Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2017. Our next list is from DJ and Live Performance Director John Lombardo.

Reaching for Indigo by Circuit des Yeux (Drag City)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Listening to this album all the way through, you can really feel all of the experiences that went into making it. Beautiful, complex, & jarring with a suite of stunning players.

Hamburg Recordings 1967 by Monks (Third Man)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Tunes from the crypt. Fully-formed & polished brilliance now available to clamoring ears!

Love Sick by TALsounds (Ba Da Bing)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Dreams, cast spells, winter weather redeemer.

Offers by NE-HI (Grand Jury)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

A long-awaited collection of impossibly catchy jams. Summer & sweat distilled.

Changer by Fred Thomas (Polyvinyl)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

One of the best songwriters in the game. A wild & cohesive mix of intimate thoughts strengthened with confidence and unrivaled charm.

Simultonality by Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society (Eremite)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

This record burns slow & smooth with Abrams playing off of some of Chicago’s finest players, including visionary drummer Frank Rosaly, Emmet Kelly, and Lisa Alvarado. Trance-Shock-Comedown repeat.

LIVE by BANANA (Leaving)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Recorded live to tape during Cate Le Bon’s Crab Day tour, this band made up of Le Bon’s backing band (along with Le Bon on piano & vibraphone) has created a clutch of dizzying & rich instrumentals.

Ohmme by Ohmme (Fox Hall)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Amazingly well-paired duo that create all sorts of intrigue with just their voices & guitars. This fully-formed debut includes a great cover of Julee Cruise’s “Rockn' Back Inside My Heart”!

Introducing the Crimsmen by The Peacers (Drag City)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Mike Donovan polishes another diamond. Slight mutations to his new project produce heavy waves of change.

Live at Secret Project Robot by Oneida (Safety Meeting)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Beautiful document of the Oneida live experience. Over an hour of swirling madness that puts you right in the room.

List Extenders:
Horse Lords - Mixtape IV (Northern Spy)
The Replacements - For Sale: Live at Maxwell's 1986 (Rhino)
Aaron Dilloway – The Gag File (Hanson)
DEHD – Fire of Love (Maximum Pelt)
Children of Alice – Children of Alice (Warp)