Twenty years ago, I used to get paid to keep track of my favorite recordings and publish them at year's end. Without the financial incentive, I cannot swear that I have not forgotten something essential here. Still, I know that I have purchased and listened, repeatedly, to all of these CDs. Back in the day, record companies used to send them to me for free.
1. Tom Waits: Glitter and Doom Live. An arresting presence in concert, the gravelly crooner still translates well to CD (or MP3).
2. Levon Helm: Electric Dirt. Follow-up to Dirt Farmer shows that The Band veteran is far from done.
3. Leonard Cohen: Live In London. If you did not see Cohen on tour, this album is as close as you will get to that stunning experience.
4. Ry Cooder: The UFO Has Landed. Sure, it is a collection: but how else to bring together 25 years of eclecticism?
5. Morrissey: Swords. Shows that his B-Sides are better than many people's singles.
6. Elvis Costello: Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane. As melodic, if less angry, than he was 30 years ago.
7. Norah Jones: The Fall. She could sing the phone book. Maybe in 2010?
8. Bowerbirds: Upper Air. Leaving behind the dark and brooding, North Carolina outfit shows the morning after their debut's night before.
9. Bob Dylan: Together Through Life. Though not as arresting as his turn-of-the-century blues records, this ramshackle collection holds together well.
10. The Weather Station: The Line. Canadian Tamara Lindeman's folksy "found sounds" were a find for NPR's "All Songs Considered."
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