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The It’s Time to Play B-Sides Top 20 Albums of 2024

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2024 for me was another year inching towards normal music activities following the COVID Lockdowns of 2020 (and really 2021). I saw two larger touring acts in a new venue in Des Moines (actually Waukee) called Vibrant Music Hall run by Live Nation. I saw Counting Crows in August and Black Crowes in October. A buddy of mine had extra tickets and offered them to me. The venue is really nice with decent sight lines from pretty much every part, and the sound system is really great. I recommend it. I also got to see Hiss Golden Messenger for the second time (the first time was at Eaux Claires Festival in 2015). M.C. Taylor was doing a solo acoustic tour performing the Bad Debt album in its entirety. This show was at Raccoon Motel in Davenport next door to the Davenport location for Ragged Records. Raccoon Motel is booked by Sean Moeller who does a fantastic job curating events there. It’s a really small venue so all of the shows are pretty intimate affairs. The opening act was a duo called Monde UFO who perform a kind of atmospheric jazz and vocal mix with samples and singing bowls. Their last album 7171 was really great, and they’re releasing a new album in 2025. Here are some pictures I shot of that show.

In 2024 my friends and I continued the tradition of meeting in Davenport at Ragged Records for Record Store Day. We had more guys coming along so we had a convoy of three cars leaving from Cedar Rapids, IA and it was a really fun time. We hit both Ragged locations (Davenport and Rock Island) and everyone got the titles they were looking for. Afterwards we grabbed lunch. It’s a great excuse to hang out with friends and buy some records. Analog Vault in Cedar Rapids participated in Record Store Day this year for Black Friday which was really convenient. I only had a couple of titles I was looking for (the 4th and final release of the Get Shown the Light Spring 1977 Grateful Dead shows on vinyl, and the LSD Remixes album) and they had both of them. I think whether I go to Davenport or stay in town has to do with what I want to get off of the list, so we’ll see. The other benefit to going to Davenport for RSD is that it gives me a chance to dig through Ragged’s massive used and new inventory.

Speaking of retail, 2024 seemed like the year that all of the vinyl community online was talking about the price of vinyl– both used and new. I certainly observed this as well. It’s very rare to see new single LP releases for less than $30 and I think that will be the new norm starting price. Used vinyl prices are kind of all over the place, the “big” catalog titles are creeping upwards to the point where it really makes more sense to buy the new reissues. Gone are the days of $9 Led Zeppelin used records. And, honestly, in many cases the new remasters of essential catalog titles (Beatles, Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Pink Floyd, etc.) sound better than early copies and are certainly more readily available (Walmart, Target, Barnes & Noble, Amazon). If I was starting out today, I wouldn’t hold out for OG pressings, I’d just start building the collection with the new pressings and that is the advice I’ve given to people wanting to get into collecting– which BTW, is still the case. If you only watched YouTube Vinyl Community videos, you’d think there is this mass exodus out of vinyl collecting. If there is, I’m not seeing it, but I suppose there could be a collapse coming, which honestly I wouldn’t be too upset about as I feel like a market correction has been overdue.

2024 was the first full year of the Vinyl Me Please subscription I signed up for in late 2023. After years of being dismissive of the endeavor, the announcement of the Miles Davis Electric Years box set in 2023 coupled with a coupon that gave a substantial discount to new subscribers pushed me to sign up. It was a pretty spotty first year for me, honestly. There was the whole controversy around the new pressing plant in Colorado that was going to do all of the VMP releases in-house which ended up falling through as the principle partners decided to take the plant over. This caused a rolling backlog and delay of a bunch of titles that honestly VMP hasn’t really completely recovered from. Little by little they’re catching up, but there are still titles pushed out to August of 2025. On top of that, they increased the monthly subscription price and also reduced the number of genre channels. So, now there are three channels to choose from. All of that said, the packaging and pressings are really top-notch and almost worth the monthly subscription. I upgraded three albums in my collection with VMP versions (Heart Little Queen, Joni Mitchell’s Hissing of Summer Lawns, Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled, Mirage and Tango in the Night). I also picked up some interesting Jazz releases that I might have not looked at if they weren’t part of the subscription. It remains to be seen if I stay a subscriber. I would really like to get the reissue of the Blue Note Story box set, but it seems to be delayed and I really want to get it with a coupon which means it has to be in stock.

So, after all that, 2024 was a year when I bought a lot of records both physical and digital. I filled a lot of gaps in my collection, and I reviewed a lot of great releases for Little Village Magazine. This list is only for new releases in 2024– not reissues, though one release sort of straddles a fine line, but I’ll cover that below. Here is the list in no particular order other than when I come across it looking at my discogs and Bandcamp additions for 2024.

Salt Fox – MISS YOU, KYLE / LOVE YA, BOYS! – Cedar Falls band Salt Fox released their 2nd album in 2024. Their blend of guitars, synths and pop vocals is great, and maybe a little unexpected from an Eastern Iowa band. Superbly polished pop. I reviewed it for Little Village Magazine. No physical release, but is available on all streaming platforms (not Bandcamp).

Run Dog – The Big Room EP – LOVELOVELOVE this EP. Mopey guitar pop that reminds me of Glen Phillips of Toad The Wet Sprocket. I reviewed it for Little Village. I can’t wait to hear more music from this Cedar Falls band.

Johnny Delaware – Para Llevar – A new discovery for me this year, but Johnny Delaware has been on the fringes of things I’ve listened to over the years– he is part of SUSTO and The Artisanals. He popped into Analog Vault earlier this year and did an in-store appearance which I missed, but ended up hearing this album in the store on Black Friday, so I picked this up. Breezy Seventies influenced folk rock. Yacht Rock? No, not really, but it kind of exists in that space. Worth a listen, really great album!

DICKIE – Head Full of Hiss EP – After the release of Dickie’s last album Minus Thieves, he moved to Des Moines and retooled the band. Classic chamber pop rock. The first of a couple of EP’s dropped in November. Here is my review of the EP for Little Village Magazine

Chrash — Music for the Next Scene – Quad Cities band Chrash released their first album since their politically-charged album 2017: The Music. This ends up being kind of the band’s COVID album thematically and also what caused the delay. Some great tracks on here, my favorite is “Fox Fear.” Here is my review for Little Village.

Pylon Reenactment Society – Magnet Factory – Pylon Reenactment Society is sort of a “Pylon Part 2” with original Pylon singer Vanessa Briscoe Hay fronting the new band. The band is less Pylon than a band continuing the original direction of the seminal Athens, GA artrock band. While the band has been around for a few years, Magnet Factory is the first full length album from the band. It’s a fantastic record and if you’re a fan of the original band, it’s an essential release. “Fix It” with Kate Pierson of the B-52’s is a wonderful collaboration.

Kevin Gordon – The In Between – Kevin Gordon came back with his follow up to 2018’s Tilt And Shine. A nice mix of rockers and ballads as we’ve come to expect from Gordon. The lead track is “Simple Things” which is one of my favorite tracks from Gordon.

Mazarin – Pendular Released on Portuguese label Now Jazz Agora this is new jazz ensemble Mazarin’s debut full-length. The mix of live instrumentals heavy in synths and beats recalls the acid jazz era of the 90’s from bands like Brand New Heavies. This is a beautiful chill out record. Now Jazz Agora label head Rui Miguel Abreu and I go back to my days running the DJ Shadow website and chat boards. He sent me a huge package of 12” singles from his label Kami’Khazz back then just because he appreciated what I was doing for the community. When he announced that he was launching a new label, I was down to check it out and this first release is pretty damn great.

Jeff Parker ETA IVtet – The Way Out of Easy – This album is the second release from Parker and the ETA IVtet. The first one was Mondays At The Enfield Tennis Academy (where the band gets its name) on Eremite in 2021 and similar to that release, this album is based on the band’s live shows from the residency at that venue. The performances are improvisational in nature but retain a cohesiveness that I think comes from the use of melody and theme. Watching Parker’s career move from being a somewhat obscure Chicago jazz guitarist (though notably becoming a key member of Tortoise) to a go-to sideman in the new jazz scene as well as building a substantial solo and combo catalog of his own, not to mention a Grammy winner has been really great.

Nala Sinephro – Endlessness – Continuing this little run of Jazz releases is the second album from Nala Sinephro who creates ambient electronic jazz albums somewhat similar to Floating Points. Beautiful album.

Andre 3000 – New Blue Sun – Quite a bit has been said about this release. Andre 3000 of Outkast released his first solo album, and it’s an ambient flute/woodwind instrumental album. I really dig this, but a lot of people are pretty upset that we didn’t get “Hey Ya Pt 2.”

Blue Note Review Volume Three: TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLEE Boxset – Honestly, I thought that after two volumes of Blue Note Review, Blue Note was done with this considering that the first two were dropped in 2017 and 2018, and then Blue Note Records launched the Tone Poet run of releases which set the bar for quality and cost without all of the other stuff and the box. But, on the 85th Anniversary in 2024 they wanted to do some special releases which involved resurrecting the Review series. This box set focuses on trumpeter Lee Morgan who had a very impressive run of releases until his untimely death at 33 years old in 1972. In typical fashion we get a curated Tone-Poet-ish reissue of a vault release of a 1967 session. But, the reason I’m including this release here is the 2 LP (three sides) compilation of Morgan tracks done by current Blue Note artists like Bill Frisell, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, Kenyon Harrold and more. This release could really stand on its own as a regular catalog release. The performances are great and shines a light on Morgan’s influence on the current jazz scene. This release is why I sought out and bought Morgan’s album The Procrastinator a couple of months ago. The Procrastinator will get a Classic Series reissue in October of 2025.Unfortunately this is not available on any streaming services, so I don’t have a link to it.

Bo Ramsey – Sidetrack & On The Range EPs – We got two EP releases from Iowa country blues legend Bo Ramsey. Both EP’s feature retooling of earlier songs displaying where Bo’s music is today. A mellow and mature perspective compared to his earlier bar busting, hard touring days, but really shows the strength of the songwriting.

James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg – All Gist – James Elkington and Nathan Salsburg reunited to make a follow up to their brilliant 2015 acoustic guitar album Ambsace. The album continues their American Primitive adjacent work. Recommended if you like William Tyler, John Fahey, Jack Rose.

William Tyler – Future Myths – Speaking of Mr. Tyler, he released a new album that was recorded in an (obviously) empty water tower. The album is a re-imagining of his 2019 album Goes West stripping things back to just his guitar in a hugely reverberate room.

Kelly Finnigan – A Lover Was Born – Another fantastic album from R&B savant Kelly Finnigan. It’s cool that he has so many channels to funnel his art into whether it is his solo albums, his work with Monophonics or as producer for other artists. Great record and one I heartily recommend if you dig vintage vibey R&B. On Colemine, of course!

Dope Walker – Heavy Revelations Dope Walker is a supergroup of Minnesota and Iowa musicians who have a shared history in the 90’s Midwest music scene. I loved the debut release Save Save from 2020. This album was started as a kind of a low key duo effort from Aaron Mader and Jeff Allen, but quickly expanded to become the 2nd album from Dope Walker. I think this album leans more pop psych than the previous album, but it’s really great and honestly more people need to know about these albums. Here is my review for Little Village.

Aerial M – The Peel Sessions – This was an unexpected release this year. Aerial M is one of the project names for David Pajo. Aerial M toured briefly as a trio and stopped into Maida Vale studios to record a session for David Peel. Long available as kind of a bootleg taping from the FM broadcast in the UK, it was finally made available as an official release on Drag City this year. Kind of a nod to the work he did in Tortoise briefly. The album art is a tribute to the Strange Fruit releases of the Peel Sessions over the years.

The Orb – Orboretum (The Orb Collection) – This is a compilation of songs over the career of The Orb, kind of a “greatest hits” but is also alternative versions and remixes of those tracks. The vinyl release is an octagonal box that opens like a flower housing 4 LP’s of different colors. I have a lot of the original early CD’s from The Orb, so it’s cool to have these remixes and this really amazing package.

The Black Crowes – Happiness Bastards – Honestly, the only reason I listened to this was because I was going to see them on this tour. I was pleasantly surprised by it. The band is in great form and is kind of all over the map stylistically. They obviously will always sound like The Black Crowes as long as the Robinson brothers are at the helm, but this certainly is an extension of what the band can do. Very guitar heavy, which is cool. One to crank and not think too much about it.

The It’s Time to Play B-Sides Top 20 Albums of 2020

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The year-end lists are upon us again. Time for me to list out the ways I’m getting further away from the beaten path of popular music.

The worldwide pandemic of 2020 had a gigantic impact on the music industry. The most obvious of which was the cancelation of most tours. Artists were forced to figure out new revenue streams or at least better utilize the revenue streams they had. Many artists embraced live streaming to varying degrees of success. The ones who did it right were the ones who either partnered with someone to provide the streaming, or if they did it themselves made sure the quality was up to the standards of produced live content. A significant upswing of Patreon use helped many artists weather the lack of income storm and Bandcamp’s “Bandcamp Friday” once-a-month event where they waived their own fees had the double effect of raising awareness of bands who had merch as well as the long-tail effect of encouraging more regular use of Bandcamp. I was a fairly avid shopper at Bandcamp, but in 2020, I was buying multiple releases per month as acts I follow released Bandcamp-only albums or songs. As a result, my Best of 2020 includes some digital-only releases for the first time that I can remember.

From a vinyl perspective, 2020 was as screwed up as everything else due to COVID-19. Just ahead of the widespread lockdown one of the two plants that manufacture the lacquer plates required to start the process of creating the physical stampers burned down taking out about 70-80% of the lacquer plate availability. Add to that the fact that manufacturing in general was impacted either by the infection rate of employees interacting, or by limiting the number of employees when they could work, pretty much all release dates for vinyl were pushed way out. Add to that the fact that the US Postal Service suffered losses due to sorting facilities being limited as a kind of way to prevent mail in ballots for the 2020 primaries and the impact of COVID-19 cases with the employees, it’s a miracle any titles were released this year.

Record Store Day in April was delayed to June and then eventually re-tooled as three “RSD Drops” in August, September and October. Most of the titles for RSD in April were manufactured in 2019 in anticipation for the usual vinyl manufacturing delays surrounding the April event. As such, most of the big titles for that event came out as planned, with some titles being pulled out and released outside of the drops and some delayed to later Drop dates or Black Friday RSD (which happened as planned). RSD 2021 is slated for June 12th, presumably so that manufacturing can better deal with these restrictions. The other obvious reason for pushing the date out is that it is predicted that general availability of vaccines for COVID-19 should be out by then and the risk of going to a store would be lessened and as such, the stores can have a regular “big” event. The downside of it being in June is the temperatures are starting to get warmer and will increase the risk of warping the records both in shipping to the stores as well as any shipping for online purchases.

Here are my Top 20 releases from 2020 (in no particular order):

Jeff Parker – Suite for Max Brown – Parker’s follow up to his brilliant 2016 album The New Breed finds him continuing the very contemporary blending of jazz and electronic elements. Fans of his work in Chicago Post Rock outfit Tortoise will find a lot to enjoy with this release and maybe will enjoy it more than the odd sidestep of 2016’s Catastrophist. Get Suite For Max Brown from Bandcamp.

Chicago Underground Quartet – Good Days – Speaking of Jeff Parker, the reunion of one of Rob Mazurek’s more notorious projects Chicago Underground Quartet– an expansion of his Chicago Underground Duo with drummer Chad Taylor whose last album was the self-titled release on Thrill Jockey back in 2001 (way out of print and copies go for over $75 when they show up…). This session was an unplanned reunion in that producer Chris Schlarb instigated by getting the individual musicians to come to L.A. to work on another project and then offered to produce a Chicago Underground Quartet record. The album was recorded in one day, but doesn’t sound thrown together due to the fact that most of the songs were actually composed for the other members prior to the recording.

Exploding Star Orchestra – Dimensional Stardust A third album with Jeff Parker on it and a second album from Rob Mazurek. I loved the 2010 release Stars Have Shapes on Chicago Blues and Jazz label Delmark. (Still in print!) Exploding Star Orchestra is an expansive interpretation of Mazurek’s experiments in abstract jazz. To me the best parts of Dimensional Stardust are when the band hits a groove, like on track 2, “A Wrinkle in Time Sets Concentric Circles Reeling”

Parker’s clean guitar runs run counterpoint to the horns on this track which lends a lot of complexity for the listener to follow through the various musical strands of the work. The flute from Nicole Mitchell is fantastic and adds a fluttering beauty to the proceedings. Very much recommended for fans of Thrill Jockey bands.

Tame Impala – The Slow Rush – I honestly kind of forgot that this was a 2020 release! Some of that might be that it came out in early February, but also that a couple of tracks had been floating around for a while. “Borderline” came out in April of 2019! I picked up the indie exclusive green vinyl version of this from Ragged Records in Rock Island, IL. The kind of pissy thing about this vinyl release was they didn’t provide a download with it and there wasn’t a good way to get a download of it. Now, you can either buy it from Amazon, or if you buy the vinyl release from Amazon, you can do the “Auto Rip” download, so that is a good option, now.

My solution to this back in February was to buy a new CD of it on eBay from a seller who seemed to have a grey market source for a lot of new titles. These shipped from Asia even though the seller was from Massachusetts. Because the shipping took so long, the seller provided a download of the CD as well! I doubt any part of this was legal, strictly speaking. But, the CD I got was in shrink and included all of the CD artwork which was a calendar due to the theme of the album of being a year. That calendar artwork is not part of the vinyl release, incidentally.

Matt Wilson Orchestra – When I Was A Writer – Matt Wilson was part of the seminal Minneapolis band Trip Shakespeare along with his brother Dan Wilson. Trip Shakespeare made the leap to a major label in the early 90’s where they ultimately ended breaking up. Dan Wilson and John Munson formed Semisonic of “Closing Time” fame. Dan would go on to pen songs for the likes of Adele, and Semisonic has reformed in 2020. Matt Wilson joined Twin Cities band Polara briefly and also released one solo record in 1998 and also formed The Twilight Hours with Munson. Matt Wilson’s latest project “Matt Wilson Orchestra” represents a return to songwriting for Wilson after a break. The “Orchestra” is made up of largely acoustic instruments and heavenly vocal harmonies. The lineup of instruments includes banjo and harp, as odd as that seems, but it totally works here and really comes as close to what I think Trip Shakespeare might have sounded like in 2020 as anything. The vocal harmonies recall The Mamas and the Papas. An all around gorgeous record and really should be on more peoples’ radars. You can order the CD/LP/Download from Wilson’s new label Pravda Records HERE.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Reunions Jason Isbell was quoted somewhere (I can’t find it at the moment) that his goal is to write songs that feel like the songs we heard on the radio years ago. To that end, I think he has achieved his goal. Isbell’s particular take on country and rock (he’s considered Americana, but these days I feel like he is really just rock to me, maybe in the same way The Eagles are really a rock band, even though they have “Desperado” and “Seven Bridges Road” in their catalog). Recognizing the tough position that brick and mortar record stores were in due to the pandemic, he released Reunions early to record stores in a special “Dreamsicle” orange pressing that came with a print of the album art and an art print of his 1959 “Red Eye” Les Paul done by Iowa artist Karl Haglund. This was a constant soundtrack this summer as I worked on my landscaping as a distraction from not being able to do anything out of the home.

TWINS – Dream On – Cedar Falls, IA band TWINS came back with a new album and new sound in 2020. Known primarily as a power pop band based on their guitars, hooks and harmonies of their first three records, the four years between Square America and Dream On saw the band change their lineup and gave lead singer and lyricist Joel Sires a chance to dig through his personal record crates to find inspiration in Springsteen, Mellencamp and Steve Earle. The resulting record represents a welcome maturity in the band and Sires flexes his lyric craft opening the door to his first solo release which comes out this year. Read my review at Little Village.

Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes – What Kinda Music – Tom Misch got his start as a Soundcloud celebrity and released a few records under his own label. For his Blue Note Records debut, he partners with drummer Yussef Dayes to create what I think is the best example of what Blue Note Records should be in the new century. A blend of nouveau ideas about the landscape of music and jazz tonality. Misch is young enough to claim John Mayer as an influence, and the guitars on this album owe a debt to Mayer, but more than that, the album draws from Hip Hop and electronic music. In that regard it fits in with the likes of Thundercat and Kamasi Washington. The lyrics on What Kinda Music are a bit shallow so the tales of a tortured artist are not here, and honestly this would have kept this album off of a shorter list. But, the album sounds great and I found myself going back to this and his Mix Tape 2 album quite a bit in the last quarter of 2020.

Reno Bo – You Can See It All From Here – Reno Bo has been somewhat quietly cranking out brilliant rock records for about ten years. As a sideman he’s worked with the likes of Albert Hammond Jr. (of The Strokes) and Brendan Benson, and has been pretty busy in that capacity, but I anxiously await his solo releases. For his 2020 album You Can See It All From Here he returns with a sound that to me really reminds me of Tom Petty and Matthew Sweet (particularly “Like A Stone”). Bo is part of the Cabin Down Below band which holds Tom Petty tribute shows, so that isn’t probably far from the influences he would claim.

Monophonics – It’s Only Us – For Monophonic’s fourth album, the band returns with Kelly Finnigan on vocals and keys (at this point he’s a permanent member, I guess).The sunny 70’s soul and funk has been polished to a shimmer on It’s Only Us. In fact, I hear a lot of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On? and The Spinners “I’ll Be Around” on it. This record is a banger from beginning to end. The title track is sheer brilliance.

Kelly Finnigan – A Joyful Sound – Speaking of Kelly Finnigan, he released another solo record in 2020, relatively soon after his 2019 solo record Tales People Tell (which got an RSD-exclusive instrumentals release in 2020) and the aforementioned Monotones album! A Joyful Sound is a holiday record on par with the Phil Spector A Christmas Gift For You. A stone cold classic that everyone needs in their collection. I wrote a review of it here.

Calexico – Seasonal Shift – Calexico put out its first holiday record in 2020. It was a collection of covers and originals. The covers include “Christmas All Over Again” by Tom Petty and “Merry Xmas (War Is Over) from Lennon and Ono. I would have liked to see “Gift X-Change” from the Aerocalexico tour album on here. Such a beautiful song from the band. Either way, a welcomed addition to the slowly-growing collection of Christmas vinyl.

Johnnie Cluney – Love Is Law – If you know of Cluney, it’s likely due to his signature illustrations for Daytrotter.com (R.I.P.). His musical output is equally notable and the Bedroom Shrine record was a favorite of mine. He continues the dusty lo-fi journey on his first album under his own name. The album sits somewhere in the neighborhood of Dinosaur Jr, Elliott Smith and Sebadoh. The physical release is a cassette and that’s pretty much the best way to listen to it. Read my review here.

Hiss Golden Messenger – Forward, Children and School Daze: Fundraisers for Durham Public Schools students – I’m kind of cheating here by lumping two releases together, but honestly they are a pair of releases that belong together, and likely everyone who bought one bought the other. Proceeds from the sales of these Bandcamp releases go to support Durham Public Schools, which ended up being even more essential as they needed to gear up for students newly in distance learning. The live shows from HGM are places where the recorded songs take on a life of their own. These two releases are made up of performances from the same tour in support of Terms of Surrender. The retooling of “Jesus Shot Me In The Head” on Forward, Children is worth the price of admission. Both of these releases support the idea that HGM could stand to have a physical live album release.

Anthony Worden and the Illiterati — ‘Voilá – Iowa City musician put out one of my favorite releases in 2020. Shining bits of guitar pop brilliance. Recommended if you stan Britpop from Costello or Nick Lowe. The additional vocals from Penny Peach take this record over the top. When’s her solo record out? Read my review in Little Village.

Elizabeth Moen – Creature of Habit – 2020 derailed the album release plans for Moen. She released two singles from her album that was supposed to come out (“Headgear” and “Ex’s House Party”) and had a tour planned to correspond with the release and then the pandemic hit. Stuck at home she started working on new songs that were anchored in synthesizers rather than her trusty guitar. The songs are some of her best yet and I can see how this “experiment” in different instruments could inform her songs going forward.

High Waisted – Sick of Saying Sorry – NYC surf-meets 60’s girlband outfit High Waisted is back with another slab of sunny dance-able pop rock. Front woman Jessica Dye really nails the 80’s girls with attitude vibe– think Linda Ronstadt, Debbie Harry and Pat Benatar. Her powerful soprano coupled with giant guitar is an infectious combination. This record was lost in the fog of COVID undeservedly and everyone should check this out.

Dope Walker – Save Save – Dope Walker is an Iowa-Minnesota supergroup/side project made up of William Elliott Whitmore, Aaron Mader (producer Lazerbeak from Twin Cities hip hop collective Doomtree), Zach Westerdahl of Ten Grand, Mike Schulte from The Pork Tornadoes, Joel Anderson from FT (The Shadow Government). Save Save is the debut record from the collective and has a very polished post hardcore sound. This album kind of missed the radar of folks (including me for most of the year).

Grateful Dead – Buffalo 5/9/1977 Box Set – For the third RSD “Drop” on 10/24, we were treated to the second vinyl box treatment of the four-night May 1977 run represented in the Get Shown The Light CD box set released in May of 2017 for the anniversary of that 4 night run. In 2017 the legendary Cornell show was released as a vinyl boxed set. The second box set is from Buffalo the night after Cornell. This show is notable for the fantastic “Help Is On The Way” > “Slipknot!” > “Franklins Tower” opener, largely regarded as the best performance of this sequence. The Cornell show was the one that opened the door to the Dead for me, so I’m super happy to have this show. I think that the existence of the Buffalo show might hint that we’ll get the other two nights with a similar vinyl treatment.

Pylon – Box Seminal Athens, GA band Pylon got the reissue treatment from New West Records in 2020. The first two albums were returned to print on vinyl for the first time since the 80’s and the first time on CD since I think 1997 when DFA Records reissued them with bonus tracks. As part of this effort a WONDERFUL box set was released which, along with the first two albums Chomp and Gyrate also included the “Razz Tape” — an early recording of the band and “Extras” which included b-sides and rare tracks. There was also a beautiful hardbound book with photos and other ephemera from the band which also acts as a compliment to an exhibition at the University of Georgia of the band. I wrote an in-depth breakdown of the boxset here.