- Whiskey Gentry – “Rock and Roll Band” – Dead Ringer (Pitch A Tent)
- Nikki Lane – “700,000 Rednecks” – Highway Queen (New West)
- Lisa Leblanc – “Could You Wait ‘Til I’ve Had My Coffee?” – Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen? (Bonsound)
- William C Beeley – “Little Wheel Spin and Spin & Co’Dine” – Gallivantin’ (Tompkins Square)
- Truckstop Honeymoon – “Big Things and Little Things” – Big Things and Little Things (S/R)
- Old 97’s – “Jesus Loves You” – Graveyard Whistling (ATO)
- Luke Warm and the Cool Hands – “Ramshackle Shack” – What Makes You Happy (S/R)
- Private Investigators – “Don’t You Know My Love Is Free” – The Case Files of the Private Investigators Reopened (Prize Fighter)
- Roy Orbison with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – “You Got It” – A Love So Beautiful (Sony)
- Neil Young – “My Pledge” – Peace Trail (Reprise)
- Nashville Colonel and His Fabulous Band – “Nashville-Centric Boogie” – COLONEL (KFC)
- Up and Down – “Down It Goes” – Hell Of A Time (S/R)
- Deborah Crooks – “Make This House” – Beauty Everywhere (S/R)
- Laura Benitez – “Imitation Of You” – KALX Live! (KALX)
- Pokey Lafarge – “Wellington” – Manic Revelations (Rounder)
- Cash Box Kings – “Build That Wall” – Royal Mint (Alligator)
- Aki Kumar – “Back to Bombay” – Aki Goes To Bollywood (Little Village Foundation)
- Sera Cahoone – “Time To Give” – From Where I Started (Lady Muleskinner)
- Old Crow Medicine Show – “I Want You” – 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde (Columbia)
- Kevin Fisher – “Last Call” – Beer Me (37)
- Elena Setien – “Rosilido” – Dreaming of Earthly Things (Yellowbird)
- Liminanas – “Kostas” – Malamore (Hozac)
- Roselit Bone – “Dreamless Sleep” – On The Run, Jenny Don’t single (S/R)
- Greg Ashley – “A Sea Of Suckers” – Pictures of Saint Paul (Trouble In Mind)
- Dale Watson and Ray Benson – “Bus Breakdown” – Dale and Ray (Ameripolitan/Home)
- Steve Earle and the Dukes – “The Firebreak Line” – So You Wannabe An Outlaw (Warner)
- Soozee Hwang and the Realistics – “Creator of the Universe” – Accordion Babes 2017 Album (S/R)
- Nickel Slots – “Garberville” – Five Miles Gone (S/R)
- Hyperdrive Kittens – “Child Of The Night” – Back To The Alley (Whip N Cream)
- Brother Spellbinder – “Rolling River” – KALX Live! (KALX)
- Lynn McCracken – “I Wrote You A Letter” – Acoustic Rainbow Roots Vol 46 (Poetman)
- Front Country – “Millionaire” – Other Love Songs (Organic)
- The Wild Reeds – “Fix You Up” – The World We Built (Dualtone)
- Mayya And The Revolutionary Hell Yeah! – “Phone Is Dying” – Open Minds Open Minds (S/R)
- Gravel Spreaders – “When The Saints Go Marching In” – KALX Live! (KALX)
- Little Tortuga – “City By The Sea” – Scotch Hollow (S/R)
- Julia Jacklin – “Coming Of Age” – Don’t Let the Kids Win (Polyvinyl)
- The Warning – “XXI Century Blood” – XXI Century Blood (S/R)
- The Ogres – “Uh Huh” – Uh Huh (Hillsdale)
- Tennis – “Ladies Don’t Play Guitar” – Yours Unconditional (Mutually Detrimental)
Thanks to all the artists who appeared LIVE on the air with me
- Annie Bacon And Her Oshen
- Laura Benitez
- Brother Spellbinder
- The Clarences
- Deborah Crooks
- Aireene Espiritu
- Flim Flam
- The Gravel Spreaders
- Nathan Jones and the Sloe Sippers
- Muchacho Mandanga
- Penny Opry (Joannie)
- Maurice Tani and Mike Anderson
- Frank Martin’s Advanced U.C. Jazz Combo
- Up and Down
- Yours Truly Michelle
SEX 14s Non-Definitive 60 Outstanding Albums of 2017 (Alphabetized)
- Yazz Ahmed – La Saboteuse (Naim Audio)
- Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin – Telemann: Concerti per molti stromenti (Harmonia Mundi)
- Ambrose Akinmusire – A Rift In Decorum: Live At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note)
- Tony Allen – The Source (Blue Note)
- Björk – Utopia (One Little Indian)
- Benjamin Booker – Witness (Rough Trade)
- Jaimie Branch – Fly Or Die (International Anthem)
- Camille – Oui (Because)
- Circuit des Yeux – Reaching for Indigo (Drag City)
- Colleen – A Flame My Love, A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
- Jane Antonia Cornish – Into Silence (Innova)
- Rodney Crowell – Close Ties (New West)
- Angèle David-Guillou – En Mouvement (Village Green)
- Akua Dixon – Akua’s Dance (Akua’s Music)
- Downtown Boys – Cost of Living (Sub Pop)
- Steve Earle – So You Wannabe An Outlaw (Warner Brothers)
- Amir El Saffar’s Rivers Of Sound Orchestra – Not Two (New Amsterdam)
- Forest Swords – Compassion (Ninja Tune)
- Godspeed You Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers (Constellation)
- Curtis Harding – Face Your Fear (Anti-)
- Harriet Tubman – Araminta (Sunnyside)
- Hauschka – What If (Temporary Residence)
- Iron & Wine – Beast Epic (Sub Pop)
- Irreversible Entanglements – Irreversible Entanglements (International Anthem)
- Vijay Iyer Sextet – Far from Over (ECM)
- Jlin – Black Origami (Planet Mu)
- Nicole Johanntgen – Henry (Hofa)
- Kelela – Take Me Apart (Warp)
- King Krule – The Ooz (XL)
- La Santa Cecilia – Amar y Vivir (Universal)
- Laibach – Also Sprach Zarathustra (Mute)
- Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. (Top Dawg/Interscope)
- Arto Lindsay – Cuidado Madame (Northern Spy)
- Lost Horizons – Ojalá (Bella Union)
- Clint Mansell – Loving Vincent (Original Soundtrack) (Milan)
- Laura Marling – Semper Femina (More Alarming)
- Makaya McCraven – Highly Rare (International Anthem Recording Company)
- Zara McFarlane – Arise (Brownswood)
- Cécile McLorin Salvant – Dreams and Daggers (Mack Avenue)
- Myra Melford and Ben Goldberg – Dialogue (BAG)
- Roscoe Mitchell – Bells for the South Side (ECM)
- Juana Molina – Halo (Crammed Discs)
- The Moonlandingz – Interplanetary Class Classics (Transgressive)
- Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me (P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.)
- Randy Newman – Dark Matter (Nonesuch)
- Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens (Smalltown Supersound)
- Peter Perrett – How The West Was Won (Domino)
- Robert Plant – Carry Fire (Nonesuch)
- Preservation Hall Jazz Band – So It Is (Legacy)
- Max Richter – Max Richter: Three Worlds – Music from Woolf Works (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Roots Magic – Last Kind Words (Clean Feed)
- Sampha – Process (Young Turks)
- Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – The Centennial Trilogy (Ropeadope)
- Sheer Mag – Need to Feel Your Love (Static Shock)
- Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – The Kid (Western Vinyl)
- Wadada Leo Smith – Najwa (TUM)
- Tyshawn Sorey – Verisimilitude (Pi)
- St. Vincent – Masseduction (Loma Vista)
- Jane Weaver – Modern Kosmology (Fire)
- Wire – Silver/Lead (Pink Flag)
Favourite 25 releases of 2017, in alphabetical order
- Abronia – Obsidian Visions / Shadowed Lands (Water Wing)
- John Carpenter – Anthology (Sacred Bones)
- The Classical – Survival of the Softest (s/r)
- Cober Ord, The Austrasian Goat – Et Ils Franchirent Le Seuil (Steelwork Maschine)
- Colleen – A Flame My Love, A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
- Jane Antonia Cornish – Into Silence (Innova)
- Dire Wolves – Oceans of Green (Feeding Tube)
- Ekin Fil – Ghosts Inside (Helen Scarsdale Agency)
- Fovea Hex – Salt Garden II (Janet)
- Diamanda Galás – All The Way / At Saint Thomas The Apostle Harlem (Intravenal Sound Operations)
- Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers (Constellation)
- Jim Haynes – Electrical Injuries (auseenraum)
- Jesca Hoop – Memories Are Now (Sub Pop)
- Icelandic Symphony Orchestra – Recurrence (Sono Luminus)
- Laibach – Also Sprach Zarathustra (Mute)
- Lau Nau – Poseidon (Final)
- Andrew Liles – Diario De Un Monstruo (Dirter)
- Drew McDowall – Unnatural Channel (Dais)
- Morgen Wurde – Assassinous Act (Time Released Sound)
- Jessica Moss – Pools Of Light (Constellation)
- Nordic Affect – Raindamage (Sono Luminus)
- Nurse With Wound – Kafka’s Parachute (Lenka Lente)
- Saltland – A Common Truth (Constellation)
- Kathleen Yearwood – This Guitar Is Wrecked parts 1 & 2 (Voice of the Turtle)
- Kristeen Young – Live At The Witch’s Tit (s/r)
Favorite Albums/Reissues From 2017
- Slowdive – S/T (Dead Oceans)
- Laura Marling – Semper Femina (More Alarming Records)
- The Horrors – V (Wolf Tone)
- Alfa Mist – Antiphon (Pinkbird Recording Co.)
- Ambrose Akinmusire – A Rift In Decorum: Live At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note)
- Oddisee – The Iceberg (Mellow Music Group)
- Zara McFarlane – Arise (Brownswood Recordings)
- Alice Coltrane – World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music Of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda (Luaka Bop)
- Boogarins – Lá Vem A Morte (OAR)
- St. Vincent – Masseduction (Loma Vista)
- Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau – S/T (Nonesuch)
- Zola Jesus – Okovi (Sacred Bones)
- Vijay Iyer Sextet – Far From Over (ECM)
- Ensemble, et al. – The Slow Reveal (Imaginator)
- Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – The Kid (Western Vinyl)
- Perfume Genius – No Shape (Matador)
- Blanck Mass – World Eater (Sacred Bones)
- Tinariwen – Elwan (Epitaph)
- Esmerine – Mechanics Of Dominion (Constellation)
- Mount Kimbie – Love What Survives (Warp)
New Releases I Had the Most Fun Playing on KALX in 2017
- Tony Allen – The Source (Blue Note)
- Amendola vs Blades – Greatest Hits (Sazi)
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Lovely Creatures: Best of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 1984-2014 (Mute)
- Cazyapjazz – Sehnaz Delirdi (Anason)
- Cold Beat – Chaos By Invitation (Crime on the Moon)
- Crimpshrine – Free Box (Numero)
- Dos Santos Anti-Beat Orquesta – Fonografic (Electric Cowbell)
- Downtown Boys – Cost of Living (SubPop)
- Funkadelic – Reworked By Detroiters (Westbound)
- Horrible-Adorable – Caprice! (Hovercraft)
- Hüsker Dü – Savage Young Dü (Numero)
- Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – Soul of A Woman (Daptone)
- Ladama – Ladama (Six Degrees)
- Ted Leo – The Hanged Man (S/R)
- Mastodon – Emperor of Sand (Reprise)
- Motörhead – Under Cover (Silver Lining)
- Myrrors – Hasta La Victoria (Beyond Beyond is Beyond)
- Lee Perry – Super Ape Returns to Conquer (Subatomic)
- Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain Deluxe Expanded re-issue (Warner)
- Protomartyr – Relatives in Descent (Mute)
- Rancid – Trouble Maker (Hellcat)
- Replacements – For Sale: Live at Maxwell’s (Sire)
- Side Eyes – So Sick (In the Red)
- Sleater-Kinney – Live in Paris (SubPop)
- Mavis Staples – If All I Was Was Black (Anti-)
- Tinariwen – Elwan (Anti-)
- V/A – Nigeria Soul Fever (Soul Jazz)
Hella Bent’s (formerly 4chan) top picks for 2017
Favorite Albums of 2017
- Big Thief – Capacity (Saddle Creek)
- Perfume Genius – No Shape (Matador)
- Chastity Belt – I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone (Hardly Art)
- Jay Som – Everybody Works (Polyvinyl)
- Cold Beat – Chaos by Invitation (Crime on the Moon)
- Hurray for the Riff Raff – The Navigator (ATO)
- Sneaks – It’s a Myth (Merge)
- ADULT. – Detroit House Guests (Mute)
- Kelela – Take Me Apart (Warp)
- Various – Cold Waves of color vol. 4 (Color Tapes)
- Priests – Nothing Feels Natural (Sister Polygon)
- Florist – If Blue Could be Happiness (Double double Whammy)
- The World – First World Record (Upset the Rhythm)
Some songs that affected me very deeply in 2017
- Cold Beat – “In Motion” – Chaos by Invitation (Crime on the Moon)
- Chastity Belt – “Different Now” – I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone (Hardly Art)
- Hamilton Leithauser, Angel Olsen – “Heartstruck – Wild Hunger [single]” (Glassnote)
- Michael Nau – “Good Thing” – Some Twist (Suicide Squeeze)
- Savage Hymn – “La Vida Sigue Igual” – La Vida Sigue Igual (Dark Entries)
- Little Dragon – “Celebrate” – Season High (Loma Vista)
- Bezier – “Imperial Tranz-Am” – Primes (Dark Entries)
- Chelsea Wolfe – “16 Psyche” Hiss Spun (Sargent House)
- Drab Majesty – “39 by Design” – The Demonstration (Dais)
- Aldous Harding – “Imagining my Man” – Party (4AD)
- Girlpool – “It Gets More Blue” – Powerplant (Anti-)
- Arms of Someone New – “Song for Krista” – Susan Sleepwalking (Dark Entries)
- Goldfrapp – “Moon in your Mouth” – Silver Eye (Mute)
- Japanese Breakfast – “Boyish” – Soft Sounds from Another Planet (Dead Oceans)
- (Sandy) Alex G – “Powerful Man” – Rocket (Domino)