Album Review: Viet Cong

Maybe Bela Lugosi isn’t dead.  Viet Cong has crafted one of the best albums of its type since the likes of Bauhaus roamed the earth.  When I saw goth giant Peter Murphy perform at the Riot Room last year, I sensed that he was desperately searching for an interesting variation on the sound he helped create decades ago.  His backing band wasn’t about to accommodate him.  Viet Cong has the answer. 


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I contributed features on The Kansas City Bear Fighters and Bob Bowman to KCUR.

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Bo Dollis has died.  The Wild Magnolias’ 1988 release I’m Back... at Carnival Time was a formative album for me.  Here’s ”Carnival Time”.

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Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream has died.

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Demis Roussos of Aphrodite’s Child and “Forever and Ever” has died.

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Joey Bada$$’s B4.DA.$$ is an enormous disappointment.  The advance singles are easily the strongest tracks on the album.

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The Intimate Truth, Ledesi’s new acoustic EP, is a tossed-off affair.  I like anyway.  RIYL: Leela James, coffeeshops, .M.J.

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Belle and Sebastian’s Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance is excellent.  While I hope to catch the band for the first time on their  current tour, the Scots' music just isn’t my thing.  RIYL: fops, Donovan, high tea.

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I’ve long been tempted to characterize Enter Shikari as the British version of Linkin Park.  While its earnestness is easy to mock, I admire the band’s goofy new concept album The Mindsweep.  RIYL: Rage Against the Machine, The Wall, Queensryche.  Here’s ”The Anaesthetist.

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Moonlight, the latest effort by Hanni El Khatib, is decent.  RIYL: Arthur Brown, angst, Jack White.  Here’s ”Moonlight”.

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Lupe Fiasco’s dopey lyrics are the most insufferable aspect of his wretched album Tetsuo & Youth. 

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In an alternate universe, the Decemberists would be my favorite band. Alas, I didn't major in medieval history and I don't have an open relationship with a clove cigarette-smoking and Spanish wine-drinking barista. One more thing- my awareness of the music of James Brown hinders my enjoyment the otherwise admirable new album What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World.

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The recycled Americana on Ryan Bingham’s Fear and Saturday Night is impressive.  RIYL: Lucero, intoxication, prime Joe Ely.

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The video for Fantasma’s ”Shangrila” is delightful.  Tip via Big Steve.

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You’d think I’d adore Sleater-Kinney.  You’d be wrong.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Mark Ronson- Uptown Special

When What Up, Dog? was released in 1988, I was employed at a record store.  Many of my colleagues and customers lost their minds over the high-concept collision of soul and rock orchestrated by Don Was of Was (Not Was).  I didn’t appreciate it quite as much as most listeners.  In Uptown Special, however, I hear everything people claimed to love about What Up, Dog?.  Mark Ronson’s mind-bending combination of pop, rock, hip-hop and R&B is elevated by outstanding features from Bruno Mars, novelist Michael Chabon, Mystikal, Steve Wonder and a dude from Tame Impala. The project tops the best work of Don Was. ”Feel Right” is my favorite track. 

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I reviewed a concert by Earl Klugh.

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I reviewed a concert by the Black Lillies.

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I document the latest live and recorded work of the Paul Shinn Trio at Plastic Sax.  

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Kim Fowley has died

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A$AP Yams has died.

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Kansas City’s She’s a Keeper has released Westside Local.

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Swamp Dogg’s fine The White Man Made Me Do It came out a couple months ago, but it came to my attention only recently.  RIYL: Barrence Whitfield, music by music geeks, Sly Stone.

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Justin Townes Earle writes good songs, but I can’t tolerate the flat production on Absent Fathers.  RIYL: Lyle Lovett, psychotherapy, Jason Isbell.

(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.)

I'm Feeling Low and the Fish Won't Bite

Just as the song suggests, a loud dose of vintage R&B almost always sets me straight when I'm blue.  When I'm ailing, however, even the sweetest music rankles me.  I'm back in the swing of attending performances, but I only lasted twenty minutes at a gig last night.  The flu is the enemy of music.


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I remember the late Kansas City drummer Tommy Ruskin at Plastic Sax.

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Little Jimmy Dickens has died.  I'm so glad I was able to see him a handful of times at the Grand Ole Opry.

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Guitarist Jeff Golub has died.

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Alberta Adams has died.

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D/Will created a video for "Keep Coming Back".

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I agree with the pontificators who suggest that the entirely decent "Only One," the new collaboration between Kanye West and Paul McCartney, is the worst thing West has released.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)