#22 years and it's still an unparalleled core theme

[beevean]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Investigation ~ Core 2001

[sinner-as-saint]

Rescue Me

Post Endgame Bucky Barnes Fic.

Run-through: After losing the man who was the only parental figure you had, your life was upside down. And the only person who is able to get you out of your misery is an ex assassin, metal armed, semi stable hundred year old man – with eyes so blue that you often forgot your own name when you looked into them.

Themes: SMUT, feels, SPOILERS, fluff, angst

  a/n: look at him. he so pretty i die. Anyways, enjoy! :)

  You counted the days, and it soon marked 22 days since he was gone. You were in complete denial in the beginning, but Sam along with Banner managed to get you out of the dark place you had locked yourself in.

Life was hard without him. He was the only parental figure you had ever known.

You didn’t remember where you came from, you had absolutely no recollection of your past life. All you remember, and what you’ve been told, is that the Avengers were on a mission to take down a lab once. The lab was notorious for conducting inhumane experiments on people, and you were one of the few surviving victims.

They found you in a cryo, and no one was able to tell for how long you had been in it but you were glad that you were fully alive again.

Once you were safely out, Tony gave you a place to stay and a spot in the team. Your powers were unparalleled; telekinesis, mind control, wicked speed – you had it all. And you were a huge help to the team.

 After he was gone, life was never the same. The missions you went to, all the times you came back from a successful mission, and how many people you saved – nothing mattered. Because all you could think about was how you couldn’t save the one who saved you.

   The only person who made you feel better, temporarily, was Bucky.

 His voice, his touch, his sweet whispers; he made everything seem perfect for a little while. And he soon became a habit.

You and Bucky had never been friends in the past, but after the funeral, when it was just you and him at the compound – you found yourself leaning into his touch more and more.

  ***

  “You know that they will kill me if they ever found us like this, don’t you?” he whispered against your lips as he pinned your arms above your head. His knees were on either side of your legs as he had your bare body trapped under him, completely at his mercy.

Before you could answer, he leaned in and captured your lips in a sensual kiss. One that made you shiver and sent tingles all over your body. His tongue fought its way into your mouth and battled against yours as your body squirmed under his; desperate for his touch.

You could feel a hard length poking your inner thigh and you desperately wanted it in you already but you knew that Bucky was going to tease you until you were a whimpering mess, begging for his touch.

 To be honest, he couldn’t believe you were real. He couldn’t believe that out of all the men in your life, you’d turn to him. He couldn’t believe that you’d turn to him to be your fuck buddy. He was more than happy to help, because let’s face it, the man thought you were a literal Goddess.

He had trouble believing that you would just let him have his way with you. You looked surreal under him; skin flushed, hair sprawled on his bed, bare body pressed against his and your lust flowing out of your folds, slowly dripping on his dark satin sheets. If he could, he would live in this moment forever.

And you were so good to him. Your body responded to his touch just like he wanted it to. And he liked watching you come undone around him. He liked how your walls clenched and milked him every time he pounded into you mercilessly.

***

 To you, he was an escape. A much needed escape.

 Slowly, it became a routine.

You’d come home after a mission or meetings with Rhodey or Pepper, stressed, sad and frustrated. But you knew you could always count on the soldier to make you forget your rough day by giving you a rough night.

And you’d do the same for him, any day.

  Some days, he took his time on you. He’d undress you at any excruciating pace because he liked how feral you got when you were denied what you wanted in the bedroom.

He’d lay you down in his bed and kiss every inch of your skin, slowly. He’d leave marks on places only he could see; your hip bones, inner thighs and around your breasts. And you never once complained. You liked it. You liked how he left his presence on your skin, and how whenever you’d changed or shower; the marks would remind you that there was someone out there who took care of you whenever you needed him to.

 Other days, especially when he got back from missions with bottled up stress and frustration mixed with tiredness; he’d fuck you into oblivion.

He would rip your clothes off and his hands would touch you wherever they could as he kissed you until you would have to literally pull away to breathe again.

 “Its okay, Buck. I’m right here,” you often assured him as he rushed to get both your clothes off. And that’s when he’d push you against the closest wall and attack your neck with his mouth.

“Need you. Now,” was all he said before slipped his length into your hot core, moaning as you took him inch by inch until his length fully immersed into your dripping heat.

 When he was in moods like these, he wasn’t as careful and gentle as he usually is. In situations like these, he’d fuck you mercilessly; pound into you until your legs gave out and until you came multiple times.

  ***

 Yours and Bucky’s fling went on for quite a while. And you both mutually agreed that this affair/relationship was gonna be purely physical. No feelings were to be caught and no strings were to be attached. But when does that ever work out?

Here and there, you started noticing changes in your fuck buddy’s behavior. Like at times, he’d get jealous.

 “What’s with you? Why the long face?” you asked, as the two of you stepped out of the jet. This recent mission was particularly exhausting and you were looking forward to have a good time with the soldier which would help the two of you get rid of some of the stress.

But to your disappointment, the soldier didn’t bother answering your question and he walked straight inside and went up to his room without exchanging a word.

You were left in confusion, and when you couldn’t take it anymore, you found yourself knocking on his door later that night.

And he didn’t open the door.

“Bucky! What the hell! I know you’re in there, open the damn door!” you shouted, and the soldier still didn’t answer.

You said fuck it and used your abilities to unlock and open the door. You weren’t used to invading people’s privacy but you just had to talk to him.

You found him standing in the middle of the room, shirtless with just grey sweatpants on and his long hair in a messy up do on top of his head. A couple of loose strands of hair fell on his face and he looked freaking delicious.

“Why are you avoiding me?” you asked, stepping towards him until you were right in front of him.

“Why aren’t you with Sam? You promised him a date, didn’t you? Go ahead then,” he simply said and walked around you and went to the other side of the room.

Was he jealous?

“Buck… that was just healthy flirting. Besides, you’re the one I want,” you whispered, trying your best to pacify him but all you got as reply was a scoff from the other side of the room.

He pretended to be busy with his laundry as you walked up to him and wrapped your arms around his bare torso from behind, placing a gentle kiss on his shoulder, then on his neck because you knew that was his weakness.

As soon as your lips touched his neck, his demeanor changed and he didn’t waste any more time.

He soon had you pinned down on his bed and both your wrist were in his strong grip above your head. Your thin, white shirt rode up in the process and he saw that you weren’t wearing any pants, just a black underwear.

Your shirt’s material was so thin that he could see your hardened nipples through it, and that fueled his lust for you.

He soon got rid of your underwear and hovered his mouth over your core, knowing how desperately you wanted him but he wanted to punish you for openly flirting with Sam right in front of him.

“Bucky! Please, I’m sorry,” you whined and you could feel him smirking against your hip bone as he left a prominent hickey there.

“Please what?” he kept assaulting your skin with his mouth until you were a whimpering mess under him.

You were about to answer but he stopped your flow of words as his tongue flicked over your sensitive bundle of nerves right.

You moaned and expected him to keep going but he abruptly stopped.

“Please what, babygirl?” he asked again and you whined in frustration.

“Fuck! Your mouth, Bucky please! I want your mouth o-,” he didn’t let you finish as his tongue dived into your wet folds; earning a loud moan out of you.

His tongue slowly circled the opening at your core and you were shamelessly moaning his name, only causing him to torture you more with his tongue.

 You saw a side of him that night which you had never seen before. Bucky was much more dominant that ever before.

He spanked you more than he usually did, he tugged on your hair harder, bite your shoulder more often. He held your jaw tightly as he pounded into your heat relentlessly. He forced you to look at him as he mercilessly wrecked your body, while staring down at you with half hooded eyes.

“Tell me who’s making you feel this good? Tell me what a good cunt you have, taking me so well! Tell me you’re mine, y/n,” he whispered against your lips before bruising them with his own.

Every order, every demand that he spat at you; you obeyed. You moaned out his name over and over again like a chant. You answered every question, you magnified his ego like he wanted you to. You let him use you, because you wanted him to.

“I’m yours, Buck,” you whispered as you came undone around him for the fourth time that night.

  ***

 Outside the bedroom, you still had quite a friendly bond with him. Although, most of the time you had to keep yourself under control and make sure you don’t go around catching feelings.

 “I wished I apologized, you know? I wish I could tell him that it, it wasn’t up to me. They made me do it, I didn’t know,” Bucky said one day, while you were both in the kitchen making coffee in the morning.

You sighed, placing your Iron Man mug down and held his face gently in your hands. He looked into your eyes with his sad, blue ones.

“He forgave you long ago, Buck. Yeah he was mad at first, who wouldn’t be? But he got over it. He was the most forgiving man I knew. Don’t worry, he forgave you, okay?” and all he did was hug you. For a long time, he just kept his arms wrapped around your body tightly.

You smiled as you placed your chin on his shoulder.

You had trouble believing that this soft, sad and beefy man in your arms was the same one that occasionally would pound into you so hard that you couldn’t walk right the next morning.

  ***

You and Bucky still needed to touch, feel or be around each other even when you were dead tired sometimes. Some missions drained the energy out of both of you.

 “Doll, can we just, sleep?” a tired Bucky asked, throwing his body on the bed as you turned off the lamp on the bedside.

Initially you walked into his room for a quickie before bed, but then you saw his tired frame and your own tiredness took over.

You smiled and nodded, slipping under the covers beside him.

After tossing and turning for a while, he wrapped his metal arm around you and pulled you against his broad chest, nuzzling his face into your neck as you felt his fingers toying with your folds.

You chuckled.

“Thought you were tired,” you whispered. And he just kept kissing your neck as he gently toyed with your bundle of nerves, making your core to drip more and more with each stroke of his fingers.

In a swift movement, you felt his length slowly caress your folds and he soon slipped inside you entrance; causing you to moan along with him.

“Just wanna feel you, don’t move,” he whispered into your ear before placing a lingering kiss on your cheek and dropping his head back into the pillow.

Your hot core warmed his length and with each breath he took, you felt him move just the slightest inside of you. His length was throbbing, and so was your heat as you felt each and every prominent vein around his length. And you wanted nothing more than to just buck your hips against him to get your release but you knew better than to defy him in bed.

So you accepted it with a faint, tired smile and soon fell asleep.

You didn’t fuck that night, you just fell asleep knowing the other one was there. And that was enough.

  ***

Your relationship, or fling rather, with Bucky was undercover. And no one knew a thing about it, and none of the other Avengers noticed anything. But that was until Bucky started getting more and more protective over you during missions.

  “Bucky, that’s enough! You need to stop treating me like a child! I was handling it all right on my own before you stepped in!” you spat in fit of rage, as you walked inside the jet.

The rest of the team followed you silently. Everyone knew better than to try to mess with you when you were mad. All, except for Bucky – the man liked pushing your buttons.

“Oh yeah, you were handling everything on your own! If you call being caught in a crossfire ‘handled’ then yeah, sure you had every fucking thing handled!” he argued back and you could literally feel you blood boil.

You saw the look of terror in the eyes of each one of the remaining team members as they watched you. Since telekinesis was one of your powers, every time you were angry, random things would levitate in the air around you. And that’s exactly how one would describe the scene right now. There was a cup, a semi-automatic gun, crumbled paper balls and Sam’s shield.

“Fucking calm down! Lifting things in the air won’t change anything! You are reckless, you’re gonna get hurt or killed if keep acting like this and you need to be kept in c-,” before he could finish his sentence, you threw the shield at him – which he easily caught with his metal arm but he was still shocked at your actions.

“Jesus, baby! Calm the fuck down!” he shouted and almost immediately both your eyes widened in shock.

  ***

At some point, you both knew that you were either going to end up together or completely fall apart. And you were not ready to let him go, because you couldn’t. He was your rock, he rescued you from all your nightmares. He was the one who was always there with open arms whenever you had too much of the world.

You just wished he felt the same.

Little did you know that he did.

He had given up on the ‘strictly physical’ relationship a long time ago. Whenever you ended up at his door in the middle of the night, he didn’t just fuck you to sleep, he made love to you. And he was waiting for the day that you’d realize that.

 “Buck, what’s gonna happen to us?” you asked him, eventually, one day while you laid in his bed in the morning. Naked and covered in hickeys, wrapped in only a thin bed sheet with your head laid on top of his chest which rose and fell gently as he took steady breaths.

“What do you mean, doll?” he asked, knowing exactly what you meant.

“You know what I mean, Buck,” you sassed and he laughed, kissing the top of your head.

“Tell me one thing doll, will you be mine for as long as forever lasts?” he asked dramatically and it made you laugh.

“Yeah, you’re good enough to spend forever with,” you said as you placed a soft kiss on his pink lips, sealing your promise.

  Forever with Bucky was beautiful, a bit bumpy along the way, but you wouldn’t change a thing.

[highbuttonsports]

Sens top Jets, come from behind in Toronto for consecutive wins

The Senators have found themselves on their first win streak of the 2021 season, collecting two straight wins on the road against the Winnipeg Jets and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wins in two straight games is reason to celebrate for Sens fan, a bright spot inside of the large dark raincloud that is the Senators season up to this point. The Senators have looked good of late, physical play combined with the sudden arrival of NHL caliber goaltending has made the team a tough task for even the NHL’s best. More good news for the Senators – coach DJ Smith told members of the Ottawa media that he expects Erik Brannstrom and starting goaltender Matt Murray to return during the teams three game set with the Leafs. This is welcome news for a Senators D core that continues to struggle with spending too much time in their own zone and not breaking out efficiently. Although a small sample size, Brannstrom was moving the puck very well in his three contests this season before suffering what coach Smith called “a minor ding”. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, lets recap the past week in Senators hockey. 

Sens come back from 5-1 deficit in Toronto to take game one of three

Where do I even start with this one. Let’s start with the fact that Monday night in Toronto was the first time in franchise history that the Ottawa Senators came back to win a game after facing a 4+ goal deficit. Sens fans nationwide witnessed an incredible game, one they will remember for quite some time. Perhaps in 3, 4, 5 years down the road when the team is having its “five-year run of unparalleled success” (a proclamation that owner Eugene Melnyk famously made just over two years ago) we can look back at this night as a turning point for this core. I know, I know. I’m reaching there. Let us have this one. 

Let’s get to the game. The Senators fell behind early as Auston Matthews finished off a nice feed from Joe Thornton, who was returning after a brief absence due to injury. The Sens were flat out of the gate. They were following the game for much of the first period and didn’t seem to get their legs until the 12 minute mark when Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson connected for a nice goal to give the club a spark. Stützle made a nice play in the middle of the ice and found Batherson on a quick backhand pass – who then stuck with the backhand theme and beat Anderson short side. The Second period was one that has been all too common this season with the Senators. The second period escaped the team, they were being out worked and were playing too much in their own zone. 

Now the Senators find themselves down 5-1, with almost zero chance of pulling this off:

The above probability chart shows the that, after Auston Matthews second goal of the night to make the leafs 5-1, the Leafs had a 99.9% probability of winning the game. 

The ensuing third was all Ottawa. Nick Paul’s short-handed goal at the end of the second period gave the club hope and helped the young team keep composure and achieve that gritty identity this team needs. The Sens did not play a perfect period by any means, and Marcus Hogberg was solid in the crease and made some big saves when he needed too. In the opening seconds of the third period, rookie defencemen Artem Zub potted his first NHL goal after being sprung on a breakaway from the penalty box. A breakaway seems like a peculiar place for a rookie defenceman to find himself, but his teammates were confident in the young d-man. Drake Batherson told Ottawa media that the Senators ended practice in Edmonton with a shootout and Zub actually won the friendly contest. Evegnii Dadonov proceeded to score the tying and overtime winner in a thrilling contest that offers some refreshing positivity for the team.

This game was a thriller, and a solid leg to stand on for a team who has struggled mightily this season. The Sens wrap this week up with two more in Toronto and then home for two with the Habs.

Dorion sends Galchenyuk and Paquette to the Canes for Ryan Dzingel

Alex Galchenyuk’s tour around NHL home dressing rooms continues and he has set a new personal best for shortest stay. The official Senators communications account announced that the team had sent forwards Alex Galchenyuk and Cedric Paquette to Carolina and in exchange get a familiar face in return as Ryan Dzingel makes his return to Ottawa. “It’s great to be back, any time you get a second chance at something you have to take advantage of it” said Dzingel in a zoom meeting with Ottawa media on Tuesday morning. Dzingel goes on to acknowledge that this is a very different team that the one he was on just two years ago “Not many guys I played with two years ago are still here, but excited to get going”. Dzingel is a quick and crafty winger who utilizes his speed to his advantage and likes to create offence off the rush. This shows as the 28 year old is a three time 20 goal scorer in the NHL, each of which in the nation’s capital. (Although 4 of his 22 goals in 2018-19 came with Columbus after he was traded out of Ottawa) 

Dzingel’s speed and playmaking ability are factors in his positive possession metrics as well which are overwhelmingly positive. In his past two season Dzingel has posted a corsi for percentage of 50.7% and 51.9%which puts him in the middle of the pack for top 9 forwards at the NHL level. Dzingel has proven that he can be a goal scorer in this league when given the big time minutes to do so. Those opportunities came in bunches in his previous stint with Ottawa, but Dzingel says those minutes have not been the same since he departed “When I went to Carolina I just didn't have as much opportunity as I would have liked. I don't really want to hash that up.” However, the winger knows it’s a different story with this young Sens team “I will have opportunity here and It's up to me to produce.” I think this player can be a buzzsaw for this lineup both 5v5 and chip in on special teams. 

The next four games are going to test the Sens. Everything from special teams to mental toughness is going to be crucial in each of the next four games against two very good teams. A chance to play spoiler against the leagues best – and hey maybe we can steal some more points while we’re at it. I’m looking for the veteran leadership to really step up to show the younger players how to keep the metal to the medal to keep this thing going. With the addition of Matt Murray and Erik Brannstrom back to the lineup, I’m looking for the Sens to keep this thing on the rails. 

We’ll chat this time next week.

By: Derek Friesen

[themarsupials]

100 Best Albums of 2017, pt. 4

25. Fever Ray – Plunge

Karin Dreijer is half of The Knife, but the tone for her second album as Fever Ray is vastly more immediate and inviting than her band with her brother; all restless rhythms, dense electronic beats and nervous energy, it’s not exactly dance music, but it certainly can’t sit still. Most surprising, though, is the unbridled lust in her lyrics, making this perhaps the horniest album of the year.

 24. Protomartyr – Relatives in Descent

This Detroit band’s fourth album is a masterclass in restraint and release, in using moments of peace and patience to skillfully maximize the impact when the noise kicks in. Anchored by the mighty voice of Joe Casey – who spits his lyrics with all the vitriol of Nick Cave in the 80s – it’s a thrillingly dark listen.

 23. Vagabon – Infinite Worlds

A recurring theme in music this year was the passing of the guard between indie rock generations; where big-name comebacks were often underwhelming (many notable by their absence from this list) in favour of thrilling debuts from voices often overlooked in the genre. Case in point, Laetitia Tamko, the woman behind Vagabon, an American born in Cameroon; with Infinite Worlds, she achieved the kind of debut other artists only dream of; tight, direct, unnervingly raw and honest, and downright unforgettable.

 22. Oumou Sangare – Mogoya

Oumou Sangare turns fifty next year, and has been performing since she was five; for Mogoya, though, the Malian music icon hardly rests on her laurels. She’s managed to dance a fine line in successfully creating a contemporary update on her traditional Wassoulou sound, for a thoroughly empowering and danceable record that’s at once instantly recognizable as Malian, without being bound the “world music” tag.

 21. Cable Ties – Cable Ties

There were a lot of great punk and post-punk records in 2017; few, however, hit with the power of this Melbourne band’s debut LP. Every track grabs you within seconds, and the tightness of the band’s performance keeps you hooked throughout. They’re playing Laneway next month, and if they’re not huge afterwards, there is no justice in the world.

 20. Oddisee – The Iceberg

My second-favourite hip-hop album (after the obvious), this is the best release yet from the impressively prolific rapper; his words, delivered with clarity and eloquence, don’t beat around the bush; and paired with the organic, live-band sound, this record is an absolute breath of fresh air.

 19. Jens Lekman – Life Will See You Now

Whilst Jens Lekman has never played the singer-songwriter aesthetic straight, his fourth album totally dismisses the tag, finding musical inspiration in disco and calypso. It makes for a real treat of a literary pop record, especially with his none-more-idiosyncratic lyrics, touching on everything from dinner dates to models of tumours to the Cambrian explosion.

 18. Downtown Boys – Cost of Living

A bigger budget and a bigger audience helped the Rhode Island punks broaden their sound on their second album, allowing for longer and bigger songs. Their firepower, however, hasn’t dimmed a bit; like their debut, the impact of these bilingual, saxophone-fuelled songs of rage make Downtown Boys one of the most exhilarating bands working today.

 17. Flamingosis – A Groovy Thing

A year after his last great album, Bright Moments, Flamingosis presented his greatest, most fully-realised work yet in A Groovy Thing. Like a slightly-less-whimsical Avalanches, this all-samples album unfolds as impossibly inviting, pastel-toned jazz-funk; every track establishing a warm, fuzzy groove you’ll want to inhabit for as long as possible.

 16. Naomi Keyte – Melaleuca

The best South Australian LP of 2017, Naomi Keyte’s debut LP consists of gorgeously expansive pop-folk, with songs that evoke the rolling, golden hills and windswept beaches of the Adelaide region. An album of songs to lose yourself in, and to make you ache for home.

 15. Broken Social Scene – Hug of Thunder

Wikipedia describes Broken Social Scene’s lineup as varying between six and nineteen members; for Hug of Thunder, their comeback record after seven years away, they managed to distill the potential of such an enormous sound into laser-like focus, resulting in a thrillingly joyous indie-rock success.

 14. King Krule – The Ooz

I always hate it when young people are intimidatingly talented, a point proven by the astonishing creativity of Archy Marshall, aka King Krule. At just 23, he’s created, for the second King Krule album, a sound so unique, so immersive, that it essentially inhabits its own musical universe. Seamlessly crossing ideas across blues, trip-hop, rap, dub, dirty jazz and garage punk, this is a rich, complex and challenging listen, bountiful with tricks and treasures to discover for years to come.

 13. Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.

Kendrick Lamar’s conquering of popular music culture is now so complete that he barely warrants any further justification. Let’s just say his flow and wordplay are unparalleled, and the raw sound of DAMN., after the elaborate To Pimp a Butterfly, continues to surprise.

 12. Sheer Mag – Need To Feel Your Love

Sheer Mag’s debut LP is probably the most purely lovable rock album of the year; there’s no messing about with high concept ideas, just song after song of kickarse riffs and vocals. Drawing inspiration from wildly unfashionable sources – 1970s hard rock and 1980s power pop among them – Tina Halladay proves an absolute powerhouse of a singer, providing enough grit to temper the sugar rush of the music itself.

 11. Kelela – Take Me Apart

After a number of EPs and countless guest appearances, Kelela’s debut LP finally appeared, and it was a revelation. In somewhat similar territory to fka Twigs, she twists contemporary R&B sounds into strange new shapes, with a near-impossible attention to detail in the production of every song, making this record a treasure for the body and the brain in equal measure.

 10. Sampha – Process

Sampha Sisay has spent a few year playing guest vocalist, for Solange, SBTRKT and Drake to name a few. When his own LP finally arrived, it proved remarkably complex, deep and rewarding for a debut; fully fleshed-out and well-considered progressive soul music, it’s clear that Sampha’s been meditating on and distilling the sound of these songs for a while, resulting in a beautiful, thoughtful and moving album.

 9. Fleet Foxes – Crack-Up

Even among a near-flawless discography, Fleet Foxes’ first record in six years managed to be their grandest achievement. A tour de force of complex majesty, these massive, multi-sectioned songs hit every note of aural pleasure, even with the immediacy of a single like “White Winter Hymnal.”

 8. Lorde – Melodrama

Classic pop albums – not indie-pop, not art-pop, just straight pop – are a rare beast, especially those that a greater than the sum of their singles, and particularly those that follow world-conquering teenage debuts. Melodrama completely blows Pure Heroine away, cementing Lorde’s position as one the world’s great pop songwriters.

 7. Feist – Pleasure

At the time, and following her surprise hit “1234,” Feist’s Metals album seemed shockingly raw; now, it sounds downright opulent, such is the stark, unpolished nature of Pleasure. Here, Feist drifts ever further from the mainstream, pushing her vocals low in the mix, and letting the songs breathe with an uncluttered, unrefined, downright dirty sound.

 6. The Smith Street Band – More Scared Of You Than You Are Of Me

Hitting full throttle within seconds, then barely letting up for another moment, this album catapulted the Smith Street Band into Australian music’s big leagues. Its core is Wil Wagner’s voice and lyrics, which split some critics between disarmingly honest and direct on the one hand, and mere bogan rantings on the other. For my part, I found his soppy romanticism and vulnerable realisations utterly gripping throughout.

 5. Jay Som – Everybody Works

This album, from a woman otherwise named Melina Duterte, is the very epitome of not just indie rock in 2017, but independent music of any genre. Written, performed and produced entirely on her own, this is an album of intimacy, honesty, directness and identity-formation. Most importantly, despite the easy tags, there are no ballads or anthems here; rather, despite drifting from subtle bedroom pop to fuzzed-out noise, Duterte’s compositions are all about shades of grey, a true sign of a gifted songwriter with a bright future.

 4. LCD Soundsystem – American Dream

The fourth official LCD Soundsystem LP builds on the dance-punk template of three perfect previous records, taking it into stranger, hitherto-unexplored places; the wigged-out guitar frenzy of “Emotional Haircut,” and the apocalyptic rhythms of “How Do You Sleep?” among them. It’s all representative of James Murphys’ increasingly no-fucks-given approach, allowing himself to take ever-greater risks than before.

Or, for a shorter review: James Murphy makes another amazing record – no one is surprised.

 3. Thundercat – Drunk

Drunk feels like the album Thundercat has been teasing his whole career; after some false starts, EPs, great singles, great collaborations, Drunk is, finally, the bass virtuoso’s masterpiece. Over twenty-three tracks – none of which surpass four minutes – it’s a funk album made of small moments, intricate ideas and quirky humour. Whimsical, self-deprecating, and a whole lot of fun, it’s an endlessly loveable funk odyssey.

 2. Priests – Nothing Feels Natural

Coming from Washington, D.C., this is undoubtedly the most exhilarating rock record I’ve heard in years. From a post-punk template, Priests keep you guessing with elements of surf, garage, goth and even jazz (check out the jazzy breakdown in the opener, “Appropriate”). With Katie Alice Greer’s howls and sneers accompanying ideas of identity, intersectionalism, democracy and general disappointment with the state of the world, Priests have provided the perfect soundtrack for 2017.

 1.    Perfume Genius – No Shape

2017 was, of course, a landmark year for Australia’s LGBTIQ community, with the long-overdue legislation of marriage equality. The path to get there was tortuous, damaging and painful; yet, in the aftermath of the campaign’s success, the time is right to celebrate what should be the mundaneness same-sex monogamy. It’s in this context, then, that we receive Mike Hadreas’ fourth Perfume Genius record; a thoughtful pop album that’s at once vibrant, decadent, tender, sentimental and celebratory. A lot has changed for Hadreas between records; on his previous, Too Bright, he looked upon himself with disgust, and approached his queerness confrontationally; for No Shape, however, he has nothing left to fear, no reason to retreat. As a result, this album – 2017’s greatest – is all celebration and acceptance of self, all odes to devotion and redemption, and, at the end of the day, sheer reverence for his lucky boyfriend, Alan Wyffels.