I'ma say all the words inside my head

2017 was an awesome and interesting year for music.  Over half of my top ten list were surprises, music I checked out from the library on a whim. Another surprise favorite was Lauren Daigle's Christmas album.  I love Christmas music and probably have about a dozen renditions of each popular Christmas song.  This is the first time a Christmas album has made a yearly favorites list. It's that good.

Top 10 Favorite albums of 2017 (with a few 2016 albums I didn't get my hands on until after 2017)

10. Lauren Daigle - Behold (Favorite song - O Come All Ye Faithful)
9. KB - Today We Rebel (Favorite song - DNOU)
8. Allen Stone - Radius (deluxe edition) (Favorite song - Where You're At, which is on the 2015 version I know)
7. Bernz - See You on the Other Side (Favorite song - Dancing with the Devil)
6. Odesza - A Moment Apart (Favorite song - Falls)

5. Johnnyswim - Georgica Pond

I love everything about Johnnyswim - their partnership, harmonies, musicality, and lyrics.  The married duo sing about the details of their lives - their marriage, baby (who sings a little on one track), and life making music together.  I get chills every time I listen to my favorites on this album.  I can't decide which song is my favorite either.  "First Try" and "Touching Heaven" are too close to my heart to pick just one.  Both are love songs and make me think of my Robert.   When the choir (yes, there's a choir!) starts singing in "Touching Heaven," you're my hallelujah, I know without a doubt, that's exactly who Robert is.  And I hope that I'm his too.  In "Georgica Pond" there's a line - I'll be your lighthouse, and it makes me think of everyone I love and cherish.  I think it's a beautiful metaphor for unconditional love.  Johnnyswim's lyrics give words to so many feelings I've never known how to describe.

4. Nahko and Medicine for the People - Hoka

I checked out this album from the library on a whim.  The album artwork is most attractive and absolutely impossible to resist.  Lucky for me, the music is just as beautiful as the album cover.  Every instrument and type of music under the sun is lovingly tucked into each song on Hoka.  There are so many influences - Native American, rock, folk, world, hip hop, country - all of which seamlessly blend together.  The overall feeling of the album is enchanting, cathartic, and empowering.  This six member band sounds a little like Tom Petty, Hootie and the Blowfish, Randall Paskemin, and Toots and the Maytals all mixed together in what I can only describe as pure musical bliss.  Nahko Bear, the lead singer, has a caramelly, probing voice that is balm for any soul, but especially a weary one.  My favorite song, "Backbone," showcases some incredible lyrics - And the wind becomes my blanket... And I will sit alone on mountains and breathe the name of all.  It's an album I'll listen to and love forever.

3. The Hamilton Mixtape

I'm not sure this is surprising, but I am one of those people who haven't climbed aboard the Hamilton bandwagon.  I can count the number of musicals I like on one hand, dead presidents aren't my thing, and I'm just not that brainy.  Though I haven't seen the musical (and am not really planning to), I did listen to both the original album and the mixtape. And I love the mixtape.  This probably doesn't surprise you, but I have a very complicated formula that decides my top ten albums of the year list.  There's a lot of omg this is great going on, yes, but that's only one part of the formula.  When this album popped up on the list I thought I had made a mistake.  But yes, Hamilton has somehow touched the most sour of anti-Hamilton hearts.  This album made the list because I listen to it a lot while writing.  Any music that makes the writing playlist is pretty special. Also, the variety of amazing artists on this album is very impressive, for example, K'naan, Kelly Clarkson, and !Llmind, who does my favorite track, "Take a Break (interlude)."  It's a track you can put on repeat for an hour or two of writing.  Fantastic stuff.

2. JL - Dibkis

My favorite rap album of the year is by someone I've never heard of.  This was another album I picked up on a whim while working at the library. Because JL is a product of strange music and Tech N9ne, I couldn't resist taking this album home. Interestingly enough, I loved this album but did not like Tech N9ne's latest album.  Tech N9ne's cameos on this album are wonderful, however, so I still love his music.  I must say I was very disappointed in rap music overall this year.  I thought most of it sounded like a bunch of mopey and sluggish old school rap that was much too serious for my taste.  JL sounds like he's having fun, like he enjoys what he's doing, and I appreciate that.  The lyrics are really quite tasteless, of course, though there were a few exceptions.  I really like a few lines in "Own Thang" - looking like I'm bad news and bitch I do my own thang, which no librarian needs to be rapping while tootling around in their fancy station wagon.  But I do. Though I had few bad days last year, "F**k Everything" always put me in a better mood and usually had me giggling by the end of the song.  "Elevated" was my favorite song though, and I listened to it constantly.  He really nails the rapping in this song, and it's a boo-yah song, which always gives me fire and energy to go after life. 

1. Imagine Dragons - Evolve

Ha, I bet you thought this list was devolving.  Turns out it Evolved into this moment, the number one album of the year.  I'm sure you are totally surprised.  I'm sure you have no idea how much I love Imagine Dragons.  They can do no wrong, really.  When I sing along with them I feel like I'm connecting with some unknown part of myself that I can only reach when listening to their music.  Like millions of others out there, I too, love "Believer."  It's my favorite song of the year. I particularly like the lines, I'ma say all the words inside my head and I'm the master of my sea.  It's the ultimate boo-yah song.  "Yesterday" is a very close second for me.  Is he singing into a can attached to a string that's strung between my heart and his mouth?  Yes, that's exactly it.  Every time the word yesterday comes up I always yell it as loud as possible.  It's so unbelievably cathartic. Thank you, Imagine Dragons for another outstanding album.