Top 25 Personal Favorites of 2017

For the record: That picture is not of me. I am not a teen girl. But when I typed "2017 Music Favorites" into Google Image Search, this image popped up and I thought it was too funny not to use. But it's probably only funny to me. Oh well. No one ever reads this post anyway.

In case you wanted to know what songs I was jamming to this year that the rest of the world may have not picked up on, here's a list of my 25 personal favorites from 2017. None of these songs were featured in my year-end hit music blog the other day, but they were all released in 2017 or would at least have been eligible for the Billboard 2017 Hot 100 year-end list, and thus could have qualified had the idiots who do A&R at the major record labels been paying attention to quality music this year. One day they'll all reach out and give me their jobs. Anyway, here's the list (in alphabetical order, with a Spotify playlist at the bottom)!


Alina Baraz featuring Khalid- "Electric (R3hab Remix)":  Alina Baraz has shown up on this list before with her slow jam "Maybe." This one, since it's a remix, hits a little harder, but it still produces a nice blissed-out vibe that kept me listening all year.

Bebe Rexha- "I Got You":  This was a pretty big hit this year, so I was surprised to see it missed the Billboard year-end list, but i had to make sure people still knew it. Bebe is one of the best female pop stars out there right now in terms of music quality, so I hope she continues to figure prominently in 2018.

Big Shaq- "Man's Not Hot":  Yeah, I had to do it. Following in the footsteps of parody-turned-meme Roll Safe, Big Shaq has quite possibly done more to take grime international than anyone who ever did it seriously. And to be honest, I'm not positive he isn't at least kinda serious now. It's a bit like "Gangnam Style"- sometimes the parody is better (and bigger) than the original.

Calvin Harris featuring Future & Khalid- "Rollin":  It was a tight battle between this, "Slide," and "Feels," but I think I'd give this the nod as the best song off Calvin Harris' album this year. Khalid broke out in a big way this year as a vocalist and I hope we hear more of the pride of El Paso next year.

CAZZETTE- "Oceans":  Wow, looks like this one is a super deep cut from Cazzette. They've had some pretty big hits in the EDM world but this one has only 40,000 views on Youtube, and no official release. That's right, I'm turning you on to stuff you could have never found on your own over here. You're welcome.

Clean Bandit & Marina and the Diamonds- "Disconnect":  Hardcore Clean Bandit fans (Fandits, as they're called) have been waiting for years for an official release of this song, which was teased live at Coachella back in 2015. Finally, this summer they (we) got what they (we) were waiting for. Listen and decide for yourself if this one is worth the wait. I lean towards yes.

Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson- "Symphony":  I'm pretty much speechless that this song didn't make a bigger impact on the U.S. charts. It was absolutely one of the best pop songs of the year, and would have probably been #1 on my list had it qualified. This pairing is pretty much perfect, and I hope Zara Larsson features on at least one more Clean Bandit song at some point.

Ed Sheeran- "Castle On The Hill (SeeB Remix)":  Good god, how did Ed Sheeran get on this list? Someone must have made a mist- oh wait, it's a SeeB remix. Never mind, makes total sense now. To be fair, this was probably already my favorite Ed Sheeran song (not saying much, I admit) but since SeeB was probably my number 1 artist of 2016, it's only right that they make one appearance in 2017.

Electric Guest- "Oh Devil":  If you're watching the music video to this, you might be going, hey, that singer getting Wendy Peffercorn'd on the pool deck looks awfully familiar. And that's because it's Asa Taccone, brother of Jorma from The Lonely Island. And as such, he also got Will Forte to star in this video, which toes the line between comedy and real-music. Asa also wrote and produced the 2017 mega-hit "Feel It Still," so it's safe to say his hands were all over some pretty awesome and influential music this year.

Kato & Sigala featuring Hailee Steinfeld- "Show You Love":  Listening to this song should give you no surprise as to how it wound up on this list. Deep house with a piano break and powerful female vocals=top 25 of the year, every year, every time. Couldn't be an easier formula. No, I'm not ashamed.

Kiiara featuring Felix Snow- "Whippin":  I can't believe they let Kiiara film this video in the Miami projects featured in, like, every South Florida rap video between 2005 and 2010. I can't imagine those residents were too thrilled to let a white girl from suburban Illinois stunt all over their property. Anyway, I guess you could say this was a guilty pleasure for me in 2017.

Kygo featuring Ellie Goulding- "First Time": Here's another song that should have been way bigger than it was in 2017. This was the best Kygo song of the year, and one of the best period. For me, it was the second-most played song of the year. We'll get to #1 soon, but this one got worn out big-time, despite the weird sibling-love-frozen-in-time video.

Kygo & Oliver Nelson featuring Bonnie McKee- "Riding Shotgun": I love Kygo, I love Oliver Nelson, and I love Bonnie McKee, so it's no surprise then when all three teamed up for this one, I couldn't believe my good luck. My only complaint? This song should be at least three minutes longer, like most Oliver Nelson songs are. I could listen to it all day and all night, and then again the next day.

LEON- "Sleep Deprived": 2017 was a bit quieter than 2016 for my favorite Swedish permanently-scorned lover, LEON. Nevertheless, this one came out back in January and kept me feeling guilty for things I didn't do all year. Get some sleep, girl. The sun barely comes out this time of year in Sweden, anyway. You're not missing anything.

Maroon 5- "Visions": Time for another deep album cut! If you haven't listened to Maroon 5's new album Red Pill Blues, don't worry. While the whole thing is surprisingly good (problematic title aside), the real standout track is this one. I can never get enough cod reggae (aka the blue-eyed soul of Caribbean music), so this Dirty Heads-written track has been the one keeping me going through these cold winter months. Listen and be transported to Jamaica...or at least Orange County.

Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa- "Scared To Be Lonely": Here's another track from back at the beginning of 2017. I'm a big fan of both artists so it was no surprise that their collaboration got into my heavy rotation in the early part of the year. No, it's not the most memorable song of 2017, but it was a good, solid track that helped me get to spring. Can you tell I'm ready for spring already?

Matoma & MAGIC! featuring DRAM- "Girl At Coachella": What did I just say about cod reggae? Yeah, I'm into it. So Matoma and Magic! making a song together was the perfect blend of Jamaica and Norway, with a dash of Tidewater Virginia in the form of DRAM. To me, this was a major contender for song of the summer in 2017.

ODESZA featuring WYNNE & Mansionair- "Line Of Sight": We had a lot of confusing collaborations this year. We also had a stunning number of all-caps-stylized names. This song combines both, as well as having one of most memorable riffs of the year. ODESZA's album was one of the best to come out this year, and this was the standout single. I think they've proven themselves to be here to stay.

Sean Paul & Dua Lipa- "No Lie": I guess Dua Lipa was the go-to featured artist this year for songs I wanted to hear. And yes, once again, we have a Caribbean sound here, but this time it's done by someone with a little more, dare I say, street cred. I think Sean Paul is beyond reproach at this point.

Snakehips featuring M0- "Don't Leave": M0 (yes, I know there should be a slash through the 0; no, I have no idea how to type that, stupid Scandinavians) is one of the best vocalists in pop music these days, so it's no surprise that she shows up here. Snakehips' beats complement her voice perfectly, and this was another midtempo song that worked for nearly any occasion this year.

SNBRN & BLU J featuring Cara Frew- "You Got Me": SNBRN burst on the scene big-time in 2016 and managed to follow up with at least one more standout song in 2017. Time will tell if they can keep it up for a third year, but at least we'll always have this one to remember.

Sub Focus featuring ALMA- "Don't You Feel It": If I hadn't bound myself to an alphabetical order for this list, I'd have put this last. This was my most-played song of 2017, and I was not surprised to learn that statistic. It was also my favorite song. It's probably not the most original, groundbreaking track you'll hear, but to me it was comfort food. No matter how much the world changes, certain sounds will always keep me coming back, and Sub Focus doing radio-friendly, accessible tracks like these is an ironclad guarantee to make me smile and tap my feet.

The Chainsmokers featuring Emily Warren- "My Type": Another album cut here. This was one of the softer tracks on the Chainsmokers' new album, and Emily Warren's vocals are what really make it. She's extraordinarily talented and I hope she can get out from their shadow and emerge on her own in 2018.

Tim Legend- "Hope": Here was one of the most blissed-out beats of 2017. I couldn't hear this one without stopping what I was doing and just enjoying it. To me, that's what music is for. That probably explains the almost complete lack of any music with substantive lyrics, well, ever on any of my best-of lists. Sounds, not words, people. Not a difficult concept. Enjoy!

Wilkinson- "Faded": Final song on the list, and possibly the deepest album cut on here- only 600 Youtube views as of this writing. I'll be checking back on that in a few days to see if my link moved the needle. If so, I expect royalty checks. Thanks in advance!

That'll do it for my personal favorites of 2017 list. Let Wilkinson's drum&bass sounds take you smoothly into 2018. See you next year!