Best Albums of 2017

I mentioned last year that I had signed up for a streaming music service. I kept that going and it led to me listening to by far the most new music I've ever heard in a year. Both new as in I hadn't heard it before, and new as in actually newly released. I listened to over 40 new albums, and culling that list down to 10 was actually pretty difficult. This is the music that hit me the hardest in 2017.

Best of 2017

10. SZA - CTRL


I listened to a couple different R&B artists, and SZA is the one who stood out the most. She has a great voice and great control over it, and her album is experimental in its choice of sounds and instrumentation where others stick to the same basic stuff.

9. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory


I've been hearing good stuff about Vince for a little while, but his album was definitely different than I expected. He's a talented rapper, but what really stood out here was the production. It's pretty unusual, often sounding more like UK bass than hip-hop. It stays catchy though, with a few tracks that jump into your brain and stay lodged there.

8. Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me


There have been sad albums before, but A Crow Looked at Me is maybe the most starkly heartbreaking I've ever heard. Phil Elverum wrote and recorded this after he lost his wife to cancer, and at times it feels more like a therapy session than an album. I thought the music itself was mostly just pretty good, but his honest emotion really elevates it to a very memorable space.

7. St. Vincent - Masseduction


At this point I'm convinced that St. Vincent is incapable of releasing anything other than very good albums that synthesize a variety of styles and influences into a sound that is distinctly and exclusively hers. I expected it to be good, and it was!

6. Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up


Fleet Foxes is kind of standing in here for the many indie rock bands I like that put out new albums in 2017. Crack-Up was my favorite of the bunch, weaving their familiar folk-tinged sound into a bunch of new songs which always take me to a pleasant plane of existence.

5. Lorde - Melodrama


I've generally avoided listening to mainstream pop for some reason, but I decided to throw that out after being repeatedly intrigued by Lorde's songs when I've heard them. There's not much I can honestly point to that distinctly separates her from indie pop I like, after all. Melodrama is a damn good album, with great production and Lorde's unique voice working in tandem.

4. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.


After the transcendence of his last two proper albums, Kendrick releasing one that is merely very good almost feels like a letdown. Most of the tracks are solid, but while I'm used to him making full start to finish experiences, DAMN. feels like a collection of songs, some of which are better than others. It speaks to how great he is that despite these feelings I still have it this high on the list.

3. King Krule - The Ooz


As I was listening to King Krule's strange and exciting new album, I stumbled upon a comparison that made a lot of sense. He's basically a millennial Tom Waits. The deep voice, the constant experimentation, the weird influences, it fits surprisingly well. Nothing I've heard really sounds like King Krule, and I like it quite a bit.

2. The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding


I have previously compared Arcade Fire to an indie rock Bruce Springsteen. I stand by that for some of their work, but it seems to fit even better for The War on Drugs. They mix heartland and modern influences to create dense, textured songs that combine the best bits of both genres. This is the kind of band that I hear for the first time and wonder why it's taken so long for them to get on my radar.

1. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream


I've heard a few LCD Soundsystem singles before, but I was totally unprepared for this album. It combines a lot of what I like about electronic music with what I like about post-punk, and the synthesis works like gangbusters. A handful of my favorite songs of the year are on this album. It's damn good. I'm glad the guy un-retired.

Delayed Entry

This is the best album that wasn't released in 2017 but I didn't hear until then.

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

This was a tough choice, as I heard a bunch of classic albums and found several new favorites for every decade of popular music. I have to go with Highway 61, though. It is what got me to understand why people are crazy about Bob Dylan, possibly the most revered individual of the last 60 years of music. It's not just influential and famous, it's really freaking great to listen to today.

Best Albums of 2011

I still find myself to be more concerned with trying to appreciate the whole history of modern music than making sure I stay up to date, but I did a decent job of buying new albums. Most of it is from the year's first half, though.

Best of 2011

8. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues


Fleet Foxes' second album isn't as original as their first, and for good reason - it's pretty much the same thing again. Still, that same thing is very enjoyable, and it's hard to fault the band for sticking with what they know and can do well. A folksy but still distinctly rock-influenced sound, and nice vocal harmonies playing off the singer's strong voice. I find it hard not to like it a lot.

Favorite Song: "Helplessness Blues"

7. James Blake


Most people probably think they have a pretty good idea of what dubstep is, but I doubt many of them think of something like this. James Blake likes to use the bass, but he does so sparingly, just like all of the other elements at his disposal. It's very sparse music, perhaps too sparse in some places, but the results are often worth it, slowly building up to and then releasing tension in profoundly effective ways. Plus the guy has a great voice, something you don't usually hear about electronic musicians.

Favorite Song: "I Never Learnt to Share"

6. Radiohead - The King of Limbs


It's unusual for there to be a new Radiohead album that isn't a huge game changer, but that doesn't mean a perfectly normal album by them won't still be really good. And The King of Limbs, despite being a bit lean on running length, is definitely good. Its eight tracks experiment with sounds and styles the band has played with before, but does enough with them to make it definitely worth plenty of listens on its own. They're a band that's expected to reinvent music every time out, but as long as they stay as good as this, I'll be fine with it.

Favorite Song: "Give Up the Ghost"

5. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy


I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this considering my vague memories of having heard St. Vincent before, but I guess it turned out to be her most straightforward record. It's pretty much her guitar, her voice, and some drums, with a few bells and whistles here and there. It's accessible but also unique, a nice match of elements that are familiar with ones that feel distinct. She has a really nice voice, and most of the main vocal hooks have a tendency to get inside your head and stay there for a while. It turned out to be a really good blind buy.

Favorite Song: "Chloe in the Afternoon"

4. TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light


Perhaps the band's least exceptional album, but the core of what they do is just so interesting me that I can't help but like it a lot every time I hear it. I'm not sure if they'll ever get back to a dirtier and more soulful sound, but simple high quality indie rock infused with the influence of African American culture is plenty fine on its own. Just a fun album all the way through.

Favorite Song: "Will Do"

3. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming


Hurry Up is a double album, but a pretty slight one. On one hand that's a bit disappointing since it doesn't feel as grand as some other albums in the same format, but on the other it's pretty remarkable that something that lasts this one is so easy to get all the way through. The music freely mixes elements of electronic and rock, and produces a number of catchy, memorable songs. Maybe a bit too much time is spent on minor experiments and mood pieces, but the overall effect is a highly enjoyable listening experience.

Favorite Song: "Midnight City"

2. The Antlers - Burst Apart


Bust Apart is not as emotionally powerful as The Antlers' last record, but it was never going to be. They decided to shift gears a bit and do something with more of an electronic sound to it, without abandoning their roots, and I like it a lot, if maybe not as much as Hospice. There's nothing too showy over the top here, it's just a bunch of songs that flow well together and are filled with beautiful noises. It doesn't demand attention, but if you do listen, it's very good.

Favorite Song: "No Widows"

1. Panda Bear - Tomboy


This is a case where I'd probably have a hard time really identifying and explaining why I liked this album so much, or why I'm so comfortable calling it my favorite of the year anyway. I'm also noticing just how many of these artists are heavily using synthesized elements and becoming mildly concerned. But it's all probably pretty simple. I've mellowed out and don't really look for aggression in my music much these days, and a lot of artists who grew up when popular music was no longer exclusively relying on traditional instruments are finding new ways to use different sorts of sounds and create something unique and meaningful with them. Tomboy is not really unique, but it's finely crafted and infectiously entertaining throughout.

Favorite Song: "Afterburner"

Best Albums of 2008

Another year in which I didn't get a whole lot of new releases. I always feel like I listen to a decent amount of music each year, but it's as much catching up on older stuff as it is new stuff. Still, there were a few really good albums that I got a chance to enjoy. I didn't see room on the list for the enjoyable self-titled release by This Will Destroy You or MC Chris' MC Chris Is Dead.

Best of 2008

6. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip


A really solid industrial album made even better by being free to all. I've still yet to give Trent Reznor dime one for anything, but I respect him for giving back to the fans and continuing to make what he wants to. Better than I thought it would be.

5. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple


Sounds different from their first album, although not really for better or worse. Really catchy and unique at the same time.

4. Fleet Foxes


One of the year's biggest critical darlings, and mostly deserving of its status. It's not as gripping throughout as I usually like, but there's a lot of beauty and artistry to be found if you're a close listener.

3. Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust


A new direction for everyone's favorite Icelandic new age-y band, and a really interesting one. I really like what they did, and although there's a good argument that it's over the top for its own sake, but I still enjoy everything that's here.

2. TV on the Radio - Dear Science


To me it doesn't live up to their last album, but that doesn't prevent it from being great on its own. A bit of a different, more catchy feel, but there's still a lot of brilliant stuff here. Maybe not exactly what I loved about them before, but still quite good.

1. Portishead - Third


There are a bunch of sinister adjectives I could use to describe this album, like haunting, bleak, and sparse, but it still managed to be the most affecting thing I heard this year. Definitely worth checking out with an open mind.

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes' debut full length album is a pleasant, folksy good time. It doesn't really reach the heights that some more intense bands do, but the combination of good acoustic guitar work, alternately catchy and haunting vocal harmonies, and unique song structures make for a record really worth listening too. The hippie-looking Robin Pecknold is probably the band's driving force, writing all the lyrics and taking charge with the vocals, but you get the feeling they just like playing together as a group and working together to create one memorable sound. I had heard that this album was one of the year's best indie releases, and decided to check the video for "White Winter Hymnal" on Youtube. I was a bit surprised by what I was hearing, because it doesn't sound like something from this year at all, but still captivated by it, and I shortly found out that this same thought carried throughout each of the tracks.

From the near prog-like constant shift in pace of "Sun it Rises" to the solitary howling at the end of "Oliver James", every song does something unique while still fitting the band's central feeling. I almost feel like I've heard some of these before, and I'm sure that's partly because it's hard to come up with unique music these days, but that quality of familiarity is part of its appeal to me. It's hard to really describe what makes each song good, because it's never a single hook or element, it's always the sum of the parts. Some favorites are "Ragged Wood", "Quite Houses", "Your Protector", and "Blue Ridge Mountains". It's really one of those albums that has to be listened to as one experience and not a bunch of disparate tracks to throw on your iPod's shuffle. Although "White Winter Hymnal" is still pretty awesome by itself.