I never got around to writing about my favorite musical experiences from 2016, so I figured I'd do this now before time slips away from me again, because 2017 was a really good year!
One of the few posts I wrote in 2017 was a review of Arcade Fire's Everything Now and as the year comes to an end, I have to say that the title track is one of the most moving and powerful performances I've experienced this year. I was fortunate to see the band in Denver back in October and the whole show was strong and inspiring. It really struck me as to how they can still seem to have an intimate rapport with their audience even though that audience comes close to 16,000 people in a coliseum type venue!
Then there was the unexpected collaboration between two of my favorite 'slacker' song-writer/performers. I'd have loved to see them live.
Speaking of another performer who can make any venue seem like an intimate living room, though the album came out in 2016, I got to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in NYC in June, and more than once there were shivers running up my spine and tears flowing from my eyes. By the end of the concert, there were over 50 people from the audience up on stage and Nick was two rows away from where my friend Dawn and I were sitting at the Beacon Theater. When he returned to the stage, there was one of the biggest group hugs I've ever witnessed.
So, one of the many treats and surprises this year was the first album from Broken Social Scene in 7 years! It had gotten to the point where I just stopped thinking they'd ever get it together to record as a group again, and here's the title cut:
Perhaps the other most surprising treat was the new release from Do Make Say Think entitled Stubborn Persistent Illusions, their first in 8 years! Best listened to all the way through, here's "Bound and Boundless," one of my favorite tracks from the new one:
One of the heaviest albums released in 2017, and garnering accolades from many quarters is the new band, Ex Eye, featuring the phenomenal saxophone playing of Colin Stetson, alongside some fierce drumming from Liturgy's Greg Fox and guitar from Toby Summerfield, topped off with keyboards from Shahzad Ismaily who plays with Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog. While generally spoken of as "Metal" of an avant-garde variety, you'll hear influences from jazz and minimalism -- in a very maximalist way!
Speaking of Colin Stetson, he had a busy year, as along with several soundtracks, he released another solo effort, All This I Do For Glory. It was a difficult choice as to which piece to share here, but finally I settled for this powerful short one, "In The Clinches" as it shows a bit of the sheer physicality involved in Stetson's playing, free of any overdubs or looping! That's right friends, he does this all in real-time, every sound coming from him and his instrument; no enhancements! He mics the sax so the mechanics of the instrument create the percussive parts and the dog-collar he wears includes a contact mic picking up his 'vocalizing' via his vocal cords.
She didn't record a new album this year, but Natalie Lafourcade at The Rialto here in Tucson was a brilliant performance that was a true highlight of my year musically speaking.
Another fun live show I got to see was the legendary "ramen rock" band Shonen Knife when they played 191 Toole here in Tucson. They've been rocking together for 35 years and none of them look like they're 35 years old! Must be that ramen....
Most ambitious project of the year must go to Stephen Merritt who wrote a song for each of the 50-years he's been alive; a kind of musical memoir. Each of the five disks covers a decade of his life. I don't think it will take the place of the masterful 69 Love Songs, but 50 Song Memoir is truly an impressive feat. Considering the scope, I offer this link to a page I hope offers a grouping of one song from each of the five decades:
Finally, I end this with three local bands including one of the more exciting discoveries (for me) from this past year; the Tucson-based Friends of Dean Martinez played several weekends at the dark and very cool whiskey bar, Owl's Club and they just blew me away with their lush, deconstruction and reconstructions of some pretty classic pop and jazz tunes. I knew nothing of them till I read about them in Tucson Weekly and apparently they have links to the more well-known Giant Sand and Calexico.
I also got out a few times to see my creative neighbors (well at least two of the three of them) Golden Boots, who released a new cassette (yes, exactly) this past year.
I think the band I saw the most times in 2017, hands down, was Kyklo, which I've called one of Tucson's musical treasures. They need someone to get them into the studio and record them! Here's a small excerpt of them playing one of their many gigs at The Coronet...
AND yes, last but not least, the new one from Bradford Trojan who ends up being the last music performance I got to see in 2017; a fun gig at Tap and Bottle just the other night!
Happy New Year!
