Alright, this is the final "Best of 2011…" before the year end list. As you may notice, there's been a great deal of upheaval since the last update. New albums I can't get enough of have rocketed to the top (Quails, Hellbound) and some that were previously high in the rankings have grown tiresome (Blitzen Trapper, Ha Ha Tonka). See what you think and tell me what I've missed (and there are some I just haven't heard enough yet - Boland's new album for one).
1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch
2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest
3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods
4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO
5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha
6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs
7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade
8. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World
9. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog
10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival
11. Adele - 21
12. Stoney Larue - Velvet
13. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea
14. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
15. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
16. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous
17. Mastodon - The Hunter
18. Will Hoge - Number Seven
19. Miranda Lambert - Four the Record
20. Bad Meets Evil - Hell (The Sequel)
21. Scott H. Biram - Bad Ingredients
22. Larry Hooper - Between Here and the Stars
23. Left Lane Cruiser - Junkyard Speed Ball
24. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
25. Centro-matic - Candidate Waltz
26. Eli Young Band - Life at Best
27. Adam Hood - The Shape of Things
28. Glossary - Long Live All of Us
29. Mike Ethan Messick - The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday
30. Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing
31. Cody Canada and The Departed - This is Indian Land
32. George Strait - Here for a Good Time
33. Robyn Ludwick - Out of These Blues
34. Ha Ha Tonka - Death of a Decade
35. Childish Gambino - Camp
Of these, several will be among my favorite of the year: Glossary, Centro-Matic, Black Joe Lewis, Raphael Saadiq, Jimbo Mathus...but you need to try 13ghosts on for size...and Lauderdale and Across Tundras and Southeast Engine...and my favorite record of the year is probably Roger Bryan & the Orphans' "37."
ReplyDeleteI think I'd put Larry Hooper's Between Here and the Stars a lot higher. Those songs are solid.
ReplyDeleteI thought of a few more that warrant consideration...Vulture Whale, Charles Bradley & the Mehan Street Band, Reverend John Wilkins, Shane Sweeney, Cass McCombs, Girls, Waters, Alela Diane, Jonny Corndawg, Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers, The Only Sons, Delicate Cutters, Tim Easton, Mark Sultan, the Feelies, Jessica Lea Mayfield, John Paul Keith, ...all in all, I'd say our tastes run pretty similar.
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