The 25 Best Albums of 2017

2017 is not over yet. But we can always pretend like it is.

I walked to a local park the other night. Sat on a bench and stared up into the dark, clouded, fading sky. It was cold and I was breathing clearly, having just finished a workout. After my mind raced through topics like my purpose in life and my state of well-being, I just observed what was before me... An empty field of grass, kids' playground equipment, silhouettes of trees and mountains... There was no music.
It was peaceful. I imagined some delightfully smug character sitting beside me with his arms stretched to the sky, narrating the view to me:

"You wanna see things as they really are, Scott? This is it, right here! Ha! This is it. That's all. You don't have to be anything or think anything! If you have something to share with the world, you are free to share it. This stuff you're looking at right now isn't going anywhere. This is okay. And you're going to be okay."

Here's a spiffy list I made. Enjoy!

Here are some honorable mentions that almost made the list.
- Alex Cameron Forced Witness
- Ariel Pink Dedicated To Bobby Jameson
- Broken Social Scene Hug Of Thunder
- Jay-Z 4:44
- Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Soul Of A Woman

Now the list.
The 25 Best Albums of 2017

25 Feist Pleasure

This probably won't make sense to any of you, but the album actually sounds like what the album cover looks like.

24 The War On Drugs A Deeper Understanding

While Adam Granduciel may just be a really corny figurehead for dad rock, you gotta admit he swung for the fences on this new album.

23 Power Trip Nightmare Logic

It's not like I actively look for throwback Texas thrash metal, but perhaps it's the mere fact that this album exists that it made this list.

22 Jlin Black Origami 

I don't know jack about footwork, but I like that there's an elephant on the album cover because most of its musical influences come from countries that have elephants.

21 Thundercat Drunk

I still can't think of a good blurb for this one, but that's probably because I've never had alcohol before.

20 SZA Ctrl 

I've been debating whether or not this album belonged on this list, but it's that heart-breaker of a closer "20 Something" that just seals the deal for me.

19 Tyler, The Creator Flower Boy

I think this is the closest to Channel Orange Tyler's gonna get.

18 Protomartyr Relatives In Descent

A good fix for some good post-punk; Elvis-death theories and fatherhood struggles included.

17 Fleet Foxes Crack-Up

Ya know, this thing turned out alright.

16 The Mountain Goats Goths

"What if John Darnielle was secretly a big 80s goth culture junkie and he's just been waiting his whole career to record a jazzy elevator lite-rock album about it in extensively nerdy detail?" asked No One Ever.

15 Rapsody Laila's Wisdom

This a jam-packed fun West Coast rap album that I kinda find comparable to Anderson.Paak's Malibu in nature.

14 Moses Sumney Aromanticism 

I love this guy's voice (and his apparent-yet-respective influence taken from a bunch of 2000s indie bands).

13 King Krule The OOZ

Turns out that smiling redhead kid from MAD Magazine is a super depressing British dude.

12 Converge The Dusk In Us

As long as we're keeping score here, All We Love We Leave Behind is the better album, but The Dusk In Us ranks pretty high on this list because it really was just that kind of year...

11 Sampha Process

I never thought I'd write this, but I'm really glad there's an artist out there owning the mantle of "the modern-day Seal."

10 Bjork Utopia

This album is gorgeous, mind you, this is still a Bjork + Arca collaboration, and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone easily prone to headaches.







 

9 Kelela Take Me Apart

Kelela delivers some of the most impressive alt-R&B stuff I've heard in a while, and in bulk.

8 Richard Dawson Peasant 

This is really somethin' else, guys... as beautiful as it is strange, here we have a freak-folk album with complex arrangements, vibrant instrumentation, lo-fi production, and weird stories about people's lives during medieval times.

7 Father John Misty Pure Comedy

The whole world is going to hell so we might as well listen to some Elton John.

6 Ibibio Sound Machine Uyai

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guarantee that all of you would love this band's zany spin on Afropop music.

5 Charlotte Gainsbourg Rest

November came and I suddenly realized that I was waiting all year for something with bold, sly melodies and thick, French textures to be my obvious pick for "pop album of the year."

4 Run The Jewels Run The Jewels 3

Outside its place on this rather muscle-less list, I should clarify that this grandiose-soundscape rap album is literally from 2016 and its Christmas release will go down as part of the 2016 narrative. 

3 Perfume Genius No Shape

Looking at his loaded (yet still-young) career under the Perfume Genius name, this exquisite delicacy of an album solidifies Mike Hadreas' spot among the most exclusive realm of this decade's greatest songwriters.

2 Kendrick Lamar DAMN.

For those following the whole "Radiohead-Kendrick" connection, part of me believes DAMN. is Kendrick's In Rainbows because of its lovable natural flow, but part of me says this is his Hail To The Thief because it's a 14-track, 55-minute, politically-conscious album taking a step down from the artist's usually extreme experimentalism; complete with a full-album song-title shtick to boot.

1 Mount Eerie A Crow Looked At Me

Death is real.

My 33 Favorite Songs of 2017 (kinda)

2017 still has an entire month left. But what the hey. Let's make a list.

So, I haven't made an end-of-year songs list in these past few years because it's not like I've heard every song in the world. But I had a ton of free time on my hands this year and I came pretty darn close. My problem is, when I have personal favorite albums, how can I make an end-of-year songs list without cramming, like, 5 songs from my favorite album in the top 10? This is what I decided on:
This is a list of my favorite songs of 2017... kinda. It does not include any tracks that come from albums you'll see on my upcoming "Album Of The Year" list.
It's a stupid shtick, but it made the list a lot easier to make. And I'm having some fun with this! A couple tracks aren't even stream-able, but are just songs from YouTube videos. Most of these songs are just by indie-hype bands I've always liked, so this list is kinda in their honor. And I guess this is a super roundabout (and fairly unique) way to prelude my eventual end-of-year albums list which usual gets plenty of views.
So scroll through this list. Check out some darn good songs. I'm done here.

MY 33 FAVORITE SONGS OF 2017 (kinda)

33 Eminem The Storm
Apparently Slim titled his BET Awards freestyle "The Storm," but I'll always remember it as "that one random time old-man Eminem did a freestyle on TV and everyone liked it."
32 Beach House Chariot
Beach House released a compilation of B-sides and rarities and it was quite good.
31 Jay-Z (ft Gloria Carter) Smile
Jay-Z's 4:44 album wasn't too shabby and this track has a sample from my favorite Stevie Wonder song.
30 Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile Over Everything
We have reached peak dad rock.
29 Broken Social Scene Hug of Thunder
The new BSS album is an honorable mention on my AOTY list btw.
28 Brian Eno / Kevin Shields Only Once Away My Son
Brian Eno + Kevin Shields = It's about darn time.
27 Rina Sawayama Cyber Stockholm Syndrome
This could probably go toe-to-toe with any industrial/pop track from FKA Twigs.
26 Blanck Mass Silent Treatment
So, this guy used to be one-half of F* Buttons, who were a big-name buzz band back when I was getting into indie music, and this song comes off as an uncomfortably deserving blast-from-the-past for me.
25 Super Deluxe Alex Jones Rants As An Indie Folk Song
I'm just gonna leave a link to this video right here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWd6XgBVIcg
24 Arcade Fire Everything Now
But lest we forget, this album sucks butt.
23 Ariel Pink Feels Like Heaven
Yeah, Ariel usually knows what he's doing.
22 Brockhampton GOLD
Brockhampton is an 8-piece hip-hop group from Texas (but also kinda from California), and while most of their their songs are guilty of trying to be too many things all at once (if you can imagine that), this song nails what they're aiming for (whatever the heck that may be).
21 Frank Ocean (ft Jay-Z + Tyler, The Creator) Biking
I rather enjoyed this year of assorted Frank Ocean singles.
20 Kirin J. Callinan (ft Alex Cameron + Molly Lewis + Jimmy Barnes) Big Enough
Here's everybody's favorite part!

19 Oneohtrix Point Never (ft Iggy Pop) The Pure And The Damned
Some day, I swear, we're gonna go to a place where we can do everything we want to and we can pet the crocodiles.
18 Lorde Supercut
Lorde pulled off a few solid pop songs this year; I can attest.
17 The National Day I Die
The National haven't sounded this anthemic in nearly 10 years.
16 Carly Rae Jepsen Cut To The Feeling
This woman is on a freaking roll with these bubbly/80's pop singles!
15 David Bowie No Plan
I don't always dig posthumous music releases, but dang, this Bowie track just kicks you in the feels on so many levels.
14 Mount Kimbie (ft King Krule) Blue Train Lines
I liked that new King Krule album, but I really wish there was a track on there as downright torturous and gut-wrenching as this.
13 Kendrick Lamar The Heart Part 4
This isn't on the DAMN. tracklist, so, duh, it's on this list.
12 Vince Staples Big Fish
Take it easy homie.
11 Alex Cameron Runnin' Outta Luck
Alex Cameron is one of the most fun characters I was introduced to this year; touching influential base with all our favorite corny 80's songwriters.
10 Big Thief Mythological Beauty
This song is some family-made comfort food amid the usually strange world of indie rock.
9 Bruno Mars That's What I Like
This was the only hit from this year where everyone in the car could agree on not changing the radio station, mostly so we could sing together, "SEX BY THE FIRE AT NIGHT!"
8 Charli XCX Boys
Don't judge me, just love me.
7 Mac DeMarco My Old Man
This is the only Mac DeMarco song I've ever cried to, and I think we should take that for what it is.
6 Migos (ft Lil Uzi Vert) Bad & Boujee
All my rap peoples should browse every project produced by Metro Boomin this year, for everything he touched turned to gold, and this dope collaboration brought this song a commendable nationwide popularity that's made it arguably the most culturally significant song of the year.
5 Future Islands Ran
Music video further confirms lead singer Samuel T. Herring is my favorite person of all time.
4 Dirty Projectors Up In Hudson
Behind this song's powerhouse of studio electricity, its New Orleans horns section and realistic storytelling from David Longstreth gives it a fermented taste of post-relationship nostalgia comparable to Paul Simon.
3 LCD Soundsytem American Dream
Hearing someone explain The American Dream has never made so much sense as when James Murphy starts absolutely wailing about it at the climax of this song.
2 Jens Lekman (ft LouLou Lamotte) To Know Your Mission
Being a Jens fan and having been a Mormon missionary, this song means a lot to me.
1 SOPHIE It's Okay To Cry
A song like this is a rarity, where merely listening to it feels like an event.