DON ALLRED
BOB DYLAN / The Bootleg Series, Volume 7: No Direction Home (The Soundtrack) (Columbia/Legacy)
JAMES CARTER, CYRUS CHESNUT, ALI JACKSON, REGINALD VEAL / Gold Sounds (Brown Brothers)
JASON MORAN / Same Mothers (Blue Note)
DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER / J’ai Deux Amours (Sovereign Artists)
SHELLY FAIRCHILD / Ride (Sony)
THE HOLD STEADY / Separation Sunday (Frenchkiss)
MIRANDA LAMBERT / Kerosene (Sony)
SLUNT / Get A Load Of This (Repossession)
PATRICIA VONNE / Guitars And Castanets (Bandalera)
SANSO EXTRO / Sentimentalist (Type)
Blame NAFTA, CAFTA, bad schools and/or Classic Rock radio, but the Hold Steady’s Separation Sunday is a concept album, maybe even a rock opera, about young lives lived in retro. Of course, all kids tend to think their problems are new, but on this album, they get to squawk about the same old dramas, in brilliantly grubby musical cartoons, drawn from the ink of the Who, early Bruce Springsteen, primetime Replacements and others. — Don Allred
GRANT BRITT
SHEMEKIA COPELAND / The Soul Truth (Alligator)
ERIC BIBB / A Ship Called Love (Telarc)
LOS SUPER SEVEN / Heard It On the X (Telarc)
JOHNNY ADAMS / The Great Johnny Adams Blues Album (Rounder)
MEL MELTON / Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
JIMMY STURR / Shake Rattle and Polka (Rounder)
ANGELA STREHLI / Blue Highway (MC Records)
ROY ROGERS / Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings Live at the Sierra Nevada Brewery Big Room (Chops Not Chaps Records)
BEL AIRS / Got Love (Hightone Records)
CAITLIN CARY, THAD COCKRELL / Begonias (Yep Rock)
NSENGA K. BURTON
LITTLE BROTHER / The Chittlin’ Circuit 1.5: The Official Mixtape (Fastlife)
ANTHONY HAMILTON / Ain’t Nobody Worryin’ (Arista)
RAHEEM DEVAUGHN / The Love Experience (Jive)
LEELA JAMES / A Change Is Gonna Come (Warner Bros)
JOHNNY CASH / The Legend of Johnny Cash (Hip-O-Records)
FIONA APPLE / Extraordinary Machine (Sony)
COMMON / Be (Geffen)
LITTLE BROTHER / The Minstrel Show (Atlantic)
YOUNG JEEZY / Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation (Def Jam)
FLOETRY / Flo’Ology (Geffen)
Timothy C. Davis
JANA HUNTER / Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom (Gnomonsong)
SLEATER-KINNEY / The Woods (Sub Pop)
MY MORNING JACKET / Z (ATO/RCA)
ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS / I Am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)
COMMON / Be (Geffen)
RICHARD HAWLEY / Coles Corner (Mute)
THE GAME / The Documentary (Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope)
CONSTANTINES / Tournament of Hearts (Sub Pop)
SILVER JEWS / Tanglewood Numbers (Drag City)
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE / Over the Years and Through the Woods/Lullabies to Paralyze (Interscope)
Honorable Mentions:
SUN 0))) / Black One
M.I.A. / Arular
I remember the first time I heard Sleater-Kinney’s The Woods — which owes less to Seattle Kurt than to Seattle Jimi — and thinking: How long do you have to wait before it becomes classic rock? — Timothy C. Davis
LYNN FARRIS
THE WHITE STRIPES / Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
AUDIOSLAVE / Out of Exile (Interscope)
KINGS OF LEON / Aha Shake Heartbreak (RCA)
MY MORNING JACKET / Z (ATO)
FIONA APPLE / Extraordinary Machine (Sony)
GORILLAZ / Demon Days (Virgin)
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE / Lullabies To Paralyze (Interscope)
BECK / Guero (Geffen)
COLDPLAY / X&Y (Capitol)
SLEATER-KINNEY / The Woods (Sub Pop)
Honorable Mention:
SYSTEM OF A DOWN / Mezmerize (Columbia)
JUSTINCASE
Justin, Nick, & Hannah Tosco — www.justincasefans.com
(in no particular order)
GLEN PHILLIPS / Winter Pays for Summer (UMG Recordings)
NICKEL CREEK / Why Should the Fire Die? (Sugar Hill Records)
KANYE WEST / Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella Records)
JAMIE CULLUM / Catching Tales (Verve)
DAVID MEAD / Wherever You Are (Eleven Thirty)
THE KILLERS / Hot Fuss (Island)
SWITCHFOOT / Nothing is Sound (Sony)
COLDPLAY / X&Y (Capitol)
JIMMY EAT WORLD / Futures (Interscope)
BETTER THAN EZRA / Before the Robots (Artemis)
MARK KEMP
LIBIDO / Lo Último Que Hablé Ayer (Libido Music)
BRIGHT EYES / I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (Saddle Creek)
AMADOU & MARIAM / Dimanche a Bamako (Nonesuch)
M.I.A. / Arular (XL/Beggars)
LITTLE BROTHER / The Minstrel Show (Atlantic)
ANDREA ECHEVERRI / Andrea Echeverri (Nacional Records)
MY MORNING JACKET / Z (ATO)
SHELBY LYNNE / Suit Yourself (Capitol)
RY COODER / Chavez Ravine (Nonesuch)
BETTYE LAVETTE / I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise (Anti)
Honorable mentions:
IRON & WINE / CALEXICO / In the Reins (Overcoat Recordings),
CAITLIN CARY AND THAD COCKRELL / Begonias (Yep Roc)
The farther away I get from the insular New York rock-crit universe, the less interesting I find most of the mandatory NYC-approved rock-crit year-end best-of picks. I’ve yet to hear any hip critic mention Lo Último Que Hablé Ayer, Last Year’s masterpiece by Peruvian rockers Libido. and I doubt (though I hope) Little Brother’s concept disc The Minstrel Show will push this sharp NC rap group above Kanye, Common, Gorillaz or even Beck on the Village Voice’s longfaced Pazz & Jop poll. — Mark Kemp
DARRELL M. MCNEILL
VARIOUS ARTISTS / Black Rock Coalition Presents: Rock ‘N Roll Reparations: Volume One (Black Rock Coalition Records)
FISHBONE / Live In Amsterdam (Mi5/High Time Records)
VARIOUS ARTISTS / Motown Remixed (Motown)
PILLOW THEORY / Outpatience (Unsigned Indie Release)
BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS / Africa Unite: The Singles (Island Music Group)
DR. ISRAEL PRESENTS DREADTONE INTERNATIONAL / Patterns Of War (ROIR)
SCREAMING HEADLESS TORSOS / 2005 (Fuzelicious Morsels)
ME’SHELL NDEGEOCELLO PRESENTS THE SPIRIT MUSIC JAMIA / Dance Of The Infidel (Verve)
CHOCOLATE GENIUS INC. / Black Yankee Rock (Commotion)
YOHIMBE BROTHERS / The Tao of Yo (Thirsty Ear)
FRED MILLS
STEVE WYNN & THE MIRACLE 3 / …tick… tick… tick (Blue Rose)
MY MORNING JACKET / Z (ATO)
BLACK MERDA / The Folks From Mother’s Mixer (TUFF CITY)
SLEATER-KINNEY / The Woods (Sub Pop)
FLAMIN’ GROOVIES / Shake Some Action (DBK Works)
OTIS TAYLOR / Below The Fold (Telarc)
PERNICE BROTHERS / Discover A Lovelier You (Ashmont)
PETRA HADEN / Sings: The Who Sell Out (Bar/None)
DAN PENN & SPOONER OLDHAM / Moments From This Theatre Live (Proper)
DANDY WARHOLS / Odditorium (Capitol)
Pairing two early-70s Black Merda LPs, The Folks from Mother’s Mixer is a black rock thang, a soul-stirred stew of Hendrix, Funkadelic and War, and some incredibly thoughtful, politically conscious lyrics to boot. — Fred Mills
CHRIS PARKER
EELS / Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (Vagrant)
MOUNTAIN GOATS / The Sunset Tree (4AD)
BETTYE LAVETTE / I’ve Got My Own Hell To Raise (Anti)
THE HOLD STEADY / Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
OKKERVIL RIVER / Black Sheep Boy (Jagjaguwar)
NEW PORNOGRAPHERS / Twin Cinema (Matador)
THE MENDOZA LINE / Full of Light and Full of Fire (Misra)
THE SHOUT OUT LOUDS / Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol)
SUFJAN STEVENS / Illinoise (Asthmatic Kitty)
(Tie) PERNICE BROTHERS / Discover A Lovelier You (Ashmont)
SILVER JEWS / Tanglewood Numbers (Drag City)
Honorable Mentions:
DANGERDOOM / The Mouse & The Mask (Epitaph)
LITTLE BROTHER / The Minstrel Show (Atlantic)
THE CLIENTELE / Strange Geometry (Merge)
BLOC PARTY / Silent Alarm (Vice)
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE / Feels (Fat Cat)
ANDREW BIRD / The Mysterious Production of Eggs (Righteous Babe)
SAMIR SHUKLA
KIRAN AHLUWALIA / Self-titled (Triloka)
THE KNITTERS / Modern Sounds of the Knitters (Zoe)
ROLLING STONES / A Bigger Bang (Virgin)
SINEAD O’CONNOR / Throw Down Your Arms (That’s Why There’s Chocolate & Vani)
SOLOMON BURKE / Make Do With What You Got (Shout! Factory)
KATE BUSH / Aerial (Columbia)
DUB SYNDICATE / Pure Thrillseekers (Shanachie)
JOHN CALE / Black Acetate (Astralwerks)
RY COODER / Chavez Ravine (Nonesuch)
CHRIS WHITLEY / Soft Dangerous Shores (Messenger Records)
Honorable mentions:
NAPALM DEATH / Code Red (Century Media)
NEIL YOUNG / Prairie Wind (Epic)
This article appears in Jan 4-10, 2006.
