The Best Music of the Year!! Well, in my humble opinion… Been wrapping up the year by looking back at the music I loved with a bunch of posts and playlists. Thought I’d bring ’em together in one place for easy sharing! My picks for 2017’s Top Ten Albums, Top Twenty Tracks, and a Big mix of the Best Tracks of the Year!

Want to listen? I post playlists on Spotify, or for those who don’t use it, they’re also posted at 8Tracks.com (ad supported but they let you listen for a while for free). I have embedded both here.

The blog post links are to articles just a little further down the blog, but this will make it easy for you to jump to them. The blog posts for the Top Ten Albums have 2 YouTube videos from each album embedded, so you can sample there, too.

Mike’s Top Ten Albums of 2017

10. Low Cut Connie – “Dirty Pictures” (part 1)
9. Conor Oberst – Salutations
8. Various Artists – Thank You, Friends: Big Star’s Third Live… And More
7. Paul Weller – A Kind Revolution
6. BNQT – Volume 1
5. Steven Wilson – To The Bone
4. Dan Wilson – Re-Covered
3. The War On Drugs – A Deeper Understanding
2. Blitzen Trapper – Wild and Reckless
1. elbow – Little Fictions

Why these Ten? I give you my reasons – 10 to 6 and then 5 to 1 – a little further down on the blog.

You can listen to a mix of tunes – two each – from the Top Ten Albums –

On Spotify:

On 8 Tracks:

Mike’s Top Twenty Tracks of 2017

Here’s WHY I do both Top Albums and Top Tracks: LINK. And a list of the songs – not in a particular order, but arranged for flow:

SYML “Where’s My Love”
Lo Moon “This Is It”
Phoebe Bridgers “Motion Sickness”
Steven Wilson “Pariah”
Elbow “Magnificent (She Says)”
O + S “Remember When… (The Backroads)”
Jason Isbell “Hope the High Road”
Chris Stapleton “Millionaire”
Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors “Fight for Love”
BNQT “Real Love”
Low Cut Connie “Revolution Rock ‘n’ Roll”
Chicano Batman “Friendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm)”
Blondie “Long Time”
Shout Out Louds “Oh Oh”
Grizfolk “In My Arms (feat. Jamie N Commons)”
The National “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness”
The Outdoor Type “On My Mind”
Dan Auerbach “Shine On Me”
Blitzen Trapper “Wild and Reckless”
The War On Drugs “Thinking of a Place”

Listen to the mix of tunes –

On Spotify:

On 8 Tracks:

Best Tracks of 2017 Mix

A mix of 60+ tunes from 2017, celebrating some hits, and the good misses, too – and reminding you of those you may have forgotten as the year rolled on. Dive in and listen!

On 8 Tracks:

On Spotify:

What did you like? Music is so subjective an experience. My lists are my tastes – what’s your Best of 2017? Comment below with some favorites – or post your list! Kudos to my friend Rich Pesce – who kindly cites my list as inspiration (Thank You, Rich) – for now posting his list each year. For a different perspective and some very cool choices, check out Rich’s Top Albums here: http://ow.ly/2eqb30hv4tc

Thanks for reading and listening!