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.