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Jul 13, 2017 By Mark Redfern Big Thief

In the past we’ve avoided posting midyear best albums lists. It seemed somehow impatient and premature to evaluate the year’s albums halfway through. And how do you decide which period the list covers, which arbitrary release date do you work out is the cut off point, as every midyear list seems to cover a different period? But 2017 is a year that demands a partial evaluation. The first half of the year has already produced enough strong albums to easily fill a Top 50, but also the second half of 2017 is stacked with so many high profile releases that threaten to overshadow some of the gems released so far. For example, we’ve already heard some August and September releases that we’re certain will make the upper echelons of our final best albums of 2017 list come December.

To make this list an album had to be released for the first time (no reissues) somewhere between January 1, 2017 and last Friday, July 7. That means there are some good albums out tomorrow (such as Waxahatchee, Japanese Breakfast, and The Dears) that may made this list had we extended the period that far. Fourteen of our writers and editors (including myself and my co-publisher/wife Wendy Redfern) each submitted a list of their 20 favorite albums released this year thus far. Their number one album was worth 20 points, their number two worth 19 points, and so on until their number 20 album and any honorable mentions were worth one point each. All of that was calculated into the final list. By the way, this year we’ve interviewed 38 of the artists in the Top 50 and reviewed almost all these albums, so continue reading Under the Radar, both in print and online, for further proof that in-depth music journalism is far from dead.

Click here to read the full list in our list section.

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