Colin Stetson

September 2024 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of a preview of San Francisco Opera’s production of Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of September (as of 9/23)

1. Sarah Davachi- The Head as Form’d in the Crier’s Choir
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth.

2. Nala Sinephro- Endlessness
Limitless.

3. Masayoshi Fujita- Migratory
Flight paths.

4. Colin Stetson- The Love It Took to Leave You
My review.

5. Blackstarkids- Saturn Dayz
Interplanetary pop.

6. Caroline Davis- Portals, Volume 2: Returning
Passages.

7. Future- Mixtape Pluto
Slime.

8. Alice Zawadzki- Za Górami
Euro folk a la ECM.

9. Jason Stein- Anchors
With Joshua Abrams and Gerald Cleaver.

10. Max Richter- In a Landscape
Stunning vistas.


Top Ten Songs of September (as of 9/23)

1. Midland- “Barely Blue”
Honky tonk masquerade.

2. Dwight Yoakam and Post Malone- “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom)”
Heartaches by the number.

3. Bad Bunny- “Una Velita”
Burning.

4. A$AP Rocky and J. Cole- “Ruby Rosary”
Unholy.

5. SleazyWorld Go- “Olé Olé”
Made it.

6. Dom Salvador with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad- "Os Ancestrais"
Brazilian bounceback.

6. Amaria- “Finer Things”
Luxurious.

8. Jerry Douglas and Aoife O’Donovan- “What Might Have Been”
Possibilities.

9. Regional Justice Center- "Moral Death Sentence"
Here comes the judge.

10. Foxing- “Kentucky McDonald’s”
Art is hard.


Top Ten Performances of September (as of 9/23)

1. Khatia Buniatishvili at Helzberg Hall
My Instagram snapshot.

2. Dwight Frizzell’s “Bridge” at Charlotte Street Foundation
My Instagram clip.

3. Reverie Road at Washington Square Park (Kansas City Irish Fest)
My Instagram clip.

4. Negativland at recordBar (Outer Reaches Festival)
My Instagram clip.

5. The Kansas City Symphony conducted by Matthias Pintscher with cellist Alisa Weilerstein at Helzberg Hall
My review.

6. Damon Smith, Jeff Harshbarger, Krista Kopper and Aaron Osborne at Westport Coffee House
My Instagram snapshot.

7. Jackie Myers, Rich Wheeler and Jeff Harshbarger at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram snapshot.

8. Abraham Olivo at the Market at Meadowbrook
My Instagram clip.

9. The Mighty Mo Jazz Orchestra at Second Presbyterian Church
My Instagram clip.

10. The Sons of Brasil at Harmon Park (Prairie Village Jazz Festival)
My Instagram clip.


The previous monthly recap is here.

Album Review: Colin Stetson- The Love It Took to Leave You

Acquiring the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet’s The Real Deal as a new release in 1987 was a turning point in my relationship with sound. Exposing me to the expansive possibilities of music, the thrilling album made me receptive to experimental textures far outside conventional boundaries.

The youthful epiphany prepared me for The love it took to leave you, a gargantuan new statement by Colin Stetson. In addition to containing distant echoes of the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, The love it took to leave you expands the possibilities of classical minimalism and electronic ambiance.

Frightening in both its dissonant sonics and destabilizing emotional intensity, The love it took to leave you is often overwhelming. Immersing oneself in tracks like "The Six" and "So say the soaring bullbats" is a dangerous proposition. As the title of the album suggests, love can get awfully dark.

Game Over

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I’ve long mused that if every aspect of my charmed life were to suddenly fall apart, I could numb myself by acquiring the latest video game equipment.  The virtual abyss might provide a modicum of consolation. 

The learning curve would be steep.  I haven’t played a video game of any type in more than 30 years.  While musicians occasionally recast melodies from video games as novelties, I was confident I wasn't missing anything by ignoring their nerdy inclinations.  That’s changed.

The soundtrack of Cyberpunk 2077 includes tracks by notable musicians including Yugen Blackrok and Run the Jewels. Colin Stetson and Arca contributed music to Red Dead Redemption 2. I’m very curious about the context of each song’s use. My hypothetical downfall has a small upside.