There Stands the Glass

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

August 29, 2022

August 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

August 29, 2022

Screenshot of the trailer for Detroit Opera’s 2022 production of Faust by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of August

1. Megan Thee Stallion- Traumazine

Obscenely fun.

2. Jimetta Rose & The Voices of Creation- How Good It Is

Rock of ages.

3. Julia Wolfe and Sō Percussion- Forbidden Love

The string quartet turned inside-out.

4. Mach-Hommy- Dollar Menu 4

Buffalo wings.

5. Barlast- Musik för scener

6. Larry June- Spaceships on the Blade

7. Danger Mouse and Black Thought- Cheat Codes

Swindled.

8. Second Nature Ensemble- Second Nature

9. Rod Wave- Beautiful Mind

So what if Post Malone fell off?

10. Al Foster- Reflections

A memento of a massive night I enjoyed in 2019.

Top Ten Songs of August

1. Ice Spice- "Munch (Feelin' U)"

Baddie.

2. Doechii with Rico Nasty- “Swamp B*tches”

Muggy.

3. Kevin Gates- "Major League"

All star.

4. DJ Khaled featuring Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, John Legend and Fridayy- “God Did”

All is forgiven.

5. Blackstarkids- "Sex Appeal"

Magnetic.

6. Nicki Minaj- “Super Freaky Girl”

Street song.

7. Four Tet- "Mango Feedback"

Delicious.

8. Kiwi Jr.- "Parasite II"

“Someone down in the laundry room keeps shrinking all my shirts!”

9. Ronald Isley, the Isley Brothers and Beyoncé- “Make Me Say It Again, Girl”

Mr. Biggs and Queen B.

10. Jordan Davis- “Next Thing You Know”

I’m a sap.

Top Ten Concerts of August

1. Escuela Grind- Farewell

2. Flatland Cavalry- The Truman

3. Black Crack Revue- Westport Coffee House

4. Bob Bowman and Peter Schlamb- Second Presbyterian Church

5. Escher String Quartet- Polsky Theatre

6. Evan Verplough and Ben Baker- World Culture KC

7. The Summer Singers of Kansas City & Orchestra’s “Elijah”- Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral

8. Making Movies- Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

My Instagram photo.

8. Jenna Bauer, Daniel Dissmore and Desmond Mason- The Market at Meadowbrook

My Instagram photo.

10. Morgan Faw and The Flame- The Blue Room

Last month’s survey is here.

William Brownlee

April 26, 2022

April 2022 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

April 26, 2022

Screenshot from the trailer of the Metropolitan Opera’s staging of Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” by There Stands the Glass. PBS broadcast the opera on April 1.

Top Ten Albums (Released in April, excluding 4/29 titles)

1. Pusha T- It’s Almost Dry

The trio of Kanye, Pharrell and King Push is an unbeatable dream team.

2. Gerald Clayton- Bells on Sand

3. Billy Woods- Aethiopes

Highbrow hip-hop.

4. Tord Gustavsen Trio- Opening

5. Myra Melford- For the Love of Fire and Water

The pianist leads a free jazz supergroup.

6. Joel Ross- The Parable of the Poet

Palpably spiritual jazz.

7. Mitsuko Uchida- Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

8. Sault- Air

9. Cole Swindell- Stereotype

10. Vince Staples- Ramona Park Broke My Heart

Understated excellence.

Top Ten Songs (Released in April)

1. Miranda Lambert- "Actin' Up"

Call the cops.

2. Kaitlin Butts- "She's Using"

Codeine dreams.

3. Christian Nodal- "Aguardiente"

Poison.

4. Bonnie Raitt- "Love So Strong"

Kombucha for the soul.

5. Horace Andy- "Watch Over Them"

Reggae lion in winter.

6. Anitta featuring Chencho Corleone- "Gata"

The cat’s pajamas.

7. Young M.A.- “Tip the Surgeon”

Bloody.

8. Doechii- "Crazy"

Time to get right with God.

9. Lele Pons and Kim Loaiza- "Piketona"

Clubbed.

10. Making Movies- "Sala de los Pecadores"

Den of sin.

Top Ten Performances of April

1. Joyce DiDonato at the Folly Theater

2. Daniil Trifonov at the Folly Theater

3. Drew Williams, Ben Tervort and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House

4. Babehoven at Farewell

5. Kwan Leung Ling, Evan Verploegh and Ben Baker at Charlotte Street Foundation

6. Ducks Ltd. at the Green House

7. Maul at Vivo