This time of year it’s de rigueur for music critics to proclaim the best albums to emerge during the prior 12 months. I listen to plenty of new-to-me music in the course of a year, but not all of it is in album format, and very little is new releases. So here are some music collections, discovered within the last year (or three), that have delighted me end to end. Entries are alphabetical by artist.
Blind Melon, “For My Friends” (2008)
The band’s best work, which may be a sacreligious opinion given that it’s post-Shannon Hoon and that the replacement singer is trying to sound like Shannon Hoon.
Busdriver, “Thumbs” (2015)
The most idiosyncratic rapper. Amazing feat.s. Mind-altering production.
David Byrne “Uh-Oh” (1992)
A rediscovery. I expected to find it mildly diverting, but it turned out to be super solid and fun.
Cibo Matto, “Hotel Valentine” (2014)
Curious, squiggly, glitchy sounds woven into songs that are by turns dancey and spooky. Another awesome band that went away for a little while then came back awesomer.
The Move, “Shazam” (1970)
Heavy psych rock with proggy twists and turns, including a detour into Bach and Tchaikovsky.
Rhye, “Woman” (2013)
Warm synths and understated grooves and that smooth, androgynous voice. Only problem is you can’t properly listen to this one anywhere the light is bright.
Esperanza Spalding, “Emily’s D+evolution” (2016)
A pretty rockin set from someone I thought of as more of a jazz artist. Some of the playing is a little showoffy but the songs are beautifully crafted and full of earworms.
The True Jacqueline, “An Adventure Somewhere Maybe” (2019)
Ambitious, exhilarating shoegaze. Everything sounds huge.
Various artists, “Hip-Hop Essentials 1979-1991”
Tommy Boy released this magnificent 12-CD compilation in 2005 and 2006. Obnoxiously, all the cuss words are digitally reversed (i.e., censored). But all the best old-school stuff doesn’t have any cussing anyway.
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