Top 5 New Albums 2017

5. Tender Age - Disappear Here EP

[Sinis Recordings, 2017]

A cool band from portland that played at Possum House this year. 6 tasty shoegazy treats. 3 of them are covers you might recognize.

(Vinyl appears to be sold out. Get it on Cassette or digital on Bandcamp)



4. Brides - For Charles EP

[Hex Tapes, 2017]

Local Salem goodness (they played that show with Tender Age). Sounds like the start of something good.

(buy the download on bandcamp or pick up a physical copy at a show.)


3. Eyelids - Or

 

[Jealous Butcher Records, 2017]

Eyelids are from Portland, and they've played in, or played with folks who played in every great band in the world. This album was recorded by Peter Buck of REM, who seems underwhelmed in the above video. It's great, perfect power pop. Check out their other releases, too.

(Pick it up on Bandcamp).


2. Rainer Maria - S/T

[Polyvinyl Records, 2017]

After more than 10 years broken up, 90s darlings-turned-00s stalwarts release another great album. I saw them on tour and they looked happier than I've ever seen them. I take that as a good sign.

Buy it from Polyvinyl's website.


1. Jeremy Enigk - Ghosts

[Lewis Hollow Recordings, 2017]

With a song title like "The Long Wait Is Over", Jeremy Enigk is right. It's been a long time since his last album ('09? Can't remember) Anyways, This is Jeremy's best solo record this century. Although nothing can top the orchestra-meets-primitivism of Return of the Frog Queen or his stuff with Sunny Day Real Estate, this is still great stuff. He kickstarted this on PledgeMusic, and it seemed as if it would never be completed, but like the song says, "It's worth it." Shoutout to playing a song live in 1997 and not recording or releasing it until 2017.

Looks like he's selling the extra LPs through Bandcamp.

Top 5 New Discoveries 2017

5. Helium - Pirate Prude

[Matador Records, 1994]

Finally acquired Helium's debut EP. Mary Timony's songwriting is spot on and idiosyncratic as always, if a little unrefined from her later stuff. Still golden.

(buy the compilation LP that contains this at Matador, or pick it the original EP up cheap on Amazon)



4. Autopilot Is for Lovers - To the Wolves

[Bladen County Records, 2009]

Saw these guys with Builders and the Butchers (their drummer plays in that band also) and really enjoyed them. Was pleasantly surprised by their album, which is twelve slabs of auditory goodness.

(buy the download on bandcamp or pick up a physical copy at a show.)


3. Cursive - The Difference Between Houses and Homes (lost songs and loose ends 1995-2001)

 

[Saddle Creek Records, 2005]

Cursive made my #3 spot last year with another early album that I missed the first time around. This collection mines the earliest recordings of the Omaha band, and I think they're their best. Folks on the internet complain that the songs from the "Dispenser" 7" are rerecorded (disappointingly) for this compilation, but since I haven't heard the originals, they sound awesome to me.

(Pick it up from Saddle Creek).


2. Lungfish - Rainbows from Atoms

[Dischord Records, 1993]

Nobody writes songs like Lungfish. This is quite a good group of those songs.

Buy it from Dischord through Bandcamp.


1. One Last Wish - 1986

[Dischord Records. Recorded 1986, Released 1996]

Guy Picciotto's band between Rites of Spring and Fugazi (okay, RoS and Happy Go Licky). I discovered this band in 2015, and it took me 2 years to buy the album. It was worth it. Punk energy with an emotional delivery without being weepy. Post-punky soaring guitars. Makes me wonder what the 90s would have sounded like if One Last Wish was the influential band and Rites of Spring the footnote. I think I may like this even more than Rites of Spring.

Buy it from Dischord through Bandcamp.

Top 5 Miscellaneous songs of 2017

Top 5 Miscellaneous songs of 2017

5. Lo Tom - Another Mistake

Another Mistake by Lo Tom

[Barsuk Records, 2017]

David Bazan from Pedro the Lion + members of Pedro the Lion, Starflyer 59, Velour 100 and His Name Is Alive (and countless other bands of that scene) made a surprisingly low-key supergroup album. I wish I could have seen one of the handful of shows Lo Tom played. Instead, I have this song with its BRILLIANT ending.

(buy at Barsuk Records)



4. The Builders and the Butchers - Never Tell

Never Tell by The Builders and the Butchers

[Badman Recording Co, 2017]

I had a conversation with a friend about the new Builders and the Butchers album. He said he liked it fine, but it was a lot like the other Builders and the Butchers records. I said "yeah, they kinda only have one song." He replied, "No, they have TWO songs-- one about fire, and one about rain." Well, that's kinda true, but they're so fun to listen to (and watch live). This one is about fire, and it may be my favorite Builders song. It's certainly representative of their body of work.

(buy this record at Badman Recordings)


3. His Name Shall Breathe - The Kick to Come

 

The Kick to Come by His Name Shall Breathe
[self-released, 2017]

Tim Martin is a master of songcraft. This song has all the punk rock brotherhood and world-weary suffering that you would expect from him. An instant classic.

(buy the 3-song EP on Bandcamp).


2. Radiohead - Lift

  Lift by Radiohead
[Recorded 1996ish. Released by XL Recordings, 2017]

This year marks 20 years of Radiohead's landmark 1997 album OK Computer. As a gift to fans, an expanded edition was released with lots of B-Sides and 4 extra completely unreleased tracks from the sessions. Word on the street is that these songs were too good, and Radiohead wanted them for a future album. They've circulated as live recordings and snippets for years now, but the studio versions have been heretofore missing in fan circles. With every new album (all the way through A Moon Shaped Pool), the rumors circulated as to whether "Lift" would be on the new album. Radiohead teased its release for years, sporadically playing the song live. Well, here we have it. Better late than never, right?

Looks like this is going out of print (or there already), but Amazon still has copies .


1. Mac MacCaughan - Happy New Year (Prince Can't Die Again)

Happy New Year (Prince Can't Die Again)
[leaked 12/26/16, album released January 2017]

This one grew on me all year--partly because it was so prophetic about what the next year would bring. Released on a politically-themed compilation album put out by Quasi in the run-up to the inaguration, and backed by Sam and Janet, this is appropriately vitriolic, pessimistic, hopeful, and cathartic. Just what we need in the era of Alternative Facts. Certainly not a timeless song, but we'll be able to listen to this in 10 years and remember exactly what it was like to be alive in 2017. Assuming the human race is still here 10 years from now.

(Download for pay-what-you-want with an all-star cast compilation from Thee Quasi.)