Best reissues/collections of 97:



Sci-Fi Lullabies would be in the 6-pack, but its all previously released b-sides. Great package though.

Awful year.





You Am I "Hourly Daily"
Richard Buckner "Devotion + Doubt"
Ween "The Mollusk"
Chuck Prophet "Homemade Blood"
Greg Brown "Slant 6 Mind"
Neko Case "The Virginian"

Donnie Fritts - Everybody's got a song
Fred Eaglesmith - Lipstick, Lies and Gasoline
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call
James Mathus & His Knockdown Society - Songs for Rosetta
Ron Sexsmith - Other Songs
Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac

+1: BVSC

RYM had Caetano Veloso - Livros as 1997 but AMG had it as 1998 so i didn't include it. I suspect RYM is right but whatever...

son volt : straightaways
teenage fanclub : songs from northern britain
cotton mather : kontiki
bob dylan : time out of mind
elliott smith : either/or
guided by voices : mag earwig

+1
richard buckner
ron sexsmith
whiskeytown
chuck prophet
neko case
jim white

And M. Cap beat me to it.

HUGE +1s for:
GBV
Teenage Fanclub (their best album, IMO)

+1
Elliot Smith
Nick Cave
Spiritualized

I think that it wasn't a bad year at all, actually.

Excellent year.

+1
Radiohead
Stereolab
SFA





Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
Smog – Red Apple Falls
Squarepusher – Big Loada
Mouse on Mars – Instrumentals
Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West
Aphex Twin – Come to Daddy

Really hate to cut it off here. I like my next 10 choices very nearly as much as these 6.

Those Mogwai, Buena Vista Social Club, Daft Punk, Ween, Guided By Voices, and The Sea and Cake albums are all really good, too.

Wow! This was tough to limit to 6. This year was WAY better than I remember...

+1's for: Buena Vista SC, Cornershop, Guided By Voices, Sea & Cake, Yo La Tengo, Radiohead.



Elf Power--When The Red King Comes
Matmos--Matmos
Blur--Blur
Wyclef Jean--The Carnival
Storm & Stress--Storm & Stress
Sleater-Kinney--Dig Me Out

Plus a lot of others not mentioned yet that I could +1.

Here's one I certainly overlooked -
Jim O'Rourke - Bad Timing

and a few more.....

Blue Mountain - Homegrown
Slobberbone - Barrel Chested
16 Horsepower - Low Estate
Lost Highway - soundtrack
Ida - Ten Small Paces

Bad Timing sits just outside the 6 I posted. One of my faves.

Bonus round for me (since most everyone who's going to has probably already posted):

Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On
Cornelius - Fantasma
Grandaddy - Under the Western Freeway
Björk – Homogenic
Palace Music – Lost Blues and Other Songs
µ-Ziq – Lunatic Harness

You guys hit most of them, but I'll add:

Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape (in retrospect, the only good/great album they ever made or ever will make)
Push Kings - Push Kings
Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On
Apples In Stereo - Tone Soul Evolution
Luna - Pup Tent
Pavement - Brighten The Corners

Special shout out to Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole which was seemingly everywhere that year and still gets an occasional spin on my car ipod.

Ego Summit - The Room Isn't Big Enough
Dead Moon - Hard Wired In Ljubljana
Bassholes - Deaf Mix Vol 3
Karp - S/t
Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments - You Lookin' For Treble
Urinals - Negative Capability... Check It Out!