Album Review: Snoop Dogg Presents Bible of Love

Bible of Love restores a good portion of the respect I’ve lost for Snoop Dogg in recent years.  The 134-minute gospel album counteracts the embarrassing buffoonery for which he’s become known.  Not surprisingly, Snoop doesn’t appear on the best selections.  The life-affirming “Come as You Are” features the gospel luminaries Mary Mary and Marvin Sapp.  Faith Evans’ lead vocals on “Saved” offer spiritual redemption.  The vibrant contributions of notable vocalists including Kim Burrell, Daz Dillinger (!), Patti LaBelle, Fred Hammond and Charlie Wilson  prevent the lengthy Bible of Love from becoming a slog.  Snoop pops on up songs including Rance Allen’s “Blessing Me Again”, but only on the closing track “Words Are Few” does he get in the way of the rapturous message.


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I featured Reggie and the Full Effect in my weekly segment on KCUR.

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Hours after railing against nostalgia in the previous There Stands the Glass post, I was floored by Meshell Ndegeocello’s Ventriloquism.  The stunning collection of covers of pop-leaning ‘80s and ‘90s R&B songs was love at first listen.  An ingenious reading of TLC’s “Waterfalls” typifies her incredibly smart but not excessively clever approach.

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I’ve been predisposed to dislike Nathaniel Rateliff since his breakout hit- an exploitative gospel goof that bugs the bejeezus out of me- began befouling the airwaves in 2015.  Even so, Rateliff & the Night Sweats won me over the first time I saw the band.  I begrudgingly acknowledge that the ensemble’s soulful new album Tearing at the Seams is a worthy successor to Van Morrison’s classic His Band and the Street Choir and Bruce Springsteen’s epic The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.

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The members of Cameo would surely approve of the four sweet sticky things on Jeremih’s The Chocolate Box EP.  Here’s “Nympho”.

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While I’d prefer that much of Transparent Water didn’t sound like first-take improvisations, the collaboration between Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and the Senegalese kora master Seckou Keita is gorgeous.

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The aesthetically pure punk label Dischord has issued an album of ostentatious guitar shredding.  Backed by the Fugazi rhythm section of Joe Lally and Brendan Canty, guitarist Anthony Pirog makes like Joe Satriani on The Messthetics.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

George Jones, 1931-2013

The King is Gone (And So Are You).

George Jones has died.  I detest seeing the man's career reduced to a single song and quick references to boozing, no-shows and heartbreak.  Sure, I love the tractor story as much as anyone, but overlooking the man's music would be tragic.  With that in mind, here are five selections from Jones' vast catalog that had a profound impact on me.

• Hearing "White Lightning" and "The Race Is On" on repeat is one of my earliest childhood memories.  My dad loved the Possum.
• Jones' adult-themed duets introduced me to the wild side of life when I was an impressionable kid.  He gets kinky with Melba Montgomery on "Let's Invite Them Over".
• I've always resented the countrypolitan production that came to characterize his work, but no amount of schmaltz can negate Jones' emoting on weepers like "These Days (I Barely Get By)".
• Okay, I'll give you one stereotypical drinking song. "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)".
• Jones' faith shouldn't be whitewashed from his legacy.   His sly personality is ideally suited to the scathing "Would They Love Him Down In Shreveport?"

"You know this old world is full of singers but only a few are chosen to tear your heart out when they sing.- "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes"


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Bob Brozman has died.  It's my understanding that Bob was the brother of Jack Brozman, the co-founder of Streetside Records.  Can a There Stands the Glass reader confirm this connection?

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The video for Dead Voices' "Dream Notes" is quite good.

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The Soft Reeds performed on KSHB's morning show.

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Gurf Morlix's Gurf Morlix Finds the Present Tense is RIYL Lucinda Williams, sadness and the truth.

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"He's my rebel guy that wouldn't hurt a fly."  Rachelle Spector, the wife of Phil Spector, created a video for "PS I Love You", a tribute to her incarcerated husband. Trust me- it's worthy of your attention.  (Via Jazz Wax.)

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I listened to the entirely of Love Has Come For You, the new collaboration between Steve Martin and Edie Brickeill, without becoming annoyed or exasperated.  A song titled "Shawnee" won me over.

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"I'll never sell out."  Ha ha!  The Dream tells jokes on his preposterous new hit "Slow It Down".

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Omar Sosa and Paolo Fresu's Tiny Desk Concert set is gorgeous.

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The best moments of Owiny Sigoma Band's Power Punch are as good as anything that's been released in 2013.  The worst moments, however, are pure dreck.  RIYL: "Kumbaya," Damon Albarn and Tony Allen. 

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Here's the "ECM Player" for the Craig Taborn Trio's Chants.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)