- Big Thief - Double Infinity
- James McMurtry - The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy
- SG Goodman - Planting By the Signs
- Patterson Hood - Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams
- Florry - Sounds Like…
- Robert Plant with Suzi Dian - Saving Grace
- Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On
- Fust - Big Ugly
- Kathleen Edwards - Billionaire
- The Beths - Straight Line Was A Lie
Honorable Mentions
- Margo Price - Hard Headed Woman
- Caroline Spence - Heart Go Wild
- Snocaps
- Lilly Hiatt - Forever
- Winter - Adult Romantix
- Wishy - Planet Popstar (EP)
- The Salt Collective - A Brief History of Blindness
- Various Artists - Let’s Go Dancing: Split A Mountain in Two With a Flake of Snow
- Various Artists - Let's Go Dancing: Said The Falling Rain To The Open Flame
- Briscoe - Heat of July
- Otis Gibbs - The Trust of Crows
- Jeff Tweedy - Twilight Override
- Michael Hurley - Broken Homes and Gardens
- A. Lee Edwards - Interpreting Heart Sounds, Vol. I
- Will Stewart - Moon Winx
- Throwing Muses - Moonlight Concessions
- John Howie, Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff - The Return of John Howie, Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff
- Julien Baker and Torres - Send A Prayer My Way
- Anna Tivel - Animal Poem
- Janet Simpson - Can I See You Tonight?
- Murray Attaway - Tense Music Plays
- Mavis Staples - Sad and Beautiful World
- Drive-By Truckers - The Definitive Decoration Day
- Wet Leg - moisturizer
- Hayes Carll - We’re Only Human
- Case Oats - Last Missouri Exit
- Jason Isbell - Foxes in the Snow
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
Nice to see Michael Hurley mentioned, so sad he passed on last year. and that Otis Gibbs album deserves more attention.
Good list! I thought Double Infinity was a return to form and I very much liked the Florry and the Fust albums too. I’m still loving the recent Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band album… my top pick for the year. They were great live too.
It is always impossible to effectively grade the best albums as it is too subjective, but you got quite a few good ones there, Joe.
Nice to see Michael Hurley mentioned, so sad he passed on last year. and that Otis Gibbs album deserves more attention.
A compilation CD put Michael Hurley on my radar in the late 90s. That same song (“I Paint A Design”) put him back on my radar a few years later when it was featured in the Oscar winning short film The Accountant starring Ray McKinnon (the inspiration behind Drive-By Truckers’ “Sinkhole”). He came to the now defunct Nightlight in Chapel Hill, NC a few years ago but unfortunately I had to miss him.
Otis might be as well known for his podcast these days than his music but it was his music that first brought him to my attention years ago when he came to town (Raleigh) opening for the Bottle Rockets.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
Good list! I thought Double Infinity was a return to form and I very much liked the Florry and the Fust albums too. I’m still loving the recent Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band album… my top pick for the year. They were great live too.
I loved their previous album. I obviously love this one as well. I feel like after the last one the opportunity was there to become more exploratory/experimental but they reined it in for the most part (in a positive way).
Florry are my current favorites and have been since seeing them live in 2023 and having The Holey Bible sink its hooks in me. I saw Fust on one of the same bills as Florry during a festival that year but wasn’t nearly as taken with them initially but I do love the record.
I’ve listened to the two most recent Ryan Davis and the Roadhouse Band albums which I enjoyed in spots but overall they didn’t really grab me. That said, a friend played a cut from their latest during his radio show a few weeks ago that enjoyed much more outside the context of the album. Funny how that works sometimes.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
It is always impossible to effectively grade the best albums as it is too subjective, but you got quite a few good ones there, Joe.
Thanks but I purposely never use words like best, better, or greatest to describe art. I prefer “favorite.” That’s just me. I do appreciate the kind words though.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
I’ve been working on an expanded version of this list that I’m still fine tuning a bit. Link here if you care to read.
Bedroom rising from an old growth tree
Bringing out the sawmill, cutting the 12 inch beams
Building a pattern, the reservoir to fill with dreams
Rings like Saturn telling their old story…
Big Thief “Red Moon”
