HONORABLE MENTIONS

Busdriver
"RoadkillOvercoat"
(Anti-)
"The musings of a winded fact-checker" -- attempting, with some success, to escape the prison house of self ("Less Yes's, More No's," "Casting Agents and Cowgirls").

The Hidden Cameras
"Awoo"
(Arts & Crafts)
What Joel Gibb wants isn't dirty sex; it's the transcendence its abandon affords, so the dirty sex faded away as the melodies grew ("Lollipop," "Awoo").

Prince
"Planet Earth"
(NPG/Columbia)
Viva Las Vegas and later for Viagra -- but not never ("Guitar," "The One U Wanna C").

Maroon 5
"It Won't Be Soon Before Long"
(Octone)
Learning what Prince has always known -- that kindnesses render a falsetto manly and kiss-offs don't ("Nothing Lasts Forever," "Won't Go Home Without You").

Wiley
"Playtime Is Over"
(Big Dada)
Still a speed-rapping grimesta whose sound effects kill ("Bow E3," "Gangsters").

Chaka Khan
"Funk This"
(Burgundy)
Meaning Jam & Lewis this, a decent interval after London Symphony Orchestra this and Prince this ("Disrespectful," "Foolish Fool").

Los Straitjackets
"Rock en Espanol"
(Yep Roc)
Just what their retro-nuevo surf instrumentals needed -- singers (translating '60s hits into Spanish? One of them an Anglo anyway?) ("Hey Lupe [Hang on Sloopy]"; "De Dia y de Noche [All Day and All of the Night]").

Bonde do Rolê
"With Lasers"
(Domino)
Baile funk for art-punks, which they think means you and me ("Marina Gasolina," "Dança do Zumbi").

Sage Francis
"Human the Death Dance"
(Epitaph)
The rare undie-rapper who's learned from his opportunities ("Underground for Dummies," "Got Up This Morning").

Bettye LaVette
"The Scene of the Crime"
(Anti-)
And I thought recording with the Drive-By Truckers meant Patterson Hood would write her some songs -- and rein her in a little, maybe ("I Still Want to Be Your Baby [Take Me Like I Am]," "The Last Time").

RedCloud
"Hawthorne's Most Wanted"
(Syntax)
Chicano, Native American, conscious, Christian ex-gangbanger from the Beach Boys' hometown inspires curseless Kurupt cameo -- wow! ("405," "Death of a Salesman").

Jason Isbell
"Sirens of the Ditch"
(New West)
Like so many major talents, more major in a group ("Dress Blues," "Try").

Steve Earle
"Washington Square Serenade"
(New West)
More songs about mortal struggle and mortal struggle -- which can be beautiful, he's decided ("Down Here Below," "City of Immigrants").

Spear of the Nation
"Spearitalk"
(R.N.L.G.)
"Why you wanna be a nigga?/You was God before" ("Black Love?" "Find Ya Bes'").

Animal Collective
"Strawberry Jam"
(Domino)
"The other side of takeout is mildew on rice" convinced me that they Know Life -- but then I started to wonder again ("Peacebone," "Cuckoo Cuckoo").

James Luther Dickinson
"Killers From Space"
(Memphis International)
More good songs he discovered and you never heard of ("Dirty on Yo Mama," "No No Never Again").

Johnnie Taylor
"Live at the Summit Club"
(Stax)
Stuck in L.A. with a raggedy band, Jody's prophet still makes infidelity signify ("Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone," "Little Bluebird").

Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours
"Trailercana"
(DPR)
Blissfully obvious musical jokes about sinking out of the lower middle class ("I Was Just Flipped Off by a Silver Haired Lady With a 'Honk if You Love Jesus' Sticker on the Bumper of Her Car," "KOA Refugee").

Marvin Sease
"Candy Licker: The Sex & Soul of Marvin Sease"
(Jive/Legacy)
Chitlin' king bowdlerized -- where where where is "The Bitch Git It All"? ("I'm Mr. Jody," "Do You Need a Licker?").

CHOICE CUTS

Noiseshaper
"Sly & Robbie -- Vice Vanity," "Me Done" ("Real to Reel" [Miracle Sounds])

Gilberto Gil
"Questão de Ordem," "Luta Contra a Lata Ou a Falência Do Café"

Caetano Veloso
"Soy Loco Por Ti, America"

Gal Costa and Jards Macalé
"The Empty Boat" ("Tropicalia: A Revolutionary Movement of Sound" [Universa])

Mickey Avalon
"My D**k" ("Mickey Avalon" [Interscope])

Me'Shell NdegéOcello
"Article 3" ("The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams," [EmArcy])

Tim McGraw
"I'm Workin'" ("Let It Go" [Curb])

Theory Hazit
"Lesson in Power," "Dumb Dunces" ("Extra Credit" [Superrappin])

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
"100 Days, 100 Nights" ("100 Days, 100 Nights" [Daptone])