We’ve heard some amazing music this year and there’s been some blinding releases from 2017. In fact the number of albums we’ve fallen in love with has at times been overwhelming. As well as the two long players we’ve released at Reckless Yes (Pet Crow and Unqualified Nurse Band) we’ve also released singles by You Want Fox and Mower, and debut EPs from Panji and The Buffalo and Dactylion.
But while we’re forever fans of new music and supporting artists we’re not so keen on ranking what we’ve heard from best to worst, or whatever. Because – really – how can you measure hip hop against industrialist soundscapes, shoegaze against math rock. You can’t. Neither have we had time to put together an exhaustive list of absolutely everything brilliant we’ve heard then sort it into release type, or by release date, or alphabetically, or by genre or whatever.
So, what we have done is we’ve put together a list of 20 releases from 2017 we’ve loved (aside from music we’ve released which you can find here), and that we think if you haven’t heard yet you should get your ears around. Some of these bands we had the pleasure of playing on the radio (when we were still doing our weekly The Rumble show) while others have been new to us or returning from years ago. What they all have in common is they’ve made us excitedly pass on the recommendation to each other, to other people, and in many cases feel compelled to write something about it all too.
Without further ado, and in no particular order – here’s our pick of releases from 2017 and if you’d rather get an aural taster you can find our playlist on Spotify here.
- Desperate Journalist – Grow Up (Fierce Panda)
- Nervous Twitch – I Won’t Hide (Odd Box Records)
- Mermaidens – Perfect Body (Flying Nun)
- Slowdive – Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
- Dream Nails – Dare To Care EP (Self-released)
- Diet Cig – Swear I’m Good At This (Frenchkiss Records)
- Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens (Smalltown Supersound)
- EMA – Exile In The Outer Ring (City Slang)
- Biscuit Mouth – Hot Change (self-released)
- Dystopian Future Movies – Time (Kozmik Artifacts)
- Japanese Breakfast – Soft Sounds From Another Planet (Dead Oceans)
- GlenAkur – The Mountains Are Beautiful Now (Prophecy Productions)
- Cherry Hex and The Dream Church – Witch Girl (Phlexx Records)
- Peaness – Are You Sure? (Alcopop Records)
- Mammoth Penguins and Friends – John Doe (wiaiwya)
- Onsind – We Wilt, We Bloom (Specialist Subject)
- Bearcats – No Friends (self-released)
- Sly and The Family Drone / Dead Neanderthals – Molar Wrench (God Unknown Records)
- NYOS – Navigation (Meta Matter Records)
- Chiyoda Ku – How It Works (self released)
Find our playlist of our 2017 picks on Spotify here and let us know your favourite listens from 2017 in the comments below or on social media.
