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1. DROPKICK MURPHYS – For The People The Guthrie Songbook and the acoustic instruments of the past couple of albums are gone and replaced by loud, angry rock that is unapologetically political. That said, the best songs on the album are a duet with Billy Bragg covering an Ewan MacColl song and a song about Ken Casey’s grandfather. I can’t really say that this was better than all the other albums on the list but I had to start somewhere.
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2. WET LEG – Moisturizer Almost as mesmerizing as their debut, this has more earworms than R. F. K. Jr.
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3. HIS LORDSHIP – Bored Animal Freak out rock and rockabilly from James Walbourne. And this is only his side -side gig.
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4. THE TUBS – Cotton Crown A couple of reviews that I read described the group as sounding like Richard Thompson being backed by Teenage Fanclub. That’s a pretty apt description although a little more edgy than RT.
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5. JASON ISBELL – Foxes in The Snow A Southern Blood on the Tracks. With just Isbell on guitar, it took a little longer to get into the album but once you do it’s a rich emotional song cycle of falling out and finding new love.
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6. ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES – St. Paul & The Broken Bones At their best, this was a tight r&b/soul group with a gifted lead singer which was most evident on their first two albums. They did not fare so well with the experimentation of the last couple of albums but that’s all gone now and they are back to their soul roots.
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7. ROBERT PLANT (with Suzi Dian) – Saving Grace Plant has always surrounded himself with very gifted musicians. The songs here are mostly American folk, rock and blues but are transformed by the band into something sounding very English – sort of like what Pentangle was able to do in their heyday.
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8. MÀNRAN – To the Wind Scottish band doing mostly original material which fits seamlessly with the traditional songs on the album.
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9. VIAGRA BOYS – Viagr Aboys Chaotic and brash, there is a lot going on here that borders on jazzy punk.
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10. VICKI PETERSON & JOHN COWSILL – Long After the Fire I truly love the concept – a warm and loving celebration of the songs and legacy of departed brothers Bill and Barry Cowsill who as Mark Rosen will argue were criminally underrated during their lifetimes.
11. PETER HOLSAPPLE – The Face of 68 Age -wise we are in the same neighborhood and there is a lot to identify with in the songs. “That Kind of Guy” could serve as not only my theme song but probably for anybody else who does these lists as well.
12. GREEN DIESEL – Onward the Sun Sound wise think of the early British folk -rock music of the 70s (i.e. Steeleye/Trees/Fairport).
13. THE MAGPIE ARC – Gil Brenton Led by Nancy Kerr who cut her teeth with Eliza Carthy with huge contributions on a couple of songs from Maddy Prior.
14. JAMES McMURTRY – The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy One of the more gifted story tellers whose albums have remained remarkably consistent.
15. SONGHOY BLUES – Heritage Western African blues but in a more acoustic setting which does not detract from the strong rhythmic backbone of the songs.
16. THE SALT COLLECTIVE – A Brief History of Blindness The pedigree of the artists participating in this project who were virtual alt -radio staples back in the 80s and 90s is outstanding. And anyone who gets Mitch Easter recording again gets extra credit from me.
17. LAVINIA BLACKWALL – The Making Losing the psychedelic trappings of her former band Trembling Bells, Blackwall now heads up her own folk rock band doing mostly original material.
18. LE VENT DU NORD – Voisinages One of the best representatives of the Quebecois music scene. They are also one of the most exciting bands to see live.
19. PATTERSON HOOD – Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams Sketches of the gothic South. I’m not sure what differentiates these songs from his work with the Drive By Truckers.
20. TIDE LINES – Glasgow Love Story Folk pop band from Scotland.
21. FOLK BITCH TRIO – Now Would Be a Good Time Contemporary folk from Australia with the tightest harmonies you’ve ever heard this side of the Roches.
22. POOR CREATURES – All Smiles Tonight Another off shoot of Lankum meaning more acid folk interpretations of traditional material.
23. THE WATERBOYS – Life, Death and Dennis Hopper I never thought that a concept album about Hopper would work but surprisingly it does pretty cohesively.
24. THE HIVES – The Hives Forever Forever The Hives Like the Swedish Ramones, there is a lot of swagger and they know only one speed.
25. KATHLEEN EDWARDS – Billionaire She has yet to make a weak album.
1. SLY & THE FAMILY STONE – The First Family: Live at Winchester Cathedral 1967 At this point they were only a dance band doing club gigs covering the hits of the day but they already had a monster rhythm section and some killer chops.
2. BOB DYLAN – Through the Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 1956 – 1963 I spent a good portion of my misspent youth and what money I had chasing down various bootlegs of his early material. I probably have a lot of the songs already but it’s nice to have them all together in one spot.
3. THE COWSILLS – The “Cocaine Drain” Album It took the 1970s for someone to realize that Susan Cowsill was a great singer and this album was recorded to spotlight her. And of course it then took 47 years to release it.
4. TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND & LEON RUSSELL – Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited Live at Lockin’ At its heart, the TTB has always seemed to be modeled to a certain extent on Cocker’s touring circus. Here they are just exploring their roots.
5. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – Tracks II: The Lost Albums Covers a lot of ground and has a few gems scattered about although the packaging and the cost sort of tempered the excitement.