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I decided to try an do a nice big top 50 journal this year for 2017. I'm not done listening to everything yet so this is kind of an acting placeholder for the moment but I should be able to get the ball rolling soon. As with every year, there are always albums that will be heard after I make this list that should have been on it. I'll try to highlight those in the OP as I come across them but I feel like I should be able to start this in about a week. Maybe in the meantime I'll do a disappointments list or something.

Anyway, stay tuned...

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Disappointing albums of 2017

This list won't be too long but there are definitely albums that were just meh and also quite awful. I figured I'd make a small post about them as I gear up for the top 50 in the next week. These albums will most likely never be listened to again which is a shame because I liked the artists. These aren't rated in this post so enjoy the heap as one unit.

http://store.matadorrecords.com/medi...sea_lice_1.jpg

Kurt Vile & Courtney Barnett
Lotta Sea Lice

I'm huge Courtney Barnett fan and while I'm sort of "meh" on Kurt Vile, I was honestly looking forward to this pairing. I expected a twang grit sandwich but the finished product was boring as all f*ck. They managed to take one of my favorite Barnett songs "Out of the Woodwork" and make me hate it. It was that boring. Failed experiment for me.

https://i.imgur.com/QWbYzZa.jpg?1

Beck
Colors

This was f*cking terrible. I thought Morning Phase was good in places and bad in others but this whole record is gross. Beck has gone almost full Maroon 5 in this album and I hate it. Absolutely awful.

https://i.imgur.com/HnMI8mv.jpg?1

St. Vincent
Masseducation

This one was a bit different because St. Vincent is somebody I want to like a lot but just couldn't do it with her previous work. This album was a hope that I could finally get over that hump and really enjoy her music and it just wasn't. Lagged in many spots and I kept waiting for it to end. Not a terrible album by any means but just something I wanted to wow me and it just didn't.

https://i.imgur.com/fGAcfOi.jpg?1

Tyler, The Creator
Scum F*ck Flower Boy

Yeah. I don't like Tyler anymore. In fact, I really haven't liked anything he has done since his first album. The kid who made my jaw drop when he released the track "Yonkers" to go along with an absolute killer music video just hasn't impressed me since. I really tried to like this album and it totally left me empty. Good thing we have Earl Sweatshirt because without him, all the Odd Future peeps would be out the window for me.

https://i.imgur.com/BOefqkt.jpg?1

Jlin
Black Origami

I enjoyed Dark Energy a lot and was looking for her to expand her sound a bit but in my opinion, she actually dumbed it down. She has such a unique sound as it is so the fact that it didn't click with me makes this disappointing. Not terrible but like Masseducation, just something I wanted to be better.

https://i.imgur.com/SaaQBFo.jpg?1

Charly Bliss
Guppy

Awful. Just awful. Don't know why I thought this was going to be good. Had some hype early on and I liked a few of their earlier tracks from a small EP but every one of these songs is terrible.

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Little Dragon
Season High

Holy snoozefest. Their work was at its best early in their career but I still didn't expect something this boring.

https://i.imgur.com/Uoq6tV8.jpg?1

Thundercat
Drunk

This might actually be my most disappointing album of the year. I was super hyped for this thing after his single "Them Changes" dropped. That song is one of my favorite songs of the last few years but the album failed miserably to live up to that one track. I usually like his off key singing but in this it just annoyed me at multiple points. I didn't get many instances of straight funky bass like I expected. It was just so forgettable as a whole. I mean, I'm going to try this again but after three listens I just don't know if it's ever going to click.

Stay tuned for the actual list.

Originally Posted by Exo (Post 1899171) ] Tyler, The Creator Scum F*ck Flower Boy Yeah. I don't like Tyler anymore. In fact, I really haven't liked anything he has done since his first album. The kid who made my jaw drop when he released the track "Yonkers" to go along with an absolute killer music video just hasn't impressed me since. I really tried to like this album and it totally left me empty. Good thing we have Earl Sweatshirt because without him, all the Odd Future peeps would be out the window for me.

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1899218)

Originally Posted by Exo (Post 1899228) Yeah, that did nothing for me.

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1899229) sucks to suck

Originally Posted by Exo (Post 1899231) I'm very picky when it comes to hip hop. You'll understand my taste when my list comes out.

Originally Posted by Justthefacts (Post 1899291) Said everyone ever on MB.

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1899293) Exactly. Check your privilege, Exo. I thought that Jiln album was great but not because it was innovative. Being disappointed by Thundercat is your fault for having high hopes in the face of scientific fact.

Originally Posted by Exo (Post 1899296) The fact of what?

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1899298) The fact of Thunderdingo's overwhelming mediocrity. The scientific studies and meta-analyses are there, you just need to do your research.

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1899327) if you read further it mentions how brining up Kamasi Washington instantly makes any statement that follows in regards to jazz totally irrelevant as you will be mocked by those around you.

Originally Posted by Exo (Post 1899171) http://store.matadorrecords.com/medi...sea_lice_1.jpg Kurt Vile & Courtney Barnett Lotta Sea Lice I'm huge Courtney Barnett fan and while I'm sort of "meh" on Kurt Vile, I was honestly looking forward to this pairing. I expected a twang grit sandwich but the finished product was boring as all f*ck. They managed to take one of my favorite Barnett songs "Out of the Woodwork" and make me hate it. It was that boring. Failed experiment for me.

https://i.imgur.com/HnMI8mv.jpg?1 St. Vincent Masseducation This one was a bit different because St. Vincent is somebody I want to like a lot but just couldn't do it with her previous work. This album was a hope that I could finally get over that hump and really enjoy her music and it just wasn't. Lagged in many spots and I kept waiting for it to end. Not a terrible album by any means but just something I wanted to wow me and it just didn't.

https://i.imgur.com/fGAcfOi.jpg?1 Tyler, The Creator Scum F*ck Flower Boy Yeah. I don't like Tyler anymore. In fact, I really haven't liked anything he has done since his first album. The kid who made my jaw drop when he released the track "Yonkers" to go along with an absolute killer music video just hasn't impressed me since. I really tried to like this album and it totally left me empty. Good thing we have Earl Sweatshirt because without him, all the Odd Future peeps would be out the window for me.

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1899327) if you read further it mentions how bringing up Kamasi Washington instantly makes any statement that follows in regards to jazz totally irrelevant as you will be mocked by those around you.

Originally Posted by MicShazam (Post 1899414) Isn't Kamasi Washington actually legit jazz though? Can't remember what it sounds like, but I did check out an album of his a few years ago. I know he's the only jazz album Antony Fantano and Pitchfork have probably ever raved about - which might be annoying to a jazz fan when they ignore everything else that comes out in the genre - but that doesn't mean it's bad, does it? Seemed quite far from Norah Jones level pap to me.

Isn't Kamasi Washington actually legit jazz though?

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1899447) Kamasi Washington makes solid spiritual jazz but he is constantly touted as jazz's saviour and a crazy innovative genius and that is indeed hard to deal with as someone who's listened to more than 5 jazz albums.

Originally Posted by Maajo (Post 1900718) I liked Flower Boy quite a bit, but it's more R&B flavored than I was expecting. I thought he showed some maturity both musically and lyrically, but it lacked a certain edge that I come to expect from hip-hop and because of that it did feel a little bit flat. I actually bought this album and the Beck album, although to be fair the Beck album was kind of an impulse buy that I didn't listen to much beforehand. I liked that one too, it reminded me of some late 80s post-punk, but it was a really safe album.

Originally Posted by OccultHawk (Post 1900746) You should wait until the year ends.

#50

https://i.imgur.com/9RGJhDl.jpg?1

Angles 9
Disappeared Behind the Sun

I start my list off with an album that caught me by surprise. This really should be higher on this list only because I really feel bad that this album is #50 but everything has it's place. The band comes from Sweden and features a metric f*ck ton of horns, bells, whistles, keys, and drums. When you have two saxaphones and two trumpets as staples to your line up you're going to end up with something that sounds like Frownland cloning himself and then taking college courses on how to play music for four years as a group. Five tracks make up the standard 45 minute run time and each track has kind of the same main objective which is to blow wind hard as sh*t. I'd love to see these guys live. They're rhythmic and can actually get pretty groovy at times. There is also plenty of sporadic wailing but they keep it tame and prevent it from unraveling the tone set throughout the album.

Highlights of the album are the driving Peacemaker and the title track Disappeared Behind the Sun which has this perfect blend of everything the album does well. You got piano, synchronized horn sections, free jazz spurts, and drum fills that don't try to overdo anything.

Check this out if you want to hear what Frownlands dreams probably sound like when he's not being miserable.

#49

https://i.imgur.com/b2qRDPi.jpg?1

Chaz Bundick Meets the Mattson 2
Star Stuff

At #49 we have an album that was on heavy rotation while I was out in California growing doobage. The genre term "neo-psychedelic" never, and I mean never, elicits a huge amount of excitement from me. It reminds me of a number of bands that are so average it makes my head hurt yet somehow they are regarded as the pinnacle of music over the last decade. I'm talking about bands like Tame Impala, Animal Collective, Flaming Lips, and Deerhunter. I'm not saying those bands are terrible, save for maybe Tame Impala, but they're just so goddamn derivative. I swear they all get together a couple times a year and they have a huge "OMG WE ARE SO WEIRD GUYS" orgy and all of a sudden a bunch of similar sounding albums come out.

Not into it.

This album however is something that grabbed my attention and while it took a few listens to really sink in, it made me realize how different it was. First off you have Chaz Bundick AKA Toro y Moi in here with the Mattson bros. Not a huge Toro y Moi fan but what he brings to this music is a bit of melody and the bare minimum electronic tones that separate this from all the other neo-psych albums.

It's also a very good summer album. We would take drives to the beach on days off and I'd play this a lot. The lush guitar work really makes sunny day drives that much more enjoyable. The album stays very close to being an instrumental album but the times Bundick lays some vocals down fit very well.

Highlights include the early Pink Floyd sounding opening track Son Moi, Disco Kid which has some pretty awesome guitar work going on, and Don't Dream Yourself which has a drum section in it that's probably one of my favorite moments in a song this year.

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1903789) Angles 9 is cool, but until they make their arrangements more interesting then they'll just be a poor man's Fire! Orchestra in my eyes. Mattson 2 is great. Try to see one of their energetic performances if you can.

Originally Posted by Exo (Post 1903791) Exactly why they're at 50.

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1903792) I had no idea that my eyes were so influential.

Originally Posted by Mindfulness (Post 1903939) checking the Charly Bliss album out :cool:

#48

https://i.imgur.com/HJnijQO.jpg?1

Oddisee
The Iceberg

This is the kind of hip hop that really appeals to me. Brooklyn based artist Oddisee pretty much encompasses that east coast inner city five boroughs sound extremely well on this record. I've always been interested in New York City hip hop over alternatives. I always listened to Biggie over Tupac and Mos Def and Tribe were really the main introductions into what hip hop can be if you know where to look. I'm fickle when it comes to hip hop. Lot of people say that. I'm not into Weezy, Kanye, Fitty, or even Jay-Z. Not into trap or grime. I tried so hard to like Death Grips. So hard. Can't do it. I need jazzy or funky beats to go along with good flow. I don't even pay attention to the lyrics that much. They're important, sure, as we'll see down the line with my list, but it isn't a deal breaker.

The Iceberg has these qualities I look for. The flows aren't the absolute greatest but they fit the laid back and chill beats that shine on tracks like Like Really and Want to Be which has an almost disco like feel to it. The album has just a good track to track flow to it. Blends well. The lyrics, when I pick up on them, are scattered going from politics to relationships. Nothing really awe inspiring like say an Aesop Rock album would produce. It also holds up well throughout the last third of the album which for me is always something good hip hop albums struggle with. The final track, Rights and Wrongs, might actually be my favorite track on the whole record. Nice dub beat in the background. Groovy.

Oddisee pretty much comes out with an album a year and while I haven't been a HUGE fan of his previous efforts, this one just happened to have a bunch of correct ingredients for it to become memorable for me. It's a good album to start with if you've never heard his music and you can work your way back.

Originally Posted by Exo (Post 1904118) I don't even pay attention to the lyrics that much. They're important, sure, as we'll see down the line with my list, but it isn't a deal breaker.

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1904173) Damn?

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1904186) If Damn is on your list then it's an instaban. AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT BILLY WOODS

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1904186) If Damn is on your list then it's an instaban.

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1904227) ^ but Milo and Open Mike Eagle are a must