Aaron Osborne

March 2024 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Original image of Kevin Miller and Lawrence Brownlee by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of March

1. Jlin- Akoma
Fancy footwork.

2. Tierra Whack- World Wide Whack
(Frank) Oceans of fun.

3. Véronique Gens- Paysage
French soiree.

3. Moor Mother- The Great Bailout
Overdue.

5. Norah Jones- Visions
A beautiful mirage.

6. Amirtha Kidambi- New Monuments
Prog-jazz.

7. Ethnic Heritage Ensemble- Open Me, A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit
Astral planes.

8. Charles Lloyd- The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
With Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier and Brian Blade.

9. Future and Metro Boomin- We Don’t Trust You
En garde!

10. That Mexican OT- Texas Technician
My review.


The Top Ten Songs of March

1. Bill MacKay- “Glow Drift”
Unhalfbricking.

2. Adrienne Lenker- “Free Treasure”
Gifts abound.

3. Charlie Parr- "Pale Fire"
Luminous.

4. Waxahatchee- “Burns Out at Midnight”
Return of the grievous angel.

5. DannyLux- "Maldito Alcohol"
Cautionary tale.

6. Mike featuring Earl Sweatshirt and Tony Shhnow- "On God"
Dead friends.

7. Anysia Kim featuring Mike- “In Doubt?”
Uncertain.

8. Matt Champion featuring Dora Jar- "Steel"
Boy band breakout.

9. Chief Keef and Mike Will Made-It featuring 2 Chainz- "Pull Up Ghost Clan"
Chiraq.

10. Lekin- “714”
Both sides now.


The Top Ten Performances of March

1. Lawrence Brownlee at the Lied Center
My review.

2. David Lord at Farewell
My review.

3. Ema Nikolovska at the Folly Theater
My review.

4. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Roméo et Juliette” at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.

5. Sleater-Kinney at the Truman
My Instagram clip.

6. The Kansas City Symphony’s Matthias Pintscher Conducts Symphony Dances: ‘West Side Story’ and Rachmaninoff with Philippe Quint at Helzberg Hall
My review.

7. Danielle Nicole, Brandon Miller and Go-Go Ray at Records with Merritt
My Instagram snapshot.

8. Seth A Davis, Kwan Leung Ling, Aaron Osborne and Evan Verploegh at 7th Heaven
My Instagram clip.

9. Bryan Hicks, Rod Fleeman and Rich Hill at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram snapshot.

10. Nya at the Blue Room
My Instagram snapshot.



The previous monthly recap is here.

July 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Bahar Pars in the trailer for En man som heter Ove.

Screenshot of Bahar Pars in the trailer for En man som heter Ove.

Top Ten Albums (released in July, not including July 30 titles)

1. Lise Davidsen and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra- Sibelius: Luonnotar, Op. 70 & Other Orchestral Works

Finnish fever dreams.

2. Cochemea- Vol. II: Baca Sewa

My review.

3. Rey Sapienz and the Congo Technical Ensemble- Na Zala Zala

African footwork.

4. Les Filles de Illighadad- At Pioneer Works

Tuareg trance.

5. Rodney Crowell- Triage

The truth hurts.

6. Maya Beiser- Maya Beiser x Philip Glass

Transparent cello.

7. Attacca Quartet- Real Life

My review.

8. Drakeo the Ruler- Ain't That the Truth

Truth to tell.

9. Alasdair Roberts and Völvur- The Old Fabled River

Scottish/Norwegian freak-folk.

10. Leon Bridges- Gold-Diggers Sound

Bridges’ best album by a country mile.


Top Ten Songs (released in July)

1. Little Simz- “I Love You, I Hate You”

Decisive.

2. IDK with the Neptunes, Swae Lee and Rico Nasty- "Keto"

On sight.

3. Snow Tha Product- "Que Oso"

Agua bendita.

4. Big30 featuring Yo Gotti- "Too Official"

Outlawed.

5. Lolo Zouaï- “Galipette”

Candy store.

6. Willow featuring Cherry Glazerr- “¡Breakout”

Ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!

7. Kevin Abstract featuring Snot and Slowthai- “Slugger”

“On my Lauryn Hill ish.”

8. Tinashe- “Bouncin’”

Elastic.

9. Billie Eilish- “NDA”

Creep.

10. Lorde- “Stoned at the Nail Salon”

Pure heroine.


Top Ten Concerts (attended in July)

1. Pistol Pete- recordBar

The rapper was accompanied by the rock band Various Blonde.

2. Te Deum- St. Mary's Episcopal Church

Latin vespers.

3. Eddie Moore, Ryan Lee and Zach Morrow- Charlotte Street Foundation

My review will be published at Plastic Sax on August 1.

4. Kyle Hutchins, Aaron Osborne, Seth Davis and Evan Verploegh- Charlotte Street Foundation

My review.

5. Summerfest- Atonement Lutheran Church

My notes.

6. Trinity Jazz Ensemble- Rolling Hills Church

My review.

7. Jackie Myers, Matt Hopper and Ben Tervort- Market at Meadowbrook

Fresh readings of jazz standards.

8. Granger Smith- KC Live 

Yee yee!

9. Rod Fleeman, Gerald Spaits and Ray DeMarchi- Green Lady Lounge

Spare the Rod, spoil the month.

10. Big Spin- 1400 Union

Explosive Fourth of July punk party.


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

1. Z (1969)

Grotesque political thuggery in Greece.

2. The Steel Helmet (1951)

War is hell.

3. Der blau Engel/The Blue Angel (1930)

L-o-l-a, Lola.

4. Fruitvale Station (2013)

Oscar Grant III.

5. En man som heter Ove/A Man Called Ove (2015)

Saab story.

6. Journey into Fear (1943)

WWII noir.

7. Summer of Soul (2021)

So much talking.

8. Mahler (1974)

Wut.

9. The Wrath of God (1972)

Proto-Tarantino bloodbath.

10. The Hunt (2020)

Deplorable!


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