Review: The Fresh and Onlys- Long Slow Dance

I regularly nicked 200 as one of the stars of my bowling league when I was ten years old.  Those glory days only come to mind when I drive past bowling alleys in the rain.  Just as I no longer bowl, I rarely think about the old Let's Active, Windbreakers and Lloyd Cole & the Commotions vinyl that's gathering dust in my basement.  My dormant love of '80s jangle pop requires a unique combination of esoteric stimuli to be rekindled.

Already burdened by an agonizing personal problem, I happened to stumble across The Fresh & Onlys' expertly wistful Long Slow Dance a few days ago.   Waves of repressed memories came flooding back. 

The first five tracks- including the excellent "Presence of Mind"- force me to recall everything about my life in 1986.  The remainder of the album contains a few twists that break the spell.  "Fire Alarm" throws an Ultravox-style synth into the mix while "Euphoria" brings Joy Division to mind.

Thanks for the trip, the Fresh & Onlys.  Yet because indulging in nostalgic reveries feels sinful to me, I won't spend any more time in the comforting arms of Long Slow Dance.


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My five favorite acts at Saturday's Rhythm & Ribs Jazz and Blues Festival?  Thanks for asking.  They are Brian McKnight, the McFadden Brothers, Linda Shell & the Blues Thang, the Charles Perkins and Gerald Spaits Quartet and Joe Louis Walker.  Here's my review.

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Here's the video for Super Black Market's "Dancing Drunk.  (Via Back to Rockville.)

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Matt Bauer's cover of Prince's "Under the Cherry Moon" is worth a listen.

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I just found out about Lindi Ortega.  The roots rocker is the opening act on Social D's new tour.

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It should come as no surprise to readers of There Stands the Glass that Anthony Hamilton's "Pray For Me" is one of my favorite singles of 2012.

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No.

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Kansas City Click: ZZ Top return to the Midland Theater on Tuesday.

The Riot Room hosts the Hudson Falcons on Wednesday.

Rob Scheps' Kansas City band plays at Take Five Coffee on Thursday.

The legendary Vicente Fernandez performs in Kansas City for the final time Friday at the Sprint Center.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Mike Mictlan- Snaxxx

Mike Mictlan's new mixtape Snaxxx is a drug album.   The title of this blog notwithstanding, I've recently become an anti-drug zealot.  Snaxxx, consequently, should infuriate me. 

Doomtree's Mictlan is far too talented to be easily dismissed.  Besides, Snaxxx's glorification of intoxicants is tempered by several acknowledgements of their ill effects.  On "85 Low 105 High" for instance, he raps that "15 was L.S.D., 16 was B and E, by 18 couldn't make the letters spell G.E.D."   He expresses bitterness that a childhood flame has become a successful business woman while he's barely getting by on "MCAD".

Nothing on Snaxxx is as epic as "Prizefight" or "Game Over".  And I must insist that you not watch the revolting video for "Spicy Peen". P.O.S., the biggest star of the Doomtree crew, pops up on two tracks including the old-school tribute "Syke!".  Yet Snaxxx is far more than a placeholder until P.O.S.'s new album We Don't Even Live Here comes out in couple weeks.

My conscious won't allow me to fully support the druggy project, but I encourage There Stands the Glass readers to splurge on one of the 300 limited edition Snaxxx Pizza Box packages.  Otherwise, it's available as a free download at Bandcamp.


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I reviewed Esperanza Spalding's concert at Helzberg Hall.

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Here's the video for Ebony Tusks' "Sioux Empire".

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Black Oxygen made a video for "Insane".

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Jamie Searle created a Kickstarter campaign for My Brothers and Sisters.

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Adele's "Skyfall" is stellar.  But you already knew that.

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On Wednesday, October 17, Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day will play at the following theaters in the Kansas City area: Town Center 20 with IMAX (Leawood), Barrywoods 24 with IMAX and ETX (north of the river) and Cinemark 20 (Merriam).

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The Kansas City Wind Symphony at Village Presbyterian Church

Allow me to escort the elephant out of the room.  The Kansas City Wind Symphony doesn't perform at the same level as the Kansas City Symphony.  A "volunteer ensemble of professional and accomplished amateur musicians selected by competitive audition," the Wind Symphony plays a different repertoire and has an entirely different sensibility than Kansas City's best known classical institution. 

Over 300 people- including plenty of friends and family of the musicians- attended Sunday's free season-opening performance at Village Presbyterian Church.  Titled "Something Old: Favorites from our Past," the repertoire showcased during the 90-minute concert was pleasant but conservative.  Dr. Phillip Posey, the ensemble's conductor, made a telling comment as he surveyed the forthcoming season. 

"I promise not to play any of that weird stuff I played last year," Posey said.

My thoughts about that unfortunate attitude are posted here.

The concert opened with Paul Dukas' brief but charming "Fanfare pour Preceder La Peri."  The forced festiveness of Felix Mendelssohn's "Overture for Band" almost sent me scurrying for the exit.  I simply couldn't abide the constant chime of what I assume was a triangle.  Although some of it was a bit hazy, Percy Grainger's nostalgic "Lincolnshire Posy" showcased the entire ensemble.  Dr. Maria Harman's beautiful flute feature on Kent Kennan's "Night Soliloquy" provided the concert's most intriguing moments.  Pieces by Julie Giroux and James Barnes were less compelling. 

I'm thrilled that the Kansas City Symphony is performing to huge audiences in its second season at Helzberg Hall.  Lovers of symphonic music would be doing themselves a favor by also familiarizing themselves with the noble efforts of the Kansas City Wind Symphony.



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I reviewed a concert by Kansas, King's X and That I Guy.

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I chose the Kansas City Wind Symphony over a free Delfonics' concert on Sunday.  Based on this fan footage, I made the right call.

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Antibalas is featured in a new Tiny Desk Concert.

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Modern bluesman Nick Curran has died.

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Who needs Psy when there's Riff Raff?

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The Tord Gustavsen Quartet continues to put its spell on me.

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Kansas City Click: Say Anything, one of my favorite emo bands, plays the Beaumont on Tuesday.

Bob Log III will do bad things at Davey's on Wednesday.

Fado Novato will make its debut performance Thursday at Grunauer.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Caroline Herring- Camilla

I have yet to hear a note of Iris DeMent's Sing the Delta.  And it may be some time before I get around to listening to the new release by the hometown hero.  The only singer-songwriter album I want to hear right now is Caroline Herring's stunning Camilla.

Herring's political material is particularly potent.  It comes in the form of quiet stories that pack devastating punches.  (I highly recommend this live performance of "Camilla.")  "Maiden Voyage"- not the Herbie Hancock classic- is a bittersweet firsthand account of 2009's presidential inauguration. Herring gives voice to victims of racial hatred on "White Dress" and the title track.  In spite of an occasional outbreak of the sort of self-conscious white liberal guilt that infests much of today's folk scene, Camilla is a refreshingly original statement.

Alongside Mary Gauthier's Mercy Now and Gillian Welch's Time (The Revelator), Camilla is one of the most immediately striking contemporary folk albums of the new millennium. 


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Kutt Calhoun's "Bottle Service" fails to make me thirsty.

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Here's the video for Making Movies' "Hangover Blues."  (First spotted at Wayward Blog.)

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R.B. Greaves has died.

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The realization that you have to laugh to keep from crying makes Mark Eitzel a sad clown.  And there's more black comedy where that came from.

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The video for OFF!'s "Cracked" is perfect.

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A new remix of Robert Glasper's version of David Bowie's "Letter to Hermione" is captivating.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

Also, Cadillac Flambe, Diverse, Victor & Penny and Betse Ellis with Jason Beers will perform at the opening reception for Prairie Logic on Friday, October 5.  Music is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at "Kansas City's newest public art project and performance venue."

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Nellie McKay at Polsky Theatre

As about 5,000 of her contemporaries filed into Starlight Theatre for a concert by the Ben Folds Five on Friday evening, the similarly acerbic piano-based singer-songwriter Nellie McKay entertained about 300 senior citizens and a few dozen younger folks at Polsky Theatre.

Largely because she prefers Cole Porter to Elton John, McKay works in relative obscurity.  The 31-year-old songwriter may not sell many albums, but I'll put my money on "Ding Dong" over Folds' "Battle of Who Could Care Less" in a contest of bitter songs about alienation.

Friday's concert opened with a seductive reading of "Sentimental Journey."  During "Crazy Rhythm," McKay verbalized an internal dialogue.  "Only the best for Overland Park!" she squeaked.  A rendition of "A Tisket a Tasket" emphasized the absurdity of the song.  Not every standard was soothing.  "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue," for instance, is a difficult song for a blonde 31-year-old Manhattanite to cover.  A take on the Beatles' "I'm So Tired" exposed the song's murderous intent.  She dedicated a straightforward version of the Loretta Lynn hit "One's On the Way" to Planned Parenthood.

McKay's interpretive skills and clever songs suggest that just a couple tours opening for the likes of Regina Spektor and Rufus Wainwright might afford her a more commercially substantial career.  Yet Stephen Holden has a different idea.  His examination of the state of cabaret in The New York Times  suggests that McKay is one of a group of under-40 performers who "occupy the middle ground behind cabaret’s haute and demimondes."  (Link via Emily Jones Behrmann.)


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I reviewed Saturday's concert by Gary Burton, Chick Corea and the Harlem String Quartet.

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Wicked Wayz was scheduled to open for horrorcore rapper Brotha Lynch Hung at Aftershock on Friday, September 28.  Instead, a candlelight tribute was held on State Avenue for a member of the rap crew.   Chad Ford, a.k.a. Creepy Face, was killed in what The Kansas City Star characterized as a "rolling gun battle" in Kansas City, Kansas, earlier in the week.  KCTV5's report has the genuinely shocking details.  The context couldn't be more chilling.  (Initial tip via Tony's Kansas City.)

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Hearing Lupe Fiasco's "B*tch Bad" on KPRS is like being offered a bottle of water in a whiskey bar.  (Yes, I'm a hypocrite.)

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Kansas City Click: R. Stevie Moore appears Monday at the RecordBar.

Dr. Orpheus Project performs Tuesday at the Riot Room.

Wolfgang Van Halen and Mark Tremonti play the Beaumont on Wednesday.

Knuckleheads hosts JD McPherson on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: 101 Crustaceans- Train Bolt Roller

A publicity sheet for a forthcoming album included this text:

How to reconcile John Lennon and Cecil Taylor.  Or Heinrich von Kleist and Captain Beefheart.  Or Donovan and Warne Marsh.  CCR and Ligeti.

I obviously had to check it out.  Having spent some time with Train Bolt Roller, the forthcoming album by 101 Crustaceans, I'll add a couple more combinations to the PR firm's list:

David Bowie's Aladdin Sane and James Blood Ulmer's Part Time.  Marc Ribot and Raymond Scott.

The New York-based collective creates a self-consciously arty blend of jazz, rock and noise.  Willfully obscure, 101 Crustaceans is an acquired taste.

While I love the poetic lyrics, I simply can't tolerate the petulant vocals.  Had the singing duties somehow been assigned to any number of powerful and soulful vocalists ranging from, say, Bettye LaVette to Corey Taylor, Train Bolt Roller might be one of my favorite albums of 2012.  Instead, I'll continue to get my new art-noise fix from the slightly more conventional tandem of Neneh Cherry & the Thing.


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I reviewed performances by Slash, Foxy Shazam and the Follow last night. 

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Frankie Valli's concert at the Muriel Kauffman Theatre was most peculiar.  Here's my review.

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Here's Radkey's first video.  Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling the young men in the Kansas City band have heard of the Misfits.

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Ramona the cat, the namesake of Hospital Ships' "Oh, Ramona", has died.

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Steve Wilson, friend of There Stands the Glass, is a rocker.

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Lisa Hannigan and Joe Henry participated in a new session of the 78 Project.

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The EPK for the Preservation Jazz Hall Band's St. Peter & 57th St (A 50th Anniversary Celebration) is excellent.

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Faithful There Stands the Glass reader BGO is advocating for Canadian hip hop collective The Caravan.  I like it.  BGO may also appreciate F. Stokes.  The rapper has been booked at the American Jazz Museum's Rhythm & Ribs festival on October 13.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: The Natural State at the Plaza Art Fair

I was mesmerized the first time I heard "Indian Giver," the first track on the Natural State's Live Demos offering at Bandcamp.  The authentic joy captured on the hazy recording possesses a striking level of sincerity.  Who were these people, I wondered, and could they possibly conjure a similar sort of elusive earnestness on stage? 

I'm delighted to report that the Natural State met my expectations when I saw the band perform on the Ink Stage at the Plaza Art Fair yesterday.  The Natural State is more or less just as I'd imagined- three young women and a guy on cello.  And my goodness- they were absolutely adorable!  Playing with the guileless enthusiasm of children, the quartet's disheveled set was unprofessional in the best sense of the word.  I never stopped smiling.

Don't get me wrong- I still find today's wimp- twee folk-rock movement led by Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons distasteful, but on Sunday, at least, the Natural State transcended the genre.  Not even a Mumford cover broke the band's sweet spell.  Darn right, I'm smitten.


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I reviewed T.J. Martley's new album at Plastic Sax.

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Midwestern Audio Vol. 1, a new compilation of 41 area acts, is available as a free download.  Artists responsible for my favorite tracks include Cowboy Indian Bear, Diverse, the Conquerors and the Empty Spaces.

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Kendrick Lamar's current hit "Swimming Pools" sounds like a Strange Music release. 

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The unrelated video doesn't do anything for me, but Aesop Rock's "ZZZ Top" is a smart analysis of popular music's role in teen rebellion across generations and cultures.

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Kansas City Click: Mark Lowrey performs Monday at the Blue Room.

Franke Valli visits the Muriel Kauffman Theatre on Tuesday.

Mono plays the Riot Room on Wednesday.

Will Nick Lowe play my favorite pub rock song Thursday at Knuckleheads?

(Original image of the Natural State by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Dena DeRose- Travelin' Light

I have a villainous reputation among jazz vocalists in Kansas City.  My criticism in print and at my jazz blog has dismayed far more artists than it's pleased.  I don't hesitate to call out tuneless dilettantes, boorish behavior or dated cliches.  I don't subject jazz vocalists to a higher standard.  Unfortunately, very few rise to the level of the top instrumentalists.  If memory serves, only performances by Marilyn Maye and Dee Dee Bridgewater have received my highest praise. 

Word of my supposed bias apparently hasn't reached St. Louis.  The St. Louis-based MaxJazz record label sent me a copy of Dena DeRose's new album.  I'd only heard of DeRose from mentions at Dean Minderman's St. Louis Jazz Notes.  Travelin' Light is my introduction to the artist. 

Performing solo in front of a "hand-picked" audience in Antwerp, the album is an astoundingly authoritative statement.  DeRose's piano work is very nice and her demure voice conveys worlds of emotion.  DeRose references Shirley Horn in the liner notes (housed in the usual premium MaxJazz packaging), and the legend's spare yet emotional approach seems to serve as DeRose's model.  "'S Wonderful," "East of the Sun" and "I'm Old Fashioned" aside, the repertoire is fresh.  Genuine grown-folks music, the back-to-back selections "Portrait In Black and White" and "Why Did I Choose You?" floored me. 

As with the aforementioned Maye, DeRose is more of a cabaret act than a jazz artist.  But categories are meaningless when music is this good  Travelin' Light is highly recommended to anyone who appreciates Bobby Short, Patricia Barber or the The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album.

I guess the staff at MaxJazz knew what it was doing after all. 


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Delfeayo Marsalis, Sean Jones, Bobby Watson, Richard Johnson, Jeremy Boettcher and Winard Harper thrilled me last night at the Blue Room.  Here's my review.

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I reviewed Bryan Adams' concert Wednesday at the Uptown Theater.

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The main stage lineup Friday at Columbia's Roots n Blues n BBQ- Joe Lovano's Us 5, Rodriguez and Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives- is a There Stands the Glass dream show. 

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Phil Spector's 1965 appearance on the Merv Griffith show is unreal.  (Via JazzWax.)

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I like everything about the Empty Spaces' "Holidays Are Nice and Warm".

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A KU student wrote a compelling essay about hip hop that explores issues of race, class and technology.

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I just learned of Elina Duni.  What is this? The Albanian's new album Matanë Malit will be released by ECM in October.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.  I also hope to spend at least a couple hours at the Ink Stage at the Plaza Art Fair this weekend.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Kreator, Accept and Swallow the Sun at the Beaumont Club

A few of my associates- including the people responsible for at least two of the blogs linked in the column to the right- traveled from Kansas City to Columbia for a Wilco concert yesterday.  Fools!  One of the best rock shows of the year transpired in their own backyard last night.

My misguided friends might suggest that the triple bill consisting of two German metal bands past their commercial prime and a relatively obscure Finnish doom band is either ripe for mocking or best ignored.  They're wrong.  Kreator, Accept and Swallow the Sun haven't garnered an iota of the critical accolades that Wilco has received.  So what?  Respectability, after all, isn't very rock and roll.

My regret about missing the local openers evaporated during Swallow the Sun's first song.  The Finnish sextet frustrated would-be moshers with slow jams like "Cathedral Walls".  The band put a spell on me.

Accept is associated with one gloriously dumb anthem ("God bless ya!… hey!").  Fans know that there's a lot more where that came from.  I realize this is heresy, but I prefer Accept's poor man's version of Judas Priest to the real thing.  Accept was truly great.

Kreator was no less vital.  The first thirty minutes of the thrash band's set were every bit as good as recent area performances by Slayer and Anthrax.  Kreator's power didn't surprise me.  New material like "Phantom Antichrist" indicates the band is in top form.

The Beaumont Club can be an uncomfortable place during crowded shows.  Yet when just a few hundred people are in the room it strikes an ideal balance between spaciousness and intimacy.  All 350 metalheads at the Beaumont Club on Sunday- including at least a dozen women!- were totally into it.  And the sound was superb.  Come to think of it, last night's concert made me so giddy that I still feel just like this.  (Hey, I love Wilco too.)


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Bob Dylan's Tempest is the funniest  album I've heard in ages.  Most of the time I laugh with Bob.  Sometimes I laugh at him.  Tempest is ridiculous.  And I love it.

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Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to The Pharcyde, the latest extended mashup by Gummy Soul, is available as a free download.  RIYL: A Tribe Called Quest and the Pharcyde, obviously.

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I just learned of the retro act William Pilgrim and the All Grows Up.  RIYL: JD McPherson, Bonnie Raitt.

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I'd been looking forward to catching Ram Herrera, Jay Perez and David Lee Garza at Union Station last weekend.  Yet Expo America's unwillingness or inability to post set times prevented me from attending the festival.

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Kansas City Click: Godemis returns to the RecordBar on Monday.

Ron Pope plays the Czar Bar on Tuesday.

Swans perform at the Beaumont Club on Wednesday. 

(Original image of Kreator by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Jóhann Jóhannsson- Copenhagen Dreams

As Radiohead's least passionate fan, I just can't muster much enthusiasm for the forthcoming release by Atoms for Peace.  Even so, I've been subjected to "Default" several times in the past week.  It's good, I suppose, but I prefer the entrancing soundtrack to Copenhagen Dreams. 

Jóhann Jóhannsson's recently released set of compositions is less hurried, but it employs many of the same principles.  The jittery "The Jewish Cemetery on Mollegade", for instance, might easily be embraced by any self-respecting advocate of Atoms for Peace.

Jóhannsson is an Icelandic post-classical composer who is known among rockists through his releases on the 4AD label.  I find Copenhagen Dreams too engaging to serve as background music for reading, but it makes for excellent company on my late-night strolls.  Rather than musing "Here, They Used To Make Ships", however, I think, "here, they used to subjugate Native Americans."


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I reviewed a concert by Jason Mraz and Christina Perri.

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Here's new live footage of Reverend John Wilkins.  The filmmakers' Kickstarter campaign solicits funding for a documentary about their ongoing effort to record "modern musicians on a 1930s Presto direct-to-disc 78rpm field recorder."

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Plastic Sax reader Gary alerted me to the new documentary A.K.A. Doc Pomus.  The trailer brings tears to my eyes.  It plays at the Kansas International Film Festival on October 11.

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Have you heard Miley Cyrus' reading of "Lilac Wine"?  RIYL: Amy Winehouse, Shelby Lynne, Matraca Berg.  (Tip via S.S.)

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"F*ck Your Stuff" is the second video from P.O.S.' forthcoming album.  "Scuffin' up your Nikes/Spittin' on your whip!"

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I've long relished the raunchy blues of ZZ Top's pre-MTV albums.  That sound is back on the fine new Rick Rubin-produced La Futura.  

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Tim Finn implies that my freelance colleagues and I are less than "half a person" in an interview on KCUR's KC Currents.  (He's right.)

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I extol the neglected early work of Doug Carn at Plastic Sax.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Lionel Loueke- Heritage

As a nascent jazz fan in the pre-internet era, I purchased Wayne Shorter's 1974 album Native Dancer a few years after its release.  I'd hoped for experimental noise. Boy, was I ever disappointed!  An angry teenager, I wasn't receptive to the subtlety and beauty forged by Shorter and Milton Nascimento.  My tastes have since expanded.  I now embrace Native Dancer.  I also know enough about fusions of world musics to pronounce Lionel Loueke's new album Heritage as this decade's equivalent of the classic Native Dancer.    At once meditative and startling, Heritage is an essential album.  An EPK includes commentary from co-producer Robert Glasper.


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My notes on the 2012 edition of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival are posted at Plastic Sax.

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Dorothy McGuire of the McGuire Sisters has died.

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A couple of my musical worlds collided when Enter Shikari covered "Call Me Maybe."  (Alas, it's not very good.)

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Why, of course I watched MTV's VMA Awards!  Frank Ocean and Green Day gave the only two worthwhile performances.  A soggy rendition of Alicia Keys' atrocious new single was a bitter disappointment.

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There Stands the Glass reader P.F. shared the interesting backstory of "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" with me over the weekend.

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Kansas City Click: Bassist Ben Leifer of Diverse hosts Monday's jam session at the Blue Room.

Negative Approach is at the RecordBar on Tuesday.

The Riot Room plays host to Heartless Bastards on Wednesday.

Slim Cessna's Auto Club stops at Davey's on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Joe South, 1940-2012

To understand Joe South's music is to understand my childhood.  I was raised on a steady diet of Jerry Reed, Charlie Rich, Ray Price, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.  I vividly recall my dad singing along to Lynn Anderson's "Rose Garden" and Billy Joe Royal's "Down In the Boondocks."  Only later did I learn that South wrote both songs.  Upon acquiring the excellent anthology pictured above a few years ago, I discovered that most everything aficionados say they like about Elvis Presley's Memphis Sessions is even more true of South's best recordings.  A few of South's songs- including "All My Hard Times" (check out Joe Simon's version)- are amalgamations of all my favorite influences. South died Wednesday.


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I reviewed Pat Metheny's stunning concert Thursday at the Folly Theater.

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Kelly Clarkson's performance in Independence on Wednesday floored me.  Here's my review.

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Dedication 4, Lil Wayne's new mix tape, is atrocious.

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Tech N9ne's new song is titled "Earregular".

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I learned about the death of Larry Boehner of Lincoln's Zoo Bar from BGO.  Here's a documentary about the famous Midwestern venue.

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Tim Heidecker recorded an amusing spoof/tribute of Bob Dylan's new Titanic song.

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The video for the Fresh & Only's "Presence of Mind" is revoltingly hilarious.

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I listened to the new Cat Power album for the first time today.  After cursing the new "modern" approach for the first fifteen minutes, I came around.  It's lovely.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Sober, Sulky and Soaking at the 2012 KC Irish Fest

I almost pitched a fit Saturday at the Kansas City Irish Fest.  I had rearranged my weekend in order to catch McPeake's 1 p.m. set.  Only after arriving did I discover that the Isaac-related storm soaking the region had delayed the Belfast band's appearance.  The act's road manager told me he wasn't certain when they'd play. 

A reasonable man would have consoled himself with a few beers and a shot or two of Jameson.  Unlike the majority of fun-loving festival-goers, I refused to slake my thirst. 

I pouted in the rain as the solid Nebraska-based duo Ellis Island played.  A pleasing outing by the durable Kansas City institution Eddie Delahunt improved my mood. 

McPeake put me back in the dumps.  The band with an illustrious past finally began playing shortly before 3 p.m.  The new generation of McPeakes is very talented.  Its pleading for Facebook likes (a pet peeve) and a boast about a recent collaboration with someone associated with Michael Bublé turned me off.  The band seems to have Hollywood- or at least Michael Flatley- in its sights.  I wish it luck, but that's just not my thing. 

My disappointment in McPeake and my misguided teetotalism affected my response to Goitse.  I fell in love with the young traditionalists at the festival's small Park Stage last year.  Goitse's performance on the significantly larger Miller Lite Stage just didn't connect with me.  The band seemed much more calculated than I remembered.  I executed an Irish goodbye when the sun revealed itself as the versatile Canadian band Scythian entertained its lubricated fans.

The takeaway?  Leaving whiskey in the jar was a mistake. And Eddie Delahunt wins again.


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I reviewed Hearts of Darkness' Shelf Life at Plastic Sax.

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Hal David has died.  "I Say a Little Prayer" is my favorite Bacharach and David song. No, wait- it's "This Guy's in Love with You."  Or maybe it's "Wives and Lovers."

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"Face To the Sky" is the second promotional video for John Cale's forthcoming Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood album.

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A recent Euclid Records blog post almost causes me to miss my stint in music retail.  Almost.

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The excellent New Albion label has called it a day.

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My doppelgänger does a nice version of "Suspicious Minds"

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I'm the subject of light-hearted smack talk around the 24:00-minute mark of the latest edition of the The Mailbox podcast.

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Kansas City Click: Horace Washington hosts Monday's jam at the Blue Room. 

Everette DeVan performs every Tuesday at the Phoenix. 

Dirty Bourbon River Show plays Wednesday at Trouser Mouse.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Curfew

My responses to a meme initiated by The Guardian and prolonged by NPR Music.

1) What was the first song you ever bought?: "Shining Star" by Earth, Wind & Fire. Why?  Why not?  It's still my jam.

2) What song always gets you dancing? "Mother Popcorn" by James Brown. Why?  My knees aren't broken.

3) What song takes you back to your childhood? "Daddy Sang Bass" by Johnny Cash. Why? I was reared on that stuff.

4) What is your perfect love song? "So In Love" by Curtis Mayfield. Why? The sound and the sentiment.

5) What song would you want at your funeral? "Aguas de Marco" by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Why? "It's the mud, it's the mud."

6) Time for the encore.  One last song that make you, you. "Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy.  Why? The contradictions.  The rage.  The mayhem. Chuck D's self-importance.  Flavor Flav's humor.


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I reviewed Monday's John Hiatt concert.

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New Iris Dement!  Amazon offers snippets of her forthcoming album Sing the Delta.

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New CES Cru!

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New OFWGKTA!  Here's Hodgy and Left Brain's "La Bonita".

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An update on South Park Mexican is headlined "Should Hip-Hop Artists Be Allowed to Release Albums From Jail?"  As a guy who once repped SPM albums, I believe the answer is "yes."  (Via S.S.)

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I admired Merrill Garbus before I watched her new "What's In My Bag?" segment.  I love her now. 

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I adore Bob Dylan's "Duquesne Whistle".

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ShowYouSuck performed at KJHK.

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"Hi-fi?  Why, sure- you bet!"  A 1957 stereo demonstration infomercial is amazing.

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I heard Johnny Winter's 1974 rendition of "Stray Cat Blues" for the first time the other day.  That's evil going on.

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Tom Ryan, an occasional commenter at There Stands the Glass, has died.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Fela Tribute at the RecordBar

When I learned that Hearts of Darkness was participating in a tribute to Fela Kuti, my initial reaction wasn't entirely positive.  I wondered how the event would differ from every other Hearts of Darkness show.

But that's not fair.  Kansas City's Hearts of Darkness has always offered a unique twist on Fela's Afrobeat.  And Shelf Life, the band's new album, documents the collective's ongoing evolution.  Besides, the Fela tribute combined the forces of Hearts of Darkness and the People's Liberation Big Band.   I wasn't about to miss the opportunity to see members of two of my favorite bands collaborate on the music of one of my heroes, so I dragged my sorry carcass to the RecordBar on Sunday.

After paying the $7 cover with a fiver and eight quarters (I'm busted), I was instantly energized by the vibrant music.  Here are a few observations:

*While I missed the beginning and the end of the performance, the number of musicians on stage numbered between 14 and 19 depending on the selection.
*Alas, the audience- including the musicians waiting for their turn to play- numbered about 60.  I understand that HoD's performance the previous night at Knuckleheads drew several hundred people.  Perhaps fans were simply worn out.
*Most of the audience sat during propulsive renditions of the most inviting dance music of the twentieth century.  I don't get it.
*The break between sets was less than fifteen minutes.  Kudos to enthusiastic bandleader Bob Asher!
*Seeing Micah Herman and Jeff Harshbarger standing next to one another on stage gave me an inordinate amount of joy.
*Other notable participants included Brad Cox, Stan Kessler, Mark Lowrey, Rich Wheeler, Brad Williams and Arny Young.


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I wrote a fall jazz preview for The Kansas City Star.

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I wasn't able to catch much music while I visited Oregon last week.  Here are my notes on one excursion.

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"Leather On" is a track from Mike Dillon's forthcoming album Urn.

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"This is a cement, concrete-reinforced vault!" Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds just kills me.

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Carry On is a new tribute album to the late Teisha Helgerson.

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New P.O.S.!  I hope We Don't Even Live Here is as good as Never Better, my #2 album of 2009.

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Freaks partial to both Tool's videos and the music of Erik Satie will want to know about Hauschka's "Radar".

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The video for Gizmo's "Red Balloon" is remarkable.  RIYL: Robert Glasper, Sonic Youth.

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Ty Segal's new song "The Hill" is stupendous.  RIYL: Nuggets, drugs, 1968.

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I panned an El Ten Eleven performance several months ago.  Is  "Thanks Bill" the band's retort?

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She's a Keeper uploaded two new songs.  RIYL: Jason Mraz, Mumford & Sons.

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Enrico Rava plays Michael Jackson on the new album On the Dance Floor.

I'm all about Gummy Soul's Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to The Pharcyde.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here and here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Von Freeman, 1923-2012

Jazz giants Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus and John Coltrane are rightfully celebrated.  The heart and soul of jazz, however, lies in the lives and legacies of musicians like Chicago's Von Freeman and Kansas City's Ahmad Alaadeen.  As Howard Reich's essential and astounding remembrance indicates, Freeman was more of a hometown hero than a universally hailed legend.  That doesn't mean that Freeman wasn't brilliant.  His ancient-sounding tone on the old-fashioned tenor battles on the pictured album gives  me chills.  While Frank Catalano holds his own, Freeman's out-oriented concepts are stunning.  I also love "Doin' It Right Now", "Vonski"'s brawny debut album as a leader.  Here's essential interview and performance footage from last year.  His rendition of "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" from the same gig will break your heart.  Freeman died Saturday.


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I absolutely adore 'Round Midnight, the entirely conventional new swing album by Scott Hamilton and Harry Allen.

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The EPK for Stevie Stone's new album makes a strong case for the commercial viability of the Strange Music artist.

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XV's Popular Culture figures to make my year-end best-of list.  Here's "making-of" footage.

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Hey jerks, why didn't any of you turn me on to Mandali?

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Thanks to Good Music Alert, I'm aware of the new album by Curumin.

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Kansas City Click: Hermon Mehari is at the Majestic on Tuesdays.

Guardian Alien appears at the RecordBar on Wednesday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Turbonegro- Sexual Harrassment

In spite of the content of my previous post, I'm not too proud to admit that sometimes music chooses the listener.  In a perfect world, I wouldn't even be aware of Turbonegro.  The sleazy punk/metal band is just plain filthy.  And I love it.  "You Give Me Worms" reflects the content of the new album Sexual Harassment.  Other choice tracks are titled "Dude Without a Face," "Shake Your Sh*t Machine" and "I Got a Knife."  Recommended if you like whiskey, drugs, prison, sex and prison sex. 


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Marvin Hamlisch has died.

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Kyle James' Bars$Daze is not exactly politically correct.

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I can't believe that I saw the 2011 video for the Good Foot's "House" for the first time this week.

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Let the witch hunt begin!

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I don't care what anyone says- I'll always love Randy Travis.

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Tim Finn wrote a remarkable story about the travails of the Architects' Keenan Nichols.

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Kansas City Click: Beaver Nelson plays a matinee at Davey's on Saturday.

The Beaumont plays host to Helmet on Sunday.

Brad Leali returns to the Blue Room on Monday.

A very funny man appears at the Midland on Tuesday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Frank Ocean- Channel Orange

Finally!  A couple people with remarkably good taste were confounded that I didn't share their enthusiasm for Channel Orange.   "It's exactly your thing," I was repeatedly told.  One friend described the Frank Ocean album as a combination of Prince, Outkast and R. Kelly.  Yep- that's precisely my thing.  I stuck with it and began to appreciate the way "Crack Rock" swings, the literate flourishes in "Super Rich Kids" and the unrequited lust of "Pyramids."  The juxtaposition of André 3000 and Eddie Hazel-style guitar on "Pink Matter" also impressed me.  The entire project finally clicked a couple days ago when I rearranged the track order.  The album is sequenced all wrong.  My version of Channel Orange begins with "Bad Religion."   I haven't been a member of the cool kids' club for years, but finally tuning into Channel Orange provides me with no small degree of consolation. 


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Here's my review of Drowning Pool's under-attended concert at the VooDoo.

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Johnnie Bassett has died.

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The Pitch's annual music showcase is always fun.   The best bands I saw Saturday were Making Movies and Radkey.  Diverse's hip hop set inspired speculation at Plastic Sax.

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You're really blowing it if you've never attended one of the People's Liberation Big Band's monthly performances at the RecordBar.  Sunday's gig was astounding.

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Grenadina's new six-song EP Pretend For Me is available as a "name-your-own-price" download at Bandcamp.  RIYL: L7, K Records.

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Unusual items are in the bags of Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

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"Hell Broke Luce".

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Kansas City Click: Frank Hannon of Tesla appears Tuesday at Jerry's Bait Shop in Lee's Summit.

White Violet plays at Czar Bar on Wednesday.

White Wizzard is at Riot Room on Thursday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

What's That Noise?

I almost became "that guy" last week.  Every music fan has watched people turn around at the door of a tavern when they realize that the room is dominated by loud musicians.  I almost joined that contemptible club last week.  Hungry and with an hour to kill before going to a different live music venue for a five-hour show, I stopped at Czar Bar at 6 p.m. to partake in its air conditioning, ice water and food.  A band was launching into a matinee performance.   With more than a little trepidation, I stayed to check out the emo-ish band The Author and the Illustrator.  I liked 'em.  My hamburger and fries were also very good, although at $13 plus tip, I'm far more likely to go out of my way to catch the Author and the Illustrator than splurge on another meal at the establishment on Grand Boulevard.


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I'm still assessing the merits of The Cherry Thing.  I have no such reservations about Neneh Cherry's eclectic playlist.

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Sara Gazarek has jokes.

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It's a wonder that Foxygen didn't title its new album Through the Past, Darkly (Vol. 3).

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My friend Steve Wilson is interviewed about his band the Liquor Buddies.

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Here's the new video for Stik Figa's "Cornerstore."

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"Welcome to Nookie Wood." (How I love John Cale!)

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The comment thread at Tim Finn's review of a Big Time Rush concert is a thing of beauty.

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The Mailbox, a weekly Kansas City-centric music program hosted by my friends Michael Byars and Chris Haghirian, is one of my favorite podcasts.  That said, my taste in music only overlaps with Chris' about ten percent of the time.

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Kansas City Click: Look for me at the following shows: Drowning Pool returns to the VooDoo on Friday.

The Pitch Music Showcase is Saturday.

The People's Liberation Big Band celebrates its fourth year at the RecordBar on Sunday.

My Morning Jacket headlines at Starlight on Monday.

(Original music by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Christian Scott- Christian aTunde Adjuah

I love jazz that sounds like tomorrow rather than yesterday.  Christian Scott's new album Christian aTunde Adjuah fits the bill.  It's precisely what I want to hear from a young American jazz ensemble.  The musicians are clearly aware of hip hop, contemporary R&B and indie rock even as the music they play can't be mistaken for anything but jazz.  Instead of being cluttered with a plethora of guest features, it's recorded with Scott's working band.  I heard the double album for the first time yesterday, but I'm confident that Christian aTunde Adjuah will find a spot on my year-end Top Ten album list.  Here's the EPK for the album.


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My review of last week's concert by Los Lobos, Making Movies and Maria the Mexican angered many readers.  For the record, Los Lobos was once my favorite rock band.

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Bill Doss of Olivia Tremor Control has died.

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Saint Vitus will perform at the Granada in October.  I've never seen the influential metal band.

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Several sets from last weekend's Newport Folk (ahem) Festival are available as free downloads from NPR.  I'm enjoying digital versions of performances by Charles Bradley and the Alabama Shakes.

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I just discovered that the Persuasions recorded at least one album of Dead covers.  Their version of "Ripple" is lovely.

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Longtime readers of There Stands the Glass won't be surprised to learn that the new collection of material from Terje Rypdal makes me weak in the knees.

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DJ Booth offers three remixes of Tech N9ne's "Blur."

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In case anyone was wondering, I'm still not over "Call Me Maybe."

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Wrath and Ruin- Mouth of Oblivion

A member of Wrath and Ruin gave me a CD copy of Mouth of Oblivion during a metal show last winter.  Put off by the Kansas City-based metal band's use of keyboards, I set the album aside.  The recent passing of Deep Purple's Jon Lord and the prevalent use of keyboards by metal bands at this summer's Mayhem and Warped tours inspired me to give Mouth of Oblivion another chance. 

Surprise!  The keyboards are now one of my favorite elements of the band's debut release.  Synths add a melodic cohesiveness and counter the intentionally abrasive guitars.  The entire project seems to be wheeled around the epic "The Bug", the album's strongest track.  But I also appreciate raging songs like "Strength of Materials" and "Sedna", a Hearts of Space-style mood piece.

While Wrath and Ruin probably wouldn't have cracked my best-of-2011 list had I given it a fair shake last year, I'm glad it's part of my soundtrack for the scorching summer of 2012.

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I can't abide Deerhunter, but after seeing Bradford Cox's What's In My Bag? segment, I may have to reevaluate my bias.  The dude's down with both Carl Perkins and Pere Ubu. 

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My discovery of the week is Carter Sampson.  RIYL: Gillian Welch, red dirt.

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I found an examination of "copy-left" issues in Brazil fascinating.

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"Indie rock veterans Death Cab for Cutie got $150,000, while country singer Dierks Bentley pulled down $120,000,"  according to an interesting report in the Chicago Tribune about a city-funded festival.

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Kansas City Click: Deadbeat Darling tops Saturday's bill at the Riot Room.

The Temper Trap perform at Crossroads KC on Monday.

Girl In a Coma are at the Riot Room on Monday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Hobby Rockets, Treehouses and Red Abalone

The embedded video documents a visit the members of the new Kansas City-based fado band Fado Novato paid to a luthier.  It offers a peek into a world about which I know very little. Observations:

*The Raytown-based luthier Dave Bucher is a fascinating guy.  Anyone who enjoys KCPT's Rare Visions & Roadside Revelations will appreciate Bucher's folk art and scholarly musings.

*The video serves as confirmation that Shay Estes is indeed responsible for the rainout of last year's Prairie Village Jazz Festival.  (Kidding, Shay- I'm just kidding.)

*This is an ideal example of how musicians can (and should) incorporate social media into their day-to-day interactions.

*That said, I can't wait to hear Fado Novato perform.


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I wrote a poorly received review of last night's Tenacious D show.

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Can you believe that I'd never been to a James Taylor concert until last week?  Here's my review.

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Tech N9ne's "Caribou Lou" has achieved gold status.  (Tip via RH.)

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I'm excited about Christian Scott's new album in spite of his hubris-filled EPK.  Here's corresponding live footage.

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How do you compel me to purchase a physical version of an album?  The latest reissue of Liquid Swords contains "a full wooden minature (sic) chess set, which can be played on the chess board printed and contained directly on the inner lining of the box."

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I reviewed Pat Metheny's new Unity Band album at Plastic Sax.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

Review: She's a Keeper at Yardley Hall

The processed air inside Yardley Hall was deliciously chilly on Friday.  As I spend a lot of time exposed to this summer's extreme heat, the promise of air-conditioning lured me to the free She's a Keeper concert at Johnson County Community College. 

I hadn't seen the teen-dominated band since April and the chance to hear it in an acoustically pristine environment intrigued me.  Along with approximately 250 people, I learned that it's progressing nicely.  While the 45-minute set indicated that She's a Keeper hasn't grown out of its adorably awkward stage presence, the band has three strong vocalists and a terrific sense of melody.  Uninitiated readers are encouraged to watch the excellent video for "Stupid Heart" to experience the band's tremendous promise.

If the musicians asked me for advice, I'd tell them to quit listening to anything made in the new millennium.  It's obvious that the members of She's a Keeper take inspiration from Mumford & Sons and the Lumineers.  That's fine, but the band would do well to study American Beauty, Pink Moon, Astral Weeks and a stack of albums by John Hurt, Sonny Terry, the Hot Club of France and Lonnie Johnson.  An injection of blues and swing would help further distinguish She's a Keeper from the thousands of new acts plying a similar terrain.

Then again, She's a Keeper doesn't need my guidance.  Even after being told that the recording was available as a free download, members of the audience purchased 30 CD versions of a live EP after Friday's show.  The band's rabid fan base ranges in age from 5 to 65.  I can't think of another locally-based act with such broad appeal. 


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My five favorite performances at the Mayhem Festival on Tuesday were by Motorhead, Slipknot, Conflicts, Dirtfedd and Betraying the Martyrs. Here's my review.

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I'm looking forward to seeing if my gigantic melon appears in the background of the new PBS special featuring Joyce DiDonato's with the Kansas City Symphony.  The soundtrack is available at iTunes.

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Aficionados of sloppy garage rock need the Dirty Nil's Summer Mix-Tape.  It's free at Bandcamp.

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Paper Tiger's "Gold Pass" has served as my theme song for the past week.

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Kyle James is featured on thePhantom*'s "Sotally Tober".  The track is obviously inspired by Tech N9ne's "Everybody Move".  (Via Tony's Kansas City.)

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image of She's a Keeper by There Stands the Glass.)

Kitty Wells, 1919-2012

Kitty Wells has died.  "One by One", the greats are leaving us.  While I never took a liking to her moralizing, I'll miss her classic honky tonk approach.


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I still haven't come to a conclusion about the merits of the collaboration between Neneh Cherry and the Thing.  Here's instructive live footage.

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Say what you will about the Gathering of the Juggalos- I'm genuinely impressed that the 2012 edition will include Danny Brown, George Clinton, the Geto Boys, The Game, Warren G, Raekwon, the Fat Boys, Kool Keith, Master P, DMX and Tech N9ne. 

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Why is Baroness suddenly a socially acceptable metal band?  I've liked Baroness live and on record for years, but it's weird to see the band suddenly championed by the likes of NPR.

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I review a new album that leads off with a track by the People's Liberation Big Band at Plastic Sax.

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El-P produced Milkdrop's "Game Changer".

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Kansas City Click: It's not the heat- it's the deathcore.  I'll see you in the pit at Mayhem Festival on Tuesday.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Steep Canyon Rangers- Nobody Knows You

I've spent a great deal of time listening the Avett Brothers, the Yonder Mountain String Band, Old Crow Medicine Show and other newgrass and alt-folk acts in recent weeks.  There was a time when I would have considered such deviations from traditional bluegrass heretical.  No more.  As someone once croaked, "I was so much older then- I'm younger than that now."  So when I hear "real" bluegrass today- and the Steep Canyon Rangers' new release Nobody Knows You qualifies as a traditional bluegrass album- I'm initially inclined to get excited only by unconventional production tricks on songs like Nobody Knows You's "Between Midnight and the Dawn."  After a few spins, however, the songs steeped in tradition became my favorites.  I also appreciate that a couple of the love songs are written by a guy who clearly understands the complexities of relationships.  Bonus- there's no sign of a certain comedian. 


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God bless Public Enemy.  Check out "I Shall Not Be Moved".

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I've given Frank Ocean's Channel Orange a cursory listen.  It struck me as a less obnoxious version of Rhymes-with-Snake's Take Care.  I'll try it again when I'm in the proper frame of mind.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)