By Jimmy B
John Ferrara and Seth Moutal, Frail Things in Sharp Places (2018).
John Ferrara is the amazing bass player for an amazing band called Consider the Source. I saw Consider the Source live in Portland a few months ago, and was blown away by John’s playing. I haven’t been this excited about a bass player since I discovered Stanley Clarke six or seven years ago. The album is entirely instrumental. It is a nice showcase for the talents of both men. I am at a bit of a loss on how to describe the album. I guess the easiest thing to call it is either jazz fusion or prog, but that hints at a lack of accessibility for casual listeners. The album is very accessible. If you love great musicianship, it would be a travesty to ignore Ferrara and Moutal.
Jazz Q, Pozorovateina (1973).
I bought this album on a whim from an online record seller. I may have stumbled onto the greatest progressive rock album of all time. The band is from the Czech Republic, or Czechoslovakia as it was known then. The band was active in the 1960s and 70s. I am only guessing, but I suspect the band was unknown to much of the world due to the members residing behind the Iron Curtain. If you love progressive rock, your collection sucks without this record.
Goblin, Rebirth (2015).
I was a little hesitant about buying this record, but I saw it at Amoeba Records in Los Angeles, and grabbed it. My hesitancy was due to a lack of familiarity with later Goblin albums. I assumed their albums from the 1970s represented the peak of Goblin’s musical output. I think of bands like Wishbone Ash or the Rolling Stones who peaked decades ago, and continue to put out albums when they probably shouldn’t. This is not the case with Goblin. Rebirthis a damn good record.
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965).
I am quite picky when it comes to the blues. I generally like my blues to be gritty and sparse. I like to imagine that the person moaning has suffered and knows a thing or two about life and resiliency. I seriously doubt anyone one in PBBB suffered much; they were young white men from the Mid-West. Nor, can I say that PBBB is as gritty as someone like Sonny Terry or John Lee Hooker. But it is definitely blues, and it is really good.
Sodom, Epitome of Torture (2013).
Frankly, I am shocked that I am including Sodom on a list of obsessions. I disliked Sodom in the 1980s, and I found the production on their albums to be so bad throughout their career that I never gave them a serious listen. I found out a few years ago they had progressed beyond that horrible 80s cheese, and they occasionally talked someone into paying for good production. This album was my biggest surprise of 2018—Sodom made a great metal album! For any of you who are mourning the loss of Baroness, who are figuratively dead, listen to the first song on Epitome of Torture, “My Final Bullet.” If Baroness played thrash metal it would sound a lot like “My Final Bullet.” This song also has my favorite lyrics on the album. Here is a sample: “Salvation in my pious hand, they’ll never break my obedience, it’s good to have a final bullet, it’s not as frantic as it seems, this little lead to set me free, it is my final bullet.” Great stuff!
The Skull,The Endless Road Turns Dark (2018).
In case you have been on that endless road and are in the dark, The Skull consists of two members of one of the greatest doom metal bands of all time, Trouble. It is fair to say that Eric Wagner (vocals) and Ron Holzner (bass) have done an admirable job of creating a reincarnation of Trouble. But I think Wagner has such a distinctive voice that he could join The Cure and people would think it was Trouble. As you can probably tell from the Sodom paragraph above, I dislike bad production. But, sometimes in the metal genre bad production works. Would Celtic Frost or King Diamond have been as scary with great production? Of course not. If you long for 1980s Trouble, you are not going to find it here. The endless road has very good production. The muscular riffs are still there and I for one love being able to hear all the instruments. I think some may find the album overproduced. You decide.
The Fall, New Facts Emerge (2017).
I am new to post-punk. I have not yet dug deep into this sub-genre, but The Fall has emerged as my favorite. The Fall has released approximately thirty albums between 1979 and 2017. It makes you wonder why the fuck a band like Metallica only releases an album every seven years. Anyhow, New Facts Emerge will be the last Fall record. The Fall had one consistent member, Mark E. Smith and he perished in 2018. Smith was a confusing guy. The Fall’s music is somewhat artsy and quite varied. It can be noisy at times and accessible at other times. When Smith’s artistry is coupled with his odd lyrics and vocal delivery, Jimmy B gets confused. It sounds like a hot mess, but somehow it works. New Facts Emerge is one of The Fall’s more accessible albums, and it is a good one to start with if you are inclined to check them out.
Thumbscrew,Theirs (2018) and Ours (2018).
Sometime in 2018 I came across a really interesting guitar player named Mary Halvorson. I dug a little deeper and found her jazz trio named Thumbscrew. Mary reminds me of a less manic Marc Ribot. Her playing is unique. She shreds without sounding like she is shredding. She has kind of an abrupt style. The first time I heard it I thought of chickens clucking. But I came to love it. Halvorson has joined my list of favorite guitarists. And, Thumbscrew is a great jazz band.
Holy Motors, Slow Sundown (2017).
I am listening to this album while I type away at this list. I can’t get enough of this record. The music is sparse, the guitar playing twangy and ethereal, and the vocals are sultry. Mazzy Star is a good comparison to Holy Motors, but the latter is a little more psychedelic, which provides a greater emotional feel than Mazzy was able to accomplish. I am not willing to say this was my favorite new discovery of 2018, but it is definitely in the top three.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
I bought a bunch of albums by this band in 2018. These folks have released thirteen albums, five of them in 2017, since 2012. And, all of the records I have heard have been either good or great. King G et. al. plays a wide variety of styles from straight ahead rock and roll, to progressive rock. Sometimes they are silly, sometimes they are brilliant, but they are never disappointing.
Honorable Mentions:
Voivod, The Wake (2018).
Styx, Styx II (1973).
Nasalrod, Building Machines (2017).
Hyborian, Vol 1 (2017).
Animals as Leaders, entire catalog.
Big Walnuts Younder, Big Walnuts Yonder (2017). Mike Watt. Hell Yeah!
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