Year End 2017: Top 10 Favorite Albums of the Year

Here I am to finish up my year end lists with my favorite albums of 2017. This is my list, so obviously it will be different from your list, but feel free to share yours as well. This year was pretty metal heavy for me, and not a whole lot of hip-hop really stuck out to me (besides the ones on the list, and maybe Cyhi's debut full length). Anyway, let's get into it.

10. Mount Eerie- A Crow Looked at Me

This album has enough emotional weight to break even the most hardened people. Phil Elverum's reflections on his wife's passing are emotionally raw and plainspoken, and that's what gives it a lot of its power. It will truly resonate with anyone who has lost a loved one, and though not one I return to a lot, the experience is definitely a powerful one.

9. Dizzee Rascal- Raskit

2017 was a big year for the grime scene. I heard a lot of hype for Skepta, Wiley, and Stormzy, however not that much for one of the scene's most important artists, Dizzee Rascal. He followed up The Fifth with a collection that really goes back to that Boy in Da Corner sound, and I feel like this really got overlooked this year by grime listeners. If you're one of them, you should make an effort to change that.

8. Code Orange- Forever

This album satisfied my Nails itch, but also gave me so much more. Code Orange's new record blends breakdown heavy, punishing metal-core with some truly intriguing sonic detours that even play with some tonal areas. It's definitely still infused with all the rage and bile that a metal-core listener could ask for, yet has enough variation to keep it from being a standard cut and paste affair, with a lot more complex song structures than your typical chug to a breakdown metal-core.

7. Integrity- Howling, For the Nightmare Shall Consume

Integrity kills it on their new record, making metal-core magic that mixes punk, Slayer and even some black metal riffage in a way only they can. Every time I listen to it, I pick something new out of the claustrophobic and chaotic mix. This is the sound of absolute insanity, and I love every second of the madness.

6. Open Mike Eagle- Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

One of the few hip-hop albums that grabbed my attention in 2017, and probably Open Mike Eagle's most serious work to date. The humor is still there, but not to the extent of Dark Comedy, and here he is documenting his time in the Chicago projects. The building in which he lived as a kid was demolished shortly before recording, and this record is kind of showing how the people that come out of these living situations are shaped by the experience, and how this environment can negatively affect a community and its families. Unfortunately, still an all too relevant subject in America, but a great album.

5. Prurient- Rainbow Mirror

Dominick Fernow, main brain of Prurient, changed up his sonic palette for the follow up to 2015's Frozen Niagara Falls. While some of the noise elements are present, the new 3 1/2 hour monster favors more subtle soundscapes, albeit those of a still rough and unsettling nature. I get a lot of Aphex Twin's Ambient 2 and Nine Inch Nails Ghosts I-IV if a little more spacey and run through a fuzz pedal. Equally satisfying as background ambient music and music to critically listen to.

4. Converge- The Dusk in Us

Converge has returned with its first full length in 5 years with just as much ferocity. All you have come to know and love with the band is on full display: the razor sharp guitar, dizzying drums, chaotic breakneck pace, all wrapped up in complexly structured yet equally moshable songs. Many years into their career, Jacob Bannon, Kurt Ballou and company prove that as some of the forefathers of metal-core, it's better to leave it to them.

3. Sun Kil Moon- Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood

Mark Kozelek had a very busy 2017, with his numerous collaborations (notably his second with Jesu) and his proper follow up to 2015's Universal Themes. Kozelek's meandering story telling felt even more expansive and impenetrable than on that record, but here the stories seem to share more thematic purpose. At a behemoth 130 minutes, this album definitely takes some patience, but at its peaks, it rivals Benji for some of Kozelek's most captivating yarns.

2. Fleet Foxes- Crack-Up

Robin Pecknold and company have followed up one of the best albums of 2011 with another superb effort. At first, I was hesitant about being too excited about a new album; records after this long sometimes suffer from the hype that has been thrown on them. This record definitely delivers. Crack-Up manages to be even more progressive than Helplessness Blues, yet still stay true to the Fleet Foxes identity, creating an excellent album for a world that has left indie folk behind. Fleet Foxes has arguably outlived the scene they helped create in the late 2000s, and can hopefully take less time to follow this one up.

1. Xiu Xiu- Forget

Jamie Stewart and his rotating band of weirdos have created another portrait of a diseased world. This record is probably Xiu Xiu's most straightforward effort, but direct for Xiu Xiu is still everyone else's far left. Though catchy to the ear of Xiu Xiu fans, Jamie Stewart's paranoid and freakish falsetto will still be enough to make you uncomfortable, and the song topics are as dark and twisted as ever. I have to give additional praise to the spoken word piece at the end of the record, recited by Black Fag vocalist, Vaginal Davis. Truly powerful stuff, and this record will have you confused at whether to dance or be thoroughly disturbed.

So, that's my list. Hope to be posting a bit more regularly than last year, but we'll see how it goes. Happy New Year.


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Year End 2017: Top 5 Disappointing Albums

So, in continuing in my year end lists, I have produced a handful of albums that in my opinion (not yours) were disappointments. They don't even necessarily have to be bad records; just ones that didn't live up to my unrealistic expectations. This will be a ranked list, with decreasing numbers indicating increasing magnitude of disappointment.

5. Beck- Colors
With this record being toted as the album where Modern Guilt left off, I was pretty excited. Morning Phase was a pretty mellow affair, but I was looking more for the upbeat, crazy experimental side of Beck again. With the singles and those one off 12 inch records, I was pretty hype, but then the record comes out and its pretty middle of the road pop stuff. Not terrible, but I was looking for a little bit more weirdness here. Hopefully, this was just an experiment for Beck, and one he won't revisit for a while, at least until he puts out some more weird stuff.

4. Kendrick Lamar- DAMN.
Coming off of To Pimp a Butterfly, I was super excited to hear Kendrick's next album. What we got was a good album, maybe even a great one, but not what I was looking for. Here, Kendrick embraced a lot of trap elements, and while not losing his lyrical ability, I feel like his previous record was so much more ambitious and sweeping in scope. I was hoping he would double down and churn out another progressive rap epic, but alas. Also, the rumors of a second album that never materialized didn't help things (the backwards version doesn't count!)




3. The Flaming Lips- Oczy Mlody
I honestly don't even know what to say about this record. The Flaming Lips followed up The Terror with some pretty weird covers records and a companion to Dark Side of the Moon as an April Fool's joke (one I actually fell for and still think is awesome), but on their first legit album since, I feel like they were really out to paint the town beige. I'm honestly just confused. The Flaming Lips have been a lot of things, but boring was never one of them. Now that Kesha's off the hook with her recording contract, maybe that Lip$ha collab record could inject some life into this band.




2. St. Vincent- MASSEDUCTION
St. Vincent's 2014 self titled record was one of my favorites of that year, and I thought it was so awesome that a female artist so close to the mainstream didn't play the game and do the typical crap that comes along with it. If this was supposed to be ironic, it was lost on me. She can do whatever she wants (who am I to tell her otherwise), but it didn't make the product any less disappointing.

1. Father John Misty- Pure Comedy

I saw a meme somewhere of this album cover with the caption "reads Infinite Jest once", and couldn't think of anything more fitting. I was never the most die hard Father John Misty fan (I much more prefer his work as J. Tillman or with Fleet Foxes), but when I heard the amazing hype for this record and the glowing recommendations, I had to check it out. What I heard was the most pretentious Elton John/ Randy Newman cast offs I've ever heard. The lyrical content comes across as super preachy, as if coming from some omnipotent demigod, and the piano ballad sonic wallpaper is about as listless as boring as regular wallpaper. Criminally overrated.

So that's my list of last year's disappointments. Were there any 2017 records that really let you down? Stay tuned for my year end top 10 albums list.

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Year End 2017: Top 10 Albums I Discovered/ Rediscovered This Year

It's been quite a while since I last posted, but I knew I had to get some year end lists out. A lot has happened this year, both on a global stage and in my personal life (which is why I didn't post almost at all this year). I'll have a top 10 albums of this year list coming, as well as a top 5 disappointing albums of the year list. This list is dedicated to albums which I either first discovered this year, or albums that I rediscovered in my collection and were in heavy rotation throughout 2017. These are alphabetical, so no hierarchy here. Let's get right to it.

Angelo Badalamenti- Twin Peaks Soundtrack
In preparation for the revival of Twin Peaks (if I did a top 5 disappointing TV shows) and for comparison with last year's Xiu Xiu project, I found myself listening to this a lot this year. The arrangements are sparse, but Badalamenti borrows from a lot of different genres to create a very surreal and creepy atmosphere for the show.






The Black Dahlia Murder- Unhallowed
In my ever continuing quest to delve into more genres of metal, I set my sights on death metal and metalcore this year. While I'm still not too much of a fan of the more brutal death metal, I found myself returning to melodic death metal like the Black Dahlia Murder. Maybe its because the mix is a little less chaotic, or the vocals are a little more varied, not relying on the death growls as much as others, but I found myself really enjoying this.




Converge- Jane Doe
One of the most celebrated metalcore records out there, and it's not hard to see why. The playing is pretty crazy, the drumming is ridiculous and the band seems to go down any avenue at the drop of a hat and yet drop right back into sync. Anybody who says punks can't play need to listen to this. In preparation for Converge's new album (stay tuned for this year's top 10), I was listening to a lot of their old stuff. This, along with You Fail Me, seemed to be the ones I returned to most.



Merle Haggard- Going Where the Lonely Go
I also tried to get into a bit of country this year, but didn't get too much further than Merle Haggard, and I really didn't need to. I looked this up since Myke C Town really recommended it on his Youtube channel (you should really check him out), and was blown away. If you ever wanted to wallow in self pity (did plenty of that this year), this is the perfect soundtrack. I wish a lot more country were like this, and a lot less like what I hear on the radio when I'm trying to find a better station.




Mayhem- De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
As I was getting into black metal, I originally didn't think too much of this record. I respected its place in black metal history, but kind of the same way I respect older rap albums; they seem a little dated or unoriginal now, even though they did the sound first. However, this all changed this year when I bought a copy on vinyl. I don't know if it had to do with the vinyl mastering, but when everything had more space in the mix, and I could better hear what was going on with the drums, it clicked for me. This record has some of the most relentless, insane drumming I've ever heard, and the riffs are killer.


Ramones- Ramones
I revisited a lot of Ramones records this year, but got particularly obsessed with 'Chainsaw' off this album. The wordless little intro to the song is catchy as hell. Also, for some reason the lyrics to 'Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World' never penetrated my mind until this year. For people who say Ramones are only pop, I'm not sure how many pop acts put themselves in the place of Nazis.





The Residents- Meet The Residents
Until this year, I found the sheer volume of the Residents output to be intimidating and impenetrable. A few months ago, I finally took the plunge. Starting where it all began, I basked in the wonderful weirdness of the Residents. I picked their first full length for this list, though I probably could have picked any number of projects. They are like the missing link between Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart; just as weird and humorous, but somewhere in the middle in terms of approach.



Stalaggh- Pure Misanthropia
I'm not going to even attempt to detail the story behind this group or its process, but if you're morbidly curious, you can read the disturbing account with a little research. If you're still down, prepare for some of the most unsettling noise you'll ever hear. It might not be as abrasive as a record from a power electronics act, but the layered screams of allegedly genuine mental patients for 45 minutes can really get to you. Pure Misanthropia is actually the director's cut of another record, Projekt Misanthropia, remixed and with 10 more minutes of pure auditory hell. This is not for the faint of heart.



The Unicorns- Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
This was an album I ripped from the libraries of my college radio station back in the day. When I saw that the album was getting another vinyl reissue, I jumped on the opportunity to revisit this record again. This is some great lo-fi indie rock with some sugary, catchy tracks with some morbid subject matter. It reminds me a little of early of Montreal, but with a little more conventional song structures.





Frank Zappa- Absolutely Free
Yes, I know this technically a Mothers of Invention album, but its all Zappa to me. Sitting in between Freak Out! and Lumpy Gravy in the Zappa oeuvre, I guess I can see who this record might get overlooked, but it is incredibly underrated. It continues the doo-wop parody and experimental nature that Freak Out! outlined, but starts to develop Zappa as a storyteller, with the mini opera 'Brown Shoes Don't Make It'. It also begins the Zappa tradition of references to his previous work, like the "Caravan with a drum sola" line, among others. If you're a fan of the other Mothers material, but this has slipped by you, you should fix that immediately.


So that's a bit of what I've been listening to this year. What albums did you discover or rediscover this year? Now off to finish my year end lists, and hopefully be a little more present on this blog.


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Album Spotlight: Harouki Zombi- Objet Petit A

Ever think music was just too normal? Have I got the group for you. Harouki Zombi is the duo consisting of Orenda Fink of Azure Ray and Nina Grøttland (formerly Barnes, as in ex-wife of the of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes), and they consist of a very intriguing mix of performance art, electronic dance pop, and just plain insanity. I feel like this short EP was totally overlooked when it first came out in 2012, but I feel like in the current age where FKA Twigs is popular, I feel like they might have just been a little ahead of the curve.

That is not to say this group and FKA Twigs are doing the same thing; far from it. I feel like a lot of the beats that Twigs would use, especially on LP 1, feel reminiscent of some of the programming on this (with the exception of the Kevin Barnes produced 'Vacated Hunters', which is all of Montreal). The title track feels like if you put really weird trip hop and Madonna's 'Justify Your Love' in a blender, and then pumped it through a French language filter. The EP quickly leads you from that to a jungle drum infused track, followed by a kaleidoscopic dance track with ridiculous spoken word that sounds like a down tempo version of False Priest's 'Our Riotous Defects'. The last track, 'The Swamp Theme', sounds like an incredibly weird house track with down pitched vocals repeating the band's name and some goofy synths.

The EP also includes some remixes of the title track, but I really only think that the Deniallabs remix really does something interesting with the track and really beefs up the backing beat. Unfortunately, this is all the group has released up to this point, but I am really curious as to what they would do on a full length (their Facebook profile was last active a few years ago, so I'm probably not going to see, but who knows). The EP is still available from Polyvinyl as a double 7" on purple vinyl, so I feel like if you're curious, you should definitely pick this up.

I'm thinking of reviewing Lupe Fiasco's Drogas Light soon, and look forward to more of these album spotlights, where I'll be sharing some lesser known gems from the past that I feel could use some more attention.


"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Mini Reviews: January 2017

I'm back, and I thought I might share some brief thoughts on some of the albums I've been sitting with that came out last month. Thought some of these were worth checking out. Don't think I'll be doing a lot of current reviews, but just thought I'd say my piece.




William Basinski: A Shadow in Time
Listeners familiar with Basinski will know what to expect: a grainy tape sample or piano figure looping for the duration, with very subtle changes over time producing an unmistakable feeling of ennui. However, I feel like some of the intricacies are a little more noticeable here, and are a lot easier to pick up in the first few listens. I feel like there was a missed opportunity on the tribute to David Bowie, as I thought it would have been cool to hear some interpolations or samples of his work for the loops. So far I haven't heard any, but I find some buried in there, that would definitely raise my enjoyment of this record. Still good, but not the strongest by Basinski in recent memory.



Code Orange: Forever
In my ongoing adventure into the harsher side of music, I've been dipping my toes into the metalcore or metalcore adjacent sound of Code Orange, a band from my current base in Pittsburgh. Coming into this sound from Nails and hardcore, I found this interesting and super heavy, although they do play with some melodic elements, which I was not expecting. If metalcore offers more material like this, my search into this sound will be very fruitful. I think I might learn to appreciate and recognize the intricacies of these genres eventually, even with the vocals making them very inaccessible to me initially.



The Flaming Lips: Oczy Mlody
I found this offering by the Flaming Lips to be a little disappointing. The album seemed a little uninspired, with not a whole lot going on lyrically or from a song writing perspective. The synth sounds and electronic drum samples sounded a little basic too; almost preset, which coming from a band that generally using effects ingeniously is a little disappointing. I also noticed some problems in the mix. On 'How??', the vocal levels are all over the place, and seem to disappear to nothing when some of the instrumentation swells. I think they focused too much on a thick and hazy atmosphere, and not on the songs and particulars. Can't blame this one entirely on Miley Cyrus, guys.



of Montreal: Rune Husk EP
Following up their electronic dance music informed album from last year, Innocence Reaches, of Montreal decided to go a little more experimental on this EP. This definitely doesn't feel like left overs from the last album (though 'Widowsucking' is a rework of the b-side of the same name from the band's contribution to last year's Polyvinyl 4-Track Singles series), but it does feel a bit like album filler; not bad, but really lacking an immediacy or stand out track that will keep me coming back. These tracks would probably fit well in a full album, but on their own, they keep me wanting. This reminds me a bit of thecontrollersphere (not my favorite project either), which was the EP Kevin Barnes and co. dropped between the poppy False Priest and the radically experimental Paralytic Stalks, so hopefully this is like that situation, and a harbinger for some new and really weird direction for the band.

Fred Thomas: Changer
Following up All Are Saved, one of my favorite albums of 2015, Fred Thomas continues his extremely personal and revealing solo work with a another extremely relate-able set of songs. I'm probably about a decade younger than Thomas, but his songs about getting older and still not knowing your place are definitely relate-able to me. His stories are a lot like Mark Kozelek's recent work to me, in that they're so specific, but you can really get a lot out of them on a personal level (and they're both also about one step above spoken words in most spots). I feel like anyone in their mid to late twenties should check this out, because I got a lot out of it. Fred Thomas' music reminds me if The Graduate came in album form.


So those are some of my opinions on some recent records. Are there any records that you've been listening to that you've been really hyped about? Currently, I'm digging into the Wiegedood record, and anticipating the new Lupe (which just dropped, but haven't listened yet), and the new Xiu Xiu when that drops. Not sure if I'm going to share opinions on those, but if I get some free time, why not?



"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."