Sunday, 31 December 2017

Best music of 2017


In 2017, the girlf and I have reconciled with the strong likelihood that I love music more than her. Having debated the point for almost three years, I think we’ve finally come to accept it. Then again, “first the worst”... goodness knows what my third love would be, with a hairy chest. Nevertheless, 2017 is the year I stopped buying CDs. My favourites, and smaller artists I feel an urge to support, I still did, but not in general nor particularly to check out new stuff. So vinyls and Spotify it has been, the first world double edged sword of the latter being saving money vs the “too many boxsets” style stress of listening to twice as much new music (over 170 new albums streamed vs the last few years’ c. 80-90 purchased CDs) and not being able to give it little of it more than a cursory spin or two. I have still managed to arbitrarily whittle it down to a top few (several), and in trying to come up with unifying themes I would say two things. One is that there has perhaps been a sense of return, in a few forms:

  • Bands who had been fully away for several or more years returning and releasing new material – LCD Soundsystem, Slowdive, Quicksand, Sikth
  • Bands who haven’t split up or gone on hiatus or anything but still haven’t released anything in a while or have branched out on other things instead. For example we’ve had the first Converge record in 5 years, Iron and Wine has returned to his more stripped back sound last seen on 2011’s Kiss Each Other Clean.
  • Artists who have returned to form – Bjork’s Utopia a much more interesting and less subdued affair than 2015’s Vulnicura, Mogwai’s Every Country’s Sun combining both consistency and originality, the last two having displayed only one or the other, Christian Scott’s The Emancipation Procrastination (the third in his jazz centennial trilogy, and more on it below) being his best since 2012’s self-titled double opus.

A more personal theme is that despite being old and past it, I’ve found myself more impressed with a) what several solo electronic producers are doing, and b) artists I’ve heard of but never given much time to before, than I have with what I would have expected to, including a number of good old reliables. I think that’s due to the same old chestnuts of hype and expectations ruining a lot for me. So while a lot of what has stood out for me is personally a bit left-field, most of it probably isn’t for most people.

I get asked quite a lot how I get to hear about new music so much. I suppose there’s a few things going on here:

  • I don’t use Apple’s Genius function or Spotify’s “if you like” recommendations hardly at all
  • Metacritic’s upcoming release schedule, combined with a Wikipedia search of unfamiliar but intriguing band names
  • Facebook keeps me updated both on the new material of my already “liked” artists, and friends’ recommendations. I made a point of going through the entire list of an old uni’ friend’s in January, and based on that little bit of research I would declare that both Katatonia’s The Fall of Hearts and RY X ‘s Dawn were missing from my 2016 list
  • I’m also not above a browse of such sites as spin.com or rolling stone, who often helpfully rank new music and categorise it by genre

It’s worth noting that 2017 saw a good handful of great records from what one might call tier B pop ladies (if, say, Beyonce and Taylor Swift are tier A) – Lorde’s Melodrama and St Vincent’s MASSEDUCTION are both excellent, and Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life hits a number of high spots (“Love”, the title track with The Wkend) among the filler

But anyway, without further ado, here we are then, ten of my favourite records of 2017

The Black Dahlia Murder – Nightbringers

Well, here’s an example of a band that I’ve had on my radar for years but not given some time to until now. Extreme but extremely listenable and, dare I venture, even catchy (both of which, whether relevant or not, are not things I’d say about Converge’s The Dusk In Us, which I appreciate as much as the critics do but I don’t enjoy it all that much – it’s more consistent overall than 2012’s All We Love We Leave Behind but without that record’s high points, although is does continue Converge’s recent songwriting formula of ending a song by grinding it to a halt and repeatedly chanting the song’s title a few times)

Check out: Widowmaker, Matriarch

There were actually a plethora of great metal (in its various guises) albums in 2017, including Paradise Lost’s Medusa, Pallbearer’s Heartless, Wear Your Wounds’ (funnily enough, Jacob Bannon from Converge) WYW, All Pigs Must Die’s (again, featuring members of Converge) Hostage Animal, Amenra’s Mass VI, Cannibal Corpse’s Red Before Black, Code Orange’s Forever, Employed To Serve’s The Warmth of a Dying Sun, Elder’s Reflections of a Floating World, Mastodon’s Emperor of Sand, Mutoid Man’s (again, a Converge member) War Moans. While I’m here, I might as well quickly mention Stone Sour’s Hydrograd as further evidence of this band’s status as the Foo Fighters of metal – solid and dependable and decent but not a great deal more than that. And Sikth’s full LP return, The Future in Whose Eyes?, was solid without being mind-blowing – as an overall body of work I admit to preferring 2015’s EP Opacities.



Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah – The Emancipation Procrastination

This fine gentleman trumpet player released three records in 2017, as parts of a trilogy celebrating the centennial of recorded jazz. He released the first, Ruler Rebel, back in March, then the second, Diaspora, in June. I was unable to find any sort of theme, purpose, or coherence in either of these, and they struck me almost as collections of b-sides and remixes. The third in the trilogy, The Emancipation Procrastination, is, on the other hand, where it all comes together again for me. It’s a proper length for a start and features a majority of numbers without titles we’ve seen before, it contains a couple of lengthier tracks that give everyone a real chance to stretch out, and it has a lovely cover of another Thom Yorke track, this time Radiohead’s Videotape (with a previous effort being a version of Yorke’s solo track The Eraser on the 2010 record Yesterday You Said Tomorrow). The album is my favourite of Scott’s since his self-titled 2012 magnum opus, and in fact the only jazz record in my 2017 top ten.

Check out: Videotape, New Heroes

Which isn’t to say there weren’t plenty of decent jazz releases over 2017, especially in the 50th year since the death of tenor saxophone legend John Coltrane. Wonderful records celebrating ‘Trane include Tommy Smith’s Embodying the Light and Denys Baptiste’s The Late Trane, while Dayna Stephens’ Gratitude, Binker and Moses’ Journey to the Mountain of Forever, and Kamasi Washington’s Harmony of Difference (admittedly only an EP) are three more fine examples of saxophone-led jazz in 2017. In terms of “straight ahead” jazz played extremely well, look no further than the New York Standards’ Quartet’s Sleight of Hand. Lots of lovely vocal-led jazz of 2017 includes such cuts as Diana Krall’s Turn up the Quiet, Zara McFarlane’s Arise, Cecile McLorin Savant’s Dreams and Daggers, the wonderfully named Jazzmeia Horn’s A Social Call, and Gregory Porter’s sublime tribute Nat “King” Cole & Me. Norwegian Helge Lien was certainly one of the jazz pianists of the year, delivering not only his own trio’s Guzuguzu, but collaborating with violinist Adam Baldych on Brothers. Jamie Saft too with his Iggy Pop (no less) featuring Loneliness Road, as well as Christian Sands' Reach, and Phronesis’ orchestra-accompanied epic opus The Behemoth. Finally, a solid effort from drummer Mark Guilliana and his quartet, in his home-town named Jersey, and a nice return to form for once-again-a-four-piece Portico Quartet with their Art in the Age of Automation.  Oh, and Songhoy Blues’ Resistance is fabulous.



The Flashbulb – Piety of Ashes

My favourite of the several excellent releases of primarily electronic music from solo producers, and the first of a few on this list. Courtesy of the generous and prolific Benn Jordan, I, unlike the majority of professional critics, preferred this album a whole bunch more than Bjork’s mate Arca’s eponymous work. I find it inventive, beautiful, and beguiling. Magical.

Check out: any of the tracks that begin with the letter P (Porchfire, Precipice, Prism), Cycles, Hypothesis

Other notable records in what I’ve decided to simplistically lump in all together as one genre include those listed below, Vessels’ The Great Distraction, the forementioned Arca’s Arca, Fever Ray’s Plunge, each half of Fuck Buttons members solo releases – Blanck Mass’s World Eater and Andrew Huang’s Realisationship, Eureka the Butcher’s !Eureka!, Pertubator’s New Model, Bing & Ruth’s No Home of the Mind, and Teen Daze’s Themes for a New Earth (I was less keen on its companion piece Themes for Dying Earth).  



Four Tet – New Energy

My second favourite of the several excellent releases of primarily electronic music from solo producers, this time courtesy of Mr Kieran Hebden. Admittedly less experimental and more infectious than his last few records, I found this one to be an incredibly lovely stand-out in the generally consistent and high quality Four Tet catalogue.

Check out: Lush, Two Thousand and Seventeen



Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – Modern Ruin

I never got into Gallows all that much, but I checked this out on the recommendation of a senior-but-friendly lawyer ex-colleague who also loves Queens of the Stone Age, and I loved it. It’s punk I suppose, but Mr Carter proves himself a charismatic and versatile singer.

Check out: Lullaby, Snake Eyes



Jlin – Black Origami

Another solo electronic work, this time from Indiana producer Jerrilynn Patton, this one does feature highly among professional critical opinion. Rightly so, I’d say – categorised under “footwork” (a subgenre which I take to mean has fast tricky bits) and IDM (Intelligent Dance Music, which I take to mean can be off-kilter and somewhat less than straightforward), it’s interesting but also rewarding.

Check out: Black Origami, Kyanite



LCD Soundsystem – American Dream

While another heavily-electronic work featuring in my top ten, this time there’s human-played rock too, and it’s a triumphant to return for James Murphy’s punky/rocky/dancy/synthy troupe, which last released a record in 2010.

Check out: how do you sleep?, call the police, emotional haircut



Bonobo – Migration

Again a producer with lots of synths and electronic things happening, and again a feature of my top ten this year. This one on the other hand, is an exception to my theme of finding the work of those with whom I am less familiar more engaging. Producer and multi-instrumentalist Simon Green’s majestic Bonobo project continues to satisfy, but he keeps it all fresh with new collaborations and features.

Check out: Outlier, Second Sun, Surface



Quicksand – Interiors

Back to a few folks in a room with some instruments with this one. If The Black Dahlia Murder is metal and I lumped in all the bands I mentioned in with that, then this one is post-hardcore and I’m going to mention a whole load more. I have almost certainly done this wrong e.g. Converge should probably be here rather than in the “other good metal albums” label, but genre categorisations and comparisons are all just simplifications anyway (really there are just two types of music – good and bad, as I believe Duke Ellington once said, and which quote I have inscribed on my one of my iPods). Anyhow, Quicksand are a post-hardcore band from New York, New York who formed in 1990 and released their second album on 1995. I hadn’t come across them until their bassist, Sergio Vega, joined Deftones in 2009, and I hadn’t listened to them until they reformed and released a new album, their third, in 2017. It’s another great return, and the music itself, despite the label, is only a little heavy, and surprisingly cleanly melodic

Check out: Cosmonauts, Feels like a weight

Here is one more set of “other albums in this shakily-formed genre categorisation” that are great. In terms of hardcore / post-hardcore punk / (what the hell) grunge, my other recommendations include Glassjaw’s Material Control (where did that come from!!??), Tired Mind’s Loom, SECT’s No Cure for Death, the first half of Melvins’ double album A Walk with Love and Death, Northlane's Mesmer, Circa Survive’s The Amulet, Cascades’ Cascades (although I think this one’s post-metal, sorry), and Arcane Roots Melancholia Hymns (which starts off Sigur Ros like and experimental, but gradually moves back to their previous sound). AFI’s self-titled and At the Drive-In’s Interalia, good songs therein aside, sadly not quite. On the former I preferred Davey Havok’s work with the No Doubt boys on Dreamcar, and for me the later-era style of Cedric’s vocals don’t work for me applied to ATDI.


Tricky – Ununiform

Yet another example of someone who’s been around for ages, who I’ve been aware of (largely thanks to his appearance in Tool’s video for Parabola), but not really listened to until now. Again, perhaps that’s why I like the new record, and perhaps I wouldn’t if I was a fan of his old stuff. I’ve always liked the genre name trip hop, which I’ve taken to mean like hip hop but with more experimentation, glitch sounds, and electronics. I suppose that’s what this is, except it’s mighty tuneful and there’s lots of singing.

Check out: Same As It Ever Was, Blood of my Blood, Dark Days


Alas there are a few other records I really enjoyed which I haven’t been able to lump in with others and thus mention within the above. These include Big Bad Wolf’s Pond Life, which manages to be both jazz and math-rock, Chon’s Homey, which manages to be both math-rock and jazz, AUTOBAHN’s The Moral Crossing (The Cure, anyone?), Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Luciferian Towers (I haven’t mentioned post-rock at all yet – we also had a new sleepmakeswaves record, Made of Breath Only), Slowdive's Slowdive, Blue Hawaii’s Tenderness, Cut Copy’s Haiku From Zero, Circle’s Terminal, Watter’s History of the Future (only discovered a couple of days ago while record shopping in Bexhill’s Music’s Not Dead).

A 2017 playlist:
  1. AFI - Aurelia
  2. At the Drive-in – Hostage Stamps
  3. Bonobo – Outlier
  4. Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah – Videotape
  5. Circa Survive – Lustration
  6. Depeche Mode – No More (This is the Last Time)
  7. Dreamcar (Members of No Doubt with AFI’s Davey Havok) – The Assailant
  8. Four Tet – Lush
  9. Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – Snake Eyes
  10. Iron & Wine – Call it Dreaming
  11. Jlin – Black Origami
  12. Jose James – I’m Yours
  13. Lana del Rey – Lust for Life (feat. The Wkend)
  14. LCD Soundsystem – how do you sleep?
  15. Mogwai – Old Poisons
  16. Morrissey – Spent the Day in Bed
  17. Nine Inch Nails – The Background World (skip the last several minutes if you wish)
  18. Pianos Become the Teeth - Charisma
  19. Quicksand – Feels Like a Weight has been Lifted
  20. Sikth – Golden Cufflinks
  21. The Black Dahlia Murder - Widowmaker 
  22. The Flashbulb – Cycles
  23. The Used – Vertigo Cave
  24. Tricky – Dark Days
  25. Zara McFarlane – Fussin’ and Fightin’
Happy Christmas New Year everybody. Cheers.

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