Throughout December, CHIRP Radio presents its volunteers’ top albums of 2017. Our next list is from DJ Tyler Clark.

(Whoops! If you're reading this, it's at least a year after its intended publication; I was pretty delinquent on my year-end list duties for 2017, but decided to use the retroactive magic of the internet to weigh in now (December 2018) with my belated, but no less crucial, picks. Hope you dig 'em.)

#1   The OOZ by King Krule (True Panther/XL)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

What I said in my review for Consequence of Sound still stands: "The OOZ is not always a fun listen, both because of Marshall’s effectiveness in communicating his pain and his tendency to avoid editing as much as he probably should. Even with three or four excess tracks, the album is still an essential listen; disorienting but never dull, heartsick but never maudlin, the rambling melancholy of The OOZ seems destined to soundtrack thousands of lonesome nights and send its listeners on journeys through its nocturnal half-dream without the need to leave the comfort of their headphones. Whether they’ll find solace along the way is beside the point; Marshall’s music offers no easy answers, and the man himself never seems to find exactly what he’s looking for. Along the way, though, he leaves a trail of brilliance in his wake. Plenty of transcendent albums were born of dissatisfaction, but rarely has that frustration sounded so appealing."

Favorite Track: "Biscuit Town"

#2   MASSEDUCTION by St. Vincent (Loma Vista)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Hot take that's not actually all that hot: Annie Clark is the David Bowie of our generation. 

Favorite Track: "Sugarboy"

#3   A Crow Looked at Me by Mount Eerie (P.W. Elverum & Sun)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

This may be the most heartbreaking album ever recorded. Utterly beautiful, utterly devastating, it's a masterpiece that I never want to hear again. 

Favorite Track: "Seaweed" 

#4   Prisoner by Ryan Adams (PAX AM/Blue Note)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

When you're in need of melancholy Americana, why look anywhere else but towards the master? Ryan Adams delivered his best record since Heartbreaker in 2017, and it's a return to form that couldn't've come at a better (or more bittersweet) time.    

Favorite Track: "Outbound Train"

#5   The Hanged Man by Ted Leo (self-released)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Jesus. Did you read that Stereogum profile? Someone give this indie rock god a hug and a recording contract. 

Favorite Track: "Run to the City"

#6   Stranger in the Alps by Phoebe Bridgers (Dead Oceans)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Rookie of the year, right here. Her take on the devastations of the interpersonal world rival that of her former labelmate two spots higher.

Favorite Track: "Smoke Signals" 

#7   Flower Boy by Tyler, the Creator (Columbia)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Man, did Tyler, the Creator just grow up? 

Favorite Track: "911/Mr. Lonely"

#8   Hot Thoughts by Spoon (Matador)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Is it possible that Britt Daniel and company might actually be getting better with age? Using this record as our Magic 8-Ball, signs point to yes.

Favorite Track: "Do I Have to Talk You Into It?"

#9   Life Will See You Now by Jens Lekman (Secretly Canadian)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

I spent some serious quality time with this record during a springtime sojourn to Seattle. It got a little better every time I spun it.

Favorite Track: "Evening Prayers"

#10   Drunk by Thundercat (Brainfeeder)
BUY: Reckless / Amazon

Come on. The cover alone would earn this a nod! Fortunately, the music owns, too.

Favorite Track: "Tokyo" 

Honorable Mentions—Albums #11-#25:

11) Guided By Voices, August By Cake
12) Phoenix, Ti Amo
13) Alvvays, Antisocialites
14) The xx, I See You
15) Alison Crutchfield, Tourist in This Town
16) Destroyer, ken
17) Fleet Foxes, Crack-Up
18) Mount Kimbie, Love What Survives
19) Fred Thomas, Changer
20) Public Service Broadcasting, Every Valley
21) Moses Sumney, Aromanticism
22) Grizzly Bear, Painted Ruins
23) Melkbelly, Nothing Valley
24) NE-HI, Offers
25) Dirty Projectors, Dirty Projectors

40 Songs I Loved from Artists Who Didn't Make the Top 25:

Alasdair Roberts, "An Altar in the Glade"
Bash & Pop, "On the Rocks"
The Bats, "Rooftops"
Beach Bunny, "February"
Bully, "Kills to be Resistant"
Charlotte Gainsbourg, "Lying with You"
Chaz Bundick Meets the Mattson 2, "JBS"
The Clientele, "The Age of Miracles"
The Como Mamas, "Count Your Blessings"
Craig Finn, "God in Chicago"
Cut Copy, "Airborne"
Dan Auerbach, "Malibu Man"
Deer Tick, "Mr. Nothing Gets Worse"
DJ Khaled, "I'm the One"
Elf Power, "Sniper in the Balcony"
Father John MIsty, "Real Love Baby"
Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White, "Look at What the Light Did Now"
Gorillaz, "Ascension"
Guided By Voices, "Boy W"
Hercules & Love Affair, "Controller"
The Hold Steady, "A Snake in the Shower"
Iron & Wine, "About a Bruise"
Japandroids, "Near to the Wild Heart of Life"
Jim James, "Baby Don't Go"
Lil' Peep, "Awful Things"
Mac DeMarco, "This Old Dog"
Men I Trust, "Tailwhip"
The Mountain Goats, "Andrew Eldritch is Moving Back to Leeds"
The New Pornographers, "Whiteout Conditions"
Parent, "I Tried"
Passion Pit, "Somewhere Up There"
Pledge Drive, "Dress Like a Wrestler"
Ride, "All I Want"
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, "Matter of Time"
Spinning Coin, "Raining on Hope Street"
The Streets, "Sometimes I Hate My Friends More Than My Enemies"
Surfer Blood, "Matter of Time"
Swervedriver, "Autodidact"
Sylvan Esso, "Die Young"
Woods, "Bleeding Blue"