[Music] Albums of the year 2017

[Spider]

A quick thought about this for me has arrived upon these as some of my favourites -

Aldous Harding - Party
Ryan Adams - Prisoner
Richard Dawson - Peasant
Cloud Nothings - Life Without Sound (didn't realise this was 2017!)
The National - Sleep Well Beast
Jens Lekman - Life Will See You Now

And probably a few more which I have forgotten.

 

[aftershavedave]

Drowned in Sound's Top 100

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4151506-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-2017

Thanks for this, it's an interesting list. My musical tastes rarely overlap with the (main) contributors to this thread, but always open to suggestions. Really like that Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile. Here's a few of mine:

Thundercat
Leroy Hutson (fab!)
Kamasi's EP
Laura Marling
Kendrick
Alice Coltrane's old stuff remastered and released this year
Omar Love in Beats

Nothing matches ATCQ from the end of 2016 though...

Thanks for the tips guys

 

[Theatre of Trees]

Consequence of Sound Top 50

https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/11/top-50-albums-of-2017/

 

[spring hall convert]

The Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile album is effortlessly marvellous.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?sns=fb&v=3KNsBCf34fQ

I'll give it another go. I've liked stuff by both but thought the collaboration didn't do either of them any favours.

 

[spring hall convert]

I think the Duds record is my album of the year. Has it been getting much end of year love?

 

[narly101]

Drowned in Sound's Top 100

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4151506-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-2017

Much more like it - RT really are quite stuck up their own arse still.

 

[Hammer15]

I love Rough Trade but I'm cynical about their end-of-year list as it always seems to tilt towards albums they can get shop-exclusive extra material for to sell.

For what it's worth, my album of the year is Meursault's 'I Will Kill Again' (Spotify link here)

 

[Hammer15]

Nothing has knocked the Planetarium Album off the top spot for me this year, and it's nice to see it creeping into the back end of some of these lists. It was an absolute car crash live though.

Shame to hear that - I love the Mercury single.

 

[Theatre of Trees]

Rolling Stone magazine's top 50

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-albums-of-2017-w511763

A little more mainstream. U2's album isn't even out yet though I suppose it helps that the owner of the magazine is good mates with Bono.

 

[Theatre of Trees]

A few more:

For the more off kilter, here's Normans Records
https://www.normanrecords.com/features/albums-of-the-year-2017

For the more electronically minded, here's Bleep
https://bleep.com/Albums-of-the-Year-2017

For the more mainstream, here's Fopp
http://www.fopp.com/bestalbums2017/

 

[Is it PotG?]

Still Phoebe Bridgers so far for me by quite a stretch. Magnificent stuff. A month to go mind.

 

[Machiavelli]

A few more:

For the more off kilter, here's Normans Records
https://www.normanrecords.com/features/albums-of-the-year-2017

For the more electronically minded, here's Bleep
https://bleep.com/Albums-of-the-Year-2017

For the more mainstream, here's Fopp
http://www.fopp.com/bestalbums2017/

Thanks for sharing these. I must be of the 'more mainstream' (which is probably unsurprising given my age), as Fopp is the only one that features Laura Marling and Richard Dawson in their top 25.

 

[Theatre of Trees]

The Quietus' Top 100
http://thequietus.com/articles/23660-albums-of-the-year-2017

 

[spring hall convert]

The Quietus' Top 100
http://thequietus.com/articles/23660-albums-of-the-year-2017

The Zimpel/Ziołek record at no.2 is really good.

 

[HH Brighton]

My top albums of the yea are in particular order:

Perfume Genius - No Shape
Father John Misty- Pure Comedy
The XX - I See You
Loyle Carner - Yesterdays Gone
Childhood - Universal High
The Big Moon - Love in the 4th Degree
St Vincent - Mass education
sir Was - Digging a Tunnel

Late addition to my list is Baxter Durys - Prince of Tears. Loving this.

 

[Buzzer]

Finally got around to compiling my list. Originally it was a top 40, then 25 and after some fairly difficult decisions it's down to a top 20.

1. Cigarettes After Sex - 'Cigarettes After Sex' Best described by my 15 yr old son as a theme/story album and I think he's spot on. Laidback, laconic, razor-sharp lyrics and a falsetto voice. This album has been a constant for me this year. I'm totally in love with it.

2. Alt-J 'Relaxer' I agree with Southy that it fades after the first 3 or 4 records but those are just so damn good that you could stick Stars On 45 at the end and it would still be in my top 5.These lads are totally at the top of their game.

3. Baxter Dury - 'Prince of Tears' Everything that the Sleaford Mods want to be but aren't. This album is venomous, it's nasty, raw and very funky. His old man would be very proud, not that Baxter Dury probably cares what he thinks.

4. Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Navigator'. This is the part where I get very hipsterish and proudly announce that I was a massive fan of the band from their early days when they sang twee Americana. The election of Trump has roused something deep inside of Alynda Segarra and the way it has affected her music is quite profound. Despite all her anger and sorrow, she's not lost sight of making sure the music isn't lost in the message. An album that truly is a game-changer for them.

5. The Mountain Goats - 'Goths' As with The Eels, the band name is a bit of a misnomer as it's basically a one-man show John Darnielle. All his albums are deeply personal, the previous has seen him musing on his childhood love of wrestling. this time around it's all about Goths, goth music of the 80s and although this could sound incredibly w@nky or self-indulgent, it never is. There are some cracking tunes. It's a lovely album.

6. Tricky - 'Ununinform' I've been a massive flag-waver of Tricky's music right from his first album. He's always pushed boundaries, asked big questions and his 'total honesty' approach to songwriting makes his music essential listening. I fell out with him (he doesn't know this) after a couple of terrible gigs where he clearly took the piss out of us his fans a few years back but his albums since then have gone from strength to strength. This is him back at the top of his game and with the return of Martina Topley-Bird. A fantastic album.

7. Waxahatchee - 'Out In The Storm' & 8. Allison Crutchfield 'Tourist In This Town. I've placed these two albums together because they compliment each other so well. The Crutchfield twins (Allison and Katie aka Waxahatchee) have different approaches, Allison goes more for pop whilst Katie a more acoustic feel although both feature as guest musicians on the other's album. I'm a massive fan of both and think that these two young ladies are placing themselves at the same sort of level as Jenny Lewis now and hopefully will enjoy a lot of success. They deserve it.

9. Marika Hackman - 'I'm Not Your Man' The album title is a deliberate play on Leonard Cohen's classic, he's obviously a big influence but also Ms Hackman's new found confidence to wear her sexuality publicly. This was the album I'd most been looking forward to this year but I was surprised and in a very pleasant way at how she had moved on from the delicate indie-folk to the full band sound. Another album that my teen son and I both enjoyed.

10. Dan Auerbach - 'Waiting On A Song' This album isn't clever, it's not political and it's not particularly cool but what it does have is a collection of very catchy tunes. This is the album that most put a smile on my face this year and had me dad dancing around the living room. I'm a big advocate of no musical snobbery and if an album makes me feel like that then it's going in my top ten.

The rest of the best in no particular order:

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - 'Lotta Sea Lice'
Fever Ray - 'Plunge'
The Flaming Lips - 'Oczy Mlody'
Julie Byrne - 'Not Even Happiness'
Rose Ellinor Dougall - 'Stellular'
This Is The Kit - 'Moonshine Freeze'
Wy - 'Okay'
Alice Jemima - 'Alice Jemima'
Asgeir - 'Afterglow'
Black Grape - 'Pop Voodoo'

 

[The Lemming Stomper]

1. The Moonlandingz - Interplanetary Class Classics
2. Jane Weaver - Modern Kosmology
3. The Burning Hell - Revival Beach
4. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
5. Fader - First Light

 

[Buzzer]

1. The Moonlandingz - Interplanetary Class Classics
2. Jane Weaver - Modern Kosmology
3. The Burning Hell - Revival Beach
4. Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
5. Fader - First Light

Moonlandingz were part of my top 25 (along with King Krull, King Gizzard, Lana Del Ray and Bonobo) and I've felt guilty about not putting them in my top 20. I'm surprised just how fleeting their success has been this year. For a month or two they looked like being the big new band of 2017 but they faded so quickly that barely made some end of year lists. I wonder if they are not taken as seriously as they perhaps should because of their on-stage persona.

 

[Theatre of Trees]

Moonlandingz were part of my top 25 (along with King Krull, King Gizzard, Lana Del Ray and Bonobo) and I've felt guilty about not putting them in my top 20. I'm surprised just how fleeting their success has been this year. For a month or two they looked like being the big new band of 2017 but they faded so quickly that barely made some end of year lists. I wonder if they are not taken as seriously as they perhaps should because of their on-stage persona.

There is also the fact that they are to all intents a fictitious band, dreamt up the Eccentronic Research Council for their 2015 album, and may well cease to exist by the turn of 2018.

 

[Buzzer]

There is also the fact that they are to all intents a fictitious band, dreamt up the Eccentronic Research Council for their 2015 album, and may well cease to exist by the turn of 2018.

Fair enough. I didn't know that about them but even so, as long as the music is good then good luck to them. Take the Gorillaz, they're 'fictitious' too but no-one seems to mind. Major Lazer is another.