Just in Case You Missed ‘Em…

I spent considerable time compiling a Top 10 list of local Capital Region CDs, and a list of Top 10 concerts of 2009, as well, but I ran out of steam before I could whip up a Top 10 list of national/international CDs.

I did, however, post more than two dozen Top 10 lists – and looked through quite a few others – and it’s pretty clear that the general consensus ranks Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Phoenix, Neko Case and Dirty Projectors as all being worth a listen. But while those albums were jockeying for the top spots, a lot of other worthwhile albums didn’t really seem to get their due.

So here is a batch of recommendations – albums that may have passed you by while your earbuds were blaring “Merriweather Post Pavilion” for the gazillionth time:

Joe Henry‘s “Blood From Stars” (Anti-)
Levon Helm‘s “Electric Dirt” (Vanguard)
Antony & the Johnsons‘ “The Crying Light” (Secretly Canadian)
The Low Anthem‘s “Oh My God, Charlie Darwin” (Nonesuch)
Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles‘ “The Stars Are Out” (Sugar Hill)
The Felice Brothers‘ “Yonder Is the Clock” (Team Love)
The Texas Sheiks‘ “The Texas Sheiks” (Tradition & Moderne)
The Postmarks‘ “Memoirs at the End of the World” (Unfiltered)
Otis Taylor‘s “Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs” (Telarc)
Bela Fleck‘s “Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From the Acoustic Planet, Volume 3, Africa Sessions” (Rounder)
Leonard Cohen‘s “Live in London” (Columbia)
Booker T‘s “Potato Hole” (Anti-)
Bill Callahan‘s “Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle” (Drag City)
Various artists’ “Singing Through the Hard Times: A Tribute to Utah Phillips” (Righteous Babe)

Sam Baker‘s “Cotton” (Music Road)
Richard Hawley‘s “Truelove’s Guitar” (Mute)
Eilen Jewell‘s “Sea of Tears” (Signature Sounds)
Marianne Faithfull‘s “Easy Come, Easy Go” (Decca)
Allen Toussaint‘s “The Bright Mississippi” (Nonesuch)
Iggy Pop‘s “Preliminaires” (EMI)
Various artists’ “Things About Comin’ My Way: A Tribute to the Music of the Mississippi Sheiks” (Black Hen Music)
A Broken Consort‘s “Box of Birch” (Tompkins Square)
Bill Frisell‘s “Disfarmer” (Nonesuch)

IT’S ABOUT TIME: The late Nippertown singer-songwriter Bert Sommer finally got some 40-years-overdue raves for his performance at the 1969 Woodstock festival, including three tracks on the 6-CD box set, “Woodstock, 40 Years On: Back to Yasgur’s Farm” (Rhino).

HISTORICAL ALBUM: Tim Buckley‘s “Live at the Folklore Center, NYC: March 6, 1967” (Tompkins Square)

RE-ISSUE: Miles Davis‘ “Sketches of Spain (50th Anniversary Legacy Edition)” (Legacy)

FAVORITE FIVE MUSIC DVDs
Bela Fleck‘s “Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From the Acoustic Planet, Volume 3, Africa Sessions” (Docurama)
“Anvil: The Story of Anvil” (VH1 Films)
“Playing for Change: Songs Around the World” (Hear Music)
Sonny Rollins‘ “Saxophone Colossus” (Acorn Media)
“‘Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris” (Outsider Pictures)

BEST RECORDED SONG INTRODUCTION: “Hi, everybody. I’m David Jo & the Dolls. We’re from New York City. And we like our Philly soul Chicago-style. Check it out.” – from “Nobody Got No Bizness” on the New York Dolls‘ album “‘Cause I Sez So”