Year-End Lists

A hand-curated, browsable index of notable year-end lists. Follow the link for each list to see essential commentary from its author, at the source.
Movies TV Shows Music Books Poetry Podcasts

Highlights

2017
All Movies TV Shows Music Books Poetry

The Needle Drop: Anthony Fantano: Top 50 Albums of 2017

24 December 2017

Pure Comedy - Father John Misty

Anthony Fantano: Top 50 Albums of 2017, as aired on The Needle Drop

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018]

  1. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
  2. SATURATION II
    BROCKHAMPTON
  3. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  4. 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time
    Big K.R.I.T.
  5. Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood
    Sun Kil Moon
  6. Mouth Moods
    Neil Cicierega
  7. Bravado
    Kirin J Callinan
  8. Los Ángeles
    Rosalía
  9. The Underside of Power
    Algiers
  10. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
  11. Thin Black Duke
    Oxbow
  12. Forced Witness
    Alex Cameron
  13. Forget
    Xiu Xiu
  14. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
  15. Neō Wax Bloom
    Iglooghost
  16. Ctrl
    SZA
  17. Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
    Open Mike Eagle
  18. Soul of a Woman
    Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
  19. Peasant
    Richard Dawson
  20. Orc
    Oh Sees
  21. Goths
    The Mountain Goats
  22. 4:44
    JAY-Z
  23. Known Unknowns
    Billy Woods
  24. Written at Night
    Uncommon Nasa
  25. Caustic
    Primitive Man
  26. Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often
    Quelle Chris
  27. GT Ultra
    Guerilla Toss
  28. Flying Microtonal Banana
    King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
  29. Uyai
    Ibibio Sound Machine
  30. 1992
    Princess Nokia
  31. Brutalism
    Idles
  32. Dedicated To Bobby Jameson
    Ariel Pink
  33. Relatives in Descent
    Protomartyr
  34. Godfather
    Wiley
  35. Antisocialites
    Alvvays
  36. Crack-Up
    Fleet Foxes
  37. ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$
    Joey Bada$$
  38. Forever
    Code Orange
  39. Pleasure
    Feist
  40. Laila’s Wisdom
    Rapsody
  41. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
  42. Run the Jewels 3
    Run the Jewels
  43. Reflections of a Floating World
    Elder
  44. The Dusk In Us
    Converge
  45. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
  46. Process
    Sampha
  47. Heartless
    Pallbearer
  48. Wrong One to Fuck With
    Dying Fetus
  49. Outrage! Is Now
    Death from Above
  50. First Opus
    Sinjin Hawke

Brooklyn Vegan: Top 50 Albums of 2017

22 December 2017

DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar

Brooklyn Vegan: Top 50 Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016]

  1. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
  2. Ctrl
    SZA
  3. MASSEDUCTION
    St. Vincent
  4. Slowdive
    Slowdive
  5. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
  6. Turn Out the Lights
    Julien Baker
  7. Nightmare Logic
    Power Trip
  8. Pleasure
    Feist
  9. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
  10. No Mountains in Manhattan
    Wiki
  11. Stranger in the Alps
    Phoebe Bridgers
  12. SATURATION
    BROCKHAMPTON
  13. SATURATION II
    BROCKHAMPTON
  14. SATURATION III
    BROCKHAMPTON
  15. Capacity
    Big Thief
  16. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
  17. Life After Youth
    Land of Talk
  18. Party
    Aldous Harding
  19. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
  20. Crack-Up
    Fleet Foxes
  21. Smidley
    Smidley
  22. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  23. Plunge
    Fever Ray
  24. Melodrama
    Lorde
  25. The Nashville Sound
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
  26. Aromanticism
    Moses Sumney
  27. The Dusk In Us
    Converge
  28. Process
    Sampha
  29. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
  30. Laila’s Wisdom
    Rapsody
  31. Rest
    Charlotte Gainsbourg
  32. Yaeji
    yaeji
  33. EP2
    yaeji
  34. Nothing Feels Natural
    Priests
  35. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
  36. Lust for Life
    Lana Del Rey
  37. From A Room: Volume 1
    Chris Stapleton
  38. From A Room: Volume 2
    Chris Stapleton
  39. The OOZ
    King Krule
  40. Prince of Tears
    Baxter Dury
  41. Not Even Happiness
    Julie Byrne
  42. After Laughter
    Paramore
  43. Preservation
    Nadia Reid
  44. Painted Ruins
    Grizzly Bear
  45. Fin
    Syd
  46. Utopia
    Björk
  47. Relatives in Descent
    Protomartyr
  48. Kelly Lee Owens
    Kelly Lee Owens
  49. Packs
    Your Old Droog
  50. Hug of Thunder
    Broken Social Scene
  51. 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time
    Big K.R.I.T.
  52. Apocalipstick
    Cherry Glazerr
  53. ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$
    Joey Bada$$
  54. I Love You Like a Brother
    Alex Lahey

Sputnikmusic: Top 50 Albums of 2017

22 December 2017

Sleep Well Beast - The National

Sputnikmusic: Top 50 Albums of 2017

[see also 2015]

  1. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
  2. The Assassination of Julius Caesar
    Ulver
  3. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
  4. A Black Mile To The Surface
    Manchester Orchestra
  5. After the Party
    The Menzingers
  6. Happy Birthday
    Blood Cultures
  7. Melodrama
    Lorde
  8. Go Farther in Lightness
    Gang of Youths
  9. In the Passing Light of Day
    Pain of Salvation
  10. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
  11. Science Fiction
    Brand New
  12. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
  13. Stranger in the Alps
    Phoebe Bridgers
  14. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  15. After Laughter
    Paramore
  16. A Deeper Understanding
    The War on Drugs
  17. Material Control
    Glassjaw
  18. Arca
    Arca
  19. Process
    Sampha
  20. MASSEDUCTION
    St. Vincent
  21. Vigilance Perennial
    Falls of Rauros
  22. Crack-Up
    Fleet Foxes
  23. Ephemeral Constructions
    Jürg Frey
  24. Plunge
    Fever Ray
  25. Winter
    Fen
  26. Infrared Horizon
    Artificial Brain
  27. Foreword
    DispersE
  28. Neō Wax Bloom
    Iglooghost
  29. Slowdive
    Slowdive
  30. Victory Lap
    Propagandhi
  31. To the Bone
    Steven Wilson
  32. Vol. 1: Flick Your Tongue Against Your Teeth and Describe the Present
    Bedwetter
  33. Thrice Woven
    Wolves in the Throne Room
  34. Go Be Forgotten
    Krallice
  35. SATURATION II
    BROCKHAMPTON
  36. Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness of Decay
    Cradle of Filth
  37. Stubborn Persistent Illusions
    Do Make Say Think
  38. All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell
    PVRIS
  39. World Eater
    Blanck Mass
  40. The OOZ
    King Krule
  41. The Endless Shimmering
    And So I Watch You From Afar
  42. Lykantropi
    Lykantropi
  43. Turn Out the Lights
    Julien Baker
  44. More Scared of You Than You Are of Me
    The Smith Street Band
  45. The Ghosts That I Fear
    Dad Thighs
  46. Heavy Black Heart
    death’s dynamic shroud
  47. Always Foreign
    The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die
  48. Endless
    1800HaightStreet
  49. I Tell A Fly
    Benjamin Clementine
  50. The Crowning of the Fire King
    Sorcerer

Pigeons & Planes: Best Albums of 2017

22 December 2017

DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar

Pigeons & Planes: Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2016 • 2015]

  1. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
  2. Ctrl
    SZA
  3. Melodrama
    Lorde
  4. SATURATION III
    BROCKHAMPTON
  5. 4:44
    JAY-Z
  6. blkswn
    Smino
  7. Freudian
    Daniel Caesar
  8. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
  9. FUTURE
    Future
  10. Beach House 3
    Ty Dolla $ign
  11. The Never Story
    JID
  12. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
  13. The OOZ
    King Krule
  14. Process
    Sampha
  15. SATURATION II
    BROCKHAMPTON
  16. Common Sense
    J Hus
  17. Without Warning
    21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin
  18. Fin
    Syd
  19. Painting Pictures
    Kodak Black
  20. Culture
    Migos
  21. Stranger
    Yung Lean
  22. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
  23. At What Cost
    GoldLink
  24. Apricot Princess
    Rex Orange County
  25. Boo Boo
    Toro y Moi
  26. Playboi Carti
    Playboi Carti
  27. This Old Dog
    Mac DeMarco
  28. SYRE
    Jaden Smith
  29. Wamp 2 Dem
    Giggs
  30. Aromanticism
    Moses Sumney
  31. Issa
    21 Savage
  32. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  33. Droptopwop
    Gucci Mane
  34. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
  35. Drunk
    Thundercat
  36. MASSEDUCTION
    St. Vincent
  37. BEAUTIFUL THUGGER GIRLS
    Young Thug
  38. Mourn
    Corbin
  39. No Mountains in Manhattan
    Wiki
  40. Gang Signs & Prayer
    Stormzy
  41. War & Leisure
    Miguel
  42. Good For You
    Aminé
  43. Run the Jewels 3
    Run the Jewels
  44. IWASVERYBAD
    IDK
  45. More Life
    Drake
  46. Peak
    Choker
  47. Lil Pump
    Lil Pump
  48. American Teen
    Khalid
  49. No Dope on Sundays
    Cyhi The Prynce
  50. Number 1 Angel
    Charli XCX

Guardian: Best Albums of 2017

22 December 2017

MASSEDUCTION - St. Vincent

The Guardian: Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

  1. MASSEDUCTION
    St. Vincent
  2. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
  3. Ctrl
    SZA
  4. Melodrama
    Lorde
  5. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
  6. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
  7. A Deeper Understanding
    The War on Drugs
  8. Drunk
    Thundercat
  9. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
  10. Peasant
    Richard Dawson
  11. Modern Kosmology
    Jane Weaver
  12. Visions of a Life
    Wolf Alice
  13. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
  14. Common Sense
    J Hus
  15. V
    The Horrors
  16. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
  17. More Life
    Drake
  18. Gang Signs & Prayer
    Stormzy
  19. Semper Femina
    Laura Marling
  20. Process
    Sampha
  21. Cigarettes After Sex
    Cigarettes After Sex
  22. The OOZ
    King Krule
  23. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
  24. Relatives in Descent
    Protomartyr
  25. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
  26. After Laughter
    Paramore
  27. I’m Not Your Man
    Marika Hackman
  28. Slowdive
    Slowdive
  29. Antisocialites
    Alvvays
  30. Earl Grey
    Girl Ray
  31. Rest
    Charlotte Gainsbourg
  32. New Energy
    Four Tet
  33. War & Leisure
    Miguel
  34. Halo
    Juana Molina
  35. Green Twins
    Nick Hakim
  36. Freedom Highway
    Rhiannon Giddens
  37. Hippopotamus
    Sparks
  38. Prince of Tears
    Baxter Dury
  39. Life Without Sound
    Cloud Nothings
  40. Aromanticism
    Moses Sumney
  41. Lotta Sea Lice
    Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile
  42. Not Even Happiness
    Julie Byrne
  43. The Kid
    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
  44. I See You
    The xx
  45. The Lost Art of Getting Down
    Powerdance
  46. République Amazone
    Les Amazones d’Afrique
  47. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  48. Far from Over
    Vijay Iyer Sextet
  49. Till April Is Dead – A Garland of May
    Lisa Knapp
  50. Ladilikan
    Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet

Magnet: Top 25 Albums of 2017

21 December 2017

Out in the Storm - Waxahatchee

Magnet Magazine: Top 25 Albums of 2017

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

  1. Out in the Storm
    Waxahatchee
  2. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
  3. A Deeper Understanding
    The War on Drugs
  4. I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone
    Chastity Belt
  5. A Black Mile To The Surface
    Manchester Orchestra
  6. Process
    Sampha
  7. The Far Field
    Future Islands
  8. Villains
    Queens of the Stone Age
  9. What Now
    Sylvan Esso
  10. Cigarettes After Sex
    Cigarettes After Sex
  11. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
  12. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
  13. Semper Femina
    Laura Marling
  14. Nothing Feels Natural
    Priests
  15. Hot Thoughts
    Spoon
  16. The Navigator
    Hurray for the Riff Raff
  17. How the West Was Won
    Peter Perrett
  18. The Order of Time
    Valerie June
  19. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
  20. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
  21. The Nashville Sound
    Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
  22. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  23. Anything Could Happen
    Bash & Pop
  24. The Underside of Power
    Algiers
  25. House and Land
    House and Land

Sasha Frere-Jones: Favorite Albums of 2017

20 December 2017

Sasha Frere-Jones: Favorite Albums of 2017. Albums are organized into two tiers and listed chronologically within each.

[see also 2022 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

exceptional

also good

Fact: 50 Best Albums of 2017

20 December 2017

async - Ryuichi Sakamoto

Fact Magazine: 50 Best Albums of 2017

[see also 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

  1. async
    Ryuichi Sakamoto
  2. A flame my love, a frequency
    Colleen
  3. Ctrl
    SZA
  4. Dulce Compañia
    Dj Python
  5. HNDRXX
    Future
  6. Dust
    Laurel Halo
  7. Common Sense
    J Hus
  8. Before I Wake
    Kamaiyah
  9. Superlative Fatigue
    Errorsmith
  10. UKG
    TQD
  11. Black Origami
    Jlin
  12. Reassemblage
    Visible Cloaks
  13. Sudan Archives
    Sudan Archives
  14. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  15. Colón Man
    Equiknoxx
  16. Plunge
    Fever Ray
  17. Hesaitix
    MESH
  18. 4:44
    JAY-Z
  19. Rembo
    Karen Gwyer
  20. The Kid
    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
  21. SweetSexySavage
    Kehlani
  22. It’s Good to Be Differ-Ent
    Differ-Ent
  23. Culture
    Migos
  24. Fantasii
    Mhysa
  25. Playboi Carti
    Playboi Carti
  26. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
  27. Nídia É Má, Nídia É Fudida
    Nidia Minaj
  28. Process
    Sampha
  29. Weighing of the Heart
    Nabihah Iqbal
  30. AZD
    Actress
  31. Gang Signs & Prayer
    Stormzy
  32. Ambient Black Magic
    Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement
  33. Aromanticism
    Moses Sumney
  34. MASSEDUCTION
    St. Vincent
  35. Patterns of Consciousness
    Caterina Barbieri
  36. Dedicated To Bobby Jameson
    Ariel Pink
  37. Symbolic Use of Light
    UMFANG
  38. Experiencing the Deposit of Faith
    Yves Tumor
  39. Black Ken
    Lil B
  40. Utopia
    Björk
  41. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
  42. Mnestic Pressure
    Lee Gamble
  43. Gulu City Anthems
    Otim Alpha
  44. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
  45. All Blue
    G Perico
  46. The Gag File
    Aaron Dilloway
  47. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
  48. Nothing Feels Natural
    Priests
  49. Screen Memories
    John Maus
  50. Providence
    Nathan Fake

Jordan Cronk: Favorite Albums of 2017

19 December 2017

A Crow Looked at Me - Mount Eerie

Jordan Cronk: Favorite Albums of 2017, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2016]

  1. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  2. Reassemblage
    Visible Cloaks
  3. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
  4. Slowdive
    Slowdive
  5. Turn Out the Lights
    Julien Baker
  6. Black Origami
    Jlin
  7. Out in the Storm
    Waxahatchee
  8. Reaching For Indigo
    Circuit Des Yeux
  9. Utopia
    Björk
  10. Mono No Aware
    various artists
  11. Okovi
    Zola Jesus
  12. Arca
    Arca
  13. Narkopop
    Gas
  14. Dust
    Laurel Halo
  15. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
  16. World Eater
    Blanck Mass
  17. Plunge
    Fever Ray
  18. Contact
    Harriet Brown
  19. Dedicated To Bobby Jameson
    Ariel Pink
  20. Cigarettes After Sex
    Cigarettes After Sex
  21. Life Without Sound
    Cloud Nothings
  22. The Kid
    Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
  23. Modern Species
    DJ Sports
  24. Compassion
    Forest Swords
  25. A flame my love, a frequency
    Colleen
  26. Stack Music
    Konrad Sprenger
  27. Collection
    Soccer Mommy
  28. Yaeji
    yaeji
  29. EP2
    yaeji
  30. Guppy
    Charly Bliss
  31. New Energy
    Four Tet

Clash: Albums of the Year 2017

19 December 2017

Common Sense - J Hus

Clash Magazine: Albums of the Year 2017

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

  1. Common Sense
    J Hus
  2. DAMN.
    Kendrick Lamar
  3. Process
    Sampha
  4. Ctrl
    SZA
  5. Aromanticism
    Moses Sumney
  6. american dream
    LCD Soundsystem
  7. Flower Boy
    Tyler, The Creator
  8. The OOZ
    King Krule
  9. V
    The Horrors
  10. Arca
    Arca
  11. SATURATION
    BROCKHAMPTON
  12. Take Me Apart
    Kelela
  13. 4:44
    JAY-Z
  14. Big Fish Theory
    Vince Staples
  15. Culture
    Migos
  16. Gang Signs & Prayer
    Stormzy
  17. Harmony of Difference
    Kamasi Washington
  18. MASSEDUCTION
    St. Vincent
  19. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
  20. Ash
    Ibeyi
  21. New Energy
    Four Tet
  22. Screen Memories
    John Maus
  23. FUTURE
    Future
  24. Kelly Lee Owens
    Kelly Lee Owens
  25. Distractions
    Ikonika
  26. Visions of a Life
    Wolf Alice
  27. SweetSexySavage
    Kehlani
  28. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
  29. Bicep
    Bicep
  30. Stranger in the Alps
    Phoebe Bridgers
  31. More Life
    Drake
  32. Cigarettes After Sex
    Cigarettes After Sex
  33. Death Peak
    Clark
  34. Laila’s Wisdom
    Rapsody
  35. 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time
    Big K.R.I.T.
  36. Capacity
    Big Thief
  37. Reflections of a Floating World
    Elder
  38. Fin
    Syd
  39. Not Even Happiness
    Julie Byrne
  40. Morning After
    dvsn
  41. Rocket
    (Sandy) Alex G
  42. Pretty Girls Like Trap Music
    2 Chainz
  43. I Decided
    Big Sean
  44. Soft Sounds from Another Planet
    Japanese Breakfast
  45. City of No Reply
    Amber Coffman
  46. Everybody Works
    Jay Som
  47. The Assassination of Julius Caesar
    Ulver
  48. Plunge
    Fever Ray
  49. Embers
    Throwing Snow
  50. After the Party
    The Menzingers
  51. City Music
    Kevin Morby
  52. Godfather
    Wiley
  53. Turn Out the Lights
    Julien Baker
  54. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  55. Sorry Is Gone
    Jessica Lea Mayfield
  56. Field of Love
    Mozart's Sister
  57. Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 2
    Lil Peep
  58. A Deeper Understanding
    The War on Drugs
  59. Modern Kosmology
    Jane Weaver
  60. What If
    Hauschka
  61. Fresh Air
    HOMESHAKE
  62. Jardín
    Gabriel Garzón-Montano
  63. World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane
    Alice Coltrane
  64. Hiss Spun
    Chelsea Wolfe
  65. Drunk
    Thundercat
  66. Changer
    Fred Thomas
  67. Outrage! Is Now
    Death from Above
  68. The Black Album
    Altered Natives
  69. Yesterday’s Gone
    Loyle Carner
  70. Green Twins
    Nick Hakim
  71. Murder Of The Universe
    King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
  72. Love What Survives
    Mount Kimbie
  73. AZD
    Actress
  74. Slowdive
    Slowdive
  75. Seafoam
    Kamikaze Girls
  76. New Shapes Of Life
    Martin Carr
  77. Semper Femina
    Laura Marling
  78. Antisocialites
    Alvvays
  79. The Dusk In Us
    Converge
  80. Party
    Aldous Harding
  81. Swear I’m Good At This
    Diet Cig
  82. Heba
    Lowly
  83. Luv Is Rage 2
    Lil Uzi Vert
  84. I See You
    The xx
  85. Without Warning
    21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin
  86. Boo Boo
    Toro y Moi
  87. Black Origami
    Jlin
  88. Rap Album Two
    Jonwayne
  89. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
  90. MOVES: The Sound Of UK Afrobeats
    various artists
  91. Exile In the Outer Ring
    EMA
  92. Rest
    Charlotte Gainsbourg
  93. Belief System
    Special Request
  94. This Old Dog
    Mac DeMarco
  95. Villains
    Queens of the Stone Age
  96. Impermanence
    Peter Silberman
  97. Crack-Up
    Fleet Foxes
  98. Sonder Son
    Brent Faiyaz
  99. Who Built the Moon?
    Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
  100. Nubya's 5ive
    Nubya Garcia

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