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2017 lists

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Ok - I will bite the bullet. My favourite albums of the year. Roughly in order.

Margo Price – All American Made
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – The Nashville Sound
Julien Baker – Turn Out the Lights
Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway
The National – Sleep Well Beast
Kamasi Washington – Harmony of Difference
Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Navigator
Sun Kil Moon - Common as Light and Love are Red Valleys of Blood
Laura Marling – Semper Femina
Nadia Reid – Preservation
Aldous Harding – Party
Paul Weller - A Kind Revolution
Bjork - Utopia
Arcade Fire - Everything Now

I didn't see as many gigs as normal this year. I still lucky to see some great ones.

Paul McCartney
PJ Harvey
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
The Necks
The Dixie Chicks
Justin Townes Earle
The Specials
Willie Watson
 
Not feeling all the 2017, average year vibes. Probably not much that will go on to have huge lasting legacies, but a lot of great sounding stuff that I at least will re-visit a lot.

1. SZA, CTRL - For pure pleasure, and late night beats. A near perfect album (best kendrick feature too).
2. Lorde, Melodrama - Been to the Lourve twice since hearing this.
3. Perfume Genius, No Shape
4. Jay Som, Everybody Works - My favourite corner of music rn, jay som x mitski x jbrekkie. Asian-american females doing the damn thang.
5. Sampha, Process
6. Vince Staples, Big Fish Theory – Most realised and best sounding rap album this year.
7. Japanese Breakfast, Sounds from Another Planet – I might love this more than Psychopomp and that was a top 5 for me last year.
8. Kelela, Take Me Apart – Go from a dazzling ep to a full-length that’s even better. LMK song of the year (narrowly ahead of Drew Barrymore)
9. King Krule, The OOZ – This is still the saddest headline of 2017, but Archie is as guttural and suave and damn gifted as ever.
10. Alvvays, Antisocialites

11. Ryuichi Sakamato, async – The maestro hits us with the most perfect ambient soundtrack to your life.
12. Julien Baker, Turn Out the Lights - Echo the thoughts mentioned above, just hauntingly beautiful.
13. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
14. Thundercat, Drunk
15. Smino, blkswn - Generally ambivalent to what comes out of soundcloud/rap caviar, but once in a while something really hits.
16. Waxhatchee, Out in the Storm
17. Soley, Endless Summer – Listened to this quite a bit, before seeing her playing a pretty magnetic set in a hostel in Iceland. Stuck with me for sometime thereafter.
18. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN
19. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The French Press – Away from home for the year but had to get at least some local on here, and this one snuck into my DMs.
20. Bjork, Utopia

Also special mention to Mount Eerie's A Crow Looked at Me. I could just have easily put this as 1, but as an album I don't think I'll ever listen to it again. Loosely followed what happened to his wife last year, and for an album to be this personal, this baked in real honest grief is almost too much.
 

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kangaspurs said:
Favourite album: The Menzingers - After the Party.

I liked, even loved, many albums this year but nothing close to After the Party when it came to my AOTY. There's this then an abundance of daylight before I get to the rest. It's profound, it's affecting, it's wistful, it's nostalgic but thoroughly grounded in the passing of time and what's next after your youth has passed you by.

The rest (in no order): Polaris - The Mortal Coil, Deaf Havana - All These Countless Nights, Kendrick Lamar - DAMN., Ocean Grove - The Rhapsody Tapes, The Smith Street Band - More Scared of You Than You Are of Me, Deadlights - Mesma, Vacant Home - Reflect, Respond, Brand New - Science Fiction, Ceres - Stretch Ur Skin, Dear Seattle - Self Titled, Lorde - Melodrama

I expect that Material Control by Glassjaw and Turn Out the Lights by Julien Baker will be here when I've had more time with them as well.

Favourite Song: The title track, The Menzingers - After the Party

Others: Dear Seattle - The Meadows, Kendrick Lamar - LOVE., Polaris - The Remedy, Glassjaw - shira, Make Them Suffer - Fireworks, Ceres - Stretch Ur Skin, Lorde - Supercut, Turnover - Super Natural, Brand New - In The Water, Vacant Home - Bliss, Tigers Jaw - June, Dayseeker - Sleep in the Sea (pt II), Deadlights - Invisible Hands, While She Sleeps - Hurricane, The Smith Street Band - 25, Ocean Grove - Mr Centipede, Deaf Havana - St. Paul's.

Surprise Love: Lorde - Melodrama and, so far, Julien Baker - Turn Out the Lights. Neither of them are what I usually listen to so I'm pleasantly surprised to find myself really enjoying their work this year.

Biggest Disappointment: Captain, We're Sinking - The King of No Man & Turnover - Good Nature. Neither are particularly bad albums, but both bands previous records are among some of my favourite ever and these were disappointing by comparison. More a victim of high standards and expectation rather than anything else.
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Yeah second the content of this entire post. Science Fiction was my favourite album this year.

Would add Movements - Feel Something, '68 - Two Parts Viper, Cloud Nothings - Life Without Sound, Stick to Your Guns - True View, Winston Surfshirt - Sponge Cake, Citizen - As You Please and Brockhampton - Saturation I and II as other albums I have enjoyed this year. Thought Lost Under Heavens album was this year also but apparently not.

LCD Soundsystem - American Dream was probably the biggest letdown of the year for me.
 
Best album: Melodrama by Lorde

Second favourite album: Antisocialites by Alvvays

Most disappointing albums: LCD Soundsystem, St Vincent, Bicep

Most surprisingly great album: Kelly Lee Owens' debut

Best band I saw: Radiohead, the Manchester show specifically

Best show venue: Lorde at Kings Park, Perth

Worst artwork: American Dream by LCD Soundsystem

Band I officially said goodbye to: Arcade Fire

Best example of why reunions are tacky and dumb: LCD Soundsystem
 
I'm going to contribute two lists--one very specific, the other very short.

Best Hits of 2017 (qualification: songs released this year that made it into the top 20 on the ARIA Singles Chart).
1. Selena Gomez: "Bad Liar" - sultry bordering on screw-loose delivery landing somewhere between Marilyn Monroe at JFK's 45th and Jack Nicholson in The Shining
2. Julia Michaels: "Issues" - fix me baby one more time
3. Taylor Swift: "Gorgeous" - diary entry detailing the frustrations of re-experiencing 15yo giddiness, criticising the lyrics for sounding immature might be missing the point
4. Zayn ft. Sia: "Dusk Till Dawn" - a veneer of sincerity thicker than Bieber helped along by a superior thawed-out voice, the look-at-me antics of an egomaniacal co-singer kept in check without keeping her from owning the moment
5. The Chainsmokers: "Paris" - pretty little ditty about the convergence of western values and Islamic extremism
6. Kendrick Lamar: "Humble" - career sweetspot, ideal mix of danger and accessibility
7. Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos: "Slide" - DJ tries to set the mood, vocalists embody it
8. Charlie Puth: "Attention" - revenge of the nerd overtones with a funked-up bassline that would swallow a pasty British red-head whole
9. Rita Ora: "Anywhere"
10. Taylor Swift: "Look What You Made Me Do" - 280-character tweet lampooning her celebrity feuds via melodrama, criticising the old Tay Tay's death for sounding lame/cringey etc might be missing the point

Best Music Videos of 2017.
1. Jaden Smith: "Icon" - all the charisma of a one-eyed teddy bear, yet nobody has accompanied their distorted truths with such vacuous full-bodied vigour since a certain former Minister for the Environment

2. Fergie ft. Nicki Minaj: "You Already Know"

3. OK Go: "Obsession" - like always in their case, wouldn't be as impressive if it was actually worth the effort
 
Cotchin 9 said:
Few of my favs:
Yumi Zouma - Willowbank
Future Islands - The Far Field
Alvvays - Antisocialites
Beach Fossils - Somersault
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December by Yumi Zouma is one of my favourite songs of the year. Pretty amazing, love the atmosphere. So weird they aren't massive on Triple J.

Somersault hit me incredibly hard and I still will remember This Year being the first song I ever listened to in New York City. But unfortunately it faded away and I ended up really hating Be Nothing (a bad Smashing Pumpkins rip off and sounds too old) and to me it needed to be streamlined and thought about a little more. The bad artwork sort of got to me as well. They need to tour Australia again soon. It's a bit shame because This Year, Down The Line, Saint Ivy are awesome and the last two are really forward thinking and cool for them as a band but there's just a bit too much filler on an album that took three or four years.

Anyway, how's that Pitchfork list? Lord. I have no issue in celebrating cultural meaning – I mean, your own lists are dictated by your relationships to albums or songs, why can't a publication take into account social importance? – but man... sick to see Boys and Dum Surfer in the 10 though. What's everyone's tips for the album of the year? I'm going DAMN (think it's overrated as **** but then again I don't really get Kendrick – I wish I did but his lyricism is too blunt or overt and nowhere near cinematic, simple, or just good enough to me, his flow always sounds the same, and most of all his choice in production is heavy, typical rap shit and not actually that unique) but I hope it is Melodrama.
 
A few things I've enjoyed this year in no particular order -









Seeing SOPHIE'S Live debut, would definitely be the highlight show for me (she's going to blow up once her album drops next year, along with seeing Arca & Yves Tumor.
 
(Had to make a second post to fit everything in) -





 
Definitely Japanese Breakfast for me. Soft Sounds From Another Planet is an amazing album and they were awesome live.
 

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Not in any order but some of my favourite albums from this year.

L’Orange - Ordinary Man
Haim - Something to tell you
Kink - Playground
London Grammar - Truth is a beautiful thing
Apollo Brown & Planet Asia - Anchovies
King Krule - The Ooz
Stik Figa - Central Standard Time
Tyler the Creator - Flowers
Action Bronson - Blue Chip 7000

I was really looking forward to Cut Copy and Grizzly Bears new albums but was fairly disappointed especially Cut Copy didn’t really feel any of the tracks off their album.
 
Cut Copy have been rubbish for years, but I chucked on some songs from In Ghost Colours on the piss the other night and it was amazing how well those songs hold up. They are the exact memories of going out drinking in the winter in Melbourne, heading to clubs, dancing for ages, feeling the melancholy of youth slipping in that moment. The one before has some tunes too, Future is a great song.

What is everyone's experiences with The Ooz?

For me, he really needs to become a better songwriter. His songs always riff off the same thing for too long or meander. He needs to play with structure. That and put what he does in three songs, into one. Would make for better individual songs as well as much better albums. Unfortunately for me the debut was a bit frazzled and unsure of itself and to me The Ooz seems like a lot of mud in between the clarified ideas of Czech One and Dum Surfer. I do love the spoken word bits (and the throwback to 'six feet beneath the moon, a new place to drown' in the poetry) and want to love the album but I haven't yet. How many plays has it taken people? What vibe is it? And don't say night time because it goes without saying. Is it a sludgy, dirty thing like he wanted it to be and something totally right on for balmy warm 10pms?
 
Silent Alarm said:
Anyway, how's that Pitchfork list? Lord. I have no issue in celebrating cultural meaning – I mean, your own lists are dictated by your relationships to albums or songs, why can't a publication take into account social importance? – but man... sick to see Boys and Dum Surfer in the 10 though. What's everyone's tips for the album of the year? I'm going DAMN (think it's overrated as **** but then again I don't really get Kendrick – I wish I did but his lyricism is too blunt or overt and nowhere near cinematic, simple, or just good enough to me, his flow always sounds the same, and most of all his choice in production is heavy, typical rap shit and not actually that unique) but I hope it is Melodrama.
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Holy shit that is one terrible list and for once I think I am rather in lockstep with you on this. :o
 
Silent Alarm said:
Anyone else think Charli XCX did really well this year? After The Afterparty, Boys, now Out of My Head. Like what she's done, absolute master of melody and songwriting. Knows the power of a bridge and the right amount of repetition.
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+1. Really looking forward to Pop 2.
 
Silent Alarm said:
Anyway, how's that Pitchfork list? Lord. I have no issue in celebrating cultural meaning – I mean, your own lists are dictated by your relationships to albums or songs, why can't a publication take into account social importance? – but man... sick to see Boys and Dum Surfer in the 10 though. What's everyone's tips for the album of the year? I'm going DAMN (think it's overrated as **** but then again I don't really get Kendrick – I wish I did but his lyricism is too blunt or overt and nowhere near cinematic, simple, or just good enough to me, his flow always sounds the same, and most of all his choice in production is heavy, typical rap shit and not actually that unique) but I hope it is Melodrama.
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I can't help but feel like if DAMN. came out before To Pimp A Butterfly (hypothetically speaking of course, because the album wouldn't make sense if it did) it wouldn't have received nearly the same response. I like DAMN. and I love TPAB and GKMC, but it wasn't the best album of this year. Not even close.
 
Silent Alarm said:
Cut Copy have been rubbish for years, but I chucked on some songs from In Ghost Colours on the piss the other night and it was amazing how well those songs hold up. They are the exact memories of going out drinking in the winter in Melbourne, heading to clubs, dancing for ages, feeling the melancholy of youth slipping in that moment. The one before has some tunes too, Future is a great song.

What is everyone's experiences with The Ooz?

For me, he really needs to become a better songwriter. His songs always riff off the same thing for too long or meander. He needs to play with structure. That and put what he does in three songs, into one. Would make for better individual songs as well as much better albums. Unfortunately for me the debut was a bit frazzled and unsure of itself and to me The Ooz seems like a lot of mud in between the clarified ideas of Czech One and Dum Surfer. I do love the spoken word bits (and the throwback to 'six feet beneath the moon, a new place to drown' in the poetry) and want to love the album but I haven't yet. How many plays has it taken people? What vibe is it? And don't say night time because it goes without saying. Is it a sludgy, dirty thing like he wanted it to be and something totally right on for balmy warm 10pms?
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Dum Surfer was a ripper of a song and Czech One was pretty decent too, but I just can’t be bothered with the album. It seems to be a lot of the same from what I’ve listened and there hasn’t been anything to entice me to listen to the part of it that I haven’t listened to yet. I am seeing him next year though so hopefully it’s a good show.
 

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NotAMagpieBogan said:
Dum Surfer was a ripper of a song and Czech One was pretty decent too, but I just can’t be bothered with the album. It seems to be a lot of the same from what I’ve listened and there hasn’t been anything to entice me to listen to the part of it that I haven’t listened to yet. I am seeing him next year though so hopefully it’s a good show.
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He's playing in Brisbane the same night as Perfume Genius next year and I'm bloody torn.
 
Kendrick Lamar raps well and has a great thing to say but unfortunately his production is just so so average.
 
Honestly, where there's no structure in the OOZ is where it shines. Dum Surfer might be the album's Easy Easy, but Logos, Sublunary, The Cadet Leaps is where I'm getting my kicks from.
 
  1. Julien Baker - Turn Out the Lights
    Stunning vocals and great songwriting. Not sure what else to say. "Hauntingly beautiful" is definitely the best way to describe it.

  2. BROCKHAMPTON - Saturation
    Crazy good project. Probably my favourite hip hop album in a few years. Arguably one of, if not, the most important hip hop acts at the moment. Can't believe how good they are, considering how many members they have.

  3. Amenra - Mass VI
    Killer sludge metal album from one of the best metal acts in the world. Discovered them when Mass V autoplayed on YouTube a few years back, and I thought that was one of the best records of 2012. I think this is even better.

  4. Alex Cameron - Forced Witness
    I thought Alex Cameron was just another Kirin J Callinan (and I like Kirin J Callinan), but boy was I wrong. This is a cracking pop record. He's bloody good at coming up with catchy hooks. Can't get Country Figs, Stranger's Kiss and Candy May out of my head. Very excited for his Laneway set.

  5. Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
    Love the concept of this record. Really focused and interesting.

  6. Alvvays - Antiscoalites
    Just so damn catchy. The whole thing. In Undertow is one of my favourite singles of the year, and I haven't been able to get others tunes like Dreams Tonite, Not My Baby and Lollipop out of my head.

  7. The Smith Street Band - More Scared of You Than You Are of Me
    Probably biased, but I can't help it. When it first came out, I was comparing it to Throw Me In The River, which is one of my favourite albums of this decade. In hindsight, that was a bit of a reach - Throw Me In The River's highlights are a fair bit better, but this is so damn consistent throughout.

  8. BROCKHAMPTON - Saturation III
    Not quite as good as Saturation I, but still bloody good. Has some of their most interesting moments, and SISTER/NATION is probably my favourite song by them.

  9. You'll Never Get to Heaven - Images
    There was about a month-long period at the start of this year in which I had a fever I couldn't shirk. This album helped me have plenty of naps at university, and waking up to it was one of the best possible ways to wake-up.

  10. Ariel Pink - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson
    It wasn't until this had been out for a couple of months that I recognised it as one of my favourites for the year. I liked it from first listen, but there's so many songs I keep revisiting. Huge upgrade on Pom Pom. Was sad to to miss his Brisbane gig, but apparently it was shite because of the venue, anyway.

  11. N*E*R*D* - No_ One Ever Really Dies
    Like BoshtrichBurger said, plenty of earworms on this. I'll go to listen to a song from the record and keep finding myself listening to the next one. And the net one. And so on. Pharell's production is fantastic as always. If you want to read pretentious gobshite, read the Pitchfork review of this.

  12. Tyler the Creator - Flower Boy
    I've never been that into Tyler, but the production on this is just so good. Compared to some of other albums I've mentioned, I don't really have too many standout tracks, I just really like this as a whole.

  13. The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
    Heaps has been said about this on here already. Doesn't have the replay value of their last record, which in fairness is one of my favourite albums of all time, but Granduciel's studio work is so admirable.

  14. SoftSpot - Clearing
    There was a few tunes from their last album that I stumbled upon and would always find myself revisiting (King Porus, in particular). I've never listened to anything else by them, and probably wouldn't have listened to this if I hadn't been in a certain mood. Lucky I did, because this is such a neat record. Really unique band and album that's genuinely quite beautiful at times.

  15. Pond - The Weather
    Pond > Tame Impala.

  16. Milo - who told you to think??!!?!?!?!
    Not sure if it's true, but I read Milo had written an absurd amount of new songs and included the ones that were getting the best audience reactions on the album. Definitely not as focused as his last album, and that would explain why. Lyrically most songs are very much following an in-the-moment train of thought. Production is also super good. Held back by some really cringey lines.

  17. (Sandy) Alex G - Rocket
    Didn't think Alex G was capable of releasing an album that would be this good almost the whole way through, but here we are. His best release yet with some of the best songs he's ever written on it.
  18. Gang of Youths - Go Farther in Lightness
    This has been spoken about, and probably overrated, enough on here. Damn good album though.

  19. Fog Lake - Dragonchaser
    Listened to a lot of dream pop at the start of the year and this was a clear standout. Some bloody good songs (Push, Rattlesnake, Novocaine) on here, but also some less interesting moments throughout. The highs drag it onto this list though.

  20. Oh Sees - Orc
    Consistent as always. I feel like their albums continue to get less bombastic (save for songs like Animated Violence), but they, as a band, grow and stay interesting.

  21. Brand New - Science Fiction
    Before the events of the last few months (I won't defend Jesse Lacey, what a w***er), this was a great swansong for a great band.

  22. Red Red Krovvy - Red Red Krovvy
    Noisey did a good article on this band and album. They have been around for about a decade now, but this is their debut LP. I believe the lead singer Ash Wyatt mentioned that one of the key stepping stones for the band was her growing more confident in her own vocals. Good thing she did, because she smashes this out of the park. Just a really good Australian punk record.

  23. Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    So dreamy. Agree that it's even better than Psychopomp.

  24. Institute - Subordination
    I'm a sucker for filthy guitars. This kind of reminds me of Killing Joke's debut self-titled.

  25. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory
    My favourite thing Vince has released. The production is crazy good.

HMs: CARE - LUV IN THE RUINS, Ali Barter - A Suitable Girl, Spencer Radcliffe - Enjoy the Great Outdoors, Jay Som - Everybody Works, Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens, Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me, BROCKHAMPTON - Saturation II, Flotation Toy Warning - The Machine That Made Us, Kirin J Callinan - Bravado, Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up, Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent, Elder - Reflections of a Floating World
 
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Sampha - Process
Steve Lacy - Steve Lacy's Demo
Smino - blkswn
Tyler the Creator - Flower Boy
Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory
Toro Y Moi - Boo Boo
Rapsody - Laila's Wisdom
Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
Oddisee - The Iceberg
N*E*R*D - No-one Ever Really Dies
Moses Sumney - Aromanticism
MIKE - May God Bless Your Hustle
Miguel - War & Leisure
King Krule - The Ooz
Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet
Freddie Gibbs - You Only Live 2wice
Big Thief - Capacity
Big K.R.I.T. - 4eva Is A Mighty Long Time

Process is my AOTY

EDIT: Totally forgot about Kelela's "Take Me Apart"... great album.
 
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BoshtrichBurger said:
Sampha - Process
Steve Lacy - Steve Lacy's Demo
Smino - blkswn
Tyler the Creator - Flower Boy
Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory
Toro Y Moi - Boo Boo
Rapsody - Laila's Wisdom
Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
Oddisee - The Iceberg
N*E*R*D - No-one Ever Really Dies
Moses Sumney - Aromanticism
MIKE - May God Bless Your Hustle
Miguel - War & Leisure
King Krule - The Ooz
Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds from Another Planet
Freddie Gibbs - You Only Live 2wice
Big Thief - Capacity
Big K.R.I.T. - 4eva Is A Mighty Long Time

Process is my AOTY

EDIT: Totally forgot about Kelela's "Take Me Apart"... great album.
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Plenty of stuff on here I have to check out. Also forgot Kelela and also Rapsody! Probably forgot heaps of albums on my list. :p
 

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