We celebrate the end of the year the only way we know how: through lists, essays, and mixes. Join us as we explore the music that helped define the year. More from this series
Absurdity’s dead, and we, the citizens of the digital sphere, killed it. What good is Pynchon when our president’s penning a postmodern novel in real time, weaving all-caps interjections and sporadic entanglements with B- and C-list celebrities into his fragmented Twitter narrative? Does James Ferraro’s work still spark the imagination like it did in a world before real-time ridesharing startups founded their own cryptocurrencies in order to eliminate tipping in the service industry? Do vaporwave’s neo-classical busts feel that lifeless among the animated emojis we use as virtual masks? Even the most surreal, depraved nooks and crannies of the internet feel like home.
“Looks like I’m in the weird part of YouTube again,” reads a comment I’ve read a hundred times before. Maybe it felt that way to the user who posted that four years ago. I wish I could feel unnerved by hyperrealistic CGI or creepypasta lore. But how can I when I feel like I’ve been a voyeur all my life, peeking into the collective Id of the post-industrial world?
The album artwork that populated year-end lists past has proven prophetic: to fill 2017’s top 20 countdown with PC Music’s CGI-scapes and Babyfather’s pseudo-nationalist iconography would feel like a cruel joke, too reflective of our pessimistic times. Instead, I’ve sought out earthy pinks, blues, and greens — smeared by brushes or scrawled in pen — to sow future-primitive dreams of happier times. I hope you don’t mind some prescriptive color in lieu of the bleak descriptivism I originally planned on listing. We could all use it.
20
chivo carnada - choxxo /koyote
Artist: Agus Wussy
[Self-Released]
19
Los Campesinos! - Sick Scenes
Artist: R.N. Taylor
[Wichita]
18
Dillon Wendel - Pulse
Artist: Anne Tetzlaff
[The Trilogy Tapes]
17
Alex G - Rocket
Artist: Rachel Giannascoli
[Domino]
16
Lil Wop - Wopavelli 2
Artist: HOODxGHANDI
[Bases Loaded]
15
Swept - Cult Desire
Artist: Mason Lindroth
[Self-Released]
14
Communions - Blue
Artist: Tea Palmelund
[Fat Possum]
13
Jessica Says - Do With Me What U Will
Artist: Unknown
[Chapter Music]
12
Minogame - Lemongrass
Artist: Minogame
[The Worst]
11
Jean-Michel Blais & CFCF - Cascades
Artist: Dan Wilton
[Arts & Crafts]
10
Lina Tullgren - Won
Artist: Unknown
[Captured Tracks]
09
emamouse - holiday of tiny coffee shop
Artist: Jesus Belluci
[Belluci Enterprises]
08
clipping. - The Deep
Artist: clipping.
[Sub Pop]
07
Thundercat - Drunk
Artist: Zack Fox
[Brainfeeder]
06
i-fls - wasted
Artist: i-fls
[Self-Released]
05
Robert Soleto - Cusp
Artist: Daniel Sean Kelly
[Upset the Rhythm]
04
Planning For Burial - Below the House
Artist: Micah Sedmak
[The Flenser]
03
Various Artists - The Downward Spiral
Artist: gei
[The Worst]
02
Daniel Saylor - Spring Rain
Artist: John Zobele
[Bedlam Tapes]
01
Stuck in November - First Visit to Camp Telepathy
Artist: Stuck in November
[Self-Released]
More about: (Sandy) Alex G, CFCF, chivo carnada, clipping., Communions, Daniel Saylor, Dillon Wendel, emamouse, i-fls, Jean-Michel Blais, Jessica Says, Lil Wop, Lina Tullgren, Los Campesinos!, Minogame, Planning for Burial, Robert Soleto, Stuck in November, Swept, Thundercat
We celebrate the end of the year the only way we know how: through lists, essays, and mixes. Join us as we explore the music that helped define the year. More from this series
