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 Lists
01.10.20 paps runs through his favs real quick (12.07.19 just gonna put this here to remember
07.17.19 On Hip-Hop07.08.19 June 2019 resumé
07.03.19 Actual User Appreciation Thread06.30.19 JULY19 Songs of the Day
06.26.19 Unknown Post-Punk #406.13.19 Papa's Wifey's List of Favs
06.08.19 May 2019 resumé06.07.19 Sputnik R.I.P. list
06.03.19 mid-year metal rundown05.29.19 another one of those bm threads
05.27.19 Unknown Post-Punk #3 05.23.19 looking for an album/band
05.22.19 stuff my cat seems to like05.08.19 recent black metal demos and lo-fi nons
05.05.19 April 2019 resumé05.03.19 Sput's 2019 Random-Album-Review 2019 Ga
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Uni's 2017 in albums

YEAR END LIST 14/14. The very end, mates. And this is a big one.
101Antarktis
Illdaante


Honourable mentions:
Antarktis - Illdaante
Royal Thunder - WICK
L'Effondras - Les Flavescences (thank you Ulshad)
Incendiary - Thousand Mile Stare
Diagrams - Dorothy
The Amazons
Gold - Optimist (thank you hansoloshotfirst)
Ensnared - Dysangelium (thank you bgillesp)
DJ Okawari - Compass
Ingurgitating Oblivion - Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light
100Thievery Corporation
The Temple of I & I


Electronic/Pop/Downtempo

(thank you bgillesp)
This spot is dedicated to the best album in my 'Genre on the Grid' binge. For the unaware, 'Genre on the Grid' is a thingie I do annually, where I listen to as many albums released that year in a particular genre I dislike. Last year it was Progressive Metal, this year it was Downtempo. However, it turns out that 2017 was a weak as fuck Downtempo year and there was a minimal amount of these albums released. So I only managed to go through about a dozen. Poor result, but I found one that I actually enjoyed, so mission accomplished anyway. Nevermind that this album is about the least Downtempo release of all of them, I liked it anyway.
99Утро
Третий альбом


Goth/Post-Punk

Utro's first album was a nice surprise to me, because it presented the old sound of Goth. I am a little disappointed that they decided to clean up their sound by their thrid record. At least the music itself is still decent.
98Guided by Voices
How Do You Spell Heaven


Alt Rock

I do admit, I am not particularly a fan of pretty much entire Guided by Voices discography post-90s. And this album is not a redeemer for the multitudes of mediocrity the band spawned, but it is a step in the right direction. The album doesn't feel like it's scraping the barrel with ideas and is much more consistent and cohesive than most of its predecessors. Hopefully, Guided by Voices will get back on track... is that too naive to hope for?
97Kassad
Faces Turn Away


Industrial/Black Metal

This could have been higher, because the instrumentation is really good and the dystopian atmosphere does get to me, but the production on here is just a tad too compressed and static. Still a damn good Black Metal record.
96Dispatch
America, Location 12


Folk/Rock
95Gang of Youths
Go Farther in Lightness


Pop-Rock/Alt Rock

You know, I just really wish the frontman could sing better. For as overwhelming as the music is, the vocals are so mediocre that they almost ruin it all for me. I'm sorry. I love the melody work on here and I really like the grandiose instrumentation, but the vocals are the prime reason it is so low.
94Manchester Orchestra
A Black Mile to the Surface


Indie Folk

I was never all that head over heels for this band and I wasn't head over heels for this album. But I do admit that it has its undeniably striking moments that just sat well with me. It might be a little bit of a drag overall, but it is a pleasant one at least.
93Great Ytene
Locus


Post-Punk

(thank you teamster)
92Cranial
Dark Towers, Bright Lights


Sludge/Doom

(thank you Ulshad)
91Farsot
Fail·Lure


Death/Doom
90King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Flying Microtonal Banana


Psychedelic
89Loyle Carner
Yesterday's Gone


Grime

Loyle has a lot to learn still. But Loyle also has a lot to teach. This album is a great display of potential that is not wasted in any way. I just think he needs guts and ambition to really strike gold next time. Great start to what I belive will be a fruitful artist.
88Moss Harvest
Taking Care


Ambient/Experimental

(thank you nocuffin)
I said this on multiple occasions: this album makes me feel like I am walking through an abandoned town by the seaside. This album is not explosive, nor does literally anything happen there at all. It is just absolute relaxation and calm.
87Stone Irr
Sinner


Folk
86Sampha
Process


RnB
85Gallops
Bronze Mystic


Math/Post-Rock
84Mastodon
Emperor of Sand


Pop-Metal

Hate me all you want for putting this too low or putting it here at all, but I enjoyed it. It's easy-going, it has decent memorable tunes and instrumentation and I overall cannot complain about much of anything. I can't say that I am astonished by this album or anything, but it is a fun ride.
83Anathema
The Optimist


Prog/Pop-Rock
82Pallbearer
Heartless


Doom
81Elder (USA-MA)
Reflections of a Floating World


Doom/Sludge
80Milo
Who Told You To Think?​?​!​!​?​!​?​!​?​!


Hip-Hop
79Artificial Language
The Observer


Prog/Pop-Rock/Post-Hardcore

(thank you Ulshad)
I can't believe that this made it onto my year end list, because it encapsulates everything I hate about modern Progressive Metal. It is an over-the-top, bloeated, obnoxiously sung, formless musical wankery. BUT it is ridiculously fun. Like, infectiously so. Go take your 70th spot you demon and leave my head already.
78The Burning Hell
Revival Beach


Folk/Pop

Man, we need more lyricists like Mathias Kom. His wit and sense of rhyme is astonishing. Sure, the music might be a little too simple and childishly playful, but those ridiculously good lyrics make up for all of it.
77Drab Majesty
The Demonstration


Darkwave/Goth
76Bullet Bane
Continental


Pop-Punk

(thank you Risodo)
75Kendrick Lamar
DAMN.


Hip-Hop

Let's not kid ourselves, Kendrick with this album established himself as an absolute master of the genre. It might not be his best, but just the sheer fact that he managed to release such a solid, consistent record this quick is an accomplishment.
74Kasabian
For Crying Out Loud


Pop-Rock (at this point it is)

Don't laugh at me. I know I am the only one who could ever possibly enjoy Kasabian this much at this point, but this album to me was like The Last Jedi. I cannot deny the obvious flaws, but I also cannot say that I care about them, when overall it is a great and enjoyable product. I have no complaints.
73Vestfalia's Peace
Loneliness


New Wave
72Chelsea Wolfe
Hiss Spun


Experimental/Avant-Garde
71Joey Badass
ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$


Hip-Hop
70Fen
Winter


Black Metal

(thank you bgillesp)
69Porter Ray
Watercolor


(thank you ZombieToyDuck)

What a sudden surprise. Porter Ray hasn't quite found his own path, but he is definitely getting there. It'll be some time, but I believe that in the end this smooth talking guy with echoic, wavy music will find his place and juice it as much as he can. This is the first step to that. Let's hope he expands upon that.
68Care
LUV IN THE RUINS


New Wave/Pop-Rock
67Kairon IRSE!
Ruination


Psychedelic

(thank you Dewinged)
66Destroyer
Ken


Folk/Pop
65esazlesa
Společnost psů


Screamo
64Neun Welten
The Sea I'm Diving In


Goth/Post-Punk/Coldwave
63Remo Drive
Greatest Hits


Emo
62Kiko Dinucci
Cortes Curtos


Pop-Rock

(thank you Frivolous)
61Quelle Chris
Being You Is Great...


Hip-Hop
60Archspire
Relentless Mutation


Tech Death Metal

(thank you kingdedethefifth)
This was a year of revelations to me. It was for the first time this year that I realised just how much I enjoy Technical Death Metal. And no album released this year got to me quite like Archspire's powerhouse Relentless Mutation. On the outside a completely unremarkable samey record, but upon deeper revision an impressive display of power and methodical harshness.
59The Necromancers
Servants of the Salem Girl


Stoner/Sludge

(thank you bgillesp)
58King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Gumboot Soup


Psychedelic
57 and 58 are pretty much on the same spot, so...
57King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
Polygondwanaland


Psychedelic
...I'll talk about them in one spot. King Gizzard didn't amaze me with their 5 records this year. But they did entertain me with most of them. These two are probably my favourite, but they still don't reach that height the band's other material does.
56Trisomie 21
Elegance Never Dies


Coldwave
55Flotation Toy Warning
The Machine That Made Us


Folk
54Cold War Kids
LA Divine


Pop

Oh, would you look at that. Yeah, fuck off, I liked it.
53Porcelain Raft
Microclimate


Pop
52Wax Fang
Victory Laps


Pop-Rock
51Falls of Rauros
Vigilance Perennial


Black Metal

(thank you BlackwaterPork)
50Venenum
Trance of Death


Black Metal

(thank you bgillesp)
49Succumb
Succumb


Hardcore/Black Metal
48Hanni El Khatib
Savage Times: The Complete Collection


Blues/Psychedelic/Garage

I feel like this is cheating, since 85% of this album came out in 2016, but its full version and a few tracks more were released only at the beginning of 2017. So it's elligible for this list. Just listen to it, lads. Just do.
47Nightbringer
Terra Damnata


Black Metal
46Autobahn
The Moral Crossing


Post-Punk
45Spoon
Hot Thoughts


Pop-Rock
44White Reaper
The World's Best American Band


Pop-Rock

White Reaper go full stadium with their latest record and somehow this newly developed accessibility served them well. It is actually their most adventurous and fun album to date.
43Violet Cold
Anomie


Black Metal

Metal music in general requires a particular level of instrumental finesse, so imagine just how skillful one needs to be to create a Black Metal album of all genres all alone and in such a high quality. Yeah, this thing is quite massive and leaves an immediate mark.
42Selbst
Selbst


Black Metal

This record is beyond ugly. Its production is to thank for that (or to blame, depending on who you ask). Selbst manage not to fall into the pit of utter dissonance and stay relatively intelligible, in spite of the graininess of their instrumentation and production.
41Xiu Xiu
Forget


Avant-Garde/Pop

Xiu Xiu has always had that obscure appeal that I just just couldn't get into fully and always hoped that with their next record it'll do the magic. With Forget I believe it finally did.
40Algiers
The Underside of Power


Blues/Post-Punk/Gospel

The grooviest and most fun radically politically charged protest album there is. Algiers have stepped up their range of influences to include Funk, Blues and all sorts of catchy, but also dissonant genres, styles and production methods. It's a strange blend of harsh and tuneful, but it works like magic.
39Fred Thomas
Changer


Indie Rock

Fred Thomas still needs to learn how to make his albums flow better, because this is a mess. However, for every confusing, off-beat decision made on this album, there is one redeeming. And above all, those lyrics are pinnacle of wordy wit and rhyme.
38Moses Sumney
Aromanticism


Soul/Pop

(thank you wtferrothorn)
37Red Vox
Another Light


Psychedelic/Hard Rock

So apparently this is a musical project of a Youtube gaming channel...? Yeah. And these guys made one of the year's best Psychedelic albums. Sure, this might not be exactly all that typical Psychedelic music, because it more often than not turns into more of a Pop-Rock with heavy Psychedelic influences, but still.
36Woman
Happy Freedom


Pop

This is the most typical Pop album on this list. It's an electronics-packed, catchy chorus-driven, not-deep-at-all-lyrically kind of album. There have been more memorable and abrasive releases this year, sure. But it is nice to turn your head off every once in a while, lay back and just enjoy the sexy grooves of the careful Pop of the world.
35Blaze of Perdition
Conscious Darkness


Black Metal

Blackened Death Metal (or Deadly Black Metal, I really can't tell) is one particular beast that fascinated me for a long time now. It doesn't have the cheesiness of regular Atmospheric Black Metal and doesn't have the disjointed sameyness of Death Metal. It is that perfect middle that is both hellish and epic. And no album this year was quite as dismal and hellish as Conscious Darkness.
34The Great Old Ones
EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy


Black Metal

It's actually really hard to come up with different ways of explaining why each and every Black Metal on this list deserves to be on this list. They just do. They are epic and magnificent. But I would lie to myself if I didn't admit that when it comes to sheer scale, EOD is by far the most massive and monstrous of them all. It's like a fucking celestial beast coming down to annihilate us.
33The New Pornographers
Whiteout Conditions


Pop-Rock

I honestly cannot figure out all the negativity that fell on this record. To me it seemed like one of the most entertaining and catchiest albums of the year. A.C.Newman's surprisingly smart lyrics and sense of wonderous songwriting made this album a beauty to behold. Each song a hit, each tune instantly memorable and each line poetry.
32Shaarimoth
Temple of the Adversarial Fire


Black Metal

I can't tell if this is the most dismal Black Metal record this year for its intentionally rusty production, or if it's actually awfully ugly for its cheap production. It is a dissonant release, nevertheless.
31The Angelus
There Will Be No Peace


Doom/Folk

I know I might be the only one in the world willing to listen to this, but just hear me out. This album has a heart. It requires patience from you and it requires openness to unconventional approaches to music. This is not your typical Doom Metal album, because it is not heavy (well, it is, but rarely), and it also is not your typical Folk-Rock album, because of how long-winded and Doom brutish it gets. It is a strange, but functioning symbiosis of heavy and soft and it is absolutely engulfing.
30Public Service Broadcasting
Every Valley


Art-Rock/Post-Rock

So apparently you can make an album with barely any lyrics and still have it be about something. But strangely enough, even though it is barely apparent from the album itself, it does actually feel like I am in a slowly deteriorating commune. Sure, the setting of coal mining and its surroudnings might not be the first thing that comes to mind after that, but it makes sense that a deteriorating commune would be in that state exactly because of coal mining and its slow descent into needlessness.
29Chino Amobi
Paradiso


Experimental/Industrial

(thank you nocuffin)
This might be the most surprising release of this year to me. In all honesty, nocuffin's taste for non-music electro-vomit usually goes over my head (as it has been proven in my 2017 Tourney), but this album's balance amidst chaos captivated me and engulfed me with just how thoughtfully it was developed.
28Taake
Kong Vinter


Black Metal

Man, I missed this old school Black Metal production so much. Unfortunately, most recently released albums of the genre just become unintelligible noise. This, on the other hand, is so delicately crafted that even with its crumbling sound it is still massive and epic.
27Converge
The Dusk in Us


Metalcore

They've done it again. How does a band that operates in absolute dysrhythmia and is overall instrumentally psychotic, give records so goddamn great one after another? This is ridiculous. Sure, we might not get as many longer, more epic cuts on here that were a cherry on top of everything else in their previous records, but their rapidfire delivery and monstrous musicianship in smaller dosages on here is just as violent and overwhelming.
261476
Our Season Draws Near


Goth/Metal

(thank you Ulshad)
This is the coldest record this year. Easily. There's just that freezing wintery energy flowing through it. I feel like I'm exploding into a mess of gore... by a calm seaside. Yeah, conflicting, but sorrowfully enchanting.
25Alex Cameron
Forced Witness


Pop

Speaking of charming little Pop albums… Alex Cameron surprised me, honestly. This record is packed back to back with catchy, tuneful, playful little relaxers that just bring a smile to my wretched old mug. It's a blissfully naive, yet lavishly self-mocking effort that is a sin to miss.
24The Murlocs
Old Locomotive


Psychedelic Pop

On numbers 24 and 23 we have two completely different albums from one genre. First, a playful, childish and sunny bright Psych Pop...
23The Black Angels
Death Song


Psychedelic/Hard Rock

...and a hard-hitting, maniacal Heavy-Psych.
22Ghash
Goat


Black Metal

This album rubbed a lot of people the wrong way and I fail to understand why. This is as heavenly as a Black Metal record can get. I was blown away by it at first and I was stunned on further revisions. It's a magnetic product of grit and beauty. Open your eyes, people.
21Der Weg Einer Freiheit
Finisterre


Black Metal

Finisterre might be only better than its Black Metal contemporaries because its production is clearer, heavier and more epic. Either way, it won over my heart and engulfed me in such a way no other album could.
20Oddisee
The Iceberg


Hip-Hop

Maybe the most thought provoking album on this entire list, The Iceberg is the pinnacle of Oddisee's work. The guy has been a prominent producer for a long time now, but his credibility as an all out rapper was up until this point more or less arguable. On here he excells both as a producer, a rapper and a lyricist.
19Brutus (BE)
Burst


Post-Hardcore/Pop-Punk

Technically speaking, Blood Command and Brutus are at the same spot, but Sputnik lists don't have that feature, so I'll just put them apart and continue speaking about both in singular and in one spot:
18Blood Command
Cult Drugs


Post-Hardcore/Pop-Punk

(thank you BlazinBlitzer)
I never knew just how much I want more crushing Metallic Punk music with female vocals in my life. And recently there has been a bunch of them coming up, with two of the best landing right here right now.
17Metz
Strange Peace


Noise Rock/Punk

With a stellar production from Big Black and Shellac's own Steve Albini on production and recorded live in one sitting, this is easily Metz's most ambitious, explosive and crushing album. Its sonic sound and shrilling instrumentation just pump you with adrenaline and don't let go.
16Iglooghost
Neo Wax Bloom


Electronic

Playful, glitchy, whimsical and absolutely engulfing. After a horde of short EPs and never any album, it seemed to me that Iglooghost was building up for a disaster, but his full length album was anything but. It is just as tuneful and whacky as a proper Iglooghost album ever could have been. It's a doozie all throughout.
15Ghostpoet
Dark Days + Canapés


Experimental Hip-Hop/Spoken Word

Ghostpoet's mononous delivery and slightly industrial production might be somewhat off-putting to some, but I found it deeply satisfying. It's a next level os sophistication. Absolute calm and quiet in the face of peril, but rays of emotion still do slip through and when they do, it is all the more powerful.
14J. Roddy Walston and The Business
Destroyers of the Soft Life


Blues/Indie Rock

(thank you bgillesp)
The lighthearted cocky album of the year. It is strange to me just how simple this is. It's almost primitive. Nothing above simple melodies, silly lyrics and some dad-blues-rock inspired instrumentation. But good goddamn, it works, man, it works! From front to back, this is a nonstop fun adventure full of colour and radness that just doesn't give in.
13Dvne
Asheran


Psych/Stoner/Doom Metal

(thank you bgillesp)
You should notice by now that there is a gutload of albums with the mark of "Thank you bgillesp" to them. From now on, bgillesp is in the echelons of my most trusted rec'cers. It is odd just how goddamn invigorating and impressive this record is, considering pretty much anything else in this genre with this length has a tendency to become tiring and boring, just because the artists cannot keep the energy in constant flow and just become exhausting. Well, Dvne is not like them and they have a neck for really striking songwriting and versatile instrumentation. This is a doozie.
12IDLES
Brutalism


Post-Punk/Hardcore

Bet this really messed up some of the folks that thought Post-Punk is only about moody, low-voiced, echoic suicidal mumbling. Well, guess again. Idles are here to bring back the good old harshness into the genre long sterilised.
11yMusic
First


Neo-Classical

(thank you bgillesp)
So apparently these guys forgot to have a film for this music to be an accompaniment to, because it is an astonishingly beautiful instrumental delight. I have not heard this great a string section on anything this year, as I have on this.
10The Magnetic Fields
50 Song Memoir


Indie Pop/Folk/softness galore

This entry goes out to everyone who gives numerical ratings any value. This is one of the few albums I've rated 9/10 this year (5/5 that is) and I still stand by my rating. But a rating is relative. While I do believe that this album deserves its 5/5, thanks to the ambition, execution, concept, lyrics, craft and composition it contains, I gave it a 5/5 for what it was. It was a 50 song experience of one's life. I sincerely believe that it is as good as that concept could have been interpreted. However, I have played even most of the lower ranked albums more often than this. I still thoroughly enjoy it, but it is a 5/5 in theory. So 10th spot, deservedly.
9glaswegians
severance


Post-Rock

(thank you Ulshad)
This has definitely been a year of surprises. Among them, I had no expectations of a Post-Rock album to wow me as much as Severance did. But something beyond magical has happened on here. The blend of brass and string instruments, or the production that made it seems as though the arrangement was full of brass and string, created an atmosphere captivating at the very dismal least, and absolutely staggering at the best. Never have I ever come across something as engulfing in an utterly bizarre and skinpiercing way as this. Good lord, this is a hell of a ride.
8Ryuichi Sakamoto
Async


Ambient

(thank you Frippertronics)
It's a little strange putting this album amidst the albums it is actually surrounded by, considering they are all aggressive, shredding obscurities, and this is easily the most relaxing, calming and peaceful album of the year. The sheer atmosphere of this can get you out of the deepest sorrow you can ever experience, and instead pour that chilling sense of life and purpose all over you. It's absolutely staggering and needless to say that my faith in Ambient music is restored.
7White Ward
Futility Report


Black Metal/Jazz

Who would have guessed that blending together a classic atmospheric Black Metal with Jazzy saxophone would come together to such a masterfully crafted, beautiful and instantly memorable beast of an album. And it's crazy considering this is just a debut. I now have a sharpened eye out for these guys and cannot wait what other crazy ideas they give us in the future.
6Landlady
The World Is A Loud Place


Indie Pop/Pop-Rock

(thank you Frivolous)
Make no mistake of it, this is one of the most fun, but simultaneously off-kilter melodic plays this year. It's such a gleeful joy-ride. It's like listening to the most lively, tender, but snappy celebration. It is the most charming little Pop album this year.
5Igorrr
Savage Sinusoid


Experimental/Electronic/Metal

(thank you AsleepInTheBack)
This was unexpected. This was bold. This was experimental. And this was weird. It weirded me out like nothing else this year. Igorrr's newest release is as confusing a record as it gets. I like being confused. I like being unable to make heads or tails of something. I like being unable to fully understand a musician's intentions or direction. And I utterly adore the sheer array of instrumental and influential pallette displayed on this oddity of a record.
4The Afghan Whigs
In Spades


Alt Rock/Grunge

(thank you butcherboy)
I admit with great shame that I had no previous knowledge of The Afghan Whigs and had it not been for butcherboy's enthusiastic list dedicated to this band's greatness, I'd most likely go about my life without albums like Black Love, Gentlemen and this one. And how could I possibly? In Spades is a beyond intricate release. Calling it what its tags suggest, that being Alt Rock or Grunge, is quite inaccurate. In spite of having a strong Alt Rock influence and the band openly practicing the genre earlier in their career, at this point we are talking about something completely different, something novelty and exciting.
3The Menzingers
After the Party


Indie Rock/Emo

Emo as a genre mostly missed my ears when it was prominent. I only started to explore it when it already had been a relic of the past for the most part. But its naturally downer themes resonated with me every now and then more than anything else. So take a wild guess, where are those kids that used to make and listen to the genre back in the day? They are just like us (well, us), all grown up and miserable. But they still sing on topics close to their heart. Becoming an adult and ruminating about life is part of that.
2Benjamin Clementine
I Tell A Fly


Soul/Pop/Avant-Garde

Benjamin Clementine has been in my curiosity-eyeview for quite a while now. His debut album was at the very least intriguing, albeit somewhat dragging. Now he is back in style and with easily the most eccentric, theatrical and surprisingly pleasing album in a long time. His masterful command of anti-melody and anti-structure is near-miraculous. His vocal frailty and coarseness is quite remarkable. And his odyssean writing and flow is impeccable. It is one of the most beautiful and off-kilter albums not just this year, but this decade, easily.
1Protomartyr
Relatives In Descent


Post-Punk!

This should really come as no surprise. I wrote a review on it, I dedicated the longest entry on my monthly roundups to it, I analysed to the tit the first single "A Private Understanding" and I pissed boiling water on everyone about it for months before its actual release, only to then be overwhelmed even more by just how ridiculously good it is. But I still blame Dewinged for spilling the beans about its placement on my list. Still, I cannot praise it enough. Such a freely flowing, masterfully constructed and brilliantly written Post-Punk record doesn't come around that often. It's the most apathetic beauty one can ever endure and it is most definitely my favourite album of the year.
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