-TOAST'S FAVORITE LIVE ALBUMS of 2017-
GRATEFUL DEAD – Cornell 5/8/77
The holy grail of bootlegs
finally gets an above-board release thanks to the overdue acquisition of the
“Betty boards.” If you only ever own one
Dead show, it should be this one. Also
available (and worth hunting down) as part of the “May 1977 – Get Shown the
Light” box set.
PHISH – 7/25/17 Madison
Square Garden, New York, NY
The whole “baker’s dozen” was a stunt for
the ages, and this particular evening (night four) was a “jam-filled” show for
the ages. Within hours ranked as the
second-best Phish show of all time.
CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD – Betty’s Self-Rising Southern
Blends, Vol. 3
Betty strikes again!
Another solid installment in a solid series, these recordings were
captured in November of 2015. Rumor has
it the vinyl release offers an additional set from that year.
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND – Live from the Fox Oakland
At long last,
another live release from this incredible road band. Like most in this category, live is where
they really stretch out and shine.
DOPAPOD – II Saw Live Dopapod Evil Was II
One-of-a-kind
sounds that will get your toes tappin’ and your brain melting.
STEVE WINWOOD – Greatest Hits Live
Classic tunes from a
classic artist, with room to let the songs breathe as they should.
WIDESPREAD PANIC – 10/28/17 Park Theatre, Monte Carlo Hotel
and Casino, Las Vegas, NV
A themed show in the middle of a
three-night Halloween run, dubbed “Ladies Night.” Fans and followers were abuzz
immediately. First time played: “Honey
Bee” by Tom Petty.
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW – 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde
They’ve
already turned two Dylan leftovers into great singles, and this cements their
reputation as channelers of the almighty Bob.
SPAFFORD – Abaculus – An Improvisational Experience
It is
what it says, one hour-long jam with no stops and no lyrics. They should release more of these.
RYAN ADAMS – Live at Rough Trade
Historically, one of the
few record store recordings to really show off how great the songs and the
artist are at their core. Limited
edition vinyl only.
-TOAST'S FAVORITE STUDIO ALBUMS of 2017-
10) BAND of HEATHENS – Duende
Equal parts J.J. Cale, Gram Parsons, and New Riders of the
Purple Sage, this Austin
band makes psychedelic cowboy music look easy.
HIGH POINTS: Trouble Came Early, Sugar Queen, Green Grass of
California
09) POLYRHYTHMICS – Caldera
Impossibly tight as a live band, Seattle’s Polyrhythmics manage to commit
their Afrobeat-influenced funk to record with earth-and-booty-shaking results.
HIGH POINTS: Au Jus, Lord of the Fries, Marshmallow Man
08) INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – Laws of Gravity
This collection of studio-prefect musicians who love to jam
continue to come out on top in the string band wing of live music. They toss off soaring licks as a matter of
habit and remain an outstanding example of a group being greater than the sum
of their parts.
HIGH POINTS: Vertigo, Black Elk, Sirens,
07) PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND – So It Is
This New Orleans
“legacy” contingent hits all the right notes with their latest, “So It
Is.” There’s a perfect balance of
composition and meandering in these grooves which more resembles Blue Note-era
jazz than most of New Orleans’
shuffle-funk output of late.
HIGH POINTS: La Malanga, Convergence, Mad, Innocence
06) ST. VINCENT –
Masseduction
I don’t think St. Vincent
is trying to transition into pop stardom, although Talking Heads made that
transition despite herculean efforts at being “alternative” and “weird.” These
songs bear a slightly poppier sheen than her previous work, but they’re no less
fun to get absorbed in.
HIGH POINTS: New
York, Pills, Masseduction, Los Ageless
05) BIG SOMETHING – Tumbleweed
Taking the term “odyssey” and equating it with the
underground term “trip,” Big Something have an epic concept album which
breathes, shifts, and surprises like an extended hallucinogenic experience. The hippy-trippy-zen-western is reborn with a
fluent interchanging of unexpected styles.
HIGH POINTS: Song for Us, Waves, Blue Dream, UFOs Are Real
04) BARR BROTHERS – Queens of the Breakers
It would be easy to dismiss the Barr Brothers as Canada’s answer
to Fleet Foxes or the War on Drugs, but the truth is that neither of those
bands came up with anywhere near as good an album this year. “Queens of
the Breakers” can be distilled as an object lesson in ambient-indie-folk
songcraft.
HIGH POINTS: It Came to Me, Hideous Glorious, Kompromat,
Ready for War
03) SPOON – Hot Thoughts
Whether or not it’s Spoon’s mission, as a band, to revisit
and rework every single “80s sound” imaginable, that seems to be what they’re
doing. Their assimilation and transformation
of an entire decade’s worth of pop comes out sounding absolute aces on this
disc. Somehow they avoid the trap of 80s
atmospheric moodiness and keep the proceedings lively, without being cheesy.
HIGH POINTS: Hot Thoughts, Pink Up, Can I Sit Next to You,
Us
02) GOV’T MULE – Revolution Come…Revolution Go
I’ve said it before, but this is the Gov’t Mule album I’ve
been waiting for since the first one.
Maybe it took a while for the post-Allen Woody lineup (featuring Jorgen
Carlsson and Danny Louis) to gel in the studio, but this disc has all the deep
rumble, sheer beauty, growl, grit and gravitas you could want from a band who
consistently dishes out those aesthetics in spades at their live shows.
HIGH POINTS: Traveling Tune; Revolution Come, Revolution Go;
Dreams & Songs, Pressure Under Fire
01) KING GIZZARD & the LIZARD WIZARD – Flying Microtonal
Banana
An astonishingly deft blend of heavy stoner rock and psychedelia. This is one of five albums King Gizzard &
the Lizard Wizard released in 2017 and, as they usually form each release
around a stunt of some kind (using microtonal instruments in this case, or
having the album play on an infinite loop, an arrangement of suites, or
deep-end jazz experiments), it may not get the attention it’s due with commercial
radio play, but this band has fans who will turn out in droves to see their
unique, low-budget, high-energy performances.
HIGH POINTS: Rattlesnake, Sleep Drifter, Open Water, Doom City,
Nuclear Fusion
-TOAST’S SINGLES THAT STUCK-
10) FATHER JOHN MISTY – Total Entertainment Forever
The sardonic satirist strikes again.
09) CIGARETTES AFTER SEX – Apocalypse
That turntable sounds like it’s on half-speed.
08) SECRET SISTERS – Mississippi
I’m not positive, but this might be goth folk.
07) the KILLERS – the Man
Disco is now a genre again, I guess.
06) SYLVAN ESSO – Radio
Robotic, repetitive, and emotionless, much like radio.
05) RYAN ADAMS – To Be Without You
With his heart on his sleeve and that melody, he wins again.
04) the NATIONAL – the System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
Giddily gloomy, with an undeniably catchy guitar riff.
03) ALICE MERTON – No Roots
A song like this makes me want to take up choreography. It begs to be accompanied by enough dancers
to make the ground shake.
02) LUMINEERS – Angela
Haunting and elegant.
From a 2016 album, but not until I heard it on the radio a zillion times
did it totally own me.
01) PORTGUAL. the MAN – Feel It Still
The stickiest of all this year’s sticky earworms. Not as psychedelic as they’re known to be,
but they figured out the pop thing. So…they’re
too rich to hang with us now.
-TOASTWORTHY COVERS of 2017-
CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD - Rock and Roll
The Velvet Underground classic (often covered by Phish) gets the lazy, loping, stoner treatment and almost sounds like a brand new song. Played on tour in NM, CO, OR, VA, and NJ.
ROBERT RANDOLPH and the FAMILY BAND - I Thank You
A smoldering rendition of the Sam & Dave classic, with help from Snarky Puppy’s Cory Henry off the Family Band’s “Got Soul” album. Do not play near flammable materials.
CONSUELO LUZ - Across the Universe
Recorded at Santa Fe’s own Frogville Studios, this Beatles track is just as dreamy as the original, but with extra Latin flair. Heard on the Frogville Radio Show.
GREGG ALLMAN - Black Muddy River
Usually I make note of covers which reinvent the song in some way. The late Gregg Allman manages to improve upon the original Grateful Dead song (ca. 1987) without changing a thing.
NOUVELLE VAGUE - I Wanna Be Sedated
Taking the Ramones’ song and actually playing it as if they WERE sedated is so perfect, it’s a wonder no one ever tried it before.
ALO - Bizarre Love Triangle
Originally a New Order club banger from the late 80s, Zach Gill and crew give it a dazed surfer makeover. Available on their “Love Songs” EP.
INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS - Get Lucky
Perhaps the most left-field conversion this year, turning the Daft Punk disco jam into a bluegrass stomper. Find it on their “Undercover, Vol. 2” EP.
-TOAST'S 2017 TOUR DIARY HIGHLIGHTS-
CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD - 2/14/17 Taos Mesa Brewing, El Prado, NM
TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE - 3/3/17 Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa
Fe, NM
TURKUAZ - 3/11/17 Skylight, Santa
Fe, NM
ELEPHANT REVIVAL - 6/2/17 Music on the Mesa, Taos Mesa Brewing, El Prado, NM
DREW EMMITT & FRIENDS - 6/2/17 Music on the Mesa, Taos Mesa Brewing, El Prado, NM
JAMES McMURTRY - 6/4/17 Music on the Mesa, Taos Mesa Brewing, El Prado, NM
DUMPSTAPHUNK - 6/17/17 Railyard Plaza, Santa
Fe, NM
SANTANA - 7/1/17 Isleta Amphitheater, Albuquerque, NM
HERBIE HANCOCK - 8/16/17 Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque, NM
KING GIZZARD & the LIZARD WIZARD - 10/3/17 Sister Bar, Albuquerque, NM
-TOAST HOPES TO HEAR MORE from THESE-
AQUEOUS
SELWYN BIRCHWOOD
TYLER CHILDERS
SAMANTHA FISH
FREEWAY REVIVAL
GIVING TREE BAND
HORSESHOES and HAND GRENADES
LIL SMOKIES
PIGEONS PLAYING PING PONG
DAVID RAMIREZ
That's a wrap for 2017! Here's to another great year of groovy music ahead. Keep on truckin' (^_^)
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