The 2017 Lists
Better late than never!
EVERY MOVIE I SAW IN A THEATER, RANKED:
1. Get Out
2. Manchester by The Sea
3. Moonlight
4. Arrival
5. Baby Driver
6. The Disaster Artist
7. Lion
8. Hell or High Water
9. War For The Planet of the Apes
10. Fences
11. Split
12. La La Land
13. Hacksaw Ridge
14. Hidden Figures
Top 20 At Home Movies
1. Shin Godzilla
2. The Double
3. I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore
4. Safe (1995)
5. The Eagle Huntress
6. The Devil At Your Heels
7. Dope
8. The Thin Blue Line
9. Oh, Hello: On Broadway
10. Weiner
11. Spotlight
12. The Big Sick
13. Melancholia
14. The Women (1939)
15. Upstream Color
16. Short Term 12
17. Snowtown
18. Silence
19. Frost Nixon
20.. Man Up
Ten TV Shows of 2017 In Rough Order of Preference
Search Party: Seasons 1 and 2
American Vandal
The Americans
Master of None: Seasons 1 and 2
Fargo: Season 3
Game of Thrones
Review
Nathan For You
Gogglebox
Canada's Worst Handyman
Top Songs of 2017
The Radio Dept. - "Swedish Guns"
I've been a fan of The Radio Dept. since they showed up in Sophia Copolla's Marie Antoinette, and this album is their finest. I've been told this is the guitar pop band attempting dub. I have a hard time getting it out of my head.
Lemon Demon - "Touch Tone Telephone"
This one pushes all of my buttons. It is propulsive and ecstatic and the lyrics portray the type of paranoiac who'd call in to the Art Bell show.
Lemon Demon - "Spiral of Ants"
This song is just gorgeous. It almost brings to tears and I didn't even know what a "spiral of ants" was. It's a real phenomenom. Kudos to Neil for coming up with this devastating metaphor, and even more kudos for coming up with that insane riff that seems to revolve around itself.
Crash Test Dummies - "I'm Outlived By That Thing?"
If I have any actual guilty pleasures, it must be the Crash Test Dummies. I know how dorky and uncool they are. But I listened to their first and third album this year (the ones that came on either side of God Shuffled His Feet) and I found things to love on both. This song might be the one nugget on the otherwise dire A Worm's Life.
Stranger Things Title Sequence
Maybe I should file this under Music Videos. I love watching those letters come together.
Porest - "Passport Please"
Jake Paul - "It's Everyday, Bro"
The weirdest songs end up on this list, right? That's because it's not necessarily the "best" songs of the year, but just the most notable to me. "It's Everyday, Bro" is one of the worst songs you'll ever hear, but Tom Scharpling described his depression-fueled descent into the world of YouTuber Jake Paul on The Best Show, all to the backing track of this song, the two are inextricably linked. Jake Paul is an unfunny, hyper-performative buffoon, a Vine mugger to top all Vine muggers,which helps to explain the inexplicable fact that this song has a billion views. He is 2017.
Also, England is my city.
CLASSIXX - "Right Now"
I had to listen to this a few times to pick out what parts of Van Halen's "Right Now" CLASSIXX used. It took me a while to even remember what "Right Now" sounded like. I love CLASSIXX's sound (micro-house?) and go back to their Hanging Gardens album constantly, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they could help me find something to love about Hagar-era Van Halen.
Lydia Ainsworth - "The Road"
There might not have been a bigger musical disappointment for me this year than Lydia Ainsworth's second album, "Darling of the Afterglow." Her first album "Right From Real" was a distillation of electronic art rock perfection. Eight strange, dark songs that played with expectations and the singer's voice. The second album seems to be aiming for something more radio-friendly, I guess. The one bright spot is "The Road" which would fit comfortably on the first album.
George Michael - "Father Figure"
Is there any song I'm more familiar with this year than "Father Figure?" After my friend Mike joked that "Father Figure" works under every scene in every movie, I set out to prove it and made a bunch of videos re-imagining movie scenes with "Father Figure" as the score. It does make a great punchline. But after all that editing, I must've listened to the song a hundred times and I feel like I know it inside and out.
Top 10 Albums of 2017 (or thereabout)
Lemon Demon - Spirit Phone
Aesop Rock - The Impossible Kid
Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods
The Radio Dept. - Running Out Of Love
Ariel Pink - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
Swet Shop Boys - Cashmere
The New Pornographers - Whiteout Conditions
Lorde - Melodrama
Greatest Live Music Moment
Seeing Amadou & Miriam live, Amadou hypnotized me with a solo on his golden guitar on the song "Masiteladi."
Seeing Brian Dewan play his "Flying UFOs" instrument in Round Lake.
Greatest Musical Moments
Epic Sax Guy made a triumphant return to Eurovision this year! He was part of the Moldvoa team and had my favorite song of the contest.
Top Podcast Episodes
S Town - Final Episode
Dexter Guff Is Smarter Than You - Episodes 9 and 10
Oh No! Ross and Carrie - Flat Earth Episodes
Eight Books I Read This Year In Rough Order of Preference
The Skies Belong To Us
Nomad
Your Money or Your Life
Destiny of the Republic - Candice Millard
Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm
The Psychopath Test
Severed
Life In The Garden of Beasts - Erik Larson
Best Scharpling & Wurster Call
Newbridge High School Rock & Pop Concert
EVERY MOVIE I SAW IN A THEATER, RANKED:
1. Get Out
2. Manchester by The Sea
3. Moonlight
4. Arrival
5. Baby Driver
6. The Disaster Artist
7. Lion
8. Hell or High Water
9. War For The Planet of the Apes
10. Fences
11. Split
12. La La Land
13. Hacksaw Ridge
14. Hidden Figures
Top 20 At Home Movies
1. Shin Godzilla
2. The Double
3. I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore
4. Safe (1995)
5. The Eagle Huntress
6. The Devil At Your Heels
7. Dope
8. The Thin Blue Line
9. Oh, Hello: On Broadway
10. Weiner
11. Spotlight
12. The Big Sick
13. Melancholia
14. The Women (1939)
15. Upstream Color
16. Short Term 12
17. Snowtown
18. Silence
19. Frost Nixon
20.. Man Up
Ten TV Shows of 2017 In Rough Order of Preference
Search Party: Seasons 1 and 2
American Vandal
The Americans
Master of None: Seasons 1 and 2
Fargo: Season 3
Game of Thrones
Review
Nathan For You
Gogglebox
Canada's Worst Handyman
Top Songs of 2017
The Radio Dept. - "Swedish Guns"
I've been a fan of The Radio Dept. since they showed up in Sophia Copolla's Marie Antoinette, and this album is their finest. I've been told this is the guitar pop band attempting dub. I have a hard time getting it out of my head.
Lemon Demon - "Touch Tone Telephone"
This one pushes all of my buttons. It is propulsive and ecstatic and the lyrics portray the type of paranoiac who'd call in to the Art Bell show.
Lemon Demon - "Spiral of Ants"
This song is just gorgeous. It almost brings to tears and I didn't even know what a "spiral of ants" was. It's a real phenomenom. Kudos to Neil for coming up with this devastating metaphor, and even more kudos for coming up with that insane riff that seems to revolve around itself.
Crash Test Dummies - "I'm Outlived By That Thing?"
If I have any actual guilty pleasures, it must be the Crash Test Dummies. I know how dorky and uncool they are. But I listened to their first and third album this year (the ones that came on either side of God Shuffled His Feet) and I found things to love on both. This song might be the one nugget on the otherwise dire A Worm's Life.
Stranger Things Title Sequence
Maybe I should file this under Music Videos. I love watching those letters come together.
Porest - "Passport Please"
Jake Paul - "It's Everyday, Bro"
The weirdest songs end up on this list, right? That's because it's not necessarily the "best" songs of the year, but just the most notable to me. "It's Everyday, Bro" is one of the worst songs you'll ever hear, but Tom Scharpling described his depression-fueled descent into the world of YouTuber Jake Paul on The Best Show, all to the backing track of this song, the two are inextricably linked. Jake Paul is an unfunny, hyper-performative buffoon, a Vine mugger to top all Vine muggers,which helps to explain the inexplicable fact that this song has a billion views. He is 2017.
Also, England is my city.
CLASSIXX - "Right Now"
I had to listen to this a few times to pick out what parts of Van Halen's "Right Now" CLASSIXX used. It took me a while to even remember what "Right Now" sounded like. I love CLASSIXX's sound (micro-house?) and go back to their Hanging Gardens album constantly, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that they could help me find something to love about Hagar-era Van Halen.
Lydia Ainsworth - "The Road"
There might not have been a bigger musical disappointment for me this year than Lydia Ainsworth's second album, "Darling of the Afterglow." Her first album "Right From Real" was a distillation of electronic art rock perfection. Eight strange, dark songs that played with expectations and the singer's voice. The second album seems to be aiming for something more radio-friendly, I guess. The one bright spot is "The Road" which would fit comfortably on the first album.
George Michael - "Father Figure"
Is there any song I'm more familiar with this year than "Father Figure?" After my friend Mike joked that "Father Figure" works under every scene in every movie, I set out to prove it and made a bunch of videos re-imagining movie scenes with "Father Figure" as the score. It does make a great punchline. But after all that editing, I must've listened to the song a hundred times and I feel like I know it inside and out.
Top 10 Albums of 2017 (or thereabout)
Lemon Demon - Spirit Phone
Aesop Rock - The Impossible Kid
Neil Cicierega - Mouth Moods
The Radio Dept. - Running Out Of Love
Ariel Pink - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Kid
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
Swet Shop Boys - Cashmere
The New Pornographers - Whiteout Conditions
Lorde - Melodrama
Greatest Live Music Moment
Seeing Amadou & Miriam live, Amadou hypnotized me with a solo on his golden guitar on the song "Masiteladi."
Click to viewSeeing Brian Dewan play his "Flying UFOs" instrument in Round Lake.
Greatest Musical Moments
Epic Sax Guy made a triumphant return to Eurovision this year! He was part of the Moldvoa team and had my favorite song of the contest.
Top Podcast Episodes
S Town - Final Episode
Dexter Guff Is Smarter Than You - Episodes 9 and 10
Oh No! Ross and Carrie - Flat Earth Episodes
Eight Books I Read This Year In Rough Order of Preference
The Skies Belong To Us
Nomad
Your Money or Your Life
Destiny of the Republic - Candice Millard
Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm
The Psychopath Test
Severed
Life In The Garden of Beasts - Erik Larson
Best Scharpling & Wurster Call
Newbridge High School Rock & Pop Concert