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 2014

Brief thoughts on the year in a medium of entertainment I don't devote nearly enough time to.

Best of 2014

7. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - IX


I don't love this band the way I used to, but they still can create a big rock song better than most that I've heard. They at least exceeded my expectations after I mostly enjoyed but got a little bored with their last couple albums. I can't think of a track on IX that I don't like.

6. The Antlers - Familiars


The Antlers seem to reinvent themselves with every album. That's definitely the case here, as they take on a less pop-focused, more kind of jammy or jazzy sound. It sounds like they're playing in a laid back bar with not a lot of people in it. A lot of the songs sound very similar, but if you can get into it it's a very pleasant and rewarding experience.

5. TV on the Radio - Seeds


The band comes back together after the unfortunate loss of their bassist to cancer, and prove they still know their way around their instruments. I've come to terms with the fact that they're not going to be the best band of all time, and that they're still pretty good anyway. I could have done with a bit more Kyp Malone singing, but it's overall a nicely balanced and enjoyable rock album.

4. St. Vincent


St. Vincent's fourth album sounds a lot like her third. Not like, the songs sound the same, because most of her songs don't really sound alike. But she's still doing the same thing, creating original noise/art/indie/pop/rock that's always unique and always interesting. It's always fun to hear a new song by her.

3. Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2


I could have just quoted some lyrics and let that be it, but it's hard to pick what. There's just so much to choose from, and a lot of what works about it is in Killer Mike's and El-P's delivery. I've enjoyed both of these guys' work before, but I didn't even know they were working together until late last year, when I heard "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" and got hooked pretty quickly. The aggressive, clever vocals and El-P's memorable beats work together to create a great pure rap album which doesn't need to screw around with experiments or genres to succeed.

2. Sun Kil Moon - Benji


A lot of this album is one man singing about personal things (mostly death) and playing his guitar, and it's some of the most gripping music I heard all year. There's a real sense of purpose behind it, like it's something that he needed to get out of him and he cared more about being true to the emotions he was conveying than smoothing it over for broader consumption. I won't soon forget it.

1. Spoon - They Want My Soul


A longtime respect for Spoon finally manifested into true love as I listened to They Want My Soul. It's hard to explain why this album in particular worked so well for me. All I can say is that every single song on it fucking kicks ass in a way that most songs you hear just aren't able to kick ass. They all just jump out of the speakers and take over my mind. Maybe everyone has one Spoon album like that, and this one is mine.

Delayed Entry

This is the best album that wasn't released in 2014 but I didn't hear until then.

Wilco - Summerteeth

It took me quite some time to realize that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is actually a great album and not just a pretty good one, so it was nice to get another album by Wilco and realize that my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. They are a really good band who knows how to craft great songs that grow in your brain and hold up to repeated examinations in ways more basic stuff doesn't. They don't go for pure catchiness, they try to find something deeper and usually do.

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"