A selection of favorites from our editors and polls. Readers’ Picks marked in bold.
2009
- Christmas In The Heart ~ Bob Dylan
- Christmas Album ~ Jerry Douglas
- Christmas Cheers ~ Straight No Chaser
- IKE REILLY, Hard Luck Stories
- TOM WAITS, Glitter and Doom (live) (Anti)
- TOWNES VAN ZANDT, In The Beginning (Fat Possum)
- DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE, A Friend of A Friend (Acony)
- NORAH JONES, The Fall (Blue Note)
- JOHN MAYER, Battle Studies (Sony)
- RICKIE LEE JONES, Balm in Gilead (Fantasy)
- BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, Live (Vagrant)
- RAY DAVIES & THE CROUCH END FESTIVAL CHORUS, The Kinks Choral Collection (Decca)
- THE SWIMMERS, People Are Soft (Mad Dragon)
- WEEZER, Raditude (Geffen)
- MORRISSEY, Swords (Ume)
- WRINKLE NECK MULES, Let The Lead Fly (Lower 40)
- CHUCK PROPHET, Let Freedom Ring (Yep Roc)
- GOV’T MULE, By A Thread (Evil Teen)
- THE SWELL SEASON, Strict Joy by (Anti)
- THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, Duets (Time Life)
- LYLE LOVETT, Natural Forces (Universal Nashville)
- JAY FARRAR, One Fast Move Or I’m Gone: Music From Kerouac’s Big Sur (Atlantic)
- SAM BUSH, Circles Around Me (Sugarhill)
- GRANT LEE PHILLIPS, Little Moon (Yep Roc)
- THE FLAMING LIPS, Embryonic (WEA/Reprise)
- BRIAN SETZER ORCHESTRA, Songs from Lonely Avenue (Surfdog)
- Carolyn Mark & NQ Arbuckle – Let’s Just Stay Here (Mint Records)1
- LUCERO, 1372 Overton Park (Republic)
- BRANDI CARLILE, Give Up the Ghost (Sony)
- ROSANNE CASH, The List (Manhattan)
- THE AVETT BROTHERS, I and Love and You (Columbia)
- KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, Closer To The Bone (New West)
- ROBERT EARL KEEN, The Rose Hotel (Lost Highway)
- WILL HOGE, Wreckage (Rykodisc)
- BOB SCHNEIDER, Lovely Creatures (Kirtland)
- GUY CLARK, Somedays The Songs Writes You
- MONSTERS OF FOLK, Monsters of Folk
- JOSHUA JAMES, Build Me This (Intelligent Noise)
- CHRIS KNIGHT, Trailer II (Drifters Church)
- TOM RUSSELL, Blood and Candle Smoke (Shout Factory)1
- MARK KNOPFLER, Get Lucky (Warner Bros.)
- THE BAND OF HEATHENS, One Foot in the Ether (Boh)
- STEPHEN KELLOGG AND THE SIXERS, The Bear (Vanguard)
- PHISH, Joy (Jemp)
- FRANK TURNER, Poetry of the Deed (Epitaph)
- YO LA TENGO, Popular Songs (Matador)
- PROCLAIMERS, Notes & Rhymes by (429)
- DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS, The Fine Print ( A Collection of Oddities and Rarities) (New West)
- SAM BAKER, Cotton (Music Road)
- JOHN FOGERTY, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again (Verve)
- A.A. BONDY, When The Devil’s Loose (Fat Possum)
- BLACK CROWES, Before the Frost…Until the Freeze (Red Distribution)
- REVEREND HORTON HEAT, Laughin’ And Cryin’ With The Reverend Horton Heat (Yep Roc)
- PORTERDAVIS, Porterdavis (self)
- THE SUBDUDES, Flower Petals (429)
- WILLIE NELSON, American Classic (Blue Note)
- DOLORES O’RIORDAN, No Baggage (Rounder)
- BRENDAN BENSON, My Old, Familiar Friend (ATO)
- DELBERT MCCLINTON, Aquired Taste (New West)
- THE CAVE SINGERS, Welcome Joy (Matador)
- TWO TONS OF STEEL, Two Tons of Steel: Not That Lucky (SMITH ENTERTAINMENT)
- PLAIN & SIMPLE, Acousticueticals (self)
- BOTTLE ROCKETS, Lean Forward (Bloodshot)
- MINDY SMITH, Stupid Love (Vanguard)
- YIM YAMES (Jim James alias), Tribute to George Harrison (ATO)
- MAC MACANALLY, Down By The River (Show Dog Nashville)
- MODEST MOUSE, No One’s First, and You’re Next (Sony)
- HANK WILLIAMS III AND ASSJACK, AssJack (Curb)
- MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO., Josephine (Secretly Canadian)
- BETTYE LAVETTE, Change Is Gonna Come Sessions (Anti-)
- DELBERT MCCLINTON, Honky Tonkin’ All Night (GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC)
- MATTHEW SWEET AND SUSANNA HOFFS, Under The Covers Vol. 2 (Shout! Factory)
- GINA VILLALOBOS, Days On Their Side (Face West)
- THE DEAD WEATHER, Horehound (WEA/Reprise)
- BLEU, A Watched Pot (Artist Garage)
- DANDY WARHOLS, Dandy Warhols Are Sound (BTW)
- SON VOLT, American Central Dust (Rounder Records)
- DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS, Live from Austin Texas (New West)
- WILCO, Wilco (the Album) (Nonesuch)
- LEVON HELM, Electric Dirt (Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard Records)
- SONS OF BILL, One Town Away (Thirty Tigers)
- PATTERSON HOOD, Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) (Ruth Street)
- CHARLIE ROBISON, Beautiful Day (Dualtone)
- DEER TICK, Born On Flag Day (Partisan)
- PETE YORN, Back & Forth (Columbia)
- HA HA TONKA, Novel Sounds Of The Nouveau South (Bloodshot Records)
- HOLLY WILLIAMS, Here With Me (Mercury Nashville)
- SARAH JAROSZ, Song Up In Her Head (Sugar Hill)
- TODD SNIDER, The Excitement Plan (Yep Roc)
- ROADSIDE GRAVES, My Son’s Home (Autumn Tone)
- RHETT MILLER, Rhett Miller (Shout Factory!)
- THE LOW ANTHEM, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Nonesuch)
- RYAN BINGHAM, Road House Sun (Lost Highway)
- ELVIS COSTELLO, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (Hear Music)
- HOOTS AND HELLMOUTH, The Holy Open Secret (Mad Dragon)
- EELS, Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs Of Desire (Vagrant)
- DAVE MATTHEWS, Big Whiskey & the Groo Grux King (RMG / RCA)
- DAVE ALVIN & THE GUILTY WOMEN, self-titled (Yep Roc)
- CHRIS GAFFNEY TRIBUTE, The Man Of Somebody’s Dreams (Yep Roc)
- RED STICK RAMBLERS, My Suitcase Is Always Packed (Sugar Hill)
- SCOTT H. BIRAM, Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever (Bloodshot)
- IRON & WINE, Around The Well (Sub Pop)
- CARBON LEAF, Nothing Rhymes With Woman
- STEVE EARLE, Townes (New West)
- ROMAN CANDLE, Oh Tall Tree In The Ear (Carnival Recording Company)
- DEXATEENS, Singlewide (Skybucket/Cornelius Chapel)
- CRACKER, Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey (429)
- BEN HARPER AND THE RELENTLESS 7, White Lies for Dark Times (Virgin)
- TIM EASTON, Porcupine (New West)
- BOB DYLAN, Together Through Life (Columbia)
- EILEN JEWELL, Sea Of Tears (Signature Sounds)
- BOOKER T. JONES, Potato Hole (Anti-)
- THE GREENCARDS, Fascination (Sugar Hill)
- WAYNE HANCOCK, Viper Melody (Bloodshot)
- JOHN DOE AND THE SADIES, Country Club (Yep Roc)
- MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD, Radiolarians II (Indirecto/Megaforce)
- WILLIE NILE, House Of A Thousand Guitars (River House/GB)
- SCOTT MILLER, For Crying Out Loud (F.A.Y.)
- FELICE BROTHERS, Yonder Is The Clock (Team Love)
- SARA WATKINS, Sara Watkins (Nonesuch)
- NEIL YOUNG, Fork In The Road (Reprise)
- THE FLATLANDERS, Hills and Valleys (New West)
- GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS, Lost Channels (Nettwerk)
- GOMEZ, A New Tide (ATO)
- MICHELLE MALONE, Debris (SBS)
- SARAH BORGES, The Stars are Out (Sugar Hill)
- VARIOUS ARTISTS, Keep Your Soul: A Tribute To Doug Sahm (Vanguard)
- DECEMBERISTS, Hazards of Love (Capitol)
- ERIC LINDELL, Gulf Coast Highway (Alligator)
- BONNIE PRINCE BILLY, Beware (Drag City)
- BLACK JOE LEWIS, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is (Lost Highway)
- NICK LOWE, Quiet Please: The New Best of Nick Lowe (Yep Roc)
- KELLY JOE PHELPS, Western Bell (Black Hen)
- ROMI MAYES, Achin’ In Yer Bones (self)
- JOHN WESLEY HARDING, Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead (Popover Corps)
- MADELEINE PEYROUX, Bare Bones (Rounder)
- NEKO CASE, Middle Cyclone (-Anti)
- JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE, Midnight at the Movies (Bloodshot)
- JULIE AND BUDDY MILLER, Written in Chalk (New West)
- RAUL MALO, Lucky One (Fantasy)
- NEIL YOUNG, Archives (Reprise)
- JJ CALE, Roll On (Rounder)
- RANDY WEEKS, Going My Way (Certifiable)
- JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Lightning Rod)
- M. WARD, Hold Time (Merge)
- The Deep Dark Woods – Winter Hours (Black Hen Music)
- MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS, Light Of X (Nettwerk)
- BEN KWELLER, Changing Horses (ATO)
- ROBERT EARL KEEN TRIBUTE, Undone (Right Ave)
- HEARTLESS BASTARDS, The Mountain (Fat Possum)
- WILLIE NELSON & ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL, Willie and the Wheel (Bismeaux)
- MARK OLSON AND GARY LOURIS, Ready for the Flood (New West)
- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, Working on a Dream (Columbia)
- AUDIE BLAYLOCK, self-titled (Rural Rhythm)
- ANDREW BIRD, Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
- BEN NICHOLS, The Last Pale Light In The West (Liberty And Lament)
- NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS, Do It Like We Used To (NMA)
- A.C. NEWMAN, Get Guilty (Matador)
- BANG CAMARO, Bang Camaro II (8th Impression)
- DEREK TRUCKS BAND, Already Free (SMG/Victor)
- BEE GEES, Odessa: Deluxe Edition (Rhino)
- GOURDS, Haymaker (Yep Roc)