All the Young Punks

I've yet to tell Steve Pick that he was once one of my heroes.

Soon after I became obsessed with bands like the Sex Pistols, the Specials, the Buzzcocks and most significantly, the Clash, I encountered Jet Lag at a record store.  With internet and cable still in the future and with mainstream media yet to acknowledge the underground, the commentary in the St. Louis-based fanzine served as a treasure map that led me to new sounds.

Pick recalls this era in a new interview.

"In those days, you could be beaten up, attacked, because you liked the Sex Pistols or the Clash or Elvis Costello. If you weren't beaten up or attacked, you would be threatened, or called a 'fag.' It was that dramatic." 

It's true.  I endured many beatdowns in high school that were ostensibly based on a skinny tie or PiL t-shirt.  I never disavowed my allegiance to the locker room staples of Led Zeppelin and Van Halen but my open affection for "new wave" was a punishable offense.  My love of Michael Jackson, Lakeside and Donna Summer further antagonized my adversaries. 

My taste in music has since diverged with Steve's, but this post serves as a belated acknowledgment of his influence during my formative years.


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My notes on Saturday's outing by the Brad Mehldau Trio are at Plastic Sax.

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The Kansas City Business Journal reports on the unlikely transformation of El Torreon.

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Live and B Sides is the latest release by Quiet Corral.

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Forgive the blasphemy: Caetano Veloso sounds as if he's following rather than leading on Abracaco.  RIYL: failed experiments, St. Vincent, geniuses living in the moment. 

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Balani Show Super Hits: Electronic Street Parties from Mali is astounding.  RIYL: Oumou Sangare, surprises, M.I.A..  (Tip via Big Steve.)

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Unreleased Led Zeppelin to the rescue.  (Of course I'm excited.)

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Ana Tijoux's Vengo disappointed me.  RIYL: Dessa, blandness, Ozomatli.

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Even though I'm a proud member of the ol' Chevrolet set, I'm charmed by Sabina's jet-setting Toujours.  RIYL: Nico, passports, Rufus Wainwright.

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Jello Biafra is featured in an episode of "Cratediggers".  I hadn't realized that he's an obsessive music nerd. (My brother!)

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Future's "I Won" is gross.

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Homeboy Sandman raps about vegetarian food on "Fat Belly".  I've given his sketchy project White Sands repeated listens, an indication that 2014 is shaping up as a terrible year for hip-hop.

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Reunited and it feels so good: Dave and Phil Alvin.

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Kelis' Food will be released tomorrow.  It's my most highly anticipated album of 2014.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Shearwater, Death Vessel and Jesca Hoop at the Horseshoe Tavern

Tourism bureaus take note- music tourism isn't limited to major festivals.

On my first trip to Toronto in 1999, I saw Royal Trux at the famous El Mocambo in Toronto.  Fifteen years later, I made a beeline for the renowned Horseshoe Tavern to catch a triple bill of Shearwater, Death Vessel and Jesca Hoop.  (I also visited Massey Hall and the Sony Centre.)

Along with about 225 Canadians, I paid $15 to enter the room that looks a lot like the 39th Street version of Kansas City's Parody Hall.  Hoop, a former nanny for Tom Waits' brood, opened the show with a flighty solo set.  Her dusky voice is her strongest asset.

Death Vessel was the primary musical draw for me.  Blind Pilot and Bon Iver excepted, Death Vessel is the best chamber folk band I've seen.  Joel Thibodeau, the band's primary vocalist, resembles a young Paul Simon.  (Don't believe me? See for yourself.)  The remainder of the ensemble is similarly intriguing.

I've never been able to get into Shearwater.  I left thirty minutes into the headliner's set.


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I reviewed St. Vincent's concert Monday at Liberty Hall and Todd Rundgren's appearance at the VooDoo Lounge on Thursday.

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The sixth installment of the second season of the KC Cypher Series is salvaged by the Phantom.

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Stik Figa and DJ Sku go "Back 2 Kansas".

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John Velghe & the Prodigal Sons were captured in a 909 session.

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House music pioneer Frankie Knuckles has died.

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Here's a portion of Kelis' amazing performance at SXSW.

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I've yet to encounter a compilation of Bob Dylan covers on which I didn't find at least something to appreciate.  The new collection Bob Dylan in the 80's: Volume One contains several gems.  I immediately skipped to the slam dunk of Craig Finn interpreting "Sweetheart Like You," but other keepers include Carl Broemel's version of "Death Is Not the End" and Gene Ween and Slash's take on "Wiggle Wiggle."

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It's nice to see Carlene Carter back on the scene.

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Range of Light, S. Carey's delicate new chamber folk album, is RIYL: Bon Iver, the Garden of Eden, Iron & Wine.

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A few tracks on Beats Antique's A Thousand Faces - Act 2 are delightful.  RIYL: Renaissance fairs, Bassnectar, Cirque du Soleil.

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Before Jesca Hoop performed at the Horseshoe Tavern, the Mekons' "Empire of the Senseless" boomed through the sound system.  I watched three guys Shazam the great song as I realized I haven't listened to Rock 'n' Roll in years.  My priorities are all screwed up.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Bohren & der Club of Gore- Piano Nights

I was initially mystified by the fashionable set's interest in Bohren & der Club of Gore.  The German ensemble approaches jazz from a unique angle on the new album Piano Nights.  It took me about 20 minutes to figure out that Bohren & Der Club of Gore wasn't merely a jazz-on-codeine novelty.  Nor is it a somnolent swing parody.  The narcoleptic jazz of Piano Nights is truly brilliant.  Sometimes the cool kids are right.


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The new album by The Kansas City Symphony is titled Miraculous Metamorphoses.

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Here's a very nice performance of "Any Other Way" by the Grisly Hand.

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Marc Myers wrote a history of the song "Kansas City."

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This footage of Sharon Jones interacting with fans at Liberty Hall is great.

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Bummer covered Gary Numan's "Cars" in a promo video for the Middle of the Map festival.

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Here's a video of Claire and the Crowded Stage performing "Spanish Sun."

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Pharrell Wiliams' G I R L is absolutely nuts, and not necessarily in a good way.  RIYL: Hooked on Classics, "Get Lucky", Stars on 45.

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St. Vincent's self-titled album is every bit as good as everyone says it is.

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Inner Fire, the new album by the Souljazz Orchestra, makes me very happy.  RIYL: Mulatu Astatke, spirituality, Fania Records.

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Ledesi's The Truth is a by-the-numbers R&B album.  And I like it.  RIYL: Tamar Braxton, the radio, Marsha Ambrosius. 

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Expectations can be a bear- I'm underwhelmed by my first impression of Ambrose Akinmusire's The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint.  It's obviously "good," but… RIYL: Miles in '65, "The One," Dave Douglas.

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Kelis' performance Thursday at SXSW was triumphant.  Here's a track from her forthcoming album.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)