Je Chante

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Prince Charles stumped the chump. The divisive personage recently listed 13 of his favorite songs in coordination with a charitable endeavor. In a blindfold test administered by my life partner as a humiliating parlor game, I identified only six of his selections. Charles Trenet’s "La mer" was among the songs I knew. My love affair with the romantic songs of the French crooner and his country was rekindled. I’ve visited Paris just once. That won’t do. I intend to hum "Moi j'aime le music hall" and "Le jardin extraordinaire" when I return to the 5th Arrondissement in the next two or three years.

Album Review: Dyke & The Blazers- Down On Funky Broadway: Phoenix (1966-1967) and I Got a Message: Hollywood (1968-1970)

Dyke & The Blazers’ postulation that Jimmy Smith and Nancy Wilson merited shout-outs alongside James Brown and Johnny Taylor on “We Got More Soul” expanded the way I thought about music when I encountered the jubilant 1969 single in the 1980s. Yet until now, my appreciation of Dyke & The Blazers was largely limited to “We Got More Soul” and "Funky Broadway". A pair of illuminating new Craft Recordings releases- Down On Funky Broadway: Phoenix (1966-1967) and I Got a Message: Hollywood (1968-1970)- filled me in on what I’ve been missing. I didn’t know much about the group’s tragic career arc until I watched Craft’s two-minute documentary. Dyke & The Blazers may have been largely limited to emulating Otis Redding and Booker T. & the M.G.’s, but the frenetic funk documented on Down On Funky Broadway and I Got a Message is my idea of definitive party music.

Catching Up: Overlooked Albums and Songs of 2021 (so far)

Rather than compiling a conventional mid-year best-of ranking, I’m acknowledging albums and songs I initially overlooked or previously underappreciated in the first six months of 2021.  Many of the selections are obscure, but millions of people were tuned into songs and albums like “No More Parties” and En Contra De Mi Voluntad long before I caught up.

Top Ten Overlooked and Underappreciated Albums of 2021 (So Far)

1. Marianne Faithfull and Warren Ellis- She Walks in Beauty

Pure poetry.

2. Jaimie Branch- Fly or Die Live

Angry improv.

3. Lambchop- Showtunes

My review.

4. Susan Alcorn, Ingrid Laubrock and Leila Bordeuil- Bird Meets Wire

Hung up.

5. Jimmy Edgar- Cheetah Bend

My review. 

6. La Arrolladora Banda el Limón- En Contra De Mi Voluntad

Stupendous big band.

7. Silicone Prairie- My Life On the Silicone Prairie

Space junk.

8. Michael Wollny- XXXX

Progressive Euro-jazz.

9. Birds of Maya- Valdez

Unfiltered scuzz.

10. Elizabeth Chang- Transformations

Kirchner, Sessions and Schoenberg.

Top Ten Overlooked and Underappreciated Songs of 2021 (So Far)

1. Coi Leray- “No More Parties”

Curfew.

2. Moby, Mark Lanegan and Kris Kristofferson- "The Lonely Night"

Hurt.

3. Celeste- "Tonight Tonight"

Undeniable pop.

4. Karol G and Nathy Peluso- “Gato Malo”

Discussion on the In My Headache podcast.

5. Armand Hammer, the Alchemist and Earl Sweatshirt- "Falling Out of the Sky"

Crash.

6. Roman Alexander and Ashley Cooke- “Between You & Me”

Closing in.

7. Anitta- "Loco"

Crazy-good.

8. Ana Lélia- "Meu Cantinho"

Gentle breeze.

9. Cuee and Joel Leoj- “Ain’t Going Back”

Amen.

10. Sir the Baptist and Anthony Hamilton- "Jesus in the Ghetto"

Can’t tell Him nothing.

My previous monthly rankings of albums, songs, concerts and films are here.

June 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Lili by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (released in June)

1. Migos- Culture III

My post-vaccination party soundtrack, 1/2.

2. Billy F Gibbons- Hardware

My post-vaccination party soundtrack, 2/2.

3. Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion- Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part

I love the elements I love more than I loathe the elements I loathe.

4. Anthony Braxton- 12 Comp (Zim)

My review.

5. Chris Thile- Laysongs

Anxious gospel.

6. Tyler, The Creator- Call Me If You Get Lost

Goblin grows up.

7. Julian Lage- Squint

A different type of power trio.

8. Wild Up- Julius Eastman, Vol. 1: Femenine

A vital conceptualization.

9. Mac Lethal- Winter Heartbreak II

My review.

10. Angel Bat Dawid- Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1 Doxology

Ancient to the (lofi) future.

Top Ten Songs (released in June)

1. Megan Thee Stallion- “Thot Sh*t”

“Lit since brunch.”

2. Little Simz- "Rollin' Stone"

Quenched.

3. Rauw Alejandro and Anitta- "Brazilera"

Carnival.

4. Moor Mother- "Zami"

Traveling the spaceways.

5. Billie Eilish- "Lost Cause"’

Dead flowers.

6. Petra Haden- "Silence"

Song for her father.

7. Becky G and El Alfa- “Fulanito”

Rhythm nation.

8. Jennifer Hudson- "Here I Am"

Aria for Aretha.

9. Bfd Da Packman- “Wendy Williams”

“Back to Walmart.”

10. Brittney Spencer- “Sober & Skinny”

You got a fast car.

Top Ten Concerts (first monthly ranking since March 2020!)

1. Irreversible Entanglements- Stephens Lake Park Amphitheatre (Columbia, Missouri)

My review.

2. Johnny Rawls- Gladstone Summertime Bluesfest 

My notes.

3. Bird Fleming and Bill Summers’ “Voyage of the Drum”- Dunbar Park

My review.

4. Second Nature Ensemble- Westport Coffee House

My review.

5. En Vogue- Hy-Vee Arena

My review.

6. Mike Dillon and Nikki Glaspie- 1900 Building

My review.

7. Adam Galblum Quartet- Market KC

Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli revived.

8. Kian Byrne- Second Presbyterian Church

A singer-songwriter sweats it out under the setting sun.

9. Roman Alexander- KC Live

My review.

10. The Kansas City Chorale- Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church

Docked several notches for a clergyman’s abhorrent mask-shaming.

Top Ten Movies (viewed for the first time in June)

1. Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Gesundheit!

2. Lili (1953)

A French twist on The Wizard of Oz.

3. La ciociara/Two Women (1960)

Sophia Loren and Eleonora Brown suffer unspeakable trauma.

4. Polish Wedding (1998)

Love in Hamtramck.

5. Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Psychotropic noir.

6. I Accuse! (1958)

Straightforward depiction of the Dreyfus affair.

7. Lisztomania (1975)

Richard Wagner is Satan in Ken Russell’s gonzo freakout. 

8. Terri (2011)

Teen cringe.

9. The Shadow on the Window (1957)

And Jerry Mathers as the murder witness.

10. Small Town Crime (2017)

Negligible noir.

May’s recap and links to previous monthly surveys are here.

Album Review: Anthony Braxton- 12 Comp (Zim)

I binged on Anthony Braxton’s 12 Comp (Zim) this week.  Rather than savoring each of the 12 concerts in the new set, I elected to plow through all 638 minutes of the recordings from 2017 in three days.  My approach may have devalued the music, but it elevated even the most mundane aspects of my daily life.  The work of the decorated genius demands- and merits- attentive listening.  Yet I experienced it amid the footsteps of joggers, the thrum of kitchen appliances, the chatter of tree-dwelling creatures and the rumble of street traffic.  I felt consecrated by the merger of hallowed and commonplace sounds.

As someone who traveled 500 miles to attend a Braxton concert in 2018, I realize I’m an atypical listener.  Even so, it’s amazing how some of his most challenging music is transformed into semi-easy listening after just a few hours. My life partner didn’t once complain about the continual onslaught. She may share my sense that the spectral sounds are divinely inspired. The interstellar chamber music documented on 12 Comp (Zim) is a self-contained universe.  Akin to an alien life form derived from unknown biological building blocks, Braxton’s drummer-less band exists apart from established Earth-bound categories.

The sonic wavelengths created by a core group that includes an accordionist, a pair of harpists and a tuba player operates within a system of recondite rules outside the realms of classical, jazz and popular music. Figuratively and literally, it’s a lot. I would be content spending the remainder of 2021 decoding 12 Comp (Zim). Corresponding video documentation would aid in the analysis. Yet Quartet (Standards) 2020, an even bigger box of Braxton with a very different set of collaborators, was also released this month. The Braxton binge is just beginning.

The Thrill of the Crowd

Original image of Johnny Rawls in Gladstone, Missouri, by There Stands the Glass.

After attending 11 concerts in the last 16 days, it’s safe to say I’m back at it. And I still feel as if I’ll never catch up. Why am I compelled to venture out several night a week? Sure, I’m a music fiend, but that’s not the only reason I’m willing to drive four hours to catch a 40-minute performance. Even when the environment is less than ideal, being amid a crowd of vivacious music fans brings me joy. Seeing drunken revelers and serious soul-blues fans share an improvised dance floor with sugar-fueled children and their accommodating mothers at the Gladstone Summertime Bluesfest last night greatly enhanced my appreciation of Johnny Rawls’ headlining appearance. In those sublime moments I feel as if everything is right in the world.

Concert Review: En Vogue and Delynia Jannell at HyVee Arena

Original image of electric billboard by There Stands the Glass.

The view from the cheap seats at HyVee Arena on Saturday, June 12, was like looking at a Verzuz stream from the wrong end of a set of binoculars.  Even so, I relished the concert by nineties hitmakers En Vogue and opening act Delynia Jannell.

Being amid approximately 1,500 festive R&B fans who’d paid for the privilege of being in what was once the upper tier of the former Kemper Arena represented a bracing return to normalcy.  I’ve loved En Vogue since “Hold On” hit the airwaves in 1989.  I was thrilled to check in with old favorites in a new epoch.

Even from my poor vantage point, watching original En Vogue members Terry Ellis and Cindy Herron and 2003 addition Rhona Bennett accentuate 14 songs in 60 minutes with Supremes-style choreography over backing tracks was heavenly.  The sound wasn’t great, but I’ve encountered far worse this month.

I’ve seen Delynia Jannell open for several touring acts, but she was better than ever leading a seven-piece backing band on Saturday.  The Kansas City veteran’s compelling stage patter and solid covers of hits by the likes of Chaka Khan, Ledisi and Deniece Williams primed the audience for En Vogue.

En Vogue setlist: Free Your Mind; Lies; Give It Up, Turn It Loose; Whatta Man; I’m Good; My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It); Reach 4 Me; Yesterday; Giving Him Something He Can Feel; Whatever; Don’t Go; Rocket; Don’t Let Go (Love); Hold On

Woulda Shoulda Coulda: Reflections on Mac Lethal's Winter Heartbreak II

Mac Lethal possessed the talent, intelligence and wit to become a star in the first decade of the millennium.  Questionable career choices derailed the rapper’s chance to attain the sort of double-edged fame later achieved by the late Mac Miller.  The Kansan born David McCleary Sheldon is well aware of the missed opportunities.  He mercilessly beats himself up throughout Winter Heartbreak II.

I’m all too familiar with several of the forms of anguish Mac details on his latest album.  In addition to sharing an unbecoming Midwestern accent and a similar series of deflating professional disappointments, I’ve also experienced the need to repair relationships and address substance abuse issues among family and friends in the corner of the world I share with Mac. The grim tone of Mac’s self-described “depression party” is lightened by relatable punchlines.  Acknowledging the need to adjust to diminished expectations, he insists “I’m trying to win yard-of-the-month- f*ck a Grammy!”

Longtime listeners will recognize the lyrical themes and musical constructs.  Winter Heartbreak II may not be entirely fresh, but Mac recycles only his best bits.  Aside from a bout of tongue-twisting rat-a-tat rapping, he avoids the gimmicky YouTube stunts that seem to have dominated his professional focus in recent years. Winter Heartbreak II probably won’t make Mac many new converts.  But I expect I’m not the only day-one fan thrilled by his potent return to form.

Concert Review: Adam Doleac and Roman Alexander at KC Live

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I joined a throng of approximately 5,000 unmasked revelers in the KC Live block of the Power & Light District on Thursday, June 3.  The delirious sense of joy permeating the free Hot Country Nights concert by country up-and-comers Adam Doleac and Roman Alexander was so infectious that I considered removing my homemade John Deere face-covering.

Only the usual bugaboos making KC Live a problematic space for live music prevented me from surrendering to the communal elation.  Canyon-esque echoing, sound-bleed issuing from the surrounding establishments and alcohol-fueled chattering among revelers made hearing Doleac and Alexander challenging.  Although I was positioned just 30 feet from the edge of the stage, the performances were often drowned out by the surrounding dissonance.

The Instagram clip I posted of Alexander performing his biggest hit reflects the atmosphere.  The young women near me can be heard coordinating a Snapshot video during the hometown show by the man who was raised near Parkville, Missouri.  Their endeavor was consistent with a flirtatious ambience resembling a massive speed dating event for country singles.  Music was a secondary consideration.

Stages give pop-oriented country acts like Doleac and Alexander an opportunity to embrace or defy the slick sound of their radio hits.  The compromised environment of Thursday’s show made it impossible to ascertain the intentions of either man, although fiddles and pedal steel guitars were nowhere to be seen.

Doleac covered Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Fountains of Wayne’s “Stacy’s Mom.”  Alexander’s attempt to play what might have been a Kings of Leon song failed to cut through the tumultuous racket.  In spite of the challenges inherent in attending concerts at KC Live, I know I’ll be back.  Hot Country Nights is far from perfect for music-oriented country fans, but the buoyant atmosphere and the price of admission is irresistible.

Gigs, Gimmicks and Geegaws

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Running errands in a car without bluetooth capability (oh, the horror!), my life companion and I resorted to fiddling with the radio.  We settled on the oldies station that dominates radio ratings in Kansas City.  Hits by the likes of Hall & Oates, John Mellencamp and Madonna were featured in an all-’80s Memorial Day weekend promotion.

I fussily complained that having completely absorbed the songs decades ago, I was incapable of deriving even a modicum of pleasure from listening to them for the umpteenth time.  I waited a millisecond too long to reply after the love of my life asked if I felt the same way about her.

She wasn’t mad for long.  She knows humans are infinitely more complex than static pop songs.  Unlike, say, Men at Work’s infuriating 1981 hit “Down Under,” even the most circumspect person constantly undergoes significant changes.  I may be disinterested in glorifying the past, but I’m a sucker for gigs, gimmicks, revisions and makeovers.

I’d be first in line to fork over twenty dollars to catch Men at Work at an area nightclub tonight.  And while the experience they offer is inherently inferior, live albums also hold enormous appeal to me.  I’m genuinely impressed by Point of Know Return: Live & Beyond.  The souvenir of Kansas’ 2019-20 tour, the prog-rock behemoth’s new album is far better than anyone could reasonably expect.

Can’s Live in Stuttgart 1975 is a more astounding surprise.  Five extended instrumental jams occupy the preposterously esoteric realm in which the Velvet Underground and Weather Report overlap.  Yet my favorite new live release is Celebration, a 2019 collaboration of two avant-garde stalwarts.  Swiss pianist Irène Schweizer and American percussionist Hamid Drake veer between violent cacophony and joyous swing as if the two styles are compatible.  (They are.)

A significant portion of Moby’s success derives from his knack for conjoining styles most listeners consider incongruous.  I disagree with classical traditionalists who suggest the signing of Moby by Deutsche Grammophon is crass.  The famous yellow seal may have lost a bit of luster in the classical powerhouse’s recent crossover bids, but I’m completely sold on the string-laden version of Mark Lanegan’s “The Lonely Night” pairing Lanegan with Kris Kristofferson on Moby’s Reprise.

The vitality of Moby’s classical venture is a mild surprise, but the weakness of K.D. Lang’s Makeover is a bitter disappointment.  Creating dance remixes of several of the stellar vocalist’s most beloved tracks seems like a can’t-lose proposition.  Yet ecstatic jubilance is never attained.  Maybe I’ll feel differently should I encounter the St. Tropez Mix of “Miss Chatelaine” on a personalized oldies station 30 years from now.

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The rapid expansion of my concert calendar is exciting.  Yet all but a few of the most compelling tours are skipping the Kansas City area.  I whined about the inability of improvising musicians to draw crowds in this town at Plastic Sax.

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Spotify’s latest customer engagement effort insists Karol G is my top artist at the platform. That’s cool, but if the tagging process in classical music wasn’t so byzantine, Spotify’s bots would correctly cite Richard Wagner as my most-streamed artist.