The Year In Music, 2017

This is weird: i just looked at the stats page for this blog and i seem to have more readers in Portugal than anywhere else in the world!  But that's just an aside.

I bought quite a lot of CDs this year -- far more than usual -- and here's the complete list (which excludes digital downloads, of which there were also a few).

Some of these were replacements for old vinyl, which i can no longer play, and replacements have been marked with an asterisk.

Dan Fogelberg & Tim Weisberg – No Resemblance Whatsoever               
Jane Siberry – Angels Bend Closer               
Steeleye Span – Dodgy Bastards               
Joan Osborne – Sings The Songs Of Bob Dylan               
Dan Fogelberg – Love In Time               
Fairport Convention – 50:50@50               
The Cure – Greatest Hits               
Ray Davies – Americana               
Mike Oldfield – Return To Ommadawn               
Dan Fogelberg – Live In Colorado 1972               
*Harmonium – L'Heptade XL               
Peter Hammill – Live At Rockpalast – Hamburg 1981               
Big Wreck – Grace Street               
Memphis Minnie –The Essential Recordings               
Elvin Bishop – The Best Of Elvin Bishop               
Robin Trower – Day Of The Eagle               
*Peter Gabriel – Passion               
Caro Emerald – Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor               
Caro Emerald – The Shocking Miss Emerald               
*Various Artists – Passion Sources               
Dan Fogelberg – Live At Carnegie Hall               
Sheryl Crow – Be Myself               
Caro Emerald – Acoustic Sessions Parts I & II               
Caro Emerald – Emerald Island               
*Ashley Hutchings – By Gloucester Docks I Sat Down And Wept               
Seether – Poison The Parish               
Paula Cole – Ballads               
Katrina And The Waves – Walking On Sunshine               
*Jonathan Edwards – Jonathan Edwards               
The Tragically Hip – Yer Favourites               
*Talk Talk – Spirit Of Eden               
*Yes – Tales From Topographic Oceans               
*Five Hand Reel – Five Hand Reel / For A' That / Earl O' Moray               
John Hiatt – Anthology               
*Runrig – The Cutter And The Clan               
*Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Trilogy               
Jeff Beck – Live At The Hollywood Bowl               
Richard Thompson – Acoustic Classics II               
*Idjah Hadidjah – Tonggeret               
*The Bothy Band – Old Hag You Have Killed Me               
*Planxty – The Well Below The Valley               
*Planxty – Cold Blow And The Windy Night               
Kathleen Edwards – Back To Me               
John Kirkpatrick – Coat Tails Flying               
*Eagles – One Of These Nights               
Various Artists – A Tribute To Dan Fogelberg               
Caro Emerald – The Shocking Miss Emerald (Deluxe Edition)               
The Boswell Sisters – Shout, Sister, Shout!               
Peter Hammill – From The Trees               
Billy Joel – The Essential Billy Joel               
Caro Emerald – Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor (Platinum Edition)               
Son Volt – Notes Of Blue               
*Robin Trower -- B.L.T / Truce               
*Joni Mitchell – Court And Spark               
*Joni Mitchell – Don Juan's Reckless Daughter

I must admit, i have completely fallen in love with Caro Emerald's music since i first heard it, early in 2017. She's a huge star in Europe but little-known in North America, and she is my new favourite singer. Her debut album, "Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor," gets the award for Best Album I Bought This Year without a doubt. (It was released in 2009.)

The best replacement was probably Idjah Hadidjah's "Tonggeret" -- she's a Sundanese singer and it's world / ethnic music and when i first heard it in the seventies, it completely kickstarted an interest in world / ethnic music that has never diminished.
 

           
Rumours that music is dead are nonsense. The music industry is a joke now, CDs are dying (except in my house) because everyone downloads everything, and if you've listened to top 40 radio recently you'll know that it's a nightmare. But music itself? Alive and well and thriving!