New Music At 40: 100 Albums I Loved In 2017
When I was in high school you’d have come to me for new music recommendations. I used to have a suitcase of CD’s I’d carry around with me to friends’ houses. I’ve always been a music nerd. But in my 20s and 30s I could coast on what I already knew to a degree, so I wasn’t quite as voracious about new music as I was in my teens.
In 2017, I dove back in. I listened to new music more aggressively tiis year than I did even in high school. I’m 40 years old and have a newborn son. Here are the new albums I enjoyed the most:
1. Jesca Hoop’s Memories Are Now is my album of the year, an exquisite presentation of highly nuanced melodies from a wise and deeply self-possessed singer/songwriter hitting her stride. I was a newcomer to Hoop early this year and fell in love with this album deeply enough I went and familiarized myself with the rest of her work. She’s turned out to be my favorite personal musical “find” in half a decade. Favorite Song: “Songs of Old”
2. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard put out the best experimental rock record of the year with Flying Microtonal Banana, pushing themselves way beyond last year’s already ambitious Nonagon Infinity, with an album-length enterprise in applying microtones to psychedelic rock and the addition of an Arabic horn into the mix. King Gizzard put out 5 albums this year, and they’re all interesting, but this was the highlight. Pro tip: Skip track 1 the first time! Favorite song: “Melting”
3. Tom Rosenthal’s latest micro-indy, basically self-published piano-and-guitar driven indie-folk album, Fenn, is ridiculously charming album and endears itself to the listener more with each listen. Like many of Rosenthal’s albums, it’s a mixture one part playful, upbeat positive folk-rock, one part quiet introspection, and then one part the wry humor Rosenthal uses to stir it all together into a magical whole. Favorite song: “Throw the Fear”
4. On the New Pornographers’ latest, Whiteout Conditions, the supergroup sounds more unified than ever, with A. C. Newman, Neko Case and Kathryn Calder singing almost every song together, and Newman writing all the songs (in Dan Bejar’s absence). The result is their poppiest, most shimmeringly polished album to date, and while it’s not their most expansive or affecting work, it’s as smart as ever, and as catchy and as fun as it gets. Favorite song: “This is the World of the Theater”
5. Bedouine is a fitting stage name for Azniv Korkejian, a Syrian-born Armenian who grew up in Saudi Arabia, Houston and LA. Her eponymous debut album is a simple, sweet folk album full of unforgettable tunes. Favorite song is the introvert’s anthem, “Solitary Daughter.”
6. Queens Of the Stone Age put out my favorite straight-up rock-and-roll album of the year, with Villains, which is the strongest intersection between my favorites list and every other critic and magazine’s “best of 2017” list. It’s full of muscular guitar riffs worthy of Zeppelin and Bowie at their finest, and it’s got heart too. Favorite song: “Un-Reborn Again”
7. Parquet Courts’ project with Italian film composer Daniel Luppi and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Milano, ranks as my favorite collaboration in a year where there quite a few notable ones. This cinematic concept album about the Milan of Luppi’s youth is sexy, street-wise indie rock at its finest. Favorite song: “Pretty Prizes”
8. Residente, a high-profile Puerto Rican rapper from Calle 13, made his debut solo album after taking a DNA test and then traveling around the world to make music with people from the wildly diverse cultures to which he traced his lineage. It’s hip hop over organically sourced world music beats, and it’s my favorite rap album of the year. Favorite song: “Somos Anormales”
9. The Fleet Foxes album Crack-Up had huge shoes to fill. Their previous album 6 years ago was arguably the album of the decade. To follow it up, they more or less needed to do something completely different. Crack-Up is a progressive, expansive prog folk-rock experiment and while it’s not as warm or impactful as Helplessness Blues, it’s still masterfully made. Favorite song: “Third of May”
10. Tinariwen’s Elwan ranks as my favorite world music album, the band’s first since being exiled from their native Mali for the passionate protest music they continue to deliver with such grace and poise. Tinariwen’s desert rock is a seamless blend of western rock and roll with the assouf music native to the Sahara. Favorite song: “Talyat”
11. St. Vincent’s lyrics remain intensely personal on Masseduction, her most high-profile record yet, but the music is the poppiest stuff she’s created. It works for her, and she’s still pushing the envelope more than enough to retain her unique voice. Favorite song: “New York”
12. Iron & Wine made my favorite warm and strummy acoustic folk album this year. Beast Epic is Sam Beam’s stripped-down return to form and it’s maybe the most comforting, relaxing album I heard this year. Favorite song: “The Truest Stars We Know”
13. The Staves and yMusic merge vocal virtuosity and orchestral wizardry on their collaboration The Way Is Read, with one member of each group producing and masterminding the operation. Despite recording separately, the two outfits seem remarkably unified here. Favorite song: “Take Me Home”
14. U2 takes the prize of “best album by a band I loved when I was a kid” with Songs Of Experience. The melodies are memorable, the songwriting is beautiful, and after a near-death experience last year, Bono sounds more like a human being with a relatable story and less like a celebrity multi-millionaire for the first time in a while. Favorite song: “Get Out Of Your Own Way”
15. Benjamin Clementine’s I Tell A Fly was the most mind-blowingly weird / innovative album I heard this year. I’m tempted to say that it sounds a little like Faith No More and Queen wrote a chamber pop album for Antony and the Johnsons to record, but the truth is this is its own animal and it’s like nothing else ever. My favorite song is not as wild as some of the others, but: “By the Ports of Europe”
NOTEWORTHY: Kíla released my favorite live album of the year, Alive, and while I’m not ranking live albums here, it’s worth mentioning when one of world music’s best kept secrets— a one-band Irish-language cultural renaissance, whose live shows are incomparable — puts out a live album including a bunch of original songs and some seriously reinvigorated deep cuts. Favorite song: “Raise the Road” or “Seo Mo Leaba / Am Reel”
Those were the albums I obsessed over the most this year. Here were some others I really loved:
16. Songhoy Blues, The Resistance (blues-rock from Mali). Standout track: “Yersi Yadda”)
17. Sylvan Esso, What Now (Fantastic synth-driven indie pop). “Radio”
18. Beck, Colors (His poppiest album yet too). “Dear Life”
19. Curtis Harding, Face Your Fear (Favorite soul album 2017).“Til the End”
20. Open Mike Eagle, Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (“Unapologeticl art rap.” Best album cover of the year too). “Hymnal”
21. Aimee Mann, Mental Illness (Solid singer/songwriting). “Lies of Summer”
22. Wolf Parade, Cry Cry Cry (Bright, impassioned indie rock). “Who Are Ya”
23. Big Thief, Capacity (Melodically accomplished indie folk-rock). “Haley”
24. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. (The best musician / producer in the rap world, and everyone else’s album of the year. I’m sure I’d have placed it higher if I listened more often, but the violence of the lyrics didn’t mesh well with having a baby on the way). “FEAR.”
25. The Arcade Fire, Everything Now (Very fun divergences from their usual indy, from disco to electronica to reggae). “Creature Comfort”
26. Spoon, Hot Thoughts (Super solid indie rock). “Hot Thoughts”
27. Portugal The Man, Woodstock (Shimmering indie pop rock). “Feel It Still.”
28. Juana Molina, Halo (Argentinian comedian turned indie rocker). “Cosoco”
29. The Black Angels, Death Song (More solid indie rock). “Currency”
30. Peter Mulvey, Are You Listening? (Elegant, wise folk songs). “D.I.A.”
31. Zara McFarlane, Arise (Chilled out jazz tunes tinged with reggae and R&B). “Allies Or Enemies”.
32. Robert Plant, Carry Fire (Pure British folk). “Carry Fire”
33. Ani DiFranco, Binary (Hopeful, reflective songs from my favorite singer/songwriter of all-time). “Even More”
34. Jens Lekman, Life Will See You Now (Swedish pop with deeply felt lyrics). “Evening Prayer”
35. Elbow, Little Fictions. (Lush, atmospheric rock & roll). “Little Fictions”
36. Ryan Adams, Prisoner B-Sides. (Just straight up great rock songs — the B-sides were better than the album they came from!), “Halo”
37. Björk, Utopia. (Joyful, amorphous, flute-laden euophoria). “Blissing Me”
38. Feist, Pleasure (Her most confident, boldest album). “Any Party”
39. The Lone Bellow, Walk Into A Storm. (Soulful country Gospel feels) “Deeper in the Water”
40. The National, Sleep Well Beast. (An utter gem by a band I still find too sad to want to listen to as often as they deserve). “Carin at the Liquor Store”
41. The War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding. (New wave-polished, heartland indie rock). “Nothing to Find”
42. Alt-j, Relaxer. (No question, it’s a big step down from their previous work, but even then there are at least 3 utterly amazing songs here). “Deadcrush”
43. Saint Etienne, Home Counties. (Deeply English pop epic). “Take It All In”
44. Tori Amos. Native Invader. (Just as badass now as then). “Up the Creek”
45. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Sketches of Brunswick East. (Jazzy, laid back psychedelic rock). “The Spider and Me”
47. Laura Marling, Semper Femina. (Soulful singer/songwriter). “Soothing.”
46. Jeremy Enigk, Ghosts. (His quietest, subtlest album). “Empty Row.”
48. Biblical, The City That Always Sleeps. (Heavy, atmospheric psych-rock). “The City That Always Sleeps.”
49. Gorillaz, Humanz. (Sprawling, collaborative hip hop set). “Momentz.”
50. Jack Johnson, All The Light Above It Too. (Folksy, positivetunes). “Big Sur.”
Here below are 50 more albums I thoroughly enjoyed this year. I haven’t numbered them. A bunch of these surely deserve to be in the top 50, but for whatever reason — often because I got to them later in the year after my son was born — I’ve only listened to them a handful of times:
Sarah McSweeney, Ignite The Fire
Rainbow Girls, American Dream
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Soul of a Woman
Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Navigator
Priests, Nothing Feels Natural
The Proper Ornaments, Foxhole
Nicole Atkins, Goodnight Rhonda Lee
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Gumboot Soup
Mount Erie, A Crow Looked At Mex
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Polygondwanaland
Prophets of Rage, self-titled
Krishna Das, Trust in the Heart
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound
Fever Ray, Plunge
Ibeyi, Ash
Mavis Staples, If All I Was Was Black
Perfume Genius, No Shame
Thundercat, Drunk
LCD Soundsystem, American Dream
Moby and the Void Pacific Choir, More Fast Songs About the Apocaylpse
Primus, The Desaturating Seven
Wire, Silver / Lead
Mountain Goats, Goths
Vince Staples, Big Fish Theory
Broken Social Scene, Hug of Thunder
Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice
Mark Lanegan Band, Gargoyle
Serpent Power, Electric Looneyland
Valerie June, The Order of Time
Ryan Adams, The Prisoner
Richard Dawson, Peasant
Death From Above 1979, Outrage! Is Now
Makthaverskan, Makthaverskan III
Flo Morrissey and Matthew E White, Gentlewoman, Ruby Man
Amber Coffman, City of No Reply
Foster the People, Sacred Hearts Club
Depeche Mode, Spirit
Tennis, Yours Conditionally
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Murder of the Universe
The Unthanks, the Songs and Poetms of Molly Drake
The Weather Station, self-titled
Dent May, Across the Multiverse
Phoenix, Ti Amo
Jay Som, Everybody Works
David Rawlings, Poor David’s Almanac
Foxygen, Hang
Jane Weaver, Modern Kosmology
Rostam, Half-Light
Randy Newman, Dark Matter
The Regrettes, Feel Your Feelings, Fool!