NPR All Things Considered Best Lists of 2017!

https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/12/18/570799909/poll-results-all-songs-considered-listeners-100-favorite-albums-of-2017

You can hear and view the chosen ones at the link above, or see the top ten right here:

Listener Picks: Top 100 Albums Of 2017

1. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN.
2. Lorde, Melodrama
3. St. Vincent, Masseduction
4. The War on Drugs, A Deeper Understanding
5. The National, Sleep Well Beast
6. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Nashville Sound
7. LCD Soundsystem, American Dream
8. SZA, CTRL
9. Big Thief, Capacity
10. Father John Misty, Pure Comedy

As someone who has been… not a fan, of what I have heard from Kendrick Lamar; needless to say this list is not my top ten list (that is coming) but this is a start.

Quite frankly listening to their top ten selections…. not a fan of this list, however there are some standouts. Your mileage may vary.

Stay tuned for more lists, and hopefully a few I even agree with. 🙂

 

And a quick aside on Kendrick Lamar, I do not get it.

As someone who is not a stranger to call and response, to ballads,to instrumental, to folk, to blues, to country, to soul, to rock , to spoken word, to rap, to hip-hop to avant garde, I am no stranger to good music and bad music.

So, put the records of say Oddisee or Childish Gambino against any of the records of Kendrick Lamar, for me the work is not even in the same league.

Oddisee and Gambino and tons of others have music that is creative and enjoyable, for me the work of Kendrick Lamar is  full of a couple of curse words repeated, and some not compelling rhyming.

I’m not an Eminem fan, but you can’t argue he can put out FANTASTIC music, I can see where the praise comes from for him.

I just don’t see it for Kendrick Lamar, all his praised albums, I don’t just find them not great, I find them not good, and a chore to listen to.

Give me IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE or PUBLIC ENEMY or SNOOP DOG  if you want to talk great rappers, but Kendrick Lamar???.

I mean congratulations for his success and if you are one of the people who love him, great.

However, I just find his across the board praise by critics… inexplicable. Truly a case of the Emperor has no clothes.

 

Okay, off my soap box, and I’ll have my list up soon.