- The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt (folk)
- Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me (folk)
- Hamid Drake & Bindu - Reggaeology (jazz/reggae)
- Mike Patton - Mondo Cane (Italian vocal pop)
- Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (r&b)
- Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit (jazz/progressive rock)
- The School - Lossless Unbeliever (pop)
- Marco Benevento - Between the Needles and the Nightfall (jazz)
- Gonjasufi - A Sufi and a Killer (I don’t know what genre to call this)
- First Aid Kit - The Big Black and the Blue (folk)
- Eric Bibb - Booker’s Guitar (blues)
- Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - The Road (film score)
- The Dreamers - Ipos: Book of Angels Vol. 14 (jazz/avante garde)
- Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain’t No Grave (country)
- Bajka - In Wonderland (r&b/jazz)
- Bei Bei & Shawn Lee (I don’t know what genre to call this)
- Dr. Lonnie Smith - Spiral (jazz)
- Simona Molinari (vocal jazz)
- Bill Callahan - Rough Travel for a Rare Thing (folk)
- The Black Keys - Brothers (blues rock)
- Husky Rescue - Ship of Light (pop)
- John Zorn - In Search of the Miraculous (jazz/avante garde)
- Ginjah - Never Lost My Way (reggae)
- She & Him - Volume Two (pop /rock)
- The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang (rock)
- Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago (rock)
- Secret Chiefs 3 – Satellite Supersonic, Vol. 1 (jazz/avante garde)
- Dalind̬o РSoundtrack for the Sound Eye (jazz)
- Hindi Zahra – Handmade (soul/jazz)
- Chicago Underground Duo – Boca Negra (jazz)
- Lee Ritnour – 6 String Theory (blues/jazz)
- Paul Motian Trio – Lost in a Dream (jazz)
- Infesticons – Bedford Park (rock)
- Galactic – Ya-Ka-May (funk)
- Merle Haggard – I Am What I Am (country)
- Erland and the Carnival – Erland and the Carnival (rock)
- Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way (soul)
- Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang – The Wonder Show of the World (folk)
- Pat Metheny – Orchestrion (jazz)
- Deerpeople – Deerpeople EP (rock)
- Shining – Blackjazz (metal/fusion)
- Garaj Mahal – More Mr. Nice Guy (jazz)
- Goldfrapp – Head First (electropop)
- Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Tow (Return of the Ankh) (r&b)
- Kim Waters – Love Stories (jazz)
- Mop Mop – Ritual of the Savage (jazz)
- Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be (rock)
- OK Go - Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (rock)
- Beach House – Teen Dream (indie pop)
- Pablo Moses – The Rebirth (reggae)
I compared him to Bob Dylan when I first brought up this album earlier in the year, and every review I’ve read on this album mentions Bob Dylan at least once. I’m a huge fan of originality, so normally, I hate artists that have an obvious comparison to another artist. I don’t have a problem here because I wouldn’t hesitate to compare this album to Dylan’s best album, and since Dylan has some of the greatest albums of all-time, The Tallest Man on Earth can be as Dylan-esque as he wants.
I learned about Joanna Newsom when she was opening up for Devendra Banhart around the time The Milk-Eyed Mender came out, and I instantly became a huge fan because she was just a weird as he was. She’s lost a lot of that weirdness, and she’s actually pretty accessible on this album, but she hasn’t lost any of the quality. The only thing that might keep this from becoming a classic is the length. It’s a little exhausting to listen to it straight through.
This is how you do it when you want to pay tribute to another genre. They maintained their personality, and whether you’re listening to this from a jazz perspective, a reggae perspective, of just a general music perspective, it’s outstanding and very original.
Mike Patton shouldn’t be able to croon a bunch of 50s and 60s Italian pop songs, but apparently Mike Patton can make anything work.
This is almost a technically flawless album. The only flaw is I really have to be in this right mood to listen to it.
This is a bit of a diversion from their usual style, but adding a little progressive rock resulted in their best album.
This description probably won’t convince too many people to check out this album, but the best words to describe this album would be sweet and cute. It’s kind of an updated 60s girl group style.
I’m starting to think Marco Benevento isn’t capable of making bad music. Actually, I started thinking that a couple years ago, but I’m still thinking it.
The Gaslamp Killer needs to put out more original production because this is great. I don’t know if this would be better described as good weirdness or weird goodness.
You really have to pay attention to this album to enjoy it, but it’s worth paying attention to.
I like Eric Bibb a lot more with this delta blues style than his usual country blues style.
I thought this was good when I first heard it without seeing the film. It was good enough that I decided to see the film. After seeing the film, the score went from good to great. Every scene is captured in the score, and the score actually made what could have been a boring movie pretty good.
This might have saved the series which was going downhill fast with the previous two volumes. I’m still waiting to hear Vol. 15 by Ben Goldberg.
It’s a good fit with the rest of the series, and personally I think the American series is his best work.
If this album would have finished as strong as it started, it could have been a top 5 album of the year.
Shawn Lee does a lot more than Bei Bei on this album but somehow he doesn’t overshadow her, and there’s an even balance between them. It’s very interesting to listen to.
This showcases Lonnie Smith’s technical ability more than Rise Up did, but I prefer Rise Up because of how well he reinvented the cover songs on that album.
There’s really nothing original on this album, but I found it to be a very fun album to listen to.
This live album can get a little boring at time, but it always picks up.
It had been a while since I really enjoyed a Black Keys album (2003) and I had pretty much written them off. This one restored my faith. It’s a good thing I was still hanging on by a thread hoping they could make something as good as their first two albums again.
I don’t even know why I listened to this album, but I like it, and eventually I want to check out their previous albums and see what I’ve been missing.
John Zorn is pretty much a lock to be associated with at least 3 albums in my best albums list every year. He has 2 so far (this and Ipos), and I haven’t heard Dictee, Goddess, or Baal yet.
I don’t really analyze reggae as much as other genres. If the songs get stuck in my head, it’s good. These songs got stuck in my head.
The problems I had with Volume One were: a) the vocals were a little weak, and b) the music was boring on all but one song. They corrected both of those problems on Volume Two.
I can't give them too much credit because they're just a typical New Jersey, Springsteen wannabe band, but they're good at it, and they don't try to pretend they're not. They did establish a little more identity than their previous albums.
