1. Tove Lo - Blue Lips (Lady Wood Phase II)
I've always been a skeptic of Tove Lo's somehow distinctly Swedish take on druggy depressed debauched American pop, which seemed to become bland by last year's Lady Wood. But that album's sequel is unexpectedly fantastic, led by a lead single called "Disco Tits" that seems almost designed to keep her off U.S. radio but puts her oddly funny style of transgressive pop into the most wonderfully warped context. And the whole album strikes a pretty delicate balance between earnest emotion and profane oversharing, big and hooky but also idiosyncratic and intimate. Here's the 2017 albums playlist that I fill with all the stuff I've been listening to this year.

2. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Polygondwanaland
A few months ago I happened upon Melbourne septet King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's 3rd album of 2017, and I'm enjoying the 4th even more. At least three tracks, including the 10-minute epic "Crumbling Castle," are in 5/4, and I'm just in awe of the musicianship on display, there's so much going on here.

3. The She's - All Female Rock And Roll Quartet
With the title of their album, as well as the song title "Local Favorite All Female Garage Rock Quartet," San Francisco's The She's seem to be thumbing their nose at the bland and heavily gendered way a band of young women are usually referred to by the music press. So it certainly poses an implicit challenge to any music writer: what can you say about the album that someone can't get from the words on the cover? The She's have a certain deadpan romantic quality that reminds me of that dog., "Lie Again" stands out to me as the one that has the biggest hook and the most palpable sense of humor. But there's some nice rough edges on the self-produced album, songs that trail off into unexpectedly noisy denouements or piano tinkling and studio chatter. And it kind of feels like it's once you get into the back half of the album, they really start stretching outside of their 'core sound' and you get things like the snappy drum sound of "Anywhere But Here."

4. T-Pain - Oblivion
In the 6 years since T-Pain's last album and last top 10 hit, people who might have dismissed him as a goofy flash in the pan have come around to the realization that he's a really talented guy who can produce, write, rap, and sing well with or without AutoTune. Oblivion isn't the stripped-down talent showcase those people might have wanted after his Tiny Desk Concert, but it is a relaxed and creative album in the mold of his early records, clubby and sleazy but with a warmth and a sense of humor.

5. Mick Jenkins - or more; the anxious EP
I always feel like it's promising when an artist can come back from a big ambitious album with a brief EP and still leave an impression, and I feel like this little 7-song release really does a good job of moving Mick Jenkins on from the sound of The Healing Component with something that feels a little more sharp and minimal.

6. Bjork - Utopia
I love Bjork's '90s albums but for some reason I just never kept up with her output since then, which has by most accounts continued to be very good. So I didn't hear her last record that was apparently a big cathartic divorce album, I'm just dropping in for this new record which is, by contrast, a big warm burst of optimism, lots of harps and flutes, but still with that inimitable Bjork approach to melody and atmosphere.

7. Aly & AJ - Ten Years EP
It's highly likely that Aly Michalka's roles in "iZombie" and Fired Up mean more to me than Aly & AJ's music ever did, but I think it's nice to see them back to making music together, particularly under the old name after a 2013 attempt at rebooting under the name '78violet' fizzled. The '80s sound they're mining here is already pretty in vogue but they have good voices for this brooding synth pop style, "The Distance" in particular is pretty memorable.

8. Dru Hill - Christmas In Baltimore EP
Over the last decade, I've covered and reviewed a lot of Dru Hill's latter day activities, including live auditions for a new member, a comeback concert, and new albums from both the group and Sisqo. And I have to say that this Christmas EP is by far the best thing the group has done since it's heyday, they really just nailed it, in terms of the vocals and production, and striking the balance between a sentimental, traditional holiday record and a sexed up "tis the season to turn up" anthems.

9. Maroon 5 - Red Pill Blues
I recently saw a billboard for a pop radio station featuring the pictures and names of 3 people: Adele, Taylor Swift, and Adam Levine -- just Adam, no sight or mention of the rest of Maroon 5. The cover of Red Pill Blues features photos of all 7 current members of Maroon 5, but only new member Sam Farr has any songwriting or production credits, and as with the last 2 albums, it's unclear whether most of the band was even in the studio when most of these tracks were made. That said, Red Pill Blues feels a bit less beholden to pop radio trends than Overexposed or V, even if the army of collaborators is about the same size and maybe a teensy bit less high profile. But "Best 4 U" and "Help Me Out" are some of my favorite songs they've made in ages, and the big conversation piece of the album, the 11-minute closer "Closure," is kind of hypnotic and better than I would've expected. And it actually sounds like the real band is playing, which is refreshing.

10. Bob Seger - I Knew You When
In 2014, Bob Seger released his first album in many years, Ride Out, saying it may be his last. So it's kind of heartening to see that he wasn't ready to hang it up just yet and released another album 3 years later. I Knew You When features covers of Lou Reed and Leonard Cohen songs, which I think is an interesting choice, kind of puts Seger's work in a different perspective than the 'heartland balladeer' image that has legacy has been simplified into over the years.

Worst Album of the Month: Jaden Smith - SYRE
His dad made the first rap album I ever heard so I wish I felt some kind of affection for Jaden Smith's music, because he's not untalented. But I hear his weird zombie delivery and his pretentious lyrics and I think about how Scientology was probably not even remotely the weirdest ideology he was brought up around in his weird home schooled youth. But ultimately SYRE is lame because he's just another boring teenager remaking Kanye songs ("Watch Me" is "Black Skinhead" to a T, "Lost Boy" emulates the "30 Hours" rambling about it being a bonus track even though it's in the middle of the album). Jaden was born famous and will die famous, so it's a shrewd investment for Roc Nation to put out his music and if he gets enough chances he'll probably make something that connects eventually, but for now, this is just well funded filler.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 01, 2017 at 9:34 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.