Bring the Noise

Does my ability to withstand all 55 minutes of the recent reissue of Iannis Xenakis’ hellish cacophony Persepolis make me some kind of superhero?  Nah.  I just dig noise. 

A varied set of additional new releases of difficult music have helped me maintain equilibrium during choppy times.  While it’s not particularly loud or even conventionally disagreeable, Matthew Shipp’s solo piano release Zero is capable of unnerving fans of the thrash band Slayer.  Neither a free jazz freakout nor an avant-garde classical recital, Zero is a confrontational display of next-level genius.

Sonic Fiction places the prolific Shipp with the skronky reed player Mat Walerian, bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey.  The quartet balances serene beauty with unspeakable ugliness.

On the prog-rock end of the spectrum, Vortex documents a collaboration between the Swiss band Sonar and the experimental American guitarist David Torn.  Vortex is tailor-made for listeners who appreciate the discordant aspects of King Crimson and Weather Report.

I’m unable to determine if Anteloper’s Kudu is the best or worst album in this survey.  The accomplished jazz-oriented trumpeter Jaimie Branch teams up with percussionist Jason Nazary on the abrasive effort.  The addition of synthesizers and sound manipulation makes Kudo occasionally sound as if art school punks are paying homage to Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew.


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I reviewed the Flyover festival for The Kansas City Star.  My three favorite performances were by the Flatbush Zombies, Snow Tha Product and Post Malone.

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I examine the Uriel Herman Quartet’s appearance at Black Dolphin for Plastic Sax.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Blame It All On My Roots

Self awareness can be crippling.  It’s a little late in the game to be discovering myself.  Only now am I beginning to comprehend that there’s no hiding the ancestral dirt under my fingernails.

I eagerly cued up Benjamin Clementine’s At Least For Now after it won the Mercury Prize last week.  I found his art-rock so irksome that I was compelled to retreat to the latest albums from Toby Keith and George Strait. 

By most critical measures neither 35 MPH Town nor Cold Beer Conversation are superior to At Least For Now.  Yet the conventional country albums are part of my musical DNA.

I sometimes envy the rarefied people who were raised on Kurt Weill and the Brandenburg Concertos even though growing up on Waylon Jennings and Stevie Wonder probably better prepared me for the world.  While my passion for forms like free jazz is genuine, it’s self-taught.

Keith and Strait, consequently, sound like my home turf while Clementine strikes me as a pretentious twit.  It can’t be helped. 

Jason Isbell seems to be singing to me on the opening track of Something More Than Free:  “I got too far from my raisin’, I forgot where I come from.”


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I reviewed Jackson Browne’s concert at the Music Hall.

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I reviewed Diana Krall’s return to the Midland theater.

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I wrote an essay about Adele and Allen Stone for Ink magazine.

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P.F. Sloan has died.

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Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba's Ba Power is wondrous.  RIYL: Malian music, Ali Farke Touré, life.

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The bland pop of Julieta Venegas’ Algo Sucede saddens me.  Here’s the title track.

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The trailer for the new documentary “Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story” is promising.

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Julien Baker’s Sprained Ankle is RIYL: Michelle Shocked’s The Texas Campfire Tapes, tears, Joni Mitchell’s Blue.

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The Matthew Shipp Trio plays it straight on The Conduct of Jazz.  RIYL: Thelonious Monk, a semblance of structure, Cecil Taylor.

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Stop the presses- Con Funk Shun has released a new album!  The video for ”More Than Love” is… something.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals- Walk Through Exits Only

A friend asked me if I liked Nine Inch Nails shortly before the band's concert at the Sprint Center a couple months ago.  I explained that Trent Reznor's anger is quite different from my anger.  My form of rage sounds like Walk Through Exits Only, the 2013 album by Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals.  Anselmo, of course, is best known as the front man of Pantera.  That only hints at the extreme mayhem of his latest recording.  The title track contains my new catchphrase- "Everybody ruins music- not just me."


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I reviewed the Kenny Barron Trio at the Folly Theater on Friday and Alejandro Fernandez at the Sprint Center on Saturday.

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Chico Hamilton has died.

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"Truly a facile and completely meaningless list."  That's the verdict of a commenter regarding a listing of my twenty favorite jazz performances of 2013.

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Kansas City's the Architects has long been one of my favorite bands.  The excellent new Border Wars: Episode 1 is RIYL: Craig Finn, Joe Strummer, Gaslight Anthem.

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The video for She's a Keeper's "Plattsburg" was released earlier this month.  RIYL: the Lumineers, Plattsburg, foliage.

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The video for the Grisly Hand's "Country Singles" is a hoot.  RIYL: Roger Corman, the Boulevard Drive-In, Red Sovine.

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Tech N9ne made a video for "Hiccup," a song from his new metal EP.

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Here's a video for Gee Watts' "199x (Sixteen Nineteen)". (VIa Demencha.)

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I shed a tear when I learned that Turntable.fm was closing up shop.  Although I logged on just a couple times in the past year, I was addicted to the socially-driven music streaming site a few years ago.

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Am I the only person who thinks that Blood Orange's Cupid Deluxe sounds like an unholy alliance between Wang Chung, Sheila E. and Don Henley?

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After Blue, Tierney Sutton's tribute to Joni Mitchell, features the Turtle Island Quartet.  RIYL: Karrin Allyson, Elvis Costello's The Juliet Letters, Laura Nyro.

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Lily Allen's send-up of pop culture  on "Hard Out Here"  is very amusing.

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Matthew Shipp's Piana Sutras is RIYL: Cecil Taylor, math, Thelonious Monk.

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Jean Grae is back with a vengeance.  RIYL: De La Soul, Erick Sermon, Black Star.

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There's something about Brandy Clark's 12 Stories that doesn't sit well with me.  RIYL: John Prine's first album, Guy Clark, Mary Gauthier.

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The man-on-the-street discussion about music on Pharrell Williams' channel is both interesting and frustrating.  There are really cool people (3:16), utter twits (6:16) and a guy who almost made my day (3:00).

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Eric Revis' City of Asylum is sublime.  The album by the trio of bassist Revis, pianist Kris Davis and drummer Andrew Cyrille is RIYL: all things out, Charles Mingus, Paul Bley.

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I'd like to thank the commenter at the previous There Stands the Glass post who shared a bit of good ol' Grampa Jones.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)