The Top Kansas City Albums and EPs of 2021

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Kansas City is a small town.  Even so, my version of Kansas City is vastly different from the place many of my music-minded peers call home.  Rankings of 55 of my favorite recordings released by artists from the Kansas City area during the first 42 weeks of 2021 follow.  A handful of highly praised albums didn’t make the cut.  The omissions aren't personal.  I simply prefer the titles listed below.  Additionally, several albums by prominent locally based musicians are slated for release in the final weeks of 2021. 

The Top 25 Kansas City Albums of 2021

1. Behzod Abduraimov- Debussy Chopin Mussorgsky

My review.

2. Pat Metheny- Road to the Sun

My review.

3. Steddy P- SOS: Toxic

4. Mac Lethal- Winter Heartbreak II

My review.

5. Pat Metheny- Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV)

My review.

6. Blackstarkids- Puppies Forever

7. Flooding- Flooding

My review.

8. Hermon Mehari and Alessandro Lanzoni- Arc Fiction

My review.

9. Verploegh and Baker- Singles

My review.

10. Samantha Fish- Faster

11. The Count Basie Orchestra- Live at Birdland

My review.

12. Liam Kazer- Due North

13. Hxxs- Channeler

14. Steve Million- What I Meant to Say

My review.

15. Tech N9ne- Asin9ne

16. Silicone Prairie- My Life on the Silicone Prairie

17. GI Gizzle and Rich the Factor- Don't Take This Personal 2

18. John Armato- The Drummer Loves Ballads

My review.

19. Melissa Etheridge- One Way Out

20. Riley Downing- Start It Over

21. Cheli Davis Smith Trio- Composite

My review.

22. Florian Arbenz, Hermon Mehari and Nelson Veras- Conversation #1: Condensed

My review.

23. Lucy Wijnands- Sings the David Heckendorn Song Book

24. Sara Morgan- Another Nail

25. Milkdrop- Thirty Eight

The Top 20 Kansas City EPs of 2021

1. Bummer- Dead Horse

2. Blob Castle- Music for Art Show

My review.

3. Big Water- ...And I’m All Out of Sh*t to F**k Up

4. The Greeting Committee- Dandelion

5. Baby and the Brain- BrainBaby

6. Rachel Cion - Wanted!

7. Rich the Factor- Mobbligated

8. Alber- Journey

My review.

9. Stik Figa- East of MacVicar Ave

10. Quiet Takes- San Fidel

11. Alyssa Murray- Half & Half

12. Sarin Reaper- Demo

13. Maal and Tom Richman- Grass

14. Cuee- Gospel

15. Lauren Anderson- Love on the Rocks

16. Connor Leimer- Like My Mind

17. Andy McKee- Symbol

18. Rory Fresco- Born Hero

19. Edison Lights- Shake This

20. Such Lovely People- Great Distinction

The Top Ten Kansas City Reissues, Reimaginings and Compilations of 2021

1. Kevin Morby- A Night at the Little Los Angeles

2. Mike Dillon- Shoot the Moon

My review.

3. Mike Dillon- 1918

My review.

4. Merlin- Electric Children: The Final Cut

5. Rich the Factor- Streets vs. Commercial: 100 Song Collection, Part 1

6. The Wild Women of Kansas City- Live at Pilgrim Chapel

My review.

7. Kansas- Point of Know Return: Live & Beyond

8. Danny Cox- Young and Hot: Live at Cowtown Ballroom

9. Whiskey Boots- #1

10. Vitreous Humor- Posthumous

Last year’s rankings of Kansas City releases are here.

Concert Review: Erykah Badu at the Midland Theatre

Original image by There Stand the Glass.

Erykah Badu recited several of her self-anointed sobriquets during her concert at the Midland Theatre on Tuesday, October 13.  Nicknames like Serra Bellum and Fat Belly Bella provide insights into Badu’s mindset, but rightfully proclaiming herself the spiritual heir of Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln might have been more helpful.

She clarified her role in the jazz continuum in a headlining appearance at the Sprint Center in 2018.  While she performed large-scale cosmic jazz at the notorious concert, Tuesday’s presentation was entirely different.  The shapeshifting star and her ten-piece ensemble focused on electro-funk for much of the nearly two-hour- and relatively punctual at a mere 70 minutes behind schedule- performance.

Dual drummers and keyboardists occasionally canceled one another out.  A more compact group would probably have produced cleaner music, but Badu basked in the intentionally muddy wall of sound.  The politics she espoused were no less convoluted.

In speeches long and short, she expressed contradictory philosophies associated with Ayn Rand, Che Guevara and Salvador Allende.  Badu warbled “I am so dizzy right now” after spinning about like a lithe version of Thelonious Monk.  Her politically-minded admirers undoubtedly suffered doctrinal disorientation.

Badu vogued to the audience favorite “Tyrone,” beamed up to the mothership at the conclusion of “Window Seat” and auditioned the promising new song “Angels in the Afterlife.”  After proclaiming “I feel like getting real juke-jointy,” Badu led the band in dazzling versions of Willie Dixon’s blues standard “Wang Dang Doodle” and her risque jam “Annie (Don’t Wear No Panties).”

Adhering to Baduizm mandates accepting the good with the bad.  The same traits that make Badu one of the most vital musicians of the past 25 years also make fandom challenging.  Yet on Tuesday, every dubious decision was countered by several moments of brilliance.  Buying a ticket to see Badu is akin to purchasing a lottery ticket.  The approximately 1,200 people at last night’s concert won big.

Concert Review: Marc Anthony at the T-Mobile Center

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

“Check it out, baby!” Marc Anthony introduced several propulsive salsa selections with his English-language catchphrase at the T-Mobile Center on Saturday, October 9. The baseball slugger Salvador Perez was part of the euphoric audience of approximately 7,500. Dancing throughout the 105-minute performance was the most fun I’ve had in public in two years. While the 16-piece band was excellent, the star’s voice was the most impressive instrument. Occasional raspiness and missed notes did nothing to negate Anthony’s profound soulfulness.

What I Should Have Said

Screenshot of the trailer of the Dutch National Opera’s production of Der Zwerg by There Stands the Glass.

My friend and colleague Aaron Rhodes gently poked fun at my recent focus on avant-garde jazz, opera and classical music at There Stands the Glass in the new episode of our In My Headache podcast.  He characterized my recent rotation as “old man music.” I failed to properly defend my inclinations, mumbling something about the value in bringing attention to neglected sounds.  I’m sure Aaron hoped I’d respond with more vitriol.

I’m not ashamed of my age but I look askance at my peers.  The listening habits of most people of my generation are calcified.  It’s embarrassing.  The graying people immersed exclusively in disposable pop are only slightly less mortifying.  As I recently noted in this space, I embrace the present even as I acknowledge my years.

I reject the conventional wisdom that jazz, opera and classical music should be of interest only to old folks even though the audiences for the forms are disproportionately elderly.  And to be sure, the music is frequently stale and corny.  Yet there’s nothing inherently decrepit about the most exemplary representatives of the forms.

The pretensions closely associated with opera are particularly egregious.  I’m committed to helping dismantle the unhealthy affiliation.  I implore There Stands the Glass readers to take a look at the Dutch National Opera’s stylish new production of Alexander Zemlinsky’s forgotten 1922 opera Der Zwerg. The tide is slowly turning.

On the jazz tip, I stand by my recent endorsements of imaginative albums by the European artists Mathias Eick and Nala Sinephro. The underground rebellion on Kansas City’s improvised music scene is no less encouraging. Nonetheless, Aaron and other advocates of popular music needn’t worry about me. I’m going to get my kicks at Marc Anthony’s arena concert tonight.

Concert Review: St. Vincent at Grinders KC

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

St. Vincent isn’t cancelled after all.  More than 2,000 admirers attended the concert by the controversial musician on Thursday, October 7, doubling the attendance of the previous St. Vincent show I’d witnessed.  Dismissing the negativity swirling around the artist born Annie Clark was the right move.  Her appearance at Grinders KC is a contender for the concert of the year.

The 90-minute performance possessed most of the elements essential to memorable old-school rock shows: guitar shredding, noisy freakouts, absurdist comedy, imaginative staging and an incredible band.  The seven accomplished ringers on stage with Clark included guitarist Rachel Eckroth (Chris Botti, Donny McCaslin, etc.), Jason Falkner (Jellyfish, The Three O’Clock, etc.) and drummer Mark Guiliana (David Bowie, Brad Mehldau, etc.).

Fresh arrangements of old material and songs from Clark’s excellent 2021 album Daddy's Home took advantage of the formidable lineup. Clark is a fiercely iconoclastic artist. Even so, her soul-based innovations and gleeful embrace of the campiest aspects of glam rock made Thursday’s concert the most gratifying de facto David Bowie tribute I’ve encountered.

Concert Review: Joshua Bell and Alessio Bax at Helzberg Hall

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The reacclimation process will be more difficult than anticipated.  Less than two weeks after I posted an essay about how the sonic flaws common to classical recordings make the music more approachable, related forms of distraction irritated me at the first ticketed classical concert I attended in 2021.

A variety of sonic and visual static diminished a distressingly brief and acutely hushed recital by Joshua Bell and Alessio Bax at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, October 2. The concert opened the 2021-22 season of the Harriman-Jewell Series Series.

Much of the audience of about 500 was obligated to contend with the desperate flailing of a large man in the second row of Helzberg Hall during the 65-minute performance.  Clearly experiencing extreme physical discomfort, he frantically fanned himself with a program.  I was genuinely concerned for his welfare.

A phone alarm sounded between the first and second movements of Maurice Ravel’s Violin Sonata No. 2.  An ill-timed cough marred an interpretation of a Giacomo Puccini aria.  And a man near me was compelled to accompany the musicians by eliciting a remarkable range of creaks from his wobbly seat.

My noisy neighbor may have been inspired by Bell.  Edvard Grieg’s Violin Sonata No. 3, the dramatic opening piece, allowed the star to explore multiple facets of the violin.  While I felt no affinity for the composition, Bell’s ballyhooed technical faculties were astonishing.

A rendition of Ernest Bloch’s earthy “Nigun” was more interesting, but the twists and turns of the Ravel sonata were a revelation.  Having never heard the jazz-tinged piece, the dissonance- punctuated by Bell’s occasional gasps- shocked me.  It was precisely the kind of noise I’m eager to embrace.

Concert Review: Flooding at 7th Heaven

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Rendered senseless by my enchantment with Flooding’s self-titled album, I was involuntarily drawn like a moth to the glaring lights in the basement of 7th Heaven to catch the Kansas City debut of the young Lawrence trio on Friday, October 1. 

Flooding overcame harsh optics and an awkwardly demure audience of about 50 to successfully reproduce the recording’s haunting sound.  The convincing display of loud/soft, fast/slow dynamics validated my suspicion that Flooding is the region’s most promising new rock band.

Overlaying the downtempo elements of ‘80-era Sonic Youth with subsequent post-punk developments, Flooding has an engaging- albeit somewhat anachronistic- sound.  Rose Brown’s disarming whisper and effective guitar attack, Cole Billing’s reserved bass and terrifying screams and Zach Cunningham’s spare drumming revealed gobs of raw talent.

A few more rehearsals and additional gigs will almost certainly allow the trio to overcome the tentativeness and endearingly amateurish aspects evident at 7th Heaven.  I’m looking forward to bragging about having seen ‘em when.

Perfume opened the show.  The Kansas City trio’s recent release Charlie's Angels sounds like the Smashing Pumpkins gone wrong, but a couple promising moments of Perfume’s set approached the grandiosity of Billy Corgan’s band.

As the promoter (and my In My Headache podcast partner) confesses in his notes at Shuttlecock Music Magazine, the Louisville based headliner Sidestep was shortchanged. I wasn’t able to form an opinion of Sidestep’s sound as the musician raced against the retailer’s curfew.

September 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

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

Top Ten Albums (released in September)

1. Mathias Eick- When We Leave

My review.

2. Borderlands Trio- Wandersphere

My review.

3. Nala Sinephro- Space 1.8

My review.

4. Drake- Certified Lover Boy

Infuriatingly undeniable.

5. Roscoe Mitchell- Dots: Pieces for Percussion and Woodwinds

Solemn incantations from the auspicious octogenarian.

6. Moor Mother- Black Encyclopedia of the Air

Urgent poetry.

7. Pat Metheny- Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV)

My review.

8. Lea Desandre- Amazone

Sensual baroque chamber music.

9. RP Boo- Established!

Zany Chicago footwork.

10. The Count Basie Orchestra- Live at Birdland

My review.

Top Ten Songs (released in September)

1. Tokischa and Rosalía- "Linda"

Besos.

2. Priya Ragu- "Lockdown"

Not so solitary.

3. Chlöe- "Have Mercy"

Oh Lord.

4. Lauren Alaina- "On Top of the World"

My album review.

5. Lydia Loveless- "Let's Make Out"

“The maid won’t be here until nine or ten.”

6. Amyl and the Sniffers- “Don’t Need a **** (Like You to Love Me)”

Rock’s not dead.

7. Paul Wall and Rich The Factor- "Countin' Paper"

Stacks.

8. Kirby- "Coconut Oil"

Silky.

9. Lady Blackbird- "Fix It"

Peace piece.

10. Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch- “Im Rhein, im schönen Strome”

I’ve contracted a nasty case of Lisztomania.

Live Music

The books I read outnumbered the shows I attended in September.  I intend to venture out a lot more in October. I’ve even timed a trip to Detroit to catch a concert by an artist listed above who has conspicuously bypassed Kansas City for years.

Top Ten Films (viewed for the first time in September)

1. Lawrence of Arabia: Director’s Cut (1962)

T.E. Lawrence as white savior.

2. Body and Soul (1925)

Paul Robeson’s first film.

3. Hoří, má panenko/The Firemen’s Ball (1967)

Shameful Czech corruption.

4. The Golden Ring: The Making of Solti’s Ring (1965)

My notes.

5. Street Girl (1929)

Betty Compson stars in a racy Jazz Age musical.

6. 奇跡/I Wish (2011)

Japan is now at the top of my travel wish list.

7. Cairo (1942)

Loopy wartime musical with Ethel Waters.

8. Take a Giant Step (1959)

Johnny Nash plays a beleaguered teen.

9. The Outhouse: The Film, 1985-1987 (2019)

“My” version of the Kansas venue- Tupelo Chain Sex, Sonic Youth, the Georgia Satellites, etc.- receives short shrift in the documentary.

10. The Courier (2021)

By-the-numbers cold war spy thriller.

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

Album Review: Mathias Eick- When We Leave

The 18-year-old sensation Olivia Rodrigo is the most popular star in the latest wave of prodigiously talented hitmakers specializing in giddy odes of heartbreak geared to sensitive young women.  Believe it or not, I’m not a member of the target audience.  What would a bespoke album catering to my current sensibilities sound like?  My wish list would include:

• wordless jazz based on European chamber music and America’s improvised avant-garde tradition

• the earthy shadings of a pedal steel guitar 

• an expansive sound field

• an intimation of spirituality with a tacit acknowledgement of mortality

When We Leave, Mathias Eick latest release on ECM Records, meets each of my specifications. I’m deeply indebted to the Norwegian and his collaborators for obliging my persnickety inclinations.

Album Review: Borderlands Trio- Wandersphere

Piano trios needn’t be moldy. More than a quarter of the innumerable piano trio recordings issued every year are commendable. Wandersphere, a new release featuring pianist Kris Davis, bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Eric McPherson under the banner of Borderlands Trio, is something else entirely. The 2020 session possesses the same sort of palpable tension and momentous sense of occasion as the landmark 1963 album Money Jungle. Davis, Crump and McPherson may not be legendary figures like Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, but the unrelenting interest they sustain throughout 116 minutes of deep improvisation rekindles the restless spirits of the jazz icons. Davis is one of the leading lights of improvised music. Crump, best known for his collaborations with Vijay Iyer, is boundlessly imaginative. McPherson’s cerebral contributions unify their dichotomous melodic pursuits. The audience for Wandersphere may be infinitesimal, but the artistic achievement is colossal.