{"id":47857,"date":"2018-12-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2018-hello-goodbye\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T07:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T07:31:33","slug":"2018-hello-goodbye","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2018-hello-goodbye\/","title":{"rendered":"2018: Hello Goodbye"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a year when both losses and gains felt too large to measure at times, I struggled to give my full appreciation to music. Interestingly, the artist whose body of work played the biggest individual role in my musical year didn\u2019t even come out with a new album in 2018, though he and his band did star in my favorite live concert experience of the year (see below). It was a year of ups and downs, advances and retreats, looking forward and looking back. In the end, I found perhaps fewer musical events to celebrate, but a greater intensity of feeling for each. To paraphrase one of the made-up award names employed below, here\u2019s to making it all new again in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Everything Old Is New Again Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Semisonic – Feeling Strangely Fine<\/i> (20th Anniversary Edition)
Fastball \u2013 All The Pain Money Can Buy<\/i> (20th Anniversary Edition)<\/b>
Shawn Mullins \u2013 Soul\u2019s Core Revival<\/i><\/b> <\/p>\n

With music sales trending somewhere south of shares in Toys \u2019R\u2019 Us, the smoking ruins of the music industry continue to milk the nostalgia of those older listeners still willing to pay for product. The thing is, I\u2019m a card-carrying member of that crowd, and sentimental to boot, so imagine the silly grin on my face when not one, not two, but three of my favorite albums of 1998 all got the 20th anniversary treatment? Just take my money, people. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Jazz Is A State Of Mind Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Greg Skaff – Soulmation<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

As longtime readers know, even after decades of listening to the stuff I\u2019m a relative jazz newbie; it\u2019s just not my old familiar neighborhood. But I know what I like, and so does Greg Skaff, a veteran sideman and solo bandleader who caught me by surprise with his 2018 release Soulmation<\/i>, a diverse, engaging take on jazz fusion that embraces influences from Wes Montgomery to Jimi Hendrix, the James Gang to Duke Ellington.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Late To The Party *Again* Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Original Soundtrack \u2013 Hamilton<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I know, I know\u2014I\u2019m years late, again. I\u2019m also not a big fan of either Broadway musicals or hip-hop, and didn\u2019t know much more about Alexander Hamilton going in than the average American-who-majored-in-political-science-35-years-ago. And I\u2019ve never seen the show. But I do know this: Lin-Manuel Miranda is a freaking genius, the original cast is astonishingly talented, and this might be the best soundtrack album to a Broadway musical that I\u2019ve ever heard \u2013 catchy, compelling, clever, moving and completely engrossing, even without the visuals. It deserves every accolade it continues to gather.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Truth In Advertising Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Tom Petty \u2013 An American Treasure<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Petty was exactly what the title of this superb, enlightening four-disc open-up-the-vaults set\u2014curated by his family and The Heartbreakers\u2014declares. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Live Show Of The Year<\/b><\/p>\n

Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit<\/b><\/p>\n

In a year when I spent a lot of time catching up with earlier Isbell releases like Southeastern<\/i><\/a> and Something More Than Free<\/i><\/a>, and the man himself kept busy touring rather than recording, the highlight of my concert dance card was catching JI and band live on a mild late-summer evening in Berkeley. It was, in a word, spectacular<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Prog Album of the Year<\/b><\/p>\n

Big Big Train \u2013 Merchants Of Light<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

This double album, which pulls the strongest takes from Big Big Train\u2019s three-night 2017 live stand at London\u2019s Cadogan Hall, is a near-perfect summation of the band\u2019s now 10-year ascendancy, from The Underfall Yard<\/i><\/a> to Grimspound<\/i><\/a>, with the eight-person core lineup teaming with a five-strong live horn section, a genuine rock orchestra that sends these tremendous songs right through the roof.<\/p>\n

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Indies of the Year<\/b><\/p>\n

For me it was a year dominated by indie releases. Whether that might be because the major labels only put out pop, hip-hop, and endless Special Anniversary Edition reissues these days, I\u2019ll leave to the judgment of others.<\/p>\n

3. Ben Bostick \u2013 Hellfire<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

A memorable collection of music to raise hell by from LA-based \u201coutsider country\u201d artist Bostick; I called it \u201ca rollicking primer on self-destruction set to a toe-tapping honky-tonk beat.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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2. Spottiswoode And His Enemies \u2013 Lost In The City<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Lost In the City<\/i> is \u201ca kind of urban fantasia, an immersive theater-of-the-mind love letter to New York City,\u201d the Englishman Spottiswoode\u2019s home of many years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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1. Arms Of Kismet \u2013 Ballast And Bromides<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The \u201csparkling, unmerciful\u201d Ballast And Bromides<\/i> from musical alchemist Mark Doyon \u201cdelivers equal measures of snark and sweetness, nostalgia for a less abrasive time and blunt assessment of the one we\u2019re living through.\u201d Highly recommended.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Album of the Year<\/b><\/p>\n

Last Charge Of The Light Horse \u2013 Race To The Sound<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s an indie, yes, but it\u2019s also far and away my favorite album issued in 2018, and the album that singlehandedly rescued me from a musical funk. \u201c[A] poet who sets his striking words to imaginative roots-rock that is all substance and no flash,\u201d Jean-Paul Vest delivers \u201csongs stun you with subtlety and wow you with precision; every instrument, note, and voice is placed with forethought and purpose.\u201d This album simply knocked me out.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Honorable Mention<\/b><\/p>\n

Seven more very enjoyable listens from 2018, again mostly indies.<\/p>\n

Courtney Barnett \u2013 <\/a> Tell Me How You Really Feel<\/a>
<\/i>The Aussie singer-songwriters returns with a more subtle but no less impressive sophomore album.<\/p>\n

Michael McDermott \u2013 Out From Under<\/i><\/a>
A gripping song cycle about addiction and recovery from a master craftsman. <\/p>\n

Jeremy Nail \u2013 Live Oak<\/i><\/a>
The author of one of my favorite albums of 2016 returns with an album that\u2019s \u201cfull of stark beauty and a dusty, resilient soulfulness.\u201d <\/p>\n

Perfect Beings \u2013 Vier<\/i><\/a>
In which the indie prog darlings take on a Topographic Oceans<\/i>-sized song suite and deliver an album that\u2019s surprisingly cohesive.<\/p>\n

D.B. Rielly \u2013 Live From Chester<\/i><\/a>
\u201c[A] world-class storyteller who can paint a picture with just his voice and guitar, mixing humor, pathos and a scruffy, hard-scrabble wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sideshow Tragedy \u2013 The View From Nowhere<\/i><\/a>
The Sideshow Tragedy\u2019s \u201cintense, poetic, at times apocalyptic blues-rock has never felt more current, more relevant, more powerful.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hadley McCall Thackston – Hadley McCall Thackston<\/i><\/a>
Melding traditionalist country-folk with a knowing tone, singer-songwriter Thackston delivers \u201ca distinct perspective on the world that feels both idiosyncratic and timeless.\u201d<\/p>\n


Overhyped And Underloved Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Greta Van Fleet \u2013 Anthem Of The Peaceful Army<\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n

Neither as great as the hype might make it seem nor as derivative as the snarkiest critics might lead to you to believe, Anthem Of The Peaceful Army<\/i> is a pretty good album by a talented band with a ton of potential (and an endorsement from Robert Plant).<\/p>\n

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