Sound Obsession

These are my runners up and honorable mention albums of 2021, in alphabetical order by artist name . . . . Charley Crockett:  10 for Slim - Charley Crockett Sings James Hand     (Son of Davy - 2/26/21)   Charley Crockett:   Music City USA     (Son of Davy - 9/17/21)   Jesse Daniel:   Beyond These Walls     (Die True - 7/30/21)   Cody Jinks:   Mercy     (Late August - 11/12/21)   Quicksand:   Distant Populations     (Quicksand - 8/13/21)     The Steel Woods:   All of Your Stones     (Woods Music - 5/14/21)   Turnstile:   Glow On     (Roadrunner - 8/27/21)   Joshua Ray Walker:   See You Next Time     (State Fair - 10/8/21)   Wolf Alice:   Blue Weekend   (RCA - 6/4/21)   Yola:   Stand For Myself     (Easy Eye Sound - 7/30/21)

In alphabetical order by artist name.  Top Ten for 2020 coming soon! Hum:   Inlet   (Earth Analog - 6/23/20) Kairon; IRSE!:   Polysomn   (Svart - 9/11/20)   Khruangbin:   Mordechai   (Dead Oceans - 6/26/20)   Killer Be Killed:   Reluctant Hero   (Nuclear Blast - 11/20/20)   Gabe Lee:   Honky Tonk Hell   (Torrez Music - 3/13/20)   Mako:   Oeuvre   (Metalheadz - 4/6/20)   Rattlesnake Milk:   Rattlesnake Milk   (Feels ...

Based on the number of cowboy hats on display on these album covers, the running musical theme for me in 2019 is fairly obvious.  No surprise, despite being a relative neophyte, my top ten favorite albums list last year was dominated by independent country music too.  With a staggering pool of new talent to explore, I continued that deep dive again this year.  Though unexpected for me just a few years ago, I've fallen pretty hard for country music's history, its sounds, its evocative storytelling, and its sense of timelessness. The following ten albums are my favorites of 2019.  I've chosen not to rank them, so they're listed in alphabetical order by artist name.  Any of these could be my favorite depending on the day of the week, but if I had to grab one right now for the desert island, it'd be Charles Wesley Godwin's Seneca Creek (with Joshua Ray Walker's Wish You Were Here  a close second). Check out my 2019 runners up & honorable mention ...