[Best of 2017] Music
- Matt Bickerton, Joshua Covell, Chris Harrison
- Dec 20, 2017
- 12 min read
Narrativity contributors Matt Bickerton, Joshua Covell, Chris Harrison, David Rogers, and Andrew Ryan offer their picks for the best songs of the year. The only rule was that picks had to be limited to one song per artist per list. Some struggled to whittle their lists down to a top ten and included additional selections as Spotify addenda, and everyone's top ten has been corralled into a single Spotify playlist (also at the bottom of this post) for your listening pleasure.
MATT BICKERTON
“Legend Has It,” Run the Jewels
“New York,” St. Vincent
“Turn Out the Lights,” Julien Baker
“Lollipop (Ode to Jim),” Alvvays
“High Ticket Attraction,” The New Pornographers
“HUMBLE.,” Kendrick Lamar
“Creature Comfort,” Arcade Fire
“Atomic Karate,” TWRP
“Benjamin Franklin’s Song,” The Decemberists
“Bad Luck Again,” The Rural Alberta Advantage
I had a lot of trouble deciding on a top ten this year, though I think I may have had the opposite problem as most: it turns out I just didn’t listen to a ton of new music this year. Instead, 2017 was a year where, thanks to the magic of Spotify, I was able to check out a bunch of artists I’d previously ignored, and really expanded my horizons with stuff I never would have considered otherwise. Artists like Bruce Springsteen, Barry White, The Mountain Goats, Chance the Rapper, the Protomen, and more all wound up in my rotation in some form or another and took a lot of my listening time this year.
As for my actual list, it basically came down to my favorite song from each of the ten or so 2017 albums I actually managed to get to (note: I have included Run the Jewels 3, because even though it got a surprise release on Christmas 2016, its physical release happened in January, and, well, I don’t see any cops around here). Even though I didn’t listen to much new stuff, what I did listen to was mostly very good, so it was still challenging coming up with a top ten. And don't bother looking for individual rankings in there. Those are just my top ten for the year, in no particular order. Anyway, on with the show.
In terms of Run the Jewels, I feel like I could have picked any song on that album. “Legend Has It” is hard as fuck, and I love it, but “Talk to Me” has El-P’s legendary bars “Brave men didn’t die face down in the Vietnam mud so I could not style on you / I didn’t walk uphill both ways to the booth and back to not wile on you / You think Baby Jesus killed Hitler just so I’d whisper?” It was a tough call, is what I’m saying.
St. Vincent was another tough choice, and while I’ve hit the replay button on “Pills” more times than I can count, the sombre, elegiac tone of “New York” ultimately won out (it helps that the music video is A E S T H E T I C as hell). The title track from Julien Baker’s sophomore album, “Turn Out the Lights,” has the same wonderful, pleading vocal style as “Rejoice,” the standout track on her debut, which I loved. At the other end of the spectrum, the poppy bubblegum style of Alvvays’s “Lollipop (Ode to Jim)” is an endlessly catchy song about taking drugs on a bad date (“Alter my state / to get through this date”). Molly Rankin’s voice always sounds like it’s just on the verge of cracking on a high note, and it totally works for me.
Similarly, the call and response repetition on “High Ticket Attraction” and the juxtaposition of the male and female vocals made it the highlight of an otherwise just alright New Pornographers album. Likewise, Arcade Fire’s “Creature Comfort” was a bright spot on a mediocre experimental album. On the other hand, Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE.,” with a fantastic video and endlessly listenable hooks is an exceptional song on an album full of bangers. “Atomic Karate” by Tupperware Remix Party is a comedy/electronic jam written just for me. In a surprise move, The Decemberists dropped a new song just last week, with lyrics written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (!!!), and if you know who the fuck I am, you’ll understand exactly how “Ben Franklin’s Song” made the list with so little time remaining. Finally, “Bad Luck Again” by the Rural Alberta Advantage rounds things out; the way the lead and backup vocals blend together in the back half of the song is one of my favorite things the RAA have done.
JOSHUA COVELL
"Hard Times," Paramore
"Sorry Not Sorry," Demi Lovato
"DNA.," Kendrick Lamar
"Stay," Zedd and Alessia Cara
"Slide, " Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean & Migos
"Don't Take the Money," Bleachers
"1-800-273-8255," Logic
"Say Something Loving," The XX
"Turn Out the Lights," Julien Baker
"Mask Off," Future
I have mostly moved on from new music, instead listening primarily to podcasts (you learn while being entertained!), so I'm increasingly limited to (a) new stuff from the artists I know and love and (b) the occasional top 40 mix. It helps if the song is catchy (see: my play count of "That's What I Like" by Bruno Mars and the Marshmello remix of "Make Me (Cry)" by Noah Cyrus) because it makes it more likely that it will appear on more of my playlists throughout the year.
First, what doesn't appear on my list: I'm not including Run the Jewels because it first released in 2016 and I believe that without rules, anarchy wins (see: the despicable law-breaker above). But if I were to allow the eligibility, "Call Ticketron" would easily make my list. Ed Sheeran doesn't make the cut, despite making some infectiously catchy songs. "Shape of You" felt a little "Your Body is a Wonderland" for my taste, and "Castle on the Hill," though strong, has a verse that airs his friends' dirty laundry, and I just can't give props to a narc: "One friend left to sell clothes / One works down by the coast / One had two kids but lives alone / One's brother overdosed / One's already on his second wife / One's just barely getting by / But these people raised me and I can't wait to go home." Similarly, as much as I enjoyed Jay-Z's performance of "4:44" on SNL, I can't reward someone for doing Beyonce dirty. I haven't had a chance to give new N.E.R.D. a listen, so that's not on the list, but I'm confident it would. "Despacito" doesn't appear, but only because the music video has been viewed over 4.5 billion times on YouTube so they don't need the Narrativity bump. Songs I like ironically also don't appear; I'm just too old and confident in my tastes to not like things earnestly, so sorry, Chainsmokers and DJ Khaled. And as I look over the year, the hands down best music-thing that came out in 2017 was Chance's NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert, which is ineligible, fine, but nonetheless deserves a special shout-out for the pure joy factor:
Now for the lucky ten: Paramore and Demi Lovato released the two most addictive songs for me this year, and the '80s-inspired sound (and video) of the former hit my brain's pleasure center like nothing else. I couldn't stop listening to either. I found DAMN. to be largely disappointing after To Pimp a Butterfly and even Untitled Unmastered, but "DNA." is terrific. "Stay," "Slide," and "Mask Off," were earworms that got a lot of play from me in 2017. Logic's "1-800-273-8255" is problematic to some (see: my girlfriend), but to me it's a lovely if indelicate song about depression and suicide. I saw Bleachers in concert in November (with their biggest fan, the aforementioned girlfriend) and was floored by Jack Antonoff's talent, showmanship, and inherent weirdness, and even though other songs from Gone Now may mean more to me personally, "Don't Take the Money" is probably the strongest track. The XX puts out vibe music that I will always connect with me, and though I only just discovered Julien Baker last year, her voice seems to have a direct line to my heartstrings, so both of them have to make the list.
CHRIS HARRISON
“(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano,” Sampha
“FEAR.,” Kendrick Lamar
“Bombo Fabrika,” Gabriel Garzón-Montano
“Sassy,” Rapsody
“Paper,” Jonwayne
“Big Fish,” Vince Staples
“Never Learn,” Brother Ali
“Higher Calling,” Big K.R.I.T.
“I Ain’t Got Time!,” Tyler, the Creator
“R.O.A.R.,” Damian Marley
On "(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano," Sampha shows what his relationship with his mother meant to him growing up and how, through a piano gifted to him at three years old, he was able to find his voice as an artist. It’s beautifully written and very powerful. “FEAR.” follows Kendrick at the ages of 7, 17, 27, and how his fears have changed over time. At 7, it’s his mother’s beatings—she tells him, “Nigga, you gon’ fear me if you don’t fear no one else.” At 17, it’s death during everyday life in his neighborhood—“I’ll prolly die ‘cause that’s what you do when you’re 17,” and at 27, it’s the fear of losing it all. Kendrick’s storytelling is as remarkable as ever and The Alchemist gives him the perfect canvas to tell his tale. I just heard “Bombo Fabrika” for the first time two days ago and it made me wonder what the hell I’ve been doing all year (it also made me re-work this entire list). The instrumental is layered on top of a funky bassline and the vocals are pure silk.
“OooWee” would’ve been here if it hadn’t come out in 2016, but this year Rapsody had another track, Sassy,” that was just as good. The bass, reminiscent of '80s funk, is chunky as hell, and the vocal samples—“ON THE WAY UP”—are perfect complements. Rapsody glides all over this beat, showing her full range as a rapper. The first verse of “Paper” is impeccably written, as Jonwayne imagines himself becoming a tree post-death, eventually cut and turned into a book. It stems from his desire to mean something to someone—“I want ‘em to hand me down / and give me to Goodwill / and price me for a dollar / still get shoplifted, hell / torn open just to give a man shelter, shit.” Jonwayne is one of the best writers in rap and he’s at his artistic peak here. “Big Fish,” the song of the summer, is a flat-out banger, with trunk-rattling bass, and a club-ready chorus, but Vince Staples doesn’t take the easy route on the mic. Instead, he raps his ass off, as per usual. I’ve had this in my rotation since it dropped and that won’t change anytime soon.
Brother Ali’s greatest gift has always been the ability to make his listeners feel his music, and he flexes that all over “Never Learn.” When he bellows “soul vibration so fly / I can walk on water, no lie,” you’ll feel like you can too. Big K.R.I.T. has been criminally underrated for years. Hopefully, he’ll get the attention he deserves with his new album. “Higher Calling,” featuring some outstanding vocals from Jill Scott on the chorus and a buttery smooth instrumental, is one of the album’s strongest tracks. “I Ain’t Got Time!” is pure confidence, with a chorus that’ll make you feel invincible when you belt it out. Tyler warns haters “you better kill that noise / turn around and remap route / when you see that boy with them big ears and that gap tooth.” In the US, Jamaican music is mostly known for peace, love, and weed smoke. But it’s the rebel music that gets me going. Behind a blistering drumline and a chopped-up Buju Banton sample, Damian Marley proves once again that he flows better than your favorite rapper. On “R.O.A.R.,” the standout track from his first solo album in 12 years, Gongzilla reminds everyone to shut their mouths when the general speaks.
I feel super conflicted about certain songs not making the top ten, so here’s the full top 50 playlist on Spotify.
DAVID ROGERS
“For My People,” Joey Bada$$
“Mask Off (Remix),” Future ft. Kendrick Lamar
“Messy Love,” Mura Masa
“Falling Back,” Oliver ft. MNDR
“Line of Sight,” Odesza ft. WYNNE & Mansionair
“Wild Love,” Cashmere Cat ft. The Weeknd & Francis and the Lights
“Right To It,” Louis the Child ft. Ashe
“Know No Better,” Major Lazer, Travis Scott, Quavo
“DNA.,” Kendrick Lamar
“Feel It Still,” Portugal the Man
I’m not writing individual blurbs for each song because I don’t want to. I got halfway and realized that I’d rather talk about where my tastes were this year rather than the individual tracks that got the most play from me. This year solidified that hip-hop and electronic are the primary areas of interest for my musical tastes, and that might be because I’ve noticed them doing some of the most interesting stuff in the music scene.
Debut albums from artists like Cashmere Cat and Mura Masa showed just how much weirder electronic music can continue to get, with each song on their new albums feeling entirely unique and unexpected. Messy beats chopped with steel drums, bells, and whatever else seems to be lying around are common. A lot of it shouldn’t work, and sometimes it didn’t for me at first, but they ended up being albums I’ve continued to go back to ever since they were released. Oliver finally released their debut album as well, and it feels like it could have arrived in a time machine directly from the '80s. It’s nostalgic synth and electro dance at its absolute best. Chicago’s Louis the Child continue to drop new singles, with each one getting more attention than the last. And then we have Odesza, who stayed true to their original sound while still managing to branch out and experiment with new styles. Their newest album is huge and theatrical while still maintaining the calm and wistful tones of their previous work.
Hip-hop and rap dominated so much of my listening time in large part thanks to Joey Bada$$ and Kendrick Lamar. Both albums are stellar for different reasons, but they stand out amongst a lot of other hip-hop released this year that sounds very much the same. That’s not to say it was all bad. Future released three albums this year, and while a lot of it is kind of indistinguishable, I found "Mask Off" to be one of the standouts, enough so that I didn’t really like it all that much when I first heard it. It took Kendrick adding a verse for me to give it much more attention.
Outside of those two genres not a whole lot else stuck out to me. Chillhop is a mixture of genres that is absolutely perfect background music and something I spent a lot of time with. The new Portugal the Man and Lorde albums had some fantastic tracks, with "Homemade Dynamite" just barely not making the cut, but a lot of the rock and alternative albums I hoped would stick with me I just bounced right off of. Even Taylor Swift’s new album didn’t do much for me, despite me loving her last. And I still haven’t listened to 4:44 because I refuse to pay for Tidal.
There was so much music I enjoyed this year, with lots of individual songs padding out a lot of my playlists and tons of mixtapes I’m not allowed to add here. But the standout songs, the ones I know I’ll still be listening to in a few years, are listed here.
ANDREW RYAN
“The Underside of Power,” Algiers
“HUMBLE.,” Kendrick Lamar
“Little Fictions,” Elbow
“Los Ageless,” St. Vincent
“Total Entertainment Forever,” Father John Misty
“Come Meh Way,” Sudan Archives
“The Sky is a Neighborhood,” Foo Fighters
“Real Death,” Mount Erie
“Ascension,” Gorillaz ft. Vince Staples
“Noise Pollution,” Portugal the Man ft. Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Zoe Manville
The list of great musicians who released albums in 2017 is staggering, but the resulting output didn’t quite live up to the caliber of the lineup. We got records from some of my favorite artists like Wu Tang Clan, Bjork, Queens of the Stone Age, Brother Ali, Laura Marling, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Rural Alberta Advantage as well as some surprise comeback records from LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene, N.E.R.D., The Perceptionists, and At the Drive In. That should make for a standout year, and it wasn’t bad, but most of these albums fell short compared to previous efforts by the same artists. It didn’t help that we also got some albums I was looking forward to from big names that were straight up lousy—looking directly at you, Eminem, Arcade Fire, and Prophets of Rage. Thankfully, stellar records that caught me by surprise, like Father John Misty, Cloud Nothings, and Mount Erie, offset the disappointment from those other artists.
The good news is that there’s still no shortage of great songs released this year, and paring my top 150 songs list to a top ten was no easy task. Picking the top song was pretty easy, though: “The Underside of Power” by Algiers has been my defining song of 2017. It’s an angry, soulful track that assesses the social and political power dynamics of present day America with a rousing, dance-able beat and a hook forceful enough to counter the relentlessly depressing headlines we’ve been bombarded with this year. It’s a reminder of how powerful and important music is in tumultuous times, carrying on the protest music traditions forged by greats like Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, and James Brown. Pretty much anyone I made a mix for this year found this song on there.
Algiers aren’t the only ones providing commentary in the context of great songs to make my top ten. Father John Misty doesn’t hold back on “Total Entertainment Forever,” his musical take on Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” Vince Staples delivers some apocalyptic, jaw dropping bars on race with the Gorillaz providing the beat on “Ascension,” and St. Vincent delivers a regretful assessment of the image obsessed culture of LA in the exciting and infectious “Los Ageless.”
It was tough picking between “DNA.” and “HUMBLE.” as a track off of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN., my favorite album of the year, but I had to give it to the latter. That piano heavy beat and the way Kendrick just dominates it is too good. “Little Fictions” by Elbow is on there for the strength of its unique string breakdown toward the end of the song, one of the standout moments of any track this year. Sudan Archives also brought the gorgeous strings and captivating vocals in one of my favorite discoveries of 2017, “Come Meh Way.” The stomping, anthemic chorus from “The Sky Is A Neighborhood” is the freshest the Foo Fighters have sounded in years, and “Noise Pollution” finds Portugal The Man experimenting with new sounds and new voices with a huge payoff. And even if I don’t listen to it often, and can’t get through the entire album in one listen, I had to include Mount Erie’s “Real Death” on here, a strong contender for saddest song I’ve ever heard. That song, man. It’s raw, devastating, and another testament on this list to the power of music, communicating the incommunicable in a way that couldn’t be achieved using any other medium.
So really, 2017 was a pretty great year for music, even if some efforts fell short of my hopes and expectations. The best song lists will be stronger than the best album lists this time around, and you can check out my entire, exhaustive, and constantly changing playlist on Spotify and Apple Music.
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