1. IDLES – Brutalism
Once in a while a band form and completely reaffirm one’s love of music by making the point of making music, earnest and worthwhile. IDLES did just this with their album Brutalism. From the LP’s name, the cover, to the opening scream of “No surrender!” you knew you were in for an absolute treat. IDLES do not take themselves seriously, yet their message is still one of anger, hope and a passion for change. This album is absolute bliss. (Ioan Humphreys)
2. Japanese Breakfast – Soft Sounds From Another Planet
The brilliance Zauner hinted at on Psychopomp has been fully realised on Soft Sounds. This revealing and heartwarming record finds Zauner mastering her craft through the therapeutic experience of making music. The more time you spend with these songs, the more you want to see life through her eyes, even in the hardest of times. Her endearing humanity combined with her gift for songwriting helps make this one of the most remarkable albums of the year. (Jonathan Wright)
3. The Moonlandingz – Interplanetary Class Classics
Initially masquerading as a ‘fictional’ entity, on their debut album, The Moonlandingz proved that they are actually as real a band as you could ever wish for. Aping the B-52s on the likes of ‘The Rabies Are Back’ and channelling both Spiritualized and The Jesus And Mary Chain on the impeccable ‘The Strangle Of Anna’, the delightfully varied Interplanetary Class Classics is both gloriously trashy and intelligently crafted pop nirvana. Perhaps best of all is finale ‘This Cities Undone’ (sic), to which a certain Yoko Ono lends her not inconsiderable vocal talents. Staggeringly good from start to finish. (Loz Etheridge)
4. LCD Soundsystem – American Dream
Many albums reveal more with successive listens. It has to be said that this album may not quite reach the heights of the first two, though those are pretty big landmarks in any music fan’s book. Yet in a year that has also seen a number of other acts producing comeback albums, this stands comfortably alongside them. It’s a successful comeback album – and hopefully will see Murphy stretch himself further on future albums. (Ed Jupp)
5. Perfume Genius – No Shape
Hadreas’ strength as a performer is the ability to draw you into his world. As a lyricist, he expresses his emotions clearly, yet his music is rich and full of mystery. It feels like being intimate with his audience is inevitable. He makes it easy to become attached to him as a musician and a person. Throughout his four albums, you can hear him grow. Just like on, Too Bright, this album is another leap forward, only this time around he hasn’t just outdone himself, he’s outdone everyone else. No Shape is an astonishing record. (Jonathan Wright)
6. Desperate Journalist – Grow Up
Maybe it’s just the rare sensation of having all my sad old ’80s indie fan buttons pushed at the same time, but as the Gothtastic ‘Hollow’ storms out of the traps, sounding like no less a landmark than The Cure’s ‘A Hundred Years’, to be followed by ten more songs of equal brilliance, I feel like I did when I heard Doolittle, Bummed or Isn’t Anything for the first time – in the presence of genuine, tangible, indisputable greatness. (Tim Russell)
7. Counterfeit – Together We are Stronger
If ever there was an album more vital for the times we live in now, this would be the one. This isn’t anger for the sake of being angry, this is frustration at the injustices of the world we know right now; this is the beginning of the fight back to restore things to how they should be, but we, they, whoever can only do it if we’re in it together. Actually, that seems to be a recurring theme throughout the album, with not-so-gentle nods to something personal, or at least potentially personal here and there; if anything, it only adds to the poignancy of the record. (Toni Spencer)
8. Out Lines – Conflats
Out Lines is a collaborative project between acclaimed Scottish songwriter Kathryn Joseph, James Graham of the Twilight Sad and Marcus Mackay each one brings different talents to this gorgeously bruised long player replete with tender instrumentation and vocal interplay. The albums lead track ‘Buried Guns’ highlights each of their individual skills, simmering organs, bruised vocals and brings it together into an enveloping majestic, sighing whole. (Bill Cummings)
9. All Time Low – Last Young Renegade
Last Young Renegade is a classic All Time Low album with their ever enthusiastic energy, infectious guitar licks and catchy choruses. Where it differs though is the use of heavier electronic tones on quite a few of the tracks. (Clare Ballott)
10. Mogwai- Every Country’s Sun (Rock Action)
Every Country’s Sun sees them rejoined by CODY/Rock Action producer Dave Fridmann on an album that sees the new Mogwai embrace the old to quite stunning effect. Rather like New Order’s landmark Low-Life, it’s the sound of a band who’ve had a foot in both camps effortlessly blending the organic with the electronic to create pure magic, and it’s far and away their finest album yet. (Tim Russell)
11. EMA – Exile in the Outer Ring
Erika Michelle Anderson, better known as EMA. Let me tie my colours to the mast immediately, I believe that EMA has been responsible for three of the most intricately personal and affecting albums of recent times and her latest release Exile In The Outer Ring has done little to dispel the notion that she is a rare talent whose light is well and truly hidden under a mountain of bushels.
Engrossing. Mesmeric. Absorbing. EMA should by now, be one of the brightest stars on the planet; a nihilistic version of Lady Gaga with an intelligent agenda and a penchant for showing the world an ugly side to life. (Dean Mason)
12. Everything Everything – A Fever Dream
A Fever Dream has an indie-dance euphoric sheen that utilises layers, silvery percussion, soothing piano and left/right stereo travelling for a contemporary yet adventurous take on Coldplay. The other half of time it’s influenced by the bold rock of Royal Blood, demonstrating Everything Everything’s eclecticism and sponge for modern music.
The album continues Everything Everything praise-worthy wordplay, powerful commentary and quirky mix of modern terminology meets erudite phrases. It’s an end of the summer album alternative for intellectuals who prefer to sit and think about all aspects of contemporary life rather than dance mindlessly to the same old songs about love on a party yacht. (Matt Hobbs)
13. Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator (ATO)
A concept album of sorts, following the exploits of a street kid called Navita, whose journey takes her deeper and deeper into her heritage. She becomes increasingly angered and, consequently, empowered by knowledge of the sickening oppression her foremothers fought so fiercely against.
Along the way, homage is paid to the likes of The Pretenders on ‘Living In The City‘, a cheerful, uptempo number which lies somewhere between Van Morrison‘s ‘Brown Eyed Girl‘ and Stealer’s Wheel‘s ‘Stuck In The Middle With You‘, before the Breeders/Pixies style bassline kicks in on the brilliant ‘Hungry Ghost‘. Every track on The Navigator is 24-carat gold. This isn’t just one the finest albums of 2017, it may even be the greatest release of the entire decade. Simply phenomenal. (Loz Etheridge)
14. Blue Rose Code – The Water of Leith
From beginning to end The Water of Leith is an absolute aural delight. Merging the primary elements of folk and jazz, Ross Wilson then welds this fusion to the identity of his home country, thus creating what is a most distinctive Scottish sound. This is achieved, in part, with a little help from some of his friends and fellow countrymen and women. Singing in her native Gaelic tongue, South Uist’s Kathleen MacInnes adds further authenticity and texture to both ‘Sandaig’ and ‘Passing Places’ as she magnifies the natural beauty of those more remote parts of Western Scotland. Julie Fowlis’s voice dovetails perfectly with Wilson’s on the album’s lead single ‘Love is…’ And the combination of Seonaid Aitken’s sublime string arrangements and Colin Steele and Konrad Wiszniewski’s plangent horns elevate ‘On The Shore’ to the status of the album’s stand-out track on a record that is replete with stand-out tracks. ( Simon Godley)
15. Protomartyr – Relatives In Descent
16. OMD – The Punishment of Luxury
I’ve been in a coma for the last couple of years. You wake me up and tell me that Leicester City won the 2016 Premiership, that Donald Trump is president of the US, and that Jeremy Corbyn blew the roof off Glastonbury 2017. I laugh. Then you tell me that <strong>OMD</strong> have made arguably the best album of 2017. I conclude that you have lost your fucking mind, and alert the relevant authorities.
The joke of course is on me, because OMD <em>have</em> indeed made one of the finest albums of the year. No shit. As returns to form go, this is like Roger Federer winning this year’s Wimbledon. No, forget that – it’s like <em>John McEnroe or Bjorn Borg</em> winning this year’s Wimbledon. It’s brilliant. It’s the first album since 1981’s multi-million selling Architecture & Morality on which they’ve succeeded in perfectly balancing the creative tension between their experimental leanings and their ear for a pop tune to create a cohesive whole. Really, it’s fantastic. (Tim Russell)
17. Arcade Fire – Everything Now
Everything now sees’s Arcade Fire’s venture further recent chapter into the grooves of dance rock and embrace of eclecticism that started with the James Murphy produced Reflektor and has now moved on with the helping hand of Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter.
There’s the reggae-meets-Daft Punk’s ‘Robot Rock’ on ‘Chemistry’, the neon-lit disco of Régine Chassange-lead ‘Electric Blue’, odd funk-rap of ‘Signs of Life’ and mellow soul of ‘Good God Damn’, one of many tracks where Will Butler attempts to alter his voice to fit the mood but is perhaps best to sticking to his normal tone.
The choral baroque-pop of their beginnings may be long gone but the character of Arcade Fire: ambition, epic power and an empathetic consideration for society are still present. (Matt Hobbs)
18. The Cactus Blossoms – You’re Dreaming
Pop your vinyl copy of You’re Dreaming onto the turntable, put your feet up and just allow yourself to be effortlessly transported back in time. With its gorgeous harmonies, beautiful country melodies, simple arrangements, gentle reverb and a crisp JD McPherson production, the debut offering from the Minneapolis sibling duo of Jack Torrey and Page Burkum will carry you back into the early 60s and a far more innocent age. Despite its nostalgic air, You’re Dreaming still sounds refreshingly new. (Simon Godley)
19. Craig Finn – We all Want The Same Things
<strong>Craig Finn</strong>’s solo career seems to me to be following a similar path as his exquisite band, <strong>The Hold Steady</strong>. Personally, I felt that the first four albums by the Brooklyn collective improved with each subsequent release, reaching its absolute peak with <em>Stay Positive</em> (though they continued to put out some fine long players even after that). Impressive though Finn’s first two albums were, he appears to be following suit, for <em>We All Want The Same Things</em> is his best effort yet and by some distance.
As with all of Craig Finn’s output, there is a whole sweet shop full of lyrical candy from which to choose, there being no better wordsmith alive right now. Take the start of <em>’Rescue Blues</em>’ as a case in point – “<em>She’s got that shortness of breath again. Worst case scenarios – “what if the good guy finally dies? / I sit next to her, hold her hand and reassure, remind her it’s a TV show, the heroes somehow always end up fine</em> or the sheer rock and roll assault of ‘<em>Tracking Shots</em>’, where “<em>The righteous path is hard to walk; the skeletons make sexy talk</em>” and there’s little doubt, even before the closing strains of the affectionate finale of ‘<em>Be Honest</em>’, that the guy has lost none of his musical mojo and long may he hold us under his spell. Simply fantastic. (Loz Etheridge)
20. Bjork – Utopia(One Little Indian)
<em>Utopia</em> is also an album where Björk tries to regain the simple idea of being in love – described as a type of Utopia in an interview – by analysing modern dating with ‘<em>Courtship’,</em> ‘<em>Creature Features’, ‘Arisen My Senses'</em> and<em> ‘Blissing Me’.</em> She comments on music nerds who fall in love due to similar music tastes and the shallow nature of <strong>Tinder</strong> screen-swiping: “These statistics of my mind. Shuffling your features. Assembling a man. Googling love.”
By including the angry track <strong>'<em>Sue Me'</em></strong> about an going custody battle with ex<strong> Matthew Barney</strong> for their daughter Isadora on the album it demonstrates not only Björk’s continued fearlessness to express her darkest problems on record but also shows that she still has baggage to get through before she can reach and escape to her desired utopia. She’s not quite there yet but at the end of the album she shows her belief: “Imagine a future and be in it, Feel this incredible nuture, soak in.”(Matt Hobbs)
21. Thundercat – Drunk (Brainfeeder)
The heady genre fusions of collaborator Flying Lotus are all over <em>Drunk</em>, especially when it comes to ‘<em>Uh Uh’</em>, an astonishing instrumental thrill-ride that consolidates everything that’s good about Thundercat’s music. ‘<em>Bus In These Streets’</em> is a sparkling upbeat pop track, but there’s also some breathing room too, with both slow jams ‘<em>Lava Lamp’</em> and ‘<em>Drink Dat’</em> turning the lights down low.
The genre-bending would be mesmerising enough, but most of the tracks are also punctuated with added sound effects and layers upon layers of neon-coloured retro electronica that’s thoroughly charming. The short skit ‘<em>Jameel’s Space Ride’</em> is jam-packed with cheesy but utterly gleeful synth tones, while ‘<em>Show You The Way’</em> riffs on vintage R&B alongside <strong>Kenny Loggins</strong> and <strong>The Doobie Brothers’ Michael McDonald</strong>.It’s sozzled, it’s high as a kite and sometimes it’s just downright psychotic. But it’s because of the maniacal shifts in tone, its massive melting pot of sounds and Thundercat’s hysterical (sometimes in more ways than one) yet honest ramblings that <em>Drunk</em> will probably go down as his magnum opus. It’s an intoxicating ‘<em>Rabbot Ho’</em> you’ll want to keep diving down again and again. (Eugnie Johnson)
22. Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool (Dirty Hit Records)
Wolf Alice founder Ellie Rowsell and her wolves Joff Oddie, Theo Ellis and Joel Amey have always been civilised and have never befriended a vampire, like in Carter’s tale, their long anticipated debut album My Love Is Cool demonstrates that they’ve gone through a similar process of freedom, rebellion and a refusal to be pigeon-holed.
Single ‘Giant Peach’ that may be taken from Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, or perhaps a British version of New York’s monicker The Big Apple, the ground-breaking ‘Silk’ and ‘Your Loves Whore’ effectively explores one of their new attributes; long instrumental introductions that show an attention to detail. ‘Giant Peach’ launches with in-your-face feedback and anxious picking before an assertive alternative rock presence makes its engaging, energetic, overwhelming and attention-seeking presence felt. One of lead vocalist Ellie Rowsell’s most memorable vocal traits is her ability to alternate the character of her voice to suit the mood of the song; here she adopts Shirley Manson‘s calm-before-the-storm style and syllabic suspense before blasting into metal screaming in the Royal-Blood-esque climax. If you thought she was angry on The Simpsons-themed ‘Mona Lisa Smile’ from their Creature Songs EP, then this is Rowsell at her most furious. (Matt Hobbs)
23. Taylor Swift
24. Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens
Kelly Lee Owens crafts evocative soundscapes with subtle beats and deft handed use of layered synths and samples, each one contains an intriguing sense of space like small caverns being carved into your subconsciousness and your soul, modern, innovative and bold. Sure the ghosts of the early trip hop of Massive Attack or the more bass heavy trembles of Grimes may swirl through these tracks, but its Owens’ imagination and affecting voice that meditates and explores inner depths, that sets this album apart as rather special. Haunting, hypnotic and endlessly exciting, it’s one of this year’s most affecting sleeper hits. (Bill Cummings)
25. Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination
Holiday Destination. ‘Place Like This’, ‘2016’ and the record’s title track all reflect the stark and uncomfortable political themes that percolate right through her third full-length offering. Whilst the deepening refugee crisis and the highly chequered global response to this may be the catalyst to Holiday Destination’s creation, Shah’s principal message is that of seeking to humanise all that dehumanises. Through the vehicle of her words and music, she seeks to develop empathy and increase a greater understanding of difference. She is still at heart the Geordie girl-next-door bringing to us a message of love and hope with what is some of the most beautiful and powerful music that is around today. (Simon Godley)
26. Meursault- I Will Kill Again(Song, By Toad)
In 2014, Neil Pennycook announced that he was retiring Meursault and bowed out with a final performance at Edinburgh Queen’s Hall. Despite releasing a cassette under the name Supermoon, towards the end of last year a six-track EP Simple Is Good heralded the return of the Meursault name – and now the release of the fourth album, I Will Kill Again.
Like the best albums, this is one that reveals itself upon repeated listens, even some of the effects that can seem a little irritating on first hearing make more sense when heard more frequently within the wider context of the record. There is no justice in this world (frequent perusal of the media will confirm this) but Meursault have made their most accessible album yet, without compromising what made them so special in the first place. It would be great to think that not only will this make end of year lists, but take them to the next level commercially. (Ed Jupp)
27. Phoebe Bridgers – Stranger in the Alps
Teaming up with Mike Mogis the man who worked with Conor Oberst on some of the best Bright Eyes records, Bridges has crafted one of the most emotive, affecting and well realised albums of 2017. Whether intimate or this shifting this is song writing with a real personal, poetic and heartfelt touch. The gorgeous personal metaphors of ‘Motion Sickness’ is matched by the outstanding ‘ Funeral’ a haunting slice of majestic melancholia that’s up there with Mazzy Star. Phoebe’s crumpled tone and cutting poetic couplets have the ability to stop you in your tracks. She says her music is what comes when she is at her most honest, without specific intention, and she aims to be in her songs the person she is in the world. It’s the sheer quality of her singular voice that is utterly engrossing. (Bill Cummings)
28. Sl0tface- Try Not To Freak Out
Simply imagine every sweaty four piece you’ve ever seen in a basement toilet and then multiply that by <strong>Less Than Jake</strong> with a Scandinavian accent and you’ll see where Sløtface are heading. If ‘<em>Sunbleached</em>’ doesn’t have you reaching for your Hoseasons holiday catalogue then I advise you to check your pulse. It’s the perfect bedrock to a swathe of TV montages and sporting triumphs.
OK, let’s all be adult about Sløtface. Many of us have been here before. We have seen their likes a thousand times before, just different names with different accents and occasionally wilder haircuts than their predecessors. There are likely to be a legion of below-the-line keyboard warriors telling me how little I know and that <em>Try Not To Freak Out</em> is a rip off from <insert name of favourite 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s act> but frankly I don’t give a monkey’s chuff, this isn’t why we fought the punk wars. That Sløtface exist should be enough for us all, we need energetic shouty young people to form bands, create catchy riffs and remind us all that we were all young once. <em>Try Not To Freak</em> is no masterpiece but it’s <em>their</em> masterpiece and quite frankly that should be sufficient for us all. (Dean Mason)
29. Stormzy – Gang, Signs & Prayer
This is an album with different styles within. If you thought it was going to be all anger, the two-part ‘<em>Blinded by your Grace</em>’ is Gospel meets soul in the style of a Motown legend like <strong>Stevie Wonder </strong>or <strong>Marvin Gaye</strong>. While American artists have often discussed God in their lyrics, it’s been less common here, seemingly sitting uncomfortably with British audiences. But Gang Signs and Prayer is truly an apt name, and it seems to work better than when <strong>Prince</strong> used to tell his audience that ‘<em>God loves all of us</em>’. It seems genuine and thankful, rather than preachy.Clocking in at just under an hour, it’s a long album and as with many, there’s a lot to take in on just one listen that shows this needs to be listened to carefully and repeatedly. It can seem a sprawl – but one worth exploring.
Michael Omari – as he’s known to his Mum – may be only twenty three but there’s vision within here that hints at further greatness. He told the BBC that he used to work in quality assurance on an oil refinery – but that it wasn’t for him. That industry’s loss is our gain. He’s already won MOBOs – but the strength of this young man’s work is likely to see him add far more to his mantelpiece over the next twelve months. (Ed Jupp)
30. Forest Swords – Compassion (Ninja Tune)
In a year when it seemed as if compassion was often lacking, the second album by producer Matthew Barnes – better known as Forest Swords – went on a mission to search for kindness and empathy. Building further on the heady mix of organic elements and glitch-ridden electronica that he introduced on his self-titled debut, Barnes used clipped and rearranged vocal samples to create his own, universal language. Through it all, Compassion barely speaks a single word, yet manages to say volumes about the human condition. Cinematic and atmospheric, it breaks down borders when the world seems intent on building them. (Eugenie Johnson)
31. The LaFontaines – Common Problem
Common Problem is a real mixed bag of sounds and influences, with every track in contrast to its predecessor. The LaFontaines are still very much a rock band, but there’s more of an electronic twist to things with this new album. They always put on a brilliant show, and it’ll be interesting to see how they manage to play the album in a live setting. Whatever they do, you can bet they’ll pull out all of the stops, just like they have on Common Problem. (Toni Spencer)
32. Goldfrapp – Silver Eye
Goldfrapp conjure up a dream-like quality that links these songs and makes Silver Eye a very well-rounded listen. Beautifully chilled lullabies dominate the rest of the album. The stunning, ‘Faux Suede Drifter’ is awash with warm, hazy synths that provide a stillness and calming ambience that were found on some of their best ballads (‘Black Cherry’, ‘Time Out From The World’, ‘Forever’, ‘Let It Take You’). Alison’s sensual vocal glides perfectly around the lush melody. ‘Moon In Your Mouth’ and ‘Beast That Never Was’ are equally gorgeous and haunting. The way that Alison and Will slowly build the songs, using hushed velvety tones and adding subtle layers, is one of the things that makes their partnership special.
Goldfrapp are a band that know how to play to their strengths without ever sounding like they’re going through the motions. This is another beautifully-produced record where initially slight songs eventually grip you. Silver Eye keeps their reputation firmly intact as one of the best and most reliable groups around. (Jonathan Wright)
33. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit – The Nashville Sound
As with all Isbell albums, there are instant classics and slow burning loiterers. Most immediate of the bunch is probably the utterly beguiling ‘If We Were Vampires‘, which does pretty much what it says with some disarmingly beautiful prose – “If we were vampires and death was a joke, We’d go out on the sidewalk and smoke / And laugh at all the lovers and their plans, I wouldn’t feel the need to hold your hand.”
For the pick of the “grower” tracks, read ‘Anxiety‘, which doesn’t exactly hijack your earlobes upon first listen, but subsequent plays reveal a rather deep brooding beast of a tune which laments “Why am I never where I’m supposed to be? Even with my lover sleeping close to me, I’m wide awake and I’m in pain.” Truly dark stuff, despite the assertion in my recent interview with bass player Jimbo Hart that The Nashville Sound is Jason at his happiest!
Once again, we laugh, we cry, our hearts are warmed and our minds transported, sometimes to a better world, and other times to places altogether bleaker. Regardless of which destination we arrive at, The Nashville Sound is the work of a classic artist in one of the most prolonged purple patches in any musician’s career. Truly spellbinding.
34. Andrew Combs – Canyons of my Mind
Canyons of my Mind, the second full-length album from the Nashville country troubadour Andrew Combs, is the sound of a man who may well have found a much greater sense of personal stability and contentment – one in which his recent marriage is key – but who still recalls earlier heartbreak and continues to finds himself troubled by the wider world that surrounds him. This strange individual dichotomy is surely the catalyst for what is his most powerful collection of songs yet. These are songs imbued with maturity, integrity and huge responsibility, yet also remain riddled with apprehension for an uncertain future and a burning desire to see far greater social improvements. (Simon Godley)
35. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Damage and Joy
Of the recent returns perhaps the first album in nearly twenty yesrs from the Jesus and mary chain is most unlikely, but also the most redemptive.Falling to pieces after the ‘divided’ sessions for their last studio album Munki in 1998. Jim and William Reid have always had a fractuos relationship throughout their career, tales of fisticuffs, harsh words and no words exhanged between the pair were lrgendary and make the Gallaghers rucks look like Barry and Chuckle(although they do a good job of this themselves).It was this burning tension at the heart of their songwriting partnership that set the touch paper on their formidable brand of shadowy noise that was as influnced by bands like and as they were Spector-esque 60s beat pop.On the precipice of a roller coaster rhythms Jom Rieds vicals equal parts snarling all or nothing nihilism menace juxtaposed Nd lip curling melodies inspired almost romantic yet ultimately doomed melodies underscored by William’s scowling guitats, its this that made the Mary Chain a formiable prospect throught the 80s and early 90s.Damage and Joy balances reaffirmations of the JAMC manifesto alongside tracks garnished with guest vocalist, a welcome return.
36. Siobhan Wilson – There Are No Saints
<strong>Siohan Wilson</strong> produces the kind of heart-on-sleeve stuff that will see her performing on successively larger stages over the next few years. Songs like ‘<em>Disaster and Grace</em>’ offer simmering hymnals to both the former and the latter, attempting a discourse at what might be found at the intersection of the two. Because what is grace, if not the ability to navigate and refashion one’s own disasters in a more elegant form? ‘<em>Fake it till you make it</em>’ is the popular expression, though I’m no longer convinced there’s much distance between those two either. And if we’re all faking it – putting on our best smiles and acting like grown-ups till the day we finally die of embarrassment – we can at least aspire to the transformative grace of Siobhan Wilson.(Matthew Neale)
37. Run The Jewels – RJ3
The third installment of RTJ is witty, cutting and brutal. Crushing futiristic production, cutting vocal interplay takes on subjects as
38. Nadia Reid
39. Jordan Ireland and The Purple Orchestra
Jordan Ireland with Purple Orchestra is a musical fever dream, nine hazy, gossamer-delicate songs seemingly made as the soundtrack to one of Watteau’s Fêtes galantes or some other kind of imaginary, or in this case hallucinatory, sylvan idyll. His label’s own description of “deep, considered cacophony” is perfect; the music sounds like some extended pastoral jam session from which motifs and melodies occasionally, shyly emerge, like woodland creatures peering out of their holes, and in which instruments and sounds – piano, violin, harp, dulcimer, flute, birdsong, disembodied voices – jostle ever so gently to be heard.(Tim Russell)
40. KOYO – KOYO
Every once in a while something gets passed in your direction that changes the course of everything. KOYO, the debut album from KOYO, is that something.
As anyone’s album anywhere in their career, this would be special but as a debut it’s pretty mind-blowing. So far, they have built their young career on their live power. Wherever they are on the setlist, no one will be able to match them. KOYO adds another dimension. It has plenty of surprises and reveals a vulnerability that is kept shielded on stage.
KOYO have the wizardry to control and guide your emotions and, as such, this album is utterly immersive. As to be expected, there is plenty of technical complexity to satisfy those muso enough to understand how it is all put together. On the surface, the subject matter is taken from everyday life. The last single ‘Strange Bird’, indeed, seems to be about a strange bird but like Blake, KOYO transform the mundane into something transcendental. They alter dimensions by layering electric guitars with acoustic guitars and then keyboards and effects. There are perhaps four lines in the lyrics of this song and yet the tingle in the air is tangible.(Helen Angell)
41. Deerhoof – Mountain Moves
Deerhoof have – perhaps like Bjork – managed to combine an interest in the avant-garde and experimentalism with understanding pop music and the song. Maybe not in the way that manufactured pop puppets understand it – but that’s their loss, not ours or Deerhoof’s. The first track to be unveiled from the album, back in June, was ‘I Will Spite Survive (a track of the day here at God Is In The TV). It stands as one of the best tracks released this year – and gave an excellent insight into what the album might actually sound like. Featuring vocals from Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, the release of the track (not for the last time) was accompanied by a strongly-worded statement in which the band said: ‘In this world of tyrants and CEOs seemingly hellbent on achieving the termination of our species, perhaps the most rebellious thing we could do is not die.’
That statement sums up the album in a nutshell. Yes, Deerhoof are -understandably – concerned about the state of the world as it is in 2017. But they’re encouraging us not to go down without a fight. For an album born out of such anger, this is not a hard listen nor a depressing experience. Given that the collaborations on this album, mixed with some covers (more about those later), it’s a record that in lesser hands could have ended up a well-intentioned but ultimately disappointing aural mess. Instead of which, over the course of three-quarters of an hour (quality not quantity, boys and girls), it’s like walking into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory in terms of listenable treats.
42. Sevdaliza – Hubris
43. Manchester Orchestra -Simple Maths
>The Silence’, an absolutely stunning slice of indie-rock that on a level playing field would top all the Track of the Year lists this year. The vocal experimenting, layering of melodies, depth of compositions and dimensional approach to recording (whatever that is, Catherine Marks and John Congleton both worked behind the scenes so it was always going to be a ‘sonic’ album) throughout ABMTTS should propel them to National type adoration while retaining their War On Drugs relevance and credibility but on ‘The Silence’ it’s pushed to its very limits. The band’s acceptance of natural reverb as a literal reflection of the music is directly and specifically embodied in the lyrics (“there is nothing you keep, there is only a reflection”) as the song simultaneously crashes and sails to its impossible finale. Absolutely class.(Steve Spithray)
44. Baxter Dury – It’s a Pleasure
45. Gnod – Just Say No To The Pyscho Right Wing Capitalist Death Machine
Based in Salford, Greater Manchester, Gnod have established themselves over the last decade as a force to be reckoned with. Incorporating krautrock, noise, punk and other influences, their rotating line-up consistently makes for a breath of fresh air. Brexit, Trump and right-wing populism have ignited something in art. Potent politicised music is alive and well no matter how many miserable ageing punks and hipster think-pieces try to tell you otherwise. How is it possible for artists to be politically apathetic in times like these? The messages behind Just Say No To The Psycho Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine hardly need explaining. It’s all in the title. Five songs spread across a vast, stimulating 40 minutes, this is an unmistakably flawless Gnod record.(Madeleine Jones)
46. Nordic Giants – Amplify Human Vibration
For once, a record where slipping in the adjective ‘cinematic’ is fully meritted. Amplify Human Vibration by Nordic Giants is a stupendous record and really cannot be described any other way. Utterly beautiful, expansive, foreboding and deeply impressive. Sliding into the dark winter ahead, it really is the perfect soundtrack. With time running out, it’s very hard to imagine 2017 producing a better effort than this hauntingly complete and epic album. In fact, it’s difficult to think of a record in recent memory that surpasses this offering. It’s that good.
(Vosne)
47.Priests
strong>Priests are a four-piece punk band from Washington D.C. known for their high-energy varied sound and intellectual lyricism. ‘Nothing Feels Natural’, the title track from their debut album is a far cry from the politically-charged anthems on 2014’s Bodies and Control and Money and Power EP. It’s a slow, charming tune about being “depressed and frustrated.”
The band has been releasing music since 2012 and drawn more and more attention from the international punk community ever since. As a far-right President takes office in the band’s hometown, the confrontational Priests have only become more relevant.
48. LIFE- Popular Music
49. Demi Lovato – Tell Me You Love Me
50. We Three And The Death RatRat
Anyone in search of one of the great modern songwriters need look no far than guitarist Jon Bennett, who composed all the tracks here and deserves the ultimate respect, for this is an album you’ll want to listen to all the way through every time you spin it. As an added bonus for movie buffs, each song is punctuated by a snippet from a well known film. A real Aladdin’s Cave for film lovers, if you will.
Bookended by two former Tracks Of The Day right here on God Is In The TV, We Three And The Death Rattle‘s second album was always likely to make an immediate impact, and sure as you like, Entrances And Exits is a right little belter.(Loz Etheridge)
