#weird blended with this rather new short content style of narration

[slugsinsuits]

Parkour civilisation is a thing that I have now watched.

And the cuts to summary always feel like... When you were watching TV as a kid and the adverts came on, then you got a recap when you got back to the show.

I usually hate adverts, but it feels weird that parkour civilisation doesn't have them.

[thefreecheese]

2017 was pretty dope for The Free Cheese, and pretty dope for me. We completed a full calendar year of monthly cover stories, and I love how they all look together. We moved forward with a lot of new video content, unifying our look and branding. We brought on a fourth member to the podcast, and I’m happy to again be spending a few hours a week with Ben.

I got to travel this year, something I haven’t done since before this website was founded. During the end of spring, I found my way to Puerto Rico for a week. I got to lay in the sun and eat a lot of food. I can still smell the air when I close my eyes. In October, I visited Marfa, Texas and slept in a teepee for a few days. There was something magical about being in the desert with nothing around you but the stars at night. The silence of everything is still ringing. Then, I spent Halloween in New York. I got to wander through Manhattan again and blend into the crowds. I watched the hundreds pass by in costume and felt the heartbeat of the city.

I played a lot of video games too. Thanks to the Nintendo Switch, my plane rides were filled with Zelda, Mario Kart, and Super Mario Odyssey. I had the added bonus of killing time playing in New Donk City while in New York City just across from the Nintendo World Store. Amidst the traveling, I became increasingly hermitic this year and spent most of my time with a controller in my hands. There’re worse ways to go I suppose.

Of those games played, some of them were released this year and a few of them were pretty fantastic. You might say that I should make a list of the games that were my favorites and well, here it is.

13. Let It Die

Yes. This game was on my list last year. It’s also here again this year. You see, Let It Die released at a weird time. It came out just before we recorded our Game of the Year 2016 episodes and I didn’t have enough time to qualify it for anything. By the time we’d written these articles though, I played a bit of it and quite enjoyed it. Yet, I barely scratched the surface last December. It was the first two months of this year where I got really heavy into Let It Die. I started treating it like an arcade game, as it’s presented in the game itself. I would sit down to play with my stack of quarters, or predetermined amount of money on my credit card I was willing to burn that day. I’d play until I got tired or ran out of money.

I love the world that Let It Die created. It’s everything I love about Bloodborne but set in a punk rock nightmare tower filled with monsters that should only exist in horror comics from under someone’s bed in a 1980s movie. I loved finding new blueprints to see what gear I would unlock and I loved the satisfaction of finally clearing a floor and reaching the next level. I still jump back in from time to time and I’ve yet to see the entirety of what this game has to offer. Who knows, maybe it’ll be on my list again next year?

12. Hidden My Game By Mom 2

I think collectively this spot goes to all of the hap inc. games, but Hidden My Game By Mom 2 is the one that released this year and went on to win our Best Mobile Game award. It’s such a silly puzzle game that has a great sense of surprise and style. Every puzzle is a new opportunity to mess with your expectations and each one is short burst enough that they make sense on the platform. It’s a perfect blueprint for how (and why) Nintendo should make its next mobile game WarioWare.

Or just make one for Switch. Just bring back WarioWare, Nintendo.

11. Mighty Gunvolt Burst & Blaster Master Zero

Incidentally, Inti Creates has made it onto my list yet again. This year, as you can see from above, there are two entries on the list. I played both of these games back to back and honestly, they blur together a lot for me so I’m writing them in as one.

Mighty Gunvolt Burst is seemingly Inti Creates saying “No, that thing is not a representation of what we can actually do. A lot of bad shit happened during development of that game and it got out of our hands. Here’s a real Mighty No. 9 game.” It also gave them a chance to marry the two universes they’ve been a part of once again. Bringing the Gunvolt series back to play, Mighty Gunvolt Burst is essentially a Mega Man game. You play through a series of stages as your chosen character and you earn new weapons and upgrades from each stage you play. It’s not an exact replica of Mega Man, as Mighty No. 9 attempted to be, but rather a reimagining of how that style of game works.

Blaster Master Zero got me into a franchise I never thought I would care about. I missed the Blaster Master craze that was apparently sweeping through the nation (per my high school guitar teacher) and I never entered the world until the prequel released this year. Blaster Master Zero is a NES game ripped out of time. Both of these titles make me excited for anything that Inti Creates is putting out.

10. Everything

Everything had my heart from its ten-minute launch trailer. I got lost in watching random images of a strange world flash in front of me as Alan Watts narrated my own existentialism. The final game and my time with it wouldn’t be much different, only that now I was in control of everything.

To say much more would taint this game, but I really enjoyed my time with Everything. It opened my mind and set me back to balance at a moment when I was losing my footing.

09. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

This has to be a possible future of AAA development. I surprisingly played a lot of really big games this year, but I also watched the demise of a lot of ideas and what we’ve come to expect from single-player games. Ninja Theory was able to create something that looks and feels as big as the rest but provides you with a shorter, more intimate experience.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice does some new things with storytelling and sound design that shed a light on mental health issues in a way that reminded me and those who played the game that we never know what is happening to someone who is standing right beside us. We never know what is happening inside of their head, even when they vocalize everything they know how to. As something impactful, Hellblade does it well. Further, I think that the design and presentation of the game and the level of quality and polish help to create a potential future for AAA development. I’d love to see some of the larger teams creating games to make something like this. As we’ve watched the collapse of the middle and the rise of the indie developer, I’m excited to see where games like this will take shape in the coming years.

08. Destiny 2

I’ve had a lot of exposure to the team at Bungie in the back quarter of this year. I’m currently playing through the Halo franchise for the first time now that I’m the owner of an Xbox One S, but my first introduction to Bungie was back in September with the release of Destiny 2.

After playing through the Alpha and Beta of Destiny, I never went forward with the full game. It didn’t seem like the thing for me despite my initial excitement at E3 2013 when the game was on stage with PlayStation 4. Oddly enough, I played a lot of Destiny 2 this year.

I created a Hunter and leveled her up to the max. I played through the full campaign and went back in for more. I saw my fair share of Strikes, Public Events, and I even spent a lot of time in the Crucible. I’m never one for PvP, especially in a first-person shooter. I’m just not skilled enough to hold my own and I often find myself getting killed just as I respawn. This year was the year for that to change. I set my PS4 up in my office with a small monitor and headset and for the better part of a month, I found myself chasing after medals and with a positive score in the end of many rounds.

What surprised me most about Destiny 2 is my fever to play it. Even as I type this and it’s been months since I’ve really played, I’m eager to jump back into it. I still want to find the perfect gear for my Hunter. I want to see what the other characters play like as well. I’ve yet to attempt the raid in the game. There’s still so much more to see and I’m surprised at how big of an impact the game had on me.

07. Injustice 2

If you asked me in 2013 what I wanted after Injustice, I’d have described a lot of what we saw this year with Injustice 2. The followup to what was my favorite fighting game in the last decade brought with it an impressive roster of unique fighters, a story mode that continues from the threads sewn in the original, and a gear system that changes the way you play the game entirely.

When gear was first announced as part of Injustice 2, my immediate feelings were worry. I didn’t think that it was going to add anything to the game and would ultimately leave each character with incredible balance issues. Thankfully, I’m not developing the game and those who are were able to make sure that everything works out in the end.

What we got was an incredibly deep gear system that allows you to customize your favorite character into the version of the character you love best. I was still able to carry my muscle memory into this game without issue and I can say that I’m still pretty dang good with Batman. A lot of my favorite characters from the first game got an overhaul, like The Flash, and there are a lot of new characters I found myself playing and enjoying. Additionally, Injustice 2 has some of the best-looking character models not just in a fighting game but in games. A lot of the game’s art and design lend to the creation of a world that I don’t ever want to walk away from.

Oh, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

06. Sonic Mania

A few years ago, Shovel Knight won The Free Cheese Game of the Year 2014. It captured our attention with its painstaking dedication to the craft and its incredible sense of self. Ultimately, it was the first example of a retro-styled throwback that delivered. It felt like a long-lost NES cartridge had been unearthed and polished up a bit for modern times.

This year, Sonic Mania did the same thing for the Sega Genesis. Sonic Mania finally did what I’d been looking for since I last held my Genesis controller and wanted something to follow up Sonic & Knuckles. I remember the flutter in my chest a few years ago when Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was announced, and I remember the clap of death that I felt when I played Episode 1.

Sonic Mania was so impressive the first time I saw it in front of me. The amount of detail in the recreation of levels I’d known and loved was impossible, yet right in front of me. I love the way that the developers were able take classic levels and remix them from top to bottom. Both the level design and the music were so well-crafted in a way that felt like these were sitting on ice for twenty years and released today with some 2017 polish. I hope we see more from this team and that they’re able to create an entire game of brand new stages and secrets.

05. Metroid: Samus Returns

The reveal of this game alone was one of the highlights of my year. Every January, we do annual predictions. Every June, we do E3 predictions. It became habit for me to burn a prediction on a new 3D and a new 2D Metroid game. This was the year when I finally stopped trying. I didn’t bother to use one of my prediction slots for something I didn’t expect to happen. Then, Nintendo unleashed an almost perfect* 2017 marketing campaign. Amidst a sea of releases for the Nintendo Switch, E3 hits and gives us a tease for Metroid Prime 4. It was just a logo but damn was it a powerful logo. I was still recovering from the sweating and crying as the aftershow began and Reggie gets ready to introduce one more thing.

Usually, these moments are there to show off a game that we didn’t see coming. I was anticipating something like, Codename S.T.E.A.M. or Ever Oasis, a game that is neat and made by teams that we already respect and love but ultimately something different. Instead, Reggie cuts us to a trailer that seems very Metroid and inevitably a Metroid flies by. Screaming.

The game itself became one of my highlights of the year. Back in 2014, I tried to play Metroid II: Return of Samus, but didn’t get very far. The game was easy to get lost in and I got swept up in other things at the time. Here, all of the modern design sensibilities are applied to the original Game Boy game and the world of SR388 came to life in a new way. Samus’ new melee ability was executed well and made sense in the world that MercurySteam created. It felt so good to be back in that universe again.

04. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

If Plague of Shadows felt like Shovel Knight 1.5, Specter of Torment is 2.0. Really, Shovel Knight is the game that came out in 1986 with Plague of Shadows shortly after in 1987. Specter of Torment is the one that hit in 1989 that pulled in all of the experience from the prior years of development and brought with it some knowledge of what’s to come next.

Everything about this game feels so good. Specter Knight’s movement and combat felt rewarding the whole way through. There’s a speed to him that I didn’t know I was missing in this universe of games. Inevitably unlocking his ability to skateboard through a world on his scythe added a new layer entirely.

From a story and world-building perspective, Specter of Torment adds a lot to the background of Shovel Knight’s universe and to Specter Knight as a character. You learn about his history which turns out to have a lot to do with the history of this land. In this game, Specter Knight uses the Enchantress’ fortress as a main hub. I loved that it combines the idea of the world map and villages in Shovel of Hope into one main area to navigate through. It built a cohesion for this campaign that I really appreciated. Plus, its design as a castle lent itself further to the Castlevania comparisons I was already making.

03. Super Mario Odyssey

I love Mario. How could I not? However, I realized last year during the twentieth anniversary of Super Mario 64, how little I’ve experienced Mario. I never owned Super Mario 64 for some reason, and I’ve only played it up to a certain point. Anytime I try to go back through it now trails off relatively at the same part. I never owned a GameCube thus I’ve never played Super Mario Sunshine. I’ve played through every 2D Mario, but I’ve missed the 3D stuff outside of the Galaxy pair of games and 3D Land/World.

Super Mario Odyssey is just pure fun. It opens up these huge, little worlds for you to explore. Each one is hiding a ton of secrets and has a lot of character in every step. When I first saw the cap throwing mechanic, I felt a little weird about it not thinking that it would translate to my style of gameplay when it comes to Mario. Surprisingly, it worked naturally and seamlessly when I needed it to. I often found that I was only capturing enemies in certain puzzle-solving moments or when I needed something to help me navigate to a spot where Mario could not.

From top to bottom, Super Mario Odyssey is the type of game that reminds you why Nintendo is Nintendo. It’s been years since the last big Mario game, with Super Mario 3D World in 2013 and this is exactly the amount of polish and detail that was needed to steer this direction in a new direction. Super Mario Odyssey gives the control back to the player. It’s not a guided experience in the way that something like Super Mario 3D World was. There’s no right way to complete a level. There are things that must be done in order to advance, but the acquisition of Moons in the game can be done at any pace and in many different ways. There’s a sense of freedom that bleeds through the game, inviting you to go further. There’s a reinvention of not only Mario, but of Nintendo and of the way we create these worlds hidden within the DNA of Super Mario Odyssey.

02. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild changed the way I approached games this year. I fell into a habit in recent years of reaching a point where I was stuck in a game, so I’d grab my phone and look it up. A lot of the time, it was me verifying that I was on the right track, I just had to go a littler further. The rest of the time, it was me taking away the surprise of discovery.

Right from the beginning, Breath of the Wild rewards you with discovery and reinforces the idea that in this world, going the extra step will pay off in some way. Rather than the obligatory checklist that drops its way into your minimap, you are uncovering the world as you wander. Any markers on the map are there because you found something and marked it yourself. It meant that the only reason I ever had to look at the top corner of the screen was just for my heading, to make sure I was still in the right direction.

Anytime I felt stuck on a puzzle within a shrine or found myself without a sense of direction, I quelled that desire to grab my phone and instead let the game talk to me. I found that if I tried enough different things within a shrine, I could figure it out. The reward for solving a puzzle was much greater than if I had simply read the answer somewhere. Further, as I occasionally struggled to find the next thing to do, the world is so vast yet populated that wandering in any direction would yield some type of discovery.

I was almost one hundred hours into the game before I found the horse god Malanya. For those of you who’ve found her, you know that it’s a hard thing to miss, yet it took me tens of hours before I stumbled upon her location. For those of you who’ve yet to find her, see what I mean?

That isn’t to say that the game’s ability to provide an adventure that spans literal days worth of time is an achievement itself. However, the fact that I can pick up that game now, twenty hours ago in-game time, or in another one hundred and still find new things that I’m actually engaged with- that’s the draw.

Breath of the Wild is a remarkable experience and one that will reverberate through video games in the way that games like Ocarina of Time and GTA III paved the way for so many games to follow. It encouraged me to never give up and to keep exploring.

01. NieR: Automata

It’s really tough to give a ranking to any of this list, but when it comes to NieR: Automata and Breath of the Wild, it’s even tougher. In fact, I wouldn’t have finished NieR if it weren’t for Breath of the Wild. Both games released within days of one another. I played through Route A sometime within the first month of release and didn’t feel entirely excited to see Route B, as it plays through a lot of the same material. Jumping back into Breath of the Wild reminded me of that sense of discovery and the reward of it that I just talked about, and I carried those ideas back to NieR with me.

What I discovered in NieR: Automata was transformative and profound. From a narrative perspective, NieR: Automata essentially tells one story in Route A. Route B shows you the same story from a different perspective, but it adds context and a few moments of flavor. Additionally, playing through the same areas again forces you to become intimately aware of your surroundings. You suddenly feel at home in this world, and you understand it much more because you kind of have to take it all in. Route C then becomes a sequel to the story you just witnessed and it feels like you’ve played through multiple games in one larger game.

I’ve struggled the entire year with explaining why I love this game so much. I have multiple unfinished drafts of a review for the game. I have little scraps of ideas for articles I wanted to write about the game. I think the best thing to say about the NieR: Automata is a quote by its creator Yoko Taro, that I now cannot find the source of:

“How much you enjoy something depends on your own heart.”

Thank you for hanging out with us this year.

*Region Free Means Mother 3. Come on, Nintendo. You were almost there.

Joe Dix’s Favorite Games of 2017 2017 was pretty dope for The Free Cheese, and pretty dope for me. We completed a full calendar year of monthly cover stories, and I love how they all look together.

[photosofusly]

Exclaim!'s Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far

As originally seen on Exclaim.ca.At this point last year, we’d already experienced massive album drops from the likes of Beyoncé, Kanye West, Radiohead, David Bowie and Drake; by the end of the year, we were left wondering just what was left to come out in 2017.

The answer is a swathe of albums by artists whose names might not adorn stadium marquees, but whose work shone brightly as beacons for another good year in music. Between long-awaited debut full-lengths, worldly, philosophical album statements and surprising genre crossovers, 2017 has seen a wealth of riches.

As the year’s halfway mark approaches, we’ve separated the great from the merely good in order to present the best albums released so far this year.

Click next to read through the albums one by one, or use the list below to skip ahead to your favourites.

Exclaim!’s Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far:

1. Kendrick Lamar – DAMN. 2. Sampha – Process 3. Feist – Pleasure 4. Father John Misty – Pure Comedy 5. Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me 6. Drake – More Life 7. Jay Som – Everybody Works 8. Mac DeMarco – This Old Dog 9. Joey Bada$$ – All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ 10. Slowdive – Slowdive 11. Power Trip – Nightmare Logic 12. The xx – I See You 13. Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 3 14. Thundercat – Drunk 15. Oddisee – The Iceberg 16. Code Orange – Forever 17. Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens 18. Full of Hell – Trumpeting Ecstasy 19. Cloud Nothings – Life Without Sound 20. Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer 21. Do Make Say Think – Stubborn Persistent Illusions 22. Incendiary – Thousand Mile Stare 23. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana 24. (Sandy) Alex G – Rocket 25. Future Islands – The Far Field 26. Timber Timbre – Sincerely, Future Pollution 27. GAS – Narkopop 28. Paramore – After Laughter 29. Ryuichi Sakamoto – async

29. Ryuichi Sakamoto async (Milan)

A good deal has been made of the possibly autobiographical nature of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s triumphant return, async. The disc landed a little less than three years after his throat cancer diagnosis, and is replete with mournful synth lines, scratchy noise (if ever there was a track that made you want to clear your throat, it’s “andata") and spoken word segments about mortality.

There’s much more than nostalgia at work here, though. The 65-year-old, who calls both Tokyo and New York City home, delivered us a complex, at times difficult listen. Yet async remains wholly accessible. It’s beautiful without being pretty, engaging and, at the same time, comforting.

Is the disc’s title short for asynchronous, which refers to events "not occurring at the same time"? Maybe reading his illness and subsequent recovery into that is a stretch, but Sakamoto’s pre-release materials describe his interest in "the blurred lines of life and artificiality/noise and music." The line between good and poor health is often similarly tough to distinguish, but its exploration would fit perfectly amidst the tender thoughtfulness evident here. Kevin Press

28. Paramore After Laughter (Fueled By Ramen)

Paramore have gone through their share of professional and personal turmoil and lineup changes since their chart-topping self-titled LP. Bassist Jeremy Davis left, drummer Zac Farro returned seven years after an acrimonious split and singer Hayley Williams admitted in pre-release interviews that she often doubted they would ever record another album. The trio address this adversity head-on on the startling, emotionally complex After Laughter, a tuneful, effervescent full-length on which Paramore mostly trade what was left of their punk and emo roots for New Wave synths, sinewy Afrobeat-influenced guitar riffs and percussive Technicolor pop that evokes Talking Heads, Paul Simon and Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac.

In contrast with the soaring, ebullient melodies, the lyrics reflect the band’s tumultuous recent past, most prominently on the LP’s first single, the cathartic "Hard Times." Hitting rock bottom has rarely sounded better than on After Laughter, one of the year’s finest pop albums. Thierry Côté

27. GAS Narkopop (Kompakt)

Wolfgang Voigt has kept busy over the last 17 years through his various projects, but he’s been neglecting the one that earns him the most attention. Capitalizing on last year’s elaborate GAS box set, the 56-year-old returned with his fifth album under the moniker like no time had passed.

His new 75-minute opus, Narkopop, surveys different moods and pulses, filling in the vast space with a range of textures and styles: drone, ambient, neo-classical and minimal techno. The results can be mesmeric and beautiful, though he’s not averse to stirring up discomfiting moments to throw the listener’s meditation off, either.

Although it follows the GAS template in its design and structure, Narkopop, like its predecessors, is very much its own entity and an exciting next phase in the oeuvre of electronic music’s most intriguing characters. Cam Lindsay

26. Timber Timbre Sincerely, Future Pollution (Arts & Crafts)

The sinister synths that flood Timber Timbre’s sixth LP leave little doubt that the Canadian band’s latest record, Sincerely, Future Pollution, isn’t entirely optimistic about humanity’s course. The free-floating folk-noir ensemble, led by the haunting vocals of Taylor Kirk, reach new vibrancy on this record by harkening back to ’80s-era Bowie, drum machines and dystopian narratives to create an album that, like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, comprises a cinematic whole yet is approachable enough to enjoy in individual parts.

Evidenced by the cascading melodies of "Moment," the wide-swath guitar strums of "Sewer Blues" and the clavinet-bumping "Grifting," Sincerely, Future Pollution is much more concerned with world-building than 2014’s sensuous Hot Dreams in both theme and vision. As they have each release since 2006’s Cedar Shakes, Timber Timbre somehow manage to enhance their ever-evolving sound once again here; this time, they do so by borrowing from the past to craft an album as fresh as it is timeless. Mackenzie Herd

25. Future Islands The Far Field (4AD)

Less immediate than 2014’s Singles but ultimately more rewarding, the hooks on Future Islands’ The Far Field are subtler, the sound a little wearier. Anchored by the soulful, strange vocal stylings of Samuel T. Herring, the band still know how to write songs that will sound great at the outdoor festivals they’ve graduated to since the smash success of "Seasons (Waiting on You)" — and there are several of those here — but the real revelation is the bold steps they’re taking in the face of their success.

The woozy, weird "Candles" and the call-and-response Debbie Harry duet "Shadows" are proof that the band aren’t content to play it safe. By resisting the urge to go bigger, Future Islands have instead gone deeper, to devastating effect. Dave Mix

24. (Sandy) Alex G Rocket (Domino)

Eight albums in, the restless Alex Giannascoli — aka (Sandy) Alex G — refuses to be labeled simply as "indie rock." On Rocket, he tackles it all — bittersweet alt-country ("Bobby"), industrial pseudo-rap ("Brick"), auto-tuned R&B ("Sportstar"), weirdo psych-pop ("Witch"), ramshackle experimental noise ("Horse"), and the list could go on — yet it all still feels oddly cohesive, shrouded in a mysterious lo-fi intimacy narrated by Giannascoli’s melodic and dazed vocal style.

Hints of self-doubt, anger, sarcasm and bliss blend together effortlessly thanks to a strange and freaky concoction of plucky acoustic guitar, screeching synthesizers, dazzling violin, piano, saxophone and even random dogs barking. Rocket readily mutates around unsettling emotions using inventive fictional personas; it’s a curious approach, but it grounds the record to a quietly relatable content, and incites new feelings with each listen. Chris Gee

23. King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Flying Microtonal Banana (ATO)

Like most of their previous efforts, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s latest project was tied to a concept from the outset — this time around, microtonality.

Flying Microtonal Banana might be the band’s most ambitious concept album so far, using a collection of microtonal instruments to weave unique melodies and Eastern-flavoured harmonies into the band’s usual frenetic grooves. That experimentation shines on tracks like "Open Water," with riffs that sound like an electrified snake-charmer, and "Billabong Valley," on which lead guitarist and singer Stu Mackenzie’s vocal lines mirror the eerie and hypnotic guitar melodies.

Rather than allowing themselves to be boxed in on Banana, though, the band run wild with the concept, transcending the chromatic scale to pull together one of the best psych-rock experiences of the year. Brandon Choghri

22. Incendiary Thousand Mile Stare (Closed Casket Activities)

Incendiary’s Thousand Mile Stare is a blistering return for the Long Island hardcore outfit. In the four years since their last record, Cost of Living, the music industry has seen some dramatic changes, particularly in relation to the current political climate. With these ten tracks, Incendiary prove that not only are they still relevant, but they’re on the forefront of their scene, leaders in an increasingly anxiety-ridden landscape.

The album’s eye-opening lyrics and gut-busting riffs are perfectly exemplified in "Front Toward Enemy," as frontman Brendan Garrone yells about "Fearing revolution": "They got their trigger fingers moving / The threat of oncoming war." Thousand Mile Stare’s unforgiving interpretation of a genre the band helped build, coupled with the passionate message they continue to spew, help make it one of hardcore’s most important release of 2017 thus far. Griffin Elliot

21. Do Make Say Think Stubborn Persistent Illusions (Constellation)

Do Make Say Think have never made a weak album, but nobody expected the legendary Torontonian instrumental octet to come back with such vital urgency after the longest recording gap in their lifespan. Perhaps it should’ve been clear though — they declare literal "War on Torpor" on Stubborn Persistent Illusions’ opening track. And to back the claim, this music is anything but lethargic or mentally lazy.

Everything we love about the band is present — the brash energy of punk rock, the rhythmic complexity of jazz and Afrobeat, the patient, bold dynamics of classical, and those epic, richly interwoven tapestries of guitar melodies and horn harmonies — but while these pieces share obvious genetic material with the band’s best work, none of it feels like an exercise in cloning. It’s like new sonic lifeforms are evolving from the band’s collective primordial soup to populate heretofore unexplored corners of their distinct sound world.

Beautifully realized with the utmost of love and respect for the act of co-creation and a work that may well be the new high water mark in post-rock, Stubborn Persistent Illusions is an absolute gift to fans of the ineffable magic of musical collaboration. Scott Gray

20. Stormzy Gang Signs & Prayer (#Merky)

For a decade-and-a-half, future-minded hip-hop heads and Anglophiles alike wondered how to get grime over to North American audiences. In the last two years, it’s finally happened, thanks in no small part to Skepta. But while he may have been the one to open the door, absurdly tall South London MC Stormzy has burst through it with enough force to remove hinge from frame.

On Gang Signs & Prayer, Stormzy serves up a perfect blend of crisp, rapid-fire delivery, aggro battle rap, heartbreaking introspection and surprising R&B sensibility. Stormzy is a perfect poster child for the new wave of clever, pop-savvy grime MCs. Chris Dart

19. Cloud Nothings Life Without Sound (Carpark)

Almost every year, an album is released that immediately stands out from the punk-leaning, guitar-slinging pack. It was Beach Slang a couple years ago, and now it’s Cloud Nothings’ turn with Life Without Sound, a record that sheds any of the extraneous influence of the past and find the band at their most cohesive and emotionally resonant yet.

The shift in sound from previous LP Here and Nowhere Else is noticeable. The guitars are a little less ragged, the hooks maybe not as prominent, but while the intensity has been dialled back, it ends up refocusing the group’s vision, and elevates Cloud Nothings’ sound to the next level. Marked by themes of self-evaluation, isolation and desperation, Dylan Baldi’s lyrics feel relatable, without being cliché. Those moments where Baldi’s emotionally driven lyrics hit hardest seem perfectly balanced against the band’s momentous riffs, which burst from every angle out of the speakers feeling alive and purposeful. Anthony Augustine

18. Full of Hell Trumpeting Ecstasy (Profound Lore)

Following a pair of collaborative albums with experimental noise artists the Body and Merzbow, Full of Hell stripped away a lot of the chaotic noise elements found on those releases for a more focused and cohesive record. In just a little over 20 minutes, Trumpeting Ecstasy finds the grindcore powerhouses launching a savage assault of blast beats and ear-piercing shrieks with just enough variation to let each song stand on its own.

Throughout, the band manage to infuse their abrasive tracks and organized havoc with thoughtfulness and care, as evident on songs like "The Cosmic Vein" and the blisteringly fast onslaught of "Branches of Yew." And though they’ve dialled back the experimental noise here, the band still manage to fit those sounds into the delicate yet aggressive title track. Trumpeting Ecstasy is a slab of viciously hostile grindcore not meant for the faint of heart. Joe Smith-Engelhardt

17. Kelly Lee Owens Kelly Lee Owens (Smalltown Supersound)

Within its few seconds, Kelly Lee Owens’s self-titled debut evokes the familiarity of an old favourite. Her spacious, pop-inflected techno is both vivid and economical, wringing nuanced emotions from simple elements. "S.O" and "Lucid" show the patience of a seasoned pro, enchanting listeners with cozy ambience before introducing a beat, while "C.B.M." and "8" go straight for the throat, showcasing thumping bass and mind-bending drone, respectively.

Owens’ concise, focused lyrics feel naturally expressive, as soothing as a well-worn mantra. Yet she refuses to coddle her listeners, and both "Anxi." and "Throwing Lines" hint at internal discord without breaking the record’s placid surface. Kelly Lee Owens is as invigorating as it is inviting, and it only gets more welcoming with each repeated rotation. Matthew Blenkarn

16. Code Orange Forever (Roadrunner)

Leading up to the release of Forever, Code Orange’s third full-length album, many questions orbited the band and their future: Would the shift from Deathwish Inc. to Roadrunner Records dilute their unrelenting sound? Would Code Orange’s loyalty to producer Kurt Ballou begin to yield stagnant and predictable results? Having demonstrated much promise in the past, but never fully delivering on their potential, Forever had to be the band’s best effort yet.

Code Orange answered by punishing all scepticism with nauseatingly visceral riffs, behemoth breakdowns, jarring passages and concussion-inducing percussion. Forever is the band’s heaviest and most menacing album to date, while offering the most diversity, too. Having been released only two weeks into the year, the record will face much competition in the battle for 2017’s best heavy record, but it’s inarguably in the conversation; this shit is thoroughly, aggressively good. Lukas Wojcicki

15. Oddisee The Iceberg (Mello Music Group)

It’s an understatement to say that many of 2017’s headlines have inspired cultural malaise. But, as usual, tense political climates have led to some seriously reflective music. And Oddisee’s latest project, The Iceberg, recently joined the highest echelon of socially conscious rap albums.

The 12-track LP delivers a healthy dose of social commentary, discussing police brutality, immigration, gender inequality and, of course, Donald Trump’s presidency. In such an unpredictable era, an album like The Iceberg helps listeners make sense of the world while also disseminating an important message: You’re not alone.

But storytelling is only part of the battle when putting together a masterful rap project, and like only a handful of other hip-hop artists, Oddisee produces his own beats. Throughout The Iceberg, the 32-year-old pushes the boundaries of the genre by layering unorthodox instrumentation with dense synths and prominent percussion. Imagine a hip-hop track guided by an organ; Oddisee did, and he made it sound dope. Anya Zoledziowski

14. Thundercat Drunk (Brainfeeder)

Like a wild night out featuring several shots of tequila, Drunk is zany and random, an immensely entertaining journey through Thundercat’s colourful mind.

A blend of angelic vocals, quirky lyrics ("I think I left my wallet at the club," he croons) and dizzying bass lines that defy human logic, Drunk has anthems for every variation of inebriation. There’s the fun and fidgety "Tokyo" for the restless drunk, "Drink Dat" for the flirty lush among you and "Lava Lamp" for the more sombre imbiber. "Friend Zone" plays like the gratifying tipsy text you’ll later regret sending, while "Jethro" feels communal and deeply spiritual, like a heart-to-heart between two buzzed strangers at the bar. Featuring clever, full-bodied production from collaborators like Flying Lotus and Soundwave, Drunk is great at first and gets even richer over time, a merry indulgence without the hangover. A. Harmony

13. Run the Jewels Run the Jewels 3 (Independent)

The political ire of nonconformists El-P and Killer Mike has long been at the forefront of their music, and the same can be said of their latest, Run the Jewels 3, a finely executed confrontation of the ruling class and a perfect closer for their album trilogy.

On top of its gorgeous, hard-hitting production, RTJ3 features help from an impressive list of collaborators including Danny Brown, BOOTS, Trina and Kamasi Washington. Run the Jewels have crafted a sound and style that stands alone, and here, it’s sharpened enough to go for the throat. The duo’s ingenuity is recognizable almost immediately, and impossible to duplicate. If their first two records laid the groundwork for battle, RTJ3 finds the rap iconoclasts in the thick of it. Ashley Hampson

12. The xx I See You (Young Turks)

It seems almost contradictory to say that the xx expanding their sound could make their material more intimate — especially given the way they already wore their emotions on their sleeves — but that’s exactly the case with their third album, I See You.

On their first two records, the band matched lovelorn confessions with spare, reverb-heavy guitars, distant drums and the hushed vocal deliveries of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft. This time around, producer Jamie Smith, fresh off his excellent solo record In Colour, infused the record with his signature sample-driven production style, adding a whole new level of character to the band’s signature sound without distracting from the emotional heft of the songs. The record is easily the band’s most ambitious, but also their most rewarding, featuring gems like Madley Croft’s heartbreaking vocals on "Performance" and the danceable "I Dare You."

Their sound palette has expanded considerably, but so has their conviction as a group, a fact that’s clear from I See You’s beginning to its end. Matt Yuyitung

11. Power Trip Nightmare Logic (Southern Lord)

The "crossover" in crossover thrash is on the continuum of metal to punk, but for Power Trip, there’s a whole other crossover happening — from hardcore underground to metal mainstream. With over 10,000 copies sold, Nightmare Logic is quickly becoming a phenomenon, and with good reason — it’s phenomenal.

While artists worry about a sophomore slump, Power Trip have delivered a sophomore slam dunk, outshining their previous material that is, itself, far from lacklustre. There’s new confidence here: Riley Gale’s powerful snarl is now less reverb-soaked; "Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)" and the title track manage to turn straight-ahead chugs into memorable, headbangable riffs; and the opening groove of "Soul Sacrifice" and the blaring thrash with which "Firing Squad" comes out of the gates are incredible. And that’s just the first half of the album.

Not since Municipal Waste blew "rethrash" open a decade ago with their penchant for partying has a band had a better shot at bringing thrash back to its one-time glory as one of the world’s biggest heavy genres. Bradley Zorgdrager

10. Slowdive Slowdive (Dead Oceans)

Releasing a record is a tricky proposition for any reunited band, let alone one as monumentally adored as Slowdive. Come back half-cocked and you’ll risk disappointing fans; refrain from making anything new, and you’ll leave listeners (and band members alike) wondering what could have been.

The British shoegazers deftly avoid both possibilities with their latest LP (and first in 22 years), a self-titled album filled with woozy atmospherics, ethereal vocals and reverb-drenched guitars that pack the same wallop as crumbling ice shelves.

Slowdive aren’t exactly reinventing themselves here, but with their core songwriters having spent the last two decades in the understated Mojave 3, and the whole band having toured together since 2014, Slowdive is a lean and impressive set of songs that improves upon what they do best. Hell, it might even be the best album of their career; it’s certainly the most fully realized. Matthew Ritchie

9. Joey Bada$$ All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ (Cinematic Music Group/Pro Era)

Joey Bada$$’s second studio LP, All-Amerikkkan Bada$$, was released early this year, debuting at #5 on the Billboard Hot 200. It marked a departure from his debut album; where that record served more as a showcase of his wordplay and an homage to the golden era of hip-hop, this time around, Joey packed his 12-song project with scorching political commentary that aimed to draw awareness from the younger generation of listeners that have come to hold the 22-year-old rapper in high regard.

Alongside releasing political-minded singles "Devastated" and "Land of the Free," Joey claimed that "I was put here on this Earth not only to inspire but to wake people up" in the lead-up to AAB’s release. Having heard its entirety, that makes sense; the album is a defiant assertion of his status as a leader of millennials and a timely collection of (almost) entirely self-produced, anti-establishment anthems Riley Wallace

8. Mac DeMarco This Old Dog (Royal Mountain)

Mac DeMarco, a hero for the kids with his onstage antics and an inspiration to "keep it light" while wearing a pair of seen-better-days red Vans and an equally beatup baseball cap, has become synonymous with goofiness and good times. So when This Old Dog, his third studio album, was announced, it was easy to assume that he’d continue to bring the "jizz jazz" signature sound that he popularized — but he didn’t.

Instead, DeMarco proved to critics and fans alike (likely shocking both a tad) that not only can he pen a great tune, he’s equally capable of bringing the party and pulling at your heartstrings. He’s teased at this sort of softness before, with tracks like "Still Together" from 2 or Salad Days’ "Let My Baby Stay," but This Old Dog’s focuses on sweetly strummed guitars, melodies that provoke nostalgia and lyrics that address love and his estranged father, with a few surprises thrown in (the slinky "On The Level" and bouncy "Baby You’re Out"). It’s a wonderful surprise, and a sweet one, too. Cosette Schulz

7. Jay Som Everybody Works (Polyvinyl)

Melina Duterte has said that her debut album as Jay Som was inspired by Carly Rae Jepsen’s E•MO•TION, a talking point that has reverberated throughout all of her press. True, songs like "Remain" and "One More Time, Please" bear at least some similarity to Jepsen’s more slow-danceable heartbreak anthems, but reducing Everybody Works to this comparison ignores the album’s character and breadth.

"The Bus Song" is an absolutely timeless indie rock sing-along that makes a solid argument for the return of gang vocals, "1 Billion Dogs" is a fuzzed out alterna-banger and "(BedHead)" is ingenious slowcore. The Jepsen comparison is most on-point in that Everybody Works is so perfect that it sounds like it was laboured over by a team of songwriters and hip producers. But it wasn’t — it was recorded by Duterte, alone in her bedroom. Josiah Hughes

6. Drake More Life (Young Money/Cash Money/Republic)

If VIEWS was the angry rebuttable to Drake’s authenticity being challenged, More Life is the realization that introspective and peace-seeking is his most authentic artistic self. While its swollen "playlist" designation allows for a few unnecessary inclusions, the majority of Drake’s tenth full-length project finds him at his absolute finest.

The underlying theme is celebratory, including the sewn-in appraisal for an increasingly varied selection of global influences. For a brief moment a year ago, it looked as if Drake’s unchecked dominance may be coming to an end, a notion that seems ridiculous in retrospect. Emerging as a humble victor suits Drake best, and allows us all to reap the real spoils. Michael J. Warren

5. Mount Eerie A Crow Looked at Me (P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.)

"Death is real."

In the past two decades that Phil Elverum has been singing about mortality, nothing he’s said before has been as hard-hitting, direct and heavy as these three words. Recorded during the months following the death of his wife, Geneviève Castrée, A Crow Looked at Me is a document of Elverum’s thoughts, fears and reality.

But what makes his eighth Mount Eerie LP so compelling is how it stands as an example of peerless art. Elverum couldn’t have been thinking of his fan base, record label or any musical scene while recording these songs; he was creating music out of pure necessity, as the 11 songs featured on this LP are bereft of choruses, bridges or even a proper rhyming structure. A Crow Looked at Me is an album Elverum almost certainly wishes he never had to make, but alas, death is real, and therefore it exists. This resulting meditation on grief is both stark and stunning. Daniel Sylvester

4. Father John Misty Pure Comedy (Sub Pop)

Father John Misty’s all-encompassing Pure Comedy finds Josh Tillman addressing the absurdity of human life, the effect of technology on the way we connect with others and the inherent meaninglessness of being here, but he does it all with shocking affection, in an Elton John-esque guise.

Far from a cynical polemic, Pure Comedy is a monster of a record that is never as hopeless as it may appear. It tries to shine a light on the possibility of a brighter, happier future by pointing out trivialities like the ridiculous weight we ascribe to our online presence ("Ballad of the Dying Man"), or by holding up a mirror to our strange human existence/experiment on its title track.

In its final moments, during "In Twenty Years or So," Tillman drives home just what we can learn from and do with meaninglessness: Find our own meaning. And as he sings, "I look at you as our second drinks arrive / the piano player’s playing ‘This Must Be The Place,’ and it’s a miracle to be alive," it’s clear that beauty and meaning and love are not so hard to find — even in a world that might suggest otherwise. Matt Williams

3. Feist Pleasure (Universal)

Leslie Feist’s first record in over half-a-decade might just be her best. Somewhere between the delicate sophistication of 2007’s The Reminder and the rougher bombast of 2011’s Metals, Pleasure finds Feist at her most dynamic, weaving timbres as seemingly contrary as woodwinds and gain-y blues guitar into songs that swing dramatically from placid to stormy in seconds — and that’s just in the first five minutes of it.

Even at their loudest, these songs are minimal: "I Wish I Didn’t Miss You" climaxes with Feist’s voice wailing through a watery delay effect over just her acoustic guitar; "Any Party" sounds like one when the gang vocals join her and her guitar for the chorus; and the propulsive "Century" is lent almost all of its urgency by a crackling layer of handclaps. They’re simple ingredients, but in Feist’s deft hands, they sound like pure Pleasure. Stephen Carlick

2. Sampha Process (Young Turks)

Though many listeners may have first become acquainted with Sampha through his guest features with Drake or SBTRKT, the UK native has firmly established himself as a solo artist with Process. It isn’t just his buttery tenor that makes his long-awaited debut LP a standout of this year so far, but his talent as both a writer and producer, too.

Drawing on the process of overcoming his mother’s passing and his own personal hurdles in music-making, emotional strength is a thematic constant across the record’s ten tracks, from the percussive drive of piano and drums on "Blood on Me" to the hushed keys and enveloping pads of closer "What Shouldn’t I Be?"

The most powerful moment of Sampha’s Process comes when he strips the electronic wizardry away, though; the breathtaking ballad "(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano" finds him seated at the ivories to lay bare his love for both his mother and music. Calum Slingerland

1. Kendrick Lamar DAMN. (Interscope/Top Dawg Entertainment)

Given music’s subjectivity, and Exclaim!’s long-standing policy of allowing writers to freely express their opinions, our original review of Kendrick Lamar’s latest caused some expected consternation. It’s an album that was praised by some, and fell short for others. After polling the Exclaim! writer’s pool, the overwhelming consensus was that DAMN. is the most beloved album released in 2017 so far.

Over sonically skeletal production, Lamar bares his truths and insecurities, fleshing out the songs with new layers and textures as he dramatizes the various characters he uses to speak on his behalf. He balances societal heartache and ferocious resilience, serving as a mouthpiece to tell the stories of his generation, as well as those before him and after us — and unapologetically, at that. The war chants of "DNA." and the introspective depth of "DUCKWORTH." offer jolting insights into the lives of young black Americans, while the animated "HUMBLE." and daunting "PRIDE." explore the waves of fear and acceptance that come with that day-to-day existence.

Whether you love DAMN. or not, for all that it stands for thematically, you have to admire Lamar for laying it all out on the table. Erin Lowers

View Full Article Here: Exclaim!’s Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far

Exclaim!’s Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far was originally published on CALM | We Drive The Calmest, Strive Regardless