Top Tens: Good New Albums to Listen from 2017
To be honest, 2017 was not a great year for music with a few worthy exceptions. Anyway, FYI, these ten albums were a good companion on most of our travels.
1. Ty Segall by Ty Segall (Garage Rock) – Streaming / Download
2. Death Song by The Black Angels (Psych Rock) – Streaming / Download
3. Hot Thoughts by Spoon (Indie Rock) – Streaming / Download
4. Relatives in Descent by Protomartyr (Post-Punk) – Streaming / Download
5. Colors by Beck (Experimental Pop/Rock) – Streaming / Download
6. The Underside of Power by Algiers (Post-Punk) – Streaming / Download
7. World Eater by Blanck Mass (Electro-Industrial) – Streaming / Download
8. All This I Do for Glory by C. Stetson (Jazz) – Streaming / Download
9. Common As Light… by Sun Kil Moon (Folk) – Streaming / Buy CD
10. Beast Epic by Iron & Wine (Indie Folk) – Streaming / Download
As a bonus, we’ve created a playlist with 30 of the best songs of 2017.
Top Tens: Good New Movies to Watch from 2017
Everybody is trying to convince you to buy a book for Christmas, so why don’t you watch a good movie instead? Here are some of our favorites from 2017.
1. Happy End by Michael Haneke (Drama) – A fearful new world of lives adrift.
2. The Great Buddha + by H. Hsin-Yao (Drama) – Neither new nor improved.
3. Motherland by Ramona S. Diaz (Doc) – Masterpiece of Filipino neorealism.
4. The Rider by Chloé Zhao (Drama) – Frail human nature in the “Wild West”.
5. Can’t Say Goodbye by Lino Escalera (Drama) – Debut film with great acting.
6. Just Like Our Parents by Laís Bodanzky (Drama) – Brazilian cinema at its best.
7. The Sea Stares at Us from Afar by Manuel M. Rivas (Doc) – Time and the land.
8. Faces Places by JR, Agnès Varda (Doc) – A very special journey in rural France.
9. Under the Tree by Hafsteinn Sigurðsson (Drama) – Pitch-dark Icelandic humor.
10. Taste of Cement by Ziad Kalthoum (Doc) – War as the only travel opportunity.