutilleux: Correspondances
10. Fidlar- Fidlar
11. Joe Lovano & Us Five- Cross Culture
12. Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba- Jama Ko
13. Baptists- Bushcraft
14. Rudresh Mahanthappa- Gamak
15. George Strait- Love Is Everything
16. Bill Frisell- Big Sur
17. James Blake- Overgrown
18. Cherokee Rock Rifle- Ta-Li
19. Terri Lyne Carrington- Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue
20. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds- Push the Sky Away
21. Soweto Kinch- The Legend of Mike Smith
22. Alaturka- Yalniz
23. The Haxan Cloak- Excavation
24. DJ Muggs- Bass For Your Face
25. Pat Metheny- The Orchestrion Project


Best Singles (Spotify playlist)
My car may not have heat or air conditioning, but it has a radio.

1. B.o.B- "We Still In This Bitch"
2. Janelle Monae- "Q.U.E.E.N."
3. Justin Timberlake- "Suit & Tie"
4. David Bowie- "Where Are We Now?"
5. Marc Anthony- "Vivir Mi Vida"
6. Tamar Braxton- "Love and War"
7. Pusha T- "Numbers On the Boards"
8. José James- "Trouble"
9. Black Sabbath- "God Is Dead?"
10. Kutt Calhoun- "I Been Dope"
11. Charlie Wilson- "My Love Is All I Have"
12. Robin Thicke- "Blurred Lines"
13. Ashley Monroe- "Like a Rose"
14. Chris Brown- "Fine China"
15. Florida Georgia Line featuring Nelly- "Cruise (Remix)"
16. Carlos Vives- "Como Le Gusta a Tu Cuerpo"
17. Alice In Chains- "Stone"
18. Future- "Karate Chop (Remix)"
19. Kelly Rowland- "Dirty Laundry"
20. Rittz- "Switch Lanes"
21. Ms. Jody- "Still Strokin'"
22. Kenny Chesney- "When I See This Bar"
23. Dr#ke- "Started From the Bott#m"
24. Frank Turner- "Recovery"
25. Deftones- "Swerve City"


Best Shows
I've taken in 163 performances during the first six months of 2013.

1. Bobby Rush- Living Room at Knuckleheads
2. Mary J. Blige- Sprint Center
3. The Grisly Hand- Take Five Coffee + Bar
4. Rakim- Riot Room
5. Julian Lage and Jorge Roeder- Yardley Hall
6. Grizzly Bear- Uptown Theater
7. Diana Krall- Midland Theater
8. Volbeat- Penn Valley Park
9. Dave Douglas- Blue Room
10. Limp Bizkit- Granada
11. The Appleseed Cast- Riot Room
12. Making Movies- Yardley Hall
13. Kurt Elling- Gem Theater
14. They Might Be Giants- Crossroads KC
15. The Matt Otto/Alan Ferber Quartet- Westport Coffee House
16. Sweet Honey In the Rock- Muriel Kauffman Theatre
17. Gov't Mule- Uptown Theater
18. James Carter- Folly Theater
19. A Celebration of the Poetry of Langston Hughes with Vinson Cole- White Recital Hall
20. People's Liberation Big Band- RecordBar
21. Elena Urioste and Gabriela Martinez- Folly Theater
22. Diverse with Tony Tixier- house party
23. C.J. Boyd- Psychfest HQ
24.  Eliane Elias- Folly Theater
25. Jason Isbell and 400 Unit- Crossroads KC

(Original image of Regina Carter and Yacouba Sissoko at the American Jazz Museum on April 4 by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Crossroads KC

I'd worked up a mean thirst by the time Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit hit the stage at Crossroads KC last night.  Yet I'd already determined that I wasn't going to have a single drink.

After writing a few of the most harrowing songs about substance abuse of the past twenty years, Isbell has gone straight.  An excellent profile in The New York Times examined Isbell's recovery.  Out of respect for Isbell's bold change of course (as well as for the sake of my bank account), I abstained.

Based on the strength of the new album Southeastern, I knew Isbell and his band would be solid.  I wasn't sure, however, if he'd be willing to dip into his past work.  Much to my delight, he sang the disturbing ode to suicide-in-slow-motion "Goddamn Lonely Love" from the Drive-By Truckers' classic The Dirty South album with conviction.  "Codeine" and "Outfit" were similarly exceptional examinations of the dark side of life. 

As if to offer further proof that he wouldn't let his new perspective prevent him from addressing songs about decadence, he and his band covered the Stones' sordid "Can't You Hear Me Knocking."  Isbell is a hero.


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A remarkable footnote regarding last night's concert: Almost 1,000 people paid $18 or more to hear Isbell, American Aquarium and the Turnpike Troubadours even though the show conflicted with two free performances by country notables- current Nashville hit-makers Gloriana at the KC Live! stage and BR549's Chuck Mead at a suburban shopping center.  Kansas City really loves its country.

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Slim Whitman has died.  His 1951 version of "Indian Love Call," of course, is one of the most amazing documents of the 20th century.  And gee, does anyone else remember these Whitman infomercials?

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Let You Tell It is Stik Figa's new three-song EP.  RIYL: Mos Def, Tech N9ne, Topeka.

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The Guardian takes notice of Radkey.

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TIm Finn checks in with the Pedaljets.

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The jazz trio of Massot, Florizoone and Horbaczewski is RIYL Astor Piazzolla, Howard Johnson, travel.

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Regular reader BGO shared an amazing document with There Stands the Glass.  In an essay published by Negro Digest in 1961, Duke Ellington suggests that "Rock-and-roll is the most raucous form of jazz, beyond a doubt; it maintains a link with the folk origins, and I believe that no other form of jazz has ever been accepted so enthusiastically by so many."

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Are we living in the golden age of French pop music?  Maître Gims' "J'me tire" is RIYL: Akon, Wyclef Jean, Justin Timberlake.

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Have you heard ELEW, aka Eric Lewis? RIYL: Scott Joplin, Art Tatum, Brad Mehldau.

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Bill Frisell's Big Sur is spectacular.  RIYL: string quartets, Charlie Haden, Eric Dolphy.

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Gummy Soul created a mashup of Big Boi and Otis Redding.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Kanye West- Yeezus

Yeezus, the relentlessly jarring new album by Kanye "I Am a God" West, is brilliantly profane and alarmingly vulgar.  And I love it.

The album sounds as if the tapes from all of Rick Rubin's productions were put into a blender and reassembled randomly in order to provide West with something interesting to rap over.  A constant barrage of sonic shards reminiscent of Danzig, LL Cool J, Lords of Acid, American Head Charge, Johnny Cash and the Mars Volta make Yeezus an avant-garde art project.  Needless to say, I don't hear a single.

Not only is West angry, he seems to be inspired by intoxicants.  A dizzying drug album, Yeezus could be considered an angry response to Frank Ocean's equally groundbreaking Channel Orange.  Yeezus is the next logical step in West's nearly unprecedented artistic quest.  The album affirms his status as the most vital artist in popular music of the last ten years. 


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Mary J. Blige and Kem are the recipients of the most positive concert review I've ever written.

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There Stands the Glass reader Gary Shindler wrote an accurate review of Blue Öyster Cult's appearance at Old Shawnee Days.

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The Kansas City Dance Festival is June 28-29 at the Spencer Theater.

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Here's a 78-minute performance by Don Byron's New Gospel Quartet.  RIYL: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Steve Coleman, Duke Ellington.

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The disturbing video for Poliça's "Tiff" is almost unwatchable.  I don't want to hear anyone wonder why Poliça isn't more popular.

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I just got around to listening to Jimmy Herring's impressive 2012 instrumental album Subject To Change Without Notice.  RIYL: John McLaughlin, Steve Morse, Widespread Panic.

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The kids in internet sensation Unlocking the Truth are delightful.

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In addition to Yeezus, this week's new releases include albums from Billy Bang (his final session), Kenny Barron, Beady Eye, Bester Quartet, J. Cole, Donna the Buffalo, Bill Frisell, High On Fire (two live albums), Locash Cowboys, Maysa, Delbert McClinton and Glen Clark, Mac Miller, Kelly Rowland, Sigor Ros, Wadada Leo Smith, Eddie Spaghetti and Valient Thorr.

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Kansas City Click: The Czar Bar hosts Steady Breather on Monday.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band plays Crossroads KC on Tuesday.

Duke Robillard appears at Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Gloriana entertain in the Power & Light district on Thursday.

Matt Otto returns to the Blue Room on Friday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: The Grisly Hand- Country Singles

Singers and songs.  That's what country's all about.  Even when the two essential elements are pitted against hideous arrangements- as is often the case with in many of the otherwise classic hits by the likes of Ray Price and George Jones- the singers and the songs carry the day. 

Fortunately, the brilliant songs and stellar singing featured on Country Singles, the latest release by Kansas City's The Grisly Hand, are supported by immaculately tasteful playing by the likes of Mike Stover. 

I'd been impressed by Country Singles since its release several weeks ago, but it wasn't until Tuesday night that I gave the album my undivided attention.  I was floored.  Country Singles is almost certainly my favorite non-jazz/non-hip hop album to originate in Kansas City in years.  A few highlights of the consistently great project: the boozer's lament of "Municipal Farm Blues," the domestic strife of "(If You're Leavin') Take the Trash Out (When You Go)" and the exhausted "Coup De Coeur." 

The title track evokes the spark-filled duets of both Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn and John Doe and Exene Cervenka.   Anyone who appreciates those essential partnerships, Grievous Angel, Dave Alvin's solo work or any number of insurgent country albums released by Bloodshot Records will adore Country Singles.


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Darondo has died.

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KCUR aired a profile of Betse Ellis.

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Hammerlord's new We Live EP is brutal.

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The video for Gee Watts' "Nasty" has racked up over 40,000 views in a week.

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Mac Lethal's "Wiggaz That's Hairless" is an amusing novelty.

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MilkDrop made a video for "Let It Drop/Daily Bread".

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Hospital Ships' Jordan Geiger shares his favorite things about Lawrence with CMJ.

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French jazz pianist Tony Tixier, an occasional visitor to Kansas City, is featured in an excellent performance video.

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I discovered Kylesa's solid Ultraviolet via a couple of new best-of 2013 lists.  RIYL: Kyuss, Jane's Addiction, Isis.

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David Murray's Be My Monster Love could be the loudest jazz album of 2013.  That's a good thing.  Macy Gray and Gregory Porter are guests.  That's also a good thing.  The project seems deliberately manic.  That's a bad thing.  The loopy and inane lyrical content could have been written in 1973.  That's a really bad thing.  Maybe I'll come around, but as of now I consider Be My Monster Love to be one of the year's major disappointments. 

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Charlie Musselwhite is looking good these days.

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I was charmed by Paula Cole last night.  Accompanied only by Mark Erelli, the 1998 recipient of the Grammy's Best New Artist award performed with taste and elegance.

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Today marks the fifth anniversary of the untimely death of Esbjorn Svensson.  What might have been…

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Melodic Warrior is the title of Terje Rypdal's new album.

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Demon Queen combines the attacks of Death Grips and Die Antwoord on "Demon Practice".  (Warning- the video contains nudity and blood in equal measure.)

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I can't muster much enthusiasm for the Replacements' reunion.  I hope the shows go well and that everyone has a good time.   After being all about the Replacements from 1983-87, I'm just unable to go back to that place.

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It took a while, but The Uncluded finally won me over.  In fact, I'm not sure we can be friends if you don't like "Delicate Cycle".

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)