DJ Picks:
open mike eagle – brick body kids still daydream – mello music group
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Mike’s new album is understated, contemplative, progressive, and beautiful. It manages to be comforting, while sounding like nothing you’ve heard before. It is an ode to housing projects, Chicago, childhood, the black American experience, and carrying on in the face of Trumpism. – GeorgeB
the charlatans – different days – bmg
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Bouncy indie evoking some of their best work since creative high-point “Tellin’ Stories” (1997) interwoven with ambitious, thoroughly enjoyable, new stuff featuring the likes of Paul Weller, Johnny Marr, and even author Ian Rankin(!) – SteveB
dan salvato – doki doki literature club ost – s/r
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jk64f3HMXI&w=560&h=315]
A dating sim/visual novel soundtrack. Simple and sweet tunes. You hear a few primary musical themes with character-specific variations. The differences give a powerful emotional effect within the game, and the music stays evocative and memorable on its own. – GennadyG
japanese breakfast – soft sounds from another planet – dead oceans
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Last year’s “Psychopomp” could have either gone down as the first, and perhaps the best, in a career of pretty good albums, or a showcase of potential which would later be fulfilled with with truly fantastic albums. Thank God it was the latter. “SSfAP” is weird and familiar in just the right ways, using great canvases of melody to seduce and entrance you while sudden bursts of emotion jump out. It works a great ebb and flow, highlighting especially energetic songs (“Machinist,” “12 Steps”) as well as the gradual buildup of slow-burn heart-breakers (“Boyish,” “This House”). The topics of relationships and empowerment it tackles are not so much solved or commented on as remembered with a hazy sadness and confusion, giving the album a great humanity which I felt stronger than in any other album this year. – GabrielT
yung lean – stranger – year0001
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Yung Lean is an Swedish rapper who has been influential to the cloud rap genre. Stranger brings dark, ethereal, and melodic production with Leandoer’s autotune heavy vocals infused into the instrumentals. Leandoer’s hooks are catchy, and the spacey production is beautiful. I recommend listening to this album, not for the lyrics or the meaning, but to enjoy the rich sounds and its aesthetics. – ShotaroA
mashrou’ leila – ibn el leil (deluxe edition) – shoop! shoop! records
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF__cpsDmZk&w=560&h=315]
Ok, so technically this album came out in 2015, but I didn’t discover it until now, and this year’s deluxe re-issue has some stellar new content. Mashrou’ Leila are a Lebanese rock band who emerged out of post-war Beirut—a city marred by war but humming with intellectual vitality and a vibrant night life. On this album their sound evolves into dark synth textures, silky string arrangements, and infectious dance grooves. In both wispy falsetto and powerful roar, vocalist Hamed Sinno rails against corruption, gun violence, and restrictive gender norms. This year’s new single “Roman” is both a club banger and a feminist anthem. – BenJ
dollie barnes – caught in a phase – s/r
Backed by a cast of all-star Houston musicians, Haley Barnes delivers one of this year’s best local releases. -Tex
el lago – colors – miss champagne
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I saw this Galveston band open for Laetitia Sadier, and they blew me away – they’re a classic-sounding shoegaze band, but fronted by a woman whose voice often brings to mind Kate Bush. What’s not to love? – MikeH
moses sumney – aromanticism – jagjaguwar
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It is tempting to praise individual aspects of Aromanticism. After all, Moses Sumney can incite full-body shivers with his voice alone. But really, the Los Angeles musician’s nearly-perfect debut works as a comprehensive statement on the experience of lovelessness in a society that tells us that the highest form of meaning and purpose comes from romantic relationships, the experience of seeing through the bullshit but feeling the longing nonetheless. It’s an album that suspends you in emotional spaces that invite both introspection and social criticism. By the way, there are a ton of outstanding guests and collaborators here, including Thundercat, master arranger Rob Moose, and Son Lux drummer Ian Chang. – EthanH
sam turner and the cactus cats – wanna be your man – roofus & friends
Part country crooner, part 50s rock n’ roll, this local band’s debut album showcases young talent with an old-fashioned flair. Songs on “Wanna Be Your Man” are filled with the most vicious emotion of them all: unrequited love. – NicoleB
sampha – process – young turks
I really enjoyed listening to this album. It has so many emotions and surprises rolled in. If you haven’t listened I highly recommend you do! – ArlenS
sufjan stevens, nico muhly, bryce dessner, james mcalister – planetarium – 4ad
The most awesome thing since The Planets by Holst. – AndyM
ariel pink – dedicated to bobby jameson – mexican summer
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Beautiful nostalgic pop from one of LA’s most prolific weirdos. -JacqueiC
ununinform – tricky – false idols
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“Ununinform” is one of the most under appreciated albums of the year. Tricky dives deeper than ever in exploring what truly is important in life. Especially on tracks “Blood of My Blood” and “New Stole”. For those looking for reflection and introspection on this year and beyond, give this a spin. Nurse’s orders. – StevenP
neo wax bloom – iglooghost – brainfeeder
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A very colorful and mind blowing electronic record that overstimulates the ears. Frenzied, kaleidoscopic, and very well detailed soundtrack to these unique worlds Iglooghost himself has created a backstory for. According to him, this album “follows the events surrounding two giant eyeballs crashing into the mysterious world of Mamu” and how it disrupts the lives of the creatures living in this realm. Purely insane shit. Check it out. – ArmandG
Top of the Charts
Here are the albums that led our weekly charts in 2017. Shout out to Shabazz Palaces, whose double LP topped our airways for nine straight weeks.
- shabazz palaces – quazarz vs the jealous machines – sub pop
- night drive – s/t – roll call
- slowdive – s/t – dead oceans
- king krule – the ooz – true panther
- kishi bashi – sonderlust – joyful noise
- saba – bucket list project – saba pivot, llc
- lady wray – queen alone – big crown
- bonobo – migration – ninja tune
- laurel canyon animal company – songs to make dogs happy – s/r
- a tribe called quest – we got it from here… thank you 4 your service – epic records
- sylvan esso – what now – loma vista
- grieves – running wild – rhymesayers
- warpaint – heads up – rough trade
- jambinai – hermitage – bella union
- the olympians – s/t – daptone
- jacuzzi boys – ping pong – mag mag
- thundercat – drunk – brainfeeder
- tuxedo – tuxedo ii – stones throw
- future islands – the far field – 4ad
- washington, kamasi – harmony of difference – young turks
- torres – three futures – 4ad
