Jac's Top 30 of 2017
I was a slacker this year. Listened to lots of flavour-of-the-month metal albums and neglected entire genres - maybe I don't like music anymore and I don't know it. Oh well, here's a compendium of some 2017 tunes that tickled my lobes in all the right ways. |
30 | | Musica Secreta / Celestial Sirens Lucrezia Borgia's Daughter
Renaissance music / choral - Best not to listen when you're in a hurry, but I can think of less cathartic things to listen to when you've 73 minutes to spare.
https://open.spotify.com/album/09cGO09uvbIuQVvdmnKalG |
29 | | Funeral Chant Funeral Chant
Black Metal - Nails the balance between atmosphere and musicianship.
https://funeralchant.bandcamp.com/releases |
28 | | Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Tüür: Peregrinus ecstaticus; Noēsis; Le poids ...
Modern Classical - Somehow strings together in a cohesive way despite drawing from a muddled pool of influences from all eras and styles.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3NwSFWcU9qRDtpL2DWu58k |
27 | | Tomb Mold Primordial Malignity
Death Metal - If you like riffs you'll like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGoko_kI1WI |
26 | | Luc Ferrari Hétérozygote / Petite symphonie…
Musique concrete - I listened to this unaware it was an archival release at first, then it dawned upon me that the dog you can hear barking is long dead and it made me sad.
can't find stream link rip |
25 | | Jean Rondeau Dynastie: Bach Concertos
Baroque music - Very interesting to hear how trends in the common practice period evolved as illustrated by Bach and fam.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0nctM62YjYfdEG6dIdIHFm |
24 | | Vanessa Rossetto Rocinante
Musique concrete - Uncanny blend of musical escapism and the "real world". Fascinating though not always pleasant.
https://vanessarossetto.bandcamp.com/album/rocinante |
23 | | Psallentes Salzinnes Saints
Renaissance music / plainsong - A no frills testament to the beauty of the human voice.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6RqRydiuZ5gYAD4PhOXF6l |
22 | | Brecon Baroque Grandissima Gravita
Baroque / chamber music - The Tartini pieces are some of the best music I've heard in 2017 - hear this for those alone.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0AD7puopUQojZIAfTN5xTL |
21 | | Archspire Relentless Mutation
Tech death - See my review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiY4zwcjt-s |
20 | | Impetuous Ritual Blight Upon Martyred Sentience
Tech death / "caverncore" - Pushing the fold of extremity once again.
https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/blight-upon-martyred-sentience |
19 | | Rossella Spinosa Scelsi: Opere per pianoforte
Modern classical - Scelsi's piano works don't quite possess the other-worldliness of his works for strings but these are still delightfully creepy.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5FUlHs4uXbMuioCOBOL8N0 |
18 | | Spectral Voice Eroded Corridors of Unbeing
Death doom metal - Appeal stems from aesthetic as much as it does from composition but I still love it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keSYfJ3fBRE |
17 | | Collegium Vocale Gent Bach: Du treuer Gott: Leipzig Cantatas
Baroque music / oratorio - Wasn't familiar with these pieces but this steadily crept up in my estimations as the year went on. Beautifully recorded renditions of The Maestro's work from Herreweghe as ever.
https://open.spotify.com/album/42bSu7k6kaFzBOeXyRbhEw |
16 | | Angles 9 Disappeared Behind the Sun
Jazz / experimental big band - Trades in some of the ear worm-y phrasing of Injuries for spontaneity but remains impossibly easy to get into.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBbAgxNUhIc |
15 | | RIAS Kammerchor / Freiburger Barockorchester Requiem - Sussmayr / Dutton 2016 Completion
Classical period / Choral - A slight revision on Sussmayr's original completion of Mozart's Requiem. Sounds pretty faithful to these ears.
https://open.spotify.com/album/67zG8CNG56vAuuG4yiVeDj |
14 | | Venenum Trance of Death
Death metal - Psychedelic tunes with atmosphere that you could cut with a knife.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPU_xMwcFg4 |
13 | | Irvine Arditti Caprices
Modern classical - Frenetic solo violin works from various modern composers. Extended technique in droves; have no idea how to dissect this, don't really care.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3GJazpAJcnd9rTVr8zryks |
12 | | Phrenelith Desolate Endscape
Death metal - What it lacks in innovation it more than compensates for in energy. Production is superb as well.
https://phrenelith.bandcamp.com/album/desolate-endscape |
11 | | Forest Swords Compassion
Ambient Dub - Doesn't quite nail the melancholia like Engravings but that's not really a slight. "Panic" is a contender for SOTY.
https://forestswords.bandcamp.com/album/compassion |
10 | | Gringolts Quartet Schoenberg: String Quartets 2 and 4
Serialism / chamber music - The scores are brilliant enough that any rendition of Schoenberg's string quartets without discernible flaws was bound to end up here. Always keen to hear more.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4imTrhRzgGsAV0ujoqVVHq |
9 | | The Doppelgangaz Dopp Hopp
Hip hop - More of the same from Doppelgangaz but I'm not complaining. Plenty of mentions of strong ankles, in fact, there's even a namesake song.
https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/album/dopp-hopp |
8 | | Silesian String Quartet Weinberg: String Quartet No. 7 + Piano Quintet
Modern classical / chamber music - Content with its eccentricities while also being tactfully performed.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5RryRJUW496bPPQBmwTm89 |
7 | | Pyrrhon What Passes for Survival
Dissonant tech death / mathcore - Took until the twilight of the year to grow on me but once it did, oh my.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMYR9vGRblA |
6 | | Stile Antico Giaches de Wert: Divine Theatre
Choral / Renaissance Music - Unassuming and poignant, with just the right amount of aural slickness so as to make for comfortable listening while shirking grandiosity.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7sTnOYl0nFTSwZsK2ZKvJ5 |
5 | | Inconcessus Lux Lucis The Crowning Quietus
Black / heavy / speed metal - See my review.
https://invictusproductions666.bandcamp.com/album/the-crowning-quietus |
4 | | Sunless Urraca
Dissonant tech death - Was an early pick for AOTY but was usurped along the way. Still probably my fav production job this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dEQtXBr1BU |
3 | | Jurg Frey Ephemeral Constructions
Lowercase - Sparse at a glance but vividly textured - you could hear a pin drop. Best played in isolation with out (any potential for) distractions.
no stream rip |
2 | | Arditti Quartet / Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France Pascal Dusapin: Quatuor VI; Quatuor VII
Chamber music / modern classical - Tense, chaotic, discordant, [buzzword] pieces from a dude who studied under Xenakis, performed to perfection by Arditti.
https://open.spotify.com/album/13agtu4Iibw8M2OhtghJU4 |
1 | | Artificial Brain Infrared Horizon
Dissonant tech death - Shocker, the 2017 album with the most enduring appeal for me was what some scrubs would call a "Gorguts clone". I'm even less surprised than you are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxNkGupr4fg |
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