Best Of

In my little corner of the world, 2017 was a good year, with welcome moments of personal joy and accomplishment arriving right alongside the tougher stuff. Out in the world, 2017 had an almost apocalyptic feel at times—and then there was the smoldering debris of the music industry, which left me puzzled as to how to even approach putting this list together. For example: what does it even mean to be an “indie” act in an era when labels are dying on the vine and bands with multiple chart hits on their resumes are funding their albums on PledgeMusic? My…

It was a year full of surprises, from start to finish. A year when artists I'd never heard of delivered albums that absolutely took over my world... and artists I know and love found ways to disappoint. A year when virtually the entire musical world lined up behind one particular presidential candidate... and the other one won. A year when a number of genuinely wonderful things happened in my personal sphere... and a few very difficult ones did as well. One thing's for sure: 2016 was anything but boring. “No, Seriously…” AwardJohnny Gallagher – Six Day HurricaneFor decades now, “actor…

It’s been a tumultuous year to say the least. But if you ask me, 2016 has been a pretty great time to be a music fan. I found a ton of records to love, so many in fact that ranking my favorites was much harder for me this time around than in any previous year (it seems like I say that every year, but it's true!) I found something to enjoy at almost every turn, and there were even a solid number of really good records that could have easily made my list in previous years that I had to…

This year has been a different one for this writer, with multiple hospitalizations and numerous other things going on, but he has kept the music steady by his side the entire time. Overall, it was a less than stellar year for music, but there was still plenty to keep people interested. Behold! The top 10 for the year. 10. blink-182 – CaliforniaA true comeback album in every sense of the word; this was a lot better than Neighborhoods and new guitarist Matt Skiba adds so much excitement to the proceedings. Producer Feldmann had to drag himself all over the record,…

Hudson Bell – Yerba BuenaA San Francisco band and person, Bell's crunchy college rock is on a level of greatness running parallel with Built To Spill or Matthew Sweet. Though their inception was as a bedroom pop outfit recording onto a 4-track, this one's a giant alt-rock masterpiece.  Haley Bonar – Impossible DreamProof that Minnesota is still home to plenty of essential rock, Bonar's lengthy career reaches a high point here with soft, indie folk as well as fuzzed out alt-rock anthems. Truly one of the perfect albums of 2016. Echo Bloom – RedSelf-described as “country/shoegaze,” the plucked banjos meets orchestral,…

There goes another year! As always, there was plenty of great music to listen to, but ranking favorites isn't always so easy. This year in particular was tricky; while I didn't have any trouble populating my list, putting my favorites in order was actually pretty tough. It was a very even year with few albums I liked significantly more or less than others. Ask me again tomorrow and I might come up with a completely different order for these. 15. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & LowellA sad, slow and quiet album, Carrie & Lowell is the most raw record Sufjan…

  Divers – Hello Hello An incredible mix of punk, garage and classic rock. If The Clash never broke up and keep their roots intact, it might resemble this.   Louise Distras – Dreams From The Factory Floor Gritty and raw punk rock that takes influences from Billy Bragg and Patti Smith as well as current stars like Frank Turner, Distras might be the new voice of rebellion, but she's got some great campfire songs in her as well. Though this album came out digitally in 2013, the physical release was in 2015, so I'm counting it. Chris Riffle –…

Soooooo, this year has been very interesting. In between health crises within the family, getting into my first car wreck and landing a new job, I have been very busy. But this year has also been one of the best when it comes to music. I will quit talking and get right down to it! 10. Love – Black Beauty Recorded over 40 years ago but unreleased until just recently, this is Arthur Lee’s farewell as a dignified singer-songwriter. The band he had backing him up was on the top of their game and some of the songs rank as high…

This was the year I saw Death Cab For Cutie for the third time with my mom, Dave Grohl rocking New York from an unbelievable light-up throne made out of guitars, and The Weeknd in New Jersey amid an ear-piercingly loud horde of teenage girls that made me feel every bit of my 25 years of age. It was also my second year of graduate school, which meant an ever-regenerating stream of papers and seeing therapy clients for the first time – all events that needed soundtracks that rocked but also inspired, music that kept me moving, feeling, and looking…

“Underwhelming” is the word I would have used to describe 2015 musically if you’d asked me in July. My potential “Best Of” list was looking thin until late in the game, when I suddenly found myself locked in a months-long highlight reel populated by Gary Clark, Jr., Perfect Beings, Butchers Blind, and an abrupt, admittedly tardy infatuation with My Morning Jacket. That’s the thing about music; if you don’t care for what you’re hearing right now, just wait. More is on the way. Citizen Of The Year AwardProg singer-songwriter / multi-instrumentalist / producer Billy Sherwood took on an impossible task…