Flooding

The Top Kansas City Albums, EPs and Reissues of 2023

The Top 25 Kansas City Albums of 2023

1. Matt Otto- Umbra*

Plastic Sax review.

2. Mike Dillon and Punkadelick- Inflorescence

Plastic Sax review.

3. Adam Larson- With Love, From New York City*

Plastic Sax review.

4. Ampichino and Rich the Factor- Midwest Tygoons*

Real orcas.

5. Stik Figa and The Expert- Ritual*

“It’s Stik Figa, mayne!”

6. Enzo Carniel, Hermon Mehari, Stéphane Adsuar and Damien Varaillon- No(w) Beauty

Plastic Sax review.

7. Pat Metheny- Dream Box

Plastic Sax review.

8. Janelle Monaé- The Age of Pleasure

Decadent.

9. Torches Mauve- Volume Two*

Plastic Sax review.

10. Flooding- Silhouette Machine

Dark shadows.


11. Mireya Ramos & the Poor Choices- Sin Fronteras

Cantinas and honky tonks.

12. Sweeping Promises- Good Living Is Coming For You

Look out below.

13. Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton- Death Wish Blues

A blaze of glory.

14. The Floozies- Porty Hord

Gort dorn.

15. Kansas Virtuosi- Luis Humberto Salgado

Ecuadorian expedition.

16. Tech N9ne- Bliss*

Bliss-ish.

17. The Whiffs- Scratch n' Sniff

Pub rock.

18. Krista Kopper- Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

There Stands the Glass review.

19. The Count Basie Orchestra- Swings the Blues*

Plastic Sax review.

20. LaVelle- Promise to Love

Between the sheets.

21. Danny Embrey- Orion Room

Plastic Sax review.

22. Bach Aria Soloists- Le dolce sirene

Siren songs.

23. Nick Schnebelen- What Key Is Trouble In?

There Stands the Glass review.

24. Heidi Lynne Gluck- Migrate or Die

Rumours.

25. Kelly Hunt- Ozark Symphony

Polished folk.




The Top 10 Kansas City EPs of 2023

1. Midwestern- Cartoon Network

There Stands the Glass review.

2. Missouri Executive Order 44- Seventeen Dead in Caldwell County

Savage.

3. SleazyWorld Baghdad- Debo Baghdad*

Shooter.

4. Weaponize Chomsky- Time Destroys Everything

Dialectical materialism.

5. Conductor Williams- Conductor We Have a Problem

The preferred sound of 2023.

6. Kevin Morby- Music From Montana Story

Big skies.

7. Spine- Raîces

Furia.

8. Alyssa Murray- Scrollin'

Plastic Sax review.

9. The Bitter Lake Association- My Life Inside a Movie Scene

A one-person greeting committee.

10. Eggs on Mars- Warm Breakfast

Tasty.



The Top 5 Kansas City Reissues of 2023

1. SleazyWorld Go- Where the Shooters Be 2

Star light, star bright.

2. Charlie Parker- Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings

Refreshed sound for the storied 1953 date.

3. Fred Davis- Cleveland Blues

Buried treasure.

4. Basie All Stars-  Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1981, Vol. 1

Shiny stockings.

5. The Noise FM- Deleted Scenes: Unreleased Hits 2013-2023

Appropriately titled.

*One or more of the musician’s additional 2023 recordings were excluded from these listings to make room for titles by other artists.

Last year’s rankings are here.

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: Flooding at 7th Heaven

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

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.