Check out the playlist on the main blog page as I keep updating this post to reflect the countdown :)
Top 25 of 2017 (based on most listens - updated daily from Nov 30 - Dec 24)
#19 Propagandhi — Victory Lap - a cracker of an album, with an earlier release date this would have been way higher. These guys are one of those bands that you discover later than everyone else yet they change your perspective on music. Brutal honesty combined with harmony, melody and riffs. Do better, I dare you (I can't btw)
#20 The War on Drugs — A Deeper Understanding - Another record I only came across by recommendation. I'm sure I've been snobby about this band before thinking it was one of those bands that only the Triple J elite types listened to 'cause no one else did... but I opened my ears and it opened my eyes 'cause these guys are really good, and the songs here... oh man... just have a listen!
#21 Weezer — Pacific Daydream - Rivers Cuomo has written some of the catchiest songs I've ever heard, he's also written some pretty average ones too. Interestingly on this record he's chosen to work with pop songwriters which can often be anathema to longtime fans (see: Linkin Park) but I don't mind the results here. Some patchiness but if "Weekend Woman" isn't stuck in your mind for days after hearing it there's not much more I can do for you!
#22 Ryan Adams — Prisoner - Once, way back, when I thought Ryan Adams was a typo, I didn't give a work colleague's recommendation a second thought. Then I heard the album "Gold", if I'm honest it's because I found it at work and was bored with everything else I'd been listening to. Since then has hardly been a dedicated following but I've kept an eye on what Mr Adams has done. The Taylor Swift cover album was an interesting PR experiment and other releases have piqued my interest but Prisoner, in my opinion, is his most solid in years. A good listen start to finish, something I've done more than a few times this year.
#23 Rag'n'Bone Man — Human - I think I first saw this bloke on the Graham Norton show, colour me guilty of judging a book etc... from the first utterance of his vocal I was blown away. He's on the Bluesfest line-up too and I am keen!
#24 Bernard Fanning — Brutal Dawn - Funny one this, Powderfinger were such a huge part of my formative music experiences that I really want to like their solo offerings too, so I repeat play them... yet it seems to happen so rarely. There was a great song (Wasting Time) on the companion record "Civil Dusk" but nothing so standout here. His impassioned performance at Inland Sea convinced me to go back for a listen and I might find something yet...
#25 Meg Mac — Low Blows - an album I really started to appreciate after seeing Meg perform at Bathurst's Inland Sea of Sound. Simple, catchy, melodic songs. Nice work.
Honourable mentions to: Pallbearer - Heartless; Kyle Lionhart - Eleven & Two; Holy Holy - Paint, The Contortionist - Clairvoyant and Busby Marou - Postcards from the Shell House, apologies but you missed out by one single play (according to Last.fm)... good records though!