Top 40 Albums of 2017 (40-21)

 

Honorable Mention:

Converge, The Dusk in Us

Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Luciferian Towers

Greet Death, Dixieland

Shannon Lay, Living Water

Oddisee, The Iceberg

Pile, A Hairshirt of Purpose

St. Vincent, Masseduction

Kamasi Washington, Harmony in Difference EP

Why, Moh Lhean

Chelsea Wolfe, Hiss Spun

Best Album Covers of 2017

 

With the year coming to a close, it’s that time again to take a look back at some of the best that the music world had to offer in 2017. First up on the “Best of” docket is my annual “Best Album Covers” list. Throughout the year, I kept a list of album covers that I found strange, beautiful, and provocative. This list is a compilation of my favorites from this yearlong collection. Anyone who loves the album as an art form knows the importance of a powerful LP image, and the following 20 covers elevate their corresponding albums.

Top 20 Albums of 2017 (so far)

In the past, I’ve posted this mid-year list at the beginning of June, but I decided that to truly be a mid-year list, I needed to post it in July. This is list is comprised of some of my favorite albums released between January 1^st and June 15^th (there is a two week window in June because I didn’t want to put anything on the list that didn’t have time to marinate). 2017 started slowly in terms of great releases, but the past three months have been chock full of great work by both up-and-coming artists and veterans who have returned with outstanding offerings.

Father John Misty “Pure Comedy”

Father John Misty

Pure Comedy

[Sub Pop; 2017]

Rating: 9

Whenever I listen to Father John Misty’s 2017 release, Pure Comedy, I can’t help but think about the works of one of my all-time favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut. To place Josh Tillman, the man behind FJM, on the same level as Vonnegut would be a bit hyperbolic, but Tillman’s satirical portrayal of a misguided human race is reminiscent of Vonnegut’s hopeless take of humanity.

Video Clip of the Week: Father John Misty “Pure Comedy”

Since I spent the entire month of January listening only to albums released in 1974 (you can hear about it HERE), I’m currently playing a game of catch-up on 2017 releases. I’m hoping to have an album to review by next week, but in the meantime, the BDWPS.com page has been stagnant for the past week and a half. To fill some space, I thought I’d share my favorite release of the year so far in the video for Father John Misty’s “Pure Comedy.” I’m sure many of you have already seen it, but if you haven’t, it’s a glory to behold. The song is also pretty great. Hopefully the site will be back to its normal routine in the next week or so.

Top 40 Albums of 2015 (20-1)

This year didn’t quite live up to the high expectations I had back in January. Artists like Chance the Rapper, Frank Ocean, Jai Paul, Kanye West, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, and The Wrens didn’t make good on their promise for a new full-length album in 2015. Fortunately, others were there to pick up the slack and provide us with some great albums. Below you will find this year’s edition of what I consider the top 40 albums of the year. To read the first 20 entries (40-21), CLICK HERE. On this list you’ll find albums from varying genres and possibly a few albums that are new to you. In a time where you can look up any song on a streaming service and hear it instantaneously, I hold on tightly to a love for the album as a whole, a collection of songs that work off each other, building toward one major theme or mood. As you will see in the list below, I’m a bit obsessed with new music and the art form that is the album. I take great pride in this list and hope that you find something worth checking out by the end.

(To hear my choices for the Top 10 Songs of 2015, go check out the latest Podcast HERE)