It is hard to overstate what a great year this was for music, including both albums released and concerts seen. Seriously, it’s been a remarkable year. It would be foolish to expect next year, or really any year henceforth, to be quite this good. That’s how fucking good this year’s releases and concerts were. Sure, I hope I get to see it outdone, but man, this one was a doozy.
The year’s top approachable albums
For the two or three of you who read my list for 2024, the main takeaway was that I was really into some avant-garde, eclectic, downright unapproachable stuff. But this year saw me drawn to a bunch of stuff that was accessible and fun, while still being challenging enough and rewarding aplenty. The more approachable albums are here.
The year’s top less approachable albums
Or more simply put, the stuff that’s more eclectic, ambient, jazz adjacent, and the like. What? Did you think that I just stopped listening to such music?
That one’s pretty self-explanatory.
Alright. Let’s get going.
The approachable gems of the year
Basic Dream City
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Changes, Changing”
Their first album, This is Basic made my list last year. This year’s EP added Douglas McCombs, he of Tortoise and Eleventh Dream Day fame. It’s now got twice as many guitars as their first album. And none are of the acoustic variety. This is rock and/or roll amplified with no vocals. Dig it.
Cactus Lee
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Roll Maggie”
A band from Austin fronted by the syrup-voiced Kevin Dehan, they sing melodic songs about women, longing, and living life marginally. Dehan’s voice is as soothing as a hot toddy and his lyrics hearken to a time when drive-thru’s were more common at banks than fast food chains and coffee shops. Oh, and the album art is by R Crumb. How fucking cool is that?
Cass McCombs Interior Live Oak
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Asphodel”
McCombs is not turning over any new soil here, and that’s just fine. His voice and an acoustic guitar or an electric light on the feedback are his moneymakers. You got to dance with the one that brung you, as they say. The only knock on this one is that it could have been pared down to maybe 35 minutes or so, rather than its hour and 14 minute run time. In other words, I love it when I put it on and about 45 minutes later I’m ready for something different.
Dutch Interior Moneyball
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Wood Knot”
These guys remind me of American Music Club from the era of their remarkable San Francisco album, and sometimes not even slightly. It’s moody, catchy, and often Lynchian. You’re not going to rattle the rafters with this one but you’ll still shake loose some cobwebs.
Editrix The Big E
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Real Fire”
A power trio of calculated rafter-rattling precision. They are kind of like if The Minutemen hadn’t broken up after D Boon died and instead taught Minnie Mouse how to shred and stuck her in front of the microphone. Don’t think that I’m comparing lead singer/shredder Wendy Eisenberg to Minnie Mouse. It’s just that her voice is, well, let’s just say unexpected. And I like it. A lot. Because it’s unexpected. This is an album to be played loud. Eisenberg uses the whole neck of the guitar to communicate what she’s trying to pound into your head. And the rhythm section provide a proper track into which the groove burns. And burns this album does.
Sounds Like . . . Florry
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “First it was a movie, then it was a book”
Florry is the concoction of Francie Medosch who sings songs like she maybe used to imitate Janis Joplin when she was five-years-old and although she grew out of that phase, she forgot to readjust her voice as she grew up. The first few times I listened to it I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure whether the lead was female or male. Not that I cared because it’s a force of a voice. This is an album that feels like it could have been unearthed from the 70’s. It’s got that we’re-just-in-it-for-the-fun-of-it-all vibe. I put this on and right off the bat I’m smiling inside because it really is fun.
Glyders Forever
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Super Glyde”
Released right before Thanksgiving, I wasn’t expecting to be so blown away by how smooth, groovy, and tight this set is. It’s another that could have been on the charts back when republicans were still with their marbles and gas stations didn’t have a spot for the dollar integer on their signs. It’s straight ahead grimy, gritty pure gold and four-on-the-floor loveliness.
Hüsker Dü 1985: The Miracle Year
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Everything Falls Apart”
This live set from 1985 released on Numero Group (they’re like K-Tel but cool and sans the shitty TV ads) is so fucking good that I think I listened to it for several days straight before I needed to come up for air. I’ve always been a giant Hüsker Dü fan, but, shamefully, I’ve been so enthralled with Zen Arcade that I scarcely ever track any of their other albums. This album serves as a great reminder that there are other Hüsker songs that sleigh just as much as those on Zen Arcade. The performance is from a gig at First Avenue in Minneapolis and is an immaculate soundboard recording. It memorializes a time right at the end of their SST era and just before their major label (Warner Bros.) years. It is like a bundle of dynamite, with individual sticks exploding consecutively, one after another. And sometimes that’s just what I’m in the mood for.
Jules Reidy Ghost/Spirit
The song you’ll be glad you listened to”Satellite”
This is probably the least approachable of the records on the “approachable” list. Which doesn’t bother me at all, but I’m just warning ya. Reidy is a talented guitarist and this album is all her. Her voice and her guitar. It’s truly gorgeous to my ears. The whole thing sounds like one forty-two-minute track despite the fact that there are fourteen tracks listed. Whatever. I don’t really ever intend to listen to just part of this album, or this-song-then-that-song. I want the whole thing. Always.
Marc Ribot Map of a Blue City
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Death of a Narcissist”
Living legend is probably not too strong of a label to describe what a big deal this guy is. He’s a household name among musicians, having played with a disparate assortment of cats from Tom Waits to Caetano Veloso, and too many to mention in between, but a household name in actual households he is not. This is his first album as a singer/songwriter. Having existed on the player/songwriter fringes for decades, he decided to see what it’s like to hear his own voice on an albumful of his recordings. It’s good. This isn’t the kind of singing debut where you go, Why the hell has he not been singing all these years? but rather, OK, I can see why he hasn’t been singing, but you know what? It’s pretty damn good. These are songs that could have been produced by 90’s era Daniel Lanois what with their laid back vibe with no one instrument or vocal being unnecessarily highlighted or subdued.
mei ehara All About McGuffin
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “まだ早い果物 / The Fruit not yet ripe“
This is the first Japanese artist in this post but far from the last. That I love Japanese literature might be how I gravitated to Japanese music but I really don’t think so. I suspect it happened more circuitously but exactly how it happened is akin to explaining what happened in a Haruki Murakami novel. It should be easy but it is absolutely not. Anyway, All About McGuffin is equal parts Japanese indie rock, folk, and delicate pop. Sometimes I feel like I’m listening to a Steely Dan song re-imagined by a Japanese chanteuse. It’s got jangly guitars and that locked-in Becker and Fagen production sheen.
Mei Semones Animaru
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Sasayaku Sakebu”
Yup. Two in a row. Or at least sort of. Born in Ann Arbor, Semones’ mother is Japanese. Semones is a jazz influenced indie artist based in Brooklyn, or so says her Bandcamp page, and switches between Japanese and English in her vocals like Sam Cooke’s vocal range went from sweet to sandpaper. This album reminds me of Snail Mail’s first album but with much different instrumentation and production. There are strings all over the place here, but the passion in her vocal delivery is what reminds me of Lindsey Jordan. It’s a fun album.
Momoko Gill & Matthew Herbert Clay
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Need To Run”
Gill is a drummer, producer, and songwriter and has collaborated with Alabaster DePlume and Tirzah. Matthew Herbert is an experimental musician. Together they have concocted an album that doesn’t sound experimental or overladen by drums and percussion. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got an eclectic side to it, but Gill’s voice keeps the whole thing grounded and settled. It paints a gorgeous soundscape and pedals a serene soundtrack to whatever you’re doing without being all pushy about it.
Orcutt Shelley Miller
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “A Long Island Wedding”
Orcutt Shelley Miller are guitarist Bill Orcutt, bassist Ethan Miller, and drummer Steve Shelley (of Sonic Youth fame). This album has no pesky vocals to get in the way of the sonic piledriving that the trio are bringing forth. Orcutt’s four-string Telecaster — no, this is not a tenor Tele (if such a thing even exists) but a six-string Tele with two strings missing — grinds simultaneously melodically and frenetically in such a way that your heart rate will increase a bit but so will your mood because thus is the pleasure of hearing these guys jam.
Smerz Big city life
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Feisty”
The fact that Smerz are from Oslo just seems cool as fuck. They sing about clubbing, about boys, about girls, and about the goings on in the big city. It is the flat out funnest album on this list. It’s so much fun that I sometimes feel bad listening to it. Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt are Smerz and the album was written, performed, and produced by them. No need for any superfluous personnel because they got this.
Thalia Zedek Band The Boat Outside Your Window
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Naming Names”
Zedek is a self-proclaimed sixty-something out-and-proud lesbian who has been making punk rock, rock, and noise on the fringes since the 80’s and somehow I only discovered her this year. She has a voice that has been described as having been influenced by dirty ashtrays. It’s gritty and dripping in smoke residue. But it is full of passion. Her lyrics don’t hold back one bit. The songs on this album skewer the state that we are in here in America and around the world. To keep things from being too off-putting, though, she has employed the talents of pedal steel player Karen Sarkisian and it rounds the corners a bit. But not too much.
Tortoise Touch
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Vexations”
This is Tortoise’s first album not on Thrill Jockey who they left for International Anthem. If I was forced to name my two favorite record labels, I am pretty sure those would be the two. For whatever that’s worth. Tortoise are not a band who rush out albums. This is only their eighth album in over thirty years. And while there is no doubt this is a Tortoise album, there’s something more here. Something a little more complex perhaps. Or maybe deliberate. No, that’s not it. Tortoise have always been complex and deliberate. Confident? These are not musicians who have ever lacked confidence, I don’t think. Well, whatever it is, it’s a welcome addition to their catalog. If you like Tortoise, you’ll like this, if you don’t like Tortoise, don’t bother. But if you don’t know Tortoise, please, indulge yourself.
Water From Your Eyes It’s a Beautiful Place
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Life Signs”
At the risk of copping out, I am going to quote what Pitchfork said in their review, in which they gave this album an 8.3: “Nate Amos and Rachel Brown’s latest knotty LP is super chill and totally destabilizing. To call it their ‘guitar record’ would be an injustice to the range and the humor they find in it.” I don’t know what more to say but I have to say something or else I really did cop out. It’s got a lot going on and it feels like it’s almost going to fall apart but it never does. And you find yourself being kind of amazed by that and at the same time completely happy about it.
The Wildmans Longtime Friend
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Take Me”
The Wildmans are siblings Eli and Aila Wildman. They are definitely mining Emmylou and Gram territory here. Proudly and unapologetically. In fact, there are two Parsons-penned songs in “Hot Burrito #2” and “Luxury Liner”, the latter of which features the guitar of Redd Volkaert, who was Merle Haggard’s main picker for decades and is said to be, with Bill Kirchen, one of the two Titans of the Tele. This, however, isn’t just a paean to Emmylou and Gram solely but rather the entire genre. It’s refreshing to hear this music through these youngsters’ ears and hearts.
Yalla Miku 2
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Maximum Self Care”
Yalla Miku’s Bandcamp page has their genre as polyplanet postkraut. Could definitely not have said it better myself. They are a trilingual Geneva-based band with members hailing from the Middle East, the horn of Africa, and north Africa and they put their unique stamp simultaneously on post punk, electronica, and krautrock. If I hadn’t said that the Smerz album was the funnest album of this list then this would get that nod. It’s a really close second.
The less approachable gems of the year
Bitchin Bajas Inland See
This kind of reminds me of Tangerine Dream. Remember them? Probably most famous for doing the music in the movie Risky Business. At least this reminds me of my memory of Tangerine Dream. I haven’t actually listened to Tangerine in decades. Anyway, it’s a good soundtrack for driving, housecleaning, cooking, chilling, or whatever you may be doing when you want some background music that isn’t Muzak, but isn’t wildly avant-garde.
Ches Smith Clone Row
Ches Smith is a drummer who has played extensively with Marc Ribot and John Zorn. This is a quartet of two electric guitars and bass. The two guitarists are Liberty Ellman and Mary Halvorson (the latter of whom figures prominently in this list). Ellman’s bits are stuck in the left channel and Halvorson’s in the right. That setup reminds me of how Lou Reed mixed the guitars on his album New York with guitarist Mike Rathke. Anyway, it’s fun to be able to hear the guitars and know who’s playing what. This is probably a 6 on the eccentricity chart. Both guitars are pretty frenetic and squeely but Halvorson’s is especially sibilant at times. And Smith ads in a smattering of electronics. Layers. That’s what this album is about. Layers and layers.
Hayden Pedigo I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away
Pedigo is from Amarillo, TX, and is as entertaining as they come — “they” being finger picking guitarists. He has pretty severe stage fright but still managed to tour extensively throughout Europe and North America in 2025. When I’ve seen him live his between-song monologues are never tiring and always fun. But it’s his mastery of his instrument that is quite mesmerizing. He is painting sonic landscapes with his fingers and it’s gorgeous stuff. Quiet and introspective with lots of space. He is a master of creating music out of what’s not there as much as what is there.
Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer Different Rooms
Chiu is a master of the modular synthesizer while Sofia Honer adds viola and electronics. Their music is the stuff of dreamy landscapes. This is not inaccessible by any means and loves to accompany brunch perhaps, or yoga/stretching. What I’m trying to say here is that it’s relaxing. A solid 1 on the eccentricity chart.
Mary Halvorson About Ghosts
This is showing up on a lot of year-end best-of lists in the jazz segment. It’s jazz. Kinda challenging, but not too much. But jazz, through and through. Halvorson has assembled seven other musicians to round out this sound so it’s a pretty sizable band. That said, it never feels overwhelming or more than you can handle, like some large ensembles can. It’s confident in its own skin, the sound on this record, like a septuagenarian who has accomplished all she wants to in life and no longer gives any fucks. She’s going to do what she wants and no one’s going to tell her she can’t. That’s this album.
Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling, and Andreas Werliin Ghosted III
I feel like I could listen to this on repeat all day long on most days. It is a sound that fits in my brain with ease. I find it relaxing, soothing, and settling. Like a lot of music that Australian guitarist Ambarchi is involved with, it slowly changes in the same way that a constant rain goes from steady to mere sprinkles then nothing over the course of a few hours. One is incapable of noticing the actual changes. But like the kind of rains I’m describing, there isn’t any thunder accompanying this set of music. No lightning and no pounding downpours. There’s Ambarchi’s graceful guitar floating around in the air while expertly and confidently grounded by Werliin and Berthling’s drumming and bass playing, respectively.
Pino Palladino & Blake Mills That Wasn’t a Dream
This is the duo’s sophomore follow-up to their acclaimed first album. While it’s not quite as groundbreaking as that one was, it’s still a beautifully sculpted set of compositions and recordings that never stray too far from the formula created on the first one. Mills on guitar and Palladino on bass get some help from Sam Gendel on sax and Chris Dave on drums. It’s also low on the eccentricity scale and not something that’s going to rub anyone the wrong way. Probably.
Resavoir & Matt Gold Horizon
If I lined all of these albums up by order of my preference for listening to them instead of alphabetically, this one would be near the top of the list. I played this often and never tired of it. It’s viscous and has a serious yacht rock vibe to it even though only one track has lyrics (by Mei Semones, who appears above in the Accessible section of this post). You can practically smell the saltwater and feel the mist from the waves lightly touching your face.
Satomimagae Taba
This is an ambient set of meditative gold. The Japanese artist uses environmental sounds, her quiet vocals, acoustic guitar, and other similarly quiet accouterments. Low on the eccentricity scale, this is a collection of beautiful movements that don’t bark or bite but instead soothe.
SML How You Been
This would be near or at the top of this list if these albums were ranked from most favorite. Unclassifiable as the day is long, this is at times electronic, jazz adjacent, or fuzzy fancery, and often all of the above all at the same time. SML is Anna Butterss on bass, Jeremiah Chiu on synths, Josh Johnson on sax, Booker Stardrum on drums, and Gregory Uhlmann on guitar and effects. They are kind of a supergroup in the contemporary jazz scene, Butterss and Johnson having played extensively with Jeff Parker and Makaya McCraven and the others getting a ton of playing time with various names as well. This is a band not just simply not giving any fucks, but being actively encouraged by each other and their record label (the venerable International Anthem) to not give any fucks. It is gloriously fresh, new, and bursting with sonic excitement.
Squanderers Skantagio
Squanderers are David Grubbs, Wendy Eisenberg (see Editrix on the more approachable list) and Kramer. Grubbs was half of Gastr del Sol, Eisenberg is an impossible-to-shoehorn and remarkably gifted guitarist, and Kramer is a producer and multi-instrumentalist who produced all of Galaxie 500’s output, discovered and produced Low, and produced Urge Overkill’s cover of “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon” among many, many other accomplishments. While each and every one of these guys can rip like nobody’s business, this is a more contemplative set of sumptuous beauty. It illustrates how impossible it is to categorize any of these talented musicians.
Steve Gunn Music for Writers
Guitarist Steve Gunn released two albums this year, this one being the first. If you were to sit back, close your eyes, and imagine what an album full of music for writers would sound like, this would be it. Swirling acoustic guitar tracks layered with more swirling tracks of acoustic guitars. Yeah, it’s sedate.
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mary Halvorson Bone Bells
Sylvie Courvoisier’s piano style reminds me of Don Pullen’s. She doesn’t so much play the piano as attack it, but not with a weapon of destruction, rather with feather-tipped fingers that coax the most luxuriously rapid fire sounds out of the instrument. Pair that with Halvorson’s guitar stylings, which are otherworldly, and you are on the way to some slightly challenging, terribly rewarding, beautiful sounds.
Takuro Okada The Near End, The Dark Night, The County Line
Takuro Okada is a Japanese guitarist. Apparently he took ten years to collect the sounds found on this set. What I mean is that he mined his own vault of recordings from the last decade to assemble what is basically never-before-heard music from sessions of yore. I was not familiar with him prior to this collection and have not had a chance to delve into the rest of his catalog, so I don’t know what his other stuff sounds like. But this is outstanding. It’s at times chill and eerie, subdued and frenetic.
Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes
The song you’ll be glad you listened to: “Fool on the Hill”
This is a pristine set of guitar (Uhlmann), sax (Johnson), bass (Wilkes), and some very tasteful effects. I just don’t seem to tire of this. Especially their exquisite take on Lennon and McCartney’s “Fool on the Hill”. The whole album is wonderfully layered in textures and tones that fit the spaces between my ears like they were invented to do so.
Concerts
Some time ago I started to keep an eye on the upcoming shows at local micro venue Lost Lake. It’s about fifteen blocks from my house and if there is someone playing who I have even a meager interest in, I’ll usually go. It’s common to have never heard of the bands I’m seeing. And it’s only slightly less common that I fall in love with these bands after having seen them live. Of the twenty-two concerts I saw this year ten were at Lost Lake. It’s like a home game for me!
What follows are the shows I saw this year, some notes about them, and a picture if I have one. Which I usually do. Early in the year I found out that Lost Lake doesn’t give a hoot if you bring in your camera rig. Just no flash, but bring your fancy Nikon and all the lenses you can carry. They don’t care.
February 7
Yesness
Lost Lake
Yesness is the moniker for the two-man show of bassist Kristian Dunn (El Ten Eleven) and drummer Damon Che (Don Caballero) and were “invented” by Joyful Noise Recordings label head Karl Hofstetter. This was the last concert I saw at Lost Lake before I found out I could bring my camera so all I got were shitty phone shots which I am not interested in sharing. This was a fun show and I think Che might be the best drummer I’ve ever seen live. He is on a whole ‘nother level.
February 25
Daniel Villarreal
Dazzle
Panamanian drummer Daniel Villarreal played Dazzle with bassist Gordon Walters and guitarist Nathan Karagianis. This was my first time at Dazzle and was thoroughly impressed by the layout of the venue. Not a bad seat in the house. Very intimate and the sound was great. These guys put on a great show.
March 5
Finom
Lost Lake
Finom are guitarists Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham. They were joined by VV Lightbody on bass and Matt Carroll on drums. This was in the top five of shows I saw this year. Their energy was palpable and it seemed like they were truly grateful to be playing.
March 26
Jake Xerxes Fussell
Lost Lake
I like Fussell’s music a lot. He’s a singer/guitarist/troubadour kind of guy. He doesn’t do much original material but rather mines from old folk and blues songs and adapts them to his own style. The result is music that is unique and interesting. But I’m not sure they translated well to the live experience. The show was kinda boring, I hate to say.
April 19
Cactus Blossoms
Lost Lake
These guys pedal polished alt country that I want to like more than I actually do. Their albums are well produced and even their live show is well-practiced. But I wasn’t overly enthused by their show.
May 1
Cactus Lee
Lost Lake
I think it’s funny that I saw two shows in a row, at the same venue, by bands who both start their name with the word “cactus”. Unlike the first of the two, these guys crushed it. They were so much fun that I didn’t want the night to end. I could have watched them gig until the sun came up. Same alt-country genre as the first cactus band, they were joined by guitarist Shaun Couture on loan from The Nude Party. They weren’t super slick but they genuinely seemed to love what they do and it translated to an outstanding performance. Probably top five of the year.
June 7
Indiewood Festival
3400 S block of Acoma Street in Englewood
Put on by the venerable Swallow Hill Music organization, and headlined by Kiltro, I was really excited about this. But it was super hot that day and there was little shade. And aside from Sunstoney, who was amazing — I highly recommend seeing her — the other bands were lackluster. Even Kiltro, who have blown me away on more than one occasion in the past, failed to deliver. I did get to see my friends Bill and Mary Beth for the first time in a while, and had some awesome Indian food at a nearby restaurant, so it wasn’t a total bummer.
June 17
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Paramount Theater
I have been wanting to see these guys since I was immediately blown away by their album The Harrow and the Harvest when it came out in 2011. I had tickets to see them at Red Rocks back in 2018 and I’d had a really long day and I bailed on it. In my defense, they were only the opener and I knew it would be a forty-minute set max. Here, though, they played for almost two hours and it was just the two of them with no band. Man, what a power house these two are. I was blown away. Definitely top five of the year. Their harmonies and the way they just “get” each other musically were on display that night. It was very memorable.
June 29
Thalia Zedek Band
The Empty Bottle, Chicago
I have some close friends who moved to Chicago in March and I planned a trip out to see them around this concert. What a fun show and great venue. If I lived in Chicago I know I would see a ton of shows there. The highlight for me, just as it is on Zedek’s last two albums, is the pedal steel player Karen Sarkisian. I love the sound of the instrument and putting it in a rock band is not something that anyone thinks to do. I loved it.
August 11
Rosali
Lost Lake
North Carolina-based singer/songwriter Rosali Middleman’s 2024 album Bite Down was one of my most listened to of the year. The only reason it wasn’t on my best-of list from 2024 is that I didn’t discover it until this year. But luckily I discovered it in time to buy tickets to this show. Hot damn was it good. The band was well-seasoned and you could tell they knew each other all very well. It was total symbiosis. Definitely top five of the year.
September 11
Orcutt Shelley Miller
Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
My daughter lives in Portland and I planned a trip to visit her around this show, just like I did for Thalia Zedek in Chicago. Mississippi Studios is an intimate, almost too-small, venue in the Boise neighborhood of PDX. OSM are a vocal-less trio of guitar, bass, and drums, all veterans of the industry and all older than me, which seems unusual these days, given that I turned 60 this year. This was like watching three mind readers on the stage together. They were so dialed in and a thrill to watch. Only problem was that they only have one album of material, and so they didn’t play for very long. Oh well, already looking forward to catching them again someday.
September 17
English Teacher
Lost Lake
This was one of those shows that I bought tickets for the second it was announced, which if I remember right was in like March or April. English Teacher won the Mercury Prize for their 2024 debut. I was actually a little stunned they weren’t booked at something a little bigger. Anyway, glad it was at Lost Lake. And holy crap are these guys good live. They had issues getting to Denver from their previous show in Utah and were very outspoken about how little sleep they’d gotten, and maybe it showed a tiny little bit at first, but by the time they got into their fourth or fifth song, they were going full speed. I feel grateful to have gotten to see such a talented band with a bright future at such an intimate venue.
September 27
Nikki Lane
Lost Lake
This was a show that was at the end of a busy day and I was pretty dilapidated by the time it rolled around. And she was kind of meh. Or I was kind of meh. Either way, it wasn’t a killer set and I was kind of glad by the time it wrapped up.
September 29
Rose City Band
The Other Side at Cervantes
This makes two-shows-in-a-row that were not so great. In fact, I left this one early, which I rarely do. RCB are an alt-country outfit headed by the prolific Ripley Johnson, he of the bands Moon Duo and Wooden Shjips in addition to this band and plenty of other side projects. The assembled musicians were all top notch and the music was tight and practiced. But it was a little more jammy and atmospheric than I was expecting and I maybe wasn’t in a great mood to begin with and so I left early. Happens.
October 15
Ches Smith
Federal Theatre
Well, I got my mojo back on this one. These guys were great and the venue was immaculate. The Federal Theatre dates back to the early twentieth century but has not been a performance venue since sometime in the 70’s if I’m not mistaken. It was recently renovated and reopened as a concert venue by the same folks who run the Oriental Theatre. They did a spectacular job with the remodel. What a terrific place to see a show. Ches Smith, Mary Halvorson, Liberty Ellman, and Nick Dunston launched into their jazz-on-steroids set by playing all seven songs on Clone Row, their 2025 album that you can read more about in my top albums of the year above. My only nit is about my unlucky placement to the right of the stage where I could only see Halvorson’s backside the whole time. She is one my favorite guitarists right now and the main reason I showed up. But that happens and the show itself was magical.
October 23
Makaya McCraven
Dazzle
When I bought tickets for this show I made sure to get the same seats as I had at Daniel Villarreal because they were pretty much right up front. So glad I did. McCraven is a rare talent and an important figure in the contemporary modern jazz scene. He’s a true generational talent. The band he assembled for this show was a little less inspirational for me than the last time I saw him several years ago, which featured Jeff Parker on guitar. Here he had Junius Paul on bass, Marquis Hill on trumpet — both at the height of their powers — and a cat on guitar who’s name I cannot recall and who was probably the weak link of the quartet. Which is fine. To watch McCraven lead a band from behind a drum kit is pure genius and I’m thankful I’ve been lucky enough to see him twice now.
October 24
Hayden Pedigo
Swallow Hill
This was my second time seeing Hayden live and so I kind of knew what to expect. Which is lots of finger picking guitar with even more conversation in between songs about whatever he deems relevant to the performance. While that’s usually a recipe for a show that is way too long on talk and not enough playing, I actually really like his monologues in between the songs and, as crazy as it sounds, would buy a ticket to see him just talk for 90 minutes. On the other hand, he is such an incredibly gifted guitarist that seeing him play is a privilege. The picture here is from his show at Lost Lake in December of 2023 because I was unable to bring my rig to Swallow Hill.
November 4
Color Green and Rich Ruth
Lost Lake
When I saw this on their calendar, I knew I was going to buy tickets because I was familiar enough with Rich Ruth for it to be an obvious decision. I’d heard of Color Green but couldn’t honestly figure out from where. Well sometimes it happens where you go to a show for one band and come away being blown away by another. That happened here. Rich Ruth was good but Color Green were phenomenal. And just look at that gorgeous Rickenbacker!
November 11
Florry
Lost Lake
This was one of those occasions where I’d never heard of the band before seeing them on the calendar and was intrigued so I checked out their albums. I was immediately moved to buy tickets. And holy fuck am I glad I did. This was probably my favorite show of the year. Lead singer Francie Medosch is a force to behold.
November 13
Boris
Gothic Theater
Oh! Em! Gee! Boris were touring for the twentieth anniversary of their album Pink, playing it in full. Buying two tickets was cheaper than buying one due to a promo they were having so I invited my best friend and main concert-going buddy John (he accompanied me to seven of the shows I saw this year) and settled in for an onslaught of more noise, fuzz, and feedback than this Japanese trio should be able to summon on their own. But summon they did. Ferocious comes to mind. I actually went out and bought fancy ear plugs for this as I have never been a fan of wearing them, but I knew that this could be the show that would leave my ears ringing for days. Glad I did. I am truly grateful I attended this show. These veterans of noise, punk, metal, and sludge were dialed in that night. And you got the feeling that they were utterly professional and approached any and all shows in that manner. Hard to believe them ever not delivering live.
November 18
Brighde Chaimbeul
The Bug Theater
This was interesting in that I had never heard of her before and found myself here as the newly anointed staff photographer for Creative Music Works, a volunteer position for a non-profit that brings in a few shows a year to the Denver area. Brighde Chaimbeul is a young Scottish woman who plays the smallpipes, which are similar to traditional bagpipes except you power them with a bellows instead of your breath. So the player can also sing if they want to. Wow, am I ever glad that I got to witness this talented musician. Her 2025 album Sunwise only barely missed pushing its way into my list of favorite records of the year. Her music is genuinely interesting and hauntingly beautiful and it was no different in person.
November 20
Neko Case
Paramount Theater
If there’s an artist I’ve seen more than Neko Case (especially if you count the times I’ve seen her with the New Pornographers) I don’t know who it is. I love her. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen her put on a bad show. This was no exception but I have to tell you, something about the seating arrangement at the Paramount has changed over the years. For the opener, I sat up in the balcony with my aforementioned buddy John and his girlfriend because they had an extra seat but there was so little leg room that I was actually uncomfortable. Not just inconvenienced, but truly uncomfortable. So for Neko I went down to my ticketed seat in the seventh row and while there was more legroom than up in the balcony, I still felt cramped. It’s just a shame that certain venues, like airlines, feel like they need to cram more people into a space than they should. It ruins the experience.
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