Associate Poetry Editor Luke Stromberg brings you his favorite music of 2017. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, we have also included a Spotify playlist of his favorite songs for you to enjoy.

Favorite Albums of 2017

1. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – The Nashville Sound
(Highlights: “If We Were Vampires,” “Last of my Kind,” and “Hope the High Road”)

2. The War on Drugs – A Deeper Understanding
(Highlights: “Holding On,” “Thinking of a Place,” and “Pain”)

3. Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile – Lotta Sea Lice
(Highlights: “Over Everything,” “Fear is a Forest,” and “Continental Breakfast”)

4. Robert Plant – Carry Fire
(Highlights: “Bones of Saints,” “Carry Fire,” and “Bluebirds Over the Mountain”)

5. Chris Stapleton – From A Room Vol. 1
(Highlights: “Second One to Know,” “Up to No Good Livin'”; and “Them Stems”)

6. Jade Jackson – Gilded
(Highlights: “Good Time Gone,” “No Guarantees,” and “Motorcycle”)

7. Randy Newman – Dark Matter

(Highlights: “Sonny Boy,” “She Chose Me,” and “It’s a Jungle Out There (V2)” )

8. Arcade Fire – Everything Now

(Highlights: “Put Your Money on Me,” “Creature Comfort,” and “Everything Now”)

9. Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm
(Highlights: “The Same Love That Made Me Laugh,” “Honey Bad,” and “Just How Low”)

10. Ron Gallo – Heavy Meta

(Highlights: “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me”; “All the Punks are Domesticated”; and “Poor Traits of the Artist”)

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Favorite Songs of 2017

1. “If We Were Vampires” – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
2. “Good Time Gone” – Jade Jackson
3. “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me” – Ron Gallo
4. “Thinking of a Place” – The War on Drugs
5. “Honey Bad” – Robert Cray and Hi Rhythm
6. “Over Everything” – Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile
7. “The Power” – Sweet Spirit
8. “Sonny Boy” – Randy Newman
9. “A Little Uncanny” – Conor Oberst
10. “Bones of Saints” – Robert Plant
11. “Way Out West” – Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives
12. “Find Yourself” – Lukas Nelson and The Promise of the Real (with Lady Gaga)
13. “Ballad of a Dying Man” – Father John Misty
14. “Second One To Know” – Chris Stapleton
15. “There’s a Flaw in my Flue” – Bob Dylan