Best Albums of 2017

Josh Ritter

artist

Gathering

album

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"This record is the product of a strange and interesting time. When I started writing Gathering, I felt tired of living in the shadow of my earlier self, my earlier work — but more than discouraged, I felt charged with the possibility and the freedom of cutting myself loose from my own and others' expectations. I began with an exciting sense of dissatisfaction, and what emerged, as I began to find my voice, was a record full of storms. Some, like "Feels Like Lightning" or "Friendamine", are physical storms. Others, like "Dreams", are interior ones. Listening to these songs now, I hear uncertainty, mania, laughter and sadness, all vying for their place on the album. I was surprised by the new voice."
Josh ritter (NPR)

"I have been writing records for almost twenty years now. Each one has been different from the last in subject and form, but with Gathering I feel I've found a new electric dissatisfaction, a new way to rejoice as the storm rolls in."
Josh ritter (NPR)

Fleet Foxes

artist

Crack-Up

album

If You Need To, Keep Time On Me

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"The record is about me going from being a solitary person, to reentering the band, reentering old relationships..."
robin pecknold (pitchfork)

"I thought the word 'crack-up' was an evocative phrase and it gives you somewhere to go. The first song on the record ['I Am All That I Need/Arroyo Seco/Thumbprint Scar'] is impressionistic and 'cracked' like it’s been disassembled and reassembled incorrectly. Then with the last song ['Crack-Up'], everything is brought back together. It also didn’t feel like Fleet Foxes, so I liked that. CU is also the initials of Columbia, so that was the only reference to that experience on the album."
robin pecknold (performer)

Paul Kelly

artist

Life Is Fine

album

Leah: The Sequel

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"Life is fine! It can be wonderful, but it really hangs on a thin thread, we never really know what’s around the corner. I think being aware of that makes you live life a lot more intensely and that’s what I think about when I think of the title."
paul kelly (newcastle live)

"When you take a song to the band and you’re not always so sure about it, they go ‘Yeah great!’ and they sink their teeth into it. And that’s when the song starts to happen. It’s come out of you then, and other people are reacting to it. The band start reacting to it. And that’s one of the joys of this record for me. I can hear the verve and the joy of the band in the record."
paul kelly (the brag)

Sera Cahoone

artist

From Where I Started

album

Always Turn Around

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"I went into recording this record a lot like I did my very first self-titled record. I knew I wanted to play all the drums and piece it together more in the studio with a band. With Only as the Day is Long and Deer Creek Canyon, I went in with a band but had all the parts figured out in advance. With From Where I Started I knew I wanted to bring in different instruments and some new people. Piano was the first thing I wanted and it kind of took over my record in a lot of ways, which is what I wanted. Rob (Burger) blew my mind. I also wanted strong fiddle as well so Annalisa (Tornfelt) was a perfect pick."
sera cahoone (albumism)

"From Where I Started is the most personal record I have made. Every song is true and I've been through a lot since Deer Creek Canyon. Lots of good, yet some hard times too. I think with [this] record, I just wanted to own it being more autobiographical, didn't want to try and hide it. I wanted to just put it out there."
sera cahoone (albumism)

Lee Ann Womack

artist

The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone

album

The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone

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"I guess I live in those bygone days. I love music that takes you somewhere, and when people listen to this music, I want them to be taken to a different place, so I hope that it does that."
lee ann womack (billboard)

"I’m a very proud Texan. I love places where people appreciate real music. What I mean by that is with real instruments - wood, and things that breathe - not computer-generated sounds. I came from a place where that’s celebrated. It was when I was growing up, and it still is now."
LEE ANN WOMACK (BILLBOARD)

Quiet Hollers

artist

Amen Breaks

album

Dear Richard

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"I recently learned about the “amen break” from an article my wife brought home from work (she’s a cognitive psychologist) about repetition, and why the brain prefers sounds that are familiar. I was fascinated by the story, and by how unknown the “amen break” phenomenon was outside of certain circles. Here we have a 6-second piece of music — a drum beat — that is the most widely borrowed (and perhaps stolen) piece of music in history. Yet its creator, G.C. Coleman, struggled for much of his life until he died destitute and homeless on the streets of Atlanta. It struck me as a perfect metaphor for the music industry, and for America, present day."
shadwick wilde (american songwriter)

"My favorite artists are the kind who never make the same album twice. To stay true to your self and your art, you have to follow the muse. All I try to do in recording is remake the sounds in my head, and they’re always changing."
shadwick wilde (american songwriter)

Jim Keaveny

artist

Put It Together

album

Is It You

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"Jim Keaveny's life experience was useful when he retired from the inhabited world and built a fully-energized modest oasis in the desert in Terlingua, TX. The isolation of the desert and proximity of the Mexican border sound strongly in his latest album "Put It Together" that was captured by co-producer Bill Palmer in Santa Fe, NM. Track What I Ain't Got is still firmly anchored in Dylan's structures with that shaky harmonica. And, in Check You Out's warm-hearted groove, that characteristic troubadour spirit can be heard, unmistakably reminiscent of John Prine."
cis van looy (written in music)

"Suffice to say that Keaveny has, yet again, produced an album that stands out amongst the slew of releases that might be considered Americana. He’s gifted and really should be more feted. If anyone asks you for a reason to listen to Texan music these days then just hand them this album and stand well back."
paul kerr (blabber 'n' smoke)

Kevin Morby

artist

City Music

album

City Music

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"'Cause in my brain I was writing a New York record. When I think about New York, I think about guitars and I think about the Velvet Underground and I think about mid-to-late 60s Bob Dylan. And so it makes me want to do that, you know. You want it to sound gritty, and then electric guitar sounds gritty, that’s to reflect… It’s a city that’s gritty."
kevin morby(indieberlin)

"I think I definitely yell a lot more on City Music, I wanted to burn my vocal chords a little bit more. That said, I did want the guitar to be more of a voice on this album, rather than… I wanted the guitar to act lyrical, rather than just the only lyrical thing being my voice. I wanted the guitar to speak up."
kevin morby (indieberlin)

London Grammar

artist

Truth Is A Beautiful Thing

album

Rooting For You

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"My lyrics are quite subconscious. The theme of Truth is a Beautiful Thing is different, so is the aesthetic, and the sonics. The first album was a heartbreak album about interpersonal relationships and love songs about romantic relationships. This one's about an experience I had with myself being on the road — but love is always in there."
hannah reid (under the radar)

"I think we would describe it as being – the word I keep using is – slightly more expansive… Or “wide-screen” and that seems to be sort of imagery based and also influenced by Hannah’s lyrics. And then just trying to bring more live elements to it. From having toured the first record and then going on to make the second record, you try and bring all these elements into the recording process. And then naturally, I think, you have a sort of larger soundscape. In order to try and make the sound right for us; it was the case of making it sound more expansive. So I think that’s probably how I see it…As well as being slightly more colourful and maybe marginally more uplifting at points."
dan rothman (kalt blut)

Khalid

artist

American Teen

album

Another Sad Love Song

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"The album is a compilation of my youth. The mistakes I’ve made, the heartbreaks I went through, the love that I got, and all the love that I lost."
khalid (entertainment weekly)

"I try to tap into a lot of my friends’ emotions. Some of my friends go through it and they ask for advice, and I can only talk so much. But once I put it into a song they can listen to – that’s my goal. Creating happiness. Because I’ve been upset, and I’ve turned to music to help me out. And it helped me even more when I started writing my own."
khalid (independent)

Becca Mancari

artist

Good Woman

album

Golden

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"I grew up playing music, since I was pretty young, at least writing songs as a little kid. I had a little training when I was maybe twelve. But most of it has been gut learning and experiential learning. And because I wasn’t trained as a musician, I feel like that’s kind of why it has so many different influences on it, and the record I wanted to make was just from the gut. I’ve always functioned that way as a writer and as a person. So I think that’s why it feels accessible to different listeners, because I’m not going about it trying to be something."
becca mancari (red line roots)

"You know the old Nashville, "the power of one good song." I recorded "Summertime Mama" about two years ago, and it did a lot of work in those two years. I waited to release a full length because I was looking for the right producer and truly the right focus. I'm very happy I took my time and did something I'm proud of!"
becca mancari (new commute)

Hazel English

artist

Just Give In / Never Going Home

album

I'm Fine

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"I am a person who gets overwhelmed very easily so I think I have always sought out music that is mellow and soothing. I think I’ve always been into very dreamy soundscapes, mainly for the other-worldly effect and the escapism it provides; I like to be carried away by a song."
hazel english (the seventh hex)

"I kind of felt like I was thrown into the deep end because our first show was with Craft Spells at Great American Music Hall, and that was pretty crazy for me. It was our first show and I felt like I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. It was good in a way, though, because it made me want to practice a lot and rehearse more with the band. I’d rather have something to work hard for. I need a purpose and direction."
hazel english (the bait shop)

Willie Watson

artist

Folksinger Vol. 2

album

Always Lift Him Up And Never Knock Him Down

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"I guess I look for something first and foremost that does pull my ear and make me feel something. It could be a number of things – it could be some funky, kind of cool chorus, something that’s gonna pull my ear that I know will do the same for listeners, if I can pull the song off. It covers the whole range of popular songs that people have definitely heard a million times, and the more obscure stuff. As anyone can tell from these two records, I am not afraid of doing the popular songs. I did “Midnight Special” on the first one and we’re doing “Cuckoo Bird” on this one. I think a lot of people are hung up on being cool and being rare and finding rare songs."
willie watson (no depression)

"It was Dave Rawlings – who had already expressed his interest in making my solo record, and wanted to help me out in any way he could – and he just said to me one day, 'Don’t worry so much about it. Take some of this pressure off. You don’t need to write songs,' and I’m like, 'Really? Are you sure?' and he’s like, 'Yeah! If anybody in this world can get away with singing these old folk songs, and doing what you’re doing here, it’s you; just don’t worry about it. Let’s make a record of folk songs,' and no one’s doing that, really; I mean, people are spinning old songs, but no one’s doing it like this. He was really, really helpful, and I trust him, and I really value his musical opinions; so, I was like, 'Okay, cool! Let’s do it.'"
willie watson (13th floor)

Overcoats

artist

Young

album

Leave The Light On

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"JJ: We’re so excited to finally release this thing into the world. It’s the culmination of a two year adventure.
Hana: We wanted to mix minimalism with depth…
JJ: Yes, and pit folk songwriting against electronic backdrops, find the sounds that would fill us up, make us feel whole. We wanted instrumentation that really cradled the lyrics, and lyrics that we were scared to sing.
Hana: The album is about the depth of love and the blessings of family.
JJ: And it’s about growing up. Everything we have each experienced and lived through separately and together helped us create this album.
Hana: Each of the songs on YOUNG tell a unique story. We tried to write honestly and with our whole hearts."
Hana Elion & JJ Mitchell (wonderland)

"We feel trapped in one genre and we feel like it’s not universal enough, or it doesn’t tell a whole truth – for us at least. I listen to a lot of singer-songwriters and that is very great for the soul, but for our project, we love it when things have tension. To put “Smaller Than My Mother,” which used to be a bluegrass-folk song, with a really crass electronic beat under it felt really dangerous - but also so right, because it needed something to move your body while you’re listening to those lyrics."
hana elion (billboard)

Dr. Dog

artist

Abandoned Mansion

album

Survive

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"Have you ever wondered, 'Gee, I wonder when we’ll hear some new Dr. Dog tunes?'. No, I don’t think you have. In fact, no one has. We put out more music than the Wolfman and Frankenstein combined. They’re lightweights. And now we have an even newer album. Gah? That’s right. It’s called Abandoned Mansion and it’s out today. It's a mood record. What I call Easy Peasy listening. Nothing too jarring or atonal. No blips or bloops or anything else that might unsettle you. There’s plenty of upright bass for any of you tall people. And, also plenty of acoustic guitar for those of you trying to live off the grid."
Dr. DOG (Dr. Dog)

"Thematically, this is Dr. Dog meat and potatoes. Our proverbial wheelhouse. Songs of the oldest questions. Songs as tools to finding oneself. And most importantly, songs of acceptance. Acceptance of yourself and acceptance of the others around you. Enough pontificating. The album is great and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg either. Unless, you are literally made out of money."
DR. DOG (DR. DOG)

Amber Coffman

artist

City Of No Reply

album

All To Myself

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"There’s certainly a lot of breakup songs, but it’s not about one person in particular. It’s more of an album about learning to live with yourself, which maybe is part of a breakup but it’s also just part of life. It’s about a lot: depression, self-doubt. 'City of No Reply' is about 'ghosting', that phenomenon that a lot of us are experiencing these days. But it’s also not really about one city or one thing: It’s about a state of mind."
amber coffman (pitchfork)

"I knew these very basic things, that I wanted to make something that would matter, that would connect with people, and it would feel like me. It would feel like I was being myself, like I was not trying to be anything. So, other than that I don't think I had any idea what it was gonna sound like ultimately because I could do a lot of different styles, and I've done a lot of different kinds of collaborations and things, throughout my musical career and stuff, so I just didn't really have a preconceived idea about what it would sound like I just had like, a playlist of music that I liked that sounded, you know, either timeless or new, or a combination of the two."
amber coffman (noisey)

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters

artist

Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters

album

Diamond In The Rough

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"I write a lot, and when I make an album I want to think about the overall feel. I want it to be cohesive. I also want to tag a lot of material on there. When I buy an album and there are nine or ten songs on there sometimes it might be just perfect, but there are other records when I think, oh, man I want more. So, yeah, we err toward the longer side."
Amanda anne platt (americana uk)

"I like to think of it as a whole. My favourite albums aren’t ones where I love one song, but records I love to play all the way through. Like it’s a journey. That is what I aim for."
amanda anne platt (americana uk)

Violents & Monica Martin

artist

Awake And Pretty Much Sober

album

Spark

fav track

"Stacked with string arrangements, electronic samples, pop melodies, bursts of piano, layers of vocal harmonies, and blasts of brass, their collaboration bridges the gap between two musicians from different ends of the musical spectrum. (Larson is a classically-trained pianist, string arranger, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, while Martin is a vocalist who spent the previous half-decade fronting the Midwest folk-pop band Phox.)"
partisan records

"This is Jeremy’s world I’m stepping into. He produced it all; wrote the lyrics, melodies, and the arrangements – not to mention he played all the instruments on the tracks. I’m happy to be the voice to carry his words."
monica martin (partisan records)

Julie Byrne

artist

Not Even Happiness

album

Sleepwalker

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"There's a lot more production on this album than on Rooms With Walls and Windows which is credited to my collaboration with Eric Littmann. I had hoped to work with Eric because of his extraordinary aptitude in music and although his skill and vision inspire him to adapt, Eric also possesses a distinct signature. We wanted the accompaniment on the album to be subtle with chosen moments of burgeoning emphasis, so that the underlying atmosphere that had been present throughout the song would suddenly emerge to claim it all. This is especially true of 'Natural Blue' and 'I Live Now As A Singer.'"
julie byrne (no depression)

"The guitar that I use on this record is the same one that my father would play. He always played as a hobbyist, but when he was in his early 20s he would play weddings on the weekends as an extra source of income. I grew up with the sound of his playing, which was fingerstyle guitar, so I would say that my style is completely rooted in his influence. But I didn’t learn how to play until I was 17, which was close to a decade after he stopped being able to play because he has multiple sclerosis. The opportunity to play his instrument and honor the legacy of his craft and all of the time it took for him to cultivate a skill that he ultimately had to find a way to give up—it feels like a bit of an offering to him."
julie byrne(pitchfork)

Amber Mark

artist

3:33am

album

Monsoon

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"My mother definitely plays a big role in my life and in my work. The majority of what I've created has to do with her passing and how I dealt with losing the most important person in my life. It's almost an ode to her. My childhood years spent in India has also greatly influenced the sounds I incorporate into my work. This diverse culture opened my mind and ears to a whole new world of music. I like to say it's where my love affair with sound began."
amber mark (noisey)

"Regret is called ‘Regret.’ Anger is ‘Lose My Cool.’ Isolation is ‘Space.’ Sadness would be the interlude into ‘Monsoon’ and also ‘Monsoon.’ ‘Can You Hear Me?’ is lack of faith and questioning. ‘Way Back’ is overcoming. It was definitely interesting to look at that list and, ‘Oh wow, this is really how I dealt with it without even realizing I was going through it, until I made a list."
amber mark (stereogum)

Best Albums of 2017

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