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2017. What. Is. Up.

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We’re pretty much three quarters of the way through 2017, and it strikes me that it’s turning into a really quite excellent year for those of us who believe in the basic concept of new music.

We’ve had great albums from the likes of the XX, Julie Byrne, Young Thug, Vince Staples and Japandroids. Great tunes from Sigrid, Mikey Mike, Stormzy and Harry Styles.

There’s been new Mogwai, new Clark, new Four Tet and new Ryan Adams. Hans Zimmer released his best ever soundtrack work (which is saying something), we had a smattering of Frank Ocean releases
and Surfer Blood delivered on their potential.

It’s been a year where I’ve found certain records have entwined themselves with the books I’ve read, to the point where I find them quite hard to separate. Father John Misty soundtracked the new George Saunders, the excellent Penguin Cafe album was on repeat as I ploughed through the His Dark Materials trilogy, and more recently the new Godspeed You! Black Emperor has proved a suitably apocalyptic backing to Niall Ferguson’s The Pity of War.

Recent weeks have seen the music coming thick and fast. I was still picking my way through the Mogwai record when the new The National arrived. Then GY!BE distracted me. And even yesterday a mate tipped me off to the new Phoebe Bridgers, which released this week and which I’m enclosing a clip from below. Lovely stuff.

All this, and we still have The Disappointment Choir, and god knows what other treats, still to come.

Here’s my running playlist of 2017’s best music so far. Hopefully a little something for everyone.

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Comments

  7. Love the playlist – some crackers there
    This is floating my boat right now ‘Domino’ by Hiss Golden Messenger from the wonderful new album
    ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’

    • That Hiss Golden Messenger album is really very good.
      And this post has jogged my memory that I didn’t include Penguin CafĂŠ in my list of best albums of 2017 that I compiled last week in anticipation of when the post pops up on here.

    • Brian just blew me away. I am in love and want to have his puppies.

      Thanks also Kid D and Bingo for bringing Phoebe B to my attention. Love at first listen there. She had me wagging my tail as much as Brian was.

  10. Yes! It’s been a fantastic year for new music! David Crosby, Neil Young, Steve Stills, Santana, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones … I’m keeping my Review Round-Up for the end of the year Best Of.

    (But yes, Brian is this year’s big, big best of!)

  11. If I’m honest, I’m a little disappointed with the new Mogwai album and the new The xx one. My favourite albums so far this year have come from Kendrick Lamar, Brother Ali, Binary Star, Jane Weaver, Young Thug, Gary Numan, Future, Forest Swords, Lorde, Bonobo, Nick Heyward, Wiley, Stormzy, Dizzee Rascal, Sampha, J Hus, Murs and The Charlatans, who have done their best album for donkeys years.

    The new War On Drugs one is good too, but the first time I heard it I was a little distracted and had to check the iPod hadn’t gone funny, as it seemed to be playing an 80s Dylan track, but no, it was still War On Drugs, wearing their influences on their sleeves.

    I need to have a few more listens to the new albums by Grieves, Jehst, Loyle Carner, Oddissee, Showbiz & A.G., Thievery Corporation, Feist, The National and Vince Staples, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard from the first couple of listens. So, as there has been for the past few years, there’s going to be a solid couple of dozen great albums from 2017.

    Actually, I’m just having my first full listen to Dhani Harrison’s first solo album. I really like the You Are Here album from his group thenewno2 from a few years ago and so far (I’m up to track 4) this solo album is fab too. Certainly a long way from Julian Lennon!

  13. Hmmm… I’m not so sure it’s a classic year.
    Having caught the gist of this thread I scribbled down the first 25 albums I could think of and none of them feature on Mr Bingo’s list so there’s certainly a breadth of material but I’ve not (yet!) heard the sort of truly outstanding stuff we had last year, for example.
    No new Chance record this year, but selecting “ch” throws up these three as yet unmentioned:


    (Chicano Batman – Flecha Al Sol)


    (Cody Chesnutt – Bullets In The Street And Blood)


    (Chronixx featuring Chronicle -Big Bad Sound)

    • I think that’s fair. Lots and lots of lovely new stuff, but there’s been nothing to hit the heights of Blonde, JEFFREY, New Bermuda or Carrie & Lowell.

      Still, it’s been nice to have fresh thrills along with such regularity, and the sheer variety in the music has been great too.

  14. I don’t know if I’m an outlier or the voice of the silent majority here (and I’m wary of throwing such a downer on a positivity-infused thread) but I haven’t heard a single thing in 2017 that has really grabbed my attention.

    But I’m always slow to catch on. Give me a decade and I’ll be raving about 2017 as a vintage year.

  15. If this Runaround I would run to the circle that said ‘Classic Year’.

    Lots of the ones named above but also Andrew Combs, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Async, QOTSA, Paul Draper, Offa Rex, Dan Baird, Matthew Sweet, Julie’s Haircut, Benjamin Biolay, Trans Am, Kelly Lee Owens, Grandaddy…..

    But then there’s the mighty new Motorpsycho opus

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rs_tKGAAVM

    but best of all, and on its way to best album of at least the last few years – nothing tickles my fancy more than the Scary Monsters/Remain In Light-esque LCD Soundsystem

  16. My vote so far goes to Conor Oberst – Salutations.

    Sparks – Hippopotamus is coming up fast on the rails.

    Len Price 3 returned with their fifth album last month.

    And I may be alone here, but two brothers from Manchester are about to release solo albums with in a month of each other
    Liam Gallagher – As You Were arrives next week, and Noel Gallagher – Who Built The Moon? in November

  17. Three records have floated my boat over the last few weeks, especially the re-release of Bright Phoebus, which is ace, along with Alden, Patterson & Dashwood (Snappy name) and Bess Atwood. I’ve been on a buying binge just recently but I need time to catch up with it all.

  18. I’ll throw a few more in: Arca, Tinariwen, Sampha, The Magnetic Fields, Jlin, Pere Ubu, Yazz Ahmed, SZA, Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet and, best of all, Vijay Iyer Sextet.

    But what a year for ‘historical’ recordings!

    Thelonious Monk – Les Liasons Dangereux, The Beach Boys – 1967, Dusty Springfield – A Brand New Me, Neil Young – Hitchhiker, Sgt Pepper remix, Lodger remix (if that counts), Lal & Mike Waterson – Bright Phoebus and, top of the tree, Bill Evans – Another Time.

    • Hi there Tigger,

      1. Following your review of the Vijay Iyer Sextet album, Kaisfatdad and I purchased tickets to see the band live in Stockholm. The gig is coming up in less than two weeks. Looking forward to it.

      2. I haven’t bought the Bill Evans – Another Time album. I thought that it would be very similar to the previous Evans release on Resonance, “Some Other Time”, which was recorded in the studio only two days before “Another Time” with a very similar track listing. But … judging from your enthusiasm, maybe I should’ve picked up the new release after all!

      3. I have a feeling that the new Mammal Hands album “Shadow Work” (out on 27 October) will be very good.

      4. “Together, As one” by Dinosaur, led by Laura Jurd on trumpet, might be up your street. Some parts of it have a bit of an “In a Silent Way” flavour about them.

      • Another Time is better than Some Other Time, same trio playing live, the young Jack DeJohnette bringing a freshness and a new vitality to Bill’s piano. Their interaction is closer, sparkier and more inventive than in the studio. Some Other Time is arguably a mere rehearsal.

        I can’t wait for Mammal Hands and I bet Vijay’s gig will be fantastic. And, yes, Dinosaur are great. Forget about that one.

    • Ooh, just remembered that the long awaited CD version of last year’s Bob Marley Live! package is out this month. I seem to remember that you were just as disappointed as me when it was vinyl-only on release.

  19. I’ve been enjoying the playlist, Bingo. I don’t like everything but it makes a good argument that there is a lot of fine music being released in 2017.

    This morning, this jangly, catchy, rather slackerish duet between Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile caught my ear.

      • That Courtney and Kurt album is great. Be interesting to see whose career it helps the most. Courtney Barnett made a brilliant debut album (discounting the ep) but then seemed to get writers block by all accounts. Kurt has apparently helped her as her next solo album isn’t far off. He has been around much longer but I would argue she is the bigger artist of the two these days.

  20. Just bumping the thread, because 2017 is the year that just keeps on giving…

    (1) One of These Days – Bedouine

    I know I hype a lot of stuff that’s (ahem) minority interest on here, but this is a record that I’m actually fairly confident that some of you might enjoy. So much so, that someone has probably reviewed it already without my noticing (Kid D – I’m looking at you), particularly given that it’s been out since June.

    The tune has a lovely Nanci Griffith vibe to it, she has a beautiful, clear voice, and the album (her debut) is well worth checking out too – it’s on Spacebomb, and has a very familiar production, so those of you who enjoyed Natalie Prass may also like this.

    (2) Bad and Boujee – Migos

    Raindrops. Drop top.

    You can go find the original version yourselves if you like. This live performance is one of my favourite music moments of the year. Has a strong argument for being THE track of 2017.

    (3) Mandarynne – Billy Corgan

    Good taste be damned, I am loving this song. Sounds fabulous on the way home to people you love.

    (4) Champions League – Krept & Konan

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EUC2WTLhwU

    Tremendous beat, and house-shaking bass. Also continues K&K’s wonderful habit of having a bloke just saying things (“ka-boom”, “woof”, “yeah!”, “splash”) in the off-beat, which always makes me smile.

    • I did listen to Bedouine earlier in the year, but it didn’t really connect with me. I wasn’t that fussed about Natalie Prass, though, so Bingo’s comparison might well hold true. I did like the cover, mind you.

      There’s been two stand out releases in November so far for me. I’ve gone on about Ezra Collective elsewhere, but the other is the blistering new record from Converge. They operate where punk bleeds into metal, and this new one is at least the equal of anything else in their catalogue. Essential for anyone with an interest in heavy music.

  22. Eh? Posting something “Some of (the AW) might enjoy”? There’s a novel idea..
    This lot are a bit country✔️and also like to rock out✔️now and again:

    (The Wild Reeds – Fruition)

    This is what happens when musicians get bitten by a radioactive copy of Scott 3 just before going into the studio:

    (CousteauX – BURMA)

    And this is just delightful. What’s wrong with you?:

    (Deep Throat Choir – Burning)

    Re Bingo’s comment on number 4 (above), I was listening to this year’s record The Ragga Twins made with Wrongtom and thinking about poor old Nick Cave up in his garret with his big frowny forehead agonising for a week over the precise adjective to describe some lady’s wrist, while the Freedom Train hitmakers, whenever they feel their song needs a push, just shout “Ragga Twins!” to devastating effect…

    • I’m going to start doing it with my posts. (WHAT?)

      Any time they’re feeling a bit dull (O-KAY), I’m going to hit this button here (BUTTON! BUTTON!) and just liven em up a bit (WE LIVE!).

  24. Rather nice and I am no longer surprised, having heard the stuff that our resident teenager is listening to.

    Here’s another recent chart topper. It’s TOTP but not as we know it.

    Yesterday I was told to listen to this.

  25. Agreed. It’s a great 2017. The first half was good but lately we’ve had a new Marilyn Manson (‘Heaven Upside Down’*), great Drum & Bass from Om Unit (‘Self’) and Gerra & Stone (‘Polarism’), as well as a dirty new mix from Mefjus on Fabric. Industrial-flavoured techno from RødhĂĽd with ‘Anxious’, a brilliant, ambitious second album from Special Request (‘Belief System’), fuzzy psych from JuJu (‘Our Mother Was A Plant’), and a cracking new album from Dave Clarke (‘Desecration Of Desire’), which features Mark Lanegan, who also turns up on UNKLE’s newie, ‘The Road, Part One’. Oh and then of course there’s Godspeed. Oh, and I love Protomartyr, who remind me of Blue Aeroplanes in a good way.

    Yet another indifferent offering from Weatherall, so I’m off that bus for good, and I’m unmoved by Mogwai despite really trying. Otherwise it’s a thumbs-up from me.

    (*Not exactly vintage, but I’ve got a bit of a weak spot where Maz is concerned.)

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