First of all, I would like to thank Chris Diestler for making Wednesday night my favorite of the week; I would also like to thank Scott Hutton & Ira Gordon for making it all possible.
Trying to find the top ten albums of 2008 is a daunting task; so many great albums were released. I tried to make my list with as many jam bands as possible but I cannot live by jam alone – sometimes I need some toast to go with my jam.
#10 – Drew Emmitt “The Long Road”
Leftover Salmon’s multi-instrumentalist & vocalist breaks out with a solo record. Great songs from many genres with a lot of guests such as Sam Bush.
#9 – Waybacks “Loaded”
Americana meets jam on this relatively bluegrass-sounding disc. Traditional instrumentation overloaded with virtuosity make this a fun & fabulous album.
#8 – Stanton Moore Trio “Emphasis on Parenthesis”
Stanton incorporates an organ trio for this not-so traditional disc. Many timbres, rhythms and forms make up this very funky record.
#7 – Markus James “Snakeskin Violin”
Africa meets Mississippi in the middle of a dirt road; I can smell the BBQ from here and wow does it smell good.
#6 – Widespread Panic “Free Somehow”
Recorded in the Bahamas it is Jimmy Herring’s first studio effort with Panic. Not as strong as some of their early recordings it still holds up as one of my favorites of the year.
#5 – Michael Franti & Spearhead “All Rebel Rockers”
Sly & Robbie produce this juggernaut of the jam band scene. Every track is strong and different from beautiful to powerful; lean to heavy; the production value is awesome and so is this disc.
#4 – Xavier Rudd “Dark Shades of Blue”
Xavier is an Australian multi-instrumentalist whose strong points are song writing and texture with a flair for using his native rhythms mixed with rock’n’roll. A great disc from the relative newcomer to the jam band scene.
#3 - moe. “Sticks and Stones”
By far their best studio effort; “Sticks and Stones” is chockablock full of different qualities; from pop to jazz and everywhere in between. A forty-five minute tour of what a jam band studio effort should sound like.
#2 - YMSB “Mountain Tracks vol 5”
This live double disc has the best of what Yonder offers. Disc I is all live but not from the same show, disc II is from the same show. For a string band these guys pump up the jam. It is quite obvious they love what they do and so do I.
#1 – Keller Williams w/Gibb Droll, Jeff Sipe, Keith Moseley “Live”
This double live disc comes with an additional DVD. Many different facets and flavors dominate this improvisational tour-de-force. Reworked Keller originals and some great covers make this my favorite disc of the year.
Thank you so much for listening and have a great New Year. May your ears be blessed and your bowl always full.
Peace,
Tom
# # #
Showing posts with label Best of 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Best of 2008. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
TOAST's BEST of 2008
It may not look like much of a genre-faithful list at first, but hey, the jamband scene (if there truly is one) is a many-headed monster, and all of these bands already have or certainly will play Bonnaroo at least once, some several times.
I intentionally didn’t include live recordings in my consideration for this year’s top ten list (though many made Honorable Mention status in an earlier post), focusing rather on studio releases which came across TnJ’s desk in 2008.
Every one of these little gems is worth several listens, IMO:
1) THE RACONTEURS – Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White has done it again, with another solid collection of songs showcasing his personal brand of frenzied lunacy. One could infer a few swipes at former bandmate (Sister? Wife? Anybody know?), Meg, in some of the lyrics. The big radio single “Top Yourself” is almost impossible not to take that way. But mostly, this is just an amazing rock-n-roll album. Production and arranging leans a little heavy on the Zep and Beatles “sounds,” but if you’re gonna steal, steal from the best.
Favorite Tracks: All of ‘em. Seriously. But if I gotta pick, “Consoler of the Lonely” – will strip paint off walls, “Top Yourself” – a nearly perfect rock-n-roll song, “Carolina Dream” – fancies ‘imself a post-punk bard ‘e does, “Rich Kid Blues” – all the meander and bluster of a great old Queen or ELP song, without all the suckiness.
9 out of 10 stars
2) THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – The Infamous Stringdusters
Like the Raconteurs release, an incredible sophomore effort which supersedes its predecessor. And both these bands’ debut records were awesome, mind you.
This is, however, the first Stringdusters to feature guitarist Andy Falco, and the first blessed by newgrass legend Tim O’Brien’s production. The Stringdusters have been hittin’ the festival circuit hard-n-heavy and are poised to become THE newgrass act to see (and kick yer heels up ta) in the years to come.
Favorite Tracks: “Glass Elevator” – rippin’ instrumental, “Get It While You Can” – catchy, “You Can’t Handle the Truth” – catchy & fast, and, of course, “Lovin’ You” – my favorite song of the year.
7 out of 10 stars
3) MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – All Rebel Rockers
Like I said in an earlier Franti show review post, I think this boy’s really onto something. His usual charm and urgency is now happily anchored at the center of a Jamaican dancehall hurricane courtesy of dubmasters Sly & Robbie, among others.
He may or may not be the next Bob Marley, but he can keep on chanting down Babylon like this for years to come as far as I’m concerned. Conscious, rhythmic, playful, and powerful.
Favorite Tracks: “A Little Bit of Riddim” – stream of consciousness political commentary hasn’t been this instantly catchy since Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues,’ “Soundsystem,” – a fist-pumping anthem for the conscious party, “Nobody Right Nobody Wrong,” – an anti-protest song that brings a tear to my eye every time, unashamedly pretty.
7 out of 10 stars
4) DeVotchKa – A Mad & Faithful Telling
Who knew there was such a void waiting to be filled by this rocky mountain outfit’s gypsy-esque eastern-blockana? Though not as strong as their 2004 release “How It Ends,” which has its own template-from-which-all-others-must-borrow archetypal appeal, there’s a lot to love on this new release. A very entertaining band to see live.
FT: “Transliterator” – well-crafted crescendo catch-and-release à la Radiohead, “Head Honcho” – gotta have at least one Ennio Morricone-esque number on these things, don’t they? “Undone” was one of the few radio songs in this or any year which did not suck mightily. Shades of Robert Plant in the haunting choral refrain.
6 out of 10 stars
5) RAINMAKER – Long Slow Fade
Bay-area studio magic from a new band to these ears in 2008. Rootsy – some snobs will declare needlessly so – but somehow able to spin threadbare melodies and arrangements into a fresh and pleasing sequence of songs. Fans of Little Feat or The Grateful Dead who appreciate those acts for their solid-yet-quirky songwriting seem to be the target audience. Not particularly challenging, but hard not to like. How did simple get such a bad rep over the years anyway?
FT: “Sweetwater Has Run Dry” – a pensive ode to bygone days, “Further from the Truth” – li’l R&B flava, “In a Way That You Want It to Be” – instant nostalgia, like a Norman Rockwell painting.
5 out of 10 stars, as are the rest on this list. Am I too tough?
6) STEPHEN MALKMUS & the JICKS – Real Emotional Trash
With more than half the tracks clocking in at 5-10 minutes each, it’s almost as if Stephen Malkmus is TRYING to alienate the Pavement faithful. However, his sense of “lyricynicism (yes, I just made that up)” soldiers on with a new band and quite a few sonic diversions into what could be considered “jam” territory. His publicist, however, will probably spin that into “post-rock sonic experimentation” to make it sound cooler. Whatever. It rocks. Catch ‘em live if you can. Saw ‘em at The Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA while doing some work for a website. Great venue. Great show.
FT: “Real Emotional Trash” – a musical rollercoaster, 10 minutes of some of the best-sounding s#!t I’ve heard in years, “Baltimore” – c’mon, you gotta love a string of words like, ‘come on like gangbusters | laying it thick | arboreal Sleestak | lost in the sticks,’ “Elmo Delmo” – I could listen to him jam on this one for-just-about-ever, as long as he ditched the chorus.
7) moe. – Sticks and Stones
John Siket is a sonic genius. Can’t wait to hear what some of these songs sound like live, with extra SUPERJAM on top. Hee Hee (^_^)
FT: “Queen of Everything” – really, really can’t wait to hear this one live, “Deep This Time” – first track we picked for TnJ, yo, “202” – who let the ghost of Zappa onto this record?
8) THE DUHKS – Fast Paced World
Rick Anderson posted this on allmusic.com: “Someday the Duhks may find their natural style and settle into it, and when they do, their albums will become much less interesting.” I can’t beat that. Preach on, brotha (^_^)
FT: “Fast Paced World” – borderline preachy/puerile folk anthem in the making, couldn’t get it out of my head for days, “Ship High in Transit > Magalenha” – this is why it’s called ‘progressive’ bluegrass, folks, “New Rigged Ship” – original, knee-slappin’, toe tappin’ goodness.
9) MY MORNING JACKET – Evil Urges
You GO, Jim James! Perhaps between DeVotchKa, the Duhks, and My Morning Jacket, a pattern is starting to emerge – that of unclassifyability (yep, just made that one up, too).
Some of the most unexpected and mesmerizing sounds of the year, here. I’m kicking myself for not making it to the CD preview party out in the wilds of New Mex, might’ve been the perfect environment to experience this recording.
Stark yet beautiful, hypnotic yet provocative, grounded yet ‘far out,’ man.
FT: “Evil Urges” – a quirky, sonic masterpiece, “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream pt.2” – a sprawling, proggy, new wave 80s anthem, “Highly Suspicious” – can’t explain what there is to like about it, but it makes me smile wryly.
10) TEA LEAF GREEN – Raise Up the Tent
The circus-themed album art seems to bleed into some of the songs, most of which have a lilting quality generally absent from rock-n-roll these days. I applaud this new effort from one of the Bay-area’s best live bands and anxiously await their mysteriously-lit return to a live venue near me soon, dammit! David Lowery’s production is irreproachable.
FT: “Don’t Curse at the Night,” “Red Ribbons,” and “Not Fit” all demonstrate what clockwork-like songwriting precision four mere mortals can achieve.
~ Chris Diestler, A.K.A. “Toast”
# # #
I intentionally didn’t include live recordings in my consideration for this year’s top ten list (though many made Honorable Mention status in an earlier post), focusing rather on studio releases which came across TnJ’s desk in 2008.
Every one of these little gems is worth several listens, IMO:
1) THE RACONTEURS – Consolers of the Lonely
Jack White has done it again, with another solid collection of songs showcasing his personal brand of frenzied lunacy. One could infer a few swipes at former bandmate (Sister? Wife? Anybody know?), Meg, in some of the lyrics. The big radio single “Top Yourself” is almost impossible not to take that way. But mostly, this is just an amazing rock-n-roll album. Production and arranging leans a little heavy on the Zep and Beatles “sounds,” but if you’re gonna steal, steal from the best.
Favorite Tracks: All of ‘em. Seriously. But if I gotta pick, “Consoler of the Lonely” – will strip paint off walls, “Top Yourself” – a nearly perfect rock-n-roll song, “Carolina Dream” – fancies ‘imself a post-punk bard ‘e does, “Rich Kid Blues” – all the meander and bluster of a great old Queen or ELP song, without all the suckiness.
9 out of 10 stars
2) THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – The Infamous Stringdusters
Like the Raconteurs release, an incredible sophomore effort which supersedes its predecessor. And both these bands’ debut records were awesome, mind you.
This is, however, the first Stringdusters to feature guitarist Andy Falco, and the first blessed by newgrass legend Tim O’Brien’s production. The Stringdusters have been hittin’ the festival circuit hard-n-heavy and are poised to become THE newgrass act to see (and kick yer heels up ta) in the years to come.
Favorite Tracks: “Glass Elevator” – rippin’ instrumental, “Get It While You Can” – catchy, “You Can’t Handle the Truth” – catchy & fast, and, of course, “Lovin’ You” – my favorite song of the year.
7 out of 10 stars
3) MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – All Rebel Rockers
Like I said in an earlier Franti show review post, I think this boy’s really onto something. His usual charm and urgency is now happily anchored at the center of a Jamaican dancehall hurricane courtesy of dubmasters Sly & Robbie, among others.
He may or may not be the next Bob Marley, but he can keep on chanting down Babylon like this for years to come as far as I’m concerned. Conscious, rhythmic, playful, and powerful.
Favorite Tracks: “A Little Bit of Riddim” – stream of consciousness political commentary hasn’t been this instantly catchy since Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues,’ “Soundsystem,” – a fist-pumping anthem for the conscious party, “Nobody Right Nobody Wrong,” – an anti-protest song that brings a tear to my eye every time, unashamedly pretty.
7 out of 10 stars
4) DeVotchKa – A Mad & Faithful Telling
Who knew there was such a void waiting to be filled by this rocky mountain outfit’s gypsy-esque eastern-blockana? Though not as strong as their 2004 release “How It Ends,” which has its own template-from-which-all-others-must-borrow archetypal appeal, there’s a lot to love on this new release. A very entertaining band to see live.
FT: “Transliterator” – well-crafted crescendo catch-and-release à la Radiohead, “Head Honcho” – gotta have at least one Ennio Morricone-esque number on these things, don’t they? “Undone” was one of the few radio songs in this or any year which did not suck mightily. Shades of Robert Plant in the haunting choral refrain.
6 out of 10 stars
5) RAINMAKER – Long Slow Fade
Bay-area studio magic from a new band to these ears in 2008. Rootsy – some snobs will declare needlessly so – but somehow able to spin threadbare melodies and arrangements into a fresh and pleasing sequence of songs. Fans of Little Feat or The Grateful Dead who appreciate those acts for their solid-yet-quirky songwriting seem to be the target audience. Not particularly challenging, but hard not to like. How did simple get such a bad rep over the years anyway?
FT: “Sweetwater Has Run Dry” – a pensive ode to bygone days, “Further from the Truth” – li’l R&B flava, “In a Way That You Want It to Be” – instant nostalgia, like a Norman Rockwell painting.
5 out of 10 stars, as are the rest on this list. Am I too tough?
6) STEPHEN MALKMUS & the JICKS – Real Emotional Trash
With more than half the tracks clocking in at 5-10 minutes each, it’s almost as if Stephen Malkmus is TRYING to alienate the Pavement faithful. However, his sense of “lyricynicism (yes, I just made that up)” soldiers on with a new band and quite a few sonic diversions into what could be considered “jam” territory. His publicist, however, will probably spin that into “post-rock sonic experimentation” to make it sound cooler. Whatever. It rocks. Catch ‘em live if you can. Saw ‘em at The Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA while doing some work for a website. Great venue. Great show.
FT: “Real Emotional Trash” – a musical rollercoaster, 10 minutes of some of the best-sounding s#!t I’ve heard in years, “Baltimore” – c’mon, you gotta love a string of words like, ‘come on like gangbusters | laying it thick | arboreal Sleestak | lost in the sticks,’ “Elmo Delmo” – I could listen to him jam on this one for-just-about-ever, as long as he ditched the chorus.
7) moe. – Sticks and Stones
John Siket is a sonic genius. Can’t wait to hear what some of these songs sound like live, with extra SUPERJAM on top. Hee Hee (^_^)
FT: “Queen of Everything” – really, really can’t wait to hear this one live, “Deep This Time” – first track we picked for TnJ, yo, “202” – who let the ghost of Zappa onto this record?
8) THE DUHKS – Fast Paced World
Rick Anderson posted this on allmusic.com: “Someday the Duhks may find their natural style and settle into it, and when they do, their albums will become much less interesting.” I can’t beat that. Preach on, brotha (^_^)
FT: “Fast Paced World” – borderline preachy/puerile folk anthem in the making, couldn’t get it out of my head for days, “Ship High in Transit > Magalenha” – this is why it’s called ‘progressive’ bluegrass, folks, “New Rigged Ship” – original, knee-slappin’, toe tappin’ goodness.
9) MY MORNING JACKET – Evil Urges
You GO, Jim James! Perhaps between DeVotchKa, the Duhks, and My Morning Jacket, a pattern is starting to emerge – that of unclassifyability (yep, just made that one up, too).
Some of the most unexpected and mesmerizing sounds of the year, here. I’m kicking myself for not making it to the CD preview party out in the wilds of New Mex, might’ve been the perfect environment to experience this recording.
Stark yet beautiful, hypnotic yet provocative, grounded yet ‘far out,’ man.
FT: “Evil Urges” – a quirky, sonic masterpiece, “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream pt.2” – a sprawling, proggy, new wave 80s anthem, “Highly Suspicious” – can’t explain what there is to like about it, but it makes me smile wryly.
10) TEA LEAF GREEN – Raise Up the Tent
The circus-themed album art seems to bleed into some of the songs, most of which have a lilting quality generally absent from rock-n-roll these days. I applaud this new effort from one of the Bay-area’s best live bands and anxiously await their mysteriously-lit return to a live venue near me soon, dammit! David Lowery’s production is irreproachable.
FT: “Don’t Curse at the Night,” “Red Ribbons,” and “Not Fit” all demonstrate what clockwork-like songwriting precision four mere mortals can achieve.
~ Chris Diestler, A.K.A. “Toast”
# # #
TnJ 050 (12/31/08) Best of 2008
-HOUR ONE-
KELLER WILLIAMS w/MOSELEY, DROLL & SIPE – Skitso (2008 Live)
KELLER WILLIAMS w/MOSELEY, DROLL & SIPE – Temple Balls (2008 Live)
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND – Kentucky Mandolin (2008 Mountain Tracks Volume 5)
KELLER WILLIAMS w/MOSELEY, DROLL & SIPE – Thin Mint (2008 Live)
DeVotchKa – Blessing in Disguise (2008 A Mad & Faithful Telling)
STEPHEN MALKMUS & the JICKS – Elmo Delmo (2008 Real Emotional Trash)
THE RACONTEURS – Consoler of the Lonely (2008 Consolers of the Lonely)
moe. – Cathedral (2008 Sticks and Stones)
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – All I Want Is You (2008 All Rebel Rockers)
-HOUR TWO-
XAVIER RUDD – Uncle (2008 Dark Shades of Blue)
RAINMAKER – Further from the Truth (2008 Long Slow Fade)
THE DUHKS – Ship High in Transit > Magalenha (2008 Fast Paced World)
THE INAFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – Black Rock (2008 The Infamous Stringdusters)
LITTLE FEAT w/EMMYLOU HARRIS, SAM BUSH & BÉLA FLECK – Sailin’ Shoes (2008 Join the Band)
WIDESPREAD PANIC – Solid Rock (6/28/08 Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO)
MY MORNING JACKET – Evil Urges (2008 Evil Urges)
TEA LEAF GREEN – Let Us Go (2008 Raise Up the Tent)
See the next post(s) if you’re a “High Fidelity” type who wants to examine the order in which we actually ranked the Best TnJ Discs of 2008. This playlist has the sequence shuffled for aesthetic as well as practical broadcast reasons. These are not necessarily our favorite tracks (though in the cases of the Raconteurs and My Morning Jacket, they were) from these releases, because there’s a good chance we already played those earlier in ’08, and were trying not to repeat ourselves the first year. Drew Emmitt slipped through twice with the Marshall Tucker Band cover, “Take the Highway,” but at least we tried for no repeats in a year. We TRIED, dammit (^_^)
The Widespread Panic track isn’t from an official 2008 release, but rather from Chris’ favorite concert experience this year. Thanks to Ira Gordon and Jordan Zucker for putting me and my wife there. It was Kate’s first Red Rocks show and she was suitably impressed.
# # #
KELLER WILLIAMS w/MOSELEY, DROLL & SIPE – Skitso (2008 Live)
KELLER WILLIAMS w/MOSELEY, DROLL & SIPE – Temple Balls (2008 Live)
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND – Kentucky Mandolin (2008 Mountain Tracks Volume 5)
KELLER WILLIAMS w/MOSELEY, DROLL & SIPE – Thin Mint (2008 Live)
DeVotchKa – Blessing in Disguise (2008 A Mad & Faithful Telling)
STEPHEN MALKMUS & the JICKS – Elmo Delmo (2008 Real Emotional Trash)
THE RACONTEURS – Consoler of the Lonely (2008 Consolers of the Lonely)
moe. – Cathedral (2008 Sticks and Stones)
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – All I Want Is You (2008 All Rebel Rockers)
-HOUR TWO-
XAVIER RUDD – Uncle (2008 Dark Shades of Blue)
RAINMAKER – Further from the Truth (2008 Long Slow Fade)
THE DUHKS – Ship High in Transit > Magalenha (2008 Fast Paced World)
THE INAFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS – Black Rock (2008 The Infamous Stringdusters)
LITTLE FEAT w/EMMYLOU HARRIS, SAM BUSH & BÉLA FLECK – Sailin’ Shoes (2008 Join the Band)
WIDESPREAD PANIC – Solid Rock (6/28/08 Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO)
MY MORNING JACKET – Evil Urges (2008 Evil Urges)
TEA LEAF GREEN – Let Us Go (2008 Raise Up the Tent)
See the next post(s) if you’re a “High Fidelity” type who wants to examine the order in which we actually ranked the Best TnJ Discs of 2008. This playlist has the sequence shuffled for aesthetic as well as practical broadcast reasons. These are not necessarily our favorite tracks (though in the cases of the Raconteurs and My Morning Jacket, they were) from these releases, because there’s a good chance we already played those earlier in ’08, and were trying not to repeat ourselves the first year. Drew Emmitt slipped through twice with the Marshall Tucker Band cover, “Take the Highway,” but at least we tried for no repeats in a year. We TRIED, dammit (^_^)
The Widespread Panic track isn’t from an official 2008 release, but rather from Chris’ favorite concert experience this year. Thanks to Ira Gordon and Jordan Zucker for putting me and my wife there. It was Kate’s first Red Rocks show and she was suitably impressed.
# # #
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