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.

Album Review: The Mars Volta- Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio

A Pink Floyd tribute band once practiced across the street from a family member’s home in Portland. Rain or shine, I’d sit outside listening to rehearsals during my frequent visits to Oregon. I developed a previously tenuous affection for Pink Floyd while monitoring the care the musicians put into grandiose pieces like “The Great Gig in the Sky.” My unanticipated admiration for the classic rock band makes The Mars Volta’s new album seem instantly familiar. Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio often sounds like the Mars Volta’s characteristic psychedelic freakouts are filtered through Animals. The album’s arrival amid Lenten temperance makes my endorsement all the more meaningful. The innate conservatism of the classic rock tribe almost certainly negates the crossover appeal of Lucro sucio; Los ojos del vacio, but this fossil is still watching pigs on the wing.

Concert Review: Roger Waters at T-Mobile Center

Original image of Roger Waters concert by There Stands the Glass.

I’d never been to a Pink Floyd or Roger Waters concert prior to Saturday, September 3.  There’s a perfectly good reason for my neglect: I never acquired a taste for the musicians’ post-Syd Barrett form of grandiose art-rock.

Yet the combination of Waters’ age- he was three days shy of 79 on Saturday- and a bargain price of $22 for seats in the upper rafters of the T-Mobile Center- compelled me to give in.  I spent portions of the night wishing I wasn’t there.

Not even the crystal-clear contributions of jazz saxophonist Seamus Blake and drummer-to-the-stars Joey Waronker in the immaculate sound field could alter my assessments of songs from Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall I’ve always disliked.

Much of the audience of about 10,000 consisted of the same people who attend home games of the Kansas City Chiefs.  But marijuana smoke rather than beer vendors filled the aisles. And instead of football, fans took in a torrent of Bernie Bro screeds.

The laundry list of demands and grievances displayed on the massive video array quickly became tiresome.  I may agree with sentiments including “Yemeni rights” and “free Julian Assange,” but relentless hectoring is always a drag.  Yet Waters had the last laugh.

Presumably inspired by Saturday’s rendition of "Us and Them", I dreamed I lived in a gated compound in a war-torn country later that night.  As insurgents were about to break down the door of my home, I contemplated how much I’d miss air conditioning.