You have to love a guy who can laugh at himself. That’s precisely what
Action Bronson does throughout the hilarious
Mr. Wonderful.
The people who accuse Bronson of swagger jacking Ghostface Killah’s flow are missing the point. Bronson’s raps are in the spirit to hip-hop humorists Kool Keith, the Beastie Boys and Mac Lethal.
Bronson is the new Biz Markie.
Amusing tracks like
”Baby Blue”,
”Actin’ Crazy” and
”Easy Rider” make
Mr. Wonderful my party album of 2015.
---
I
reviewed a concert by Chris Tomlin, Tenth Avenue North and Rend Collective.
---
My
notes on a performance by the Lee Konitz and Dave Douglas Quintet have attracted quite a bit of attention.
---
I contributed a
Local Listen segment about Danielle Nicole (Schnebelen) to KCUR.
----
Al Bunetta has died. To say we didn’t care for each other would be an understatement.
---
John Renbourn has died.
---
Tech N9ne made a
video for “Aw Yeah? (Intervention).”
---
Stik Figa has released
Stik Figa Is Not Quite Himself.
---
Brandon Draper’s
Night-Night Songs is RIYL: lullabies, Iron & Wine, nice guys.
---
Rhodes Ahead Volume 2, the latest release from Marc Cary, makes me extremely happy. RIYL: George Duke, instrumental funk, J Dilla. Here’s
”Astral Flight 17”.
---
Liturgy’s
The Ark Work is either the best or the worst album of 2015. RIYL: Thurston Moore, “serious” metal, Swans.
---
Much of
Duets: Re-Working the Catalogue is just as poorly conceived as the album’s title. Even so, it’s nice to hear Van Morrison and Gregory Porter revive “The Eternal Kansas City.”
---
The
self-titled EP by Mali’s Trio Da Kali is gorgeous, but it offers me little to sink my teeth into.
---
There Stands the Glass reader Gary alerted me to a reissue of Owen Maerck’s
Teenage Sex Therapist. RIYL: Pere Ubu, rock eccentrics, Henry Kaiser.
---
Although it features a couple musicians I really admire, much of Alex Sipiagin’s
Balance 38-58 bored me. RIYL: Tom Harrell, conservatories, Terell Stafford.
---
It almost goes without saying that the
Next Stop Soweto: Zulu Rock, Afro-Disco and Mbaqanga 1975-1985 compilation is ridiculously good. (Via Big Steve.)
---
Maybe you had to be there. Steve Wilson’s
Vanguard Sessions failed to move me. RIYL: Charlie Parker, the Village Vanguard, Thelonious Monk.
---
I’m enjoying the ECM Records radio channel at iTunes (I don’t know how to link to it). The stream includes a lot of amazing stuff-
Lumen Drones and
The Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon, anyone?- that I hadn’t heard.
---
Minnesota Public Radio published an interesting
piece about music critic Jon Bream and his record collection.
---
I’m not a Deadhead, but I keep select tracks from early albums including
American Beauty in regular rotation. At its best,
Freedom & Dreams, the collaboration between the North Mississippi Allstars and Anders Osborne, approximates that sound.
---
Courtney Barnett's
Sometimes I Sit & Think & Sometimes I Just Sit is almost as good as people say it is. RIYL: Jim Carroll, talking-not-singing, Tonio K.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
