Shawn Lee & Clutchy Hopkins "Clutch of the Tiger" (2008)

This is the soundtrack to a modern blaxploitation movie that was never made.  Funky, slinky instrumentals that change but somehow are all of a piece.  It's intriguing stuff, but somehow never fully essential.

Jean Grae "Jeanius" (2008)

There's a parallel universe where Jean Grae is a big star.  She's seen as the leading female MC and is brought in to add intelligence to R&B tracks.  Unfortunately in the universe we're living in, she's mostly overlooked and ignored.  I don't know all the details, but she sounds like a likely victim of the dodgy nature of the music industry.  A record in the tank, that's not released for several years....  Grae is a throwback in that her emphasis is on technique and intelligence.  While the album itself fails to live up to its potential, she's certainly a talent to watch.

Various "Cambodian Cassette Archives" (2004)

There was a weird little scene around the "Cambodian Rocks" album.  That one was a compilation of 60s & early 70s garage punk from Cambodia.  It basically sounded like you were listening to Nuggets through your apartment wall.  Anyway, that compilation was a hipster hit.  And so we have other comps in roughly the same vein.  The problem with this one is that the music isn't from the same sweet spot.  There are a lot of synthesizers in use, and you don't have that wonderfully familiar feeling.

John Fahey "The New Possibility: John Fahey's Guitar Soli Christmas Album" (1968)

This year I remembered how much I love this album of holiday music.  With Fahey, simple is never quite what it seems and that approach is perfect for these traditional tunes.

Destroyer "Destroyer's Rubies" (2006)

This may very well be one of my favorite indie records of the millenium.  It's dense complex music and words with multiple call backs to the music of the 70s. 

Menahan Street Band "Make The Road By Walking" (2008)

So these guys are the Daptones house band.  You've heard them on records by Sharon Jones & the Budos Band.  The Menahan Street Band is their 70s soul incarnation.  Without a vocalist, it comes off more as incidental music for a blaxploitation movie that was never made.  Whatever you think of this album, these guys are definitely ones to watch.

Chris Knight "Heart of Stone" (2008)

These songs are really good.  Really good.  But the production is too big.  I think that they're going for a sound that would work well on Hot Country radio, which unfortunately means it sounds like a mid 80s roots rock record.  Of course the depressing themes to the songs wouldn't exactly fit in with songs about trucks and partying anyway.  Knight's protagonists party, but only because that's how they manage their pain.