2017
FAKE NEWS! FAKE NEWS! President Trump is God, FAKE NEWS!
And here I am finally transported to the year 2017 in what
is the first year AT (After Trump). Actually it’s during Trump but , oh those
semantics.
And what a year we have. Sexual misconduct charges are the
latest fad since hula hoops. Watch as careers disintegrate at the blink of an
eye, Kevin Spacey, Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, Donald Trump… okay, well not him.
Of course there are other things going this year as Kim Jong
Un is taunting the Donald and the Donald threatens to flatten North Korea. Of
course China may have something to say about that and then Russia will have something
to say about that which means the UK… geez, guys, take it to the playground,
won’t ya?
Yes, my gherkins, 2017 is all about the Donald who is
getting even more adulation than he was when he was doing the Apprentice. Of
course, he’s pissed that they replaced him with the Arnold. I guess he wants to
be President too now. Where are those birthers when you need them? Oh, yeah,
they’re still trying to prove Obama is a fraud. Um, too late, guys.
Oh, well, I’ve had enough excitement this year. I think I’ll
get a Frappacino at the Starbucks by Mara Lago while checking out my profile on
Facebook. Oh,wait, I don’t have a profile. I guess I’ll check that Horman guy to see what he’s saying about me now, what a dunce!
Okay, here it is, my final top twenty-five (until next year
anyway), enjoy.
Event of the year:
Theresa May’s power grab backfires.
Fad: Sexual misconduct accusations
Babe of the Year:
Melissa McCarthy as Scott Spicer
Scandal of the Year:
Kevin Spacey blows his chance to be President
Movie or TV show to
barf to: Bad Mom’s Christmas
What we could have
done without: Gloria Allred (again)
Pet of the year: Steve Bannon
Other Tidbits: Alabama almost elects a child molester to the
Senate, Congress cuts taxes for Donald Trump and Scrooge McDuck, everybody
accused of sexual harassment except Gary Glitter, Theresa May calls for elections
in Britain because she has too much power, North Korea gets the bomb while
being taunted by Trump, 2 Broke Girls gets cancelled mercifully, NFL players
protest by singing Oh Canada.
So that was the fun that was 2017. So what about the music?
Well it took all of 2018, but here it is; the top twenty-five of 2017…
1) Granddaddy- Last Place
2) Connor Oberst- Salutations
3) Father John Misty- Pure Comedy
4) The Regrettes- Feel Your Feelings Fool
5) Magnetic Fields- 50 Song Memoir
6) King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards- Flying Microtonal
Banana
7) Ty Segall- Ty Segall
8) Black Angels- Death Song
9) Aimee Mann- Mental Illness
10) Peter Silbermann- Impermanence
11) Elbow- Little Fictions
12) Laura Marling- Semper Farina
13) Courtney Barrett and Kurt Vile- Gotta See Lice
14) Black Lips- Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art?
15) Priests- Nothing Feels Natural
16) Iron and Wine- Beast Epic
17) Flotation Toy Machine- The Machine That Made Us
18) Mount Eerie- A Crow Looked at Me
19) Thundercat- Drunk
20) Peter Perrett- How the West Was Won
21) The Shins- Heartworms
22) New Poronographers- Whiteout Conditions
23) Weezer- Pacific Daydream
24) Fleet Foxes- Crack-Up
25) Marika Hackman- I’m Not Your Man
And here we are with the last year of my little ambitious
project and it’s going out with a bang. This is one of my better top tens in a
long time, led by Granddaddy’s reunion album. It’s like they never went away
and it’s their best since Sopfthware Slump. Conor Oberst follows with his best
effort in a few years while Father John
Misty, a great teen group, the Regrettes (though the lead singer needs to wash
her mouth out with soap :D ), and my surprise round out the top five. The lower
ten is pretty impressive too when you look at great gems from King Gizzard, the
Black Angels, and Aimee Mann. Gems in my top twenty-five include the Black
Lips, Flotation Toy Machine, Thundercat, and Marika Hackman.
Biggest Surprise- Magnetic
Fields- 50 Song Memoir
Magnetic Fields hasn’t really done a lot for me since 69
Love Songs. And I knew going into this album, that it would be, well,
ambitious, and very long. But the songs are solid. It’s basically the sound of
69 Love Songs with some variations. What it turns out to be is a five disc
pastiche of whimsy and a lot of retrospection. This is Stephen Merritt at his
best. Love this album.
Biggest
Disappointment- Bob Dylan- Triplicate
Look, one album of Frank Sinatra covers was enough, don’t
you think? Yeah, I know, the guy has had a long career and is now well into his
seventies so he deserves some slack, right? Well, maybe, but it doesn’t mean I
have to like the album. Well, what do you expect from a protest singer who went
on to do a Victoria’s Secret commercial? Oh, well, at least he hasn’t done an
album of show tunes yet (has he?).
Honorable Mention-
Jesca Hoop- Memories Are Now, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards- Sketches of
Brunswick East, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings- Soul of a Woman, Juilen Baker-
Turn Out the Lights, Sun Kil Moon- Common As Light and Love are Red Valleys of
Blood
Stinker of the Year- Betty Buckley – Story Songs.
Betty Buckley was of course Dick Van Patten’s squeeze on
Eight is Enough since they killed off the first wife. Yes, she is singing show
tunes (I guess). She sings adequately, I guess. That works because she acted
adequately too. But, hey, it beats having to listen to Corey Feldman, Miley
Cyrus, and Crazy Frog. And now I don’t have to listen to any of you nitwits
anymore, MUHAHAHAHA!
Well, I guess that’s it. I hope you enjoyed the top
twenty-fives as much as I did. I always like to say this, but the only top
twenty-five (top ten, top five, top ten thousand) that really matters is your
own. Well, these were mine so there!
So thanks for indulging me with this project. Bye, for
now. :)