The playlist this week is my list of the best albums of 2017. It is actually more like my favourite Canadian Indie albums of 2017. There are a couple albums that are on a lot of other lists and are very good albums but I just don’t enjoy. Alvvays’ album Antisocialites is at the top of that list. I would like to like it but it just isn’t my thing. Whitney Rose and Kacy & Clayton are acts both receiving critical acclaim and getting lots of buzz, but again just not my thing. So this list is the 50 albums that I enjoyed the most this year.
I had a list of about 83 albums and found that it was difficult for me to narrow down to 50. With a lot of listening and shuffling, I finally ended up with a solid playlist. They are mostly placed for playlist flow and not exact rated position in the list. The Barr Brothers and Leif Vollebekk are definitely at the top of my list this year though. There were a lot of other albums to love as well. Do Make Say Think, Esmerine, and Saltland all had beautiful mostly instrumental albums. Jessie Reyez and Avec le soleil sortant de sa bouche were a couple of my favourite new discoveries this year. Saskatchewan boy Colter Wall is on the rise and getting attention. And many of our beloved artists put out new albums this year as well, such as New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene and Stars. It was quite the year!
See my list below and listen to the playlist to find out what other albums made it to my best of list this year.
DarBar’s Best Albums of 2017
1. The Barr Brothers – Queens of the Breaker
2. Leif Vollebekk – Twin Solitude
3. Walrus – Family Hangover
4. Weaves – Wide Open
5. Jessie Reyez – Kiddo
6. Do Make Say Think – Stubborn Persistence
7. Esmerine – Mechanics of Dominion
8. Saltland – A Common Truth
9. Kid Koala – Music To Draw To: Satellite
10. Avec le soleil sortant de sa bouche – Pas pire pop, I Love You so Much
11. Destroyer – ken
12. Colter Wall – Colter Wall
13. Fiver – Audible Songs from Rockwood
14. The Weather Station – The Weather Station
15. Terra Lightfoot – New Mistakes
16. Begonia – Lady in Mind
17. Faith Healer – Try 😉
18. Chad VanGaalen – Light Information
19. Gord Downie – Introduce Yerself
20. Mappe Of – A Northern Star, A Perfect Stone
21. Wolf Parade – Cry Cry Cry
22. Figure Walking – The Big Other
23. The Wooden Sky – Swimming in Strange Waters
24. Arcade Fire – Everything Now
25. Broken Social Scene – Hug of Thunder
26. The New Pornographers – Whiteout Conditions
27. Stars – There is No Love in Fluorescent Light
28. Matt Mays – Once Upon a Hell of a Time…
29. Death From Above 1979 – Outrage! Is Now
30. Japandroids – Near To The Wild Heart Of Life
31. Propagandhi – Victory Lap
32. Odonis Odonis – No Pop
33. Metz – Strange Peace
34. The Pack A.D. – Dollhouse
35. Fast Romantics – American Love
36. Rose Cousins – Natural Conclusion
37. Jenn Grant – Paradise
38. Land of Talk – Life After Youth
39. Cold Specks – Fool’s Paradise
40. Mo Kenney – The Details
41. Laura Sauvage – “The Beautiful”
42. Partner – In Search of Lost Time
43. Megan Nash – Seeker
44. Louise Burns – Young Mopes
45. Elliott Brood – Ghost Gardens
46. The Wilderness of Manitoba – Across the Dark
47. Julie & The Wrong Guys – Julie & The Wrong Guys
48. The Luyas – Human Voicing
49. The Courtneys – The Courtneys II
50. Sam Coffey and The Iron Lungs – Sam Coffey & The Iron Lungs
What are your favourite Canadian Indie albums of 2017?
Happy New Year and cheers to more great music in 2018!
Hello
Good day!
Quite the list up there! I’ll have to take the time to read it carefully.
Our local CBC radio station’s just had Royal Wood in the studio, doing a couple of live songs. Nice! He’s in the middle of four shows at the Black Sheep — 3 sold out, and a 4th (1st, chronologically) that was scheduled late — and I’m not there for a single one! No real excuses, or maybe they’re all just excuses.
Good morning!
Hi Russ. Happy 2018!
Looking forward to it.
Hello all!
What was your favourite albums of 2017?
My favourite albums this year were sticker and photo :p
Har har
I am heading out into the cold for an appointment. It is -29 with a windchill of -43! Brrrrr
and my housemate said he wouldn’t drive anywhere tomorrow if it is as bad as it was today with about 10cm of snow and a low of -2 (with wind chill)
We have had a week of “Extreme Cold Warning in Effect”, but … it’s a dry cold.
it was so cold in Ottawa they cut short one of the kids hockey games due to the ice being too cold. how the hell does that happen!?
That is a monster list @darbar! It may be just the thing to lift my spirits. Post holiday funk compounded with too many dr’s appointments with no results and knowing I will be missing out on another R3 get together, this one at the end of January in Vancouver. Yay music to the rescue 🙂
We will just have to have a meetup in Nelson
I agree!! Everyone from all over the globe just come to my tiny town to make it easier for me!
It is nice here and there is that music festival in the summer so it’s not ALL about me.
Yeah, that works for me. It is in no way an excuse for me to get back to Nelson.
I hope it helps morgana and that you get the answers.
I would add The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer to the list of albums I enjoyed in 2017.
@garfielduk Suki is waiting for her treats
@darbar oh, i also quite like Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton
Thank you for the encouragement re the dr stuff too. You know how frustrating it can be.
why have i not listened to destroyers 2018 album more?
thanks for the reminder
Emily Haines is on my not quite list and I completely forgot about Harp & Axe! Thank you for the reminder!
I sure do know how frustrating that can be. *hug*
Hmm I forgot about The Wet Secrets too. I will have to give that album some more listens.
we do come from the musical land of plenty!
We sure do! So much great new music coming out all the time. I love it!
I see Terra Lightfoot is coming to Nelson in February. I need to take another listen but I have a feeling it won’t be a must see for me … Jean grant on the other hand is happening!
Too bad you didn’t like Terra Lightfoot much. I did change the track I had on the list for one I like more. She is pretty great live too but you certainly can’t go wrong with Jenn Grant.
The Weather Station £13.50 and The Deep Dark Woods £8 are touring here (seperatly) over the next few months
DFA1979 are supporting At the Drive-In but the tickets are between £19 – £38
I have not seen Jenn Grant perform live but she was very nice when I met her in Manchester earlier this year
The Weather Station and The Deep Dark Woods would both be good shows I am sure. I love DFA but headlining a show would be better.
Jenn Grant is a sweetheart and very entertaining.
My almost playlist.
https://play.spotify.com/user/darbarspecial/playlist/30F37TBsvjItTTkgtCACzZ
CBC Music released the R3:103 for this year a few days ago, I managed to find 98 of them to create a Spotify playlist that I am thinking of sharing as Monday’s post.
Sounds good Garf!