1: LCD Soundsystem – American Dream

I’ll be honest, ranking the best albums of the year can be kind of an arbitrary process. (Shocking, I know!) I employ no failsafe algorithms to ensure each record is assigned its proper numerical spot in the top 10, I just go on gut feeling. Is the latest soft-rock opus by the War on Drugs really one notch better than the first full-length collaboration by country siblings Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer? Ask me again in a few months and I may tell you a different answer. But there was no dithering over my #1 choice for the best album of 2017. American Dream, the fourth release by hipster Brooklyn act LCD Soundsystem, practically wallops you over the head with its greatness. It’s the first LCD recording since 2011, when ringleader James Murphy announced the band’s “retirement.” Coaxed by hero and colleague David Bowie—the two joined forces on Bowie’s brilliant final album, Blackstar—Murphy got the gang back together and American Dream is an exhilarating example of second-wind success. It’s got most everything longtime fans want: witty, incisive lyrics, groovy electro beats that stretch into epic club jams, and the usual Rolodex of cool musical references — here you’ll hear echoes of Talking Heads, Gang of Four, Joy Division, and of course, Bowie himself. But there’s a newfound maturity to the work. Gone are tossed-off novelties like “Drunk Girls” from 2011’s This Is Happening. The expansive compositions on American Dream flow and evolve more seamlessly than on previous efforts, and the lyrics are more complex. The breathtaking “tonite” skewers the current state of pop culture, calling out “these bullying children of the fabulous, raffling off limited edition shoes.” But it also manages to be astutely self-aware as Murphy, now 47,  frets over his advancing age. “I’m a reminder, a hobbled veteran of the disc shop inquisition,” he sings/raps, “sent to parry the cocksure mem-stick filth with mine own late-era middle-aged ramblings.” Modest as those sentiments are, that’s some bravura writing there. The emotional highlight is the final track, “black screen,” a dreamy tribute to Murphy’s relationship with Bowie— “You fell between a friend and a father”—that musically recalls Bowie’s legendary Berlin sessions with Brian Eno. Ambitious, whip-smart, hilarious but also surprisingly poignant in parts, American Dream is not only far and away the best album of 2017, it’s one for the ages.

• 10: Grizzly Bear — Painted Ruins
• 9: Moses Sumney — Aromanticism
• 8: The xx — I See You
• 7: Real Estate — In Mind
• 6: Waxahatchee — Out in the Storm
• 5: Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer — Not Dark Yet
• 4: The War on Drugs — A Deeper Understanding
• 3: Robyn Hitchcock — Robyn Hitchcock
• 2: Iron & Wine — Beast Epic
• The Top 10 Albums of 2016