So, 2017. We now only have to endure 75% more of Trump's term. Congratulations, team. It's hard for me to tell if the orange cloud cast over the landscape by the worst president in our history is just coloring my opinion, but I really feel like the stuff I heard this year was noticeably worse than last year. I feel like the #7 album on last year's list (The Avalanches Wildflower) would have been top 2 this year. There were a lot of albums from bands that I love (Ted Leo, Wolf Parade, etc.) that were of the solid, dependable sort but few that I thought were among the best they've ever done. The other wrinkle is that I really found myself migrating away from soul, hip hop, etc. this year and listening to a lot of punk, indie, and jazz. I can explain the punk away as a reaction to having to see Trump and Mitch McConnell and Roy Moore on CNN every night, but I've got no idea where the move to jazz from hip hop came from. Oh, and I also found time to listen to all 18 hours of Wagner's Ring Cycle. But what that means is that I just didn't hear some records that seem to be really highly regarded - stuff like SZA, Sampha, and even Jay-Z. I did really, really, really try to get into Thundercat's Drunk but that shit was just too weird for me.
And even if 2017 wasn't all that I hoped it would be, there's already hope for 2018. The Wrens have been promising a follow-up album for something like 8 years now, but rumors are that it'll actually happen next year. Kiwi wonderkid Marlon Williams releases his album next year. And Edge of Town off of the Middle Kids EP might have been my favorite song of the year with an LP promised for next year. So hopefully good things on the horizon for 2018 but, until then, let's check out 2017.
Really great albums that just missed the cut
Ted Leo released a pretty rad Kickstarter supported album that netted me a cool box set of 45s of each of the singles (with B sides). The album still showcases what a great guitarist he is, it's just a little more timid than what I would like. That's epitomized by Can't Go Back. Spencer Krug put his other 18 or so bands away and came back with a Wolf Parade album that was good but didn't really live up to expectations. Two albums were on my top 10 for the longest time before I had a slight change of heart and pushed them just barely to spots 11 and 12. First was Chicano Batman's Freedom Is Free which was the best, happiest fusion of funk and soul in a long time. And just missing the top 10 was the National's Sleep Well Beast which is every bit as good as you'd expect from the National and adds at least two more great songs to their list of crowd pleasers with Day I Die and Empire Line. In the end, though, it just missed....
10. The Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir
If I'm being honest, it should probably be the National in this spot. But I always play fast and loose with the 10 spot and give extra kudos for uniqueness. Stephin Merritt is nothing if not unique. While it doesn't match 69 Love Songs for overall quality, I love the idea behind 50 Song Memoir - namely that as he turns 50, he wrote one song for each year of his life. Interestingly, I think the songs before age 20 are the most interesting - those are the ones about the cat that he loved as a three year old named Dionysus. Or reading Ethan Frome in high school. Or about being a dork that wants to draw comics in I Think I'll Make Another World. Once you get past age 20, it's all about relationships and moving for work and struggling to be a success and blah blah blah. All that usual shit that every other song is about.
9. Priests - Nothing Feels Natural
Exhibit #1 from this year's punk phase. Every time I listen to this album, it reminds me of Minneapolis legends, the Soviettes. But maybe with a little (or a lot) more melody. Underlying most of these songs is a rolling surf-style guitar that you might hear on a Best Coast track. But where Best Coast purrs, Priests growls. Tracks like JJ are right out of the Soviettes oeuvre. And check out the title track for the best blast the car radio song of the year.
8. Twin Peaks Soundtrack
This might not have been my favorite year for music, but it was a real good year for TV. And two of my favorites contributed spectacularly good soundtracks. This one and the soundtrack for Big Little Lies which contributed the absolute best theme song for a TV show ever. But the Twin Peaks soundtrack was pitch perfect for the spacey, dreamy, what-the-hell-is-happening tenor of the show. Most episodes would finish at the Bang Bang Bar where someone who is far too good to be in Twin Peaks, Washington would be playing. Heavy on hazy, dreamy acts like Chromatics and Au Revoir Simone, there are some real star appearances from Eddie Vedder and a terrifying song from Nine Inch Nails. I still don't understand what "This is the Water and this is the well" means but, fortunately, you don't need to to enjoy the soundtrack.
7. Ron Gallo - Heavy Meta
While Priests reminded me of Soviettes, there is a part of Ron Gallo's album that bring the Georgia Satellites to mind. In a good way. Southern-tinged garage rock (even though he's from Philly) about relationships that really should never have happened. Best summed up by song titles like Young Lady, You're Scaring Me and Why Do You Have Kids. There's a distinct Black Keys quality with Ron's guitar playing anchoring the trio (drum and bass round it out). It's simple and in your face.
6. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN
So I didn't STOP listening to hip hop. And as much as I wish I could stop putting Kendrick Lamar albums in my top 10, there's just no denying that he is the single best rapper of all time and every album he puts out (so far) is somehow still fresh and amazing. As I listen to this album again, I'm thinking that maybe it should actually be #1 or 2. But, I mean, I have to give other albums a chance too. Pick a song off here DNA, Element, Loyalty, etc. It'll be good.
5. Nico Muhly, Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner - Planetarium
Put this in the where did this album come from category. The Eindhoven symphony commissioned a new piece from American composer Nico Muhly who brought in Sufjan Stevens and The National's Bryce Dessner to build this lush, electronic, symphonic indie rock orchestra about the planets. (?!). The connection to the planets is usually through their mythological counterparts - and not necessarily like Venus is about love and Mars is about war. More like, the song Jupiter is largely about Jupiter, the king of the gods. One exception is the absolutely beautiful closer, Mercury, which is about the fleetingness of life and the speed with which things pass by. If you only listen to one song off this beautiful album, make it that one.
4. Alvvays - Antisocialites
Canadian indie-poppers, Alvvays, caught my ear a few years back with the impossibly catchy Archie, Marry Me. Their sophomore effort goes that much further with almost every track on here being a solid piece of melodic 3-minute guitar driven pop. My love of Swedish indie-pop is well chronicled and this is every bit as good as the best of Peter, Bjorn, and John. In Undertow is the standout song but Dreams Tonite, Plimsoll Punks, Lollipop, etc. are all solid.
3. Slowdive - S/T
I was a real latecomer to these shoegaze legends having not discovered them until after they had already split up/retired/stop playing music. So this record, released 22 years after their last one, was a treat. There's an effortlessness to everything they do that belies how complex the music is. On a song like Sugar for the Pill, you can hear just how much bands like The xx took from Slowdive. Songs like Slomo build and build and build until you're in this ocean of sound. Beautiful stuff.
2. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
It's not quite the hiatus that Slowdive had, but LCD Soundsystem said they were hanging it up 6 years ago. So this was a nice surprise. When I first moved to Europe, I developed a real soft spot for their song North American Scum. Back then, it was the second term of George W, and that song's message that not all North Americans are cultural idiots hit a nerve. And they managed to do it again this time with the song, American Dream. It's on the long side at 6 minutes but when it came out, at one point I listened to it on repeat for like an hour. It's poignant, it's vulnerable, it's an electronic lullaby written by aging New York hipsters ("You took acid and looked in the mirror. Watched the beard crawl around on your face. Oh, the revolution was here that would set you free from those bourgeoisie."). It's epic. You can't go wrong with the other tracks on here too; namely Call the Police, Oh Baby, Change Yr Mind, etc. but American Dream just has this emotional hold on me.
1. Algiers - The Underside of Power
I usually buck the trends of other "Top 10 lists" what with previous number ones being little-heard bands (in this country) like Liam Finn and Sin Fang Bous, but I really don't understand why this album is not even in many Top 50 lists. Finally, I saw that Bob Boilen from All Songs Considered put the song The Underside of Power in his top 10 songs from the year. So that's a start. But, man, this is a powerful album. And this is the right album for this repugnant presidential administration full of idiots. It is in-your-face political and, more than anything else, it is ANGRY. But angry isn't enough - it's smart, looking at the underlying white nationalism and racism that is the underside of power behind Trump's election and Brexit. Where are the other albums like this? But it wouldn't be number one if it was just a smart, political album - they've cultivated a unique punk/soul/gospel/noise sound and Franklin Fisher has the perfect punk/soul voice for this. He can croon when he needs to and he can scream when he needs to. Check it out on Cleveland.
