Best Songs of 2017

Every year I try to put together a mix of songs -- a bit of a combination between my favorite songs of the year and what I think are objectively the best songs I've heard. I started sifting through my "bucket" a little late this time around but I think it's finally time to call it. People who have listened to these mixes before know I try to keep it around 10 songs in order to make it a bit of a challenge on myself. I only went a little over this year.

If you use Google Play Music like I do you can access the public playlist here. Otherwise construct it as you like using the list below.

Update: A friend of mine made a Spotify version if that's your thing. Check it here

Formatted as: Song Name // Artist (Album)

The Mix:

  • Thinking Bout You // Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White (Gentlewoman, Ruby Man)
    • This is actually a cover of a Frank Ocean song from 2012 but damn it's good
  • Sorcerer // Milo (Who Told You To Think?​?​!​!​?​!​?​!​?​!)
  • Fear & Force // Vagabon (Infinite Worlds)
  • Still Waking Up // Tim Darcy (Saturday Night)
  • Carl Sagan // Night Moves (Carl Sagan EP)
  • Old Heads // Chad VanGaalen (Light Information)
  • Dum Surfer // King Krule (The OOZ)
  • BagBak // Vince Staples (Big Fish Theory)
  • ELEMENT. // Kendrick Lamar (DAMN.)
  • So Long // Marika Hackman (I'm Not Your Man)
  • Road Head // Japanese Breakfast (Soft Sounds from Another Planet)
  • Three Rings // Grizzly Bear (Painted Ruins)

Honorable Mentions:

Naturally it's pretty hard to get a small mix out of an entire year of songs. Usually I start with a bucket of 50 songs or more and whittle it down a few times to smaller playlists until I have something around 10-15 songs before I start locking in a final playlist and mix order. These are songs that were in the penultimate playlist that didn't make the final cut.

  • Everyday // Sacred Paws (Strike A Match)
  • Hot Thoughts // SPOON (Hot Thoughts)
  • Siamese Twin // Sondre Lerche (Pleasure)
  • Green Twins // Nick Hakim (Green Twins)
  • Great White Shark // Big Thief (Capacity)
  • Lazarus Online // Wolf Parade (Cry Cry Cry)
  • Wolf's Home // Gord Downie (Introduce Yerself)
  • The Glow // Sylvan Esso (What Now)