Stream: Buzz Bands LA’s Favorite 101 Songs of 2017

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Photos, clockwise from upper left: Chicano Batman by Samuel C. Ware; Moses Sumney by Annie Lesser; Phoebe Bridgers by Andie Mills; Open Mike Eagle by Samantha Saturday; Lauren Ruth Ward by Michelle Shiers; Cold War Kids by Jessica Hanley; Syd by Jazz Shademan
Photos, clockwise from upper left: Chicano Batman by Samuel C. Ware; Moses Sumney by Annie Lesser; Phoebe Bridgers by Andie Mills; Open Mike Eagle by Samantha Saturday; Lauren Ruth Ward by Michelle Shiers; Cold War Kids by Jessica Hanley; Syd by Jazz Shademan

Music quite possibly saved our stomachs from that piecemeal queasy feeling in 2017. If it wasn’t natural disasters, it was a social media feed full of political screeds. If it wasn’t violence on our own doorsteps, it was equally disturbing carnage in distant lands. If it wasn’t violations of basic human dignity, it was infringement on the lessons we learned in elementary school. If it wasn’t one of our personal heroes dying, it was our chosen profession. Nausea won this round; the battle belches on.

But somewhere, everywhere, there was somebody playing a guitar, making a beat, singing a song — many addressing those issues. So with that unsettling preface (sorry/not sorry), here is our annual Popular With Us 2017: A Buzz Bands LA Countdown, encompassing our favorite 101 L.A. songs of the year. I started with an iTunes folder of about 300 songs a couple of weeks ago and after a little consult with our contributors and a review of all of my radio playlists from 2017, I whittled it down to 101.

Like we did in 2016, 2015 and prior years, this playlist is in countdown form, starting with No. 101. Enjoy, and be well.

||| Stream: Popular With Us 2017: A Buzz Bands LA Countdown