A Line in the Sand

I was certain Florida-Georgia Line was the worst band I’d ever encountered the first time I attended a performance by the pop-country act.  The duo’s new Can’t Say I Ain’t Country is another batch of calculated bro-country gewgaws, but my antipathy toward the style has waned.  Not only does Florida-Georgia Line no longer offend me, I’ve come to respect the hustle.  Aspiring to be the country version of Maroon 5 is a savvy business decision.  And I genuinely enjoy singing the lyric “lookin’ like a line from a Vandross song” over the canned production of “Talk You Out of It.” I’m also amused by the lustiness of the Ronnie Milsap-style slow jam “Told You.”  Only the infuriating stomp-and-shout “Simple” and the crass corniness of “Women” make me want to break things.


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I reviewed Elton John’s Kansas City swan song at the Sprint Center.

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I reviewed Blake Shelton’s collaboration with Trace Adkins, Lauren Alaina, John Anderson and the Bellamy Brothers at the Sprint Center.

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I write weekly concert previews for The Kansas City Star.

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I take note of Karrin Allyson’s Some of That Sunshine at Plastic Sax.

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“I Love a Groove”.  The “word-jazz” artist Ken Nordine has died.

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I pray that the inherent pleasures of state-of-the-art pop will never sound stale to me.  While the album is immediately gratifying, the aggrieved tone of Ariana Grande Thank You, Next makes it less enjoyable than last year’s Sweetener.  Here’s “Bloodline”.

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Shake it on down.  Signs, the latest release by the Tedeschi Trucks Band, makes me want to sell all my earthly possessions in order to follow the groovy blues/soul/rock/jam band around the globe.  RIYL: the Band, tie-dye, Leon Russell.  Here’s “Hard Case”.

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Sincerely, the P, the bittersweet finale of the longstanding Los Angeles hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs, is endearing.

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I’m pained to report that Songs of Freedom, Ulysses Owens Jr.’s well-intentioned album of socially conscious songs like “Mississippi Goddam,” has no bite.  Toothless and stuffy, the all-star project sounds as if it’s aimed at the residents of blue state nursing homes.

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I adore Kid Koala’s new ambient-oriented album Music to Draw To: Io.  RIYL: Pink Floyd, astral projection, Daniel Lanois.  Here’s “All For You”.

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Even though there’s not a single original note on Texas Queens 5, I can’t can’t stop listening to the collaboration between the Japanese roots revivalist group Bloodest Saxophone and a few Texas based vocalists.  Here’s “Losing Battle”.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Yelena Eckemoff- Blooming Tall Phlox

Transfixed by the 98-minute album, I listened to Blooming Tall Phlox twice before researching the backstory of the unheralded but startlingly brilliant new release.  I discovered that each of the selections is intended to evoke a different scent that Yelena Eckemoff recalls from her childhood in Russia.  Whatever.  I’m far more interested in the ingenious arrangements and stellar playing of Eckemoff and the young band of Finns who realize her vision.  The cringey album trailer doesn't reflect the project's dazzling qualities.


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I suggest at Plastic Sax that a reading by poet Hanif Abdurraqib ruined jazz for me.

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I reviewed a disappointing Alexis y Fido concert.

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I reviewed “I Got Rhythm” at Quality Hill Playhouse.

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I featured A La Mode on my weekly segement on KCUR.

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I write weekly music previews for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I wrote an extended concert preview about Eric Church’s return to the Sprint Center for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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Maggie Roche has died.

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Overend Watts of Mott the Hoople has died.

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Jaki Liebezeit of Can has died.

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Butch Trucks has died.

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Kid Koala’s wondrous Music To Draw To: Satellite is RIYL floating, Björk, dreaming.

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Cherry Glazerr’s Apocalipstick is a rockin’ good time.

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Nicky Jam’s new album Fénix goes on forever.

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Bash & Pop’s quaint Anything Could Happen is RIYL: Pleased to Meet Me, Keith Richards’ solo career, Isolation Drills.

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Craig Taborn’s Daylight Ghosts has that new ECM smell.

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Wells Fargo’s Watch Out, an archival release by an obscure rock band from Zimbabwe, is RIYL the Faces, electric guitars, Jefferson Airplane.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)