There Stands the Glass

2. Mike Dillon and Punkadelick- Inflorescence

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

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

7. Pat Metheny- Dream Box

8. Janelle Monaé- The Age of Pleasure

Decadent.

9. Torches Mauve- Volume Two*

There Stands the Glass 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

19. The Count Basie Orchestra- Swings the Blues*

20. LaVelle- Promise to Love

Between the sheets.

21. Danny Embrey- Orion Room

There Stands the Glass review.

22. Bach Aria Soloists- Le dolce sirene

Siren songs.

23. Nick Schnebelen- What Key Is Trouble In?

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'

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.

William Brownlee

May 28, 2023

May 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

May 28, 2023

Screenshot of the trailer of Glyndbourne’s production of Don Giovanni by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of May

1. Rudy Royston’s Flatbed Buggy- Day

Bumpy ride.

2. Billy Woods and Kenny Segal- Maps

The right direction.

3. Shirley Collins- Archangel Hill

Time out of mind.

4. Joe Lovano, Marilyn Crispell and Carmen Castaldi- Our Daily Bread

Holy communion.

5. Roomful of Teeth- Rough Magic

6. Atmosphere- So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously

Atmosphere finally made a good record.

7. Kassa Overall- Animals

Pigs on the wing.

8. Béla Fleck- As We Speak

With Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer and Rakesh Chaurasia.

9. Slowspin- Talisman

Hounds of love.

10. Rod Fleeman- Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge, Vol. 2

Top Ten Songs of May

1. Megan Maroney- “Kansas Anymore”

Getting out of Dodge.

2. Kevin Morby- “Going to Prom”

Time the revelator.

3. That Mexican OT featuring Paul Wall and Drodi- "Johnny Dang"

Ice.

4. Paris Texas- "Bullet Man"

Who shot ya?

5. SleazyWorld Go with Polo G- “Off the Court”

Trust the process.

6. Peso Pluma- "Bye"

I say hello.

7. Speakers Corner Quartet featuring Kae Tempest- "Geronimo Blues"

Stump speech.

8. Sparks- "Gee, That Was Fun"

Au revoir.

9. $uicideboy$- “Realism vs Idealism”

No limit.

10. Lil’ Keke- "Motion"

OG.

Top Ten Performances of May

1. Tim Bernardes at Mississippi Studios

2. Yujia Shen at Diastole Scholars Center

3. Off!, Upchuck and Weaponize Chomsky at recordBar

My Instagram clips are here, here and here.

4. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Michael Hurley at Aladdin Theater

5. Hot Chip and Cadence Weapon at Wonder Ballroom

My Instagram clips are here and here.

6. Janet Jackson and Ludacris at T-Mobile Center

My Instagram image.

7. Stone & Sue at the Portland Farmers Market

8. Rod Fleeman Trio at Green Lady Lounge

9. Drew Williams Quartet at Westport Coffee House

10. Luke Tarter at Portland International Airport

Elton John melodies unnerved me amid flight delays.

The previous monthly survey is here.

William Brownlee

December 11, 2022

The Top Kansas City Albums of 2022

William Brownlee

December 11, 2022

The Top 25 Kansas City Albums of 2022

1. Joyce DiDonato- Eden

Concert review.

2. Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City

3. Hermon Mehari- Asmara

4. Steve Cardenas- Healing Power: The Music of Carla Bley

5. SleazyWorld Go- Where the Shooters Be

6. Adam Larson Trio- With Love, From Chicago

7. Mister Water Wet- Significant Soil

8. Kevin Morby- This Is a Photograph

9. Blackstarkids- Cyberkiss

Concert review.

10. Making Movies- Xopa

11. LeVelle- My Journey Continues

12. Krista Kopper and Evan Verploegh- For the Trees

12. Matt McBane and Sandbox Percussion- Bathymetry

13. Daniel Velasco and Ellen Sommer- Flauta Andina - 20th Century Andean Music for Flute and Piano

15. Huerco S.- Plonk

16. Arnold Young and the Roughtet- Fear Is the Mind Killer

17. Mister Water Wet- Top Natural Drum

18. Rod Fleeman Trio- Saturday Afternoon: Live at Green Lady Lounge

19. Matt Villinger’s All Night Trio- All Faded

20. Dutch Newman- This Too Shall Pass, Pt. 2

21. Poor Bishop Hooper- Psalm 119

22. Katy Guillen & The Drive- Another One Gained

23. Isaac Cates & Ordained- Amazed

24. The Creepy Jingles- Take Me at My Wordplay

25. The Greeting Committee- Dandelion

The Top 10 Kansas City EPs of 2022

1. Adam Larson Trio- With Love, From Kansas City

2. Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton- The Stardust Sessions

3. Jackoffs- Prime Specimen

4. Flora- Emerald City

5. Stik Figa and Conductor Williams- Valley of Dry Bones

6. Eddie Moore- Intuition

7. Atticus vonHolten- A Highway Tore Through Me

8. Blob Castle and Daniel Lima- Contempoétnico

9. Piss Kinks- A Tisket, A Tasket

10. Jake Wesley Rogers- Love

Links to previous annual surveys begin here.

William Brownlee

June 21, 2022

The Top Kansas City Albums of 2022 (So Far)

William Brownlee

June 21, 2022

Little of the music made by artists from Kansas City receives substantial attention from outsiders. The ongoing disintegration of the area’s traditional media outlets exacerbates the negligence. Consequently, waiting until the end of the year to recognize the recordings on this list didn’t seem right. Yet this site has never been mistaken for a popularity contest. A few of the most notable new releases- including a fine album by Kansas City’s most popular band- didn’t make the cut. People baffled by the snub of a notable group will find my monthly surveys reveal an allergy to fizzy indie-pop. While I’m displeased by the gender disparity, I didn’t adjust the rankings for representational purposes.

1. Joyce DiDonato- Eden

Straight outta Prairie Village.

2. Arnold Young and the Roughtet- Fear Is the Mind Killer

3. The Adam Larson Trio- With Love From Chicago

4. Making Movies- Xopa

The band’s best since 2014’s A la Deriva.

5. LeVelle- My Journey Continues

6. Kevin Morby- This Is a Photograph

Bob’s New Morning meets Van’s Veedon Fleece.

7. Huerco S.- Plonk

Ambient ear candy.

8. Flora- Emerald City

Over the rainbow.

9. Stik Figa and August Fanon- Heresy

“Posdnuos mixed with Pac.”

10. The Creepy Jingles- Take Me at My Wordplay

The best garage (rock) in town.

11. Dutch Newman- This Too Shall Pass, Pt. 2

Triumphant sobriety.

12. Rich the Factor- NFT Scritch

KC’s whale.

13. Seth Andrew Davis, Kyle Hutchins, Aaron Osborne and Evan Verploegh- Quartet, Vol. 1

14. Addison Frei- Time and Again

15. Belle & The Vertigo Waves- Lorelai

Let’s live together.

16. Marty Bush- The Long Way Home

The year’s best reboot.

17. Stephen Martin- High Plains

18. Seth Andrew Davis- Highways Jammed with Broken Heroes

19. Kevin “Church” Johnson- Brown Liquor Music

Potent.

20. Ben Baker, Seth Andrew Davis, Krista Kopper and Evan Verploegh- EMS

21. Norman Brown- Let's Get Away

22. Josh Nelson Bob Bowman Collective- Tomorrow Is Not Promised

23. Seth Andrew Davis and Evan Verploegh- Hunter

24. Thumbs- Trunk Wired Shut

Rock-and-roll lifers.

25. Jeff Shirley- Blue Gold

William Brownlee

May 24, 2022

May 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

May 24, 2022

Screenshot of soprano Sara Blanch in the trailer of the Donizetti Opera Festival’s staging of Gaetano Donzetti’s La fille du régiment by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (Released in May, excluding 5/27 titles)

1. Mary Halvorson- Belladonna

2. Ches Smith- Interpret It Well

My review of the companion album.

3. Bad Bunny- Un Verano Sin Ti

Summer soundtrack sorted.

4. Leikeli47- Shape Up

Fit.

5. John Scofield- John Scofield

Sublime solo set.

6. Shabaka- Afrikan Culture

Hushed Hutchings.

7. Daniel Villarreal- Panamá 77

International Anthem indeed.

8. Mary Halvorson- Amaryllis

9. Andris Nelsons- Strauss

10. Kendrick Lamar- Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

The transformation of King Kendrick into Captain Obvious is a hard pill to swallow.

Top Ten Songs (released in May)

1. Charles Stepney- “Daddy’s Diddies”

My favorite sound.

2. Tank and the Bangas with Lalah Hathaway and Jacob Collier-

“Where Do We All Go”

Fulfillingness’ second finale.

3. Becky G- "Kill Bill"

Dead.

4. Dougie B- “I’m Back”

Bumpin’ me against the wall.

5. Flee Lord with Mephux- "Out the Mud"

True grit.

6. Hollie Cook- “Happy Hour”

Red Stripe special.

7. Ty Segall- “Saturday Pt. 2”

A stroll in Itchycoo Park.

8. Belle and Sebastian- "Do It for Your Country"

Ask not.

9. Flora- "Hey"

Ya.

10. Kevin Morby- “A Coat of Butterflies”

Hallelujah.

Top Ten Performances of May (and the last weekend of April)

1. Little Joe y La Familia at the Guadalupe Center

2. Samantha Ege at the Folly Theater

3. Logan Richardson + Blues People at the Ship

4. High Pulp at the recordBar

5. Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason at the Folly Theater

My Instagram snapshot.

6. The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s “Tosca” at Muriel Kauffman Theatre

7. Kind Folk at the Black Box

8. Drew Williams, Brandon Cooper and Seth Andrew Davis at Charlotte Street Foundation

9. Brian Scarborough Quintet at Westport Coffee House

10. Guitar Elation at Green Lady Lounge

The dueling guitars of Brian Baggett and Danny Embrey.

Last month’s survey is here.

William Brownlee

October 20, 2021

The Top Kansas City Albums and EPs of 2021

William Brownlee

October 20, 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

2. Pat Metheny- Road to the Sun

3. Steddy P- SOS: Toxic

4. Mac Lethal- Winter Heartbreak II

5. Pat Metheny- Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV)