Throughout the month of December, KEXP has been counting down our top albums. From Top 10 lists from our DJs to the Top 90.3 of 2017 voted by listeners, we’ve chronicled a wide array of some of this year’s most thrilling released. Now we’re turning the mic over to our behind the scenes staff, volunteers, and interns who help keep the station running. Here are their favorite albums of 2017. How do their lists line-up with yours? (Check out Part 1 of this list here.)
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Mikko Joensuu | Amen 1, 2 & 3 | Svart Records |
| Preservation Hall Jazz Band | So It Is | Sony Legacy |
| Kendrick Lamar | DAMN. | TDE/Aftermath/Interscope |
| The National | Sleep Well Beast | 4AD |
| Slowdive | Slowdive | Dead Oceans |
| Elbow | Little Fictions | Concord Records |
| Hammock | Mysterium | Hammock Music |
| Algiers | The Underside Of Power | Matador |
| Cigarettes After Sex | Cigarettes After Sex | Partisan Records |
| amiina | Fantômas | Mengi |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Vijay Iyer | Far From Over | ECM |
| Steve Coleman's Natal Eclipse | Morphogenesis | Pi Recordings |
| Solange | A Seat At The Table | Saint/Columbia |
| Jazz Passengers | Still Life With Trouble | Thirsty Ear |
| Gerald Clayton | Tributary Tales | Motema |
| Tinariwen | Elwan | Anti |
| Matt Wilson | Honey and Salt: Music inspired by the poetry of Carl Sandburg | Palmetto |
| Ambrose Akinmusire | A Rift in Decorum | Blue Note |
| Leonard Cohen | You Want It Darker | Columbia |
| Charles Lloyd New Quartet | Passin' Thru | Blue Note |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Kendrick Lamar | DAMN. | Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope |
| Benjamin Booker | Witness | ATO Records |
| Perfume Genius | No Shape | Matador |
| Tyler, the Creator | Flower Boy | Columbia Records |
| Ty Segall | Ty Segall | Drag City |
| Beth Ditto | Fake Sugar | Virgin |
| Open Mike Eagle | Brick Body Kids Still Daydream | Mello Music Group |
| Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile | Lotta Sea Lice | Milk! Records |
| Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings | Soul Of A Woman | Daptone Records |
| Conor Oberst | Salutations | Nonesuch |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Mount Eerie | A Crow Looked at Me | P.W. Elverum & Sun |
| Kendrick Lamar | DAMN. | Aftermath / Interscope Records |
| Big Thief | Capacity | Saddle Creek |
| Perfume Genius | No Shape | Matador Records |
| Chicano Batman | Freedom is Free | ATO Records |
| Ariel Pink | Dedicated to Bobby Jameson | Kemado Records |
| Destroyer | ken | Merge |
| Lorde | Melodrama | Universal New Zealand |
| Bully | Losing | Sub Pop |
| St. Vincent | MASSEDUCTION | Loma Vista Recordings |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Clark | Death Peak | Warp |
| Bonobo | Migration | Ninja Tune |
| John Maus | Screen Memories | Ribbon Music |
| Four Tet | New Energy | Text Records |
| Protomartyr | Relatives in Descent | Hardly Art |
| Sampha | Process | Young Turks |
| Drab Majesty | The Demonstration | Dais Records |
| Mount Kimbie | Love What Survives | Warp |
| Austra | Future Politics | Domino |
| Kelela | Take Me Apart | Warp |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| The National | Sleep Well Beast | 4AD |
| Bonobo | Migration | Ninja Tune |
| Cigarettes After Sex | Cigarettes After Sex | Partisan Records |
| Wolf Parade | Cry, Cry, Cry | Subpop |
| The Xx | I See You | Young Turks |
| Portugal. The Man | Woodstock | Atlantic Records |
| LCD Soundsystem | American Dream | DFA Records |
| Spoon | Hot Thoughts | Matador |
| Beck | Colors | Capitol Records |
| Sylvan Esso | What Now | Loma Vista Recordings |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Waxahatchee | Out In The Storm | Merge |
| St. Vincent | MASSEDUCTION | Loma Vista |
| Benjamin Booker | Witness | ATO |
| Alvvays | Antisocialites | Polyvinyl |
| Sheer Mag | Need to Feel Your Love | Wilsuns Recording Company |
| Kendrick Lamar | DAMN. | Top Dawg Entertainment |
| Wolf Alice | Visions of a Life | Dirty Hit |
| ODESZA | A Moment Apart | Foreign Family Collective |
| Charlotte Gainsbourg | Rest | Because Music |
| The Courtneys | The Courtneys II | Flying Nun |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Sylvan Esso | What Now | Loma Vista Recordings |
| JFDR | Brazil | White Sun Records |
| Soley | Endless Summer | Morr Music |
| Grizzly Bear | Painted Ruins | RCA |
| Slowdive | Slowdive | Dead Oceans |
| Austra | Future Politics | Domino Records |
| Perfume Genius | No Shape | Matador Records |
| DoNormaal | Ego Slave | Self-Released |
| Fleet Foxes | Crack Up | Nonesuch Records |
| Offa Rex | The Queen of Hearts | Nonesuch Records |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| The Horrors | V | Wolf Tone |
| The xx | I See You | Young Turks |
| The National | Sleep Well Beast | 4AD |
| SZA | CTRL | Top Dawg Entertainment |
| Odesza | A Moment Apart | Foreign Family Collective |
| Maggie Rogers | Now That The Light Is Fading EP | Capitol Records |
| The War On Drugs | A Deeper Understanding | Atlantic Records |
| Julien Baker | Turn Out The Lights | Matador |
| Run The Jewels | RTJ3 | Run The Jewels, Inc. |
| Ryan Adams | Prisoner | Pax-Am/Blue Note |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| The National | Sleep Well Beast | 4AD |
| Slowdive | Slowdive | Dead Oceans |
| L.A. Witch | L.A. Witch | Suicide Squeeze |
| Lea Porcelain | Hymns To The Night | Lea Porcelain Recordings |
| Kevin Morby | City Music | Dead Oceans |
| Rainer Maria | S/T | Polyvinyl |
| Feist | Pleasure | Interscope |
| Dreamdecay | YÚ | Iron Lung Records |
| Kelli Schaefer | No Identity | Amigo Amiga |
| Vagabon | Infinite Worlds | Father/Daughter Records |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Dasher | Sodium | Jagjaguwar |
| Power Trip | Nightmare Logic | Southern Lord |
| Godspeed You! Black Emperor | Luciferian Towers | Constellation Records |
| HAM | Söngvar Um Helvíti Mannanna | Sticky Plötuútgáfa |
| Dälek | Endangered Philosophies | Ipecac Recordings |
| Hammock | Mysterium | Self Released |
| Forest Swords | Compassion | Ninja Tune Records |
| Run The Jewels | Run the Jewels 3 | Self Released |
| Slowdive | Slowdive | Dead Oceans |
| Rakta | Oculto Pelos Seres | Dama Da Noite Discos / Nada Nada Discos |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Meatbodies | Alice | In The Red Records |
| Austra | Future Politics | Domino |
| Sylvan Esso | What Now | Loma Vista |
| Aldous Harding | Party | 4AD |
| The National | Sleep Well Beast | 4AD |
| London Grammar | Truth Is A Beautiful Thing | Ministry of Sound |
| Arcade Fire | Everything Now | Columbia |
| The xx | I See You | Young Turks |
| Angel Olsen | My Woman | Jagjaguwar |
| King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard | Flying Microtonal Banana | Heavenly |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Tiny Vipers | Laughter | Ba Da Bing |
| Laurel Halo | Dust | Hyperdub |
| Mount Eerie | A Crow Looked at Me | P.W. Elverum & Sun |
| Visible Cloaks | Reassemblage | RVNG Intl. |
| Posse | Horse Blanket | Self-Released |
| Richard Dawson | Peasant | Weird World |
| King Krule | The Ooz | True Panther |
| The Courtneys | II | Flying Nun |
| The Baird Sisters | Until You Find Your Green | Ba Da Bing |
| Ryuichi Sakamoto | async | Milan |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Perfume Genius | No Shape | Matador |
| Downtown Boys | Cost of Living | Sub Pop |
| St. Vincent | MASSEDUCTION | Loma Vista |
| Mozart's Sister | Field of Love | Arbutus |
| Kendrick Lamar | DAMN. | Top Dawg Entertainment |
| Fever Ray | Plunge | Rabid Records |
| Priests | Nothing Feels Natural | Sister Polygon Records |
| Shabazz Palaces | Quazarz: Born On A Gangster Star | Sub Pop |
| Austra | Future Politics | Domino |
| Chastity Belt | I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone | Hardly Art |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Fleet Foxes | Crack Up | Nonesuch Records |
| Gorillaz | Humanz | Parlophone |
| Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile | Lotta Sea Lice | Matador |
| Foxygen | Hang | Jagjaguwar |
| Avey Tare | Eucalyptus | Domino |
| Father John Misty | Pure Comedy | Sub Pop |
| Pond | The Weather | Marathon Artists |
| Grizzly Bear | Painted Ruins | RCA |
| King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard / Mild High Club | Sketches of Brunswick East | ATO |
| Alvvays | Antisocialites | Polyvinyl |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Algiers | The Underside of Power | Matador |
| Sampha | Process | Young Turks |
| ShitKid | Fish | PNKSLM |
| Bully | Losing | SubPop |
| Big Thief | Capacity | Saddle Creek Records |
| Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile | Lotta Sea Lice | Matador |
| SZA | Ctrl | TDE/RCA |
| Vince Staples | Big Fish Theory | Def Jam |
| Thundercat | Drunk | Brainfeeder |
| Sapphire Slows | Time | Kaleidoscope |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Kelela | Take Me Apart | Warp |
| Ibeyi | Ash | XL |
| Gorillaz | Humanz | Parlophone UK |
| ODESZA | A Moment Apart | Counter Records |
| Pickwick | Turncoat | Small Press Records |
| The xx | I See You | Young Turks |
| The Horrors | V | Caroline/Wolftone |
| Andrew Joslyn | Awake at the Bottom of the Ocean | Lux Finite Music |
| Moses Sumney | Aromanticism | Jagjaguwar |
| Cherry Glazerr | Apocalipstick | Secretly Canadian |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| The Horrors | V | Caroline Distribution |
| Kelly Lee Owens | Kelly Lee Owens | Smalltown Supersound |
| Fleet Foxes | Crack Up | Nonesuch Records |
| Austra | Future Politics | Domino Records |
| The Brian Jonestown Massacre | Don't Get Lost | A Records |
| The War on Drugs | A Deeper Understanding | Atlantic Records |
| L.A. Witch | L.A. Witch | Suicide Squeeze Records |
| Jane Weaver | Modern Kosmology | Fire Records |
| The Black Angels | Death Song | Partisan Records |
| Charlotte Gainsbourg | Rest | Because Music |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| The Shins | Heartworms | Columbia Records |
| Wolf Parade | Cry, Cry, Cry | Sub Pop Records |
| Zebra Hunt | In Phrases | Tenorio Cotobade |
| Ryan Adams | Prisoner | Blue Note Records |
| Arcade Fire | Everything Now | Sonovox Records |
| Beck | Colors | Capitol Records |
| Spoon | Hot Thoughts | Matador Records |
| Ride | Weather Diaries | Wichita Recordings |
| The National | Sleep Well Beast | 4AD |
| Dave Depper | Emotional Freedom Technique | Tender Loving Empire |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| alt-J | Relaxer | Infectious Music |
| Portugal. The Man | Woodstock | Atlantic Records |
| Spoon | Hot Thoughts | Matador Records |
| Sylvan Esso | What Now | Loma Vista Recordings |
| Lusine | Sensorimotor | Ghostly International |
| Odesza | A Moment Apart | Foreign Family Collective |
| The Barr Brothers | Queens of the Breakers | Secret City Records |
| Pickwick | Lovejoys | Kung Fu Records |
| Cigarettes After Sex | Cigarettes After Sex | Partisan Records |
| Bomba Estereo | Ayo | Sony Music Latin |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Thievery Corporation | The Temple of I & I | ESL Music |
| The Black Angels | Death Song | Partisan Records |
| Chastity Belt | I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone | Hardly Art |
| Versing | Nirvana | Help Yourself Records |
| Casper Skulls | Mercy Works | Buzz Records |
| Meatbodies | Alice | In The Red Records |
| Protomartyr | Relatives in Descent | Domino Recording Co. |
| Lo Tom | Lo Tom | Barsuk Records |
| Steve Earle & The Dukes | So You Wannabe An Outlaw | Warner Bros |
| Hurray for the Riff Raff | The Navigator | ATO Records |
| artist | album | label |
|---|---|---|
| Bent Knee | Land Animal | InsideOut Music |
| Mew | Visuals | Play it Again Sam |
| Mount Eerie | A Crow Looked at Me | P.W. Elvrum & Sun |
| Dude York | Sincerely | Hardly Art |
| Charly Bliss | Guppy | Barsuk |
| Polyphia | The Most Hated | Sony Music Entertainment |
| Ex Eye | Ex Eye | Relapse Records |
| Sun Kil Moon | Common as Light and Love are Red Valleys of Blood | Calo Verde |
| Kitty | Miami Garden Club | Pretty Wavy |
| Tera Melos | Trash Generator | Sargent House |
