TnJ BEST of 2017

-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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