2017 has brought new music from both familiar faces like Spoon, Father John Misty and Sylvan Esso, along with newcomers Jay Som, Overcoats and more. We heard the first new album from Gorillaz since 2011, and the first from Slowdive in 22 years.
As we reach the halfway point of the year, the CPR's OpenAir staff members have selected their favorite releases of the first six months of 2017. Below, you'll find individual lists, music videos and a Spotify playlist that rounds up highlights from these releases.
Enjoy the music, and join us on-air Tuesday, July 4, when we'll feature music released in 2017 from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Mike Flanagan
- Father John Misty - "Pure Comedy"
- Spoon - "Hot Thoughts"
- Overcoats - "YOUNG"
- The xx - "I See You"
- The Mountain Goats - "Goths"
- The Magnetic Fields - "50 Song Memoir"
- Hurray For The Riff Raff - "The Navigator"
- Los Campesinos - "Sick Scenes"
- Nick Hakim - "Green Twins"
- The Black Angels - "Death Song"
Jessi Whitten
- Big Thief - "Capacity"
- Sampha - "Process"
- Low Cut Connie - "Dirty Pictures (Part 1)"
- Sylvan Esso - "What Now"
- Hurray For The Riff Raff - "The Navigator"
- Slowdive - "Slowdive"
- Future Islands - "The Far Field"
- Chicano Batman - "Freedom Is Free"
- Vagabon - "Infinite Worlds"
- Land Of Talk - "Life After Youth"
Jeremy Petersen
- Slowdive - "Slowdive"
- Jay Som - "Everybody Works"
- The Mountain Goats - "Goths"
- Los Campesinos - "Sick Scenes"
- Spoon - "Hot Thoughts"
- Elbow - "Little Fictions"
- Sampha - "Process"
- Algiers - "The Underside Of Power"
- The Magnetic Fields - "50 Song Memoir"
- Happyness - "Write In"
Alisha Sweeney
- Feist - "Pleasure"
- Slowdive - "Slowdive"
- Hurray For The Riff Raff - "The Navigator"
- The xx - "I See You"
- Kendrick Lamar - "DAMN."
- Low Cut Connie - "Dirty Pictures (Part 1)"
- Thundercat - "Drunk"
- Spoon - "Hot Thoughts"
- Future Islands - "The Far Field"
- Brother Ali - "All The Beauty In This Whole Life"
Colorado Albums:
- Inner Oceans - "I Don't Mind"
- Tennis - "Yours Conditionally"
- Flobots - "No Enemies"
- Natalie Tate - "Broken Open"
- Brent Cowles - "Cold Times"
- Patrick Dethlefs - "Beauty in the Unknown"
- Dragondeer - "The Topanga Sessions, Vol. 1"
- Shady Elders - "Inside Voices"
- The Still Tide - "Run Out"
- Kyle Emerson - "Worth It"
Scott Carney
- (Sandy) Alex G - "Rocket"
- Big Thief - "Capacity"
- Flo Morrissey & Matthew E. White - "Gentlewoman, Ruby Man"
- Kendrick Lamar - "DAMN."
- Kevin Morby - "City Music"
- Marika Hackman - "I'm Not Your Man"
- Perfume Genius - "No Shape"
- Priests - "Nothing Feels Natural"
- Thundercat - "Drunk"
- Sneaks - "It's A Myth"
Alicia Bruce Mitchell
- Hurray For The Riff Raff - "The Navigator"
- Chicano Batman - "Freedom Is Free"
- Overcoats - "YOUNG"
- Mariachi Flor De Toloache - "Las Caras Lindas"
- Bad Cop/Bad Cop - "Warriors"
- Kendrick Lamar - "DAMN."
- Making Movies - "I Am Another You"
- Vagabon - "Infinite Worlds"
- Low Cut Connie - "Dirty Pictures (Part 1)"
- Father John Misty - "Pure Comedy"
Brandee Castle
- Kendrick Lamar - "DAMN."
- Alt-J - "Relaxer"
- Maggie Rogers - "Now That The Light Is Fading EP"
- Overcoats - "YOUNG"
- Sampha - "Process"
- Valerie June - "The Order Of Time"
- Dan Auerbach - "Waiting on a Song"
- Benjamin Booker - "Witness"
- Thundercat - "Drunk"
- Brother Ali - "All The Beauty In This Whole Life"
Daniel Mescher
- Mount Eerie - “A Crow Looked At Me”
- Priests - “Nothing Feels Natural”
- Chastity Belt - “I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone”
- The Courtneys - “II”
- Aimee Mann - “Mental Illness”
- Kendrick Lamar - “DAMN.”
- Thundercat - “Drunk”
- Pharmakon - “Contact”
- Cherry Glazerr - "Apocalipstick"
- Marika Hackman - “I’m Not Your Man”
