Day of The Dead SEALED Multi-Colored 10 LP Box Set Grateful Dead

$

100

Day of The Dead hails from 2016 and is a SEALED U.S. 10LP box set on Multi-Colored Vinyl.  The Grateful Dead were not known for their modesty so perhaps it's fitting that Day of the Dead, the 2016 tribute album assembled by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National for the Red Hot Organization, sprawls with abandon. At five-and-a-half hours, the 59-track album -- divided into three separate sets, like any good Grateful Dead concert -- is longer than any individual Dead show but it's not necessarily as far-reaching. The Dessners favor very specific traits within the Dead, eschewing folk, boogie, blues, and cowboy songs in favor of ever-expanding experimentalism. Bob Weir may sit in with the National for an album-closing "I Know You Rider" but he's essentially been back-benched: his penchant for good-time rock & roll has been erased and he has a mere seven songwriting credits here, and three of those are band compositions ("Dark Star" being repeated twice). This means Day of the Dead is anchored on Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter songs, all filtered through an out sensibility indebted to Phil Lesh. Some of the contributions break this mold -- Charles Bradley lays into a funky "Cumberland Blues," Courtney Barnett sneers through "New Speedway Boogie" -- but it's rare to hear the kind of winding, intertwined guitar interplay that characterized so much prime Dead. It surfaces when Weir sits in with the National and Wilco, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks contribute a rangy, excellent "China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider," and J Mascis graces Kurt Vile's "Box of Rain" with a gorgeous solo, but these are accents on an album that strips away any of the seedy, crunchy elements of jam band music. What's left is striking, albeit an idiosyncratic interpretation of the Dead. If very few cuts here are especially rhythmic -- an odd thing, considering the Dead had two percussionists -- the emphasis on shifting textures is alluring, reaching a pinnacle on a 17-minute interpretation of "Terrapin Station" that emphasizes its suite structure and shimmers with a quiet elegance. Whether it showcases a singer with a guitar or circular improvisations on a theme, most of Day of the Dead follows a similarly understated, tasteful path and, ultimately, that's what's impressive about it: it is a tribute to the Grateful Dead as sonic adventurers, pioneering new avenues into space and beyond.

Touch of Grey • The War on Drugs

Shakedown Street • Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Loser • Ed Droste, Binki Shapiro & Friends

Jack-A-Roe • This Is The Kit

Peggy-O • The National

Bird Song • Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Friends

Brown-Eyed Women • Hiss Golden Messenger

Sugaree • Phosphorescent, Jenny Lewis & Friends

Help On The Way • Béla Fleck

Franklin’s Tower • Orchestra Baobab

King Solomon’s Marbles • Vijay Iyer

Box of Rain • Kurt Vile and the Violators (featuring J Mascis)

Friend of the Devil • Mumford and Sons

Wharf Rat • Ira Kaplan & Friends

Cassidy • Moses Sumney, Jenny Lewis & Friends

Candyman • Jim James & Friends

Clementine Jam • Orchestra Baobab

Playing in the Band • Tunde Adebimpe, Lee Ranaldo & Friends

Eyes of the World • Tal National

Terrapin Station (Suite) • Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear & The National (featuring Josh Kaufman, Conrad Doucette, S? Percussion & Brooklyn Youth Chorus)

Ship of Fools • The Tallest Man On Earth & Friends

Estimated Prophet • The Rileys

Morning Dew • The National

Me and My Uncle • The Lone Bellow & Friends

China Cat Sunflower · I Know You Rider • Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

If I Had the World to Give • Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

Dark Star • Cass McCombs, Joe Russo & Friends

Nightfall of Diamonds • Nightfall of Diamonds

Dark Star • The Flaming Lips

Rubin & Cherise • Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Friends

Althea • Winston Marshall, Kodiak Blue and Shura

Mountains of the Moon • Lee Ranaldo, Lisa Hannigan & Friends

Stella Blue • Local Natives

Standing on the Moon • Phosphorescent & Friends

To Lay Me Down • Perfume Genius, Sharon Van Etten & Friends

Uncle John’s Band • Lucius

High Time • Daniel Rosen and Christopher Bear

Dire Wolf • The Lone Bellow & Friends

New Speedway Boogie • Courtney Barnett

Cumberland Blues • Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band

Black Peter • Anohni and yMusic

Easy Wind • Bill Callahan

Here Comes Sunshine • Real Estate

Rosemary • Mina Tindle & Friends

Drums · Space • Man Forever / S? Percussion / Onieda

Transitive Refraction Axis for John Oswald • Tim Hecker

What’s Become of the Baby • s t a r g a z e

Garcia Counterpoint • Bryce Dessner

Brokedown Palace • Richard Reed Parry with Caroline Shaw and Little Scream (featuring Garth Hudson)

Til the Morning Comes • Luluc with Xylouris White

Attics of My Life • Angel Olsen

Cream Puff War • Fucked Up

Truckin’ • Marijuana Death Squads

Going Down The Road Feeling Bad • Lucinda Williams & Friends

Black Muddy River • Bruce Hornsby & De Yarmond Edison

Ripple • The Walkmen

And We Bid You Goodnight • Sam Amidon

St. Stephen • Wilco with Bob Weir (live)

I Know You Rider • The National with Bob Weir (live)