Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Morning Edition Looks Back On Some Of The Best Albums Of 2017

Ron Miles' I Am a Man is one of the best albums of 2017.

Thomas J. Krebs/Courtesy of the artist

NOEL KING, PHIL HARRELL, NOEL KING
December 26, 20175:00 AM ET

NPR's Noel King and David Greene look back on a year of great music releases with writers who cover the various genres.

Lee Ann Womack, The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone
"Lee Ann Womack is sort of a modern traditionalist; she was a mainstream hitmaker in the late 90's, and she's in a different phase of her career now. With this particular album, she kind of is trying to get to what she feels like is the emotional core of country music: it's melancholy." - Jewly Hight

SZA, CTRL
"This album is about control, something that women are constantly struggling to obtain, whether that's in relationships or whether that's professionally, socially. SZA really just came forward and said, 'I took control of my own narrative, and I want you as women to understand that you can take control of your own narrative.' And it just came out at a time where I was getting over a breakup or whatever you want to call it — it was complicated! You know, I was clinging to this album because it was so restorative for me." - Kiana Fitzgerald (Complex)

Ron Miles, I Am a Man

"Ron Miles is just a beautiful musician; he's someone with this tone that's like liquid gold. On this album, he applies that gorgeous sensibility to a sort of reflection on civil rights, identity, on justice. There were so many ambitious and envelope-pushing albums made by jazz musicians in 2017. This is a subtler accomplishment but what it does is it really establishes this kind of soulful beauty. And I found myself in a year of turbulence and conflict reaching for it again and again. You know, it was replenishing. It was salutary. It was something that made me feel good. You know, it's just a beautiful statement." - Nate Chinen (WBGO)

read more: https://www.npr.org/2017/12/26/573021480/morning-edition-looks-back-on-some-of-the-best-albums-of-2017

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