I thought I liked innovation. I guess I was wrong. I’ve long taken pride in my embrace of sonic experimentation. Apparently, I was kidding myself. Speak to Me, the new album by Julian Lage on Blue Note Records, was among my most anticipated releases of 2024. The guitarist is one of my favorite musicians. Furthermore, I admire almost everything connected to Joe Henry, the producer of Speak to Me. Lage’s collaborators are first-rate. Speak to Me is both innovative and experimental. And yet I loathe it. The sound is new and the musicianship is faultless, but the resulting music is incomprehensibly bland and lifeless. I won’t give up. There’s a one in five chance I’ll post a mea culpa before the end of the year.
The Top Reissues and EPs of 2023
The Top Ten Reissues and Reimaginings of 2023
1. Bob Dylan- Fragments: Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997); The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17
2. Jessye Norman- The Unreleased Masters
3. Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus and Max Roach- Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings
4. Milford Graves- Children of the Forest
5. Fred Davis- Cleveland Blues
6. Bob Weir- Ace: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
7. Reba McEntire- Not That Fancy
8. RP Boo- Legacy, Volume 2
9. William Basinski- The Clocktower at the Beach
10. Cat Power- Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert
The Top Ten EPs of 2023
1. Julian Lage- The Layers
2. Theo Croker- By the Way
3. Noah Preminger and Kim Cass- The Dank
4. Truth Cult- Walk the Feel
5. Midwestern- Cartoon Network
6. Big Boss Vette- Resilience
7. $uicideboy$- Yinyang Tapes: Spring Season 1989-1990
8. Mozzy- Kollect Kall
9. Ilhan Ersahin, Dave Harrington and Kenny Wollesen- Your Head You Know
10. Marquis Hill- Rituals + Routines
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
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
2. Lucibela- Old Church Concert Hall
3. Algara, P.S.Y.W.A.R. and New Obsessions- Farewell
4. Porridge Radio and Blondshell- Doug Fir Lounge
5. Live Skull- recordBar
6. Ozomatli- KC Live
7. Gorillaz and EarthGang- Moda Center
8. Billy Cobham- Dolores Winningstad Theater
9. Roger Waters- T-Mobile Center
10. The Shins and Joseph- Pioneer Courthouse Square
Temporarily displaced unhoused people were not pleased.
Last month’s survey is here.
June 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency
Screenshot of the trailer of Lili by There Stands the Glass.
Top Ten Albums (released in June)
1. Migos- Culture III
My post-vaccination party soundtrack, 1/2.
2. Billy F Gibbons- Hardware
My post-vaccination party soundtrack, 2/2.
3. Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion- Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part
I love the elements I love more than I loathe the elements I loathe.
4. Anthony Braxton- 12 Comp (Zim)
5. Chris Thile- Laysongs
Anxious gospel.
6. Tyler, The Creator- Call Me If You Get Lost
Goblin grows up.
7. Julian Lage- Squint
A different type of power trio.
8. Wild Up- Julius Eastman, Vol. 1: Femenine
A vital conceptualization.
9. Mac Lethal- Winter Heartbreak II
10. Angel Bat Dawid- Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1 Doxology
Ancient to the (lofi) future.
Top Ten Songs (released in June)
1. Megan Thee Stallion- “Thot Sh*t”
“Lit since brunch.”
2. Little Simz- "Rollin' Stone"
Quenched.
3. Rauw Alejandro and Anitta- "Brazilera"
Carnival.
4. Moor Mother- "Zami"
Traveling the spaceways.
5. Billie Eilish- "Lost Cause"’
Dead flowers.
6. Petra Haden- "Silence"
Song for her father.
7. Becky G and El Alfa- “Fulanito”
Rhythm nation.
8. Jennifer Hudson- "Here I Am"
Aria for Aretha.
9. Bfd Da Packman- “Wendy Williams”
“Back to Walmart.”
10. Brittney Spencer- “Sober & Skinny”
You got a fast car.
Top Ten Concerts (first monthly ranking since March 2020!)
1. Irreversible Entanglements- Stephens Lake Park Amphitheatre (Columbia, Missouri)
2. Johnny Rawls- Gladstone Summertime Bluesfest
3. Bird Fleming and Bill Summers’ “Voyage of the Drum”- Dunbar Park
4. Second Nature Ensemble- Westport Coffee House
5. En Vogue- Hy-Vee Arena
6. Mike Dillon and Nikki Glaspie- 1900 Building
7. Adam Galblum Quartet- Market KC
Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli revived.
8. Kian Byrne- Second Presbyterian Church
A singer-songwriter sweats it out under the setting sun.
9. Roman Alexander- KC Live
10. The Kansas City Chorale- Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church
Docked several notches for a clergyman’s abhorrent mask-shaming.
Top Ten Movies (viewed for the first time in June)
1. Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Gesundheit!
2. Lili (1953)
A French twist on The Wizard of Oz.
3. La ciociara/Two Women (1960)
Sophia Loren and Eleonora Brown suffer unspeakable trauma.
4. Polish Wedding (1998)
Love in Hamtramck.
5. Murder, My Sweet (1944)
Psychotropic noir.
6. I Accuse! (1958)
Straightforward depiction of the Dreyfus affair.
7. Lisztomania (1975)
Richard Wagner is Satan in Ken Russell’s gonzo freakout.
8. Terri (2011)
Teen cringe.
9. The Shadow on the Window (1957)
And Jerry Mathers as the murder witness.
10. Small Town Crime (2017)
Negligible noir.
May’s recap and links to previous monthly surveys are here.