Here's my top albums that I discovered last year. Several had been released before, but I was a late-comer.
They're not in order. I'd be hard pressed to offer an order.
Jakob Dylan - Women and Country. Discovered via the NPR Tiny Desk Concert. (currently $5 on Amazon!) I was grateful for this because it led to…
Neko Case - Neko Case/Live From Austin, TX. From her Austin City Limits performance. I love this album. I'm afraid to get anything else. (a problem when I discover an artist via a particular album and then get disappointed by other albums in the catalog.)
Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It. Another album that really started ticking for me when I saw him on his Tiny Desk Concert. You know you've got great material when you take a sort of 60s soul sound and strip it down to acoustic guitars and it still resonates.
Rosanne Cash - The List. (currently $5 on Amazon!) I saw her on @craigyferg's show and really like the song she played. The album was produced by her husband, John Leventhal, whom I'd known from his work with Shawn Colvin. It's a great album. But don't put it on for the big super bowl bash. Here's 500 Miles from a BBC performance. It's got a slightly different feel than the album's version.
The National - Boxer. (Here, Fake Empire.) Late to the party once again. This one is a few years old. The National's release this year, High Violet contains my favorite of their songs, Bloodbuzz, Ohio. But I like Boxer better, so far, as an overall album…
Uncle Tupelo - 89/93 An Anthology. This is why I hedged on what's covered here. I just discovered a band that dissolved 17 years ago. Jeff Tweedy was in Uncle Tupelo, but it's Jay Farrar's band. Great stuff.
Mumford & Sons. (currently $5 on Amazon!) This one is making all kinds of year-end lists and for good reason. Great sound. I can listen to this one all day. Here's Little Lion Man.