Buy new or used through Amazon
M. Ward / Post-War: reclusive indie-folk guitar hero wakes up and smells the genius
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Beck / The Information: uplifting and funky, Beck quits moping, starts popping and locking
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Tapes ‘n Tapes / The Loon: Pixies plus Pavement, pure indie pleasure
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Arctic Monkeys / Whatever People Say That I Am…: great dance-punk, undeniably catchy
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Band of Horses / Everything All the Time: slow-burning, clean, and bright indie pop
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The Hold Steady / Boys and Girls in America: Springsteen disciples rock power chords
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Neko Case / Fox Confessor Brings the Flood: complex, rich, literary Gothic country
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Tim Easton / Ammunition: great young Dylan sound, tight country rock gems
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Built to Spill / You in Reverse: buzzing guitar god Doug Martsch goes native, gets epic
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Cat Power / The Greatest: intimate folk-popster opens up and finds a bigger soundCalexico / Garden Ruin: hazy Latin-tinged country music with a hint of menace
Jenny Lewis / Rabbit Fur Coat: trad-country sound with alt-lyrics and a pop sheen
The Raconteurs / Broken Boy Soldiers: Led Zep gets the blues and plays Beatles tunes
Destroyer / Destroyer’s Rubies: weird, inspired glam-folk opus sounds like early Bowie
Yeah Yeah Yeahs / Show Your Bones: howling angular indie-rockers go pro
Peter Bjorn & John / Writer’s Block: low-fi Swedish new wave, guaranteed smiles
The Roots / Game Theory: a power-soul/rap anti-war missive from these veterans
Chris Whitley / Reiter In: spooky posthumous masterpiece, all sinew and echoes
Tool / 10,000 Days: rumbling, intense prog-rock epic, not for the faint of heart
Amy Millan / Honey From the Tombs: layered and lyrically dark pop-country
HONORABLE MENTION
Richard Buckner / Meadow
Solomon Burke / Nashville
Califone / Roots and Crowns
Deftones / Saturday Night Wrist
Bob Dylan / Modern Times
The Long Winters / Putting the Days to Bed
Ali Farka Toure / Savane
TV on the Radio / Return to Cookie Mountain
Yo La Tengo / I Am Not Afraid Of You…
Thom Yorke / The Eraser
NOTABLE
The Annuals / Be He Me
The Damnwells / Air Stereo
Drive-By Truckers / A Blessing and a Curse
Alejandro Escovedo / The Boxing Mirror
Gnarls Barkley / St. Elsewhere
Gomez / How We Operate
The Gourds / Heavy Ornamentals
Howlin’ Rain / Howlin’ Rain
Ben Kweller / Ben Kweller
Ray LaMontagne / Till The Sun Turns Black
Loose Fur / Born Again in the USA
Lucero / Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers
Scott Miller / Citation
Alexi Murdoch / Time Without Consequence
My Morning Jacket / Okonokos
Pearl Jam / Pearl Jam
Corinne Bailey Rae / Corinne Bailey Rae
Damien Rice / 9
Silversun Pickups / Carnavas
Regina Spektor / Begin to Hope
OF INTEREST (FANS ONLY)
Beirut / The Gulag Orkestar
The Black Angels / Passover
The Black Keys / Magic Potion
Bonnie “Prince” Billy / The Letting Go
Grandaddy / Just Like the Fambly Cat
Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s / The Dust of Retreat
The Thermals / The Body, the Blood, the Machine
The Walkmen / A Hundred Miles Off
OVERRATED
Red Hot Chili Peppers / Stadium Arcadium: stuck in a deep, deep rut
Ben Harper / Both Sides of the Gun: yawn
Grizzly Bear / Yellow House: zzzz
Brightblack Morning Light: zzzzzzzzzz
Joanna Newson / Ys: are you f-ing kidding?
DIG ‘EM OUT!
The Stooges / Raw Power: still punk, even now
Lee Perry / Scratch Attack: the weirdest, funkiest, greatest roots reggae ever?
The Jayhawks / Blue Earth: solid, rootsy and rare alt-country album
Squeeze / Argybargy: classic cotton candy summer soundtrack
Johnny Cash / Sunday Morning Coming Down: mint Cash
Neil Young / Zuma: he’s the best there ever was: one word - Cortez.
Andrew Stewart
Rhinebeck, NY
1/07