Top Albums 2017 Part I 50 – 41

51. Youth Code – Commitment To Complications 

This is the best album I missed in 2016. I read something about Youth Code, but never checked them out and that was a mistake. Industrial works best when it knows how to interlock tension with release, the hard-hitting with silence and glimpses of space between the pressure.
Don´t get me wrong, in contrast to their previous work Youth Code haven´t gone soft here, but you immediately get the refinement of their sound. The programming is richer and tends to include elements that could be straight up synth pop. In many instrumentals, I´m reminded of something you´d hear in a Prurient release, only in a stronger song structure and shaped up to fit the gruff vocals by Sara Taylor. The peak of this style and my favorite track on this is the closer “Lost At Sea”. This one shifts from synth ritual to broken musing only to arrive at the tortured screamed ending. After hard-hitting tracks like "Avengement" and more straightforward songwriting, the cryptic “going backwards” over the wavering backdrop and whispers is the perfect release of anger and despair and shows the creativity of a band I´ll be stoked to see grow even further.

<a href="http://youthcode.bandcamp.com/album/commitment-to-complications">Commitment to Complications by Youth Code</a>

50. Angela Martyr – The November Harvest

This was a late release of 2016 and if you´re looking for some metal-tinged grunge, you won´t go wrong here. As the new band by Morgan Bellini, who made some waves with Vanessa Van Basten, The November Harvest delivers a collection of droning guitars, soaked in reverb and fuzz over some desolate vocal work reminiscent of Failure at its best. Angela Martyr sure know their past, but they never go full retro and the whole album flows seamlessly with many highs like "Georgina" or "Negative Youth" and ends in the 14-minute epic self-titled track. Never heard someone do Jesu and his blend of drum machine doom so much justice!

<a href="http://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-november-harvest">The November Harvest by Angela Martyr</a>

49. Broken English Club – The English Beach

I enjoy the idea of The English Beach, an industrial and techno album that is set very much in nature and human interaction with it through architectural structures and machinery. That might sound like the cliché approach to industrial music per se, but Oliver Ho under his Broken English Club moniker went experimental and abstract enough to set this album more in the connection of nature and artifice rather than play on the over-forming of one over the other. The industrial tracks bang in all their metallic glory, there is a great usage of spoken word on tracks like “Pylon” and Ho´s knack for sound collage and visceral elements bring this to a holistic experience.

<a href="http://liesrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-english-beach">The English Beach by Broken English Club</a>

48. The World Is a Beautiful Place I am No Longer Afraid to Die – Always Foreign

This is a direct hit. I´ve enjoyed The World Is A Beautiful Place´s since Restlessness and this is one of the best examples of political songwriting working wonders for the setup of an indie and post-rock influenced band. I never expect that much from the genre of guitar-wielding indie rockers in regards to making strong statements of current topics and this is somehow a fault of my own. I´d search for something like that in Hip Hop or Hardcore, to be honest. With Always Foreign the band taps into the feelings of xenophobia from an intriguing angle and describe how feelings of a former safe-space, what you´d understand as your home, become hostile and change for the worse. It´s worth it to read through the lyrics on this one, but above that, the music will create a mix of discomfort and energy towards betterment. A sobering look at what is eating away on what you love packed in delicate guitar work and grand crescendos that see the band expanding their musical horizon even further.

<a href="http://theworldis.bandcamp.com/album/always-foreign">Always Foreign by The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die</a>

47. Ibeyi – Ash

Ibeyi made a grand entrance with their self-titled album in 2015. Their approach on modern RnB tinged with native Cuban influences felt fresh and the dynamic the sisters share as haunting as it is catchy. Still, I didn´t return to the album as much as I thought I would, in parts because I wasn´t that happy with the mix and flow of the album and tended to pick half of the songs over the other. With Ash, however, these flaws are pretty much nonexistent and the blend of styles flows seamlessly over the course of the twelve tracks. On this album, the drums pop and the bass feels right with the call and response schemes of tracks like “Deathless”. The ecstasy of their arrangements and of the singular elements shine on every track and features of someone of Kamasi Washington or the usage of Michelle Obama´s voice are striking. With that, their haunting world filled with spirits and ghosts gets a realistic vibe when the duo goes political on “No Man Is Big Enough For My Arms”, making for one of the best outings in their whole discography. And I feel this opens up one of the biggest achievement of Ash, it takes the spiritual vibe of the duo and strips it of the self-reference and highly personal air of their debut and lets it become something realistic and universal.

46. Slowdive – Slowdive

The reemergence of a band that went on indefinite hiatus and was thought to be done is always something scary. Most of the time the bands that decide to make music again end up building on their legacy and creating something that is nostalgia and fan service at its best. With their aptly self-titled album Slowdive, after 22 years, created something that is more than just a linking up to previous affairs. If there hadn´t been a band named Slowdive before, it wouldn´t make a difference of this being a grand shoegaze outing of heartfelt songwriting paired with lushes arrangements and atmospheres. While I personally enjoy the more melancholic tracks like “Sugar For The Pill”, “No Longer Making Time” and “Falling Ashes” over the faster performances on this album, every track on the album shines and offers something new. The band were sure not to deliver any hazy slush and fillers on this album and the one word I´d use for this album is yearning. The yearning that is not focused on wanting to recover what is lost, but the one that is for growing up and becoming someone else from what held you back and people have come to expect of you.

<a href="http://slowdive.bandcamp.com/album/slowdive">Slowdive by Slowdive</a>

45. Songhoy Blues – Résistance

Titled "Resistance", Songhoy Blues delivered a funky desert rock album full of catchy and delightful tunes. There is a strong amount of “feel good” in their music, something you would not expect from a project born out of oppression in the first sense, but it is truly the most punk thing to do. As many parts of the world drift toward conservative and dogmatic schemes of upholding one culture or one religion in a nation, Songhoy Blues are exiles and musical transgressors in the best sense. They fuse their styles dominant in Mali with country, rock, and funk into a smooth whole and do this in way of second nature and not as a high-minded experiment. Many albums I loved this year carry this idea of transgression and have an international edge to them. And this is still something I find missing in most genres and the general scape of music from a western perspective. We need bands like Songhoy Blues for their transcultural approach as much as there is the need for high spirited rock songs that give of the air of positivity. Even if more than half of the shit I listen to is dark. Best tracks: "Voter" and "Hometown".

<a href="http://songhoyblues.bandcamp.com/album/r-sistance">Résistance by Songhoy Blues</a>

44. Julie Byrne – Not Even Happiness

I get many gripes with singer-songwriters that dive deep into ethereal sounds. Most of them never build up to having tension in the first place and for that will never grasp your attention. Almost like they are designed to be listened to in the background of a cafe, ambient music for those who need lyrics and voices in their ambient and especially those, who don´t like abrasive sounds or anything in the semblance of metal, rock or electronic music. And that shit is boring, no arguing about that. That being said, I didn´t expect Julie Byrne to take a turn towards a stripped down set up following her 2014 album Rooms With Walls and Windows. On that album, she worked with some eerie sounds and build soundscapes rather than just play her guitar on most songs. With Not Even Happiness, at least for me, she toed the line of building engaging songs without many new ideas or elements. It has an intimate vibe, with the lyrics remaining quite cryptic, never becoming to concrete or explicitly personal (except for closer "I Now Live As A Singer"). And this is somewhat of an achievement, undeniably ambient, while still remaining lyrical. I´ve sat with this album since January and still find enjoyment and respite in listening to it. Not because I´ve learned concrete things about the artists Byrne or for blowing my mind, but for her way of building an emotional canvas of reflection and letting me partake in her atmosphere that might very much reflect more then direct songwriting could. 

<a href="http://juliembyrne.bandcamp.com/album/not-even-happiness">Not Even Happiness by Julie Byrne</a>

43. Auburn Lull – Hypha

After nine years and a short instrumental resurfacing in 2014 Auburn Lull are back. It is striking to have them reappear in the same year as Slowdive and, just like them expand their already superb discography with a new outing. Hypa is as somber and reflective as their previous work but features more little twinkles and attention to detail in the instrumentation and overall production. Can´t tell if this is simply because of the technological advances or simply the power of time and aging, but when “Silo” starts wavering over the clear vocals of Heenan and the whole track starts moving gracefully, it truly feels like I never left the dreamscapes of my teenage years.

<a href="http://auburnlull.bandcamp.com/album/hypha">Hypha by Auburn Lull</a>

42. Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens

I was in love with this voice before I even who Kelly Lee Owens was. The best thing about Daniel Avery´s stunning Drone Logic was how he incorporated Owen´s voice into his production and made for something that expanded the horizons of female vocals in techno and house. Owen´s herself takes flight where Drone Logic ended and with her self-titled creates a set of songs that are as much meant for club settings as they are intricate electronica. Her beats on tracks like "CBM" or "Evolution" blend with her cyclical vocal delivery, going from creating psychedelic mantras like “the colors, the beauty the motion” to open skies in contrast to Jenny Hval´s great spoken word on "Anxi". Apart from the vocals side, the instrumentals bang and float in the right ways. Lacking any voice, “Birds” is one of my favorites in its ambiance and loungy attire transforming into a driving dance track and its acoustic xylophone root. With this first full outing, I´m sure Owen´s will push this sound even further and build bridges between being an electronic songstress and a DJ working on an immersive beat driven experience for large audiences.

<a href="http://kellyleeowens.bandcamp.com/album/kelly-lee-owens-extended-version">Kelly Lee Owens (Extended Version) by Kelly Lee Owens</a>

41. Throwing Snow – Embers

As Eluvium released his Shuffle Drones late this year, Throwing Snow made the continuous and multiply listenable album at the start of 2017. You can easily listen to the album from start to finish and experience an electronic album of the highest order. The entire album flows seamlessly from track to track, offering various sonic ideas and morphing into different atmospheres within tracks also. There is a good amount of field recordings on the album, too, from thunder and birdsong to fire crackling that gets incorporated into the electronic soundscapes and danceable beats. But the biggest achievement lies in the discontinuity or cyclical notion of the album. The whole album is built on various aural patterns that intertwine within each other and make it possible to create new mixes with the same set of songs. You can start the album in reverse on a second player to get an idea of how these patterns work with each other or you can just jumble the tracks and do the same. Regardless of the way you play it, Embers bears so many minute details and driving plotlines, you´ll discover something new every listen and the whole thing feels fresh every single replay.

<a href="http://throwingsnow.bandcamp.com/album/embers">Embers by Throwing Snow</a>