Grupo Firme

May 2025 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of the trailer for Festspielhaus Baden-Baden’s production of Richard Strauss’ Elektra by There Stands the Glass.

The Top Ten Albums of May 2025

1. Billy Woods- Golliwog
Darkness.

2. Cosmic Ear- Traces
My review.

3. Barbara Hannigan- Electric Fields
Splendor.

4. Grupo Firme- Evolución
Tijuana’s finest.

5. Arve Henriksen- Arcanum
Tomorrow is (still) the question.

6. Marshall Allen's Ghost Horizons- Live in Philadelphia
Traveling turbulent spaceways.

7. Milena Casado- Reflection of Another Self
My review.

8. Morgan Wallen- I’m the Problem
Same.

9. Mike and Tony Selzer- Pinball II
Slurry.

10. James Brandon Lewis- Abstraction is Deliverance
Clearly defined.


The Top Three Reissues, Reimaginings and Broadsides of May 2025

1. Irène Schweizer- Irène’s Hot Four
At Internationales Jazzfestival Zürich in 1981.

2. Pink Floyd- Live at Pompeii MCMLXXII
Steven Wilson’s remix of the 1971 concert.

3. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band- Land of Hope & Dreams
Chimes of freedom flashing.


The Top Ten Songs of May 2025

1. Badbadnotgood and V.C.R- “Found a Light (Beale Street)”
Illuminated.

2. Brandee Younger- “Gadabout Season”
Flittering.

3. Kali Uchis- “Sugar! Honey! Love!”
Sweet.

4. Lizzie Berchie- "Happiness"
It’s possible.

5. Karol G- “Milagros”
Yet another minor miracle.

6. HiTech featuring Lovesexy- “Empty Bus Stop”
Decadence.

7. Bruiser Wolf- “Air Fryer”
High comedy.

8. Stereolab- “Vermona F Transistor”
Spare parts.

9. Evan Bartels- "Montana"
My review.

10. Hardy- “Girl with a Gun”
Hands up.


The Top Ten Performances of May 2025

1. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

2. Speed, Whispers, Spine and Stakes Is High at the Ship
My Instagram clips here and here.

3. Maria Ioudenitch and Navo Chamber Orchestra at Southminster Presbyterian Church
My Instagram snapshot.

4. Bachathon at Village Presbyterian Church
My Instagram clip.

5. Rod Fleeman, Gerald Spaits and Ray DeMarchi at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram clip.

6. Stephanie Larsen, Maria Crosby, Duncan Steele and Sunho Kim at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
My Instagram snapshot.

7. Vine Street Rumble at Shawnee Town 1929 Museum
My Instagram snapshot.

8. The Kansas City Symphony’s Mobile Music Box at Meadowbrook Park
My Instagram clip.

9. Aztlan at Guadalupe Center
My Instagram clip.

10. Ken Stringfellow at Knuckleheads
My Instagram snapshot.



The previous monthly recap is here.

May 2021 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

Screenshot of Ivan Jandl in the trailer for The Search by There Stands the Glass.

Screenshot of Ivan Jandl in the trailer for The Search by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums (released in May, excluding 5/28 titles)

1. Sons of Kemet- Black to the Future

Reclamation.

2. St. Vincent- Daddy’s Home

Shine on you crazy diamond.

3. Cake Pop- Cake Pop 2

Greasy art-kid stuff.

4. Alan Jackson- Where Have You Gone

Hardcore honkytonk and sentimental slow dances.

5. Georgia Anne Muldrow- Vweto III

Ancient to the future.

6. Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert and Jon Randall- The Marfa Tapes

Bleary singalongs.

7. Young M.A.- Off the Yak

Still thirsty.

8. Carlos Niño- More Energy Fields, Current

Ethereal electricity.

9. Blob Castle- Music for Art Show

My review.

10. Fatima Al Qadiri- Medieval Femme

It’s a new age for New Age.


Top Ten Songs (released in May, excluding 5/28 titles)

1. Olivia Rodrigo- "Brutal"

“I can’t even parallel park!”

2. Saweetie- "Fast (Motion)"

Commotion.

3. Tony Allen featuring Danny Brown- "Deer in Headlights"

Dream pairing. 

4. Coi Leray- "Bout Me"

What you know?

5. Rhonda Vincent- “What Ain’t to Be Just Might Happen”

Risk management.

6. Grupo Firme and Lenin Ramírez- "En Tu Perra Vida"

Wobbly.

7. Tigran Hamasyan- "Revisiting the Film"

Instant replay.

8. Lana Del Rey- "Blue Banisters"

Splintered.

9. Frank Sinatra- "All or Nothing at All"

Frankie goes to the disco.

10. Lil Baby and Kirk Franklin- "We Win"

Gospel truth.

Top Ten Movies (viewed for the first time in May, in lieu of live music)

1. The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)

Anthony Quinn and Ann Magnani reckon with fascism.

2. Julius Caesar (1953)

“The nature of an insurrection.”

3. Les Parapluies de Cherbourg/The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

My review.

4. Odd Man Out (1947)

The implosion of a terror cell.

5. Rachel, Rachel (1968)

Inhibition paralysis.

6. Paisan (1946)

Hallucinatory sketches of war.

7. The Audition (2007)

Opera documentary with a tragic postscript. 

8. The Search (1948)

Montgomery Clift in post-war Berlin.

9. Abba: The Movie (1977)

S-O-S.

10. I Care a Lot (2020)

Capitalist degeneracy.

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