The Little Lighthouse presents best albums in 2017. A good way to usher the new year is to put together a list of best albums in the previous one. We’ve been doing this for a long time with more or less discipline, but the criteria is always personal and the lists simply collects albums that I’ve kept coming back to most frequently. This time we cover positions 35-15 and tune in next week for the top 14. Today we cover one of four albums that was put together by the productive and controversial Matthew Melton (Warm Soda), heavier rock records from The Obsessed, Elder, Motorpsycho All The Witches and Ruby The Hatchet show a modern approach to head banging, twisted Americana of Ethan Daniel Davidson, Yawpers and My Buddy Moose represent a fresh approach to a genre that needs reinvention badly. Strong lyrical works from Daniel Romano and John Wesley Coleman III are the best to enjoy while reading and musing on the inner sleeves. Bully, Lost Balloons, Sheer Mag, Needles//Pins show that indie rock still has something to say. Beautiful vocals of Dead Rock West are to admire. Ty Segall had an album of his career. Baby Shakes simply have short and fun record that makes you wanna play on and on. Newcomers Improbables and experienced Golden Boys hail from their garages with high octane garage rock and of all experiments from King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, their Microtonal Banana was the most fun.
15 Baby Shakes - Turn It Up
16 Daniel Romano - Modern Pressure
17 John Wesley Coleman III - Microwave Dream
18 Ty Segall
19 Lost Balloons - Hey Summer
20 The Improbables - Object To Be Destroyed
21 All Them Witches - Sleeping Through The War
22 The Obsessed - Sacred
23 Motorpsycho - The Tower
24 Golden Boys - Better Than Good Times
25 The Yawpers - Boy in a Well
26 Elder - Reflections of a Floating World
27 My Buddy Moose - IV
28 Dead Rock West - More Love
29 Needles//Pins - Good Night, Tomorrow
30 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Flying Microtonal Banana
31 Warm Soda - I Don't Wanna Grow Up
32 Ruby The Hatchet - Planetary Space Child
33 Sheer Mag - Need To Feel Your Love
34 Ethan Daniel Davidson - Crows
35 Bully - Losing
Bully – Either Way;
Ethan Daniel Davidson – Beast;
Sheer Mag – Just Can’t Get Enough;
Ruby The Hatchet – Killer;
Warm Soda – To Be With Ramona;
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard – Melting;
Needles//Pins – Time and Tide;
Dead Rock West – Boundless Fearless Love;
My Buddy Moose – After The Feeling Has Gone;
Elder – Thousand Hands;
Yawpers – Reunion;
The Golden Boys – So Cowboy;
Motorpsycho – The Maypole;
The Obsessed – Be The Night;
All Them Witches – Don’t Bring Me Coffe;
The Improbables – Crawl With Me;
Lost Baloons – Not My Time;
Ty Segall – Freedom;
John Wesley Coleman – Shovel;
Daniel Romano – Dancing With The Lady In The Moon;
Baby Shakes – Baby Blue.
Today we have Julie Doiron from Canada returning to the playlist with her new band Julie and The Wrong Guys. Also from Canada, The Wasted Potential that we played some time ago through a series of contemporary Hüsker Dü covers are back with a new tune dedicated. The DTs come from Bellingham WA, and hail from Hidden Volume, the same label that also brought us Gorilla* and The Improbables this year. Katy Cole and her Last Daze keep putting out new songs and we are anticipating the new record with great hopes. And we also wait for the new Dream Syndicate record. Meanwhile they are putting occasional tracks from their upcoming album on Youtube. Derrick Anderson from Toledo, OH teamed up with The Bangles for his new single. We also check out Handsome Jack from Lockport, NY live in Cleveland. Brinsley Schwartz lost album It’s All Over Now is finally properly released, so we check that out too.
We bring you new music from some good old groups that we used to like in the 80s: Thurston Moore and Paul Roessler and Howe Gelb with his one man project Arizona Amp And The Alternator. We also introduce new bands from Melbourne, Australia – Brad Pot, Philadelphia PA – The Improbables, Nashville TN – Blackfoot Gypsies. I am especially excited about the newly discovered recordings from Gun Club, which are not assembled into their posthumous album entitled In My Room. Old Crow Medicine Show (and Little Lighthouse!) celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s masterpiece Blonde on Blonde. So many good albums have their 50th anniversary this year! 1967 was insane.