In this week's paper, you may notice a piece including some of our DC9 writers' choices for best albums of the year. But, space being limited, we couldn't run all of our writers' lists. So, thanks to the power of the Internet, we're doing just that, right here.
Mailroom cleanser and resident head-twanger Kelly Dearmore finds faith in a hip-hop album that, he swears, isn't a hip-hop album when you get down to brass tax.
10. The Sword - Warp Riders
9. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
8. Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
7. .357 String Band - Lightning From the North
While Mumford & Sons rightly deserve praise for their
acoustic-based greatness, Milwaukee's ragged, renegade outfit of
lightning-fast pickers made us forget that the Avett Brothers used to
actually play banjo.
6. The National - High Violet
5. Joe Pug - Messenger
4. Phosphorescent - Here's to Taking It Easy
3. Jamey Johnson - Guitar Song
No one takes any risks in country music any more, right? Not so if you've heard this disc. By looking for, and finding, truth in his native musical
tongue, Johnson's double-album risk is our reward.
2. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
1. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Epic in every sense. This isn't a hip-hop album, it's a transcendent
and revolutionary statement of agression and vulnerability that even
Taylor Swift probably bounces to when she's not griping about
ex-boyfriends.