Benoît Delbecq

February 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Cicely Tyson and Sammy Davis Jr. in the trailer for A Man Called Adam by There Stands the Glass.

Screenshot of Cicely Tyson and Sammy Davis Jr. in the trailer for A Man Called Adam by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (released in February)

1. Benoît Delbecq- The Weight of Light

My review.

2. Pooh Shiesty- Shiesty Season

Brrrrd.

3. Benjamin Grosvenor- Liszt

My review.

4. Quatuor Bozzini- Alvin Lucier: Navigations

Creepy drones and controlled cacophonies.

5. Archie Shepp and Jason Moran- Let My People Go

A feast in the wilderness.

6. Femi and Made Kuti- Legacy+: Stop the Hate and For(e)ward

Family tradition.

7. Cassandra Jenkins- An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

Astral minutes.

8. Tindersticks- Distractions

Focused.

9. Pink Sweat$- Pink Planet

Softer than John Legend.

10. R+R=Now- Live

Genius plus hubris equals fascinating complications.

Top Ten Songs (released in February)

1. Syd- "Missing Out"

Fomo.

2. Nana Yamato- “Burning Desire’

Temperature rising.

3. H.E.R.- "Fight For You"

Throwback anthem.

4. Kevin Gates- "Plug Daughter 2"

Roadside assistance.

5. Polo G- "GNF (OKOKOK)"

I care a lot.

6. Cardi B- "Up"

Once upon a time...

7. Ariana Grande- “Test Drive”

Ride or die.

8. Cherry Glazerr- "Big Bang"

Universal.

9. Sada K- "You"

Nothing compares.

10 Nick Cave and Warren Ellis- “Albuquerque”

Stasis.

Top Ten Movies (viewed for the first time in February, in lieu of live music)

1. A Man Called Adam (1966)

Miles ahead.

2. The Silver Chalice (1954)

Astoundingly bad or exceptionally good?

3. The Golden Coach (1952)

Jean Renoir’s luminescent critique of colonialism.

4. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)

An odd but stellar interpretation of Carson McCullers’ novel.

5. It Should Happen to You (1954)

Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon are adorable.

6. Juarez (1939)

¡Viva México!

7. Native Son (1951)

Richard Wright stars in an uneven rendering of his classic work.

8. Murder, She Said (1961)

Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple is just too much.

9. Treasure Island (1934)

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.

10. His House (2020)

Political asylum as horror.


January’s recap and a link to last year’s monthly surveys is here.

Album Review: Benoît Delbecq- The Weight of Light

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

What’s on my mind?  I’m little different than many of my friends and neighbors.  The impeachment hearing and bitterly cold weather recently aggravated the surreal purgatory accompanying the draining wait for inoculation shots.

But what’s in my mind?  The French pianist Benoît Delbecq captures my melancholy disposition on his new album The Weight of Light.  In what feels like a magic trick of telepathic synchronicity, Delbecq’s recital mirrors my agitated sense of impatience and hope.

Delbecq’s meditative approach to prepared piano also elucidates the mysteries of the sacred texts I study each day. The Weight of Light could be characterized as jazz, but it sounds more like music John Cage might have composed for use in Egyptian ceremonial rites three thousand years ago.