Feature | Best of 2017
Best
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2017
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By By Ca Cameron meron Carr Carr & & Geena Geena Kloe It’s hard to conside Kloepp ppel el r 2017 without ge tting lost in all the and uncertainty tha nationwide (and wo t defined the year. rldwide, for that ma Facing our nation’s fects continue to se tter) chaos political turmoil ha ep into our daily live s been far from ea or horrified at how s. Are we happy ab sy as the efdeeply ingrained out national attem sexual misconduct pts to confront se resilience through xual violence has become in ou resistance or has r cu it regressed to an oppressive state tha lture? Has society proven its While the nation t requires resisting as a whole struggle ? s with its identity, the world around music has carried us and sometimes on, sometimes ex offering a reprieve 21st century trend pli . cit In New York City, of “doing it yours elf,” musicians have co ly noting their own or doing ntinued the something truly the giving rise to new voices and new ide ir own, in 2017, NY C musicians embra ntities. Whether doing it on ced their persona l potential.
DOING IT FOR YOURSELF
In some cases, DIY means home recording, like Soccer Mommy’s homemade Collection (which was probably recorded mostly in Nashville before the band’s move, but we’re claiming the band now) and Florist’s excellent self-recorded sophomore release, If Blue Could Be Happiness that somehow gave an even gentler touch and a more soothing ambience to Emily Sprague’s poetic musings.
Other releases, though generally recorded in more traditional studio settings, continued the city’s legacy for bedroom popstyle sounds. Lexie, the Frankie Cosmos/Warehouse side project, quietly released Record Time, which lives up to both bands’ past achievements, and Poppies put out the stellar 12
the deli Winter 2018
Good EP. Both releases offer head bopping melodies, jangling guitars, and a bedroom pop intimacy. Maintaining a similar intimacy, Strawberry Runners put out the In The Garden EP with a soft but eclectic sound that nods to both indie pop and folk. Earlier in the year, Vagabon took a similarly varied approach with Infinite Worlds. Laetitia Tamko, the engineer turned indie musician behind Vagabon, writes startlingly sincere music that falls into the indie rock spectrum without getting tied down by the genres typical characteristics, often pairing radio inspired synthetic beats with punk rock bursts of energy. Last year, in The Deli’s feature on the best music from NYC artists in 2016, we emphasized that female musicians were creating many of the most engaging and inspiring releases. As evidenced by the artists mentioned above, that movement