The People’s Choices for Album of the Year
The 2017 edition of everyone’s picks for album of the year
How does your music taste compare to this year’s list of everyone’s favourite albums of 2017? Peep the entries below from writers, radio and podcast hosts, and more.
Bronx V by The Bronx
Release date: September 22, 2017
Reviewed by Tracey Lindeman, Transportation writer for Motherboard and freelance writer for hire.
Anyone who knows me (and my collection of band T-shirts) probably could have anticipated this pick. I’m a Bronx devotee — and for good reason. This heavy-hitting LA-based band, led by charming frontman Matt Caughthran, has been putting a modern spin on punk rock and hardcore since its founding in 2002; five eponymous albums and at least a thousand gigs deep into the band’s career and that’s truer than ever. (The Bronx tours relentlessly either as itself, as its more popular alter ego Mariachi el Bronx or occasionally as its surf side project, Pounded By The Surf).
Bronx V captures both the band’s steadfast ethos and its evolving sound, making it accessible to new fans without alienating old ones. Its first two singles — “Two Birds” and “Sore Throat” — are evidence of that. “Two Birds,” with its deeply catchy hooks and a chorus to match, is meant to be a crowd pleaser. “Sore Throat,” on the other hand, is a pounding, frenetic throwback to Bronx I and II. Both are fine tracks, but my favorite on the album for both lyrics and music is the Motörhead-inspired “Fill the Tanks,” followed by the slower, poppier “Channel Islands.”
I’m no music writer, so I’ll give it to you straight: The Bronx is one of the hardest-working bands in punk rock today. All five of their albums are uniquely awesome, but it’s their intense, chaotic live shows that’ll blow you away. If you aren’t already familiar with the Bronx, do yourselves a favour and get acquainted.
Need To Feel Your Love by Sheer Mag
Release date: July 14, 2017
Reviewed by: Erik Leijon, freelance music writer, Polaris Prize juror
I grew up on 90’s CanCon, but I’ll admit I don’t listen to rock music all that much anymore. For the most part, rock ’n’ roll in the 21st century has either been young bands trying to sound like old ones or vice-versa, and it certainly doesn’t speak for the masses the way it used to. So imagine my surprise when I fell under the spell of a humble rock group from Philadelphia with cartoon riffs and a lead singer with the bravado of a pro wrestler.
I think it was Pitchfork’s Stuart Berman who suggested — and I’m heavily paraphrasing here — that Sheer Mag are great because they’re taking back 70’s hook rock from the bros, and it’s that idea that hits me every time I put on Need to Feel Your Love. It’s taking pure classic rock, long ago hollowed out by cynicism, money and machismo, and returning it to its awkward, nerdy garage roots.
So yeah, I spent most of the year listening to Kendrick, Uzi and Future like everyone else, but wedged in between those rap titans and iconoclasts — the true rockstars of the 2000’s — was this brash album that reminded me that rock ’n’ roll isn’t dead yet and there are still stories to tell with just vocals, guitars, bass and drums, even if it’s just a niche thing in 2017.
H.E.R Volume 2 by H.E.R
Release date: June 16, 2017
Reviewed by: Krystal St. John, co-host of The Trend on CJLO 1690AM in Montreal
For the second year in a row H.E.R has done it again. Even though H.E.R stands for Having Everything Revealed, she still found a way to remain anonymous through all the interviews and live performances.
This album is perfect on a Saturday night when you just wanna close your eyes and groove, or even in the car when you’re coasting and want something to sing along to. Volume 2 is very smooth with relatable lyrics.
H.E.R touches on different stages of love in this EP: puppy love, wanting to get back together love, but knowing it won’t work and then the break up. My top 3 songs from the EP are: Gone Away, Every Kind of Way and Changes. Many ladies can relate to Gone Away as H.E.R reminisces on a happy relationship before it was interrupted by miscommunication and lack of. Every Kind of Way is the puppy love track, expressing endless love in a fairy tale state. Changes is the confused track, H.E.R is “fed up with all the games”. Tired of being played she knows that there are other options for her out there, but in the end she “finally realized that all I want is you”.
H.E.R has no features on her tracks, but she was featured in Best Part on Daniel Cesar’s album, Freudian. Their two voices come together and make a powerful duo expressing the beauty of love.
CTRL by SZA
Release date: June 9, 2017
Reviewed by: Elliot Williams, editor-in-chief of UTIOM
I’ve spent the better half of 2017 trying to dissect this album, which perfectly encapsulates the 20-something-year-old experience (hence, the song “20 Something”). With her standout debut studio album, SZA created a versatile tapestry of rhythm and poetic lyrics, perfect for a variety of moods and settings. I’ve played these songs while washing dishes, writing stories, driving downtown, partying, on a date. Basically everywhere.
Each time I play the record, I find a different favorite song — it used to be “Prom,” then “Broken Clocks,” and now it’s “Garden (Say It Like Dat).” Ctrl is the perfect example of how someone so broken (by failed relationships, and by being ‘broke’) can create such an unblemished piece of art. Her voice is sweet and heavy like a warm butter cake. OK, that sounds super weird, but it’s just what her voice feels like to me.
The production on the album is simply insane, influenced by hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and pop. I mean, have you watched the video of how ThankGod4Cody produced “The Weekend” by Genius a million times like I have? It made me want to drop everything and find a crazy sample like that.
Ctrl is a mix of grit, sex appeal (re: “Love Galore”), and bravado. She even beat her labelmate Kendrick Lamar’s D.A.M.N., arguably Lamar’s best album, for TIME album of the year.
And the best part is that we’ve only scratched the surface of what the first lady of Top Dawg Entertainment is capable of. This album, which explores love, betrayal, restlessness, and more, is just one weapon in her arsenal. But I must say, it’s going to be hard to top this one.
Kites by Anik Khan
Release date: April 28, 2017
Reviewed by: Jasmine Gomez, creator of the Song Story Series, bylines in UTIOM, Syracuse.com, Romper, Teen Vogue, Elite Daily, The Stand, and Norwood News
SZA’s Ctrl may have been my favorite album of 2017, but I’d rather tell you about another one of my favorite projects: Queens-based rapper Anik Khan’s Kites. I’ve tried to put as many people as I can onto him, so my friends are probably tired of hearing this, but he’s definitely someone to look out for in the near future. On Kites, Anik, a Bengali rapper who grew up in NYC, raps over beats ranging from soulful to ones that make you want to two-step across a dance floor. His bars cover topics like the immigrant struggled reflected through his personal life and his ambitions regarding what he wants to accomplish for the culture.
Anik’s music can be described as conscious, but his message is calmly delivered, sometimes through metaphors over softer beats. On the title track, Kites, one of my favorites, he raps about his personal journey straddling the worlds between success and failure. He uses the metaphor of a kite flying through the sky. Though, a kite may come down, it falls with grace and though sometimes we may fail, he acknowledges there’s beauty in the struggle.
Anik ‘s lyrics are typically full of positivity and the lessons he’s learned living in a diverse neighborhood. The cultural influences are present in his sound. He dedicates a whole song to the bodega workers, that many times go by “Habibi,” an Arabic term of endearment meaning “my love.” His music is reflective of the melting pot that is NYC. He’s not strictly rap. His sound is harder to define, but nevertheless it’s something we need, especially during a time where combatting hate is more necessary than ever.
Rather You Than Me by Rick Ross
Release date: March 17, 2017
Reviewed by: Lucius P. Thundercat, rapper, previous contributor to the blog’s previous incarnation, mckbook
If I’m being honest with myself, my album of the year has more to do with expectation than objective quality. There is something of a multiplier that I put on the enjoyment I get out of an album If I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was. That’s why DAMN. isn’t my album of the year. Kendrick has never given me anything other than near flawless, unbridled heat and I expected no less as a result.
To be clear, With the exception of Hood Billionaire, Rick Ross does not have a bad album. Zero skips, though? There are very few albums that I can ascribe such praise to. That was my experience with Rather You Than Me. From the opening salvo “Apple of My Eye” complimented by the forever soulful Raphael Saadiq (more Raphael Saadiq in 2018, please!), you knew this was about to be a quality listen.
A combination of impeccable beat selection (Santorini Greece!), penmanship that is still underrated to this day (on full display in “Scientology”), well-placed features and one beef… sorry, one fix your face record in “Idols Become Rivals.
What more does one need in a Rick Ross album? What more does one need in an album, period?
The OOZ by King Krule
Release date: October 13, 2017
Reviewed by: Myles Perkins, co-host of CJLO 1690AM’s “Vibe$tation”
Coming back from an extended social absence avoiding external presence, King Krule drops back into the resurging alt rock scene with one of the more substantial creative offerings of the year. In a 2017 filled with Xan-induced face tats (in the name of “culture”), the young Archy Marshall pulls up in thrifted décor carrying with him a record of raw and unashamed emotional professions.
Marshall’s 2013 studio debut 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, to this day, serves as a sonic bible to a group of artists by the likes of Cosmo Pyke, Yellow Days, Rex Orange County, and other post-adolescent musicians exhibiting a similar youthful expressiveness. With The OOZ, Marshall lets go of conventional structure and rather adopts a looser format, following suite to his previous project (A New Place to Drown) released under his birth-given name.
The instrumentation throughout the record expresses an essence of intense feeling as strikingly beautiful chord selections are mirrored by a metal-creasing eeriness. The album reeks of gloom and filth from which a flower always seems to grow from polluted soil.
In terms of aural aesthetic, King Krule dazedly walks through the abandoned hotel lobby from Wes Anderson’s Life Aquatic in “Logos”, only to deep sea dive back into a drowsy state with songs like “Midnight 01”. The intricate mix and track layering allows Krule to incept himself further into his own personal dreamscape as he pulls us down the rabbit hole along his side. Above all, the song writing is second to few with this one. The London crooner weaves through his depressive states only to find little resolve. His relationships and past experiences left behind a buildup of unwanted gunk and emotional waste oozing through his pores and given a sound through these nineteen tracks.
The pastel pink jet stream piercing through the deep blue abyss of a sky on the album’s cover perfectly captures the glimmering beauty emerging through his dooming sorrow. Colored with life, these songs feel and these songs are felt. Do I cry every time I listen to the title track? I’m a bitch, so of course I do. But you would too.
Slowdive by Slowdive
Release date: May 5, 2017
Reviewed by: Omar Sonics, CJLO Head Music Director, host/producer of Hooked on Sonics on CJLO 1690AM
I’m never up for bands I love putting out reunion records. The expectations are always so high given the band’s increased legacy over time that the set-up setup for failure is stacked against them. Somehow though, returning following a phenomenal reunion tour, shoegaze legends Slowdive not only wrote their first album in 22 years, but a fantastic comeback record of carefully crafted songs with a reverence for the scene from which they came from, and movement forward to wherever they are going.
The self-titled record is full of inspired introspective lyrics, subtle musical nuances showcasing each musician’s evolution over their years apart, and (contrary to most shoegaze albums) a large focus on vocals. The smoothly aged voice of Neil Halstead and the now almost-smouldering Rachel Goswell shine especially on tracks like “No Longer Making Time”, “Everyone Knows”, “Go Get It”, and the standout single “Sugar For the Pill”. Sometimes maturing is ok if you’re graceful, accepting, and welcoming to it.
That’s what this album sounds like: Growth, in its truest, and best, form.
DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar
Release date: April 14, 2017
Reviewed by: Matt Fish, staff writer and Spotify playlist curator at HotNewHipHop.com, Host of the Hip Hop Classics podcast.
Moving away from his experimental, concept album image into more single-friendly territory, Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. continued to showcase his strengths as a writer and showman. “DNA” didn’t waste time setting the tone, spouting fire bars like, “I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA/ I got hustle though, ambition flow inside my DNA” It not only encapsulates the album’s mission statement, but also demonstrates how the ferociousness of his spirit can add even more fire to his art, despite all the scars that have been left behind from his maturation process, both as a rapper and as a man.
Perhaps this LP’s finest hour came during the back-to-back tracks “Lust” and “Love.” The former paints Kendrick as an uncomfortable beneficiary of the sexual pleasures that are often seen as a privilege one is expected to enjoy as a member of rap’s elite. That awkwardness and even fear evaporates on “Love,” where he admits that, if he doesn’t have the affections of the one woman he truly cares for, he’d have “nothin’.” In a more abstract way, the lyrics can be seen as champions for rejecting surface-layer sheen in favour of real human connection.
Lamar still doesn’t fit the trendy mold of a rap superstar. He’d rather goes his own way and make music that satisfies him before anyone else.
