My favorite LPs of the year, in no specific order.
Arca - EPONYMOUS Same as Mutant, this album is a hybrid of different genres, only this time they were intertwined successfully. Arca has built his reputation by working with talented artists, but he also strives to produce his using own eccentric music where he feels free to amalgamate opera and industrial. In the music world, Alejandro Ghersi is still primarily known as an aberrant producer. He collaborated with Kanye West, Bjork, Kelela and FKA Twigs, but I believe his solo work is yet to reach the status it deserves. Arca was his third studio album, and the year's first masterpiece. While Mutant helped him gain more attention, his third album is more coherent, accompanied by obscurely artistic music videos.
Essential tracks: Piel, Anoche, Reverie, Desafio.
PHOEBE BRIDGERS - STRANGERS IN THE ALPS How is it possible that you are only 22 and you are already such an incredibly talented madeline poetaster? I am talking about Phoebe Bridgers who released debut of the year. What she pulled off throughout her debut enables me to claim that she is going to be not only the most authentic indie folk singer of our times, but her songs might also find place in literature studies books. Mark my words. The album revolves around authenticity, identity, depression and alienation, and all these themes are soaked in tears and dismal affections. Phoebe is such a representative of millennials, even her album cover consciously presents symbols of contemporary zeitgeist: a rainbow, a ghost and a dog. Strangers in the Alps brought one of my favorite songs of the year, Smoke Signals. I went with you up to The place you grew up in We spent a week in the cold Just long enough to"Walden" it with you Any longer, it would have got old Singing Ace of Spades" when Lemmy died But nothing's changed, L.A.'s alright Sleeping in my bed again, and getting in my head And then walk around the reservoir
Essential tracks: Smoke Signals, Motion Sickness, Funeral, You Missed My Heart, Demi Moore, Would You Rather
ST VINCENT - MASSEDUCTION Initially, I was not a fervent fan of St.Vincent's shift to pop (which my individual review of the singer's fifth album can confirm), but in a matter of only a couple of weeks, MASSEDUCTION has become my favorite pop album of 2017. Although this is par excellence pop record, it lacks desperate aim to sound mainstream, thanks to Annie Clark's artistic vision. Through utilization of humor and irony, St.Vincent castigates modern society and reveals her darkest secrets yet. The top-notch production and sagacious lyrics managed to rise her above the other mediocre pop artists. My biggest shock was when I found out that Kamasi Washington was playing saxophone on Pills. Plus, the album holds my favorite verse of 2017 (How can anybody have you, How can anybody have you or lose you?).
Essential tracks: Los Ageless, New York, Pills, Happy Birthday Johnny, Young Lover
FOUR TET - NEW ENERGY Four Tet never fails. Enough said.
Essential tracks: Two Thousand and Seventeen, Planet
LANA DEL REY - LUST FOR LIFE Lana Del Rey is a brand. Deal with it. And this year she proved she is idiosyncratic artist who is capable of delivering trademark records. Mellifluous album Lust For Life unfolds with what might be my favorite Lana Del Rey single yet. Love brings smile not only to my face, but also to the singer’s face in the music video. On 13 Beaches, the song that I have heard on the beach for the very first time, Lana captured the essence of missing someone who is far away and wanting to be alone in that yearning. The queen of summer longing. Cherry leaked a while ago, and although I don’t find it particularly memorable, it delivers a high-standard lyrics through comparison of love and death sentence. The last number worth mentioning from this section of the album is In My Feelings, and it might be the only track that can replace the hype of Summertime Sadness. There is simply something alluring about the whole album.
Essential tracks: Love, God Bless America, In My Feelings, Cherry, Beautiful People (Beautiful Problems)
