Best New Albums of 2017 *

As usual, Aquarium Drunkard manages to put together the best Best of 2017 list I've seen, weaving some of my favorites in amongst some of the best reissues and some of the most interesting sounding releases I've never heard before. This is one of those year end reviews that keeps giving well into the new year ...

Aquarium Drunkard » Aquarium Drunkard :: 2017 Year In Review

 

Mac is sorely missed. I don't think Morgan or Wilson have the same appeal. While I really like March of Progress, none of the other Wilson stuff does much for me. I never cared for the pair of Morgan sung releases, either, but the new one is growing on me after half a dozen spins or so. I can't imagine Threshold topping any of the Mac albums, though. He was a great talent with an enormously magnetic voice. Such a sad loss. Anyone digging Legends of the Shires who hasn't heard Threshold with Mac should also seek out Subsurface, Critical Mass, Hypothetical and Clone. Amazing prog metal with strong melodies, thought-provoking subject matter and real emotional heft - something not always found in the genre.

 

There were a lot of great albums released this year. My favorites in no particular order

The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
Brand New - Science Fiction
Alejandro Escovedo - Burn Something Beautiful
The Dream Syndicate - How Did I Find Myself Here?
All Them Witches - Sleeping Through the War
Chuck Prophet - Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins
Mark Lanegan - Gargoyle
Pere Ubu - 20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo
The Sadies - Northern Passages
Ty Segall - S/T
Flamin' Groovies - Fantastic Plastic

 

What I found unusual according to Damian Wilson was that the band (guessing Groom and West) emailed him telling him that they were going to continue without his involvement despite the fact that Wilson was still committed to the band. Not a nice way to end on terms if you ask me. And apparently, he even recorded vocals for the new album too. Damian is a busy bloke though what with his solo career, Headspace, etc but I still find it strange what happened.

 

Well, it may not be the "best", but it is still worth checking out.

Bill DeMain - "Transatlantic Romantic", which features a sequel to Todd Rundgren's "We Gotta Get You A Woman", called "Leroy Boy" ...

 

Awesome list...dig the inclusion of reissues which to me is essential and often not done. I look for a list that has a few essentials to me and adds a bunch I've never even heard of. This checks that box big time. Thanks.

 

Damian has stated that he expressed a desire to be an equal in the band, but came to the conclusion that Groom and West view Threshold as their band and theirs alone. I'm paraphrasing, but that's the gist of it. Too bad. I don't think a revolving door for singers is good for any band.

 

The Best Record(s) of 2017
hurray for the riff raff – the navigator

The Navigator' is a powerful, Latin influenced record. It feels like a new kind of Americana. One where the past informs the present instead of the present preserving the past.
P'alante !

In alphabetical order; the records I played the most in 2017
aimee mann – mental illness
bash & pop – anything could happen
chicano batman – freedom is free
chuck prophet – bobby fuller died for your sins
dan baird – solow
el goodo – by order of the moose
gold star – big blue
jd mcpherson – undivided heart & soul
jim white – waffles, triangles & jesus
joe henry - thrum
kacy & clayton – the siren’s song
marty stuart - way out west
nicole atkins – goodnight, rhonda lee
phoebe bridgers – stranger in the alps
pugwash – silverlake
son volt – notes of blue
spoon – hot thoughts
the len price 3 – kentish longtails
the sadies – northern passages

In alphabetical order; the records I dug a few tracks
beck – colors
blitzen trapper – wild & reckless
cosmic rough riders – scenery for dreamers
dan auerbach – waiting on a song
father john misty – comedy
fleet foxes – crack up
guided by voices – how do you spell heaven
john moreland – big bad luv
old 97’s – graveyard whistling
valerie june – the order of time

Deserving light of day
dion – lost ’65 sessions - kickin’ child
the move – magnetic waves of sound

 

Just discovered that new Pugwash record. I really like it.

 

Thomas Walsh chose wisely enlisting Jason Falkner to play/record his new record. Conversely, without TW's lovely songs, you have no record.

 

I’m at track 5 on Weather Station’s self titled album. Found it on one of those magazine lists a few posts back. Just checking it out on Spotify. Was about to move onto something else when the vocals came in and had to stay. Lovely!

Was checking a bit backwards in the thread if anyone else put it on their personal list but no.

 

Thanks for that. I've found that AD's taste in music and mine are remarkably similar, so I'll enjoy exploring his list.

 

Benny Greb- Grebfruit 2

Listening to this for the first time. Very interesting album with just drums and vocals. It’s essentially an very good a cappella group with Greb adding more vocals and drums. It closes with an a capella version of Blackbird.
Grebfruit 2, by Benny Greb

 

My final ten for 2017:
1. Nikka Costa - Nikka & Strings Underneath and In Between
2. Roger Waters- Is This The Life We Really Want?
3. St Vincent - Masseduction
4. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
5. Morrissey - Low In High School
6. U2 - Songs of Experience
7. Alison Moyet - Other
8. Beth Ditto - Fake Sugar
9. Blondie - Pollinator
10. Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie - Buckingham & McVie

Just missing out was Robert Plant’s Carry Fire and Björk’s Utopia.

 

All of this "Pugwash" stuff just makes me miss "Jellyfish" and the four-man version of "E.L.O." (Lynne, Tandy, Bevan and Groucutt), even more. "Jellyfish" should re-group, as the world needs their fun and magic, now more than ever and have Thomas Walsh along for the ride, helping with songwriting and as an extra vocalist! Jason Falkner are you listening???

 

U2. Songs Of Experience.
Steve Wilson. To The Bone.
Buckingham McVie.
Roger Waters. Is This The Life You Really Want?
Laura Marling, Semper Femina.

 

Oh man excellent list. Finally a year end list that actually cites some of the records I bought.

 

I got this yesterday to add to my 2017 LP buys:
Otis Redding The Complete Studio Albums 7 LP Box Set and in mono no less.My #1 fav of 2017 now.

 

30th Century Records - artist that would fall inline with what Aquarium Drunkard reviews - has a pretty nice bundle on sale 15 albums for $99

 

Been listening quite a bit to the new Lake Ruth release, Intervention, Displacement & Return. I guess you'd call it an EP, just 8 songs and about 27 minutes. Some of it, I think 3 songs, in collaboration with Listening Center, which is the alias of drummer and electronic musician David Mason. He seems to bring in some of the kosmische sound, especially evident on the very cool Stereolab cover that closes the album, Monstre Sacré. Quite different from the original on Emperor Tomato Ketchup, this version brings a more percussive driven sound. It was also on a Stereolab tribute this year called Stereolab in... Metronomic Underground Versions.

Anyway, just a 24-48K bandcamp download at this point, $6 minimum, but it also got a cassette release for International Cassette Store Day by a French label. No vinyl. Most of the songs have been slowly made available over the past year, but nice to have it all together now. Hope there's a new full-length Lake Ruth album coming next year, that would be nice. Still really like the last one, Actual Entity, kinda satisfies my longing for some new Stereolab and Broadcast, along with those great new records the last couple years from Virginia Wing (the new Virginia Wing/XAM Duo Tomorrow's Gift may be my favorite record of the year at this point)

Monstre Sacré, by Lake Ruth and Listening Center

 

My Best of 2017 is as follows (and in no particular order just yet):

New Releases of 2017
Oneohtrix Point Never “Good Time Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith “The Kid”
Kelela “Take Me Apart”
Kendrick Lamar “DAMN.”
Arca “Arca”
St. Vincent “Masseduction”
Thundercat “Drunk”
Floating Points “Reflections - Mojave Desert”
Circuit Des Yeux “Reaching For Indigo”
Actress “AZD”
Laurel Halo “Dust”
(Sandy) Alex G “Rocket”
Kelly Lee Owens “Kelly Lee Owens”
Four Tet “New Energy”
Mhysa “Fantasii”
SZA “Cntrl”
Karen Gwyer “Rembo”
Chino Amobi “Paradiso”
Klein “Tommy EP”
SADAF “SHELL”
Strange U “#LP4080”
Protomartyr “Relatives in Descent”
Ariel Pink “Dedicated To Bobby Jameson”
John Maus “Screen Memories”
Mount Kimbie “Love What Survives”
Jlin “Dark Energy”
Tyler, The Creator “Flower Boy”
Bjork “Utopia”
Morrissey “Low in High School”
LCD Soundsystem “american dream”
Julian Cope “Drunken Songs”
Beck “Colors”
Children of Alice “Children of Alice”
James Holden and the Animal Spirits “Animal Spirits”
Call Super “Arpo”
Dean Hurley “Anthology Resource Vol 1”
Julia Holter “In the Same Room”
Shabazz Palaces "Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star/Quazarz vs the Jealous Machines" (2 Albums)
Perfume Genius “No Shape”
Vince Staples “Big Fish Theory”
Carla Dal Forno “The Garden” EP
Stormzy "Gang Signs and Prayer"
J Hus "Common Sense"
Run The Jewels “Run The Jewels 3” (released 24th Dec 2016 - too late for last year's list)
David Bowie “No Plan” EP
Actress & London Contemporary Orchestra "Audio Track 5 EP"
Dam Funk "Architecture" EP

Archive Releases of 2017
The Damned "Damned, Damned, Damned" BMG Art of the Album (2017 Remaster)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds "Lovely Creatures - The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds"
Alice Coltrane “World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda”
Kraftwerk “3D: The Catalogue"
Iggy Pop “The Idiot” and "Lust For Life" 2017 MFiT versions
David Bowie “Cracked Actor (Live) [Los Angeles 1974]”
Can “Can - The Singles”
Prince "Purple Rain" Deluxe Remaster (Could have been better sound wise, but great music)
Radiohead "OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017”
David Bowie "A New Career in a New Town (1977-1982)" (Plenty to enjoy despite the flaws)
Slade “Slade Alive” BMG Art of the Album reissue
The Smiths "The Queen is Dead (2017 Master)" (Deluxe Edition)
XTC “The Black Sea (2017 Remaster)”
Tom Waits MFiT/LP Anti Reissues/Remasters
U2 MFIT only reissues/remasters
Beatles "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (2017 Deluxe Edition)

 

There was so much great music this year. My best are:

The National - Sleep Well Beast
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
Julien Baker - Turn out the Lights
Aldous Harding - Party
Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
Fleet Foxes - Crack up
St Vincent - Masseduction
Wolf Parade - cry cry cry
Broken Social Scene - Hug of thunder
Laura Marling - Semper femina

 

And how cool is it to learn that Thomas frequents these boards. So cool indeed!

 

1. Ariel Pink - Dedicated To Bobby Jameson

Key tracks: ‘Dedicated To Bobby Jameson’, ‘Kitchen Witch’, ‘Feels Like Heaven’, ‘Another Weekend’, ’Death Patrol’

2. Alexandra Saviour - Belladonna Of Sadness

Key tracks: ‘Girlie’, ‘Mirage’, ‘Bones’, ‘Mystery Girl’, ‘’Til You’re Mine’

3. Jay-Z - 4:44

Key tracks: ‘4:44’, ’The Story Of O.J.’, ‘Caught Their Eyes’, ‘Family Feud’, ‘Marcy Me’

4. The Orwells - Terrible Human Beings

Key tracks: ‘Fry’, ‘Buddy’, ‘Vacation’, ‘Hippie Soldier’, ‘Double Feature’

5. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana

Key tracks: ‘Billabong Valley’, ‘Sleep Drifter’, ‘Nuclear Fusion’, ‘Anoxia’

6. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Sketches Of Brunswick East

Key tracks: ‘Countdown’, ‘Rolling Stoned’, ‘Tezeta’, ‘Dusk To Dawn On Lygon Street’

7. Jen Cloher - Jen Cloher

Key tracks: ‘Sensory Memory’, ‘Shoegazers’, ‘Analysis Paralysis’, ’Strong Woman’

8. Liam Gallagher - As You Were

Key tracks: ‘Bold’, ‘Paper Crown’, ’Wall Of Glass’, ‘I Never Wanna Be Like You’ (bonus track)

9. Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog

Key tracks: ‘Moonlight On The River’, ’Watching Him Fade Away’, ‘Baby You’re Out’, ‘This Old Dog’

10. Jett Rebel - Super Pop

Key tracks: ‘All The Way’, ‘Sorry (Horses)’, ‘Daydreamin’’, ‘High School Reunion’

11. Pond - The Weather

Key tracks: ‘Paint Me Silver’, ‘A/B’, ‘Colder Than Ice’, ‘Sweep Me Off My Feet’

12. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Who Built The Moon?

Key tracks: ‘If Love Is The Law’, ‘She Taught Me How To Fly’, ‘It’s A Beautiful World’, ‘Holy Mountain’

13. R. Stevie Moore & Jason Falkner - Make It Be*

Key tracks: ‘Sincero Amore’, ‘Another Day Slips Away’, ‘Stamps’, ‘I H8 Ppl’

14. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory

Key tracks: ‘Big Fish’, ‘Crabs In A Bucket’, ’BagBak’, ‘Love Can Be…’

15. Dizzee Rascal - Raskit

Key tracks: ‘Ghost’, ‘Wot U Gonna Do?’, ‘Business Man’, ‘I Ain’t Even Gonna Lie’

16. Queens Of The Stone Age - Villains

Key tracks: ‘The Way You Used To Do’, ‘Head Like A Haunted House’, ‘Hideaway’

17. Snoop Dogg - Neva Left

Key tracks: ‘Lavender [Nightfall Remix]’, ’Toss It’, ‘Go On’

18. The Mysterons - Meandering

Key tracks: ‘Sold My Medicine’, ‘Memento’, ‘Binary Code’

19. Foxygen - Hang

Key tracks: ‘Follow The Leader’, ’Avalon’, ‘Mrs. Adams’

20. The Drums - Abysmal Thoughts

Key tracks: ‘Rich Kids’, ‘Blood Under My Belt’, ‘Under The Ice’

21. Calvin Harris - Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1

Key tracks: ‘Heatstroke’, ‘Slide’, ‘Feels’

22. The Moonlandingz - Interplanetary Class Classics

Key tracks: ‘Sweet Saturn Mine’ (previously released in 2015), ‘The Strangle Of Anna’, ‘Glory Hole’

23. Beach Fossils - Somersault

Key tracks: ‘Tangerine, ’May 1st’, ‘Saint Ivy’

24. Moses Sumney - Aromanticism

Key tracks: ‘Plastic’ (previously released in 2014), ‘Quarrel’, ‘Lonely World’ (previously released in 2016)

25. Alex Lahey - I Love You Like A Brother

Key tracks: ‘Every Day’s The Weekend’, ‘Perth Traumatic Stress Disorder’, ‘Lotto In Reverse’

*released in 2015, but not physical/outside Bandcamp until 2017


EP’s:

1. The Cactus Channel & Sam Cromack - Do It For Nothing
2. Ariel Pink - Non-Sequitur Segues
3. David Bowie - No Plan**
4. Good Boy - Shirk Life
5. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - The French Press
6. Ariel Pink & Weyes Blood - Myths 002 EP
7. The Veils - Swimming With The Crocodiles EP
8. Skepta - Vicious EP
9. Anna Calvi - Live For Burberry
10. Animal Collective - The Painters EP

**originally released in November 2016, included in my end year list for 2016, but not released as EP until 2017, and so good it should be included every year by default


Bubbling under:

Benjamin Booker - Witness
Black Lips - Satan’s graffiti or God’s art? (Vice)
Brockhampton - Saturation II
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest
Chuck Berry - Chuck
Dion Lunadon - Dion Lunadon
Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
Freddie Gibbs - You Only Live 2wice
Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins
Hoops - Routines
The Horrors - V
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Murder Of The Universe
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Polygondwanaland
Mr. Husband - Plaid On Plaid
N.E.R.D - NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES
Nick Hakim - Green Twins
Nits - Angst
Paul Weller - A Kind Revolution
Sheer Mag - Need To Feel Your Love
Skegss - HOLIDAY FOOD
Spoon - Hot Thoughts
St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION
Warhaus - Warhaus
Washed Out - Mister Mellow
Wavves - You’re Welcome


Miscellaneous release of the year: Beastie Boys - BB PB EP

Archives release of the year: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper remix/boxset + Paul McCartney - Flowers In The Dirt boxset/McCartney-MacManus demos

Overlooked in 2016:

Ball Park Music - Every Night The Same Dream
Kedr Livanskiy - January Sun EP
Noemie Wolfs - Hunt You
Outer Limits Recordings - Birds, Bees, Babys, Bacteria (GTVR Edition)

 

It's this:
followed by this: