the single best album of 2017 you feel is overlooked

so it's still September and year-end lists are drifting into view. but when I think about my favorite albums of 2017 it's just a big ??????, which is very concerning. on a financial level as well as just core identity.

- the biggest culprit is that I spend large chunks of my day in an office that discourages listening to music, more large chunks of my day transcribing video (where I *actually* can't listen to music)
- it's not that I haven't discovered any new music -- in fact I've probably discovered more this year than the past few. it's just generally not been from 2017. it is fucked up on many levels that I feel guilty about this, but I work in a field that prioritizes the new above all else, and am also a machine that turns oxygen into guilt, so here we are.
- a lot of my freelance work a while back required systematic monitoring of the charts, premieres, radio adds, etc. not so much anymore. still happens, just not as a routine
- a lot of the albums I was looking forward to this year have been somewhat disappointing, if we're being honest. I won't name any because it's entirely possible I haven't been the right listener; I've been far from the most sympathetic listener to anything I haven't been paid to assess. (just covering my ass here in case I get 100 more angry emails like "SEE EVEN YOU ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT THIS CLEARLY PERFECT FART OF GENIUS, EXCEPT THAT METAPHOR IS WRONG BECAUSE IT IS IN FACT YOU WHO ARE THE FART")
- am I just old now? is this when it happens?
- or is it the 2017 effect? the above reasons are more than sufficient to explain it, and I don't want to refract legitimate political events through my bullshit, but... many things I enjoy have seemed less appealing this year.

anyway, the title says it all: what is the single best album of 2017 you feel is overlooked? obviously I have no shortage of places that will tell me the Kendrick or Lorde albums are the greatest things ever.

Shadow Band - Wilderness of Love
https://shadowband.bandcamp.com/album/wilderness-of-love

Blanck Mass, World Eater

i've only been successful at getting people to talk about the partner record in the emo thread, but it's really wonderful power-pop, pairs well with the charly bliss record from this year https://partnerband.bandcamp.com/album/in-search-of-lost-time

the Mark Eitzel record was doomed to be slept on but he's still one of the best songwriters on the planet imho

probably Pharma by Nmesh, this album is nuts and dense enough to hold up over a dozen+ listenes

https://orangemilkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pharma

Got some attention here but Sorority Noise

the Mark Eitzel record was doomed to be slept on but he's still one of the best songwriters on the planet imho

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Tuesday, September 26, 2017 7:36 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

Anna Wise - The Feminine Part 2

*the feminine ACT II

I have a few. The one that springs to mind the most is Future Islands' The Far Field, which has had some understandably lukewarm reviews but for me has grown into one of my most played records. It's quite one-note and not a huge departure from their usual sound, but at the same time it's a near-perfect crystallisation of their sound - them doing what they do best. Each song has slowly turned into a classic for me now.

Lowly - Heba

https://youtu.be/6G9b47bnwGo

World Eater is really good too!

yeah, the Mark Eitzel record is my favorite of the year

co-sign Lowly, really great album

Wednesday Campanella - Superman is my favourite pop album this year

https://youtu.be/4jWLioW7Zx0
https://youtu.be/aP4ERPsuyCU

Palehound's A Place I'll Always Go might be my favorite semi-popular album this year:

https://palehound.bandcamp.com/album/a-place-ill-always-go

Planning for Burial - Below the House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNcGVIohlMQ

Oh for fucks sake, that wasn't meant to imbed.

Pick any year when he's released a new record and Mark Eitzel will be amongst that year's most overlooked.

The man's a genius...

well now that he's earned 4x props itt I guess he's no longer overlooked

new candidate: the Ex Eye album

POWERPLANT by Girlpool. I know it got BNM on p4k, & positive press p much everywhere, & yeah they're headlining a cool mini-fest here in November, but I just discovered them this year, & holy shit they're incredible, my new favorite band. their 2015 album BEFORE THE WORLD WAS BIG is just incredible, within a week of hearing it for the first time it already became one of my favorite albums ever. I want the world blanketed with Girlpool music.

Sacred Paws - Strike A Match is still getting a ton of play from me

Matt Jencik - Weird Times

https://mattjencik.bandcamp.com/album/weird-times

I feel like I've been babbling about this album nonstop since I first heard it but if you have any inclination whatsoever towards Clan of Xymox-ish goth pop, you should listen to The Demonstration by Drab Majesty IMMEDIATELY:

https://drabmajesty.bandcamp.com/album/the-demonstration

^^good album

I want to say Midnight Magic's 'Free From Your Spell' which is a great nu-disco/pop album but it came out in November 2016 and not the kind of thing that would get any real critical buzz at this point but I haven't played anything more recent quite as much yet so just listen to it anyway.

if you have any inclination whatsoever towards Clan of Xymox-ish goth pop

immediate click

The Regrettes "Feel Your Feelings, Fool!"

It is probably gauche to mention an album you made, haha, and I think the Oxbow record is getting some praise, so I'll though out the New Year record "Snow" which not enough people I think even know it exists

https://thenewyear.bandcamp.com/album/snow

Drab Majesty seconded

The Regrettes "Feel Your Feelings, Fool!"

^ Album of the year, according to my 17 year old, along with "Gravedigging" by the Buttertones

I feel like Allison Crutchfield's album is somewhat overlooked-one of the best live shows I saw this year.

Jane weaver modern kosmology is pretty underrated

^^^ oh yeah that record rules

El Goodo - By Order of the Moose

---

Perfectly executed homage to '60s garage & psychedelic rock. Great follow-up to their 2009 LP Coyote. I think it's much more cohesive and enjoyable than Coyote and I've been listening to it on loop for three weeks now. I know I'll burn out, but I'm enjoying it while it's still fresh. Listen to "It Makes Me Wonder" and "Sit & Wonder" for a good taster. Both have music vids on YouTube.

Jane Weaver album is ok. Feels like it's missing a little of the mystery that made The Silver Orb so good, though.

Globe/orb, whatever.

https://talitres.bandcamp.com/album/the-silver-veil

I've listened to this more than any other album this year

I've probably discovered more this year than the past few. it's just generally not been from 2017. it is fucked up on many levels that I feel guilty about this

Oh how I can relate to this! It's not that I'm overly focused with the new - and, let's face it, there's more of it than ever. But our society is completely obsessed with "what have you done for me lately", especially in America where we tear down our 'old' buildings with no regard for their history or importance. And music has always been youth-driven, so it makes sense we feel guilt about not being as completely engaged as we once were. But I let that feeling wash away when I listen to something new-to-me-and-cool.

Most of my discoveries this year come from a previous era, the new Jane Weaver being my favorite of 2017 releases. Runners up include Fazerdaze - Morningside, The Black Watch - The Gospel According To John, Popguns - Sugar Kisses and Pete Fij/Terry Bickers - We Are Millionaires.

Mdou Moctar - Sousoume Tamachek

I was never a huge fan of Lillix and didn't think that much of her first couple of solo albums but Young Mopes by Louise Burns is a terrific record. It's not a million miles away from The Bangles / VOTB / Belinda Carlisle at times.

The three singles from the album currently have between 3000 and 18,000 YouTube views.

I love this:

https://homenormal.bandcamp.com/album/love-retained

Bandcamp is currently suggesting you can buy the CD for a quid (which seems ridiculous).

I love love love The Courtneys and their album II. Been meaning to start a thread for it.

I want the world blanketed with Girlpool music.

I also relate to this. Might've been my answer if they were new to me this year.

I was never a huge fan of Lillix and didn't think that much of her first couple of solo albums but Young Mopes by Louise Burns is a terrific record. It's not a million miles away from The Bangles / VOTB / Belinda Carlisle at times.

The three singles from the album currently have between 3000 and 18,000 YouTube views.

― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Tuesday, September 26, 2017 2:25 PM (fifty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh damn this is good to know

Young Mopes is a fantastic album. I liked her last one too, but this is even better.

I keep coming back very often to Nikki Lane's 'Highway Queen,' but I honestly don't know what kind of footprint it has in the real world. Maybe it's popular? I know it's not chart popular, and it seems untalked about in "Americana" circles for the most part. It's not throwback country, really, but it's not pop Nashville either. It swings and the songwriting is sooooo good.

I was all set to write off Liars' T F C F as an Angus solo project, but I have got a lot out of it (maybe more so than some of the previous 5 albums).

am I just old now?

me irl

(i also liked the courtneys album tho)

This is pretty easily The Stevens Good for me. It starts slow, but give it a chance, unless you're absolutely allergic to indie guitars, because there are some f***in tunes on here, a Kinks-ian plenty, in fact:

https://chaptermusic.bandcamp.com/album/good

I realise Katherine's only asked for one, but a few of the albums I've not read much about that I've enjoyed include Sevdaliza - ISON (hyperemotional fkatwigsy R&B/pop), Jen Cloher - Jen Cloher (latest alb from partner of Courtney Barnett), Hey Violet - From the Outside (American pop/rock girlgroup) and The Preatures - Girlhood (affable 70s-style Australian guitarpop which most notably features a song with a verse in Dharug, a Sydney indigenous language).

Like Katherine I haven't fallen for nearly as many albums this year as I have in the last few.

Good struck me as a bit less tuneful than History of Hygiene (and the titles aren't as dryly amusing) but "Keep Me Occupied" is quite a song.

Came down here to post Girlpool, glad to see that flappy bird beat me to it. It's a fantastic album, albeit in the way that it'll mean a lot to some people but not enough people to exactly dominate year-end lists. Personally it's my #2 album of the year!

Also the SZA album isn't exactly overlooked but it hasn't been talked about that much on ilm. there's not even a sza thread, which is weird because it's basically ILM bait

TOPS' Sugar at the Gate is also great great indie pop

Seconding the Anna Wise - The Feminine Part 2. Accessible and all you King fans should be all over it.

My nominee would be Ifriqiyya Électrique - Rûwâhîne Tunisian call/response heavy industrial. Pisses all over any number of cafe safe Tuareg albums that are filling the bins these days.

Anna Wise is great

xp nice call on that Ifriqiyya Électrique, Glitterbeat has been on a roll lately

robyn/top hat is underrated

I honestly thought Nick Hakim's The Green Twins would get a similar amount of love around here that the KING album got last year, but alas, no.

Maybe I wasn't forceful enough about this but I thought this would fit in some ilxor's Venn diagrams

Thraed of Iconika

Umm kiiara del weeknd with a side of kelela?

HOTT MT - AU (Alternate Universe) is an album with a surprisingly low profile that I think could find more fans here and generally. I don't think it's been mentioned once on this board before now.

It is a rather excellent psychedelic soul odyssey of a "dreampop" record.

Could name several others but the reasons for their marginality might be more readily comprehensible.

House And Land s/t on Thrill Jockey

bluegrass/Appalachian stuff via 60s minimalism. way more accessible than that sounds (imo)

Craig Finn - We All Want The Same Things

Mark Mulcahy — Possum in the Driveway
https://markmulcahyhq.bandcamp.com/album/the-possum-in-the-driveway

Talamanca System's s/t was my soundtrack to the summer, works great in the car as well. It's a collaboration between Mark Barrott, Phillip Lauer and Gerd Janson.
Nice interview about the genesis of the album: http://www.theransomnote.com/music/interviews/were-creating-timeless-heart-music-talamanca-system-talk/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef8z_F5FL0Y&list=PLReajJHjtcx8-cUxdNvrcj-j-yioQMpDg

that link to the youtube playlist doesn't seem to work. let me try again
https://youtu.be/Ef8z_F5FL0Y

I've spent the bulk of 2017 listening to jazz, and there have been some incredible records this year (Jaimie Branch's Fly Or Die and Yazz Ahmed's La Saboteuse are the first two that come to mind, both by female trumpeter/composers), but I'll stick to rock for this thread and talk about Memoriam's For the Fallen; it's a new project from ex-Benediction and Bolt Thrower dudes, doing what they've always done - grinding, low-end death metal - but age and maturity have given the music real depth and feeling.

Good struck me as a bit less tuneful than History of Hygiene

I think I need to listen to that immediately.

that would be the new year's "snow", a delight from start to finish.

It's a collaboration between Mark Barrott, Phillip Lauer and Gerd Janson

!!!!

i think i love every single song on the new emily haines record

(my contribution to this -- idk if it can really be called "overlooked" because I successfully pitched it, but it came out in January, so the Rose Elinor Dougall album was really great)

MOKOOMBA Luyando (OutHere) Young Zimbabwe afropop band

This is pretty easily The Stevens Good for me. It starts slow, but give it a chance, unless you're absolutely allergic to indie guitars, because there are some f***in tunes on here, a Kinks-ian plenty, in fact:

https://chaptermusic.bandcamp.com/album/good

― o. nate, Tuesday, September 26, 2017 6:14 PM (yesterday)

loving this!

good thread

Hadn't heard (or heard of) Louise Burns until this thread, but really liking Young Mopes (and Midnight Mass too). Kinda reminds me of one of my favorite discoveries from last year that I don't think ever got a mention here, Haley Bonar's Impossible Dream.

I wish I liked the Drab Majesty album more -- I'm a big early Xymox fan (Medusa tour was the first show I went to that didn't require me being driven to by an adult) but this just doesn't do it for me for some reason.

If the first song is anything to go by I'm going to love the Popguns album.

Perhaps Nadine Shah’s Holiday Destination? Not totally overlooked, got good reviews, but somehow doesn’t seem to be talked about much.

I'm going to get a lot of use out of this thread. Way behind this year.

that Nadine Shah record is fucking dope thanks

Haley Bonar's Impossible Dream

Getting way off topic here, but you should definitely listen to 2014's Last War.

don't know if it's the best overlooked album but an overlooked debut is phoebe bridger's stranger in the alps

Dave Catching's solo album Shared Hallucinations didn't get nearly as much coverage as it deserved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwDiQMf6Br8

That's really good - gonna buy that one -had no idea about it.

katherine you may like this album soccer mommy - collection

old, but revelatory: what if PC Music were *good*

https://boyscoutaudio.bandcamp.com/track/personal-assistant

the talaboman album is underrated

i actually started liking pc music in 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If77CW_aZsY

It's cheeky as hell, but I adore Luke Vibert presents UK Garave Vol 1.

The new Hercules and Love Affair album is amazing imo. esp the first four songs

Not as obscure as much of what's been mentioned, but I would expect to see more enthusiasm for Dauwd's Theory of Colours.

^^^ love that record

An odd mix of echoes on that album. The speech parts of "Murmure" remind me of Robert Ashley's "Automatic Writing," and then there are melodic lines throughout that sound like they could come from Ash Ra Temple or Agitation Free.

In terms of being overlooked even within the niche electronic scenes they occupy, I think this year's Air Max '97 EP (Vessel) feels strangely underrated. Also the Liquid City Motors EP on Glacial Industries.

In terms of the larger landscape, maybe milo - who told you to think??!!?!?!?!

R Stevie Moore album with Jason Falkner, "Make It Be" is one of the best albums R Stevie has ever recorded

but I would expect to see more enthusiasm for Dauwd's Theory of Colours.

yeah, i really enjoy this album when i remember to put it on.
this and BICEP are two of my fave electronic albums this year.

it's not THAT overlooked maybe but

Kedr Livanskiy - Ariadna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kM-NXin1Ec

gorgeous Russian techno

already made a pick upthread, but wanted to pop back in and quickly mention that Oxbow's Thin Black Duke is awesome

its a semi-hidden genial treat soon to retreat back into the ether

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jNyqIWm_Dg

I'd say the Hampshire & Foat album, Galaxies Like Grains of Sand. It's got him off the Bees on it, so I'm vaguely suspicious of motives, but it's full of open spaces and soothes the nighttime horrors.

Thanks for the Mdou Moctar recommendation. A gorgeous record.

I highly recommend "Tarantula Wallpaper, Dracula Screensaver" the debut album from Starcrash, a Danish indie pop/rock act featuring some veteran players.

It's slightly 90s throwback with elements of slack and my guess is it could appeal to fans of Teenage Fanclub, Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, A. C. Newman.

Unfortunately the label has done no promo at all and I think it's only been reviewed in one online publication so it's bound for obscurity.

It's here if you want to listen:
https://rushrecords.bandcamp.com/releases

Gaby Hernandez - Spirit Reflection. It falls between the cracks of different genres so not easy to pigeonhole.

https://open.spotify.com/album/4I3rEGVK0pRqAzdkhzAi9h

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTxgQXuMew8

re that Starcrash record it's also pretty lush and has strings and brass, has some 70s classic rock album vibe

can i nom saer's youtube channel 2017 in ilx eoy poll

the louise burns album ends with a BLUE NILE COVER

I haven't seen anybody mention Soft Sounds From Another Planet by Japanese Breakfast yet, so I'll add that. It's been a strong year for indie pop albums and this has been my most played of the bunch. Gorgeous melodies all the way through and her lyrics are so sharp. A huge step up from her last album, Psychopomp which was really solid.

new candidate: the Ex Eye album

― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Tuesday, September 26, 2017 4:20 PM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, that second track (opposition/perihelion: the coil) has to have one of the greatest post-rock builds in history

Two picks that feel overlooked from where I'm sitting (of course they may have become worldwide hits/karaoke standards for all I know):

Penelope Trappes - Penelope One: reminds me of Julia Holter in some places, Nite Jewel in others, just WAY MORE GOTH

Fabiano do Nascimento - Tempo Dos Mestres: Gilberto Gil Gonna Shine in My Backdoor Someday

thx for the fabiano, sean

Can I nom a 2nd release? This thread feels incomplete without the wonderful Pumarosa album. Such an energetic blast full of hypnotic tunes fusing indie rock with jazzy improvisation and opera elements.

I haven't seen anybody mention Soft Sounds From Another Planet by Japanese Breakfast yet, so I'll add that

I keep meaning to start a thread about that, wonderful album.

More generally, if these records are that good and that overlooked, why AREN'T you all starting threads about them?

We're all awaiting the disappointing sophomore album before we commit.

xxp - I was just listening to the Pumarosa album. 'Priestess' is such a great track.

I'd like to give a shout-out to Dälek (always overlooked it seems) and - more great indie pop - Hazel English.

My answer to Katherine's question is the Mura Masa s/t album. Producer hailing from Guernsey originally; makes exquisite beats with a bias towards tuned percussion sounds. Album has a star cast of guest vocalists but contrary to the way these things usually turn out, it all works. I don't know if he has traction with critics elsewhere, but he's barely had a mention on this board since the 2015 Firefly EP (save from me). There's nothing on the record that doesn't have something appealing (to me) about it - although I suppose it may be a bit beige for some here.

Cosign on the Nadine Shah, which is excellent.

I noted down 'japanese breakfats' on my phone after hearing something on the radio, but I recall nothing about why, so glad it's been mentioned here and I can investigate.

More generally, if these records are that good and that overlooked, why AREN'T you all starting threads about them?

Drab Majesty - _The Demonstration_

I guess I could bump it every week but that feels obnoxious

<i>More generally, if these records are that good and that overlooked, why AREN'T you all starting threads about them?</i>

I do, no one answers

don't worry, they will in time!

the louise burns album ends with a BLUE NILE COVER

a very convincing one, but probably too loyal for me to include it in my top 2017 tracks

Casey Dienel's IMITATION OF A WOMAN TO LOVE

https://caseydienel.bandcamp.com/album/imitation-of-a-woman-to-love

I haven't seen From the Heart, It’s a Start, a Work of Art by Shinichi Atobe mentioned on ilx. granted, I haven't been spending much time in threads where minimal house or whatever it is might get mentioned.

xp: I think I might have liked an instrumental version of the Mura Masa album.

xp I wanted to listen to that Shinichi Atobe record but I couldn't get past the title

Not as obscure as much of what's been mentioned, but I would expect to see more enthusiasm for Dauwd's Theory of Colours.

― _Rudipherous_, Thursday, September 28, 2017 6:07 AM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

If someone keeps track of the confirmations. A heads up for "The Silver Veil" by Raoul Vignal which was proposed by Dinsdale. Another proof that less is more.

the shinichi atobe record is excellent imo, bad title but good cover

I have one more to mention - the Noga Erez album is good as hell, Israeli art-pop with a political bent

i've only been successful at getting people to talk about the partner record in the emo thread, but it's really wonderful power-pop, pairs well with the charly bliss record from this year

I'm still digging this one. The final three songs have risen to being my favourite part of the album, especially "Woman of Dreams".

The best album I've heard is Ex Eye.

new album threads sink like stones ime

There's a thread for the Sacred Paws album (mentioned in this thread) that got a respectable number of posts

xp but maybe those threads will be around for ages and if the album is canonized or rediscovered or the artist blows up or the song is featured on an episode of future Sopranos it'll be cool to have the thread

not sure what people expect from album threads

Album threads usually turn into band threads. They should just be band threads. Bookmarked ILX band threads are my favorite method of tracking new releases by a band (and side-projects).

yes!

the problem with band threads is that there's often a ton of them, you don't know which one to bump

there's like 40 threads on the Pet Shop Boys alone

That's not generally the case for bands with new overlooked albums though.

this thread's ex eye fans need to push their product more directly into the path of potential listeners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qGebX6Iwtc

Chuck Johnson - Balsams

This is my favorite record of the year so far

but maybe those threads will be around for ages and if the album is canonized or rediscovered or the artist blows up or the song is featured on an episode of future Sopranos it'll be cool to have the thread

not sure what people expect from album threads

― niels, Tuesday, October 3, 2017 1:20 PM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean, what do people expect from... a music message board?

haha

I think it's okay that sometimes there's not that much to say abt a new album besides "this rules check it out"

Chuck Johnson - Balsams

this is a beaut, thanks

Oh I know what's passed under the radar round here...

Gaussian Curve - The Distance: think of the Blue Nile doing ambient instrumentals crossed with late 70s in his more blissed out balearic moments

should be "late 70s John Martyn"

Oh man I'm loving that album. Just picked it up finally a few weeks ago. Had meant to buy it as soon as it came out. So good.

It's a real grower too, the more you go back to it the deeper you get

Agreed.

It's such still perfect music, it's like they're so into the moment that they're trying to play without disturbing any of the air molecules in the room

yeah that Gaussian Curve album is brilliant, in fact all the projects Jonny Nash has been involved in this year have been massively overlooked

Yeah I need to go back to the Suzanne Kraft one

Think I will ultimately plump for this utterly lovely little record by Cheer Accident which nobody's heard (listen if you like: gorgeous, knotty prog-pop - this album comes off as an older, wilder American cousin of Field Music maybe?) Oh look, there's me commenting on it and all

or rather, Cheer-Accident (sorry)

I'm surprised Laura Marling - Semper Femina hasn't gotten more love, it's really good!

It seems like the loudest Laura Marling boosters (on this board) lost interest with the last album. I think it's an excellent album but it's still just not really my type of thing. But if anything I like it better as an album overall than what she's done before (and I liked Short Movie more than what came before that).

nikki lane highway queen is pure flames thank you johnny fever for mentioning it itt

semper famina is very good

I think my favorite discovery from this thread so far is Lowly.

Read a review that said there's too much going on in "Still Life." There's not too much going on in "Still Life!"

Little bit similar to Mr. Twin Sister (but I haven't listened closely to the whole album yet so that may be off overall).

not for the first time a new CHURCH album will be 'overlooked'

Oh I know what's passed under the radar round here...

Gaussian Curve - The Distance: think of the Blue Nile doing ambient instrumentals crossed with late 70s in his more blissed out balearic moments

― plp will eat itself (NickB), Friday, October 6, 2017 1:51 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

should be "late 70s John Martyn"

― plp will eat itself (NickB), Friday, October 6, 2017 1:52 PM (three days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hellooooo

I've been compulsively listening to Demen's Nektyr so if we go by replay value alone…

^^^ that record rules

on an ambient/ post-whatever tip really enjoying the recent From the Mouth of the Sun album

Snapped Ankles’ Come Play the Trees? Other than a pretty enthusiastic review in The Quietus, I haven’t seen much buzz about them.

Gaussian Curve sounds great!

my favourite thing on it is the title track which is here on youtube

The speech parts of "Murmure" remind me of Robert Ashley

And Henri Chopin, right. Semi-aware of that when I listen but wasn't naming it to myself.

It reminds me of everything.

Gwyneth Glyn - Tro

https://open.spotify.com/album/3CoF76Y21sqQqCoW9hulxZ

Welsh-language folk with kora accompaniment by Seckou Keita on a few tracks. The tracks with the kora are sublime.

guassian curve - "four for you" - what a track! thanks to this thread

OH god yes, I was thinking of mentioning that one in particular. So beautiful.

Also, again I'd really like to encourage people to try the Chuck Johnson - Balsams record beyond merely mentioning it earlier. It's gorgeous.

Du-Rites "Greasy Listening"

I have seen very little on ILX or in the English-speaking press about the new Melanie De Biasio album -- it's v. good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0We6e7bZfA

she's got a thread at least...

Oh I hadn't even noticed -- she didn't last time I checked, I was thinking of starting one.

I have seen very little on ILX or in the English-speaking press about the new Melanie De Biasio album -- it's v. good.

4 star review in mojo.

This doesn't seem like an album I should have to post about here, it seems like it would be huge, but I'm surprised I haven't seen more mention of the Moses Sumney record?

I have a third release to propose here. The Weather Station's s/t fourth album. Tamara Lindeman seems like a heir of Joni Mitchell and Mary Margaret O'Hara. Some more excellent personal female songwriting from Canada. The album sounds like an instant classic.

I listened to three songs from the Melanie de Biasio record, it is a little on the dark side but definitely worth to check out more.

I'm gonna broken-record a little and repost a link to the Drab Majesty album so that people don't forget about it:

https://drabmajesty.bandcamp.com/album/the-demonstration

i don't know how overlooked it's going to be but klockworks 20 is the best thing i've heard this year.

surely a matter of time before Weather Station starts to blow up, new record is stellar

jasss' weightless is my lite industrial noise techno album of the year for sure

Justin Walter - Unseen Forces: somewhere btw Jon Hassell and Tim Hecker

thanks for this one

Selffish's He She Them Us. Genuinely soothing.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - The French Press

An EP from this absoulutely fantastic band from Melbourne.

the title track of that EP is great

I second the Moses Sumney record. Not that it's generally overlooked (great reviews all around) but I'm just a little surprised it's not discussed here at all.

i'm gonna go with NOT EVEN HAPPINESS by julie byrne. spectacular folk record full of melancholy observations on the livelihood of a transient traveling across america trying to find a sense of home. its meditative center feels especially comforting and refreshing in these times we're living in. might be my AOTY.

new florist:

https://florist.bandcamp.com/

It feels like outside of a few records everything is overlooked now, especially on ILM. Records come out, get good reviews, BNM, whatever, and there is maybe a mention or two of them, unless there's some controversy attached, and a week later they've vanished from the planet.

love that Julie Byrne record

Keyes otm, but what to do about it?

nothing to do really. I was just noticing that 3 or 4 of the records posted in this thread were P4K BNM recipients, which used to mean that a record was not overlooked. Maybe it still does, on Twitter or somewhere.

This might be getting props elsewhere but it's pretty overlooked on RYM and and not even mentioned on here: Benjamin Clementine - I Tell a Fly

I gave some stuff from his first album a listen and while it's OK it's total Jools Holland bait, but this record's quite an eclectic and oddball art-pop concept album, about... well you'll pick up the gist if you listen. tbh I'm mostly mentioning this album since I think my AOTY is fairly well-recieved, and it's not metal either which is what I mostly post about, I hope this could be something that the general ILM populace might find interesting.

I haaaated his first album but that has me intrigued!

My AOTY is the same as yours but it's gotten quite a few props. My suggestion in this thread is another one we both like but one that like its parent band ought to be a byword for critical apathy

Sadly yeah, I didn't even think of boosting them :/

If B. Clementine's voice bothered you I wouldn't bother with this one, the music's pretty neat though, almost like prog in disguise. I would love it if he reached to Scott Walker levels of inaccessibility in the future lol

Oh it was his piano that bothered me before, that and the lack of interesting songs. Sounds like he's addressed that. Voices never put me off! Except for múm, sheesh

And Kiedis

This might be getting props elsewhere but it's pretty overlooked on RYM and and not even mentioned on here: Benjamin Clementine - I Tell a Fly

It's ranked #104 for 2017 on RYM right now, which is pretty good. If you filter out the metal albums it's probably top 50.

I think the Liima record that's about to come out will figure large for me, it's basically an Efterklang side project, last year's record was great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj1P-n5nMFk

xp fair enough, I don't actually look at the charts much so I probably shouldn't comment on stuff like that, I just haven't noticed much discussion about that album

I'd never heard of Benjamin Clementine. Maybe he's not got as much buzz here in the States - or maybe I'm just out of it. I'm liking it though - lands somewhere in a quadrant between Julia Holter and Frank Ocean.

juile byrne record is so good. so early in the year and time moves fast and is so beguiling, it's easy to forget records.

Benjamin Clementine is....not what I expected!

Consigning Julie Byrne, that record is beautiful.

Is the Klockworks thing a mix? I'm not sure about listening to 20 separate Berghain techno tracks one after the other, it's not really what they're for is it?

Think of it as 3 double 12"

not my post, but yeah holy shit this album

this Zimpel/Ziolek is incredible.

― Non-Stop Erotic Calculus (bmus)

Yes. I've been pushing the Zimpel side of the Instant Classic label on ILM for 2+ years. I came to it via Polish advocates on RYM, but it's worth spreading.

the Julie Byrne album has hung tough in my top 3ish of the year ever since it came out. so good.

i don't think of it as overlooked, though. not mega-hyped, obviously, but it got a lot of good reviews. (i'm not quarreling w/ it being in this thread, to be clear.)

Surprised there hasn't been more mentions of the Bedouine album. Some beautiful low-key folk and pop songs. She's Syrian, via Saudi and LA, and the timbre of her voice and the arrangements remind me of Nick Drake and Robert Kirby.

https://www.youtu.be/z0tv_pVvp4Q

Christ but embedding links in iOS is a massive ballache (or I'm a bellend. Or both.): https://youtu.be/z0tv_pVvp4Q

^^ was thinking about starting a thread for her, gorgeous album, very Cohen-esque.

the real highlight (and anomaly) from that album is "Summer Cold": https://youtu.be/yZlhNjLTPc0

Jen Cloher's self-titled album is awesome and I hadn't heard anything about her until seeing her open for Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett.

In a quite similar vein as Barnett (who's her wife, as it turns out). The album is great if you're a fan of CB: https://jencloher.bandcamp.com/album/jen-cloher

Voices never put me off!

This is almost unimaginable to me. Voices put me off all the time.

I just got tipped to that Bedouine album about a week ago. It's very beautiful stuff.

People on ILM (who like things from the vaguely punk rock end of the spectrum*) should be all over Melkbelly's Nothing Valley by now. I'm tempted to start a thread on the album but I think I may have run out of things to say about it.

*On the other hand, I'm mostly indifferent to that sort of music these days, but I love this. Still, I tend to like a bit more punk in my rock than what most indie rock I hear provides.

Melkbelly save rock music!

These guitars are very Butthole Surfers fan friendly, if not generally as psychedelic or quite as variable.

I'll add more votes for the Eitzel and Gaussian Curve albums. Also Ed Dowie's The Uncle Sold is excellent and should appeal to one's post-Wyatt sensibilities.

gonna campaign like mad to get Eitzel in the 77

I've nominated half a dozen now, but not seen this mentioned elsewhere: Nev Cottee's Broken Flowers. He's new to me; reminds me of Lanegan circa Whisky for the Holy Ghost, Jack, Tindersticks, a bit, and Lee Hazleweood.

welp that's essential listening based on that description

I've probably doomed it with those comparisons, but still.

Also, mea culpa Whiskey, ffs.

République Amazone by Les Amazones d'Afrique; a supergroup of sorts of African women singers including Mariam of Amadou & Mariam, Nneka (her involvement is how I found it), and Angélique Kidjo. The production is amazing. There's only a little bit of sung English on it, but the overarching theme is apparently female equity and gender equality. I feel it. Let these women take over.

I first came across it a few months ago, but this past weekend it really clicked and now it's in my top 3 shortlist for 2017.

^thank you for this

A friend put me on to this, and I don't know if it's the "single best" anything -- single best improv hurdy-gurdy drone music, probably -- but it is overlooked and it is super cool:

Razen The xvoto reels

https://wearethreefour.bandcamp.com/album/the-xvoto-reels

(And weirdly, that means my only two contributions to this thread are by Belgians. May be related to all the sour beer I've been drinking.)

PEASANT - Richard Dawson

^aoty by a mile but not overlooked? at least not by anyone within earshot of me lol

i mean yeah everyone i know who's heard it loves it but i haven't seen that many people talking about it/writing about it, people in the USA still don't seem to know who he is (has he ever toured here?). also doesn't help that he has the same name as the very "handy" ex-Family Feud host

Razen The xvoto reels

This seems promising so far.

Really liking the Bedouine album mentioned above. A bit retro in a Rumer/A Girl Called Eddy way but when it's as lovingly done I can go for it.

never heard of PEASANT - Richard Dawson

that's one where the concept makes you a bit skeptical, but the results are amazing

what part of "honey-throated sprite and his loud friends synthesise 1500 years of northern england into avant-folk song cycle" would make one skeptical now ;)

Peasant is amazingly compelling.

Yumi Zouma - Willowbank. Zoomers stand up!

'A Crow Looked At Me' doesn't fall into overlooked, does it? Would have thought it was at the front of a lot of AotY lists.

Drunk In Hell's s/t finally came out after 8 years or something, to no fanfare apart from me.

I think I love A Crow Looked at Me. I listened to it online when it came out, then I bought it on vinyl, and now I'm scared of it.

so what i'm getting from this thread is, lots of ppl still listening to plenty of great music but not posting about it on the board anymore. why not?

1. balkanization - rolling genre threads suck up a lot of posting content & album opinions that's easy to miss if you don't follow like three dozen threads. seems like it's been this way for a while, but I don't follow all of them.

2. general lack of interest in starting album specific-threads? idk.

Everytime I start an album thread, either no one cares or I realize three days later that the album I started a thread for isn't as good as it seemed the first time I heard it.

Be There by Dataline
piano and organ by Olivia Block

Started a thread for Alex Lahey, but only Brad commented on it so...

She's a super-talented Australian singer-songwriter in the power-pop mold with amusing lyrics and endless hooks. Will draw Courtney Barnett comparisons but she's far more hook-oriented and tuneful.

https://youtu.be/tBj_magluuc
https://youtu.be/d9TqFgWAWiU

The album is called I Love You Like a Brother, go listen to it

it's so good

Be There by Dataline

this rules, thanks!!

ok it did get a nice Pitchfork writeup a while back, but I feel the need to mention Odonis Odonis' No Pop which is a great, deranged, industrial synthpop record and probably my second-favorite Canadian album of the year behind my beloved Propagandhi. especially recommended for folks who frequented the "late 90s / early 00s electronic pivots" thread

sherwood/pinch : man vs sofa.

home listening vs wall shaking noise.

i love this album.

probably the Nelly Furtado album.

This Odonis Odonis album is good (about halfway through)

weaves

Chaz Bundick Meets the Mattson 2, Star Stuff. (Better than this year's Toro y Moi album.)

Sorry to ignore the word single but for me it's $hit & $hine's Total Shit!, Justin Walter's Unseen Forces, The Lone Taxidermist's Trifle, Vanishing by Vanishing, Rûwâhîne's Ifriqiyya Electrique and Endon's Through The Mirror. And it will no doubt go on to include Lotto's VV after that comes out as well.

Delia Gonzalez - Horse Follows Darkness

i'll be honest i thrive on context, somebody just naming a record they like isn't going to do much for me. someone naming seven records they like and i know and like two of them will get me to listen to the other five.

Endon is pretty good so far. Once I found out they were Japanese it all fell into place. I am apparently in the mood for noisey rock quasi-rock this year, without having fully realized it.

"catastrophic noise metal"

Not really into the vocals, predictably, though I might be able to tolerate them.

shannon lay

http://www.treblezine.com/37736-overlooked-albums-2017/

madeline kenney's album is really great and slept on

that Earthen Sea record sounds good!

the Couch Slut album on that list fuckin slams

yeah I am listening to it now and wow

I was just listening to that Earthen Sea one, it's good (think Loscil, Gas).

(God, I've gotten to hate the left. Much of it anyway.)

uh

reiterating that Powerplant by Girlpool is curiously slept on despite getting p4k BNM & being a fucking amazing record

(God, I've gotten to hate the left. Much of it anyway.)

― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 27 November 2017 15:55 (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Is this where I get to call Melkbelly thoroughly mediocre?

(Inspired in part by: Brexit destroying the future of Britain's youth, etc. in that one list of overlooked albums.)

go stick your fist up someone's butt

Enjoyed all the albums on here that I've heard, especially Les Amazones d' Afrique---hope that got a fair amount of publicity via xgau's Expert Witness review.
Here's one I was raving about on Rolling Country, though really anybody who is into that folk-pop-rock-country radio crossover of the late 60s might enjoy it:

Don't want to say too much about Nicole Atkins' Goodnight Rhonda Lee yet, but,
following the opening Laura Nyro-in-Memphis-upside-the-head "A Little Crazy", which is maybe a little too persistent with the swooping, hijacked-countrypolitan strings of the chorus, behold "Darkness Falls So Quiet," which is somewhat misleadingly titled, being very persistently catchy and not that quiet, and she says when things get too spooky, she can rely on her friends and her records, and it seems like her friends might be her records and vice-versa, and if so, that's okay.
For she has not only absorbed 60s Nyro, Dusty In Memphis, Ode To Billie Joe, the production moves of Lee Hazlewood and his prodigious acolyte Suzi Jane Hokom (especially on her own records), Atkins has also seen how other popologists have fallen short(incl. falling back into compulsive replays/rehash; she's been through that, 'til "the grooves of my brain are wearing out") and how so many, even the best, are just nimbic names now, afterglow halos matter how good they were at certain things---who actually listens that much nowadays to Dwight Twilley, or even Harry Nilsson? It's sad. But the title track is vibrant and stoic: "When they stop listening, that's just the way it goes, don't let it crush you, say goodnight Rhonda Lee."
This track begins or makes more noticeable a recurring Heartbreaker of the Year vibe, in the sense that Whitney Rose and her producer/sometime duet partner Raul Malo drew from the Spanish tinge of late 50s-to mid-60s pop-rock hits (and their influence on some late 60s pop-country), with a Twin Peaks Senior Prom echo chamber.
So: unabashedly plush but well-tymed girlie swirls x restless drums, bass, rhythm guitar, tolerating bits of steel, keys, orchestra (the electric guitar is the orchestra on the last track--waking "from a nightmare to a dream"--- but not too much of one).
Whole thing's here, sounding better than Spotify to me:https://nicoleatkins.bandcamp.com/

― dow, Tuesday, October 31, 2017 12:32 AM (three weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't know about "single best" but the self-titled RIPS album is full of great tunes and I haven't seen a single mention of it anywhere

https://ripsnyc.bandcamp.com/releases

https://unfathomless.bandcamp.com/album/ten-years-under-the-earth

just released (exciting)

i still think this is one of the best songs of the year, album sunk like a stone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE_AikmWlpY

for how big and potent it is, Algier's album has been relatively overlooked. Bad Pitchfork review and absent from almost every EOTY list. Other than that, I would go with Jlin - Black Origami.

yeah I expect it do to well in the 77 poll but it's been slighted in the real world

BOB DYLAN TRIPLICATE

oooh otm, i'd add SAVAGE YOUNG DÜ to the list

(even though i wasn't able to get a copy before they sold out)

The 2nd Algiers album isn't as magical to me as the first one was? I kinda just stopped listening to it once that occurred to me.

Savage Young Du is incredible but IMO reissues (even of previously un-issued period material) are a separate beast entirely

tru

neil / promise of the real the visitor

I think the songwriting on the 2nd Algiers album is much, much stronger, as is the singing.

Beaches - Second Of Spring
Massive and probably way too long double album of heavy motorik + girl group harmonies. I've listened to this more than any other album this year.
https://chaptermusic.bandcamp.com/album/second-of-spring

nice, thanks

Love the Beaches album; have had it on heavy rotation the past month or so. Not too long as far as I'm concerned!

thanks for the beaches link! loved the first album and completely forgot about them

2nd Algiers album much, much better than debut imo

I think the songwriting on the 2nd Algiers album is much, much stronger, as is the singing.

"Irony, Utility, Pretext" is probably still my favorite song of theirs (and I was bummed they didn't play it when I saw them) but overall I agree w/ this

damn, this beaches album is great, thanks.

If the rest of the Meglamancha album is as good as the first track, it's going to be very high on my album ballot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=675TUqcGlV8

Update: it is, and it will be.

I thought the Aimee Mann album was an obvious classic, and her second best, but I guess it's overlooked.

everything here is technically (I think?) from 2016, but if you (like me) were disappointed at the Susanne Sundfor album for not being over-the-top, Lena Cullen (formerly of She Is Danger, with Maya Jane Coles) exists: https://soundcloud.com/lenacullenmusic/

https://i.imgur.com/y1zu5cQ.jpg

The live looping afro R&B of violinist/vocalist Sudan Archives, featured on her eponymous EP Sudan Archives (bandcamp), really deserves more attention.

I regret I'll miss her West Coast / Midwest tour in February/March. This sample (which doesn't appear on the EP) is representative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4aPe8f7Sn4

^ heard that for the first time yesterday, sounded really nice

Really enjoying that Justin Walter album.

Sudan Archives is good. Listened to it a while back thanks to some mention or other here.

I should spend more time with that, that guy is great

Thing I’m really into right now is the Pan Daijing album ‘Lack’, which is a noise album that’s full of interesting textures and rawness and horror and beauty

Xp

I like that Sudan Archives EP, several plays already now, thanks Sanpaku.

yes, listening now!

The live looping afro R&B of violinist/vocalist Sudan Archives, featured on her eponymous EP Sudan Archives (bandcamp), really deserves more attention.

Cosign this x100, one of the few artists I've heard this year who sounds like nothing else.

Dunno about "single best", but am a bit surprised that exactly zero of these zillions of yearend roundups mention Ouï by Camille. Of several enjoyable things about this album is her sense of melody, which I find to be akin to that of Liz Fraser.

not sure how much of a factor it is, but that was an album not available on Spotify until about 5 months after release. It seems like non-streaming albums suffer a bit on these lists.

Thanks to djp and this thread I checked out the Drab Majesty album today, liked it

Going back to beginning of thread, I was excited when the Shadow Band album first came out, but I've sort of neglected it. Need to revisit.

My #1 so far has not shown up on any other EOY list that I'm aware of:

Motorpsycho - The Tower
http://fastnbulbous.com/lucky-17/

ha, I listened to a few tracks off that on your recommendation - not my style, but definitely worth a listen!

that motorpsycho album is stellar as always. another proggy candidate ~ elbow little fictions

thanks to whoever mentioned beaches, into this

Yeh that beaches record is great, dunno if i listened to an extended one but it was a bit too long for me

Really love this release from Rings Around Saturn. Maybe not technically an album but it's 40 minutes of music. Just really emotive music from Drexciyan electro to balearic electro-funk.

https://firecrackerrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/unthank011

Deep Purple - In Rock

Dunno about "single best", but am a bit surprised that exactly zero of these zillions of yearend roundups mention Ouï by Camille. Of several enjoyable things about this album is her sense of melody, which I find to be akin to that of Liz Fraser.

Thanks, enjoying this on first listen in a way that makes me suspect I will be listening further.

Also, the vocals sometimes go off in unexpected directions (Twix).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP4tsnttO-k

Simple, but terrific video, I think.

Spellling from Oakland, CA arrive seemingly fully-formed making an amazing sound that brings to the tip of your mind many sonic reference points, but is good enough to quickly push that tendency away and just demand attention on its own merit:

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a1443573223_10.jpg

https://spellling.bandcamp.com/album/pantheon-of-me-2

(Since there's nothing on Youtube I can embed, I guess I'll play the references game to get anyone to check it out. The record has tones of Sade, Cocteau Twins, Erykah Badu, Portishead, This Mortal Coil, Nona Hendryx, Pieter Nooten & Michael Brook's 'Sleeps With the Fishes' record, The Knife, and my favorite record from last year (discovered this year), Serpentwithfeet. Really bracing, singular, confident stuff.)

^thank you Soundslike, that Spellling album is really good!

tonstartssbandht - sorcerer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vv2se_K_J0

they are terminally underrated and overlooked, great band

What about the album of 2016 that you feel is overcooked??

I don’t know the answer, but I feel it’s worth asking because it rhymes

Changing my answer from Nelly Furtado to The Rubs

https://therubsaretrash.bandcamp.com/album/impossible-dream-lp

yeah that Rubs record rulz

I like what Spellling is doing generally so much i have no idea after 2 listens if they are good. I think def yes.

Surprised there wasn't more love for the Rostam record. Pretty sure it's my fave of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66y8JMEvTas

I liked some tracks on the Rostam album but didn't really feel compelled to revisit it much, maybe I should though. Bike Dream was especially good

Spellling reminds me of some of His Name is Alive maybe?

xp - I love most of the tracks on the album. Fun, kitchen-sink production, sing-along harmonies - all the stuff I love.

pretty sure i have not seen this album getting any love, but i love its dirty beats and weird atmospherics.

https://ninjatune.net/release/kutmah/trobbb

sorry to perseverate, this is one of the better reimaginings of a classic i've heard:
https://spellling.bandcamp.com/track/higher-ground

the whole sequence of bolt from the blue/higher ground/blue (american dream)/place without a form is fucking nice imo.

I have a new favorite to replace the Mdou Moctar record, Eyvind Kang's Plainlight. maddeningly released in a non-streaming vinyl-only edition of 400

http://www.suncitygirls.com/abduction/Plainlight.php

whenuweremine nominated the Charlotte Dos Santos album Cleo. I had not seen it mentioned anywhere before that. Incredible voice, incredible singer. Might be too whimsical for some tastes (covering a 13th century song, writing new lyrics for Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay, doing a new 60s-sounding Latin soul song in English) but I think she makes it all work. File under vocal jazz and soul, I guess.

yasmine hamdan - al jamilat

https://yasminehamdan.bandcamp.com/album/al-jamilat

i came across a video for a song off this album while i was just clicking through a "recommended for you" playlist on youtube, so i don't really have any idea what the larger social or musical context for this artist is. she's lebanese, the lyrics aren't in english, the video i saw had subtitles that made the lyrics seem very apocalyptic and political, but the music is very beautiful and ethereal. it's not lo-fi but it doesn't seem to have any interest in being conventionally hooky and poppy. i guess i would say RIYL grimes' visions, maybe juana molina or susanne sundfør.

it's really good, i know the language barrier is a factor in why it isn't more well known, but i'm really surprised that i haven't seen it show up in any year-end discourse given the quality and how good the videos are.

Yeah, Yasmine Hamdan is great. Seek out 'Soap Kills' as well, if you don't know it yet, her previous (electro)pop band.

(though her solo effort 'Ya Nass' is my fave)

Any impressions of Jo Harman? She seems not to have been mentioned on ILM ever. I think she's good, but I'm not sure how good yet. I love the 70s (probably more than any decade for English language popular music, maybe popular music in general), but sometimes the echoes of the 70s seem too obvious.

Very good singer. I'm still on the fence about the songwriting.

Really enjoying the Charlotte Dos Santos; thanks Rudipherous!

Fabiano do Nascimento - Tempo Dos Mestres: Gilberto Gil Gonna Shine in My Backdoor Someday

Listening to this one. So far it's beautiful.

haha, yes it's a great one

I have a new favorite to replace the Mdou Moctar record, Eyvind Kang's Plainlight. maddeningly released in a non-streaming vinyl-only edition of 400

http://www.suncitygirls.com/abduction/Plainlight.php🕸

it is soooo good

I will repeat: Camille is fantastic and you don't know what you're missing if you haven't given it a spin. It's not the cabaret music I suspect some are expecting. It's very melodic, but there are often separate layers of Camille's vocals doing primarily rhythmic things (in addition to the rhythmically oriented instrumental layer). The technique is often very adventurous, but it's much too catchy to be filed with extreme experimental vocal music.

(anatol_merklich, glad you like the Charlotte Dos Santos. I think I might rank Camille slightly higher at the moment, because it's so polished. And it feels like Camille is inventing her own unique sub-genre of pop music.)

I like the Camille album

Casey Dienel's Imitation of a Woman To Love (https://caseydienel.bandcamp.com/) is very overlooked - found out about it thanks to maura's write-up. ambitious artpop riyl roisin murphy albums especially

*the last two roisin murphy albums

Ouï didn't quite rise out of the pack of good 2017 albums for me but it's definitely Camille's best record since Le Fil. Did anyone try the alternate version, Ouïï, which seems to be the same songs arranged for voice and tambour?

Gilberto Gil Gonna Shine in My Backdoor Someday

not sure you could write a more appealing 8 word description of an album, diving into it now

Xiu Xiu - FORGET

^absolutely

Billy Woods - Known Unknowns

thinking plague hoping against hope

Blind Boys of Alabama - Almost Home

alvarius b with a beaker in the burner and an otter in the oven

that fabiano do nascimento album is great, been caning it

I had no idea Camille released an album last year - thanks for the heads up!

https://www.toneglow.net/reviews/2017/11/16/jurg-frey-lame-est-sans-retenue-i

sounds massive on the stereo.. like intermittent surf (breaks), or a jet plane carving out the sky - but very, very intermittent at parts. lot of silent breaks, it's aggravating to listen to actively

I think I read about it here first but now can't find it. Anyway, the Upper Wilds' Guitar Module 2017 is kinda wild. Dan Friel and Aaron Siegel making a glorious racket.

I briefly mentioned it in the 2017 end of the year lists thread

Ryan Power - They Sell Doomsday. Perfect smooth prog pop, kind of like a spikier, cynical Prefab Sprout. This guy is basically at Rundgren levels of one-man-band production.

https://ryanpower.bandcamp.com/album/they-sell-doomsday