The list of 2017

Hello and hi. I noticed a while ago that I did not make a 2017 list. I don't know why and I feel obligated to make one before I do the 2018 one. The 2018 (as you'll see tomorrow) isn't very long for reasons I'll explain when I write that one so here's a list of albums from 2017 that I enjoyed and liked to varying degrees to compensate my small 2018 list and penis. The list is augmented with albums from 2017 that I discovered after 2017. I would just like to mention that Dear (album by Boris from 2017) was really disappointing but to compensate for it a lot of good metal albums came out. I really liked Severed Monolith (from Gorephilia) and Reflections of a Floating World (by Elder) but most of these albums below are good if not better.

In alphabetical order they are:

Metal:

Abigor & Nightbringer & Thy Darkened Shade & Mortuus - 2017 - Split

Acrimonious - 2017 - Eleven Dragons

Altarage - Endinghent

Amaguq - 2017 - Occult Rituals of Anthropophagous Worship

Amnutseba - 2017 - Demo

Aosoth - 2017 - V The Inside Scriptures

Arkhon Infaustus - Passing The Nekromanteion

Arkhtinn - 2017 - IV

Arkhtinn - 2017 - V

Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon

Ascended Dead - Abhorrent Manifestation

Battle Dagorath - 2017 - II - Frozen Light of Eternal Darkness

Bestia Arcana - 2017 - Holókauston

Blood Tyrant & Warden - 2017 - Duvonde Skerfe

Botanist - Collective - The Shape Of He To Come

Clandestine Blaze - 2017 - City Of Slaughter

Condor - Unstoppable Power

Death Fortress - 2017 - Triumph of the Undying

Death Like Mass - 2017 - Jak Zabija Diabeł

Der Weg Einer Freiheit - 2017 - Finisterre

Desolate Shrine - Deliverance From The Godless Void

Dødsengel - 2017 - Interequinox

Draugsól - 2017 - Volaða Land

Dysangelium - Dysangelium

Eldamar & Dreams Of Nature - 2017 - Split

Elder - Reflections of a Floating World

Enslaved - 2017 - E

Eskapism - 2017 - Tales Of Elder Forest

Falls Of Rauros - 2017 - Vigilance Perennial

Fides Inversa - 2017 - Rite of Inverse Incarnation

Firespawn - The Reprobate

Forteresse - 2017 - Récits patriotiques

Funeral Chant - 2017 - Funeral Chant

Gorephilia - Severed Monolith

Grave Circles - 2017 - Tome I

Havukruunu - 2017 - Kelle Surut Soi

Hellfire Deathcult - 2017 - Death Worship

Heresiarch - Death Ordinance

Impetuous Ritual - Blight Upon Martyred Sentience

Inferno - 2017 - Gnosis Kardias (Of Transcension and Involution)

Kêres - 2017 - Book Of Desire

Krallice - 2017 - Loüm

Nightbringer - 2017 - Terra Damnata

Nokturnal Mortum - Істина

Ofermod - Sol Nox

Over the Voids - Over the Voids

Phrenelith - Desolate Endscape

Rebirth Of Nefast - Tabernaculum

Rude - Remnants

Saqra's Cult - Forgotten Rites

Season of Arrows - Give It To The Mountain

Sinmara - Within The Weaves Of Infinity

Sinmara & Misþyrming - Ivory Stone-Hof

Skáphe - Untitled

Svart Crown - Abreaction

Temple of Void - Lords of Death

Time Lurker - Time Lurker

Tomb Mold - Primordial Malignity

Triumvir Foul - Spiritual Bloodshed

Turia - Dede Kondre

Ululatum Tollunt - Quantum Noose of Usurpation

Ulver - The Assassination Of Julius Caesar

Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X)

Ungfell - Tôtbringære

Vassafor - Malediction

Venenum ‎- 2017 - Trance Of Death

Vesicant - Shadows of Cleansing Iron

Warloghe - Lucifer Ascends

Not Metal:

Alex Sipiagin - Moments Captured

Alvvays - Antisocialite

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Back In The Jazz Coffin

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Decade of Regression Live At SideOneDummy

Billy Childs - Rebirth

Black Magic SS - Kaleidoscope Dreams

Boy Pablo - Roy Pablo

Chris Potter - The Dreamer Is The Dream

Coco Bryce - Love Fools

Craig Taborn - Daylight Ghosts

David Binney - The Time Verses

David Gilmore - Transitions

David Kikoski - Kayemode

Estrada Orchestra - Jazzbeatjäätis

Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers

Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai

Miguel Zenón - Tipico

Nubya Garcia - Nubya's 5ive

Sonic Poison - Combat Grind

Sylvie Courvoisier - Crop Circles

Vijay Iyer - Far From Over

Yosvany Terry - Ancestral Memories

Low Threat Profile - Product Number 1 & 2

Sifting through my grindcore folder I remembered this little project and I wanna talk about it a little bit. Low Threat Profile consists of established names from different legendary bands (No Comment, Infest and Lack Of Interest) all collaborating on these short and sweet powerviolence songs. For a punk band these two 7'' are produced pretty good (at least for my standards). They're crisp as fuck and the vocals have no reverb at all. This style brings up a feeling of great closeness to the band which I really enjoy. The songs themselves are pretty short and simple but they're pretty catchy and the vocal delivery is honest and just right for the melodies. Product 2 feels like a better, more polished release but both were made in the same year and are really short so you can't really compare them that much. First one is more raw and angrier though but in combination they make a good round trip through powerviolence land of polish and hate.

Get them both.

Magrudergrind ‎- 2007 - Rehashed

Here's a controversial opinion that nobody asked and is at least five years late: I don't like new Magrudergrind. By new I mean II and Magrudegrind. They're fucking awful, it's everything I hate about modern grindcore and powerviolence. Despite my dumb opinion I still really appreciate their earlier more simple efforts. Like many similar bands they shat out splits and comps faster than you could get them but I personally think this little album (or whatever it is) is the best, most concise thing they did in their career. You might think 62 trax of thrash is better but I think it's a lot less focused and perhaps even bloated. The most captivating value that this band had was the vocals which were really in tune with the ferocity and tempo of the music. They sound like someone has a severe cold and is really angry at the system. The gnarly vocals are followed by a relatively simple but effective array of blast beats and fast paced punk power chords. Fun and simple for a sad and complex life.

Get it.

Beyond - 2013 - Fatal Power of Death

How about some void crunching death metal? Why ever not? This small band from Germany dropped this gem a couple of years back with not much notice but boy does this one deserve it. It relentlessly channels the spirit of Altars Of Madness in all aspects but it is also drenched in reverb so it sounds pretty much like what the cover depicts. There are no stops when this album starts it only punches forward with fast raspy abyssal yells backed by an endless amounts of riffs and tempo changes. My only complaint is that it does not contain enough solos, everything else fucking perfect.

Recommended.

McCoy Tyner - 1973 - Song Of The New World

While Tyner is mostly known for being a long time pianist for Coltrane he also had a very fruitful and diverse solo career as well. Starting off with relatively conventional (but well made) albums he slowly diverged into more epic and more bombastic sounds. His style of playing gradually came to resemble the famous sheets of sound but in piano form. Song Of The New World truly is a bombastic large ensemble album that was made arguably during Tyner's most interesting phase. Afro Blue, the first track, should be the reason alone why you should give this album a shot but the whole experience is well worth your time as well. Tyner very skillfully juggles grand orchestral sounds and more conventional jazz arrangements with little dissonance in transitions between the two. Although the album is based around an orchestral setting Tyner absolutely is the focal point on every track with absolutely maddening fast improvisations and continuous rapid sheets of sound that make him tower over the whole orchestra. The only dude that manages to compare to him on this record is probably the drummer who manages to stitch everything together in a very fluid way. Good stuff.

Get it.

Walt Dickerson ‎- 1962 - Relativity

I was never much into vibraphones (and xylophones!) when it comes to jazz. I have mixed feelings about the sound of the instrument. On some albums it gives a good mystical and avant vibe to it while on others it's just plain annoying and out of place. Because of that I know a very little amount of actual musicians that are all about this instrument. Aside from the big ones (Milt Jackson and Lionel Hampton) I can't really name any others. I heard about Walt through his Sun Ra collaboration on Visions. I liked it so I decided to check out some of his solo albums. Relativity won't really blow your mind or anything but it will offer a very fine exercise in bebop and hard bop. With just a skeleton crew and vibes this album might sound a bit bare at times but I think it's good as it is. It emphasizes the instrument and creates this unique, distant and calm atmosphere.

Get it.

Bix Beiderbecke Anthology

I've talked about this musician before but let me reiterate. This dude was great, so great in fact that Louis Armstrong admired him during a time when everyone else admired Louis Armstrong. Today of course his talent and influence will fly over our head if we don't understand the context and chronology but his music without context still stands as some of the best dixie compositions made during its heyday. For those uninitiated: dixieland jazz was arguably the first fully fleshed out form of jazz. It essentially sounds like wild marching music coupled with short solos and instruments that were later on pretty much abandoned as jazz evolved further. It's fast, happy and unpredictable. No matter how much time passed this music will never feel outdated, to me at least. This anthology will provide you with his records that were made throughout his short career. Starting with the very raw and wild early recordings and slowly proceeding to his much smoother "swing"-like records made at the end of his career. Give it a honest try and you might just find a new genre to adore.

First CD+Covers

Second CD

Third CD

Tracklist and general info here.

Ralfi Pagan ‎- The Legend

I have a very soft spot in my heart for slow, smooth pop songs and Ralfi Pagan is pretty much just that. Cheesy love songs with a bit of a latin salsa thing was all this dude had in mind and they're fucking beautiful. His voice is light and heavenly so all songs have a very dreamy texture. He made a couple of albums in the 70s and that's it so this compilation offers a good introduction to his music. If you're in the mood for simple love songs this is a great choice.

Get.

Try.

Billy Harper ‎- 1975 - Black Saint

I've shared Billy's music before but I haven't actually talked about him or his style. Capra Black, which was the album I shared before was a very operatic and grandiose album with ambitious compositions that were very impressive for a debut album especially by a not very well known musician at that. He did have a music degree before recording it so it's not all that surprising that he managed to pull it off. on Black Saint he takes things to smaller but more tighter scales. Starting off the album with a riff that sounds like the composition is about to evolve into an elaborate Colors cover it quickly dissolves into a very organized, traditional and relaxed modal jazz trip. After this relatively calm introduction we get two longer compositions with first being a bit of a mixed bag mainly because the fucking cowbell is damn too loud. Aside from the annoying cowbell everything else is more free and more loose musically which offers space for more improvisational and more intense solos (piano being the centerpiece here). Lastly the album drifts off with a whopping 21 minute spiritual which lets all the musicians play at their hearts content fully immersing the sound and feeling of later Coltrane sound. Although a bit self indulgent this lesser known album is still a good experience if you've exhausted all the well known players.

Get! 

Frankie Cosmos ‎- 2014 - Zentropy

Frankie Cosmos is a twee pop project of Greta Kline and she's slowly but surely climbing up the fame steps by recently releasing an album on the Sub Pop label and doing world wide tours. But before all this she made a slew of self-released mini albums from 2012 up til 2014. Zentropy is probably the best of the bunch offering short and diverse songs which are all distinct from one another. Throughout the varied songs a constant form of self-hating and not so serious lyrical themes lurks behind the mainly happy melodies. Overall it's a great little album worth your attention even though some songs feel unfinished but they're all cute. Great for short bus trips.

Get.