Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 15 – 11

We’re halfway there, folks. Things only get better from here.

#15 – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Flying Microtonal Banana

The year of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard began with the first of their five planned releases for 2017.  Yes, five.  Flying Microtonal Banana unleashes the band’s new obsession with microtones and provided a link between their outstanding Nonagon Infinity to the rest of their catalogue.

#14  – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Murder of the Universe

Easily the craziest album of the year for me, the second release from KGATLW of 2017 is a concept album about a man turned into a cyborg by a giant monster.  That man then decides the only way to end his suffering is to destroy the universe so he can finally embrace death.

#13 – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard with Mild High Club – Sketches of Brunswick East

Yes, that’s three KGATLW albums in a row in my top 15.  This one, a joint effort with Mild High Club, is my favorite and the mellowest.  It’s a delightful change from the heaviness of Murder of the Universe and has some of their best psychedelic grooves.

#12 – Jackie Shane – Any Other Way

This is probably the best reissue of the year.  In case you didn’t know (and many of us didn’t), Jackie Shane was a talented performer on the soul scene in the 1950’s and 1960’s who gained most of her fame in Canada and then disappeared into obscurity almost as fast as she became a star.  She also did this while being a transgendered black woman during a time when openly living in a such a way was a great way to get thrown in jail or worse.  This double-disc album is eye-opening and jaw-dropping.  You’ll be amazed that you’ve never heard her before and want to her more of her all the time.

#11 – Zombie Zombie – Livity

I almost forgot how much I missed France’s Zombie Zombie until I heard them again on this new album.  It’s an expansive soundscape of sci-fi synths, processed beats, and mood-shifting analog sounds.  You need this if you’re into electro, synthwave, or altering your reality.

Who’s in the top ten?  Come back soon, my friends!

Keep your mind open.

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Zombie Zombie – Livity

French synth wave / electro trio Zombie Zombie (Etienne Jaumet – synths and saxophone, Cosmic Neman – drums, vocals, and effects, and Dr. Schonberg – percussion, electronics, and trumpet) didn’t want us to walk out of 2017 without dancing, so they’ve brought a new album full of vintage analog synth dance grooves and mood-changing tracks on their new album Livity.

The title track alone is worth the purchase price.  The title refers to a Rastafarian term for “life force.”  It’s almost nine minutes of head-bopping beats, haunting synth bass, and synths that are straight out of your 1980’s dreams.  Put this in your earbuds and your perception of the world around you will shift.  “Ils Existent” moves along with hypnotizing sci-fi synth loops until Neman’s wicked drum licks almost turn the song into an action movie theme.  The percussion on “Hippocampe” is so damn good it might make you lose your mind.  Jaumet’s synths build and build to wind you up and the whole song morphs into a cosmic journey around the 2:40 mark.

Zombie Zombie were the highlight of Levitation Austin 2015 for my wife and I, and the funky, acid jazzy “Looose” is an example of why that was the case. “When you have nothing to lose, it gets groovier,” Neman sings as his drums seem to fall off their kit in the chaos of the song.  “Acera” gets us back to the sci-fi themes of the album with spaceship dance club beats and alien menace buzzes and bleeps.

“Heavy Meditation” would’ve fit in perfectly on the Blade Runner 2049 score.  It’s perfect for scoring some soba noodle soup in a rainy downtown future L.A. while flirting with a replicant prostitute.  The closer “Lune Noire” is a dark, simulated rainy night on a lonely space station near a fading super nova encapsulated into a 4:52 song.

Livity is one of the best electro albums of the year.  It’s especially impressive when you consider the seven tracks were recorded live in just seven days.  Zombie Zombie continues to explore new ground in the synth world an experiment with sounds you don’t seem to have heard before now.  Get into this groove and live.

Keep your mind open.

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