Mister Water Wet

Wide Open Spaces

Original image captured at the Gorge Amphitheatre on August 13, 2022, by RSB.

*Overwhelmed by holiday commotion, I forgot to use the embedded photo in a previous post.  Behold my favorite music-related image of 2022.  My daughter captured the celebratory moment at a (Dixie) Chicks concert at the magnificent Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington last August.

*I played tracks by Mister Water Wet, Flora, LeVelle, Matt Villinger’s All Night Trio, Rosalía, Kae Tempest, Moor Mother and Anna Butterss and discussed Kansas City’s music scene on a recent episode of the Eight One Sixty radio program.

*Here’s my annual screed about the detrimental effect of the “Kansas City nice” aesthetic.  At the risk of beating a dead gelding, I’ll again advise my well-intentioned friends that not only does unmerited praise of mediocre locally based artists undermine their personal credibility, the prevailing practice risks confining Kansas City to the cultural status of a one-horse town.

*Much to the chagrin of many musicians and their fans, I don’t engage in provincial aggrandizement at the Kansas City jazz blog Plastic Sax.  I call it as I see it in the site’s reviews and editorials.

The Top Kansas City Albums of 2022

The Top 25 Kansas City Albums of 2022

1. Joyce DiDonato- Eden

Concert review.

2. Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City

Review.

3. Hermon Mehari- Asmara

Review.

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

Review.

5. SleazyWorld Go- Where the Shooters Be

6. Adam Larson Trio- With Love, From Chicago

Review.

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

Review.

12. Krista Kopper and Evan Verploegh- For the Trees

Review.

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

Review.

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

Review.

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

Review.

2. Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton- The Stardust Sessions

3. Jackoffs- Prime Specimen

Review.

4. Flora- Emerald City

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

6. Eddie Moore- Intuition

Review.

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.

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.