Hi, How Are You?

The second season of the Amazon series Transparent traumatized me.  It’s not the show’s primary theme of malleable gender identity that rattled my nerves.  A straight male character named Josh Pfefferman induced unwelcome flashbacks to the years I spent as a music distribution sales rep.  Josh, a self-centered weasel who intends to launch a record label, closely resembles a subset of men I once dealt with every day.  Listening to entitled guys almost exactly like Josh demand that albums by developing acts like the fictional folk-pop band Fussy Puss be stocked on shelves of Wal-Mart was the bane of my existence. 


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I reviewed Tech N9ne’s sold-out concert at the Midland theater.

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I reviewed Todd Rundgren’s return to the VooDoo.

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In what may most be my most subversive act of the year, I played punk rock (Radkey), jazz (Matt Villinger), rap (Tech N9ne), hip-hop (Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment), R&B (Jill Scott) and pop (Rihanna) during my guest appearance on the AAA station 90.9 The Bridge last week.  You can stream or download a podcast version of my misbehavior here.  I suppose I owe the staff and the listeners of the non-commercial radio station an apology.

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Scott Weiland died last week.  I ranked the reunited Stone Temple Pilots’ headlining appearance at the 2008 edition of Rockfest as one of the best concerts of the decade.  I also reviewed the first concert of Weiland’s 2009 solo tour.  The buzz in advance of that show was extremely negative but Weiland was great that night.

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Four of the top five releases in No Depression’s year-end reader’s poll have black-and-white or sepia-toned album covers.

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Jon Benjamin Well, I Should Have…* is amusing for about five minutes.  The premise- a comedian plays piano with a legit jazz band- gets old in a hurry.  The trailer is funnier than the album.

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I’m not the least bit embarrassed to admit that I’m partial to Buckcherry’s sleaze-rock.  Rock 'n' Roll is RIYL: Kiss, STDs, Aerosmith circa ‘76.  Here’s ”Tight Pants”.

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The recent reissue of Gloria Ann Taylor material doesn’t live up to the hype.  RIYL: psych guitar noodling, Big Brother and the Holding Company, forced vocals.

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Much of Van Hunt’s murky The Fun Rises, The Fun Sets makes even the biggest disappointments of Sly Stone and Prince seem competent.

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Archy Marshall’s A New Place 2 Drown is RIYL: Young Fathers, gloom, King Krule.

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Cam’s Untamed is acceptable mainstream country.  RIYL: Miranda Lambert, Nashville, Sunny Sweeney.  Here’s ”Burning House.

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The use of an accordion in an experimental jazz context sounds entirely natural to me on Old Time Musketry’s Drifter.

(Original image of Daniel Johnston-inspired graffiti by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: D/Will- Reset

I had the pleasure of attending a small listening party for D/Will's Reset album last month.  I'd delayed reviewing the masterful recording partly because its unconventional nature makes it difficult to analyze.

Only after enduring a new release that's likely to be my least favorite Kansas City album of 2014 did I begin to fully appreciate the subtle brilliance of Reset.

Rather than being obsessed by the shallow topics of marijuana and rap status that consume many of his contemporaries, D/Will engages in a profound examination of spirituality.  Kanye West may be the only hip-hop artist to address the topic of salvation with as much finesse as D/Will.  Yet characterizing Reset as a Christian album wouldn't be accurate.

Reset is a bold reckoning of what it means to reside in America.

D/Will isn't a great rapper but he's an excellent producer.  The surprising array of sounds on Reset enhances the project's cultivated message.  "Meeting With God" relects the album's intent.


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Here's my review of T-Pain's woefully under-attended concert at Crossroads KC.

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I reviewed Nickel Creek's concert at the Uptown Theater.

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I contributed a Local Listen segment about the Phantastics to KCUR's Up To Date.

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Radkey was featured in USA Today.

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Mac Lethal has, as they say, found his lane.  Here's his new Mozart rap.

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John Blake has died.  I bought the violinist's album Twinkling of an Eye as a new release in 1985. 

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Jean Redpath has died.  (Via BGO.)

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The band name and album title of the National Jazz Trio of Scotland's Standards, Vol. III are amusingly misleading.  Bill Wells' project is RIYL: Belle and Sebastian, nuance, Robert Wyatt.  "Surprising Word" isn't the best track on the album, but the video is solid.

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The Messenger's Illusory Blues is RIYL: Kansas, 1975, Renaissance.  Here's the video for “Somniloquist”.

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Action Bronson is hilarious.

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I'm not convinced that Benjamin Booker is all that.  The self-titled album of the current media darling is RIYL: Kings of Leon, NPR, the Black Keys.

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Rittz owns it.

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Bless their metallic hearts.  The current lineup of the stalwart thrash band Overkill sounds better than ever on White Devil Armory, the New Jersey band's seventeenth studio album.  Here's the video for "Armorist".

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The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra's OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer is worthwhile.

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My latest obsession: the music of the Lebanese singer Fairuz.

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"I don't know how you can sit there and listen to that mess."  That's what a member of my compound told me as I was ingesting Wiring, a new all-star jazz collaboration.  RIYL: Vijay Iyer, annoying others, Reggie Workman.

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I spent the remainder of the day cowering under my desk in a fetal position after I watched the videos for Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" and Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" back-to-back last week.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Radkey- Spotify Sessions

My friends look at me as if I'm a heretic every time I mention Radkey's striking resemblance to the Misfits and Glenn Danzig.  I guess I didn't get the memo that pointing out the obvious characteristic of the St. Joseph trio is forbidden.  I happen to adore Danzig, so my taboo commentary isn't an indictment.  My primary concern about the young band's prospects are related to the quality of their songs.  The raw power of Radkey's live performances, however, is incontestable.  That's why the new Spotify Sessions is my favorite Radkey recording.


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I would have enjoyed last week's concert by François Rabbath even more if the woman next to me hadn't been chomping on gum.  Here's my review.

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I reviewed a concert by Sarah McLachlan at Starlight Theatre.

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I review Everette DeVan's new album at Plastic Sax.

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D/Will's 13-minute mixtape Ready. Aim. Beautiful is nice.

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The blasphemers behind the Studio Rio project have extracted the original vocals from iconic songs and recast them in Brazilian settings.  Listen to them mess with Billie Holiday's "You've Changed".  Welcome to the future.

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Drums are dumb.  That's my takeaway from Scott Feiner's A View From Below.  A Brazilian hand drum replaces a drum kit on the fascinating release.  The trio's keyboardist provides the low end while the fusion-happy guitarist is given plenty of room to meander.

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Lizzo's new album LizzoBangers is delightful.  RIYL: Lazerbeak, honesty, Missy Elliott.

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I can't believe that I'm infatuated with a Judas Priest album in 2014. Redeemer of Souls is surprisingly solid.

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As a concept album, CunninLynguists' Strange Journey, Volume Three is terrible.  As pure entertainment, it's very good.  RIYL: Grieves, rhyming dictionaries, Aesop Rock.

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Mournful Congregation's Concrescence Of The Sophia is RIYL: funerals, Tombs, 20-minute death metal jams.

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Kendrick Lamar parodied ignorant rappers on "Backseat Freestyle."  Most of These Days, the new album by his label mate Ab-Soul, sounds like the moronic music Lamar mocked.  Largely because it could have been great, the project infuriates me.  Here's Lamar's contribution to the mess.  RIYL: Kendrick Lamar, darkness, Jay Rock.

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Ginger Baker's Why? is RIYL: Charlie Watts' jazz, Charles Mingus, Jack Bruce's jazz.

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A lot of the cool kids are touting Forgetting the Present, the latest release by the Mogwai-affiliated Remember Remember.  My verdict?  It's a propulsive new age album.  RIYL: Shadowfax, the healing properties of crystals, Nightnoise.

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Bill Frisell goes surfing.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: St. Paul & the Broken Bones- Half the City

At the advent of the CD revolution I set out to build a comprehensive library of classic soul.  Each week I'd diligently purchase a title by the likes of Percy Sledge, Al Green, James Carr and Joe Tex. I scrimped and saved to acquire pricey box sets compiling the works of James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Stax Records.

I also made seeing the giants a top priority.  I took in multiple performances by the likes of Charles Brown, Solomon Burke, Bobby Bland, Etta James, Isaac Hayes, Marvin Sease, Ike Turner and James Brown.

My obsession has a downside.  I've never managed to muster the same level of enthusiasm as my peers for soul revivalists like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings.  A lot of these new acts are undeniably great, but when Millie Jackson, Jimmy Scott, Bobby Womack, Charlie Wilson and Bobby Rush are still out there doing it, it's hard for me to get worked into a lather by expert mimics.

That said, I'm smitten by Half City, the new release by St. Paul & the Broken Bones.  The throwback approach of the Alabama-based band works largely because vocalist Paul Janeway doesn't try to be what he's not.  He's obviously obsessed with Otis Redding, but much like the late, great Eddie Hinton, he's not an embarrassing parodist. 

St. Paul & the Broken Bones merit their prestigious position in my collection between the Staple Singers and the Stylistics.


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I reviewed a concert by Slayer, Exodus and Suicidal Tendencies.

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I contributed to a feature on Dominique Sanders for KCUR's Up To Date.

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Tech N9ne's Strangeulation by the the numbers: the album topped Billboard's rap, R&B and hip-hop charts last week and landed at #5 on the Top 200.

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I hadn't realized that the Dan Conn Collection at the Marr Sound Archives existed until a link posted by There Stands the Glass reader BGO led me to the discovery.  Dan, a former co-worker, introduced me to the music of artists ranging from Red Garland to Doc Watson.

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Here's another nice video feature on Radkey.

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Anyone who likes vintage Approach and Miles Bonny will love the new video for "Chief".

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The ninth episode of the second season of the KC Cypher Series is not worth your time.

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The highlight of Dolly Parton's charming Blue Smoke is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."  RIYL: Silver Dollar City, Elvis Presley, America.

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If Outkast and Kelis aren't booked in Kansas City prior to the festival, I may travel to St. Louis in September for Loufest.

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I innocently hit "play" on the Juilliard String Quartet's Elliott Carter: The Five String Quartets on a recent afternoon.  After several interruptions, I finished the epic cycle five hours later.  It's stunning. 

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From a purely sonic perspective, Michael Jackson's Xscape is an extraordinary achievement.  Tracks like "Blue Gangsta" sound as if they were recorded last month.  M.J.'s original demos are also worth a listen.

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I'm hardly a Black Keys fanboy, but I suspect Dan Auerbach's production of Nikki Lane's All or Nothin' is responsible for the album's excellence.  RIYL: Whiskeytown, something borrowed, Rosanne Cash.

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Love in da club.  Troy Ave's BSB Vol. 4 is RIYL: 50 Cent, prison, Wu-Tang Clan.

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Back On the Controls, ostensibly a new album by Lee "Scratch" Perry, baffles me.  RIYL: eternity, Mad Professor, confusion.

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Lantlôs' Melting Sun isn't quite as good as many reviews would have you believe.  RIYL: Deftones, dreaming out loud, Isis.

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Jody Stephens of Big Star is featured in a segment of "What's In My Bag."

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Joe Louis Walker is challenging Buddy Guy for the title of the most vital blues veteran of 2014 on Hornet's Nest.

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CNN aired a 15-minute documentary about Clipse.

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My cousin is in fine form on Virtuoso Rossini Arias.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Marijuana Deathsquads and Lizzo at the RecordBar

I want to join Marijuana Deathsquads.  The noise collective's thrilling performance Monday night at the RecordBar  gave me a sensation I haven't felt in years- I longed to make music with the musicians on stage.

Marijuana Deathsquads' presentation looked more like an industrious meth lab than a performance.  As two drummers kicked up dust, four guys hunched over laptops, mixers and other gadgets.  It was a bit like this, only darker, dirtier and much louder. 

There were only about 50 people in the RecordBar when Marijuana Deathsquads began its assault.  The room cleared quickly.  About 15 fans had the fortitude to withstand the band's overwhelming "Ewok Sadness", a sound which is somewhat akin to a mashup of Ministry and Schoolly D. 

It's back to the lab for me. 

An opening set by Lizzo- loaded with bangers like "Batches & Cookies" and "Faded"- was charming. 


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I reviewed Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Liberty Hall on Thursday and Gordon Lightfoot at the Uptown Theater on Sunday.

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The Kansas City-based folk musician Beth Scalet has died.

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The lyric video for Josh Berwanger's "Baby Loses Her Mind" is very funny.

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Farout is arguably the best rapper in the Indyground crew.  Billy Hoyle is his new five-song EP.  RIYL: Steddy P., 420, Ces Cru.

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Stooges drummer Ron Asheton has died.

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Road trip?  The lineup of Iowa City's Mission Creek Festival includes There Stands the Glass favorites Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Jason Isbell and Dessa.

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The kids are alright.  "Alabama Movies" is a new video from Skating Polly, a band of Okie kids. The children in Austin's Residual Kid channel Nirvana on "Friends".  And the fresh faces of Radkey, the pride of northwest Missouri, continue to pop up everywhere.  The damning anecdote at the 1:20 mark of the Radkey video is damning.  (Residual Kid tip via SS.)

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I hadn't heard of Mickey Guyton until I watched a live stream of her performance at SXSW.  She's going to be a star.  RIYL: Taylor Swift, absurdly adorable people, the Band Perry.

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Joyce Yang's excellent solo piano album Wild Dreams has inspired me to begin studying the work of Paul Hindemith.

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The My Husband's Stupid Record Collection blog is delightful.  (Initial tip via Euclid Records.)

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Eagulls is my new favorite classic rock band.  Eagulls is RIYL: Lords of the New Church, oldies, Joy Division.

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Shahin Novrasli's Bayati is an exceptionally daring piano trio album.  RIYL: Eldar Djangarov, Eastern Europe, ECM.

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I'm not sold on the party vibe of Major Lazer's Apocalypse Soon.

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Real Estate's Atlas is one of the best received releases of 2014.  I call baloney.  It's little more than a Christopher Cross tribute album.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original images of Marijuana Deathsquads and Lizzo by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Akkilles- Something You'd Say

Something You'd Say is one of the prettiest rock-based albums I've encountered in 2013.  If that sounds like a backhanded compliment coming from me, well, you're right.  I prefer my rock with a heaping helping of rage and blood.  Yet Akkilles has something special going on.  On a gorgeously-produced album of songs that otherwise average well under five minutes, the second track of Something You'd Say is a nine-minute jam that evokes the Grateful Dead-by-the-way-of My Morning Jacket.  The gambit by the Kansas City-based indie rock band may not work for everyone, but I love it.  The remainder of the tracks are hazy pop songs, part David Crosby and part Yo La Tengo.  Yet Akkilles manages to avoid the dreaded stomp-folk dreck that's infested less assured musicians.  Imbued with a sense of exhaustion, Something You'd Say has become my come-down album of choice.


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I reviewed Tech N9ne's return to the Midland last week.

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I reviewed the performance by John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett at the Uptown Theater on Sunday.

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Jordan MacDonald, an aspiring rapper from Prairie Village, was killed last week.  The Prairie Village Post provides audio clips in its report.

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Charlie Chesterman has died.  Back in my roots-rock days, I wore a Scruffy the Cat t-shirt until it was in tatters.

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Here's footage of Radkey performing on a Dutch radio station.

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Everyone who loves Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs should know that Light In the Attic recently reissued Bobby Whitlock's first two solo albums.  RIYL: Leon Russell, bellbottom jeans, Delaney & Bonnie.

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I have a great deal of affection for Earl, Syd and Nardwuar.

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I'm pleased but perplexed that Omar Souleyman is the "world music" star of the moment.  (The publicist for his label deserves a raise.)  The Syrian's new Wenu Wenu is RIYL: maps, Shanachie Records, passports.

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I made it through all three hours of last night's broadcast of the Country Music Awards (with a little help from my DVR).  Gloom, despair and agony…

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This week's new releases of special interest to There Stands the Glass include Tamar Braxton, Bun B, Cut Copy, Eminem, Howie Gelb, the Inside Llewyn Davis soundtrack, Kronos Quartet, MIA, Kellie Pickler, Matt Pryor, Matthew Sweet/Susanna Hoffs and Tinie Tempah.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: King Khan and the Shrines- Idle No More

I have a hunch that Idle No More, the new album by King Khan and the Shrines, will come to be considered a classic recording.  The busy horn section and frenzied attack find precisely the right level of obstreperousness for a garage rock/R&B revivalist project in 2013.  Yet an album like Idle No More needs to be field tested. I haven't  the time, stamina or the cab fare to determine its true worth.  Initial clinical trials, however, indicate that it's a masterpiece of psychotic reaction.


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The Midwest Music Foundation has released the free 21-track compilation Midwestern Audio Vol. 2 - Electric Hullabaloo. 

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The Revisionists- a band featuring Brad Cox, Betse Ellis, Jeff Harshbarger, Kasey Rausch and Mike Stover- is featured in a video produced by KCUR.

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Radkey performed on Later… with Jools Holland.

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Yawn Johnson's self-titled mix tape is available at Bandcamp.  RIYL: Danny Brown, 816, Death Grips.

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MilkDrop and D/Will made a video for "Ayo D!".

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Cheers! The Telegraph reports on the boozy state of the pop charts.

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My cousin is featured in a Tiny Desk Concert.

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Kneebody's new album The Line is RIYL: Snarky Puppy, the Project H, jazz nerds.  The band is cosigned by Luciana Souza, Meshell Ndegeocello and Brad Meldhau in its EPK.

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Tyler, the Creator- not Miley Cyrus- embodies the zeitgeist.  Experience the many moods of "Tamale".

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Here's the ECM player for Tim Berne and Snakeoil's Shadow Man. RIYL: Andrew Hill, Richard Davis, Eric Dolphy.

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After I absorb the new Pusha T album, I hope to break the seal on many other albums released today.  The There Stands the Glass list includes Pepe Aguilar, Alter Bridge, Danny Brown, V.V. Brown, Cage the Elephant, CBGB: Original Motion PIcture Soundtrack, Miley Cyrus, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Darkside, Deap Vally, Patty Griffin, Albert Hammond, Jr., Lyfe Jennings, Jesu, Tim Kasher, Korn, Amos Lee, Scott Miller, Harold Lopez Nussa, Of Montreal, Anders Osborne, Gretchen Parlato, Parquet Courts, Maurizio Pollini, Lee Renaldo & the Dust, RJD2, Kenny Rogers, William Shatner, Sleigh Bells, Stone Temple Pilots and Yuja Wang.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

They Wasn't Satisfied Unless I Picked the Cotton Myself

The ire directed at Kanye West following his loopy BBC interview annoys me.  West's eccentricities fuel his musical brilliance.  I've grown even more enamored of Yeezus since I raved about the album in June.  Besides, West's outlandish persona is nothing new.  I recently watched Soul Power, the fascinating documentary about the concert in Zaire that coincided with the so-called Rumble in the Jungle.  The film includes many provocative statements by Don King, Muhammad Ali and James Brown.  West is clearly in the same linage of great Americans.  "New Slaves" indeed.

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My favorite bands at Buzz Beach Ball were Kitten, Daughter and Hanni El Khatib.  Here's my review.

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The money line from Forbes' profile of the Strange Music empire- "merchandise, which totals roughly $6.1 million annually; music, which brings in about $6.5 million; and touring, which adds closer to $7 million."  (Link via Tony's Kansas City.)

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A promotional video for the lowercase kansas hip hop showcase is interesting.

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Here's the video for Ces Cru's "Seven Chakras"

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"Romance Dawn" is Radkey's latest video.

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Henry Gray and Barbara Carr are the artists I'd most like to see at the 16th Blues Masters at the Crossroads concerts in Salina.  (Link via BGO.)

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One-woman band Coldbeat one-ups bands like Best Coast in the dream/garage/pop sweepstakes.  I'm smitten by "Worms".

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Vijay Iyer was awarded a MacArthur genius grant.

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Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi's Tiny Desk Concert is extraordinary. RIYL: Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, grace, John Lee Hooker.

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I'm infatuated with Las Kellies. The Argentine trio may be a glorious mess live, but the new album Total Exposure recalls Fine Young Cannibals, the Human League and Culture Club.

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Moby openly confesses his love of Yes in his "What's In My Bag?" segment.  I appreciate his candor.

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This week's new releases of particular interest to There Stands the Glass include John Abercrombie, Blind Boys of Alabama, Blitzen Trapper, Anna Calvi, Deltron 3030, Jeremy Denk, Dr. Dog, Elf Power, Johnny Flynn, Haim, Hank 3, K-Ci & Jojo, Lorde, Moby, Nelly, Quasi, Charlie Robison, Justin Timberlake and Randy Travis.

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Christmas is coming. The goose is getting fat.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.  And here's a promising late booking- Krystle Warren will perform Sunday at the KC Live stage in the Power & Light district.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Dave Holland- Prism

Dave Holland was on bass as Miles Davis unleashed the unholy sound that came to be known as jazz fusion.  I've repeatedly acknowledged my uneasy relationship with the genre at this site.  Much of it- including some of the stuff I like- is the worst sort of wankery.  Holland rectifies most of those excesses with the startling new album Prism.  The lineup- guitarist Kevin Eubanks, pianist Craig Taborn, Holland and drummer Eric Harland- isn't afraid to get dirty.  The only embarrassing element of Prism is the cheesy album art.


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Jackie Lomax has died.

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Jimmy Ponder has died.

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Until Friday, I'd never thought much of Mumford & Sons.  The folk band forced me to reevaluate their worth with an excellent performance in Bonner Springs.  Here's my review of the band's final show for the foreseeable future.

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I reviewed Miguel Zenon's transcendent appearance at the Blue Room last night.  Here's footage of the show.

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I reviewed Chuck Haddix's Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker at Plastic Sax.

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Enter the Riddim is the latest album by the Blue Riddim Band.  RIYL: Kansas City music history, Joe Higgs, Trojan Records.

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Radkey's forthcoming four-song EP Devil Fruit is RIYL the Misfits, the Ramones, Danzig.  And yeah, it's worthy of those comparisons.

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The administrator of the Middle of the Map Fest's Facebook account recently queried fans about which acts they'd like to see at the 2014 festival.  The organizers' tastes aren't exactly simpatico with my preferences, but here are three artists that meet the aesthetics of both MotM and TSTG that might fall within the festival's budget: Flying Lotus, Gary Numan and Nicolas Jaar.

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It's nice to see Ron Gutierrez getting a lot of high-profile work.  I'm a fan.

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"I need a miracle."  Even though it's undoubtedly worth every penny, I just can't pull the trigger on $100 tickets for the Lyric Opera's "The Capulets & the Montagues" starring Joyce DiDonato. 

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Oh, for Pete's sake.  Eugene Chadbourne has recorded an album of Merle Haggard covers.  It's titled- steel yourself- Merles Just Want To Have Fun.  Here's "I Take a Lot of Pride In Who I Am".  RIYL: making enemies, being alone, straightjackets.

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Jazz-oriented guitarist Todd Clouser made a rock album.  Man with No Country is RIYL: Marc Ribot, Lou Reed, Charlie Hunter.

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"Aheym", the title track of Kronos Quartet's forthcoming album, is a powerful piece of music.  RIYL: Bryce Dessner, high drama, string quartets.

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Travel Guide, the new Ralph Towner album, promises to be lovely.  RIYL: acoustic Pat Metheny, guitar shops, Paco de Lucía.

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I opted for an R&B concert over Rancid's appearance in Lawrence last Saturday.  Thankfully, a fan shot some video.

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No disrespect for the senseless death of Ella, but Cemetery Deer would be an excellent band name.

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After I give the latest release by Rhymes-with-Lake (the rapper's attorneys have forced Google to send me cease-and-desist notifications for simply mentioning his name at this site) a fair shot, I intend to get around to today's new releases by Alan Jackson, Pete Anderson, Black Label Society, Deer Tick, Gov't Mule, Ha Ha Tonka, Elton John, Tim Kasher, Jimmy LaFave, Mazzy Star, Bill O'Connell & the Latin Jazz All-Stars, Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Band, the Raybeats, Danya Stephens, Touche Amore, Rokia Traore, Allen Toussaint and John Zorn & Thurston Moore.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass  Hey, Mr. Holland- you can use the embedded photo for your next album cover.)

Going Grippy Grappa

Jay-Z kept me out of a San Diego jail this week.

My otherwise perfect vacation rental is periodically sullied by a moronic gaggle of hard-partying teens across the alley.  They break out the beer bongs at 11 a.m.  (Fine by me.)  They start doing shots at 7 p.m.  (Whatever.)  The ear-piercing screaming resumes at 11 p.m.  (That's my bedtime after a sun-soaked day.)  The kids rally for a final bout of debauchery around 3 a.m.  (Not cool.) 

Their excellent taste in music is the only reason those kids are still alive.  Although they look and act as if they'd listen to Wiz Khalifa or Mac Miller, the oblivious knuckleheads bump nothing but Magna Carta... Holy Grail.  I'm more inclined to ask them to stop shouting over Jay-Z than to impale them with beach umbrellas.

Once or twice, when I know they're in recovery mode, I've hit 'em with Grippy Grappa, the excellently-titled new album by the Cypriot band Monsieur Doumani.  Imagine Gogol Bordello and the ghost of Herbie Mann on an ouzo bender.  Check out "The System" and "Young Upwardly-Mobile Professional".  I've never been to Greece, let alone Cypress, but Grippy Grappa allows me to better relate to the people of the financially distressed region.

Here's a proper review of Grippy Grappy in Sing Out! magazine.


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Faye Hunter of Let's Active has died.

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The remix of "Bender" features Tech N9ne, Mac Lethal, Irv Da Phenom, JL, Joey Cool, Dutch Newman and Godemis.  

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Radkey is the subject of a solid feature from Noisey.

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Jordan Geiger of Hospital Ships shares a few of his favorite recordings.

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"Sauce Remix" by One is RIYL: Landmark Entertainment, The Popper, James Christos.  (Via Tony's Kansas City.)

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"Sophisticated Ignorance" is the latest offering from Steddy P and DJ Mahf.  RIYL: Cypress Hill, Kottonmouth Kings, Afroman.

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Corky Carrel wrote a beautiful review of Guy Clark's new album.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Care to know what's not cool or played-out in hip-hop?  Here's a "Banned Artists/Track List for a room at turntable.fm.  I like over a third of the banned items on the elitists' list.

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The collaboration between Elvis Costello and the Roots sounds exactly like you'd think it would sound.

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George Duke's Dream Weaver has sublime moments mixed among the cheese.  (And I kind of like the cheese.)  RIYL: George Duke, Al Kooper, George Clinton.

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The music video for Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" flies over my head.

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Willie Sugarcapps is a new semi-supergroup of Americana artists including Will Kimbrough and Grayson Capps.  "Gypsy Train" is pretty.  RIYL: Mary Gauthier, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt.

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Jim Pepper Fest will include a "reunion of the Free Spirits," the "world's first jazz-rock fusion band (1965-1967)" featuring Larry Coryell and Rakalam Bob Moses.

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Swimm's excellent Feel EP is available as a free download at Bandcamp.  RIYL: U2, INXS, T. Rex.

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As soon as I summon enough courage, I'll listen to Van Dyke Park's new album Songs Cycled.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

What Rabbath Wrought

I've long viewed my enthusiasm for European improvised music with suspicion.  François Rabbath's astounding performance at Park College earlier this week helped me realize that my love of projects like Dan Nicholls' new album Ruins is more than a pretentious affectation.

Through both his innate brilliance and his willingness to disregard established conventions, the Syrian-born and Paris-based Rabbath creates music without boundaries.  (Here's my review.)

Why then, I asked a colleague last night, don't more area musicians follow his lead by ignoring the formal mandates of the classical, folk and jazz worlds?  My friend brought me back to earth by suggesting that most professional musicians in Kansas City are forced to make their livings by playing music that conforms to established forms.  He's right.  I suppose that playing "Someone To Watch Over Me" in a cocktail lounge night after night might extinguish the creative spark.

In addition to being free from the American cultural mandate to swing, many experimental European musicians are also immersed in international folk and classical traditions.  And that's how a restless music obsessive ends up listening to At Home, the new album by Polish trumpeter Maciej Fortuna, as he folds laundry in Kansas.


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I reviewed Friday's concert by Matchbox Twenty, the Goo Goo Dolls and Kate Earl.

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I reviewed Dave Alvin's debut at Knuckleheads.

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Toshi Seeger has died.

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KCPT chats with Kerwin Young.

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Here's footage of Radkey performing at the Bottleneck this week.  ("Maybe the Misfits...")

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An Olathe man was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer outside a Chief Keef concert in Oklahoma City.

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I hadn't clued in to Lake Street Dive until a dude at last month's Los Lobos concert raved about the band. 

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Confession time- I actually bought Ellen Foley's Spirit of St. Louis album in 1981.  Here's the video for the cringeworthy lead track.

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A person I don't know intended the following Facebook comment as a compliment to both bands: "Jethro Tull was the Radiohead of the '70s."  I concur (for entirely different reasons).

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Crossroads KC

I'd worked up a mean thirst by the time Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit hit the stage at Crossroads KC last night.  Yet I'd already determined that I wasn't going to have a single drink.

After writing a few of the most harrowing songs about substance abuse of the past twenty years, Isbell has gone straight.  An excellent profile in The New York Times examined Isbell's recovery.  Out of respect for Isbell's bold change of course (as well as for the sake of my bank account), I abstained.

Based on the strength of the new album Southeastern, I knew Isbell and his band would be solid.  I wasn't sure, however, if he'd be willing to dip into his past work.  Much to my delight, he sang the disturbing ode to suicide-in-slow-motion "Goddamn Lonely Love" from the Drive-By Truckers' classic The Dirty South album with conviction.  "Codeine" and "Outfit" were similarly exceptional examinations of the dark side of life. 

As if to offer further proof that he wouldn't let his new perspective prevent him from addressing songs about decadence, he and his band covered the Stones' sordid "Can't You Hear Me Knocking."  Isbell is a hero.


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A remarkable footnote regarding last night's concert: Almost 1,000 people paid $18 or more to hear Isbell, American Aquarium and the Turnpike Troubadours even though the show conflicted with two free performances by country notables- current Nashville hit-makers Gloriana at the KC Live! stage and BR549's Chuck Mead at a suburban shopping center.  Kansas City really loves its country.

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Slim Whitman has died.  His 1951 version of "Indian Love Call," of course, is one of the most amazing documents of the 20th century.  And gee, does anyone else remember these Whitman infomercials?

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Let You Tell It is Stik Figa's new three-song EP.  RIYL: Mos Def, Tech N9ne, Topeka.

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The Guardian takes notice of Radkey.

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TIm Finn checks in with the Pedaljets.

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The jazz trio of Massot, Florizoone and Horbaczewski is RIYL Astor Piazzolla, Howard Johnson, travel.

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Regular reader BGO shared an amazing document with There Stands the Glass.  In an essay published by Negro Digest in 1961, Duke Ellington suggests that "Rock-and-roll is the most raucous form of jazz, beyond a doubt; it maintains a link with the folk origins, and I believe that no other form of jazz has ever been accepted so enthusiastically by so many."

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Are we living in the golden age of French pop music?  Maître Gims' "J'me tire" is RIYL: Akon, Wyclef Jean, Justin Timberlake.

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Have you heard ELEW, aka Eric Lewis? RIYL: Scott Joplin, Art Tatum, Brad Mehldau.

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Bill Frisell's Big Sur is spectacular.  RIYL: string quartets, Charlie Haden, Eric Dolphy.

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Gummy Soul created a mashup of Big Boi and Otis Redding.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Bebo Valdés, 1918-2013

Bebo Valdés died yesterday in his adopted home of Stockholm.  The native Cuban had quite a life.  I've enjoyed Bebo Rides Again since its release in 1995.  The crystalline sound quality continues to astound me.  Yet I've come to prefer his scratchy pre-revolution recordings from the 1950s.  Hearing the life-affirming stuff causes me to wonder why I bother listening to anything else.


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I reviewed Jimmy Webb's outing at Knuckleheads last night.

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Jeneé Osterheldt wrote an excellent column about Ces Cru.

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Tim Finn tracked Radkey's activities at SXSW.

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The members of the Architects are soliciting funds for a forthcoming project.

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KJHK documented a performance by CS Luxem.

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Does anyone else remember spending hour after hour listening to bootlegs of Prince outtakes in the 1990s?  I'd forgotten about that frustrating exercise until I spent time with Inc.'s No World.

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Philip Glass shreds.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Concert Review: Yes at the Midland

If my 18-year-old self knew that I would willingly buy a $40 ticket to a concert by Yes in 2013, I may have spitefully cut off my callow ears.  I bought into the idea that the overblown music of Yes represented everything that was "wrong."  At this late date, however, such dated musical turf battles seem silly.

Two recent events compelled me to join the audience of about 2,000 at the Midland on Monday.  Peter Banks, a founder of Yes, died March 7.  He was 65.  Secondly, Animal Collective postponed a round of dates that included a show this week at the Midland.  The art-rock band's fans may object to the assertion, but Animal Collective's aesthetic makes it an indirect descendent of Yes.  It seemed like a case of now-or-never if I was ever going to experience a concert by the historically vindicated band.

I'm glad I pulled the trigger even though Yes' horrid lyrics have grown more annoying over the years.  And the current spot-on singer reminded me that I never cared for Jon Anderson's voice.  But the entirely unobtrusive (!) keyboardist Geoff Downes kept his back to the audience.  Drummer Alan White also stayed in the background.

The show was all about bassist Chris Squire and guitarist Steve Howe.  Both were spectacular.  Squire played with a surprisingly bluesy touch while Howe revealed that his playing is inspired by the same things that made John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and Richard Thompson such compelling guitarists.  And the sound in the Midland was almost perfect for the complete recreation of Close To the Edge, The Yes Album and Going For the One. 

Not my cuppa, but I was so impressed that I tried to initiate a chant of "One. More. Album." before the encore.  The old guys played "Roundabout" instead.  It's hard to complain- the five veterans with a cumulative age of about 300 played two-and-a-half-hours not including a 25-minute intermission.


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I reviewed Randy Brecker's appearance with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.

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I reviewed the Elder's concert at the Uptown Theater on Saturday.

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Jack Greene has died.

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Jason Molina has died.

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Radkey, an official SXSW showcase band, was the subject of a brief profile in the New York Times.

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The forthcoming season of the Harriman-Jewell Series is remarkable.

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Olassa made a video for "Where Will I Live".

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I like the 2013 lineup of the Mayhem Festival.

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Help, I'm hypnotized ! Completely mesmerized!

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Robert Randolph Presents: The Slide Brothers is charming.  RIYL: Robert Randolph, Derek & the Dominoes, Gary Clark Jr.

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Kendrick Lamar disses Trinidad James on a new remix of "B*tch Don't Kill My Vibe."

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"Get off your phone!  Put it down!"  That's Action Bronson's message to an audience at SXSW.

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Kansas City Click: Lydia Loveless in on Tuesday's bill at the RecordBar.

Tower of Power plays Knuckleheads on Wednesday.

Gypsyhawk is Thursday's headliner at the Riot Room.

Jimmy Webb returns to Knuckleheads on Friday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)