August 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

(Screenshot of Bye Bye Braverman by There Stands the Glass.)

Top Ten Albums (released in August, not including August 27 titles)

1. Jana Rush- Painful Enlightenment

The art of noise.

2. Abstract Mindstate- Dreams Still Inspire 

My review.

3. Pink Siifu- Gumbo'!

Hey ya!

4. Shannon and the Clams- Year of the Spider

My review.

5. Tinashe- 333

Lucky numbers.

6. Max Richter- Exiles

Luminous.

7. Isaiah Rashad- The House Is Burning

Fire!

8. Bleachers- Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night

My review.

9. Boldy James and The Alchemist- Bo Jackson

Another hit.

10. Angelika Niescier and Alexander Hawkins- Soul in Plain Sight

European birds of a feather.

Top Ten Songs (Released in August)

1. Injury Reserve- "Knees"

“A tough pill to swallow.”

2. Jungle- "No Rules"

Anarchy on the dance floor.

3. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss- "Can't Let Go"

Ooby dooby.

4. Connie Smith- "I'm Not Over You"

Going under. 

5. Rachika Nayar- "Memory as Miniatures"

What if Pat Metheny signed to Windham Hill instead of ECM?

6. Benny the Butcher- "The Iron Curtain"

Imposing.

7. Irreversible Entanglements- "Open the Gates"

“It’s energy time.”

8. Blackstarkids- “Juno”

Summertime blues.

9. Christina Bell featuring Fred Hammond- "Still Faithful"

Conviction.

10. $uicideboy$- “If Self-Destruction Was an Olympic Event, I’d Be Tanya Harding”

Going for gold.

Top Ten Films (viewed for the first time in August)

1. あん/Sweet Bean (2015)

Deliciously transcendent.

2. Moonlight (2016)

Hello stranger.

3. Blue Jasmine (2013)

Family feud.

4. The Wild Bunch (1969)

Desperados waiting for a train.

5. Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot/Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953)

French slapstick.

6. Bye Bye Braverman (1968)

Funeral for a friend.

7. La Collectionneuse/The Collector (1967)

Attractive people do ugly things in beautiful places.

8. CODA (2021)

High school musical.

9. The Falcon in San Francisco (1945)

Conventional potboiler.

10. The Tomorrow War (2021)

Goofy sci-fi romp.

Live Music

I swore off electing to place myself amid crowds in Kansas City after a disheartening experience at the airport as August began.  The abhorrent behavior of halfwits and lunatics temporarily eradicated any possibility of enjoying myself at musical performances.

July’s recap and links to previous monthly surveys are here.

January 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Gilette Barbier in Lourdes by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums

1. Alexander Hawkins- Togetherness Music

My review.

2. Patricia Brennan- Maquishti

Concussed.

3. R.A.P. Ferreira- Bob’s Son

My review.

4. Miguel Zenón and Luis Perdomo- El Arte Del Bolero

My review.

5. Behzod Abduraimov- Debussy Chopin Mussorgsky

My review.

6. Caroline Shaw- Narrow Sea

Experimental gospel.

7. Sleaford Mods- Spare Ribs

My review.

8. Estelle Revaz and the Geneva Chamber Orchestra- Journey to Geneva

Startling interpretations of compositions by Frank Martin and Xavier Dayer.

9. Rich The Factor- Mobbligated

Straight off Kansas City’s grimiest assembly line.

10. Shame- Drunk Tank Pink

Queasy.

Top Ten Songs

1. Anavitória- "Terra"

Brazilian wall of sound.

2. Selena Gomez- "De Una Vez"

The pop star shares my affection for Bad Bunny.

3. Morgan Wallen- "Quittin' Time"

Remember Clint Black? Morgan Wallen does.

4. Chai- "Action"

“It’s going to be ok.”

5. Saweetie and Doja Cat- "Best Friend"

Cruisin’.

6. Flee Lord, Eto and Westside Gunn- "Ain't Hit Nobody"

Knockout.

7. Julien Baker- "Hardline"

Darkness, darkness.

8. Olivia Rodrigo- “Drivers License”

Teen spirit.

9. Rhye- "Come In Closer"

Sade sounds better than ever.

10. Anuel AA and Ozuna- "La Maria"

Rap it soft and it’s almost like praying.

Top Ten Films

1. Lourdes (2009)

Dogma and disability in France.

2. Say Amen, Somebody (1982)

Anointed! My new all-time favorite music documentary.

3. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)

Superb rendering of August Wilson’s estimable play.

4. The Little Foxes (1941)

Superb rendering of Lillian Hellman’s estimable play.

5. Fitzcarraldo (1982)

A wondrous shipwreck.

6. Gräns (2018)

Uninhibited Swedish fairytale.

7. The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins (1967)

Mojo workin’.

8. Little Joe (2019)

Cautionary fable about GMOs.

9. Jazz on a Summer’s Day (1959)

Incredibly, I’d seen only excerpts.

10. The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)

Drugs, treason and the NSA.

Links to previous installations of my monthly recap series begin here.

Album Review: Alexander Hawkins- Togetherness Music

Original image of Evan Parker at the Big Ears Festival in 2019 by There Stands the Glass.

I regret passing on an opportunity to chat with Evan Parker during the 2019 edition of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville.  Parker stood with attendees on a sidewalk waiting for a venue’s doors to open for his matinee performance.  More familiar with Parker’s legendary status in new music circles than with his actual work, I wasn’t yet prepared to engage in anything more than small talk with the titanic figure.

I’ve since developed an incapacitating reverence for the iconoclastic British saxophonist after listening to dozens of hours of his recordings, a tiny fraction of the 76-year-old’s canon.  The latest example of his genius is Togetherness Music, a spectacularly ambitious “six-movement quasi-orchestral work” overseen by pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins.  Parker’s presence acts as a lit fuse amid the combustible large ensemble that includes strings and electronics.

In expanding the outer limits of the innovations of Charles Mingus and Charles Ives, Togetherness Music blends jazz-based improvisation with contemporary classical music.  I’m all in, but my enthusiasm could become problematic.  Were I to encounter Parker today, I’d almost certainly embarrass myself with unhinged musings on the uncommonly fertile new ground he and collaborators like Hawkins have forged.

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I’m honored to have been asked to participate in The 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. My notes about a challenging aspect of the selection process are at Plastic Sax.