The Fashionably Late Top 66 of 2017: The Brian Jonestown Massacre

It’s been a hell of a year. 2017 was exhausting, stressful, and at times just plain terrifying. But for all the mess that’s happened over the past 12 months, and there’s certainly been so much, there’s also been a lot of good going on in the world. From a musical standpoint, for instance, 2017 was rather exceptional. There were so many glorious new sounds to take in.

I’ve put together my list of favorites from the year that was, a touch fashionably late as always. Once again, I’ve decided to eschew a ranking system and instead give you an alphabetical look at the records I fell for this year. There’s some names here that will come as no surprise to anyone, and perhaps a few that might surprise you. These are simply my favorites from 2017, the albums I went back to again and again, the albums that I swooned over. So, without further exposition, here’s my list. I think you’ll find you can get your kicks from any and all of the 66 records I’ve chosen, and I truly hope you’ll find some treasures to cherish, as I cherish each and every record here. Many, many thanks to the artists who put out this fantastic music, their sounds helped make 2017 bearable.

Who: The Brian Jonestown Massacre

What: Don't Get Lost

When: February 2017

Where: A Records

Why: It's impossible to accurately express just how much BJM mastermind Anton Newcombe has meant to the rise of psych rock, both in America and abroad, over the past two decades or so. On Don't Get Lost, the exceptionally prolific Newcombe continues to evolve the hallucinatory Brian Jonestown Massacre sound, dabbling in some krautrock calamity, a bit of glitchy electro, and even adding a specter of spaghetti western to the mix. Newcombe has never been one to keep his colors inside the box, and thank the sweet heavens above that he continues to be a pusher of sonic boundaries.   

[posted 1.21.18]