Camiele’s 100 Favorite Albums of 2017

5. Decadent – É

GOD… DAMN!??!?! I don’t… I don’t know how to even explain what this EP did to me. What is it with South Koreans and their fascination with the blues? And how are they so damn good at it? Let me just… Here. Listen to this:

(Available on Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify)

4. Tyler, the Creator – Flower Boy

Tyler has always had a way with expressing all his pain. He did it with great clarity (even if much if it was clouded with dark humor) with Wolf. Then he comes back with this elegant piece of music. Flower Boy is powerful. The emotional arc of this piece is astounding. Tyler’s vision and creativity always manages to take my places and leave me raw. He’s never shied away from his emotions, though they’re oftentimes channeled into anger and vengeance. This time he’s assessing with a maturer eye and looking to evaluate how to use that energy to heal himself.

(Available on Soundcloud, Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify)

3. G.Soul – Circles

*sigh* Okay… I’m not sure how to express… just… damn…

Okay, remove the first two MVs from the mix, you hear the album for what it is: absolutely brilliant. Yet again G.Soul delivers a vocal master class, mixing the more elaborate intricacies of his vocal range with a subtler, softer approach to his delivery. It’s less self-indulgent than his debut but has so much… more in musical volume than anything he’s released since. Circles is most definitely an album I want on vinyl.

(Available on Apple Music, Spotify)

2. Rapsody – Laila’s Wisdom

This woman…. This woman just gets more amazing with every release. The production is already on a level that’s almost unmatched. Rap’s lyricism, her flow, her ability to tell stories with clarity and emotion…. She’s unapologetically honest about herself: her faults, failures, successes, and perfections. Without a doubt, Rapsody is absolutely one of the best MCs to emerge in the last decade. Hands down, and I’m not sorry to say so. Laila’s Wisdom cemented that status.

(Available on Soundcloud, Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify)

1. Björk – Utopia

Tears within the first thirty seconds.

Bjõrk’s utilizes her signature sweeping instrumentation, this time flutes and woodwinds being the focus of her composition. Utopia showcases a balanced sense of self and emotional power that I haven’t heard from her music since Homogenic. She’s brought so much of her soul to the table, infused even what would be considered inorganic musicianship with so much honesty, one could mistake it from coming from the earth itself.

(Available on Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify)


And that’s it! The list of my 100 Favorite Albums of 2017. Man, what a journey it was. Through all the tumult of 2017, one thing was definitely true: The music was stellar. So much from all over the world, I couldn’t possibly listen to it all, and if my honorable mentions are anything to go by, I just missed so damn much. I’m aiming to broaden my scope even further in 2018, and hopefully I can get me a Top 100 list that manages to capture just how powerful music is worldwide. What were some of your faves from last year? Did any on my list make yours?

Cy

As unexpected as my path was to loving all things weird, more unexpected is my ability to get attention for writing about the stuff.

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