TnJ BEST of 2018

Keep in mind that some of the best singles of the year are bound to be included on some of the best albums of the year, but I am reluctant to place the same band in more than one category.  Therefore, albums which rate in the breakout categories down the line are not also ranked in the “overall” lists.  Read on, music lovers!

-TOAST'S FAVORITE STUDIO ALBUMS of 2018-

01) MAGPIE SALUTE – High Water I

The “other” brother from The Black Crowes, Rich Robinson, proves he ain’t just background.  Heavier, with more complex arrangements than the spacey, folky output of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, this album (by the title, presumably the first half of a double album) goes for broke with tough riffs and memorable harmonies couched in 70s rock à la Humble Pie and the Rolling Stones. 

HIGH POINTS: Send Me an Omen, High Water, Can You See, Mary the Gypsy, For the Wind, Walk on Water

02) RECORD COMPANY – All of This Life

This band is proof that rock-n-roll will never die.  Maybe it’s that the human ear will never get tired of hearing D, G, and A in endless combinations, or perhaps musicians will just never tire of those chords coming out of their amplifiers.  Heartland rock by way of Los Angeles, this trio knows how to push all the right foot-stomping, fist-pumping buttons.  

HIGH POINTS: Life to Fix, the Movie Song, Night Games, Make It Happen, You and Me Now

03) LUCY DACUS – Historian

It’s almost like listening to pop music from another dimension: one where dreamy atmosphere is more important than dance beats, baring one’s hidden thoughts is more valued than one’s street cred, and singing soulfully means more than looking good in a short skirt.  This album isn’t so much a product of its time as it is timeless.  

HIGH POINTS: Pillar of Truth, Night Shift, Yours & Mine, Nonbeliever, Body to Flame

04) DECEMBERISTS – I’ll Be Your Girl

These Oregonians continue their quest to dress up melancholy in glitter and sunshine.  Their instrumentation seems simple and folky, but the sound propels us along like a locomotive, through doom and gloom masquerading as optimism.  They are still the champions of indie folk, regardless of what Mumford & Sons might say. 

HIGH POINTS:  Severed, Sucker’s Prayer, Everything Is Awful, Tripping Along, We All Die Young

05) LEFTOVER SALMON – Something Higher

The second (or is it the third?) iteration of this venerable jamband-with-strings puts the proverbial pedal to the metal and offers another wild musical ride.  Like Little Feat before them, their tendency to consistently switch frontperson/songwriter roles from song to song only gives them solid architecture to build upon live. 

HIGH POINTS:  Show Me Something Higher, Analog, House of Cards, Astral Traveler, Evermore

06) KHRUANGBIN – Con Todo el Mundo

Texas seems an unlikely place to spawn a West-African sounding drone/soul combo, but here you have it.  It could be the background to a psychedelic space western or a documentary about desert nomads, if there weren’t so many hooky melodies involved. 

HIGH POINTS:  Maria También, Shades of Man, Evan Finds the Third Room, Cómo Me Quieres

07) FATHER JOHN MISTY – God’s Favorite Customer

If you have trouble distinguishing “sarcasm” from “sardonic” humor, a tour through the mind of Josh Tillman’s alter-ego Father John Misty might make matters even more muddy, but his dark wit and sense of song remains unassailable.

HIGH POINTS:  Mr. Tillman, Hangout at the Gallows, We’re Only People (And There’s Not Much Anyone Can Do About That), Disappointing Diamonds Are the Rarest of Them All

08) UMPHREY’S McGEE – It’s Not Us

It has always been true that Umphrey’s McGee is so much better live than in the studio that we must measure them as different bands on different scales.  Without the meltdown jams however, these recordings still pass muster.  

HIGH POINTS:  Maybe Someday, Whistle Kids, Forks, Half Delayed

09) MARCUS KING BAND – Carolina Confessions

It might be cliché to assign the label “old soul” to Marcus King, but he definitely has the guitar-and-vocal flamethrower skill of someone twice his age.  His band keeps improving and are on their way to the top of the heap.

HIGH POINTS:  Welcome ‘round Here, Where I’m Headed, Autumn Rains, Homesick

10) SPAFFORD – For Amusement Only

It’s telling that some of the best songs on this recording are also the longest; Spafford is destined for jamband greatness.  

HIGH POINTS:  All In, Mind’s Unchained, the Postman, Slip and Squander

-TOAST'S FAVORITE LIVE ALBUMS of 2018-

 

01) JERRY GARCIA BAND – Garcia Live Vol.10, 5/20/90 Hilo Civic Auditorium, Hilo, HI

Jerry had been rehabbing on the big island after a diabetic coma, and obviously had accumulated some extra magic.  This is one of the best JGB recordings ever.

02) LED ZEPPELIN – How the West Was Won [remastered]

The soundtrack to the film “The Song Remains the Same” has a bigger reputation, but these recordings from the year before capture LZ sounding less wearisome.

03) UMPHREY’S McGEE – 7/7/18 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO

No live touring band impressed me as much as UM this year.  The perfect balance of lockstep precision and wild extrapolation, plus they look like they’re still having fun.

04) DAVID BOWIE – Glastonbury 2000

No doubt polished up from the dustbin of history to capitalize on his recent death, but these are spectacular readings from his catalog, and only days after a bout with laryngitis.

05) PHISH – 10/31/18 MGM Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV

By now you know their “Halloween masquerade” of Kasvot Växt was all a ruse, but Phish managed to drop a surprise new album on us, and it’s one of their best in years.

06) GRATEFUL DEAD – Dave’s Picks vol. 26, 11/17/71 Albuquerque Civic Auditorium, Albuquerque, NM

Their first-ever show in New Mexico catches the Dead in rare form.  Many of the versions here are slightly faster than normal, but all the liveliness stays tight.

07) moe. – 2/2/18 Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY

This was their first night back on the road after Rob’s cancer scare, and they sound better than they have in years.  This show is a joy to listen to, and was likely a joy to play too.

08) CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD – Raven’s Reels, vol. 1 [Record Store Day 2018]

Only available on vinyl, with only 1200 copies pressed, it’s already a collector’s item.  This is an entire show from 9/24/17 in Knoxville and the band is firing on all cylinders.

09) CHICAGO FARMER – Quarter Past Tonight

Chicago Farmer is the stage name of one Cody Dickhoff, and this DIY release showcases a vanishing breed of absolutely charming storyteller, singer and songwriter.

10) MUNGION – Live Fun Vol. 1

Relatively new on the Chicago jam scene, this double disc is a good primer to what Mungion is capable of: vibrant, fully-developed songs, and expansive jams.

-TOAST'S FAVORITE SINGLES of 2018-

All of these earworms stand up to repeated listening.  Let them infect you!

01) PHOSPHORESCENT – New Birth in New England

02) JANELLE MONÁE – Make Me Feel

03) DEATH CAB for CUTIE – Gold Rush

04) NEKO CASE – Bad Luck

05) MT. JOY – Silver Lining

06) KACEY MUSGRAVES – Slow Burn

07) BIRD STREETS – Betting on the Sun

08) JACK WHITE – Over and Over and Over

09) PHANTASTIC FERNITURE – Bad Timing

10) WOOD BROTHERS – Happiness Jones

-BOX SETS-

TOM PETTY – An American Treasure [deluxe version]

PHISH – the Baker’s Dozen Live at Madison Square Garden

BOB DYLAN – More Blood, More Tracks - Bootleg Series vol. 14

-COVERS-

JOE CRAVEN & the SOMETIMERS – Garcia Songbook

ORGŌNE – Undercover Mixtape

MYSTIC BOWIE – Talking Dreads

-ELECTRONIC-

PAPADOSIO – Content Coma

the ORB – No Sounds Are Out of Bounds

CUT CHEMIST – Die Cut

-WORLD MUSIC-

FEMI KUTI – One People One World

THIEVERY CORPORATION – Treasures from the Temple

HOLLIE COOK – Vessel of Love

-JAZZ-

KAMASI WASHINGTON – Heaven and Earth

GHOST-NOTE - Swagism

ROBERT WALTER’S 20^th CONGRESS - Spacesuit

-BLUES-

CEDRIC BURNSIDE – Benton County Relic

DOYLE BRAMHALL II - Shades

CHAD ELLIOTT & the REDEMPTIONS – Rest Heavy

-FOLK-

DEL McCOURY – Still Sings Bluegrass

JOHN PRINE – the Tree of Forgiveness

HOT BUTTERED RUM – Lonesome Panoramic

-LOCAL-

PIGMENT – Crows & Elephants

BORIS McCUTCHEON – I’m Here, Let Me In

STEPHANIE HATFIELD – Live at Frogville

-TOUR DIARY HIGHLIGHTS-

MARCH FOURTH – 2/18/18 Dirty Bourbon, Albuquerque, NM

the MOTET – 3/31/18 Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, NM

RICHARD THOMPSON – 4/25/18 Popejoy Hall, UNM, Albuquerque, NM

ANTIBALAS – 6/1/18 Taos Mesa Brewing, El Prado, NM

INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – 6/2/18 Taos Mesa Brewing, El Prado, NM

UMPHREY’S McGEE – 7/7/18 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO

TAUK – 7/28/18 Taos Mesa Brewing, El Prado, NM

DR.DOG – 8/4/18 Kit Carson Park, Taos, NM

MARCUS KING BAND – 8/29/18 Launchpad, Albuquerque, NM

JERRY JOSEPH – 11/26/18 Taos Mesa Brewing, El Prado, NM

-MORE, PLEASE!-

CHRIS EVES & the NEW NORMAL

the WAR and TREATY

SNAIL MAIL

LOW CUT CONNIE

MOUNTAIN HEART

CAROLINE ROSE

the GREYHOUNDS

MAGIC BEANS

the SUFFERS

RICH KRUEGER

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