Best of 2017

((echoplex))

Demons

• ADULT. - Detroit House Guests (Mute)
• Circa Tapes - Love And Venom (Medical)
• Emptyset - Borders (Thrill Jockey)
• Ben Frost - Threshold Of Faith (Mute)
• Gel Set - Body Copy (2MR)
• Group Rhoda - Wilderless (Dark Entries)
• Liars - TFCF (Mute)

Delights

• Girl Ray - Earl Grey (Moshi Moshi)
• Jasper Lee - Mirror Of Wind (Noumenal Loom)
• Midnight Sister - Saturn Over Sunset (Jagjaguwar)
• Michael Nau - Some Twist (Suicide Squeeze)
• Posse - Horse Blanket (S/R)

Distractions

• DUDS - Of A Nature Or Degree (Castle Face)
• John Maus - Screen Memories (Ribbon Music)
• Omni - Multi-Task (Trouble In Mind)
• Ariel Pink - Dedicated To Bobby Jameson (Mexican Summer)
• Pulgas - Out Of The South (Boiled)
• Sextile - Albeit Living (Felte)

Explorations

• Acid Pauli - BLD (Ouie)
• Colleen - A Flame My Love, A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
• Forest Swords - Compassion (Ninja Tune)
• Lee Gamble - Mnestic Pressure (Hyperdub)
• Leatherette - Where Have All The People Gone? (Ninja Tune)
• Kelly Lee Owens - S/T (Smalltown Supersound)
• Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed Discs)
• NHK yx Koyxen - Exit Entrance (DFA)

Relics

• Claude Lombard - Chante (Sommor)
• Silvia - S/T (Dark Entries)
• Various Artists - Miracle Steps (Music From The Fourth World 1983 - 2017) (Optimo)
• Various Artists - Space, Energy & Light - Experimental Electronic And Acoustic Soundscapes 1961 - 88 (Soul Jazz)
• Various Artists - OZ Waves (Efficient Space)

A Series of Sevens

I miss you all! Seven epic years! m/

7 Supersonic Shows

• Six Organs of Admittance w/ Elisa Ambrogio and Donovan Quinn, Meg Baird opening - the Chapel, March 6
• The Necks - the Lab, February 18-19
• Teenage Fanclub - the Great American Music Hall, March 21
• Sleaford Mods/Avengers - Slims, April 7
• 75 Dollar Bill - The Lab, July 23
• An Unpredictable Evening with Todd Rundgren - the Chapel, August 30
• Ride - the Fillmore, September 26

7 Solidly Sweet Albums

• Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, and James McAlister - Planetarium (4AD)
• Slowdive - Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
• Conor Oberst - Salutations (Nonesuch)
• The Mountain Goats - Goths (Merge)
• Elf Power - Twitching in Time (Orange Twin)
• Tobin Sprout - The Universe and Me (Burger)
• Boxed In - Melt (Nettwerk)

7 Acts Admired Since Acclimating to Athens

• Antlered Aunt Lord
• Ancient Whales
• New Sound of Numbers
• Athens Cowboy Choir
• Pylon Reenactment Society
• Dimmen
• Lavender Holyfield

Berkestir

New Stuff

• Acid Baby Jesus - Lilac Days (Fuzz Club)
• Algiers - The Underside Of Power (Matador)
• Boris - Dear (Sargent House)
• Damaged Bug - Bunked Funk (Castle Face)
• The Dream Syndicate - How Did I Find Myself Here? (Anti-)
• Carrie Elkin - The Penny Collector (S/R)
• Escape-ism - Introduction To Escape-ism (Merge)
• Hawklords - Six (ShellShock)
• Hawkwind - Into The Woods (Cherry Red)
• Hello Phones - Tripping The Light (Station)
• Robyn Hitchock - Robyn Hitchcock (Yep Roc)
• Jon Langford - Four Lost Souls (Bloodshot)
• Charles Lloyd New Quartet - Passin' Thru (Blue Note)
• Metz - Strange Peace (Sub Pop)
• Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed)
• Moon Duo - Occult Architecture Vol.1/Vol.2 (Sacred Bones)
• Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real - Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real (Fantasy)
• Oh Sees - Orc (Castle Face)
• Pere Ubu - 20 Years In A Montana Missile Silo (Cherry Red)
• Sparks - Hippopotamus (BMG)
• Ty Segall - Mr. Face EP (Famous Class)
• Ty Segall - Ty Segall (Drag City)
• Omar Souleyman - To Syria With Love (Mad Decent Protocol)
• Suspirians - Ti Bon Ange (Super Secret)
• Richard Thompson - Acoustic Classics II + Rarities (Beeswing)
• Nik Turner - Life In Space (Purple Pyramid)
• Jane Weaver - Modern Kosmology (Fire)
• White Hills - Stop Mute Defeat (Thrill Jockey)
• Wire - Silver/Lead (Pink Flag)

Old Stuff

• Can - The Singles (Spoon)
• The Creation - Action Painting (The Numero Group)
• The Kinks - The Mono Collection (Sanctuary)
• Little Richard - Mono Box The Complete Specialty And Vee-Jay Albums (Concord)
• Reptile Ranch - Reptile Ranch (C/S)
• White Zombie - It Came From N.Y.C. (The Numero Group)
• Neil Young - Hitchhiker (Reprise)

Carlos Kowalski

New Albums I Loved in 2017

• Chino Amobi - PARADISO (NON)
• Colleen - A Flame My Love, a Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
• Dang Olsen Dream Tape - Peppermint (Illuminated Paths)
• Drab Majesty - The Demonstration (Dais)
• Gas - Narkopop (Kompakt)
• Robyn Hitchcock - Robyn Hitchcock (Yep Roc)
• Inner Travels - Sea of Leaves (Inner Islands)
• Zola Jesus - Okovi (Sacred Bones)

And a Few Favorite Reissues of 2017

• Alice Coltrane - The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda (Luaka Bop)
• Jan Jelinek - Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records (Faitiche)
• Rich La Bonte - Mayan Canals (Dark Entries)

Carnacki

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)

Carolyn

Here's to 2018!

My favorite albums of 2017

• Yvonne & The No Regrets - Nothing Compares To You (S/R)
• feedtime- Gas (In The Red)
• Chrome Reverse - They Wanna Fight! (Mag Wheels)
• Heavy Metal - LP2 (Static Age)
• Mary Bell - Mary Bell (Danger)
• Mark Cone - Now Showing (Neck Chop)
• Proto Idiot - Leisure Opportunity (Slovenly)
• Peter Perrett - How The West Was Won (Domino)
• Taiwan Housing Project - Veblen Death Mask (Kill Rock Stars)
• girlSperm - gSp (Thrilling Living)
• David Nance - Do The Negative Boogie (Ba Da Bing!)

My favorite EPs of 2017

• James Arthurís Manhunt - Staring At The Sun (Spacecase)
• CTMF featuring The Dear Watson Sound - Billy Childish 45 Club (Damaged Goods)
• Nots- Cruel Friend (Goner)
• Lemonade- Pink (Thrilling Living)
• Mommy Long Legs - Rock Product (Youth Riot)
• Mozart - Nasty (Iron Lung)
• Celebrity Handshake - Also Starring Celebrity Handshake as Celebrity Handshake (Eastern Prawn)
• Zerodent - Soul Mender (Almost Ready)
• Sex Crime - Song That You Love (No Front Teeth)
• Johnny Moped - Catatonic (Damaged Goods)

My favorite reissues of 2017

• Memphis Jug Band - American Epic: The Best of Memphis Jug Band (Third Man)
• Sites Ní Sounds - The Night Is So Dark (Black Gladiator)
• Neon - Neon (Water Wing)
• Husker Du - Savage Young Du (Numero Group)
• Slime - Controversial (Damaged Goods)
• Cheater Slicks - Destination Lonely (Almost Ready)
• Danny Burk & The Invaders - Ain't Going Nowhere (Certified PR)
• Carsickness - 1979-1982 (Get Hip)
• Debils - Debils (Static Age)
• Bad Daddies- Over 30 Singles (Emotional Response)

My favorite live shows of 2017

• feedtime - Hemlock Tavern
• David Nance Band - El Rio and Octopus Literary Salon
• My Name Is Joe - El Rio, Bender's, Hemlock Tavern, Make Out Room, etc.
• Van Morrison - Fox Theater
• Phantom Surfers - Ivy Room
• Derv Gordon - Elbo Room
• Nots - The Night Light
• girlSperm - Octopus Literary Salon
• Adam Ant - Masonic Auditorium
• Mane - Hemlock Tavern and KALX Live

Cuppa Joe

FAVORITE RECORDS (in alphabetical order)

• Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice (Matador)
• Blitzen Trapper - Wild And Reckless (Lojinx)
• Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger In The Alps (Dead Oceans)
• Lila Downs - Salón, Lágrimas Y Deseo (Fluff & Gravy)
• Robert Finley - Going Platinum (Easy Eye Sound)
• Rhiannon Giddens - Freedom Highway (Nonesuch)
• Heron Oblivion - The Chapel (S/R)
• Hills - Alive At Roadburn (Rocket)
• Hurray For The Riff Raff - The Navigator (Ato)
• Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound (Thirty Tigers)
• Kacy & Clayton - Siren's Song (New West)
• Marble Party - Sometimes A Great Ocean (Floating)
• Moon Duo - Occult Architecture Vol.1 (Sacred Bones)
• Oh Sees - Orc (Castle Face)
• Peter Perrett - How The West Was Won (Domino)
• Queens Of The Stone Age - Villains (Matador)
• Nadia Reid - Preservation (Basin Rock)
• Sleaford Mods - English Tapas (Rough Trade)
• Songhoy Blues - Resistance (Fat Possum)
• Spoon - Hot Thoughts (Matador)
• This Is The Kit - Moonshine Freeze (Rough Trade)
• Thundercat - Drunk (Brainfeder)
• Dale Watson & Ray Benson - Dale and Ray (Ameripolitan/Home)

FAVORITE REISSUES

• Alice Coltrane - World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda (Luaka Bop)
• Husker Du - Savage Young Du (Numero Group)
• Lift To Experience - The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads (Mute)
• Lal & Mike Waterson - Bright Phoebus (Domino)
• Wilco - Being There (Rhino)

FAVORITE SONG

• Shotgun Superman by Marble Party from Sometimes A Great Ocean (Floating)

FAVORITE DEBUT

• Vista Kicks - Booty Shakers Ball (Little Hook)

WHERE HAS THIS RECORD BEEN ALL MY LIFE MOMENT OF 2017

• Bridget St. John - Ask Me No Questions (Elektra)

Curt Reply

So Many Great Albums/Songs, So Little Space. So here are my Top 26 songs! (In alphabetical order)

• Bad Mannequins - "I Hate You" - Deny Til U Die, Pt. I (Spinnup)
• Bad Nerves - “Dreaming” - single (National Anthem)
• B Boys - "Discipline" - DADA (Captured Tracks)
• Benjamin Gibbard - "December" - Bandwagonesque (Canvasback)
• Bombpops - "Be Sweet" - Fear of Missing Out (Fat Wreck)
• Damu the Fudgemunk - "Solitary Confinement" - Vignettes (Redefinition)
• Richard Dawson - "Beggar" - Peasant (Weird World)
• Diet Cig - "Sixteen" - Swear I'm Good at This (Frenchkiss)
• Downtown Boys - "It Can't Wait" - Cost of Living (Subpop)
• Flat Worms - "Goodbye Texas" - Flat Worms (Castle Face)
• Coco Hames - "I Don't Wanna Go" - Coco Hames (Merge)
• Jazz Spastiks - "Bubble Gum" - Scratch and Sniff (Jazz Plastik)
• Neutrals - "24 Pictures of You" - Promotional Compact Disk (s/r)
• Priests - "Appropriate" - Nothing Feels Natural (Sister Polygon)
• Pokey LaFarge - "Riot in the Streets" - Manic Revelations (Rounder)
• Proto Idiot - "Better Way of Life" - Leisure Opportunities (Slovenly)
• Rascalton - "Lust" - single (Public Records)
• Regrettes - "Hot" - Feel Your Feelings, Fool (Warner Bros.)
• Repeat Repeat - "Everybody's Falling In Love" - Floral Canyon (Dangerbird)
• Rolling Blackouts CF - "French Press" - The French Press (Sub Pop)
• RPMs - “Oh My God” - single (Xtra Mile Recordings)
• Dave Ruder - "Candy and Slice" - Qualms Rectified (Gold Bolus Recordings)
• Songhoy Blues - "Mali Nord" - Resistance (Fat Possum)
• Teenage Bottlerocket - "Back and Forth" - Stealing the Covers (Fat Wreck Records)
• Touts - “Sold Out” - single (Hometown Records)
• Truckstop Honeymoon - "Do You Really Have to Ask?" - Big Things and Little Things (S/R)

DJ Masquatch

Best albums (in no order)

• Darkest hour - Godless Prophets And The Migrant Flora (Southern Lord)
• Idles - Brutalism (Balley)
• Brutus - Burst (Sargent House)
• Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss/Spun (Sargent House)
• Hot Water Music - Light It Up (Rise)
• Municipal Waste - Slime and Punishment (Nuclear Blast)
• 3TEETH - Shutdown.exe (OMF)
• Converge - Dusk In Us (Deathwish Inc)
• King Woman - Created In The Image Of Suffering (Relapse)
• Crusades - This Is A Sickness And Sickness Will End (Anxious And Angry)
• Dead Cross - S/T (Ipecac)
• Power Trip - Nightmare Logic (Southern Lord)
• Godflesh - Post Self (Avalanche)
• Mutoid Man - War Moans (Sargent House)
• Pallbearer - Heartless (Profound Lore)

Best EPs

• Perturbator - New Model (Blood Music)
• <PIG> - Prey & Obey (Metropolis)

DJ Twinkle

20 Favorites from 2017

• Ali Beletic - Legends of These Lands Left to Live (Lightning Records)
• Ani DiFranco - Binary (Righteous Babe)
• Cherry Glazer - Apocalipstick (Secretly Canadian)
• Chicago Afrobeat Orchestra, featuring Tony Allen - What Goes Up (S/R)
• Chicano Batman - Freedom is Free (ATO Records)
• Everyone is Dirty - My Neon's Dead (S/R)
• Femme Deadly Venom - Planet Femme (S/R)
• Happy Hollows - Concordia (S/R)
• Jen Cloher - S/T (Marathon Artists)
• Jessica Hoop - Memories are Now (Sub Pop)
• LADAMA - S/T (Six Degrees Records)
• Mane - Alpha Female (S/R)
• Not You - Misty (Fundog)
• Oddisee - The Iceberg (Mello Music Group)
• Onzy Ozzborne - c v p i i d (S/R)
• The Regrettes - Feel Your Feelings Fool (Warner Bros.)
• Shannon Moser - Oh, My Heart (Lame-O Records)
• Snow Angel - S/T (S/R)
• Substantial - The Past is Always Present in the Future (Hipnott Records)
• This is the Kit - Moonshine Freeze (Rough Trade)

E. Lit

Favorite Albums of 2017

• Billy Woods – Known Unknowns (Backwoodz Studioz) 
• Kristoff Krane – Kairos Pt. 1 (F I X) 
• Ecid – How To Fake Your Own Death (Fill In the Breaks) 
• Braxton Cook – Somewhere In Between (Fresh Selects) 
• Likwuid & 2 Hungry Bros – Fay Grim (HiPNOTT) 
• P.O.S. – Chill, Dummy (Doomtree) 
• Eliot Lipp – Skywave (Young Heavy Souls) 
• Milo – Who Told You To Think??!!?!?!?! (Ruby Yacht) 
• The Funk Junkie – Moondirt (self-released) 
• Onry Ozzborn – c v p ii d (self-released)

15 Other Great Albums/EPs That E. Lit Enjoyed in 2017 

• Blockhead – Funeral Balloons (Backwoodz Studioz) 
• ChanHays – Here (Droppin’ Science) 
• Charlotte Dos Santos – Cleo (Fresh Selects)
• Coolzey & Fresh Kils – Kilzey (Public School)  
• Danny Watts – Black Boy Meets World (Authors Recording Co)
• Duncecap – Rapping Is for Idiots (We Are the Karma Kids) 
• Jazz Spastiks – Scratch & Sniff (Jazz Plastik) 
• Jonwayne – Rap Album Two (Authors Recording Co) 
• Lt. Headtrip – Comedy of the Filthbeast (We Are the Karma Kids)
• Mega Ran – Extra Credit (RandomBeats)
• New Venusians – New Venusians (Fresh Selects) 
• Shredders – Dangerous Jumps (Doomtree)
• Sixo – The Odds of Free Will (Fake Four Inc) 
• Stono Echo – Black Diamonds (Full Plate) 
• Substantial – The Past Is Always Present In the Future (HiPNOTT)

Eleven

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) 

Fernando

Fernando's 50 Favorite Songs

1. Patience - "White Of An Eye" White Of An Eye (Night School)
2. Makthaverskan - "In My Dreams" III (Luxury)
3. Sacred Paws - "Everyday" Strike A Match (Rock Action)
4. Vagabon - "The Embers" Infinite Worlds (Father/Daughter)
5. Chastity Belt - "What the Hell" I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone (Hardly Art)
6. Who Is She? - "Top 8" Seattle Gossip (Father/Daughter)
7. Sea Blite - "Cerulean" Sea Blite (Death Records)
8. Sneaks - "Hair Slick Back" It's A Myth (Merge)
9. The Coathangers - "Parasite" Parasite (Suicide Squeeze)
10. Camp Cope - "Keep Growing" Camp Cope / Cayetana Split (Poison City)
11. French Vanilla - "Evolution Of A Friendship" French Vanilla (Danger Collective)
12. Las Pinas - "Crucero Caribe" Pisa De Fuego (Buen Dia)
13. Fazerdaze - "Lucky Girl" Morningside (Flying Nun)
14. And Gone - "Shine" Totaled (S/R)
15. Burnt Palms - "Touch The Sun (alternate)" 02/18/17 (WWNBB)
16. Cold Beat - "Strawberry Moon" Chaos By Invitation (Crime On The Moon)
17. Gomme - "My Heart Is A Wall" Hiss (Black Totem)
18. Baus - "AntiSocial" Secret Bathroom Recordings (S/R)
19. Seapony - "What's Gonna Happen" Be Here Again (S/R)
20. Shiny Times - "Not True" Secret Memos (S/R)
21. Horrible/Adorable - "Caprice!" Caprice! (Hover Craft)
22. Rays - "Lost In A Cage" (Trouble In Mind)
23. Palberta - "Pick Up The Phone" Bye Bye Berta (Wharf Cat)
24. The World - "Loser" First World Record (Upset The Rhythm)
25. The Sticks - "Shore" Why Bother (Faux Discx)
26. Mini Dresses - "You're A Statue Standing In The Rain" Mini Dresses (S/R)
27. Girl Ray - "Just Like That" Earl Grey (Moshi Moshi)
28. Rat Fancy - "Five Fingers" Suck A Lemon (HHBTM)
29. Shifters - "A Believer" A Believer (Market Square)
30. Bearcats - "Gutter Pussy" No Friends (Lost State)
31. Shannon Lay - "The Moons Detriment" Living Water (Woodsist)
32. Colleen - "The Stars vs Creatures" A Flame My Love A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
33. Foie Gras - "Devotee" Devotee (S/R)
34. Cadiecowden - "Scapegoat" Deperson (S/R)
35. Mane - "Bloodstone" Alpha Female (Digital Regress)
36. SOAR - "Fatigue" Dark / Gold (Salinas)
37. Aye Nako - "Nightcrawler" Silver Haze (Don Giovanni)
38. Street Eaters - "Means" The Envoy (Nervous Intent)
39. Kids On A Crime Spree - "Surgical Lights" Our Love (Emotional Response)
40. My Light Shines For You - "That Kind of Boy" My Light Shines For You EP (Cloudberry)
41. Strange Relations - "Say You" Editorial You (Tiny Engines)
42. The Paranoyds - "Freak Out" Eat Their Own (S/R)
43. Parsnip - "Health" Parsnip 7" (Anti Fade)
44. Sobs - "Girl" Catflap (S/R)
45. Cayetana - "Mesa" New Kind Of Normal (Plum)
46. Otzi - "Magpie" Ghosts (Bat-Cave Productions)
47. The Courtneys - "Frankie" II (Flying Nun)
48. Nots - "Cruel Friend" Cruel Friend (Goner)
49. The Hayman Kupa Band - "No More Bombs" The Hayman Kupa Band (Fika)
50. Annabel Lee - "Coffee, Coffee" Wallflowers (Luik)

Hella Bent

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)

Home Alone

Five Albums

• Cornelius - Mellow Waves (Rostrum)
• Richard Dawson - Peasant (Weird World)
• Chuck Johnson - Balsams (VDSQ)
• David Nance - Negative Boogie (Ba Da Bing)
• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid (Western Vinyl)

Five Reissues/Compilations

• Can - Singles (Spoon)
• Midori Takada - Through the Looking Glass (Palto Flats)
• Various Artists - Even a Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock, 1969-1973 (Light in the Attic)
• Various Artists - Outro Tempo: Electronic and Contemporary Music from Brazil, 1978-1992 (Music From Memory)
• Yasuaki Shimizu - Kakashi (Palto Flats)

Four Shows

• Martin Creed - The Lab (San Francisco, CA), March 17
• David Nance - Octopus Literary Salon (Oakland, CA), October 10
• Michael “Blackie” O’Connell - McGann’s Pub, (Doolin, Ireland), May 24
• Ashley Bellouin - Mare Island Shoreline Preserve (Vallejo, CA), February 11

Leftfield Lance

7"

• Andy Human and the Reptoids - Pee-Pee EP(Goodbye Boozy)
• BB Eye - Texas Chainsaw Masscara (Fish)
• Marbled Eye - EP2 (Digital Regress)
• Mick Trouble - It's The Mick Trouble EP (Emotional Response)
• Mozart - Nasty (Iron Lung)
• Preening - Beeters (Digital Regress)
• Sarcasm - Malarial Bog (Static Shock)
• Shifters - A Believer (Market Square)
• Skiftande Enheter - 4 Spars (Levande Begravd)
• Suburban Homes - Unemployed (Total Punk)

12"

• David Nance - Negative Boogie (Ba Da Bing!)
• Duds - Of a Nature or Degree (Castle Face)
• Flat Worms - S/T (Castle Face)
• No Sister - Second Floor (S/R)
• Omni - Multi-Task (Trouble in Mind)
• Rays - S/T (Trouble in Mind)
• Structure - S/T (Harbinger Sound)
• The World - First World Record (Lumpy)

Cassettes / Demos / Digital, etc.

• Blank Statements - Signs are Rampant (Hobbies Galore)
• Collate - Material Inspection (S/R)
• Minerals - S/T (S/R)
• Moving Maps - Eyes to Meet (S/R)
• Neon - S/T (Thrilling Living)
• Neutrals - Promotional Cassette 2 (S/R)
• Pill - Aggressive Advertising (Dull Tools)

Madame X

Madame X’s 10 Favorite Albums of 2017

1. Arian Saleh - Antoinette (S/R)
2. Ibeyi - Ash (XL)
3. Portugal. The Man - Woodstock (Atlantic)
4. Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas - Telephone/Telefono (Instant)
5. Yasmine Hamdan - Al Jamilat (Hamdanistan/Crammed Discs)
6. Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Navigator (ATO)
7. Eljuri - La Lucha (Independent/Manovill)
8. Zola Jesus - Okovi (Sacred Bones)
9. Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai (Merge)
10. Rural Alberta Advantage - The Wild (Saddle Creek)

Madame X’s 10 Favorite Songs Not on Her Top 10 Albums of 2017

• Bonobo - “Kerala” - Migration (Ninja Tune)
• Goran Bregovic with Rachid Taha - “Sos” - Three Letters From Sarajevo (Wrasse)
• Chinese Man - “Malad” - Shikantaza (Chinese Man)
• Emel - “Ensen Dhaif” - Ensen (Partisan)
• The Mountain Goats - “Rain in Soho” - Goths (Merge)
• Overcoats - “Leave the Light on” - Young (Arts & Crafts)
• The Old 97s - “Good with God” - Graveyard Whistling (ATO)
• Sylvan Esso - “Radio” - What Now (Loma Vista)
• Tinariwen - “Imidiwan n-akall-in” - Elwan (Epitaph)
• Wolf Parade - “Lazarus Online” - Cry Cry Cry (Sub Pop)

Majority Whip

Majority Whip's Favorite 2017 Albums, Alphabetized

• Gaye Su Akyol - Hologram İmparatorluğu (Glitterbeat)
• Tony Allen - The Source (Blue Note)
• Arca - Arca (XL)
• Battle of Santiago - La Migra (Made with Pencil Crayons)
• Jaimie Branch - Fly or Die (IARC)
• Brooklyn Raga Massive - Terry Riley in C (Northern Spy)
• Camille - Ouï (Balulalo)
• Clark - Death Peak (Warp)
• Jane Antonia Cornish - Into Silence (Innova)
• Grant Cutler - Self Portrait (Innova)
• Cornelius Duffalo- Journaling 2 (Innova)
• Ensemble, et al. - The Slow Reveal (Imaginator)
• Equiknoxx - ColÛn Man (DDS)
• Flat Worms - Flat Worms (Castle Face)
• Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble - Return (Innova)
• Stanley Grill- At the Center of All Things (Innova)
• Grooms - Exit Index (Western Vinyl)
• Andy Haas - Taballah II (Resonant Music)
• Hauschka - What If (Temporary Residence)
• Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai (Merge)
• Jlin - Black Origami (Planet Mu)
• Marcel Khalife and Mahmoud Darwish - Andalusia of Love (Nagam)
• Kendrick Lamar - Damn (Top Dawg)
• La Misa Negra - La Misa Negra (Nam Entertainment)
• Arto Lindsay - Cuidado Madame (Northern Spy)
• Luka Productions - Fasokan (Sahel Sounds)
• Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition - Agrima (S/R)
• Man Forever - Play What They Want (Thrill Jockey)
• Midnight Sister - Saturn Over Sunset (Jagjaguwar)
• Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed Discs)
• Monster Rally & Rumtum - MR&RT EP (Gold Robot)
• Moon Duo - Occult Architecture (Sacred Bones)
• Gaby Moreno- Ilusion (Metamorfosis)
• Zeena Parkins - Three Harps, Tuning Forks & Electronics (Good Child)
• Robot Koch & Savannah Jo Lack - Particle Fields (Trees & Cyborgs)
• Run The Jewels - RTJ3 (S/R)
• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid (Western Vinyl)
• Alan Sondheim, Azure Carter, and Luke Damrosch - Limit (Public Eyesore)
• Visible Cloaks - Reassemblage (RVNG Int'l)

McGee

Favorite Albums/Reissues From 2017

1. Slowdive - S/T (Dead Oceans)
2. Laura Marling - Semper Femina (More Alarming Records)
3. The Horrors - V (Wolf Tone)
4. Alfa Mist - Antiphon (Pinkbird Recording Co.)
5. Ambrose Akinmusire - A Rift In Decorum: Live At The Village Vanguard (Blue Note)
6. Oddisee - The Iceberg (Mellow Music Group)
7. Zara McFarlane - Arise (Brownswood Recordings)
8. Alice Coltrane - World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music Of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda (Luaka Bop)
9. Boogarins - Lá Vem A Morte (OAR)
10. St. Vincent - Masseduction (Loma Vista)
11. Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau - S/T (Nonesuch)
12. Zola Jesus - Okovi (Sacred Bones)
13. Vijay Iyer Sextet - Far From Over (ECM)
14. Ensemble, et al. - The Slow Reveal (Imaginator)
15. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid (Western Vinyl)
16. Perfume Genius - No Shape (Matador)
17. Blanck Mass - World Eater (Sacred Bones)
18. Tinariwen - Elwan (Epitaph)
19. Esmerine - Mechanics Of Dominion (Constellation)
20. Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives (Warp)

Meaty Paws

Songs that made Radio Great Again in 2017

1. Whiskey Gentry - "Rock and Roll Band" - Dead Ringer (Pitch A Tent)
2. Nikki Lane - "700,000 Rednecks" - Highway Queen (New West)
3. Lisa Leblanc - "Could You Wait 'Til I've Had My Coffee?" - Why You Wanna Leave, Runaway Queen? (Bonsound)
4. William C Beeley - "Little Wheel Spin and Spin & Co'Dine" - Gallivantin' (Tompkins Square)
5. Truckstop Honeymoon - "Big Things and Little Things" - Big Things and Little Things (S/R)
6. Old 97's - "Jesus Loves You" - Graveyard Whistling (ATO)
7. Luke Warm and the Cool Hands - "Ramshackle Shack" - What Makes You Happy (S/R)
8. Private Investigators - "Don't You Know My Love Is Free" - The Case Files of the Private Investigators Reopened (Prize Fighter)
9. Roy Orbison with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - "You Got It" - A Love So Beautiful (Sony)
10. Neil Young - "My Pledge" - Peace Trail (Reprise)
11. Nashville Colonel and His Fabulous Band - "Nashville-Centric Boogie" - COLONEL (KFC)
12. Up and Down - "Down It Goes" - Hell Of A Time (S/R)
13. Deborah Crooks - "Make This House" - Beauty Everywhere (S/R)
14. Laura Benitez - "Imitation Of You" - KALX Live! (KALX)
15. Pokey Lafarge - "Wellington" - Manic Revelations (Rounder)
16. Cash Box Kings - "Build That Wall" - Royal Mint (Alligator)
17. Aki Kumar - "Back to Bombay" - Aki Goes To Bollywood (Little Village Foundation)
18. Sera Cahoone - "Time To Give" - From Where I Started (Lady Muleskinner)
19. Old Crow Medicine Show - "I Want You" - 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde (Columbia)
20. Kevin Fisher - "Last Call" - Beer Me (37)
21. Elena Setien - "Rosilido" - Dreaming of Earthly Things (Yellowbird)
22. Liminanas - "Kostas" - Malamore (Hozac)
23. Roselit Bone - "Dreamless Sleep" - On The Run, Jenny Don't single (S/R)
24. Greg Ashley - "A Sea Of Suckers" - Pictures of Saint Paul (Trouble In Mind)
25. Dale Watson and Ray Benson - "Bus Breakdown" - Dale and Ray (Ameripolitan/Home)
26. Steve Earle and the Dukes - "The Firebreak Line" - So You Wannabe An Outlaw (Warner)
27. Soozee Hwang and the Realistics - "Creator of the Universe" - Accordion Babes 2017 Album (S/R)
28. Nickel Slots - "Garberville" - Five Miles Gone (S/R)
29. Hyperdrive Kittens - "Child Of The Night" - Back To The Alley (Whip N Cream)
30. Brother Spellbinder - "Rolling River" - KALX Live! (KALX)
31. Lynn McCracken - "I Wrote You A Letter" - Acoustic Rainbow Roots Vol 46 (Poetman)
32. Front Country - "Millionaire" - Other Love Songs (Organic)
33. The Wild Reeds - "Fix You Up" - The World We Built (Dualtone)
34. Mayya And The Revolutionary Hell Yeah! - "Phone Is Dying" - Open Minds Open Minds (S/R)
35. Gravel Spreaders - "When The Saints Go Marching In" - KALX Live! (KALX)
36. Little Tortuga - "City By The Sea" - Scotch Hollow (S/R)
37. Julia Jacklin - "Coming Of Age" - Don't Let the Kids Win (Polyvinyl)
38. The Warning - "XXI Century Blood" - XXI Century Blood (S/R)
39. The Ogres - "Uh Huh" - Uh Huh (Hillsdale)
40. 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

Megasoup

So Much Good Music Again This Year. Here Are My Favorites, by the Dozen...

12 Fantastic New International & Reggae Music releases of 2017

• Tony Allen - The Source (Blue Note)
• Antibalas - Where The Gods Are In Peace (Daptone)
• Ariwo - Ariwo (Manana)
• Orchestra Baobab - Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng (World Circuit)
• Gamelan Beleganjur and the Music of the Ngaben Funerary Ritual in Bali - The Gamelan of the Walking Warriors (Akuphone)
• Kondi Band - Salone (Strut)
• Orchestre Les Mangalepa - Last Band Standing (Strut)
• Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed Discs)
• Lee "Scratch" Perry & Subatomic Sound System - Super Ape Returns To Conquer (Subatomic Sound)
• Quantic & Nidia Gongora - Curao (Tru Thoughts)
• Sound Species & Ache Meyi - S/T (Manana)
• Msafiri Zawose - Uhamiaji (Soundway)

12 Superb International and Reggae Reissues & Previously Unreleased Archival Gems

• Baba Zula - XX (Glitterbeat)
• Charles Duvelle & Hisham Mayet - The Photgraphs of Charles Duvelle - Disques OCORA and Collection PROPHET (Sublime Frequencies)
• Serge Gainsbourg & Jean-Claude Vannier - Les Chemins du Kathmandu (Finders Keepers)
• Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Shahen Shah (Realworld)
• George Mukabi - Furaha Wenye Gita (Mississippi/Change).
• Daniel Schmidt and the Berkeley Gamelan - In My Arms, Many Flowers (Recital)
• Barney Wilen - Moshi (SouffleContinu)
• Various Artists - Air Africa (Aziza Disques)
• Various Artists - Saigon Supersound Volume 1 (Saigon Supersound)
• Various Artists - Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes From The Horn Of Africa (Ostinato)
• Various Artists - Version Dread (Studio One)
• Various Artists - Zaire 74 (Wrasse)

12 Excellent Electronic Albums from 2017

• Ashan - Air & Ether (Elestial Sound)
• Brainwaltzera - Poly-Ana (Film Recordings)
• Daniel Brandt - Eternal Something (Erased Tapes)
• David Edren - Electronic Gamelan Music (Social Harmony)
• Forest Swords - Compassion (Ninja Tune)
• Fourtet - New Energy (Text)
• The Future Sound of London - Archived : Environmental : Views  (fsoldigital.com)
• Gas - Narkopop (Kompakt)
• Andy Haas - Taballah II (Resonant)
• Richard Horowitz - Eros in Arabia (Freedom to Spend)
• Jan Jelinek - Loop-Finding Jazz Records (Faitiche)
• Phantom Horse - Als ob (Umor Rex)

12 Lovely Ambient Albums from 2017

• Benoit Pioulard - Lignin Poise (Beacon Sound)
• Channelers - Slow Leaf Spell (Inner Islands)
• Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society (Six Degrees)
• Brian Eno - Reflection (Warp)
• Inner Travels - Sea of Leaves (Inner Islands)
• Chuck Johnson - Balsams (Vin du Select Qualitite)
• Gregg Kowalsky - L'Orange, L'Orange (Mexican Summer)
• Guenter Schlienz - Sterne Über Der Stadt (Pantheophania)
• Secret Pyramid - Two Shadows Collide (Ba Da Bing)
• Pauline Anna Strom - Trans-Millenia Music (Rvng Intl)
• Various Artists - Space, Energy & Light - Experimental Electronic And Acoustic Soundscapes 1961 - 88 (Soul Jazz)
• Various Artists - The Microcosm: Visionary Music of Continental Europe, 1970-1986 (Light in the Attic)

12 Wonderful Post-Rock / Experimental / Avant-Garde / Jazz / Miscellaneous Releases from 2017

• Bing & Ruth - No Home of the Mind (4AD)
• Bitchin' Bajas - Fresh (Drag City)
• Colleen - A Flame, My Love, A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
• Cornelius - Mellow Waves (Warner Music Japan)
• Do Make Say Think - Stubborn Persistent Illusions (Constellation)
• Ensemble Et Al - The Slow Reveal (Imaginator)
• Esmerine - Mechanics of Dominion (Constellation)
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers (Constellation)
• Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble - Return (Innova)
• Hauschka - What If (Temporary Residence)
• Joe Henderson – The Elements (Fantasy)
• X.Y.R. - Labyrinth  (Not Not Fun)

12 Great Song-Oriented Albums from 2017

• Acetone – 1992-2001 (Light in the Attic)
• Bedouine - Bedouine (Spacebomb)
• The Bye Bye Blackbirds - Take Out The Poison (Bye Bye Blackbirds Recordings)
• Can – The Singles (Spoon/Mute)
• The Clientele – Music for the Age of Miracles (Merge)
• Once & Future Band - S/T (Castle Face)
• Tara Jane O'Neil - Tara Jane O'Neil (Gnomonsong)
• Slowdive - Slowdive (Dead Oceans
• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid (Western Vinyl)
• Fletcher Tucker - Cold Spring (Gnome Life)
• Wooden Wand - Clipper Ship (Three Lobed)
• Neil Young – Hitchhiker (Reprise)

Microtone

2017 Albums that spoke to me without uttering a word

• Lav & Purl - A State of Becoming (A Strangely Isolated Place)
• Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - S/T (Six Degrees)
• Bing and Ruth - No Home of the Mind (4AD)
• Hauschka - What If (Temporary Residence)
• Los Angeles Percussion Quartet - Beyond (Sono Luminus)
• X.Y.R. - Labyrinth (Not Not Fun)
• Chuck Johnson - Balsams (VDSQ)
• Tony Allen - The Source (Blue Note)
• Jane Antonia Cornish - Into Silence (Innova)
• Esmerine - Mechanics of Dominion (Constellation)
• Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble - Return (Innova)
• Ensemble, et al. - The Slow Reveal (Imaginator)

Voluble mentionables

• Nicholas Payton - Afro-Caribbean Mixtape (Paytone)
• Saltland - A Common Truth (Constellation)
• Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed Discs)
• Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble - Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds (For Practically Everyone)
• Ariwo - Ariwo (Manana)
• Algiers - Underside of Power (Matador)
• Cornelius - Mellow Waves (Warner Japan/Rostrum)
• EMA - Exile in the Outer Ring (City Slang)
• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid (Western Vinyl)
• Colleen - A Flame My Love, A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
• Sharon Jones - Soul of a Woman (Daptone)

Unearthed archives and fond recollections

• Midori Takada & Masahiko Satoh - Lunar Cruise (WRWTFWW)
• Alice Coltrane - The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda (Luaka Bop)
• Various Artists - Even a Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973 (Light in the Attic)
• Can - The Singles (Spoon)
• Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Akira Symphonic Suite (Milan)

Poindexter

Albums that pleased me in 2017, alphabetically

• Alvvays - Antisocialites (Polyvinyl)
• Chastity Belt - I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone (Hardly Art)
• Jen Cloher - Jen Cloher (Milk!)
• Cold Beat - Chaos By Invitation (Crime on the Moon)
• Colleen - A Flame My Love, a Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
• Downtown Boys - Cost of Living (Sub Pop)
• Flat Worms - Flat Worms (Castle Face)
• French Vanilla - French Vanilla (Danger Collective)
• Girlpool - Powerplant (Anti-)
• Jay Som - Everybody Works (Polyvinyl)
• Omni - Multi-task (Trouble in Mind)
• SOAR - Dark/Gold (Father/Daughter)
• Timber Timbre - Sincerely, Future Pollution (City Slang)
• Unity - Unity (Digital Regress)
• The World - First World Record (Upset The Rhythm)

Songs that pleased me in 2017, alphabetically

• Alvvays - “Plimsoll Punks” - Antisocialites (Polyvinyl)
• Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - “Untogether” - Lotta Sea Lice (Matador)
• B Boys - “Discipline” - Dada (Captured Tracks)
• Beach Fossils - “This Year” - Somersault (Bayonet)
• Chastity Belt - “Different Now” - I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone (Hardly Art)
• Jen Cloher - “Sensory Memory” - Jen Cloher (Milk!)
• Cold Beat - “62 Moons” - Chaos By Invitation (Crime on the Moon)
• Colleen - “Winter Dawn” - A Flame My Love, a Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
• Downtown Boys - “A Wall” - Cost of Living (Sub Pop)
• Escape-ism - “Rome Wasn’t Burnt in a Day” - Introduction to Escape-ism (Merge)
• Flat Worms - “Red Hot Sand” - Flat Worms (Castle Face)
• French Vanilla - “Carrie” - French Vanilla (Danger Collective)
• Girlpool - “It Gets More Blue” - Powerplant (Anti-)
• Girl Ray - “Just Like That” - Earl Grey (Moshi Moshi)
• Grandaddy - “Way We Won’t” - Last Place (30th Century)
• Horrible/Adorable - “Penpal” - Caprice! (Hovercraft)
• Jay Som - “Everybody Works” - Everybody Works (Polyvinyl)
• Kids on a Crime Spree - “Surgical Lights” - Our Love (Emotional Response)
• Mane - “Dying on the Vine” - Alpha Female (Digital Regress)
• Juana Molina - “Paraguaya” - Halo (Crammed Discs)
• Omni - “Equestrian” - Multi-task (Trouble in Mind)
• Ariel Pink - “Feels Like Heaven” - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson (Kemado)
• Priests - “Jj” - Nothing Feels Natural (Polygon)
• Rat Columns - “Someone Else’s Dream” - Candle Power (Upset the Rhythm)
• Rat Fancy - “Five Fingers” - Suck a Lemon (HHBTM)
• Sea Blite - “Cerulean” - Sea Blite (Death)
• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - “To Follow & Lead” - The Kid (Western Vinyl)
• Sneaks - “Looks Like That” - It’s a Myth (Merge)
• SOAR - “Secret Santa” - Dark/Gold (Father/Daughter)
• Terry Malts - “Cheap Mimicry” - Our Love (Emotional Response)
• Timber Timbre - “Western Questions” - Sincerely, Future Pollution (City Slang)
• Unity - “Days” - Unity (Digital Regress)
• Washer - “Dog Go Bark” - All Aboard (Exploding in Sound)
• Why? - “One Mississippi” - Moh Lhean (Joyful Noise)
• The World - “Ghost Town” - First World Record (Upset The Rhythm)

Pop Goes The Weasel

Favorite Songs of 2017

• Alvvays - "Your Type" - Antisocialites (Polyvinyl)
• Michelle Blades - "Most of the Time" - Premature Love Songs (Midnight Special)
• Cornelius - "Helix//Spiral" - Mellow Waves (Rostrum)
• French Vanilla - "Honesty" - S/T (Danger Collective)
• Funk Junkie - You & Me" - Moondirt (S/R)
• I.L.Y.s - "Wash My Hands Shorty" - Bodyguard (Third Worlds)
• Japanese Breakfast -"Diving Woman" - Soft Sounds From Another Planet (Dead Oceans)
• Magnetic Fields - "'93 Me and Fred and Dave and Ted" - 50 Song Memoir (Nonesuch)
• Meklit - "You Are My Luck" - When the People Move the Music Moves Too (Six Degrees)
• Midnite Snaxxx - "Attitude" - Chew on This! (Pelican Pow Wow)
• Perfume Genius - "Slip Away" - No Shape (Matador)
• Pow! - "Back on the Grid" - Crack an Egg (Castle Face)
• Shredders - "Wolfs" - S/T (Doomtree)

Favorite Reissue

• Claude Lombard - Chante (Disques Jacques Canetti)

Pupshaw

PUPSHAW’S INCREDIBLY BIASED GUIDE TO NEW RELEASES AND REISSUES 2K17

BEST NEW ALBUMS

• Priests - Nothing Feels Natural (Polygon)
• Thundercat - Drunk (Brainfeeder)
• Pharmakon - Contact (Sacred Bones)
• Sneaks - It’s a Myth (Merge)
• Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai (Merge)
• Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir (Nonesuch)
• Slowdive - Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
• Wire - Silver/Lead (Pink Flag)
• Moon Duo - Occult Architecture Vols. 1 & 2 (Sacred Bones)
• Mux Mool - Implied Lines (Young Heavy Souls)
• Shabazz Palaces - Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star (Sub Pop)
• Mane - Alpha Female (S/R)
• Midnight Sister - Saturn Over Sunset (Jagjaguwar)
• Side Eyes - So Sick (In The Red)
• Lee “Scratch” Perry & The Subatomic Sound System - Super Ape Returns To Conquer (Subatomic Sound)
• Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun (Sargent House)
• Protomartyr - Relatives In Descent (Domino)
• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid (Western Vinyl)
• Lapalux - Ruinism (Brainfeeder)
• Fever Ray - Plunge (Rabid)
• L.A. Witch - S/T (Suicide Squeeze)
• Zola Jesus - Okovi (Sacred Bones)
• Stacian - Person L (Night School)

BEST REISSUES/COLLECTIONS OF OLD STUFF/ETC

• Elliot Smith - Either/Or (Kill Rock Stars/Universal)
• Buzzcocks - Spiral Scratch EP (Domino)
• Alice Coltrane - The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane (Luaka Bop)
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Lovely Creatures (Mute)
• Carsickness - 1979-1982 (Get Hip)
• Can - The Singles (Spoon)
• Galactic Explorers - Epitaph For Venus (Mental Experience)
• LiLiPUT/Kleenex - First Songs (Kill Rock Stars)

qb(X)

2017 Favorites

• Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda - World Sprituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda (Luaka Bop)
• Amps for Christ - The Plains of Alluvial (Water Wing)
• Benjamin Clementine - I Tell A Fly (Barclay/Virgin)
• Boris - Dear (Sargent House)
• Carl Stone - Electronic Music from the Seventies and Eighties (Unseen Worlds)
• Cristian Naldi - Rurale (Boring Machines)
• Heron Oblivion - The Chapel (S/R)
• Ka Baird & John Saint-Pelvyn - Five Years Inside the Sun (Tools in Common)
• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid (Western Vinyl)
• Myrkur - Mareridt (Relapse)
• Nicole Mitchell - Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds (For Practically Everyone)
• Pharmakon - Contact (Sacred Bones)
• Shadow Band - Wilderness of Love (Mexican Summer)
• The Body & Full of Hell - Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light (Thrill Jockey)
• Tinariwen - Elwan (Anti-)
• White Hills - Stop Mute Defeat (Thrill Jockey)
• Zeena Parkins - Three Harps, Tuning Forks, & Electronics (Good Child)
• Zola Jesus - Okovi (Sacred Bones)

Rubberband Girl

Albums that got me through 2017

• Bei Bei & Shawn Lee - Year of the Funky (Legere Recordings)
• DJ Harrison - Hazy Moods (Stones Throw)
• FKJ - French Kiwi Juice (Roche Musique)
• Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam - I Had a Dream That You Were Mine (Glassnote)
• Lord Echo - Harmonies (Soundway)
• Chico Mann + Captain Planet - Night Visions (Bastard Jazz)
• Alfa Mist - Antiphon (Pinkbird Recording Co.)
• Nite Jewel - Real High (Gloriette)
• Oddisee - The Iceberg (Mello Music Group)
• Paul the Trombonist - Journey to the World (S/R)
• Somi - Petite Afrique (Sony)
• Tuxedo - II (Stones Throw)
• Sefi Zisling - Beyond the Things I Know (Raw Tapes)

Sex 14s

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)

Sherry Darling

30 Most-Played Albums of 2017 (on and off the air)

• All We Are - Sunny Hills (Domino)
• Brokeback - Illinois River Blues (Thrill Jockey)
• Bru Lei - Selfie (Public School)
• Cazyapjazz - Schnaz Delirdi (Anason)
• Couleur Dessin - S/T (Fixture)
• CSC Funk Band - Above the Stars (Electric Cowbell)
• Drab Majesty - The Demonstration (Dais)
• Elan Vital - Shadow Self (Fishrider)
• Erez, Noga - Off The Radar (City Slang)
• Flat Worms - S/T (Castle Face)
• Galactic Explorers - Epitaph for Venus (Mental Experience)
• Gel Set - Body Copy (2MR)
• Haas, Andy - Taballah II (Resonant Music)
• Kane, Kristoff - Forgiven Blood, Kairos, Pt. 1 (Fake Four Inc.)
• Middlemist Red - Ripple Soul (S/R)
• Monster Rally & Rum Tum - MR & RT (Gold Robot)
• Mr. Lif & Brass Menazari - Resiliant (Waxsimile)
• P.O.S. - Chill, Dummy (Doomtree)
• Perrett, Peter - How The West Was Won (Domino)
• Ride - Weather Diaries (Wichita)
• RSXGLD - S/T (Fat Beats)
• Sevdaliza - ISON (Twisted Elegance)
• Shabazz Palaces - Quazarz v. the Jealous Machines and Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star (Sub Pop)
• Sixo - The Odds of Free Will (Fake Four Inc.)
• Stoltz, Kelley - Que Aura (Castle Face)
• Terminals - Antiseptic (Ba Da Bing)
• Tricky - Ununiform (False Idols)
• Why? - Moh Lhean (Joyful Noise)
• Woods, Billy - Known Unknowns (Backwoodz Studioz)
• Your Old Droog - Packs (Droog)

Shrey

Best Tracks 2017

• St. Vincent - "New York" - Masseducation (Loma Vista)
• Rostam - "Bike Dream" - Half Light (Nonesuch)
• The Courtneys - "Tour" - The Courtneys II (Flying Nun)
• Destroyer - "Tinseltown Swimming in Blood" - ken (Merge)
• Wax Idols - "Born Without A Mind" - Evaluate What You Tolerate! Volume 1.
• (Sandy) Alex G - "Powerful Man" - Rocket (Domino)
• The Mountain Goats - "We Do It Different on the West Coast" - Goths (Merge)
• Lil Uzi Vert - "XO Tour Llif3" - Luv Is Rage 2 (Atlantic)
• The Drums - "Blood Under My Belt" - Abysmal Thoughts (Anti)
• Ariwo - "Alafin" - Ariwo (MANANA)
• Shabazz Palaces - "Eel Dreams" - Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star (Sub Pop)
• Younger Lovers - "Ballad Of Two Stubborn Men" - Younger Brothers (Southpaw)

Sparkle Motion

Top 51

• Aldous Harding - Party (4AD)
• Ambrose Akinmusire - A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note)
• Big Thief - Capacity (Saddle Creek)
• Bill Whitley - I Dream Awake (Ravello)
• Bully - Losing (Sub Pop)
• Terry Riley, Stefano Scodanibbio, Del Sol String Quartet, Gyan Riley - Riley: Dark Queen Mantra (Sono Luminus)
• Carl Craig - Versus (InFine)
• Colleen - A Flame My Love, A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
• Cory Hansen - The Unborn Capitalist from Limbo (Drag City)
• Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Navigator (ATO)
• James Holden & The Animal Spirits - The Animal Spirits (Border Community)
• James Whiton - Perchance to Dream (Cinder Cone)
• Jane Antonia Cornish - Into Silence (Innova)
• Jeb Loy Nichols - Country Hustle (City Country City)
• Jen Cloher - Jen Cloher (Milk!)
• Jesca Hoop - Memories Are Now (Sub Pop)
• JLIN - Black Origami (Planet Mu)
• Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed Discs)
• Ka Baird - Sapropelic Pycnic (Drag City)
• Kacy & Clayton - The Siren’s Song (New West)
• Karine Polwart & Pippa Murphy - A Pocket of Wind Resistance (Hudson)
• Kristine Barrett - Ancestors (2016 S/R)
• L.A. Witch - L.A. Witch (Suicide Squeeze)
• LCD Soundsystem - american dream (Columbia/DFA)
• Offa Rex - The Queen of Hearts (Nonesuch)
• Peter Perrett - How the West was Won (Domino)
• Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent (Domino)
• Robert Plant & the Sensational Shape Shifters - Carry Fire (Nonesuch)
• Rodney Crowell - Close Ties (New West)
• Sam Amidon - The Following Mountain (Nonesuch)
• Sergio Cervetti - Sunset at Noon & Triptych Revelation and The Hay Wain (Navona)
• The Clientele - Music for the Age of Miracles (Merge)
• The Dream Syndicate - How Did I Find Myself Here? (ANTI-)
• Choral Works of Scott Perkins [featuring Audivi] - The Stolen Child (Navona)
• The National - Sleep Well Beast (4AD)
• The Weather Station - The Weather Station (Paradise of Bachelors)
• This is the Kit - Moonshine Freeze (Rough Trade)
• Tinariwen - Elwan (Epitaph/ANTI-)
• Tom Rogerson & Brian Eno - Finding Shore (Dead Oceans)
• Tony Allen - The Source (Blue Note)
• Trailer Trash Tracys - Althaea (Domino)
• V.J. Iyer Sextet - Far From Over (ECM)
• Wire - Silver/Lead (Pinkflag)
• Woods - Love is Love (Woodsist)
• Various Artists - Pop Makossa: The Invasive Dance beat of Cameroon 1976-1984 (Analog Africa)
• Various Artists - A Tribute to John D. Loudermilk (Vector Recordings)
• Various Artists - An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert (Blue Rose)
• Various Artists - Like a Drunk in a Midnight Choir (Record Store Day)

Reissues

• Chris Gantry - At the House of Cash (Drag City)
• Beranek - Sound of Danger (Dark Entries)
• William C. Beeley - Gallivantin’ (Tompkins Square)

Favorite Live Performances

• Maria Schneider Orchestra - Zellerbach Hall, Feb 19
• Nels Cline: Lovers - SF JAZZ Center, April 9
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds!!!! - Greek Theatre, June 24
• Tyshawn Sorey - Ojai@Berkeley Festival - Zellerbach Hall, June 17

Suhnharini Vasahn Suundelehguntah

Ten Enchanting Albums Released (or Re-released) in 2017

1. Once And Future Band – Once And Future Band (Castle Face)
2. Planetary Peace – Synthesis (Love All Day)
3. Various Artists – Outro Tempo: Electronic And Contemporary Music From Brazil, 1978-1992 (Music From Memory)
4. Angelo De Augustine – Swim Inside The Moon (Asthmatic Kitty)
5. Oumou Sangaré – Mogoya (No Format!)
6. Soccer Mommy – Collection (Fat Possum)
7. L.A. Takedown – II (Ribbon)
8. Outer Embassy – Outer Embassy (Outer Sound)
9. Various Artists - The Microcosm: Visionary Music Of Continental Europe, 1970-1986 (Light In The Attic)
10. Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society (Six Degrees)

The Muse

30 Best Albums of 2017

• The Whiskey Gentry - Dead Ringer (Pitch A Tent)
• Truckstop Honeymoon - Big Things and Little Things (S/R)
• King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard - Murder of the Universe (ATO)
• Dale Watson & Ray Benson - Dale and Ray (Ameripolitan/Home)
• Parton, Harris And Ronstadt - The Complete Trio Collection (Rhino)
• Omar Souleyman - To Syria, with Love (Mad Decent)
• Aki Kumar - Aki Goes to Bollywood (Little Village Foundation)
• Negativland - Over the Edge Vol. 9: The Chopping Channel (Seeland)
• Wailin' Jennys - Fifteen  (True North)
• Robyn Hitchcock - S/T (Yep Roc)
• Old Crow Medicine Show - 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde (Columbia)
• Rancid - Trouble Maker (Hellcat)
• Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau - S/T (Nonesuch)
• Flogging Molly - Life is Good (Vanguard)
• Elvin Bishop - Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio (Alligator)
• The Klezmatics - Apikiorsim/Heretics (World Village)
• Whit Dickey, Mat Maneri, Matthew Shipp - Vessel In Orbit (Aum Fidelity)
• Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - Rake it in: The Greatest Hits (Fat Wreck Chords)
• The Garden - The Life and Times of a Paper Clip (Burger)
• Randy Newman - Dark Matter (Nonesuch)
• Lee Scratch Perry and the Subatomic Sound System - Super Ape Returns to Conquer (Subatomic Sound)
• Matthew Shipp Trio - Piano Song (Thirsty Ear)
• Dejohnette, Grenadier, Medesky & Scofield - Hudson (Motema)
• Bombpops - Fear of Missing Out (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Cedell Davis - Even the Devil Gets the Blues (Sunyata)
• Tony Allen - The Source (Blue Note)
• The Nickel Slots - Five Miles Gone (S.R.)
• Gary Clark Jr. - Live North America 2016 (Warner Bros.)
• Don Bryant - Don't Give Up on Love (Fat Possum)
• Bette Smith - Jetlagger (Big Legal Mess)

Your Mom

Fave Albums of 2017

• Slowdive - Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
• Beach Fossils - Somersault (Bayonet)
• Xiu Xiu - Forget (Polyvinyl)
• Cold Beat - Chaos By Invitation (Crime on the Moon)
• Damaged Bug - Bunked Funk (Castle Face)
• Angel Olsen - Phases (Jagjaguwar)
• Moon Duo - Occult Architecture Vol.2 (Sacred Bones)
• OCS - Memory of a Cut Off Head (Castle Face)
• Sleaford Mods - English Tapas (Rough Trade)
• Priests - Nothing Feels Natural (Sister Polygon)
• Zola Jesus - Okovi (Sacred Bones)
• Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked at Me (P.W. Elverum & Sun)
• Perfume Genius - No Shape (Matador)
• Pharmakon - Contact (Sacred Bones)
• Downtown Boys - Cost of Living (Sub Pop)
• Shabazz Palaces - Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star (Sub Pop)
• LCD Soundsystem - american dream (Columbia/DFA)
• Fred Thomas - Changer (Polyvinyl) 
• Protomartyr - Relatives in Descent (Domino)
• Kelley Stoltz - Qua Ara (Castle Face)
• Mane - Alpha Female (Digital Regress)
• Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives (Warp)
• EMA - Exile In The Outer Ring (City Slang)
• John Maus - Screen Memories (Ribbon Music)
• Widowspeak - Expect The Best (Captured Tracks)
• Blanck Mass - World Eater (Sacred Bones) 
• Foxygen - Hang (Jajaguwar)
• Sandy (Alex G) - Rocket (Domino)
• A$AP Ferg - Still Striving (RCA)
• Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed Discs)
• Clark - Death Peak (Warp)
• Planning For Burial - Below the House (The Flenser)
• Cherry Glazer - Apocalipstick (Secretly Canadian)
• Alessandro Cortini - Avanti (Point of Departure)
• Chastity Belt - I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone (Hardly Art)

Fave Live Shows of 2017

• Boy Harsher - The Knockout, February 10
• Alex Cameron - The Swedish American Hall, March 31
• PJ Harvey - The Masonic, May 9
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Greek Theatre, June 24
• Nicolas Jaar  - First Avenue (MN), July 14
• Sparks - The Chapel, October 20th
• John Carpenter - The Warfield, November 4

Zephyr

20 Albums I Really Liked in 2017

• Abronia – Obsidian Visions/Shadowed Lands (Waterwing)
• Sam Amidon – The Following Mountain (Nonesuch)
• Ariwo – S/T (Manana)
• RL Boyce – Roll and Tumble (Waxploitation)
• Richard Dawson - Peasant (Weird World)
• Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway (Nonesuch)
• Robyn Hitchcock – S/T (YepRoc)
• Ibeyi – Ash (XL)
• Kacy and Clayton – Siren’s Song (New West)
• LADAMA – S/T (Six Degrees)
• Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir (Nonesuch)
• Emel Mathlouthi – Ensen (Partisan)
• Oh Sees – Orc (Castle Face)
• Old Crow Medicine Show – 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde (Columbia)
• Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris – The Complete Trio Collection (Rhino)
• Rancid – Troublemaker (Hellcat)
• Omar Souleyman – To Syria With Love (Mad Decent Protocol)
• Tinariwen – Elwan (Epitaph/ANTI)
• Wailin’ Jennys – Fifteen (True North)
• Billy Woods – Known Unknowns (Backwoodz Studioz)