Album Review: Cole Swindell- Stereotype

Kenny G’s warbling on seasonal melodies wafted from a neighbor’s open windows on an unseasonably warm Christmas five months ago.  I was glad to learn of the household’s apparent admiration of the saxophonist’s interpretations of material like “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “Silver Bells.”

It’s going to be 80 degrees at 5 p.m. this Friday evening.  As in summers past, I’m likely to hear plenty of classic rock (Journey, Led Zeppelin, REO Speedwagon) and blooze (Joe Bonamassa, Marcus King, Stevie Ray Vaughan) blasting from speakers balanced on coolers in nearby backyards and driveways.

Yet the dominant sound on my suburban block is contemporary country (Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Carrie Underwood).  I’ve favored crossover reggaeton on my patio during the pandemic (J Balvin, Bad Bunny, Karol G), so neighbors will likely be surprised when I place Cole Swindell’s new album on repeat tonight.

In no small part because my heart skips a beat every time my life partner sings along with Swindell on radio hits like "Single Saturday Night", I’m unironically enamored with the aptly named Stereotype. Songs including "Heads Carolina" are what I call “White Claw country.“ The formula is delicious. Fitting in rarely felt so good.

Album Review: Tim Kasher- Middling Age

An adult child’s request for a missing government document encumbered me to dig through boxes of yellowing report cards, fading photos and tear-stained funeral programs.  Surveying the ephemera accumulated over a lifetime is an increasingly grim task.  My inability to identify many of the deceased ancestors posing in photos is a stark reminder of my own insignificance.

Tim Kasher sorts through a similar set of “maudlin mementos” on "I Don't Think About You", a song on his volatile new chamber rock album Middling Age.  The compositions reflecting the melancholic wisdom attained through aging resonate with me more than his work in the indie-rock band Cursive ever did.

“You Don’t Gotta Beat Yourself Up About It” opens with Kasher admitting “I don’t want to be forgotten/I don’t know why this is so important to me.”  Kasher concludes by suggesting “​​This is my life's work: questioning my worth/So what have I surmised? Life's work and then you die.”  The end gets closer every day.

Album Review: Sault- Air

The infuriating baptism sequence in “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is among my favorite scenes in Terence Blanchard’s heart-rending 2019 opera.  I’m haunted by the Metropolitan Opera’s staging broadcast by PBS on April 1.

Neither have I stopped thinking about the Latin vespers presented by the Kansas City choral group Te Deum in a drafty Episcopal church last July.  And just last week I discovered Claude Debussy’s proses lyriques and attended a Joyce DiDonato and Il Pomo d’Oro concert.  

All of which is to say I was unwittingly primed for Sault’s new album Air.  Far removed from the previous output of the anonymous collective, Air is a symphonic choral suite that synthesizes much of my recent listening.

In addition to the music cited above, Air’s expanse nods to Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” the holy minimalism of Arvo Pärt, Brian Wilson’s pop orchestrations and Kanye West’s Sunday Service celebrations. Sing it, my nameless brothers and sisters!

Album Review: Saturno 2000: La Rebajada de Los Sonideros 1962-1983

Like a junkie relentlessly searching for the next fix, a certain type of irredeemable music obsessive is constantly on the prowl for a new sound. The best highs are achieved by the discovery of a previously unheard genre. My pal SA is a reliable plug. I sensed I was in for a delirious score when he recommended Saturno 2000: La Rebajada de Los Sonideros 1962-1983. My feet haven’t touched the ground since I injected the novel grooves directly into my cranium. The new Analog Africa release compiles remixes of 14 cumbias that are slowed and stabilized to suit Mexican sensibilities. I experience the doctored music as a cheerful foreshadowing of Houston’s sinister chopped-and-screwed movement of the 1990s. Toying with YouTube’s playback speed settings on tracks including “La Borrachita” heightens the delirium.

Concert Review: Joyce DiDonato and Il Pomo d’Oro at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

An overcome admirer told Joyce DiDonato that her Eden presentation provided him with a sacred experience during a post-concert talk at the Folly Theater on Tuesday, April 13.  Unlike the emotional patron, I didn’t commune with God during the 90-minute concert.  Yet I’m convinced I glimpsed the future.  Eden represents a viable path forward for classical music.  Four elements make the global tour extraordinary.

A Sight to Behold

Max Richter’s 2019 appearance in Austin may have been the first time I attended a classical presentation at which an even feeble attempt was made at creating a compelling visual experience.  Eden possesses the production values of a concert by an upper-tier indie-rock band.  Gorgeous lighting effects and a small circular platform with a pair of mobile spheres provided visual interest.

Back to the Garden

DiDonato is out to save the world.  She acknowledged she’s mocked by cynics during the post-concert discussion.  Yet the environmentally themed repertoire inspired me.  I fully intend to plant and nurture the seeds from the packets freely distributed to members of the audience of more than 750.

Dat Voice, Tho

The diva doesn’t mind getting dirty.  The barefoot soprano writhed on the floor, played air flute, shot imaginary arrows and feigned flirtations with musicians.  DiDonato is among the most convincing operatic actors.  And her unamplified voice had no trouble reaching my seat in the upper balcony.  

The Golden Apple

The most impressive aspect of Eden may be the herculean accomplishment of shuttling Il Pomo d'Oro from city to city. More than two dozen members of the European ensemble played a enormous range of music with graceful aplomb. The absence of individual credits in the program is my sole grievance about the unforgettable presentation.

Album Review: Mitsuko Uchida- Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

Was Ludwig van Beethoven a prophetic visionary anticipating the clamorous mechanization of the 21st century as he composed the Diabelli Variations? Or is Mitsuko Uchida heretically imposing contemporary sensibilities on the solo piano cycle on her new album Beethoven: Diabelli Variations? Uchida’s attack is jarringly percussive. The clamorous recording is as serene as a front row seat at a Nine Inch Nails concert. Since encountering Uchida’s interpretation I’ve listened to a pair of celebrated older versions of the 200-year-old work. One is anemic while the second possesses much of Uchida’s diabolical fervor. The fundamental difference between the latter interpretation and Uchida’s attack is the immediacy of the sound field enabled by today’s recording technology. Roll over, Chuck Berry, and tell Carl Perkins the news.

Album Review: Tord Gustavsen Trio- Opening

The Books of Jacob is likely to stymie my goal of reading 100 books in 2022.  Not only is Olga Tokarczuk’s novel 965 pages (numbered in reverse order, incidentally), I’m compelled to take regular pauses to contemplate the theological constructs it poses.  The previously unfamiliar tenets of Jewish mysticism- along with the cross-pollination of Christian and Moslem doctrines- demand quiet reflection.

Opening, the latest ECM Records release by the trio led by Tord Gustavensen, matches the somber speculative musings of Tokarczuk’s characters.  Only the pastoral “Shepherd Song” possesses a defined structure and conventional resolution.  The remainder of Opening evokes the novel’s depiction of catechistic uncertainty in eighteenth-century Istanbul.

Gustavsen spooked me at a concert in London in 2012. The Norwegian pianist bears a striking resemblance to Nosferatu. Opening is correspondingly otherworldly. A character in The Books of Jacob suggests “those of us who think God addresses us by means of external events are wrong, as naive as children. For He whispers directly into our innermost souls.” Opening is one such divine whisper.

Album Review: Miley Cyrus- Attention: Miley Live

Miley Cyrus is enormously talented and deeply problematic.  Not surprisingly, Attention: Miley Live, a bumpy 82-minute recording made when the former Hannah Montana opened for Green Day in Los Angeles two months ago, is loaded with provocative contradictions.

Cyrus applies her valkyrie-like voice to her signature pop hits “Wrecking Ball” and “Party in the U.S.A.” as well as to covers by the likes of the Pixies, Prince and Dolly Parton.  Joan Jett seems to be Cyrus’ lodestar, but she often winds up sounding like Wynonna Judd.  A brief interpolation of “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” suggests Cyrus might be the Nancy Sinatra of her generation.

Candidly assessing her career, Cyrus acknowledges she’s “been a lot of different things, a lot of different identities.” Much of Attention: Miley Live may not be “good,” but few albums released in 2022 are likely to be more interesting. Monitoring Cyrus’ ongoing evolution promises to be a lot of fun.

Album Review: Gerald Clayton- Bells On Sand

Bells on Sand probably wouldn’t have meant much to me had it been released five years ago. Gerald Clayton’s spare song cycle might have struck me as overly fragile. Yet my sonic world expanded during the pandemic. In addition to developing a taste for drones and noise, I grasped the previously elusive appeal of European composers such as Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Clayton’s sensitive interpretations of Federico Mompou’s compositions- the second and third tracks on Bells On Sand- set the contemplative tone for Clayton’s new album for Blue Note Records. I’d been only vaguely familiar with the Spanish composer through recordings by the likes of pianist Daniil Trifinov. Some may call me soft, but I’m pleased with my enhanced sensibility.

March 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Original image of the curtain call of UMKC Conservatory’s Così fan tutte by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (Released in March)

1. Rosalía- Motomami

Unparalleled pop.

2. Jóhann Jóhannsson- Drone Mass

Lethal minimalism.

3. Nigo- I Know Nigo!

Elite rappers (and Kid Cudi) collaborate with the polymath.

4. Brad Mehldau- Jacob's Ladder

My review.

5. Benny the Butcher- Tana Talk 4

Buffalo barbarity.

6. Drug Church- Hygiene

Unclean.

7. François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles- Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande

A ravishing rendition of the mesmirizing opera.

8. Sélène Saint-Aimé- Potomitan

Expansive jazz from France.

9. Destroyer- ​​Labyrinthitis

A not entirely embarrassing form of yacht rock.

10. Cécile McLorin Salvant- Ghost Song

Spectral art music.

Top Ten Songs (Released in March)

1. Kae Tempest and Lianne La Havas- "No Prizes"

Gold.

2. Celeste- “To Love a Man”

Torched.

3. Fana Hues- "Bad Bad"

Wicked good.

4. Normani- "Fair"

Un-break my heart.

5. The Supremes- “Witchi-Tai-To”

Wut.

6. Your Old Droog- “Fela Kruti”

“Music for people who check their email in the club.”

7. Ibibio Sound Machine- “17 18 19”

Rock down to electric avenue.

8. Lous and the Yakuza- “Kisé”

Mosh pit? Mosh pit!

9. Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lupa- “Sweetest Pie”

Irresistible empty calories.

10. Ho9909 featuring Bun B- "Slo Bread"

Inspired collaboration.

Top Ten Performances of March

1. Sparks- Crystal Ballroom

My review.

2. Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Roseland Theater

My review.

3. UMKC Conservatory’s Così fan tutte- White Recital Hall

My Instagram snapshot.

4. Ted Poor and Cuong Vu- Jack London Revue

My review.

5. Steve Cardenas- recordBar

My review.

6. Arnold Young and the RoughTet- The Ship

My review.

7. Vanessa Rubin- Lincoln Hall

My review.

8. Timber Rattle- 9th & State

My review.

9. Angela Ward Trio- Blue Room

Herbie Hancock endorsed my Instagram video.

10. Pat Metheny in Kansas City: The Genesis of Genius- Polsky Theatre

My review.

Last month’s survey is here.