May 2020 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

My opera compulsion continues. I’ve taken in streams of 68 productions in the last 67 days.  The following albums, songs and livestreams balanced my maximal intake of ostensible high culture this month.

Top Five Albums
1. Bad Bunny- Las Que No Iban a Salir
Even the Puerto Rican’s discards are thrilling.
2. Sleaford Mods- All That Glue
My review.
3. Future- High Off Life
Chart-topping nihilism.
4. Aaron Parks- Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man
Fusion lives.
5. Dinosaur- To the Earth
Laura Jurd’s lawless group careens into the center lane.

Top Five Songs
1. Little Simz- “Might Bang, Might Not”
Oh, it bangs all right.
2. 6ix9ine- “Gooba”
I know, I know.  As the hooligan suggests, I must be “dumb, stupid or dumb.”
3. Shirley Collins- “Wondrous Love”
Selah.
4. The Magnetic Fields- “Favorite Bar”
Gloriously droll.
5. Hot Country Knights- “Then It Rained”
A gut-busting Garth Brooks spoof.

Top Five Livestreams
1. Bang on a Can Marathon
The online version of the canceled festival featured appearances by luminaries including Meredith Monk.
2. KC Bands Together
Full disclosure- I’m listed in the closing credits.
3. Bill Frisell- Blue Note at Home
The guitarist’s apartment has a better vibe than the venue.
4. Century Media’s Isolation Festival
Dead Lord was among the metal bands bringing the vital noise.
5. Molly Hammer- Jazzy Jamdemic
Classic Kansas City.

(I conducted the same exercise in April, March, February and January.

(Screenshot of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Nico Muhly’s "Marnie" by There Stands the Glass.)

Zydeco Boogaloo

Black Top 1024.  That’s how my customers and I identified Buckwheat Zydeco’s 100% Fortified Zydeco when they reordered the album.  The title was one of several releases by the exceptional ambassador of Louisiana music that were in my catalog during my tenure as a music industry sales rep.  No strain of indigenous American music is more discordant or just plain weird than zydeco.  Stanley Dural, the bandleader behind Buckwheat Zydeco who died last week, made the music accessible.  Without his genial refinements, the language barrier, scratch of washboards and cacophonous accordions associated with zydeco might have continued to keep the form a safe distance from the mainstream. 


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I reviewed Chance the Rapper’s concert.

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

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I praised Heidi Lynne Gluck on KCUR last week.

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I address a pet peeve at the Kansas City jazz blog Plastic Sax.

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I highlighted the music offerings at the Plaza Art Fair for The Kansas City Star and Ink magazine.

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I reviewed a concert by Steve Martin, Martin Short and the Steep Canyon Rangers.

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Jerry Corbetta of Sugarloaf has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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Shawty Lo has died.

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Jean Shepherd has died.

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Pádraig Duggan of Clannad has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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John D. Loudermilk has died.  (Tip via BGO.)

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The music video for Shirley Collins’ ”Death and the Lady” is almost more than I can bear.

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The heir to John Coltrane and Jimi Hendrix may be hiding in plain sight.  His name is John Scofield. On his excellently titled Country For Old Men, Scofield interprets classics like “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”

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I loved the 2000 album dwightyoakamacoustic.net.  The country artist’s Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars… may be just as good.

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Willie Nelson is on a roll.  For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price is perfect.

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Rose Out the Concrete, Rich the Factor’s third album in as many months, isn’t as good as Smile or Whale Mafi.  Here’s the Kansas City legend’s ”In the Kitchen”.

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I won't pretend to understand Yermande, an astounding recording by Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force.  But it's wonderful.  (Tip via Big Steve.)

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)