The disbanding of the Mars Volta and the Deftones' inability to sustain the momentum generated by the wondrous 2010 album Diamond Eyes have left me jonesing for a new dealer of art-metal. I've searched the world for a adequate replacement but the solution has been right under my nose all along. Even though a couple of the dudes in the Kansas City band are my Facebook friends and I regularly reference the group in my work as a freelance writer, I had no idea Various Blonde was capable of creating a work as powerful as Summer High. With the assistance of producer Ikey Owens of the Mars Volta, Various Blonde has devised a potent dose of foreboding psychedelia.
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I reviewed Cake's performance at Crossroads KC.
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The Project H was the subject of my most recent feature on the Local Listen segment of KCUR's Up to Date program.
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Gerald Wilson has died. (Via BGO.)
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My acquaintance Teddy Dibble discusses rare vinyl by the likes of the Bill Dixon Orchestra and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
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I'm infatuated with Joyce DiDonato's Stella di Napoli. RIYL: Italy, Renée Fleming, beauty.
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Dom Flemons' Prospect Hill opens with a bang before petering out. RIYL: Leon Redbone, sepia, the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
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Sims' Field Notes contains two or three strong tracks. RIYL: Atmosphere, the Twin Cities, P.O.S.
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Il Sogno del Marinaio's Canto Secondo isn't as interesting as the project's first album. RIYL: Mike Watt, SST Records' jazz/punk releases, the Minutemen.
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Belphegor's Conjuring the Dead is RIYL: exorcisms, Morbid Angel, haunted houses. I assume the video for the title track is intentionally hilarious.
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Just a reminder- I continue to write about Kansas City's jazz scene at Plastic Sax.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
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