I was driving with my daughter the other day and she lamented the fact that the 70s produced so much brilliant music, making today's releases simply not up to par. I love music from the 70s too, but there is fantastic music being released today — it's just harder to find, beyond the heavily produced pop that dominates so many modern musical palates. If you dig in, using online music media, you can find some great stuff and realize that new music is as boundless and wondrous as it has ever been. With that in mind, here are a few of my picks for 2018 that you should listen to.

New Music—Here are three great new albums that show us how rich the music scene is today.

Charles Lloyd & the Marvels with Lucinda Williams—Vanished Gardens. From the start, this album pushes toward great achievement status. Blues and Jazz intertwined with Williams' gritty but melodic vocals give us something we really haven't heard before. Guitarist Bill Frisell (check him out further) drives the tunes with his organic yet complex sound that bridges Jazz and Americana. Charles Lloyd's great saxophone brings a Jazz narrative to every song. This is modern Jazz, Roots, Post Bop, Americana, and Blues all fused together, brilliantly.

David Byrne—American Utopia. David Byrne teamed up with Brian Eno, who provided the rhythmic foundation for most of the songs on American Utopia. The result is a provocative set of songs with lyrics that reflect the anxiety and chaos of 2018, while delivering complex melodies and hooks. Sometimes the lyrics go nowhere, but didn't Byrne once write about a road to nowhere? Exquisitely produced, as is anything Byrne and Eno are involved in. Listen and enjoy.

Kyle Hollingsworth—50. His fourth solo release, The String Cheese Incident's keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth gives us a dozen new tunes, all uplifting and super pleasing to listen to. He brings in a wide range of guests from the Jam side of music, who help him navigate through a number of genres: from Jazz Rock to progressive Americana. "Wyatt Earp's Tale" reminds us of a Lenny White fusion tune from 1975; Andy Hall's dobro (of the Infamous Stringdusters) propels the optimistic "Finding our Way" and "Come On" shows us Funk is alive and well in 2018. Never heard of Kyle? Give this one a shot and you will not forget him.

Archival Releases—Even though these are not new albums, archival releases are new versions, or in some cases new material from years past that are worth your attention.

Frank Zappa—The Roxy Performances

Zappa's mid-seventies Roxy shows have been called the "Holy Grail of Zappa recordings." For more than a decade, fans waited for the Roxy film, and it finally arrived a few years ago. Now the Zappa Family Trust has released the Roxy performances: a huge selection of shows from the four-night Roxy run, featuring, perhaps the greatest Zappa band ever. Whether it's "Inca Roads," "Cheapnis," "Village of the Sun," "RDNZL," or "Montana," this is a superb look at a band that played every note, every night, just right. On Spotify.

Neil Young—Songs for Judy

Young was smoking hot in 1976. This album is a retooled edition of the Bernstein Tapes, a bootleg recorded and curated by then teenage Rolling Stone critic, Cameron Crowe. Young plays a set of tunes solo and acoustic, through the haze of whatever weed he was smoking at the time. It makes for some amazing music. Buy it or stream.

Yes—The Steven Wilson Remixes

Wilson has been super busy the past few years remixing classic progressive rock albums, but this Yes set is particularly superb. He worked the five classic Yes albums, starting with the The Yes Album and Relayer. The result is sublime music that will take you back and open your eyes to the passion and complexity of Yes. Highly recommended. Buy the vinyl set, on Amazon.

Jimi Hendrix—Both Sides of the Sky

Fine material continues to be released from the vault of Hendrix. This time, on Both Sides of the Sky, we get a wide assortment of tunes from variety of contexts, including a very early and great version of "Woodstock," with vocals by Steven Stills and Hendrix on bass. "Hear My Train a Coming" and "Georgia Blues" give us that fat Hendrix blues sound that we all love, with the early R&B great Lonnie Youngblood pounding vocals on the latter. Still fresh fifty years later and well worth a listen.

This month's playlist is a soundtrack of my best of 2018. Listen to it on Spotify here: https://tinyurl.com/y7pu768e .

Happy New Year to everyone.

Steve Chase is listening to new releases in Unison.