February 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Detroit Opera’s production of Charles Gounod’s “Faust” by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of February

1. Young Fathers- Heavy Heavy

Crushed.

2. Christian McBride’s New Jawn- Prime

A1.

3. James Brandon Lewis- Eye of I

All seeing.

4. Ten City- Love Is Love

Disco revival, part one.

5. Karol G- Mañana Será Bonito

Tomorrow will be pretty.

6. Don Toliver- Love Sick

Grown and sexy.

7. Lisel- Patterns for Auto-Tuned Voices and Delay

A.I. soundtrack.

8. Gorillaz- Cracker Island

Stranded.

9. Kelela- Raven

In flight.

10. The Necks- Travel

Hear the world.

Top Ten Songs of February

1. Kelsea Ballerini- "Leave Me Again"

Alone.

2. Fuerza Regida and Becky G- "Te Quiero Besar"

Kisses.

3. Joe Louis Walker- "Don’t Walk Out That Door"

Let’s stay together.

4. Jessie Ware- "Pearls"

Disco revival, part two.

5. Hitkidd featuring Aleza, Gloss Up, Slimeroni and K Carbon- "You the Type"

Old-school fun.

6. Yeat featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again- "Shmunk"

Kids these days.

7. Lonnie Holley featuring Moor Mother- "I Am a Part of the Wonder"

Old souls.

8. Dierks Bentley- “Heartbreak Drinking Tour”

The night life ain’t no good life.

9. The Men- “Peace of Mind”

Stooges stew.

10. Talibando featuring BabyTron- "Make the Money"

Paid in full.

Top Ten Performances of February

1. UMKC Conservatory’s “Proving Up” at Spencer Theater

My review.

2. Hermon Mehari Quartet at the Folly Theater

My review.

3. Jake Blount at the Folk Alliance International Conference:

My review.

4. Bobby Weir and the Wolf Bros at Louisville Palace

My review.

5. Verónica Valerio at the Folk Alliance International Conference

My Instagram clip.

6. Kentucky Opera’s “Cinderella” at W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre

My Instagram snapshot.

7. Voices of Mississippi at Polsky Theatre

My review.

8. Jack Wright with Ron Stabinsky at Charlotte Street Foundation

My Instagram clip.

9. Talibah Safiya at the Folk Alliance International Conference:

My Instagram snapshot.

10. NAVO Trio at Polsky Theatre

My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly survey is here.

November 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer of Dutch National Opera’s production of Steef de Jong’s “Operetta Land” by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of November

1. Hermon Mehari- Asmara

My review.

2. Sault- (God)

Universal gospel.

3. Tyshawn Sorey- The Off-Off Broadway Guide to Synergism

With Greg Osby, Aaron Diehl and Russell Hall.

4. Sault- 11

Exalted soul.

5. SleazyWorld Go- Where the Shooters Be

The new king of Kansas City.

6. Charles Lloyd- Trios: Trios: Sacred Thread

With Julian Lage and Zakir Hussain.

7. Sault- Earth

Global grooving.

8. Sault- Today & Tomorrow

Holistic psych-rock.

9. Julie Campiche Quartet- You Matter

The Swiss harpist’s post-Logan Richardson improvisations.

10. Nicholas Payton- The Couch Sessions

With Buster Williams and Lenny White.

Top Ten Songs of November

1. Drake and 21 Savage- “Major Distribution”

Middlemen.

2. SpotemGottem- "Block Got Hot"

Tunechi 2.0.

3. Tiwa Savage and Asake- "Loaded"

Rich.

4. E-40- "In the Air Where It's Fair"

Flying high.

5. Brockhampton- “Big P—y”

The unseemly implosion of the boy band is disheartening.

6. Okay Kaya- “Jazzercise”

Workout.

7. Randy Houser- “Out and Down”

Neon tears.

8. Gorillaz- "Baby Queen"

Aging princess.

9. Young Dolph- "Get Away"

“Hell right here on earth.”

10. Nas- "Once a Man, Twice a Child"

The wisdom of elders.

Top Ten Performances of November

1. Mspaint at Nightjar

My Instagram clip.

2. Keefe Jackson, Jakob Heinemann and Adam Shead at Black Dolphin

My Instagram photo.

3. Crystal Gayle at Ameristar Casino

My review.

4. Rod Fleeman at Green Lady Lounge

The guitarist is Plastic Sax's 2021 Person of the Year.

5. Damien Snead’s “Our Song, Our Story: The New Generation of Black Voices” at the Folly Theater

My review.

6. UMKC Conservatory’s production of Jules Massenet’s Chérubin at White Recital Hall

My Instagram photo.

7. Harmony Zhu at the Folly Theater

My review.

8. Ulysses Quartet at Keystone United Methodist Church

My Instagram photo.

9. Aryana Nemati at the Blue Room

My Instagram clip.

10. Jazz Disciples at the Blue Room

My Instagram photo.

Last month’s survey is here.

September 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Sondra Radvanovsky in the trailer of the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Cherubini’s “Medea” by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of September

1. Sarah Davachi- Two Sisters

Ecumenical drones.

2. Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet- Evergreen

A Mozart among us.

3. James Brandon Lewis- Molecular Systematic Music

Live mutations.

4. Julian Lage- View with a Room

With Bill Frisell, Jorge Roeder and Dave King.

5. Charles Lloyd- Trios: Ocean

Celestial trio with Gerald Clayton and Anthony Wilson.

6. Laura Jurd- The Big Friendly Album

Howdy.

7. Ohma- Between All Things

My review.

8. Billy Woods- Church

Unanswered prayers.

9. Jeff Parker, Eric Revis and Nasheet Waits- Eastside Romp

No ordinary guitar trio.

10. Björk- Fossora

Ridiculously good or just ridiculous?

Top Ten Songs of September

1. Mister Water Wet- "Caged at Last"

Everything at once, sparingly.

2.. Santigold- "Ushers of the New World"

I prefer to stand, thank you.

3. Channel Tres- "No Limit"

A slick shocker.

4. M.I.A.- "Beep"

Bop.

5. LCD Soundsystem- “New Body Rhumba”

Workout.

6. Stormzy- "Mel Made Me Do It"

An old-school tour de force.

7. Smino featuring J. Cole- "90 Proof"

Strong.

8. Little Big Town- "Three Whiskeys and the Truth"

Fleetwood Mac sounds better than ever.

9. Kany García and Christian Nodal- "La Siguiente"

Romantic duet.

10. Clutch- "Three Golden Horns"

Clutch is my favorite novelty act.

Top Ten Concerts of September

1. Blackstarkids- recordBar

My review.

2. Lucibela- Old Church Concert Hall

My review.

3. Algara, P.S.Y.W.A.R. and New Obsessions- Farewell

My review.

4. Porridge Radio and Blondshell- Doug Fir Lounge

My Instagram video.

5. Live Skull- recordBar

My review.

6. Ozomatli- KC Live

My Instagram video.

7. Gorillaz and EarthGang- Moda Center

My review.

8. Billy Cobham- Dolores Winningstad Theater

My review.

9. Roger Waters- T-Mobile Center

My review.

10. The Shins and Joseph- Pioneer Courthouse Square

Temporarily displaced unhoused people were not pleased.

Last month’s survey is here.

Concert Review: Gorillaz at the Moda Center

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Let’s get the most embarrassing bit out of the way at the top: this grown man paid $50 to attend a concert by a cartoon band on Wednesday, September 14.  But Gorillaz isn’t necessarily for the children.  In fact, the fabricated project is one of the best pop acts of the new millennium.

Having never witnessed a Gorillaz performance, I’d long been curious about the presentation.  Live footage of 12 flesh-and-blood musicians were projected on a pair of monitors on either side of a giant screen showing Gorillaz-themed animation at the Moda Center.

The amiable Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn interacted with his band and with virtual appearances by artists including Little Dragon, Slowthai and Thundercat.  Unfortunately, the in-person guest artists including Bootie Brown of the Pharcyde  and opening band EarthGang relied on tired clichés.

Enormously entertained but emotionally unmoved, I felt as if I were watching psychedelic variations of Tom and Jerry cartoons from a gargantuan couch with room for 14,000 people.  Members of the vast throng didn’t share my lackluster reaction.

Dressed as if a Hot Topic delivery truck had exploded inside the home court of the Portland Trail Blazers, fans with green hair wearing baggy pants and an inexplicable number of Korn t-shirts experienced a profound form of musical engagement that eluded me.