Top 50 Albums of 2017

2018 is here already and along with our warmest wishes for the New Year, we are presenting today our 50 favorite albums of 2017 and the perfect soundtrack to start Cool Music Central's tenth year on Blogger!

It seems unbelievable that we've gotten this far, especially since our beloved rock 'n' roll seems to be losing favor these days, a fact that becomes obvious when you check out the majority of year-end lists out there. We will press on however because I do believe that things will turn around for guitar music. Even in a year where the media's attention was focused elsewhere, there were plenty of excellent rock records around and some of them you'll find in the Top 50 we are presenting today.

It is true that in 2017 we didn't have any albums that felt like game changers, so selecting the Album of the Year was trickier business than usual, as no release stood clearly above the others. In the end we were able to narrow it down to three possible candidates and the honor was finally bestowed upon LCD Soundsystem's "American Dream", a record that managed to find a place in several year-end lists and to even reach the Number One spot in a few of them.

In a year where we had a plethora of impressive comebacks and reunions, some of them even after several decades (The Jesus And Mary Chain, Slowdive, Ride, The Dream Syndicate are some of the bands that immediately come to mind), it is fitting that a returning act would end up claiming the Album of the Year honor. James Murphy has been worrying about losing his edge ever since LCD Soundsystem started, and this uneasiness has always been the source of great music for them. Their return to action after almost seven years has proven that the period spent in limbo was actually beneficiary for the band as they have managed to make a record that feels every bit as important as their first two LPs that helped to define the musical identity of the noughties. Who would have thought that getting older and (perhaps) wiser could be just as valuable a source of inspiration for excellent dance rock music as being young and out of your mind!

The other two records that effectively share the honor of being our Top Albums of the Year along with LCD Soundystem's return, were St. Vincent's "Masseduction" and Algiers' "The Underside of Power".

St. Vincent continued her impressive, ever changing and always innovative trajectory that make her one of the most inspiring music creators of this decade. The sound of "Masseduction" openly flirted with today's dance pop music, but in reality this was a chameleon's camouflage hiding its idiosyncrasies and deeply personal confessions in plain sight, somewhere in the crowded dance floor.

Algiers made one of the strongest protest records of 2017, in a year where getting political became more and more a necessity. The strong views and feelings expressed in their songs were accompanied by a potent mixture of gospel, soul, hip hop, garage and punk rock music that always felt on the brink of explosion without sacrificing any of its tunefulness. The dance-rock revolution begins here!

Here's our selection of the best albums of 2017 based, of course, on what we were able to listen to so far. We are always on the lookout for records that may have slipped under our radar and an updated, final version of this list will appear in Cool Music Database sometime in the next few months. For now though, this is our Top 50:

Top 50 Albums of 2017

1.   American Dream - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
2.   Masseduction - ST. VINCENT
3.   The Underside of Power - ALGIERS
4.   Holiday Destination - NADINE SHAH
5.   Plunge - FEVER RAY
6.   Run The Jewels 3 - RUN THE JEWELS
7.   Hot Thoughts - SPOON
8.   Modern Kosmology - JANE WEAVER
9.   Relatives in Descent - PROTOMARTYR
10. Rock n Roll Consciousness - THURSTON MOORE
11. Damage and Joy - THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
12. Antisocialites - ALVVAYS
13. Out in the Storm - WAXAHATCHEE
14. Whiteout Conditions - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
15. A Deeper Understanding - THE WAR ON DRUGS
16. Damn. - KENDRICK LAMAR
17. Sleep Well Beast - THE NATIONAL
18. In Spades - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
19. Gargoyle - MARK LANEGAN
20. Slowdive - SLOWDIVE
21. Death Song - THE BLACK ANGELS
22. How Did I Find Myself Here? - THE DREAM SYNDICATE
23. Hey Mr Ferryman - MARK EITZEL
24. Painted Ruins - GRIZZLY BEAR
25. Lotta Sea Lice - COURTNEY BARNETT AND KURT VILE
26. Moonshine Freeze - THIS IS THE KIT
27. Semper Femina - LAURA MARLING
28. Soft Sounds From Another Planet - JAPANESE BREAKFAST
29. Nothing Feels Natural - PRIESTS
30. Hug of Thunder - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
31. Cry, Cry, Cry - WOLF PARADE
32. Weather Diaries - RIDE
33. Brood X - BOSS HOG
34. Flying Microtonal Banana - KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD
35. Ty Segall - TY SEGALL
36. Cost of Living - DOWNTOWN BOYS
37. Apocalipstick - CHERRY GLAZERR
38. ken - DESTROYER
39. Exile in the Outer Ring - EMA
40. Electric Trim - LEE RANALDO
41. In Between - THE FEELIES
42. Last Place - GRANDADDY
43. Everything Now - ARCADE FIRE
44. Visions of a Life - WOLF ALICE
45. Near to the Wild Heart of Life - JAPANDROIDS
46. Life Without Sound - CLOUD NOTHINGS
47. Occult Architecture Vol. 1 - MOON DUO
48. New Facts Emerge - THE FALL
49. Silver / Lead - WIRE
50. Strange Peace - METZ

Also recommended:

TFCF - LIARS, English Tapas - SLEAFORD MODS, Every Valley - PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING, Fujiya & Miyagi - FUJIYA & MIYAGI, Offering - CULTS, Powerplant - GIRLPOOL, In Mind - REAL ESTATE, Heartworms - THE SHINS, Love in the 4th Dimension - THE BIG MOON, Future Politics - AUSTRA, The French Press - ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER, in•ter a•li•a - AT THE DRIVE-IN, Villains - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, The Tourist - CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH, Polygondwanaland - KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD, Volcano - TEMPLES, Humanz - GORILLAZ, I See You - THE XX, Oczy Mlody - THE FLAMING LIPS, Occult Architecture Vol. 2 - MOON DUO, Losing - BULLY, The Witch - PUMAROSA, Hang - FOXYGEN, Low in High School - MORRISSEY, Okovi - ZOLA JESUS, Hiss Spun - CHELSEA WOLFE, V - THE HORRORS, Flat Worms - FLAT WORMS, Choir of the Mind - EMILY HAINES & THE SOFT SKELETON, Tourist in This Town - ALLISON CRUTCHFIELD, Everybody Works - JAY SOM, Love is Love - WOODS, Phases - ANGEL OLSEN

Top 50 Tracks of 2017

We're in the last week of the year which means it's time for the two lists that matter the most; our selection of the best new music released in the past 12 months, chosen among the hundreds of cds and digital files plus the few vinyl records (old habits die hard) we have added in our collection in 2017!

Let's start today with our 50 favorite tracks of the year and we'll keep, as tradition dictates, the album list for our first post of the new year. The "singles" list, as we used to call it when 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl releases still mattered as a means of getting your best songs out to the fans, is made up of stand out tracks from albums released during the year plus a few selections from stand-alone singles and EPs. As we usually do, only one track is included from each artist or band in order to be able to narrow down the selection to just 50 songs and to represent as many of our favorite releases of the year as possible.

So, let's leave the music speak for itself and without any reverse countdown nonsense (don't you always start by checking out the number one of a list before deciding if you are interested to see the rest?), here are the 50 tracks that mattered the most for Cool Music Central in 2017, starting with St. Vincent dripping poison about L.A.'s celebrity culture while mourning the loss of a lover and LCD Soundsystem waxing philosophical about mortality and living in the moment over one of the most catchy dance tunes that James Murphy and co. have ever created:

Top 50 Tracks of 2017

1. Los Ageless - ST. VINCENT

2. Tonite - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

3. The Architect - JANE WEAVER

4. Evil - NADINE SHAH

5. Hot Thoughts - SPOON

6. The Underside Of Power - ALGIERS

7. DNA. - KENDRICK LAMAR

8. To the Moon and Back - FEVER RAY

9. Day I Die - THE NATIONAL

10. In Undertow - ALVVAYS

11. Silver - WAXAHATCHEE
12. French Press - ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER
13. Amputation - THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
14. Don't Get Captured - RUN THE JEWELS
15. Holding On - THE WAR ON DRUGS
16. Demon in Profile - THE AFGHAN WHIGS
17. Beehive - MARK LANEGAN
18. The Last Ten Years - MARK EITZEL
19. My Children - PROTOMARTYR
20. Cease Fire - THURSTON MOORE
21. Over Everything - COURTNEY BARNETT AND KURT VILE
22. High Ticket Attractions - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
23. Tinseltown Swimming in Blood - DESTROYER
24. Mourning Sound - GRIZZLY BEAR
25. Road Head - JAPANESE BREAKFAST
26. Soothing - LAURA MARLING
27. Sister Green Eyes - JOSEFIN ÖHRN + THE LIBERATION
28. Mad As Hell - U.S. GIRLS
29. Aryan Nation - EMA
30. Cred Woes - LIARS
31. Cali - RIDE
32. Sugar for the Pill - SLOWDIVE
33. 3 O'Clock - BLONDE REDHEAD
34. Formula X - BOSS HOG
35. Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas) - DOWNTOWN BOYS
36. Nothing Feels Natural - PRIESTS
37. I Took Your Picture - CULTS
38. Everything Now - ARCADE FIRE
39. Skyline - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
40. Currency - THE BLACK ANGELS
41. Glide - THE DREAM SYNDICATE
42. Near to the Wild Heart of Life - JAPANDROIDS
43. Short Elevated Period - WIRE
44. Evermore - GRANDADDY
45. It Gets More Blue - GIRLPOOL
46. Special - ANGEL OLSEN
47. Darling - REAL ESTATE
48. Follow The Leader - FOXYGEN
49. Sucker - THE BIG MOON
50. Don't Delete the Kisses - WOLF ALICE

Listening Habits: 08-09.2017

The period between the ending of summer and the beginning of autumn is usually associated with a melancholic mood, but with so much great new music coming our way in these last couple of months we didn't really have any reason to feel sad.

2017 is shaping up to be one of the better years in a decade where there is a lot of uncertainty regarding where music as an art form is heading to, what is its value for people and how the industry that relies on it will adopt to the rapidly changing technological environment.

Even though record sales are down and the physical format seems more and more like a relic of the previous century, the flow of great music from both new and old acts is still strong and there is plenty of evidence of that in our latest list of recommended new albums and tracks. Although it feels sometimes that there are no new ideas or fresh musical movements any more, the mixing and matching of different styles from the past and the co-existence on the scene of brand new artists and seasoned veterans produces interesting results that show there is still life in our post-rock 'n' roll, digital world.

The triumphant return of LCD Soundsystem after seven years with the ambitious "American Dream", a record on par with their best efforts from the past decade, claims the top of our latest New Albums list, followed closely by the passionate, politically charged "Holiday Destination", the excellent third effort by Nadine Shah, a record inspired by the refugee crisis and the paranoid reactions against everyone who is seen as a "foreigner".

Other great records we've listened to in the last couple of months include the latest efforts by Alvvays, Waxahatchee, The National, Broken Social Scene and Japanese Breakfast, the solo project of the very talented Michelle Zauner. The list goes on and the fact that our all-time favorite band, The Fall, is only at number 9, is further evidence of the quality on offer in this latest batch of 2017's new releases:

Top 16 Albums

1.   American Dream - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
2.   Holiday Destination - NADINE SHAH
3.   Antisocialites - ALVVAYS
4.   Out In The Storm - WAXAHATCHEE
5.   Sleep Well Beast - THE NATIONAL
6.   Hug Of Thunder - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
7.   Soft Sounds From Another Planet - JAPANESE BREAKFAST
8.   Painted Ruins - GRIZZLY BEAR   
9.   New Facts Emerge - THE FALL
10. Exile In The Outer Ring - EMA
11. Everything Now - ARCADE FIRE
12. Fujiya & Miyagi - FUJIYA & MIYAGI13. TFCF - LIARS
14. Villains - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
15. In*ter a*li*a - AT THE DRIVE-IN
16. The Tourist - CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Tonite - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
2.   Los Ageless - ST. VINCENT
3.   Wait In The Car - THE BREEDERS
4.   Day I Die - THE NATIONAL
5.   Evil - NADINE SHAH
6.   Silver - WAXAHATCHEE
7.   In Undertow - ALVVAYS
8.   Road Head - JAPANESE BREAKFAST
9.   Protest Song - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
10. Mad As Hell - U.S. GIRLS
11. Cred Woes - LIARS
12. Aryan Nation - EMA
13. Mourning Sound - GRIZZLY BEAR
14. Tinseltown Swimming In Blood - DESTROYER
15. Put Your Money On Me - ARCADE FIRE
16. Serotonin Rushes - FUJIYA & MIYAGI
17. New Facts Emerge - THE FALL
18. Hostage Stamps - AT THE DRIVE-IN
19. The Evil Has Landed - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
20. The Pilot - CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH

 

Killer Tracks: The 2017 Playlist Vol.3

It's been some time since our previous 2017 Playlist, time to add a few more killer tracks to the mix:

Japanese Breakfast - Road Head

 LCD Soundsystem - Tonite

Fujiya & Miyagi - Impossible Objects of Desire

Liars - Cred Woes

 The National - Day I Die

Grizzly Bear - Mourning Sound

Alvvays - Dreams Tonite

Nadine Shah - Holiday Destination

EMA - Down and Out

Broken Social Scene - Skyline

The Top 20 Albums of the '00s: Number 16

LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (2005, DFA)

The dance-punk album of the decade. "Sound Of Siver" is also an excellent record and the one that will probably feature in the majority of similar lists, but my personal favorite is their eponymous debut which also included a second cd with the first singles featuring the awesome "Losing My Edge", one of my Top 10 singles of the '00s. Read more about it in our 2005 review and in this review from AllMusic.

LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge

Counting Down The '00s: The Best Of 2005

As we come closer to the end of the year, the frequency of our posts dedicated to the best music of this decade will be increasing. Our list of the top albums of the '00s is currently under construction and the plan is to unveil the Top 20 between the 1st and 20th December in synch with over 70 Greek bloggers who’ll be voting for their favorites at the same time. The poll is organized by the All Gone blog and you’ll be able to see the aggregated results here. Of course, this Top 20 will just be a prequel of our full list which will appear in Cool Music Database sometime in 2010, after we had the chance to better evaluate this year's releases.

Meanwhile, we continue our "Counting Down The '00s" series of posts where we present our 30 favorite albums and singles from each year of the decade and this time the focus is on 2005, a very productive year for the rising British rock scene.

A year after the excellent Franz Ferdinand debut (inexplicably absent from the recently posted NME list), it was time for Bloc Party to steal the limelight with their equally amazing first full-length "Silent Alarm". Here’s how we presented our choice for Album of the Year at the time: "The most prominent debut of the year belongs to Bloc Party, one of the best new bands to come out of the booming British guitar scene of the last couple of years. Again the inspiration came from the past, particularly the late 70s - early 80s post-punk sound, when bands like Gang Of Four mixed angsty punk riffs with dance bass-lines to deliver socio-political commentary while making you dance. Bloc Party took that sound and attitude and updated it for a 21st century world, where the issues might be different but the existential angst remains the same".

With the release of their sophomore album, Franz Ferdinand consolidated their position as one of UK’s top new acts, while another example of the strengthening of the British indie rock scene was "Cuts Across The Land", the promising full-length debut of The Duke Spirit. Our all-time favorite band, The Fall, was also in top form in 2005 as they released one of their best records for this decade, "Fall Heads Roll". Further proof of the continuing influence of Mark E Smith on today's music came from the stunning debut of New York's LCD Soundsystem. DFA's finest act masterfully combined dance beats and punk attitude, while James Murphy's "singing" brought to mind the unique talk-sing style of Mr. M. E. Smith. As an added bonus, the album came packed with a second cd containing the amazing first singles of the band, including one of the top tracks of the '00s, the underground electro anthem "Losing My Edge" that name-checks some of the finest artists in the history of modern music.

Other great releases of the year included career highlights for both Spoon and The Decemberists with "Gimme Fiction" and "Picaresque" respectively, the fiery punk of "Golden Ocean" from Kristin Hersh’s 50 Foot Wave (basically a slightly modified version of Throwing Muses), the blues-punk explosion of The Kills second LP "No Wow", the two very different but equally inspired albums of Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes and Sufjan Stevens' stunning tribute to Illinois.

Top 30 Albums of 2005

1. Silent alarm - BLOC PARTY
2. LCD Soundsystem - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
3. Gimme fiction - SPOON
4. Picaresque - THE DECEMBERISTS
5. Fall heads roll - THE FALL
6. Golden ocean - 50 FOOT WAVE
7. No wow - THE KILLS
8. You could have it so much better - FRANZ FERDINAND
9. I'm wide awake, it's morning / Digital ash in a digital urn - BRIGHT EYES
10. Illinois - SUFJAN STEVENS
11. Cuts across the land - THE DUKE SPIRIT
12. Lullabies to paralyze - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
13. The great destroyer - LOW
14. Broken Social Scene - BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
15. Everything ecstatic - FOUR TET
16. Let us never speak of it again - OUT HUD
17. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH
18. The woods - SLEATER-KINNEY
19. Witching hour - LADYTRON
20. Set yourself on fire - STARS
21. Pretty in black - THE RAVEONETTES
22. Twin cinema - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
23. The secret migration - MERCURY REV
24. Plans - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
25. Ex hex - MARY TIMONY
26. Face the truth - STEPHEN MALKMUS
27. Late registration - KANYE WEST
28. Get behind me Satan - THE WHITE STRIPES
29. Cripple crow - DEVENDRA BANHART
30. The mouse and the mask - DANGER DOOM

Top 30 Singles of 2005

1. Neighborhood # 2 (Laika) - ARCADE FIRE
2. Here comes a city - THE GO-BETWEENS
3. The good ones - THE KILLS
4. Juicebox - THE STROKES
5. Sister Jack - SPOON
6. Soul meets body - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
7. Daft Punk is playing at my house - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
8. Ageless beauty - STARS
9. Love in a trashcan - THE RAVEONETTES
10. Portions for foxes - RILO KILEY
11. Love is an unfamiliar name - THE DUKE SPIRIT
12. Hey scenesters! - THE CRIBS
13. I bet you look good on the dancefloor - ARCTIC MONKEYS
14. Little sister - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
15. Blue orchid - THE WHITE STRIPES
16. Jumpers - SLEATER-KINNEY
17. C’mere - INTERPOL
18. Munich - EDITORS
19. Two more years - BLOC PARTY
20. Walk away - FRANZ FERDINAND
21. I feel just like a child - DEVENDRA BANHART
22. California - LOW
23. Black and white town - DOVES
24. Get ready for love - NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
25. I can hear the grass grow / Clasp hands - THE FALL
26. Blood on our hands - DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979
27. Apply some pressure - MAXIMO PARK
28. Goodnight goodnight - HOT HOT HEAT
29. Tied up too tight - HARD-FI
30. Just let go - FISCHERSPOONER