CREEM Magazine - September 1980

40 years ago, I was 17 years old and had just started my senior year of high school. I wasn’t a terrible student, but was definitely more interested in music and friends than my classes at that point. As such, it’s probably safe to say that I spent more time listening to records and reading rock magazines than textbooks. CREEM was one of my favorites of the latter. Check out the musical pulse according to CREEM in September of 1980! You should be able to click on any photo to enlarge it to full screen.

 

 

 

 

Some new albums reviewed in this issue:

• Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

• Alex Chilton - Like Flies on Sherbert

• Alice Cooper - Flush the Fashion

• The Kinks - One for the Road

• Buzzcocks - A Different Kind of Tension

• Devo - Freedom of Choice

• Magazine - The Correct Use of Soap

• Paul McCartney - McCartney II

 

Choice albums released in September 1980:

• Gary Numan - Telekon

• Kate Bush - Never For Ever

• XTC - Black Sea

• Simple Minds - Empires and Dance

• David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

• John Cougar - Nothing Matters and What If It Did?

• Oingo Boingo - Oingo Boingo

• Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz

• Madness - Absolutely

• Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July

• Skids - The Absolute Game

• Tom Waits - Heartattack and Vine

• Joni Mitchell - Shadows and Light

 

Favorite Music of the Decade

As part of an "assignment" from Bret Helm for his excellent Life On This Planet blog, I've created this list of favorite albums of the last decade, from 2010 to 2019. The biggest challenge here was that we were to choose a single album from each year as our favorites. You can check out Decade Top 10s from Bret and his various contributors, including yours truly, right here.

For some years, choosing a single album that rose above all others wasn't too much of a struggle. Other years, it felt like there was so much great music released that choosing only one album was like trying to decided which one of your children you wish to keep. Because of this, I've taken a little liberty with my own blog post and added a couple "honorable mentions" to each year. Of course, if you're interested in more than just a few titles per year, check out any of my other Front Burner posts here on this blog.

Without further adieu...

2010: Vampire Weekend - Contra
 

The best Vampire Weekend album, as far as I’m concerned. Also an album that both my wife and daughter fell in love with, and we’re all still fans to this day. Like many of the albums in the list that follows, I don’t think there's a bad track on this. They were an absolute blast in concert, as well. 

2 song suggestions for Spotify playlist (linked below): “Giving Up The Gun" and "California English"

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2010 Honorable Mentions: 

• Robyn - Body Talk
• The Books - The Way Out  

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2011: The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
 

The band takes a definitive alt-country detour here, with contributions from the likes of Peter Buck, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and the results are absolutely delightful. I loved this band before, with their penchant for sea shanties and murder ballads, but they opened a completely different door here, boldly walked in, and immediately took charge of the room. 

2 song suggestions: "Don't Carry It All" and "This Is Why We Fight"

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2011 Honorable Mentions: 

• St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
• Tom Waits - Bad As Me  
• Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys 

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2012: Of Monsters and Men - My Head Is An Animal
 

From the moment I first heard “Little Talks” from this Icelandic band’s debut album, I was hooked. What’s odd is that I’m not a fan of some of the bands they have been compared to, like Edward Sharpe & The Magentic Zeroes or Arcade Fire. What really seemed to draw me in was the vocal interplay between singer/guitarists Nanna and Ragnar. The Nordic / pagan / nature themes to many of these songs hit a sweet spot, too. I want to live in the world they create in these songs.

2 song suggestions: "Dirty Paws" and "Little Talks"

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2012 Honorable Mentions: 

• Shearwater - Animal Joy
• Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball 

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2013: Jason Isbell - Southeastern
 

There were once three singer/songwriters in the band Drive-By Truckers. I was always most attracted to the ones by Jason Isbell, although I didn’t know who he was at the time. In 2007, he left that band to pursue a solo career, and I became a fan of the albums he was releasing. Southestern, though, is so good it’s mind blowing. One of those albums where you don’t quite understand how anyone could write songs this good. Perhaps it was his relatively newfound sobriety, but this album is a true masterpiece in any genre.

2 song suggestions: "Relatively Easy" and "Flying Over Water" 

ps. 2013 was a very difficult year for me, with spectacular albums from David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Frank Turner, Savages, Frightened Rabbit, Gary Numan, and more. Even with all that competition, I kept returning to Southeastern as my favorite album. It really is that great.

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2013 Honorable Mentions: 

• David Bowie - The Next Day
• Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks
• Frank Turner - Tape Deck Heart

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2014: St. Vincent - St. Vincent
 

I first fell under the spell of Annie Clark in 2011 when I was introduced to her third album, Strange Mercy. Shortly after this delightful discovery, she and David Byrne collaborated on an album called Love This Giant in 2012. I saw them on this tour and was blown away that this (relatively) unknown artist was completely holding her own on stage with the great David Byrne. By the time she released this self-titled album, I was completely hooked on her. Not only does she seem as uniquely talented as someone like Byrne, but I now think of her as an artist as singular and visionary as David Bowie or Kate Bush.

2 song suggestions: "Birth In Reverse" and "Regret" 

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2014 Honorable Mentions: 

• Future Islands - Singles
• Glass Animals - ZABA 

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2015: Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People
 

This was absolutely the decade of Frank Turner for me. I was introduced to his magic at a 2013 show during the tour for his Tape Deck Heart album. (That album was a strong contender for my favorite of 2013 but “lost” to Jason Isbell.) Much to my delight his next album, this one, turned out to be as good or better. This guy is a folk singer with a punk aesthetic and a heart of gold. He’s one of the few artists I know that could pull off an album with a theme like this and knock it completely out of the park. Side note: If you have any reservations about the music of Frank Turner , try to see him live. He can turn a room full of strangers into a bouncing, hugging mass of best friends. It’s nothing short of magical.

2 song suggestions: "The Next Storm" and "Glorious You" 

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2015 Honorable Mentions: 

• Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space
• Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think ...

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2016: Shearwater - Jet Plane and Oxbow
 

I’ve been a Shearwater fan since I heard them being mentioned favorably for fans of latter-period Talk Talk, which I adore. This would be somewhere between their albums Palo Santo (2006) and Rook (2008). If I had any complaint about what they were doing it’s that much of it was very quiet and slow. Their sound was gorgeous, but (to me) often lacked punch. Over the course of their next two albums, I started getting my wish, with 2012’s Animal Joy being their most aggressive album to date. Somehow, Jet Plane and Oxbow managed to find the perfect balance of it all. I suspect this album will be a favorite of mine for many years to come. 

2 song suggestions: "Radio Silence" and "Pale Kings"

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2016 Honorable Mentions: 

• Savages - Adore
• David Bowie - Blackstar
• Margaret Glaspy - Emotions & Math  

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2017: Gary Numan - Savage
 

Sounding more like Nine Inch Nails these days that anything he did back in the late 70s and 80s, his 2013 album Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind) prompted me to get back on board with this guy. I hadn’t heard much of his stuff since the 80s. By the time he released Savage (Songs From A Broken World) in 2017 I was completely hooked. Both are excellent, gritty, crunchy, industrial-sounding albums, but I feel like Savage has an edge to it that Splinter lacked. Seeing him on tour for this album pretty much clinched it as the standout album of the year for me.

2 song suggestions: "When the World Comes Apart" and "My Name Is Ruin"

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2017 Honorable Mentions: 

• Jason Isbell - The Nashville Sound
• The Clientele - Music for the Age of Miracles

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2018: Kasey Musgraves - Golden Hour
 

If there’s one year where I deviated most from the list I created in the year itself, it’s this one. I’m not sure I had heard much from this album by the end of 2018, but I do remember thinking that what I had heard sounded far too poppy and produced for my taste in country music. It wasn’t until further listens in late 2018 and early 2019 that I finally saw the light on this gem and understood what all the critical fuss was about. This might be a lesser achievement without Kasey Musgraves’ gorgeous voice but I understand that she also took a more major role in songwriting and her overall sound in the studio than on her two previous albums. However it worked, it worked!

2 song suggestions: "Slow Burn" and "Space Cowboy"

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2018 Honorable Mentions: 

• LOCKS - Skeletal Blues
• Frank Turner - Be More Kind  

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2019: Audra - Dear Tired Friends
 

It seems like just last week, I was putting the finishing touches on my Favorite Albums of 2019 list... Oh wait, it WAS just last week! I can’t say much has changed since then. The first album in 10 years from Audra is my favorite album in their catalog and my favorite album of 2019. If you haven’t heard it, get on that! There are nods to the kind of post-punk goth that they we’re working on 10+ years ago but everything — the songwriting, the musicianship, the production — has completely grown up and come into it’s own. Listen to it and see for yourself. You won’t regret it.

2 song suggestions: "Wish No Harm" and "Sliding Under Cars"

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2019 Honorable Mentions: 

• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
• TOOL - Fear Inoculum 

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Each of the suggested tracks mentioned above can be heard here:

Front Burner 2019

"There just isn't any good music out there any more!"  

Whenever I hear someone say that, I picture the crabby old man in my old neighborhood that was always yelling at us kids to get off his lawn. Seriously, someone might only like the same old rotation of classic rock hits, but that doesn't mean there isn't any good music out there any more. When I hear people say that, the first thing that comes to mind is that they're not trying hard enough to find the good stuff. 

The problem is that people aren't going to find anything all that interesting if they only listen to commercial radio. It's no longer designed to expand our musical horizons; it's meant to sell us things. If they keep us content by playing all the songs we already know and love, we'll stay tuned and listen to all their advertisements. The stations playing newer music are often playing pop songs designed to "hook" us so we'll stay tuned and listen to all their advertisements. (Notice the theme? That's contemporary commercial radio's raison d'être.) The trouble with the bulk of this newer and intentionally crafted pop music is that is really isn't that good, so it leaves us pining for those classics again.  

If we want to hear interesting new music, we need to seek it out. Listen to college radio, read music blogs, listen to music podcasts, peruse music magazines, and so on. Even just a bit of that activity will reveal really good music that is in your wheelhouse. There IS good music out there, and plenty of it, regardless of what kind of music you like. All we have to do is look a little beneath the surface for it. 

I lost track of how many times I heard the lead quote here used in 2019, and yet 2019 felt chock full of really great music to me. You may not like what I like and that's okay. Feel free to check some of these titles out, though, and let me know what you think. A Spotify playlist with sample tracks is linked below. Who knows, you might hear something you love as much as I do!

My 19 Favorite Albums of 2019:

19 - Jade Bird - Jade Bird

18 - The Comet Is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery

17 - New Model Army - From Here

16 - Aldous Harding - Designer

15 - Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won’t Hold

14 - Gang of Four - Happy Now 

13 - Lightning Dust - Spectre 
12 - Blood Red Shoes - Get Tragic 

11 - The Delines - The Imperial

10 - Mercury Rev - Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited 

9 - Negativland - True False 

8 - Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

7 - Andrew Bird - My Finest Work Yet 

6 - Portico Quartet - Memory Streams

5 - Operators - Radiant Dawn

4 - Tool - Fear Inoculum

3 - The Waterboys - Where the Action Is

2 - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen

1 - Audra - Dear Tired Friends

My favorite album of 2019 - Not only is great to hear new music from Audra, but this stuff is fresh and alive and bubbling with the kind of energy that often fades after a band’s debut. Here they are, back with their fourth album and after a 10 year absence since their third. The passion they had to record together again is evident in every groove here. Not only is it my favorite album of 2019, but it’s also my favorite in the band’s catalog. Highly recommended! 

Check out Spotify playlist with sample tracks from these albums!

 

 

 

Check out my (shorter) list of favorite jazz albums from 2019!

Looking for more great music?

Since 2014, I have been contributing my Top 10 to Bret Helm's Life On This Planet blog. He and his partner Sarah Q do a fantastic job with it! This year, they gathered 8 more friends from around the globe to contribute their lists, and the blog post contains a link to a massive Spotify playlist that is just chock full of great music. Please visit the link below to take you over to Bret & Sarah's Best of 2019 blog post! 

Life On This Planet - The Best of 2019

Enjoy!

My Favorite Jazz of 2019

I'm not a jazz connoisseur. The lifeblood of my listening day is, without a doubt, rock and pop, with various acoustic troubadours thrown around the edges. Music with words. However, I've also always been a music-first / lyrics-second kind of guy. Meaning that the first thing to grab me about the music I hear is usually not the words but the sound of the music. Good lyrics are just icing on the cake for me, most of the time.

This means that I've always had a soft spot for genres like jazz and electronic music. I don't know if it's just because more of it was on my radar this year, but 2019 felt like a really great year for numerous cool new jazz releases. At the end of most recent years, I might have two or three jazz or electronic albums that have worked their way under my skin. This year there were more than a dozen that felt notable to me.

In an effort to both document a really great year for jazz (at least for me) as well as to share some of the cool stuff I've discovered, here is my Top 10 jazz albums list for 2019. A Spotify playlist of these albums is also included here. I hope you hear something you like and, if you've got jazz favorites from this year that aren't on this list, tell me about them in the comments! My doors are always open. 

My Top 10 Favorite Jazz Albums of 2019

10 - Ezra Collective - You Can't Steal My Joy
 9 - Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom - Glitter Wolf
 8 - Ralph Alessi, Ravi Coltrane, et al - Imaginary Friends
 7 - GoGo Penguin - Ocean In A Drop
 6 - Jeremy Pelt - The Artist
 5 - Kris Davis - Diatom Ribbons
 4 - Theon Cross - FYAH
 3 - Antoine Berjeaut & Makaya McCraven - Moving Cities
 2 - The Comet Is Coming - Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery 
 1 - Portico Quartet - Memory Streams 

Check these out! The playlist includes the full albums, but I'd like to suggest that you just shuffle play. I do that from a much larger playlist to see what will stick to my ribs, and it always seems to make for an interesting listening experience.

Canon G3 X Compact Bridge Camera

My story and review

I shot DSLR for a long time, and SLR before digital came along. Not professionally, but I've always had a passion for good photography. My first “real” camera was a Minolta X-700 that my parents got me when I was in high school around 1980, and I gradually upgraded bodies, lenses, and other gear for the next 25 years.

At some point when our daughter was in single digits, I got tired of lugging around all the extra gear associated with a DSLR setup. By 2010, I was shooting with compact point-and-shoot cameras more often. Around that same time, smartphone technology had advanced to where the cameras in those were pretty good, too. I willingly traded convenience and portability for resolution and picture quality.

In recent years, I realized that I missed "real" photography, but still didn't want to deal with all the gear. I kayak and hike a lot when the weather is permits it, so I also started looking into compact waterproof cameras. I found some good ones at reasonable prices, but was frustrated with the zoom range of every one I tried. Most of the zooms in them were digital, as well, so I was still frustrated with picture quality.

After some research, I started reading about the Canon G3X “bridge” camera, and eventually decided to buy one. Now that I’ve been using it for a few months, here’s my review.

The Pros –

It’s rugged.  The magnesium-alloy body feels solid and heavy, although not nearly as heavy as a DSLR. It is certainly not shockproof but does feel like it could take a few minor bangs now and then and not have to be sold for parts afterward. When I’m using it, it definitely has the feel of a “real” camera in my hands. The grip is quite comfortable.

The body is weather sealed.  This isn’t the same as being waterproof, I know, but it’s important to me for a camera to be able to withstand a bit of dust, dirt, and light rain without starting to malfunction. Reportedly, this has the same level of dust and moisture resistance as Canon’s EOS 7D DSLR. As of this writing, there don’t appear to be ANY completely waterproof bridge cameras. Trust me, I looked.

It’s compact.  Calling this a “bridge” camera means that it’s trying to bridge the gap between ultra-compact point-and-shoots and DSLR cameras. As such, it’s much smaller than your average DSLR, yet admittedly larger than the ultra-compacts. Having a powerful zoom on it, though, means you don’t have to carry around a bag full of lenses for different shooting conditions. I will be the first to admit that this is also one of the limitations of the camera, but you still get an incredible amount of flexibility in shooting with the G3X.

That ZOOM!  The G3X has an 8.8-220mm optical zoom range, which is the DSLR lens equivalent of 24-600mm. My initial interest in a “superzoom" like this came from all the wildlife shots I missed by having nothing more than my phone or a 5x digital point-and-shoot while hiking or paddling. This camera has significantly changed my game in that regard! The aperture range is a respectable f/2.8–5.6, although it does arrive at f/5.6 pretty quickly into the telephoto position.

There are certainly more powerful "superzooms" out there. Nikon does 60x, 83x, and now 120x! Sony and Panasonic bridge cameras have impressive zooms, as well. I opted for less reach than those because I wanted something more weather protected and compact but with a relatively large sensor. To the best of my knowledge, the G3 X has the farthest reach for a large sensor bridge camera.

The sensor.  Another big plus with this camera is that it has a 1" CMOS sensor, which makes it great for low light photography as well as capturing a lot of detail. The majority of bridge cameras and superzooms have sensors that are less than 1/4 that size. The average DSLR sensor is still bigger but, again, I was trying to find something that fit several other parameters for me. As far as this kind of (bridge) camera goes, that 1" sensor is definitely as good as it gets. The only problem with it is that it bumps up the cost. The image resolution of the G3X is 20.2 megapixels.

Five-axis image stabilization.  Whatever that means, the image stabilization on this camera is excellent. Apparently, the five-axis bit is pretty rare among its most direct competitors. All I can say is that it works really well.

The view screen.  One criticism that I remember reading in reviews before I bought the camera was that it only had a view screen and no built-in viewfinder. Having shot through viewfinders for almost three decades now, I thought this might really be a problem. You can buy an electronic viewfinder separately, although that creates an additional cost. When I bought my G3X, I decided to wait on the EVF to see if I would miss it. … Most of the time, I do not.

Now that I’ve gotten used to using the view screen, I think I actually prefer it. It’s a 3.2 inch high-resolution, touch sensitive, tilting LCD monitor. Because the angle of the screen is adjustable, it allows you to experiment with shooting at different angles like way up above your head or down low on the ground, all from a normal standing, seated, or just crouched position. (However, the screen only tilts forward/up and backward/down. Allowing it to swivel as some other models do would have been really nice.) Since the screen is touch sensitive, it can be used for a variety of functions in shooting mode, playback mode, and within the camera’s various menus.

The Cons –

Frustrating manual focus.  The G3X does not appear to be designed for someone who prefers to manually focus on subjects. From what I can tell (and I haven’t played around with it a lot) manual focus requires you to hold a button on the focus ring while turning the focus ring through many more arcs than should be necessary. There are a variety of auto-focus modes and fields, but adjusting focus manually is not easy. This can be frustrating for tight macros as well as long zooms. Autofocus speeds are not terrible but not surprisingly good either.

It’s compact.  (Hey, wasn’t that also one of the ‘Pros’?) The body of the camera is definitely more compact than a typical DSLR. People (like me) with big hands have to be careful how we hold the camera so as not to change a setting by accidentally hitting a button or dial. I’ve discovered first hand (ha!) that this is frustratingly easy to do.

No viewfinder.  As mentioned above, this camera has no built-in viewfinder. I feel like I quickly got used to using the view screen instead and now actually prefer it, but anyone who feels that they absolutely need a viewfinder will have to spring for the optional EVF accessory that connects to the camera’s hot shoe. Warning: It’s not cheap. If I have anything bad to report about using the view screen only, it’s that it can occasionally be difficult to read in bright sunlight. Often, tilting the screen a bit takes care of this issue for me.

Wrapping up, this Canon G3X is exactly the kind of camera I was looking for in terms of its portability, versatility, and image quality without having to lug around all kinds of gear. Not mentioned above is that the G3X also shoots video and appears to do it quite well. I have not played around in video mode much so that hasn’t been part of this review.

The best part about this camera is that it has totally rekindled my love for good photography. I fully realize just how much I was missing by stepping down to point-and-shoot cameras. Although I can see myself moving back into DSLR gear in the future, I’m completely happy with the Canon G3X for the time being. Even when I think it might be time to pick up another DSLR, I'll definitely be keeping this bridge camera for the many times when I need the combination of compact portability and a good camera. In short, I love this thing.

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Front Burner 2018

Another year is coming to a close and that means another opportunity to recap my favorite albums of the year in a blog post. Numerous highlights here, too: A sparse but gorgeous vocal-and-piano version of St. Vincent's 'Masseduction', quite possibly the best album in Jon Hopkins' career, some very dark gothic country from Henry Derek Elis, a killer in-your-face debut from Shame, what is probably Death Cab for Cutie's most accessible album yet, hot new piano jazz from GoGo Penguin, the welcome return of Belly, and an amazing Afrobeat take on 'Remain In Light', among several other great albums. 

A spotify playlist with sample tracks has been linked at the bottom of this post, in case you wanted to check any of these titles out. I certainly encourage you to do just that!

My 18 Favorite albums of 2018:
18 - Spesh - Famous World

17 - Dizzy - Baby Teeth

16 - St. Vincent - MassEducation

15 - Jon Hopkins - Singularity

14 - Rival Consoles - Persona

13 - Ryley Walker - The Lillywhite Sessions

12 - Henry Derek Elis - The Devil Is My Friend

11 - Neko Case - Hell-On

10 - Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs

9 - Shame - Songs of Praise

8 - Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus

7 - Death Cab For Cutie - Thank You for Today

6 - Wye Oak - The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs

5 - GoGo Penguin - A Humdrum Star

4 - Belly - DOVE

3 - Frank Turner - Be More Kind

2 - Angelique Kidjo - Remain In Light
1 - LOCKS - Skeletal Blues

My favorite album of 2018: Gloriously acoustic murder ballads and death shanties from an English/Irish London-based four piece band likely as influenced by Tom Waits as Nick Cave. They had me under their spell with my first listen to the song, “Skin,” but every song on this album is a gothic-blues gem.  

Here's a Spotify playlist with some sample tracks from each of these albums. Let me know if you hear anything you like!



 Speaking of Spotify, most of my musical exploration is being done that way these days. For decades, the only way I could experiment with music is to buy it in a physical format - LP or CD. For every real gem that I discovered that way, there were at least two or three other titles that just didn't stick to my ribs in the long run. This, in turn, led to piles of vinyl records and CDs all over the house, knowing fully well that much of what was in those piles would never spend much more time being played. My appetite for new music was creating a lot of media clutter.

With the advent of streaming services like Spotify, I've been able to cut way back on purchases of physical media. While some would see this as a bad thing, it is directly in line with my desire to simplify my life and cut down on all the "stuff" that I own. I will still buy physical copies of albums but, much like my much younger days, I reserve that honor for the few that end up being special to me. In the meantime, many of those LPs and CDs that didn't stick with me are either heading for resale at record stores or being listed on Discogs.

Front Burner 2017

It's pretty sad that this blog is only being used once a year these days. I have no excuse, and it's particularly odd because I'm usually thinking about music on a daily basis. If I spent half the time here that I spend on Facebook, this blog would look a lot different. (Something tells me that I'd be a lot less frustrated with the world, too.) Nevertheless, I'm back again for my annual roundup of the music I listened to the most; my musical 'Front Burner' for the year.

As has been the case for the past few years, I've been a contributor to my friend Bret Helm's "Best of..." blog posts. Every June, he asks us to list 10 new albums that rank as our favorites of the year so far. I mention this because, for some reason, my year-end list (I'll get to that soon) bares little resemblance to what I had picked out for the first six months. I can only surmise that this is because I listened to a lot of new music this year, and didn't spend a lot of time revisiting some of the albums on my "So Far" list from June. 

Top 10 as of June: (in order of release date, I believe)

Throwing Snow - Embers

PVT - New Spirit 

Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai

Desperate Journalist - Grow Up

Clan of Xymox - Days of Black

Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

Ulver - The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Robyn Hitchcock - Robyn Hitchcock 

Todd Rundgren - White Knight 

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound 

On a personal note, I've been buying much less music these days, and my increased use of Spotify for exploration (as opposed to buying a lot of physical product) has saved me both money and space. Its quite likely that this has also been one of the reasons I didn't cling to many of these albums during the second half of the year but instead moved on to other things. I still haven't decided if that last factor is good or bad. From the June list above, only the PVT, Robyn Hitchcock, Todd Rundgren, and Jason Isbell were purchased in a physical format (all vinyl LP.)

For whatever reason(s), I moved on from there. By the end of December, these are the recordings with which I spent the most time:

17 Favorite Albums of 2017
1 - Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit • The Nashville Sound *  **
2 - Gary Numan • Savage **
3 - Fever Ray • Plunge
4 - The Clientele • Music for the Age of Miracles ***
5 - The National • Sleep Well Beast
6 - St. Vincent • Masseduction
7 - Desperate Journalist • Grow Up *
8 - Pronto Mama • Any Joy
9 - Ride • Weather Diaries
10 - Columbia Mills • A Safe Distance To Watch 

11 - Joe Henry • Thrum ***
12 - Offa Rex • The Queen of Hearts **
13 - Karine Polwart • A Pocket of Wind Resistance ***
14 - This Is The Kit • Moonshine Freeze
15 - Out Lines • Buried Guns
16 - Beth Ditto • Fake Sugar
17 - Father John Misty • Pure Comedy *

*   Also appeared in the June list

**  Recordings purchased on vinyl LP

*** Recordings purchased on CD 

Offa Rex's 'The Queen of Hearts' is a collaboration between British folk singer Olivia Chaney and The Decemberists. Their collaboration is a celebration of traditional British folk songs. 

My #1 album of 2017, partially elevated to this position after seeing him at the Chicago Theater with my wife and daughter at the start of his North American Tour for this album, then again two days later in Madison, Wisconsin with a buddy of mine.

Last year, I created a Spotify playlist with two sample tracks from each of the albums in my list. If you'd like to hear a couple songs from these albums, check this out: 

Looking for more great music?

Since 2014, I have been contributing my Top 10 to Bret Helm's Life On This Planet blog. He and his partner Sarah Q do a fantastic job with it! This year, they gathered 13 friends from around the globe to contribute their lists, and the blog post contains a link to a massive Spotify playlist that is just chock full of great music. Please visit the link below to take you over to Bret & Sarah's Best of 2017 blog post! 

Life On This Planet - The Best of 2017

Enjoy!