INTRODUCTION

(no one ever reads this)

2017 was another year where a rock we named “Earth” completed another cycle around a ball of fire we named “the Sun”. Both are floating in a vast expanse of ==N==O==T==H==I==N==G==.

Political garbage happened (and will continue to happen). Social garbage happened (and will continue to happen).

I paid US American Dollars to see the Emoji Movie – so 2017 is the worst year on record, BY FAR.

But, it had its perks. It held a huge amount of musical discoveries – sparked by events like the Big Ears Festival, 24 Hour Drone in Hudson, NY, Le Guess Who? Festival. I had the pleasure of working with some of my favorite artists over the past year on various projects and concerts.

Below I’ve listed one (1) album I connected with the most, ten (10) albums that resonated with me in a variety of ways, and one hundred and two (102) other albums I listened to and enjoyed.

Dig through it, find your next favorite album, have it soundtrack important moments in your life, find me 5 years down the line, punch me in the face, and as I’m rolling on the ground in pain, tell me “I wish that fucking psychedelic pop album didn’t soundtrack the worst years of my life. It was so good and those hell years ruined the album for me.”

If you see album art you like, listen to it. That’s the rule!!!!

And of course – despite my anti-Spotify beliefs – here’s a Spotify playlist you can listen to instead of reading the list.

WOW CLICK FOR SPOTIFY

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Circuit Des Yeux – Reaching For Indigo (Drag City Records)

You can’t stream this album. It’s strongly recommended to purchase and support this amazing artist (as well as all the others below).

PURCHASE

This album has my favorite song of the year, as well – “Black Fly” – which you can listen to below,

TOP 10

Big Brave – Ardor (Southern Lord Records)

Converge – The Dusk In Us (Epitaph)

Deerhoof – Mountain Moves (Joyful Noise Recordings)

Derya Yildirim & Grup Şimşek – Nem Kaldi (Les Disques Bongo Joe)

Flash Trading – The Golden Mile (TAG OUT)

Protomartyr – Relatives in Descent (Domino Records)

Subsonic Eye – Strawberry Feels (Middle Class Cigars)

Sweet Years – Coat Guts (Self-Released)

The National – Sleep Well Beast (4AD)

The Octopus Project – Memory Mirror (Robot High School)

102 OTHER ALBUMS I LIKED

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. – Those Who Came Never Before (Nod & Smile Records)

Actress – AZD (Ninja Tune)

Aldous Harding – Party (4AD)

Alfa Mist – Antiphon (Self-Released)

Algiers – The Underside of Power (Matador)

Aquaserge – Laisse ça être (Almost Musique)

Bargou 08 – Targ (Glitterbeat Records)

Bibio – Phantom Brickworks (Warp Records)

Big Boi – Boomiverse (Epic)

Blanck Mass – World Eater (Sacred Bones)

Boogarins – Lá Vem a Morte (OAR)

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest (Because Music)

Chloe x Halle – The Two Of Us (Parkwood Entertainment)

Colleen – A flame my love, a frequency (Thrill Jockey)

Cornelius – Mellow Waves (Warner)

Couch Slut – Contempt (Gilead Media)

Crvi – Piše nam se dobro (Gezellig Records / Više Manje Zauvijek)

Cuddle Magic – Ashes/Axis (Northern Spy Records)

Cut Copy – Haiku from Zero (Capitol Records)

DANGER – 太鼓 (1789 Records)

Death Grips – Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix) (Self-Released)

Diamanda Galás – All The Way (Intravenal Sound Operations)

Dreamdecay – YÚ (Iron Lung Records)

Elkhorn – The Black River (Debacle Records)

Endon – Through the Mirror (Daymare Recordings)

Fever Ray – Plunge (Rabid Records)

Floating Points – Reflections. Mojave Desert (Pluto)

Freddie Gibbs – You Only Live 2wice (ESGN)

Gas – Narkopop (Kompakt)

Gnod – Just Say No To The Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine (Rocket Recordings)

Half Waif – form/a (Cascine)

Hater – You Tried (PNKSLM Recoridngs)

James Holden & the Animal Spirits – The Animal Spirits (Border Community)

Jane Weaver – Modern Kosmology (Fire Records)

Jay-Z – 4:44 (Roc Nation)

Jessica Moss – Pools Of Light (Constellation Records)

Joni Void – Selfless (Constellation)

Julie’s Haircut – Invocation and Ritual Dance of My Demon Twin (Rocket Recordings)

Kamasi Washington – Harmony of Difference (Young Turks)

Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens (Smalltown Supersound)

Khotin – New Tab (Self Released)

Kid Koala – Music To Draw To : Satellite (Arts & Crafts)

Lamomali – Lamomali (Wagram Music)

Les Filles de Illighadad – Eghass Malan (Sahel Sounds)

Lil B – Black Ken (BasedWorld Records)

Marshmallow Ghosts – The Witch Hat House (Graveface Records)

Melkbelly – Nothing Valley (Wax Nine Records)

Mew – Visuals (PIAS Recordings)

Michelle Blades – Premature Love Songs (Midnight Special Records)

Milk Music – Mystic 100’s (Dom America)

Moon Duo – Occult Architecture, Vol 1 (Sacred Bones)

Moon Duo – Occult Architecture, Vol 2 (Sacred Bones)

Moor Mother x Mental Jewelry – Crime Waves (Don Giovanni Records)

Moor Mother – The Motionless Present (The Vinyl Factory)

Mount Kimbie – Love What Survives (Warp Records)

Msafiri Zawose – Uhamiaji (Soundway Records)

Naomi Punk – Yellow (Captured Tracks)

Nico Niquo – In A Silent Way (Orange Milk Records)

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya – Drool (Sooper Records)

Oiseaux-Tempête ‎– Al-‘An! الآن (And Your Night Is Your Shadow — A Fairy-tale Piece Of Land To Make Our Dreams) (Sub Rosa Records)

Oneohtrix Point Never – Good Time (Official Soundtrack) (Warp Records)

Ostraca – Last (Skeletal Lightning Records)

Palm – Shadow Expert (Carpark Records)

Peak Physique – a couple (Gezellig Records)

Phoenix – Ti Amo (Glassnote Records)

Polo & Pan – Caravelle (Ekleroshock)

Primitive Man – Caustic (Relapse Records)

Ryuichi Sakamoto – async (Milan Records)

Saagara – 2 (Instant Classic Records)

Saltland – A Common Truth (Constellation Records)

Sarah Davachi – All My Circles Run (Students Of Decay Records)

Say Sue Me – Say Sue Me (Damnably)

Secret Shine – There Is Only Now (Saint Marie Records)

Sevdaliza – ISON (Twisted Elegance)

Sleaford Mods – English Tapas (Rough Trade)

Slow Crush – Ease (White Russian Records)

Slowdive – Slowdive (Dead Oceans)

Spoon – Hot Thoughts (Matador Records)

Soulwax – From Deewee (PIAS Recordings)

Sudan Archives – Sudan Archives (Stones Throw Records)

Sundays & Cybele – Chaos & Systems (Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records)

Taffy – Nyctophilia (Club AC30)

The Black Angels – Death Song (Partisan Records)

The Body & Full Of Hell – Ascending A Mountain Of Heavy Light (Thrill Jockey)

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Don’t Get Lost (A Records)

The Bug v. Earth – Concrete Desert (Ninja Tune)

The Comet Is Coming – Death To The Planet (The Leaf Label)

The Como Mamas – Move Upstairs (Daptone)

The Radiation Flowers – Summer Loop (Cardinal Fuzz)

Toàn – Histós Lusis (Eilean Recordings)

Tonstartssbandht – Sorcerer (Mexican Summer)

Various Artists – Is There Another Language? (Gezellig Records)

Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory (Def Jam)

Visible Cloaks – Reassemblage (RVNG Intl Records)

WaqWaq Kingdom – Shinsekai (Jahtari Recordings)

Wiki – No Mountains In Manhattan (XL Recordings)

Wolves in the Throne Room – Thrice Woven (Artemisia Records)

Yazz Ahmed – La Saboteuse (Naim Jazz Records)