As with the past few years, the actual writing about these pieces will come with the playlist posts, but I like the idea of keeping the tradition of having a list of my favorite records of the year in one place. And good lord, there was a lot to love this year.
New Albums:
- Florence and the Machine, Dance Fever
- Anteloper, Pink Dolphins
- Anaïs Mitchell, Anaïs Mitchell
- Big Joanie, Back Home
- Amanda Shires, Take It Like a Man
- Gabriel Kahane, Magnificent Bird
- Moor Mother, Jazz Codes
- Brian Harnetty, Words and Silence
- Loraine James, Building Something Beautiful For Me
- Mary Halvorson, Amaryllis
- Leyla McCalla, Breaking the Thermometer
- Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Down Every Road
- Lady Wray, Piece of Me
- Terri Lynn Carrington, New Standards Vol. 1
- Sick Thoughts, Heaven is No Fun
- Kalia Vandever, Regrowth
- SG Goodman, Teeth Marks
- Tarbaby featuring Oliver Lake, Dance of the Evil Toys
- Mali Obomsawin, Sweet Tooth
- Terence Etc., VORTEX
Archival/Reissue/Compilations:
- Various Artists, Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen
- Sonic Youth, In/Out/In
- Various Artists, Disco Reggae Rockers
- Mal Waldron, Searching in Grenoble: The 1978 Solo Piano Concert
- Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
- Charles Mingus, The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott’s
- Various Artists, Live Forever: A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver
- Cecil Taylor, The Complete, Legendary, Live Return Concert
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Live at the Fillmore, 1997
- The Lilybandits, Shifty’s Tavern
- Various Artists, Life Between Islands
- Various Artists, Sharayet El Disco
- Ray Pérez y Perucho Torcat, They Do It
- Elvin Jones, Revival: Live at Pookie’s Pub
- Charles Stepney, Step on Step
- Brotzmann/Graves/Parker, Historic Music Past Tense Future
- Various Artists, Something Borrowed, Something New: A Tribute to John Anderson
Screen of Distance 