psykhophear

Having The Last Jedi as the second best Star Wars movie ever is an even hotter take though.

@psykhophear: I just wanted to say thank you for introducing me to Noveller! I haven't fallen in love with a musician this quickly in a long time!

Didn't quite make it to ten this year. In no particular order:

Friendship - Hatred

God Mother - Vilseledd

Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights

Converge - The Dusk In Us

Tera Melos - Trash Generator

Noam Pikelny - Universal Favorite

The Drip - The Haunting Fear Of Inevitability

Steven Universe, Vol. 1 (Official Soundtrack)

I honestly haven't found 10 albums released this year that I've liked. The three that are in permanent rotation are;

Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence

Alice Cooper - Paranormal

Steven Wilson - To The Bone

Supposedly another NIN EP is coming before the year ends, so I fully expect that to join the list. The only other thing I've listened to is the Hamilton OST, but that's ineligible. For this list.

These threads are always bittersweet to me. There was a day when I could rattle off thirty albums I really enjoyed from each year no problem, now I struggle to hear 30 albums total. Damn podcasts and my work no longer being listening to music...

Anyway, CTRL by SZA is my ultimate favorite album of the year, an absolutely beautiful album that reminds me of the heights of Erykah Badu but without the sometimes pretentious feel that neo-soul sound could add. Bracingly self-aware, funny and honest with herself, SZA is also an amazing vocalist. It's a total package album that also has maybe the best first track/last track pairing I've heard since...Radiohead's In Rainbows? in terms of capturing the mood of the record. For other non-rap albums (or rap albums I've enjoyed but not written about and applied the science to), LCD Soundsystem's American Dream is the easy #2 pick. I also really enjoyed Khalid's American Teen, Aimee Mann's Mental Illness, Alvvays' Antisocialites, Big K.R.I.T.'s 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time, Brand New's Science Fiction, all three of Burial's single releases, Christian Scott's epic jazz fusion trilogy, everything Curren$y released was as solid as usual, Dizzee Rascal's Raskit, Joey Bada$$' ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, milo's who told you to think??!!?!?!?!, The National's Sleep Well Beast, Oddisee's The Iceberg, Spoon's Hot Thoughts, Vince Staples' Big Fish Theory, and Playboi Carti's single, "Magnolia".

That name drop salad aside, here are my write-ups of ten albums that I listened to enough to write about, nine of which range from very good to, well, I listened to it a few times over and wrote about it for some reason.

1		Migos Culture (2017) Overall: 8.52/10 Song Quality: 90 - 91% Enjoyment: 4/5 Great Tracks (13/13): 100% *1|Culture|2:334 - 4.5 *2|T-Shirt|4:025 *3|Call Casting|3:524 - 4.25 *4|Bad and Boujee|5:435 *5|Get Right Witcha|4:174 - 4.25 *6|Slippery|5:044.5 - 5 *7|Big on Big|4:504.5 - 5 *8|What the Price|4:084.5 - 5 *9|Brown Paper Bag|3:314 - 4.75 *10|Deadz|4:343.75 - 4 *11|All Ass|4:544.5 - 5 *12|Kelly Price|6:035 *13|Out Yo Way|4:484 Review Quote: "The value of Migos comes from the heart of the matter, that these guys have found a formula to embody the ethos of Gucci Mane's statement, "I'm a murderer, nigga, but I don't promote violence." Whether that's as literally true of the Migos boys as is Gucci is up for debate, and likely murky water, but their music across the entirety of Culture embodies everything that trap music has been striving for during its push into FM airwave dominance. Culture's violence is soothing, its hard edges sanded down, its pop aspirations weighed down by idiosyncratic tendencies, its dead serious subject matter cut off by "goin' big - whale!" If the music were less simpatico with the lyrics, if the group hadn't been developing their personal short hand for hours of music and years of discussion about said short hand, there are so many moments where their lyrics would disappoint. My issue is, you're missing the point that they get that if you find that #hashtag #whale lyric stupid because it's bad; it's stupid because it's stupid." (March 20, 2017) Full Review: https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating85892952
2		Future HNDRXX (2017) Overall: 8.35/5 Song Quality: 87% Enjoyment: 4/5 Great Tracks (16/17): 94% *1|My Collection|4:155 *3|Lookin Exotic|3:464 *4|Damage|3:573.75 - 4 *5|Use Me|4:164.5 - 5 *6|Incredible|4:085 *7|Testify|2:585 *8|Fresh Air|4:305 *9|Neva Missa Lost|3:574 *10|Keep Quiet|3:224 *11|Hallucinating|3:415 *12|I Thank U|2:214 - 4.75 *13|New Illuminati|3:014 *14|Turn on Me|4:244 - 4.5 *15|Selfish|4:113.25 - 4 *16|Solo|4:253.75 - 4 *17|Sorry|7:315 Review Quote: "This is the first time in a long time we've heard Future truly excited about anything other than getting back at someone who wronged him, and even if the lyrics often reveal an artist still clearly in personal turmoil ("is it impossible to do these drugs and fall in love?" he asks on "Fresh Air"; also implies he takes shots of codeine straight, no chaser, which is weird and sad) the sound of this album is something we've never caught in a sustained blast before. Future truthfully hasn't changed his perspective much, but he has gone full '90s R&B for the majority of this mixtape and the result is a re-contextualization that makes same old Future feel new and refreshing even if he not-so-secretly is up to the same tricks." (April 22, 2017) Full Review: https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating86825208
3		Kendrick Lamar DAMN. (2017) Overall: 8.21/10 Song Quality: 84% Enjoyment: 4/5 Great Tracks (14/14): 100% *1|BLOOD.|1:584 *2|DNA.|3:055 *3|YAH.|2:403.75 - 4 *4|ELEMENT.|3:284 - 4.5 *5|FEEL.|3:344 - 4.25 *6|LOYALTY.|3:473.5 - 4 *7|PRIDE.|4:353.25 - 4 *8|HUMBLE.|2:574 - 4.5 *9|LUST.|5:073.5 - 4 *10|LOVE.|3:334 *11|XXX.|4:145 *12|FEAR.|7:404 - 4.5 *13|GOD.|4:084 *14|DUCKWORTH.|4:085 Review Quote: "DAMN. is a very good album, and when he does the thing you want him to do ("FEAR.", right?) it's more proof that Kendrick Lamar has come such a very long way from his beginnings as the young kid in his crew. He can just casually toss a song like that, or "XXX.", or "DNA.", off into an otherwise far more massively palatable experience. In some ways, this makes DAMN. a far more impressive feat than his past three projects; despite a confrontational appearance, this is easily his most inclusive release. DAMN. is the album Lamar needed to make at this point in his career." (April 17, 2017) Full Review: https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating86675623
4		2 Chainz Pretty Girls Like Trap Music (2017) Overall: 8.03/10 Song Quality: 80 - 81% Enjoyment: 4/5 Great Tracks (12/14): 86% *1|Saturday Night|4:314 *2|Riverdale Rd|3:244 - 4.25 *3|Good Drank|3:455 *4|4 AM|4:155 *5|Door Swangin|3:084 *6|Realize|3:513.5 - 4 *7|Poor Fool|3:414 *8|It's a Vibe|3:304 *9|Rolls Royce Bitch|3:593.75 - 4 *11|Trap Check|3:064 *13|OG Kush Diet|4:104 *14|Burglar Bars|5:074 - 4.25 Review Quote: "Pretty Girls Like Trap Music implies a certain back to basics ignorance from one of the most hypnotically silly rappers of our time, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it continues the trend of 2 Chainz being smarter than most give him credit for ... His mixtapes are no longer event listening but his albums are." (July 10, 2017) Full Review: http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating89105794
5		JAY-Z 4:44 (2017) Overall: 8.00/10 Song Quality: 78 - 82% Enjoyment: 4/5 Great Tracks (9/13): 69% *3|Smile|4:503.5 - 4 *4|Caught Their Eyes|3:264 - 4.75 *5|4:44|4:444.5 - 5 *6|Family Feud|4:114.5 - 5 *7|BAM|3:554 *9|Marcy Me|2:545 *10|Legacy|2:574.25 - 5 *11|Adnis|2:264.25 - 5 *13|MANYFACEDGOD|3:184.75 - 5 Review Quote: "With this album, Jay pulls off a trick few artists, let alone rappers, are capable of: he changes next to nothing about his work and somehow convinces the world he's doing it all for the first time. I wouldn't have Jay-Z define his legacy any other way." (August 27 2017) Full Review: http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating90549262
6		Freddie Gibbs You Only Live 2wice (2017) Overall: 7.69/10 Song Quality: 83 - 85% Enjoyment: 3.5/5 Great Tracks (7/8): 88% *1|20 Karat Jesus|5:214 - 4.75 *2|Alexys|2:594.25 - 5 *3|Crushed Glass|4:355 *4|Dear Maria|3:553.75 - 4 *5|Amnesia|3:183.25 - 4 *6|Andrea|3:124.5 - 5 *8|Homesick|4:294 - 4.5 Review Quote: "In my opinion the most lustrous music of Gibbs' career, You Only Live 2wice is the definition of momentum from the word go, and if it has a litany of minor issues that creep up on close inspection (one more to point out: the tenuous theme of comparing his relationships with past women to the future he hopes for for his daughter), so too does it carry so many great macro-level moments that it's an exceptionally enjoyable listen. Brisk and tight, You Only Live 2wice may not be the album it could have been but just because I want one thing doesn't mean the thing I have isn't quite good at being what it was designed to be." (September 11 2017) Full Review: http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating91015706
7		Future FUTURE (2017) Overall: 7.50/10 Song Quality: 79 - 81% Enjoyment: 3.5/5 Great Tracks (14/17): 82% *1|Rent Money|4:254 - 4.25 *3|Zoom|4:383.25 - 4 *4|Draco|3:454 - 4.25 *5|Super Trapper|3:504 *6|POA|4:084 *7|Mask Off|3:235 *8|High Demand|3:313.75 - 4 *9|Outta Time|2:484 *10|Scrape|3:373.75 - 4 *12|Might As Well|3:274 - 4.5 *13|Poppin' Tags|3:384 - 4.5 *14|Massage in My Room|2:354 - 4.25 *16|When I Was Broke|3:054 - 4.5 *17|Feds Did a Sweep|4:304.75 - 5 Review Quote: "FUTURE is cool, and there's definitely a reality in which this is someone's first Future full-length and they kind of love it. I kind of love it. This is all the slick, detached, aesthetically horrifying yet dopamine overloaded atmosphere Future climbed to the mountaintop with. I'm just a bit bored by it anymore, despite also feeling like this is significantly more engaging than EVOL. It even introduces some fun, lighter elements to his usual soundscapes ("Mask Off", "Outta Time", "Might As Well", etc.) that I'm a big fan of." (April 22, 2017) Full Review: https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating86820502
8		Your Old Droog Packs (2017) Overall: 7.23/10 Song Quality: 73 - 76% Enjoyment: 3.5/5 Great Tracks (8/14): 57% *1|G.K.A.C.|3:463.5 - 4 *3|I Only|4:104 *4|Bangladesh|3:343.25 - 4 *7|Just an Interlude|3:003.75 - 4 *9|Help|3:554 *10|Jeselnik Skit 3|0:114 *11|You Can Do It! (Give Up)|3:465 *14|Winston Red|4:584 - 4.75 Review Quote: "Droog is primarily a funny guy, in my opinion, and to my ears feels more like a blend of Edan's gift for imagery, any number of other Boston-area MCs' pronunciation styles and Sean Price's penchant for jab-quick jokes and broke rapper puns. Maybe this is brought on by the heavily Beauty & The Beat-influenced production throughout, or the Sean Price voicemail from beyond the grave, but that's how I feel. I really like it." (July 10, 2017) Full Review: http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating89112172
9		Drake More Life (2017) [Mixtape] Overall: 6.67/10 Song Quality: 72 - 75% Enjoyment: 3/5 Great Tracks (11/22): 50% *3|Passionfruit|4:594.75 - 5 *4|Jorja Interlude|1:484 *5|Get It Together|4:104 - 4.5 *6|Madiba Riddim|3:254 - 4.5 *7|Blem|3:375 *10|Skepta Interlude|2:234 - 4.75 *11|Portland|3:574 - 4.25 *16|Lose You|5:053.5 - 4 *20|Fake Love|3:314 *21|Ice Melts|4:114.5 - 5 *22|Do Not Disturb|4:444 Review Quote: "More Life teases the best Drake possibly has to offer, surrounds it in a spastic vision of the Drake diaspora that, say what you will, is less focused than Views and suffers more for it because Drake is at his best when he's laser focused on broken iPhone 5S' and giving Noah Shebib the reigns to coat a full project in a determined aesthetic." (April 17, 2017) Full Review: https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating86670967
10		Young Nudy Slimeball 2 (2017) [Mixtape] Overall: 6.54/10 Song Quality: 68 - 74% Enjoyment: 3/5 Great Tracks (5/13): 38% *3|Peons|3:204 - 4.25 *4|EA|3:474 *5|I Got|3:014 - 4.25 *8|Shots Fired|3:214 *9|My Year|4:213.5 - 4 Review Quote: "While Nudy's far from a complete artist in so far as you give him four minutes to say something and he'll never fully earn the runtime, his rough edges also allow for the subtle risks he takes in his production choices and the shallow confidence that leads to hook after hook worming their way into your ear before the song's even over." (March 23, 2017) Full Review: https://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Nodima/rating85969587 Damn! That's a very elaborate list and review! Thanks for sharing.