Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top 50 Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 9) Toro y Moi|Boo Boo Genre: Synth Funk, Chillwave, Alt. R&B God I feel like Chaz really has been killing it! Not just with the release of Boo Boo, but ever since he released What For? he's been dropping back to back great projects. From Samantha back in 2015, to Star Stuff and Boo Boo in 2017, everything he released managed to top it with ease. Speaking of them, on his most recent LP, Boo Boo manages to take everything I like about Toro, and put it into one album. From the chillwave that he helped to pioneer with his debut, to the electronic R&B stylings of Anything In Return, to the hip-hop style of production from Samantha, everything came together to form a strong cohesive record. Similar to Star Stuff, there are moments of introspection where Chaz recollects on the love that he lost and other times where you're listening to an instrumental/production in which you can take Chaz's cue and do some recollection of your own, or simply get lost in the atmosphere put forth. Instead of the atmosphere being a psychedelic backdrop, it's far more ambient, airy, and electronic in nature, which made this the perfect album to kick to all Summer 2017. Listen to: Mirage, Embarcadero, Inside My Head
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top 50 Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 8) Sheer Mag|Need To Feel Your Love Genre: Garage Rock, Power Pop This was quite the unexpected slay. Probably the most unexpected punch of 2017 for me because I didn't even expect to like the album (I checked out one of their 2016 EPs and didn't like it much). For whatever reason though, I decided to check this out (all thanks to @AlexisNeiers ). I'm really not sure what made me want to listen to this, but I'm sure glad I did. As I've said before (and made quite clear lol ), I love rock music that has great, crazy good instrumentation and this did it masterfully so. There are so many great guitar licks/solos throughout the album that really get me pumped, not to mention the female vocalist Tina has this spark to her voice that really adds energy to all the songs on the album. It's really fierce and gives the music even more personality. It can get a bit samey at times, but overall this is one album that really knows how to get me going. Listen to: Just Can't Get Enough, Suffer Me, Pure Desire
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top 50 Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 7) Kendrick Lamar|DAMN. Genre: West Coast Hip-Hop ahh Kendrick. Who didn't expect to see him inside another top 10 list? There's really not much to say here that hasn't been stated already by countless others but I'll say this much. I appreciate the fact the Kendrick decided to scale back the vision for this album instead of going all out with another concept album a la Good Kid, Maad City and To Pimp A Butterfly. Likewise, I'm glad he decided to use a bit more mainstream leaning production as a contrast to TPAB's very heavy jazz and funk inspired production. I feel that people who were (and kind of still are) initially disappointed with this album expect Kendrick to be this type of artist who only makes conceptual pieces of work, which isn't really a bad thing to strive for. But I feel that could become extremely stifling and limiting and would box him into this type of artist that has to constantly come up with concepts that could become even more convoluted than the last one. Sometimes, it's cool to have some fun and just rap over dope beats, which is what we have here. I'm very glad I received this album; as much as I like GKMC and TPAB in terms of objective quality, there not albums that I go back to. GKMC always felt like something that had to be listened to front to back (like a movie of sorts) while TPAB is so dense and musically packed that it got tiring to listen to. DAMN. has plenty of introspective tracks, bangers, pop leaning, and story telling tracks that satisfy whatever mood I'm in. By adding a bit more variety overall, he was able to create and album that still houses songs that show off his lyrical ability but also songs that are generally easier to listen to, making this one of my most played albums of 2017 and also my favorite Kendrick record so far (I'm probably going to get lashed for this but oh well ). Listen to: DNA., XXX. (feat. U2), DUCKWORTH.
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top 50 Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 6) Kelela|Take Me Apart Genre: Alt. R&B, UK Bass, Electronic So I'm going to hearken back to my write up of Blue Light for my singles countdown: " I love the trend of blending R&B with electronic music because it enhances both, giving a bit more edge to both genres." I think this needs a bit more of an elaboration. As much as I loved the way she (and a certain other artist who we'll see in a minute) were able to combine electronic and R&B music together to create something that enhances both genres, it's all to easy for artists to get lost in the production they're singing over and get overwhelmed by everything else that's going on. Not Kelela though. On her debut LP, Kelela takes center stage and is clearly and firmly heard among the backdrop that has been created for her. Everything about this is stunning. The production is out of this world (literally, there are several moments where I feel like I'm floating in outer space) and Kelela takes us listeners through a myriad of emotions and feelings as she herself transitions from breaking up with someone to finding someone new to love. From the initial phase of trying to move on from a past relationship, to failing to convince yourself that you're better off, to hooking back up with your ex, to eventually moving on, Kelela masterfully takes us on a ride and allow us to experience what she has felt. Her voice is soothing and light and it helps to bring out the sensuousness of the album. Every touch, every sight, every utterance she heard is magnified to bring about a powerful listen. A masterful debut by an artist with so much potential. Listen to: Take Me Apart, Jupiter, Truth Or Dare
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top 50 Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 5) Perfume Genius|No Shape Genre: Art Pop So remember that album that I said bumped Lana out of my top 10 It's odd because much like Melodrama, I didn't like this album at all on my first couple of listens. I was very hyped by the singles too! I thought Go Ahead and Slip Away were amazing, and when the album started, I thought I was going to be in for a ride because Otherside took my breathe away. Next thing I know, every other song sounds nothing like those three tracks (which all had either an interesting use of percussion or were just plain bombastic). Everything else was... subdued and while I love it now, I hated it in the beginning and didn't listen to the album for a long time. But as time passed, I remembered how much I enjoyed the singles and got back into the album and soon after it clicked for me. With every listen, the album got better and better and now I love it Getting into the album itself, I think it's more important to talk about the subdued nature of the album since that's more prominent. I'm not sure if this is the case or not, but the subdued nature of the album can be due to the fact that PG may have had a lot to say and wanted the listener to clearly hear what he's saying. The lyrics are striking and many of the things he touches upon directly relate to either things that I've done and experienced or things that I may experience in the future. For something to have no shape, it has to be formless, no? If that's the case, then the title fits perfectly because the album as a whole doesn't just take one form throughout the album as he transitions from booming, bombastic, and percussive production to something more subdued and sparse. He transitions from singing about his conflicts with religion and sexuality to something a bit more self-reflective, to something sexual, to something in the vein of shock, and much more in between. No Shape was truly one of the most beautiful albums 2017 had to offer. Listen to: Otherside, Die 4 You, Braid
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 4) Tyler, The Creator|Flower Boy Genre: Hip-Hop What a glo up Tyler Flower Boy represents a level of maturity that I didn't expect him to fully realize. I never got around to listening to Cherry Bomb so I'm not entirely sure if this next step was ever hinted at. But it's surely one that I feel he needed to take. Much like Kendrick, the possibility of creating even more convoluted conceptual albums was starting to loom over Tyler's head so something like this was more than welcomed. Much like Kendrick, it was great to just get a simple rap album with dope beats and (in Flower Boy's case) great instrumentation too. From the very moment I heard Foreword, I knew Tyler wasn't playing around with his bars on this album. The jazzy beats and instrumentation is sunny and vibrant, but something about the album is oddly unsettling in that it gives off this solemn, contemplative atmosphere as well. Like something's not right, but he's also trying to hide the fact that something's not right. For those who have kept up with Tyler's music up until now, you know that it's been riddled with nothing but edgy, tense, teen angst, and with Flower Boy, it's almost like we're getting to the root of the problem as he's sincerely rapping about dealing with wealth, depression and coming to terms with his sexuality. It's never easy dealing with feelings as powerful as the ones he is dealing with but through the use music, whether that's listening to or creating music, we, as well as Tyler, have the ability to reflect on what and why we feel a certain way and can work on how to fix it. Flower Boy gives me hope for Tyler's future in that this release of emotions might be just what he needed to understand his feelings and this album can pave a way for him to do many more interesting and exciting things with his music in the future. Listen to: Foreword (feat. Rex Orange County), See You Again (feat. Kali Uchis), Garden Shed (feat. Estelle)
Playa Playa Posted January 13, 2018 Posted January 13, 2018 1-2-3 punch with Kendrick, Kelela and PG wow. Let me read your write-ups in a minute
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top 50 Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 3) The War on Drugs|A Deeper Understanding Genre: Heartland Rock, Indie Rock Honestly... I don't really have much to say here. This is by and large the most beautiful album I've listened to all year. This was just layered and layered with nothing but immaculate instrumentation and gorgeous melodies. While I do love the songwriting on this album provided by Adam, I get the most joy out of this album by simply laying back and letting the sounds just wash over me. I know to many the fact that all the songs draw on for a minute or so longer than they should detracts from the quality of the album, but it works for me. While the songwriting isn't as important for me on this album, I still find the lyrics to be wonderful in the way they portray the idea of connections; connections that allow us to relate to others, the connections that seem to break down when a relationship ends, and the connections that we cherish the most in relationships that we want to hold on to, among other cases. Simply lovely all the way through Listen to: Up All Night, Knocked Down, Clean Living
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top 50 Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 2) Sampha|Process Genre: Alt. R&B, Electronic *insert last comment about how this album was old but managed to hold up well for me throughout 2017* That being said, I do feel it's important to highlight. It attests to the quality of the album that this not only managed to last almost a full year with me but also managed to remain as one of my favorite albums of 2017. If I had to describe this album, I'd say it's sort of a combination of Kelela's Take Me Apart and Perfume Genius' No Shape. Like Take Me Apart, it's an R&B album entrenched in electronic music, but while it's more overt in Take Me Apart's case, here it's a tad subdued. Which brings in Perfume Genius. It's similar to No Shape in that there are many moments on this album where the electronic production is either more subdued (Take Me Inside) or exchanged for something a tad more natural (No One (Knows Me Like The Piano) for instance) as a means of letting the listener hear exactly what Sampha wants to say. While I love the production, what shines the most is his voice. It's hoarse, gravelly, and at times, filled with pain and soul that help to evoke the poignancy in his lyrics even more. Like honestly there's so much soul in his voice, you'd have to be heartless not to feel anything. To add, I loved the more overt electronic production utilized throughout the album as it gave the album some kick to it, providing a balance between the two. All in all, I'm glad this album didn't go too far under the radar and received the acclaim it deserved (both on here and from the critics). It took him forever to release Process. I hope it doesn't take him long to release his next project. Listen to: Plastic 100°C, Blood on Me, Timmy's Prayer
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 Top 50 Best Albums of 2017 Albums 10-1 1) Big K.R.I.T.|4eva Is A Mighty Long Time Genre: Southern Hip-Hop And finally we have my #1 album of 2017. There's so much that I have to say but I'm tired of writing all these comments, so I'm going to try and make this as brief as possible. Big K.R.I.T. has always been someone who was on my radar. Ever since I heard his King Remembered In Time mixtape back in 2013, I knew that the guy had an immense amount of talent. Unfortunately, when it came to putting out albums, most people felt that it paled in comparison to the material he released in his mixtapes. While I do enjoy his past album Cadillactica quite a lot, I can see the points people made. With news of him leaving Def Jam and signing to his own label, he now had the artistic freedom to release whatever he wanted. And with 4eva Is A Mighty Long Time, he exceeded everyone's expectations. 4eva... is a double-disc album in which one side is meant to house the hype, radio-friendly, songs and tracks that are perfect for riding around to while the second side is the more thoughtful, introspective side that gives K.R.I.T. the opportunity to do some story-telling as well. This album contains nothing but excellent bars, perfect hooks, great flows, great beats, and wonderful instrumentation and for an album that consists of 20 songs (excluding the interludes) there's no misses on this album. Not to mention, every single feature brought there A game to enhance all of the songs they were on. From T.I. to CeeLo Green to Bilal and Jill Scott and everyone in between, they all were perfect for the songs they were on. Which alone puts it above every rap album released this year. But the thing that really clinches this album as my album of the year is that he fully realized his potential. Like I stated before, K.R.I.T. has always been able to put out great mixtapes but that has never translated into albums that stack up next to them until now because his music has always been watered down by his label. For the first time, I feel that he created a record that 100% reflected the thoughts and feelings he's held on to for quite some time. Overall, this is just an amazing project and I'm glad K.R.I.T. really stepped his game up with this album. Side note: It's really appalling how underrated he is. This album just goes to show that the ones who make it big don't necessarily have the most talent, or even put out the catchiest songs because he's got plenty of songs that would fit well on the radio (1999 for instance). The ones who have the support and backing by their labels are the ones who come out on top, and it's really unfair how Big K.R.I.T. hasn't received any so far. If you guys take anything away from my countdown, I hope that you guys check out this album. A few strihms go a long way. Listen to: Subenstein (My Sub IV), Get Up 2 Come Down (feat. CeeLo Green and Sleepy Brown) Miss Georgia Fornia (feat. Joi), Higher Calling (feat. Jill Scott)
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 19 hours ago, Maddox said: This back to back quality whew Perched for your top 10 Glad you liked em Thots on the top 10? 3 hours ago, montrealxo said: Miguel, Lana, St. Vincent Lorde is too low, but stan. glad she made you a believer. it's the best written album of the year to me Certainly one of. There's another album in my top 10 that I think edges it out in terms of lyrics. Can you guess which one? 25 minutes ago, Playa Playa said: 1-2-3 punch with Kendrick, Kelela and PG wow. Let me read your write-ups in a minute Glad you're checking out my write ups There is a slighT drop in quality for my top 10 write ups so don't expect too much nn
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) Final Album Recap (10-1): Spoiler 1) Big K.R.I.T.|4eva Is A Mighty Long Time 2) Sampha|Process 3) The War on Drugs|A Deeper Understanding 4) Tyler, The Creator|Flower Boy 5) Perfume Genius|No Shape 6) Kelela|Take Me Apart 7) Kendrick Lamar|DAMN. 8) Sheer Mag|Need To Feel Your Love 9) Toro y Moi|Boo Boo 10) SZA|Ctrl 11) Lana Del Rey|Lust For Life 12) St. Vincent|MASSEDUCTION 13) Lorde|Melodrama 14) Rose Elinor Dougall|Stellular 15) Miguel|War & Leisure 16) BROCKHAMPTON|Saturation II 17) Vince Staples|Big Fish Theory 18) King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard|Flying Microtonal Banana 19) Chaz Bundick Meets The Mattson 2|Star Stuff 20) LCD Soundsystem|American Dream 21) Loreen|Ride 22) Clap! Clap!|A Thousand Skies 23) Gabriel Garzón-Montano|Jardín 24) Tennis|Yours Unconditionally 25) Majid Jordan|The Space Between 26) Alex Cameron|Forced Witness 27) Ibeyi|Ash 28) Blanck Mass|World Eater 29) Yellow Days|Is Everything Okay In Your World? 30) Cherry Glazerr|Apocalipstick 31) Beck|Colors 32) Priests|Nothing Feels Natural 33) Mali Music|The Transition of Mali 34) Sabrina Claudio|About Time 35) Terrace Martin Presents The Pollyseeds|Sounds of Crenshaw Vol. 1 36) Snoh Aalegra|FEELS 37) Charlotte Gainsbourg|Rest 38) Foxygen|Hang 39) Father John Misty|Pure Comedy 40) Ronika|Lose My Cool 41) Daniel Caesar|Freudian 42) dvsn|Morning After 43) Oxbow|Thin Black Duke 44) Thundercat|Drunk 45) Why?|Moh Lhean 46) Lil' Uzi Vert|Luv Is Rage 2 47) Aminé|Good For You 48) Mura Masa|s/t 49) Susanne Sundfør|Music For People In Trouble 50) Gorillaz|Humanz I want to thank you all for helping make this countdown as great as it was!! It certainly would not have been as much fun if all of you didn't leave comments on my posts. I hope you enjoyed the lists I made and checked out some of the content I posted. Also, I hope you enjoyed the comments I made on the majority of my choices and I hope it helped introduce you to something new. I most likely won't be doing this next time, just because it wastes too much time Again, thank you all so much and I hope to see you all in 11 months Spoiler @Kang. @DangerousSwiftie @theblackestday @ultraviolence.xx @Eeveelution @Same Ol' Mistakes @Pacaveli @Love Drought @Maddox @Tom Vercetti @Mark Rih @Unoriginal @Lucas32 @Vxspertine @jose168 @Zay @Wicked @Phoenixstar @MP2K @Kiss It Better @Lazuli @montrealxo @Reinvention @rvx @madonnas @TRF. @volition @Navyofbadgals @Playa Playa @TayRianaPH @Clueless @AlexisNeiers Edited January 13, 2018 by Pink Matter
ultraviolence.xx Posted January 13, 2018 Posted January 13, 2018 SZA, kelela, kendrick, TWOD, sampha great list! can’t wait to go through and listen to all the ones i don’t know
theblackestday Posted January 13, 2018 Posted January 13, 2018 So No Talent kicked Lana off the top 10, huh? Love most of the rest of the top 10 though. Especially the K legends, Kelela and Kendrick Still need to check out Big K.R.I.T. to see what all the hype is about! Great countdown sis
ATRL Moderator Unoriginal Posted January 13, 2018 ATRL Moderator Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) SZA, Kelela, TWoD and PG making the top ten Up All Night a highlight TMA's title track is SO underrated Edited January 13, 2018 by Unoriginal
Zay Posted January 13, 2018 Posted January 13, 2018 Excellent album list Love almost all of Top 10! And nice to see SZA beating out Lana and Lorde
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 55 minutes ago, ultraviolence.xx said: SZA, kelela, kendrick, TWOD, sampha great list! can’t wait to go through and listen to all the ones i don’t know Thanks sis And I hope you do. Let me know which ones you check out/like 44 minutes ago, theblackestday said: So No Talent kicked Lana off the top 10, huh? Love most of the rest of the top 10 though. Especially the K legends, Kelela and Kendrick Still need to check out Big K.R.I.T. to see what all the hype is about! Great countdown sis And you definitely need to check out the KRIT album. I promise you won't be disappointed! And thank you sis 20 minutes ago, Unoriginal said: SZA, Kelela, TWoD and PG making the top ten Up All Night a highlight TMA's title track is SO underrated It's what they deserve UAN and TMA are both marvelous for sure 18 minutes ago, Zay said: Excellent album list Love almost all of Top 10! And nice to see SZA beating out Lana and Lorde Thank you sis. And you know what they say about talent winning?
World Eater Posted January 13, 2018 Posted January 13, 2018 Big K.R.I.T., didn't expect that Your top 10 is flawless (well, maybe expect for SA), loved the write ups as well 2 hours ago, Pink Matter said: I decided to check this out (all thanks to @AlexisNeiers ) My pleasure
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 47 minutes ago, AlexisNeiers said: Big K.R.I.T., didn't expect that Your top 10 is flawless (well, maybe expect for SA), loved the write ups as well My pleasure Wanted to have some surprises in my top 10. It's what he deserved And glad you liked the majority of the results and my write ups too 1 minute ago, montrealxo said: last set is heat. your taste Thank you! I'm glad you liked my countdown
Tom Vercetti Posted January 13, 2018 Posted January 13, 2018 Glad u finished this. The #1 and the entire countdown was very satisfying.
Maddox Posted January 13, 2018 Posted January 13, 2018 You did not disappoint with that top 10: Kendrick, Kelela, Perfume Genuis, The War on Drugs I really enjoyed ur countdown Here's to next year (if you plan to do it)
Pink Matter Posted January 13, 2018 Author Posted January 13, 2018 32 minutes ago, Tom Vercetti said: Glad u finished this. The #1 and the entire countdown was very satisfying. And it only took me to the very last minute to do so dd Glad you liked the countdown 29 minutes ago, Maddox said: You did not disappoint with that top 10: Kendrick, Kelela, Perfume Genuis, The War on Drugs I really enjoyed ur countdown Here's to next year (if you plan to do it) Aww thank you And I'll def be doing one for 2018! Kinda sorta probably not going to do comments though Here's to next year
Kiss It Better Posted January 14, 2018 Posted January 14, 2018 Ctrl, DAMN, Sampha yes a great list overall
Wicked Posted January 14, 2018 Posted January 14, 2018 KRIT, TWOD, Take Me Apart, No Shape 3 hours ago, AlexisNeiers said: Your top 10 is flawless (well, maybe expect for SA), loved the write ups as well Basically!! Great lists + countdown!
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