There was no shortage of great music released in 2017. I have an extensive Spotify playlist of songs I enjoyed, but for the sake of brevity, here is my list of my favorite albums and shows this year. Favorite albums Mastodon, Emperor of Sand One of the best Mastodon LPs in years, and my favorite since Crack the Skye . Seems like when Mastodon goes for the deepest of deep about life and tragedy, they produce some of their strongest work. This is the record I can listen to over and over and not skip a single tune. Lost Balloons, Hey Summer The second album from Jeff Burke's indie pop group shows he really is one of the best songwriters around. Not just in the pop punk/garage world. In general. With shades of country, folk, and the Kinks, I admire everything Burke does even more. White Reaper, The World's Greatest American Band Yes, this album title is a bit over-confident, but this four-piece makes a mighty fine statement here. What happens when a band plays s...