Albums We Loved in 2010…

OK, we readily admit that we didn’t spend enough time with the new releases of 2010 to come up with anything that might even approach being a Best Albums of the Year list.

So, instead, here’s a list of new albums that we thoroughly enjoyed. They’re worth checking out, if any of them happened to pass you by:

Anais Mitchell’s “Hadestown” (Righteous Babe)
The Nels Cline Singers’ “Initiate” (Cryptogramophone)
Janelle Monae’s “The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III)” (Bad Boy)
Jason Moran’s “Ten” (Blue Note)
Ike Reilly’s “Hard Luck Stories” (Rock Ridge Music)
Bettye LaVette’s “Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook” (Anti-)
John Ellis & Double-Wide’s “Puppet Mischief” (ObliqSound)
Black Dub’s “Black Dub” (Jive)
Rebecca Martin’s “When I Was Long Ago” (Sunnyside)
Bryan Ferry’s “Olympia” (Astralwerks)
Cassandra Wilson’s “Silver Pony” (Blue Note)
Jimmy Webb’s “Just Across the River” (E1 Music)
Danny Barnes’ “Pizza Box” (ATO)
Susan Cowsill’s “Lighthouse” (Threadhead)

BEST ESCAPE FROM THE VAULTS: Bill Hicks’ “The Essential Collection” (Rykodisc)

BEST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM: “Treme: Music from the HBO Original Series, Season 1” (Geffen/HBO)
Honorable mention: “Shutter Island” (Rhino)