Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to my 'Best Of' 2017, the article amongst reviews, where I give I views on the best music to have sprung forth this year.
Now I know that I haven't been writing this blog for that long having only started it back in late September but that doesn't change the fact that there have been some amazing albums this year, some amazing EPs and some amazing singles from a whole host of amazing bands. If you've read my reviews before you'll know this is probably one of the longer articles you'll ever see my write. So here it is, enjoy.
A tough one to decide but in the end there was only one EP that really jumped out and engaged me like no other. Surprising me a lot also because I had up to this point NOT been a fan of their previous outfit iwrestledabearonce.
But this EP was honestly very impressive. Bold not only it's length (not many EP's last as many as 7 songs) but also in its aggressive and discordant nature. I would call it a triumph and a great example of a belief that i've long held, songwriters work best in pairs.
Coming all the way from Canada, this jarring, dark and chaotic lovechild of the husband/wife duo that is Spiritbox;
Best EP - Spiritbox, by Spiritbox
Keeping up the pace, we're now onto the winner of 'Best Single'.
There were a LOT of singles to sift through, digest and find one, out of them all,, that was deserving of the title. And with the tidal wave of possibilities, it was definitely difficult to decide.
But in the end, there was one that really stuck in mind and got me thinking. Not least it has my interest in their next full length album raging once again. Coming from guilford-born Punk rockers Palm Reader;
Best Single - Always Darkest, by Palm Reader.
Finally we come to the contenders for 'Best Album'. This was definitely the hardest decision I've had to make and of course understand that this comes from my own personal listening, those bands that struck me most and really made impacts on me, and there was a lot to choose from! So I've boiled it down to ten;
10 - The Place I Feel Safest - Currents
9 - True View - Stick To Your Guns
8 - Mono - Alpha Wolf
7 - The Warmth Of A Dying Sun - Employed To Serve
6 - The Rhapsody Tapes - Ocean Grove
5 - The Cold Sun - Loathe
4 - Ark - In Hearts Wake
3 - Sickness - Create To Inspire
2 - You Are We - While She Sleeps
The album which has won my 'Best Album' came a little later in the year than some of the others but that does not affect what the album says or tries to be, it's ambitious, emotional, inspirational all in a violent whirlwind of it's own making. A very big well done and thank you to the boys in Polaris for this. It's one I'll be spinning for a long time to come;
1 - The Mortal Coil - Polaris
Just before I leave I'd like to drop in some honourable mentions for the year. These bands still impressed me a lot and unfortunately didn't quite make the winners circle but all of them still deserve mentioning (Any I haven't yet reviewed, will be incoming). Peace out;
Dream State - White Lies (Single)
Architects - Doomsday (Single)
LIFETIGHT - SELF-TIGHTLED (EP)
wars - We Are Islands, After All (Album)
Neck Deep - The Peace And The Panic (Album)
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