Here is what I thought of music in 2017
2017 was an interesting year in every happenstance way possible. I moved in with my girlfriend, the first time I have ever done that in life. I moved to Beacon Hill, Seattle, my first time below the ship canal bridge since I graduated college. Donald Trump became president, and I watched with horror as the rights of persons of color came under attack, the rights of women came under attack, the rights of LBTG+ came under attack — pretty much the rights of everyone not a upper class white male came under attack.
At the same time, I marched with roughly an entire city’s worth of people in support of all of mentioned above (except for upper class white male) causes. I watched as people took meaningful action to try and remind the world that hey, the United States isn’t trying to bring about the apocalypse. I watched as my city and my state became bearers of progressive hope in the face of an onslaught of hatred, misogony, bigotry, and an all-around fear that a much needed upheavel of the social fabric was finally, just maybe, gaining the momentum it has sorely desired for the past couple of millennia.
At the forefront of my year, like always, was my musical choices. I saw 28 concerts comprising of 53 bands, at thirteen different venues, in three different cities, in three different states. After the culmination of the annual Music Weekend, this time sponsored by Wil Kristin and taking place in the foothills outside of White Salmon, Washington, it is time to do what I always love to do about everything: write shit
Top 15 albums of 2017:
First up, the honorable mentions.
- Pallbearer — Heartless
- White Reaper — The World’s Best American Band
- Hiss Golden Messenger — Hallelujah Anyhow
- Mogwai — Every Country’s Sun
- Valerie June — The Order of Time
- Vince Staples — Big Fish Theory
10. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (all five albums)
I got truly turned on to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with last year’s beyond fantastic Nonagan Infinity. When the band announced at the beginning of the year they played on releasing five albums, I scoffed at the amount. I don’t know much about recording, but five albums seems like a lot. It truly was. I’m not sure that King Gizzard needed to release five albums this year, but there are portions of Murder of the Universe and Polygandwanaland that are beyond amazing. It is probably cheating to put five albums total in one spot, but I feel like if there was more focus this year, the Gizzards would’ve replicated last year’s success. That is 13 albums in five years for these maniacs. I expect them to slow down a bit.
09. Wand — Plum
I first was turned onto these guys when they appeared as Ty Segall’s backing band at Pickathon as The Rolling Stoned. They played the festival as that, alongside playing the festival as themselves. I haven’t listened to really any Wand prior to this album, but they surprised me quite a bit. I was expecting some more Ty Segall lite — especially considering the band is signed to the same label. I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I’m happier for it.
08. Ibeyi — Ash
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Here comes another Pickathon reference: I was stoked to see these two women at Pickathon a couple of years ago, but there musical equipment was lost on the flight over from France. Last year, too much of my top 10 was white man playing rock and roll, so I made a concentrated effort to break out of that mold for 2017. Ibeyi is a prime example. Ash is a wild blend of Afro-Cuban, jazz, and electronica, and it works together beautifully. The Michelle Obama voiceover on “No Man is Big Enough for My Arms” is exactly what this world needs to hear more of. The LP is also one of the most beautiful I purchased this year.
07. The War on Drugs — A Deeper Understanding
It is pretty much a given now that if The War on Drugs releases an album I’m going to dive all over it. At least for now. I wasn’t nearly as high on this album as I was on Lost in the Dream. Quite a bit of A Deeper Understanding seems like too logical of an extension of the last effort, and at times, just a bit too War on Drugs. Now, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because the equation is just so perfect, but it would be nice to see a bit of variety in the future. It is the spice of life after all.
06. Kendrick Lamar — DAMN.
I’m going to be an idiotic white man here and say this album is largely here because of everyone else’s chatter. Which is not to say I didn’t immensely enjoy this album and the effort from Kendrick here, but I am not enough of a rap/hip-hop listener to truly understand the importance of that effort. The fact that Kendrick Lamar is able to release albums that contain some absolute bangers for nerdy buffoons like me is a testament to his ability as an artist.
05. Meatbodies — Alice
The Meatbodies set at the Galaxy Barn during Pickathon a couple of years ago will go down in my own personal history as a top 10 show I have ever seen. Seeing the Meatbodies again this year, this time at the Tractor Tavern, cemented their status as a top-five album solely because of that live energy. In a year where I saw the Grateful Dead again (sort of), the Meatbodies helped remind me the power of how much a good live show matters. Alice is not how the Meatbodies mean to present the album — that is reserved for the live setting. But even in its studio infancy, its a psychedelic trip down an avenue lined with tall rock riff trees, where the population head bangs along as they plod to their next destination.
04. Do Make Say Think — Stubborn Persistent Illusions
Here is a band that I never expected to make another album. I’m still a god damn sucker for post-rock albums, especially ones done well. The “Bound” and “And Boundless” combo might be one of the better back-to-back tracks on any album this season (despite the fact I am not allowed to play “And Boundless” in my own home because it sounds too much like an alarm clock according to the other resident of the establishment). “Return, Return Again” is probably one of the most majestic closing tracks of the year. When every morning I just woke up wishing just about everyone with a megaphone would shut the hell up, it was nice to get some reprieve from it all in the form of an instrumental blast.
03. Margo Price — All American Made
Margo Price is one badass woman, and that is all there is to say about that. This album perfectly resonates with mainstream issues and topics, but still at its heart, sounds exactly like a country record should — authentic and full of soul (and whiskey). Granted, the track with Willie Nelson on it sounds like she rousted him from his grave for a quick six minute recording session, but all the other songs on here are phenomenal. It is a tour of the world through Margo Price’s eyes, from things about idiots doing cocaine to the gender pay gap in the work force.
02. Converge — The Dusk in Us
This album absolutely blew me away. I’ve been listening to Converge for quite some time now, and I am always amazed at how they are able to keep fine-tuning and evolving their sound within the semi-limited constraints of pure, crazy, thrash that the band exists in. The joke for this album is that this is Converge for dads. The band slowed down a little bit, but the album is still chalk full of angst, anger, betrayal, and hope — common Converge themes. And of course, the guitars shred more than any other guitars shred on any album.
01. Hurray for the Riff Raff — The Navigator
My favorite albums are often influenced by the bands I saw live. Like the Meatbodies, this album probably wouldn’t be as high as it was if I didn’t see the show. The Hurray for the Riff Raff show this year at The Crocodile was without a doubt the most intense show I saw this year. And this album perfectly reflects that intensity. Alynda Segarra’s story of immigration through the eyes of a Puerto-Rican is powerful, both because it rings so true in her life, and also because it rings so true in all of our lives due to the current political debacle that is the U.S.A. During the show, they had a banner behind the band that just simply read, “We are all in this together.” That simple statement gave me hope in a year where hope was sometimes impossible to find. That show gave me a feeling of unity and connection from a group all the way across the globe. No other album or group connected me like that this year, and that is why Hurray for the Riff Raff sits at the top.
