2010 In Music – 1,000+ Good Albums

This has been a mammoth undertaking, and it has occupied way too much of my life.  I hope you enjoy it:

Happy New Year, everyone!

It is now so easy and inexpensive to record and distribute music that far too many albums are released each week for anyone to hear them all.  I thought if I organized and listed all the bands with good 2010 albums I’ve heard this year it might be helpful to others.

My list differs from other year-end lists in three important ways:

Europe – Since the internet gives everyone around the world instant access to all albums released anywhere, it makes no sense for these other lists to ignore albums released in Europe but not the U.S.  Their probable justification, that there is no point listening to and recommending albums that are not available here, is nonsensical and silly.  Albums released only in Europe are instantly available for us to hear, and to buy as downloads, just like American releases.  Since I haven’t discriminated against or ignored Europe-only releases, this list includes a lot of great music missing from other year-end lists.

Finding Quality Via Quantity – Most year-end lists include a limited number of albums.  Does anyone seriously think there are only a few albums released each year that are worth recommending and hearing?  I’ve attempted to include every good album released this year, not just an inherently arbitrary Best Of.  You might conclude from scanning this list that I heard every indie album released.  Didn’t happen – not even close.  In 2010 I proved conclusively, once again, that no one can hear everything that comes out.

I tried to listen to every 2010 album that got substantial press attention.  As a result, any  well-known album not listed below is likely missing because I don’t think it’s worth your time.  Examples of artists that released poor 2010 albums include Against Me!, Alexisonfire, Angels & Airwaves, Sara Bareilles, Susan Boyle, Citizen Cope, Miley Cyrus, Five For Fighting, Adam Green (The Moldy Peaches), Hot Hot Heat, Norah Jones, Matt & Kim, I Blame Coco (Eliot Sumner, daughter of Sting), M.I.A. (Maya Arulpragasam), Ra Ra Riot, Robyn, Simian Mobile Disco, Sufjan Stevens (The Age Of Adz was bad, while All Delighted People was good), Sugarland, Stone Sour (Corey Taylor of Slipknot), Avey Tare (David Portner of Animal Collective), Tired Pony (Pete Buck & Scott McCaughey of R.E.M.), Trapt, Kanye West.  The common thread among many of these weak albums is their one-dimensionality, sounding the same throughout – how boring is that?  In some cases you wonder whether the artist fell asleep in the studio, or suffered from “obsessive-compulsive repetitious disorder”.

Twentieth-Century Coverage – Other year-end lists copy each other so much they generally include the same albums by the same new artists, and completely ignore albums by artists who’ve been around a while.  Since I don’t ignore older artists (not trusting folks over 30 is such a dated, 60s idea), this list includes categories for artists who made their mark in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, along with categories for well-known 90s artists.  Maybe those other lists only care about New Bands That Self-Proclaimed Trendsetters Decide Are Cool.

So, onward to my list of all artists that released 2010 albums worth hearing:

1.  Given how difficult it is to keep all this information and music straight, I haven’t even attempted to deal with the names of the albums.  Thus, listed below is just the band name, without the album title.  The internet of course makes it easy to discover the name of, and listen to, any of these 2010 albums.

2.  None of these albums are included because of just one song.  I’ve listened to each album at least twice all the way through (well, maybe not all the poor albums listed at the end), and would gladly listen to each again in the future.

3.   When at least two band members release solo albums or side projects, I’ve listed them in a separate category named for the band, which also lists the band’s own album if applicable.  I’ve also listed all-stars who released good albums with more than one band this year.

The bands in each category are listed in alphabetical order.  We begin with my Top 10 albums of the year, and at the bottom is the full list of my choices as the best albums of the year, along with some awards.  I hope you enjoy reading this, expanding your musical horizons, and discovering some great new stuff!

My 2010 Top 10

Amusement Parks On Fire

Ceremony

Chromeo

The Fall

Maserati

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti

Surrounded

Voice of The Seven Thunders

Weekend

Wow & Flutter

England

Allo Darlin’
Antony & The Johnsons (for both Swanlights and Thank You For Your Love)
Arctic Monkeys

Athlete
Bad Lieutenant (Bernard Sumner of Joy Division/New Order)
A Bad Think (Michael Marquart of A Flock Of Seagulls)
A Band Of Bees
Blood Red Shoes

British Sea Power
Cherry Ghost
The Clap

The Clientele
Clinic
The Coral
The Courteeners

Crippled Black Phoenix – prog-rock

The Crookes
Delays
The Drums
Engineers
Everybody Was In The French Resistance … Now! (Eddie Argos of Art Brut)
Everything Everything
Field Music
Foals
The Futureheads
Goldheart Assembly
Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs – alt-country
Good Shoes
Graffiti6
The Hotrats (Gaz Coombes and Danny Guffey of Supergrass)
I Am Kloot
Keane
Klaxons
The Magic Numbers

Mt. Desolation (Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quinn of Keane)
Mystery Jets
Peggy Sue
Scanners
Scouting For Girls
Sky Larkin
Special Benny
Stornoway

The Strange Death Of Liberal England

Summer Camp (not the same-named 90s California band)
Tender Trap
These New Puritans
Trus’ Me (David Wolstencroft) – solo – funk
22-20s

Wild Beasts

Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba
Danbert Nobacon (Nigel Hunter) – solo

Roxy Music

Brian Eno – solo
Bryan Ferry – solo

Stereolab

Laetitia Sadier – female solo

Stereolab

England Post-Punk

Amusement Parks On Fire

Archie Bronson Outfit
Lonelady (Julie Campbell) – female solo

Plug

England Psychedelic Rock

Band Of Skulls

Voice Of The Seven Thunders (Rick Tomlinson of Voice Of The Seven Woods) – solo
Wolf People

England Psych-Folk

Anna Kashfi (named after Marlon Brando’s first wife)
Danny And The Champions Of The World
Erland & The Carnival (Simon Tong of Blur)
Johnny Flynn – solo
Lone Wolf (Paul Marshall) (not one of the same-named France or Chicago metal bands) – solo
Tom McRae – solo
Smoke Fairies
Peggy Sue
Turin Brakes
The Wishing Tree (Steve Rothery of Marillion)
James Yuill – solo

England Experimental

Chrome Hoof
The Irrepressibles
65daysofstatic (not a typo)
Tunng

England Cross-Cultural

Bellowhead (Medieval)

Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons (Indian)

England Garage Rock

The Contrast
The Len Price 3
Male Bonding
The Thermals
Trash Kit

England Soul

Ashley Beedle & Darren Morris (tribute to Mavis Staples)
Vanessa ‘V.V. Brown’ – female solo
Grosvenor (Rob Smoughton of Hot Chip) – solo
Jamie Lidell – solo
Mamas Gun
Corinne Bailey Rae – female solo
‘Rox’ Roxanne Tataei – female solo

England Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Audio Bully

The Bug (Kevin Martin) – solo
Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip (Daniel Stephens & David Meads)
Darkstar (not one of the same-named 90s England or U.S. bands)

Delphic

Forest Swords (Matt Barnes) – solo
Goldfrapp
Gorillaz! (Damon Albarn of Blur)
Grasscut
Groove Armada
Hadouken!
Hot Chip

Munch Munch
New Young Pony Club
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool
Mark Ronson & The Business International – solo
Silver Columns
Sisters Of Transistors (Graham Massey of 808 State)

Zoon Van Snook (Alec Snook) – solo
We Have Band
N.J. ‘Whitey’ – solo

England Male Solo

Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough)
Carl Barat (The Libertines)

James Blackshaw
Get Cape Wear Cape Fly (Sam Duckworth)
Ed Harcourt
‘Fyfe Dangerfield’ Hutchins (of Guillemots)
Richard Hawley (Pulp)
Tim Kasher
Lightspeed Champion (Devonte Hynes) (for both Bye Bye and Life Is Sweet)
James McCartney (son of Paul)
Kele Okereke (Bloc Party)
Paul Smith (Maximo Park)
Thomas White (The Brakes)

Joe Worricker

England Female Solo

Rose Elinor Dougall
Karen Elson (wife of Jack White)
Laura Marling
Kate Nash
Emma ‘Scout Niblett’

Gemma Ray (covers of obscure blues songs)

Scotland

American Men
Codeine Velvet Club (Jon Lawlor of The Fratellis)
Errors – synth
Frightened Rabbit
Steve Mason (Beta Band)

North Atlantic Oscillation

Trembling Bells – psych-folk

The Unwinding Hours

Scotland Post-Punk

Broken Records
The Phantom Band
We Were Promised Jetpacks

Wales

Los Campesinos!
Marina (Diamandis) And The Diamonds – female solo

Northern Ireland

And So I Watch You From Afar – experimental
Duke Special (Peter Wilson) – solo
Two Door Cinema Club

Ireland

The Glass (not one of the 4 same-named U.S. bands)
Fionn Regan – solo
Shit Robot (Marcus Lambkin) – solo – synth
Villagers

Netherlands

All Missing Pieces

The Anacondas

Belly Says
Bombay Show Pig

Brown Feather Sparrow

The Bullfight
Chinup (not the same-named U.S. indie band)
Denvis & The Real Deal
‘Giovanca’ Desire – female solo – soul

Tommy Ebben & The Small Town Villains

Fruit Of The Original Sin – industrial
Garcia Goodbye
Go Back To The Zoo
The Heights

Houses (not the same-named U.S. band listed later)
Kensington
Metro Mortale
MOCT (Men Of Considerable Taste) – blues-rock

Moke (not the same-named 90s England band) (with the classical Metropole Orchestra)
Moonpilot
New Cool Collective Big Band – jazz
No Blues – cross-cultural (Arabic)

El Pino & The Volunteers

Pop Up Animal Kids

The Rudolfs
Shane Shu
Shrinking Godspeed – psychedelic rock
Solex (Elisabeth Esselink), Jon Spencer (of his Blues Explosion), Christina Martinez
Star One – prog-metal
Symon

That Band From Holland

The Tunes (not one of the same-named Germany or U.S. bands)
The Van Jets
We Be Naked
Woost

Netherlands Post-Punk

AC Berkheimer
People Get Ready

Space Siren

Netherlands Alt-Country

Beans & Fatback
The Pedro Delgados
Lea – female solo
Sixtyniners

Netherlands Psych-Folk

Amarins & Le Gatte Negre
Blaudzun (Johannes Sigmund) – solo
John Carrie and Moor Green
Het Gloren (Floris Schrama) – solo
Homemade Empire (Bart De Kroon) – solo
I Am Oak (Thijs Kuijken) – solo
ME (Minco Eggersman) – solo
Praise The Twilight Sparrow
Bart Van Der Lee – solo

Netherlands Experimental

Eklin

Knalpot

Nikoo
Rosa Ensemble

Netherlands Hard Rock

Drive Like Maria
Hooghwater
The Mad Trist
Malle Pietje And The Bimbos
Vanderbuyst
Viberider

Netherlands Reggae

‘Maikal X’ Parkinson – solo
The Upsessions

Netherlands Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Baskerville (not the same-named New York band)

The Benelux
Seymour Bits (Bas Bron) – solo
Boemklatsch
Boom Boom Du Terre (Jornt Jan Bras) – solo
Crookram (Chris Angelovski) – solo
Sander Kleinenberg
TJ Kong & Nuno Dos Santos

Krach
Martyn (Martijn Deijkers) – solo
(Never Mind The) Stars
Palbomen (KaiHugo) – solo

Perquisite

The Q4

Netherlands Male Solo

Arthur Adam (Ten Cate)
Eckhardt (Rik Eistgeest)

‘Hartog’ Eysman
Hunter Complex (Lars Meijer)
John Dear Mowing Club – (Melle De Boer)
Tim Knol
Harm ‘Goslink’ Kuiper
Lucky Fonz III (Otto Wichers)

Case Mayfield
Mr A. Balladeer (Marinus De Goederen)
‘Joast’ Joost Oskamp
Joep Pelt
Sir Ian (Bart Hoevenaars of Dutch band Mono)
Zea (Arnold De Boer)

Netherlands Female Solo

Caro Emerald (Caroline Van Der Leeuw)
Flux (Irene Wiersma)
Lilian Hak
Roos Jonker
Janne ‘Schradinova’ Schra

Belgium

Arid
Balthazar
The Bear That Wasn’t
The Black Box Revelation – garage
Blackie & The Oohoo’s
Boston Tea Party
Broken Glass Heroes (Tim Vanhamel)
Customs – post-punk
Flying Horseman
Freaky Age

Admiral Freebie (Tom Van Laere) – solo

The Go Find
Charlie Jones’ Big Band – blues rock

Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat (Stef Irritant) – solo – psych-folk
Marble Sounds
Minstkov
Sopha – funk
The Sore Losers
Tape Tum

The Tellers

Belgium Post-Punk

Motek

Triggerfinger

Belgium Funk

BRZZVLL (not the same-named U.S. cross-cultural band Brazzaville)

Sopha

Belgium Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Aeroplane (Vito Deluca) (not one of the same-named England or Germany bands) – solo
Goose
Styrofoam (Arne Van Petegem) – solo
‘Stijn’ Vandeputte – solo

Belgium Female Solo

Dorleac (Geike Arnaert of Hooverphonic)
An Pierle & White Velvet

Norway

Burzum – metal
Jaga Jazzist (includes 2 members of The National Bank) – experimental
Serena Maneesh – post-punk
Silje Nes – female solo
Spirits Of The Dead – psychedelic rock

Norway Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Casiokids
(Hans-Peter) Lindstrom & Christabelle (Solale)
‘Prins Thomas’ Hermansen – solo

Sweden

Alarma Man
The Amazing
The Concretes
Dag For Dag
Drivan
Dungen
The Flare-Up
Ghost – hard rock

Junip (Jose Gonzalez)
The Knife (rock-opera based on Darwin’s The Origin Of Species)
Love Is All
Marching Band

New Found Land
Daniel Norgren – solo – garage
Pain Of Salvation – prog rock
Shout Out Louds
Surrounded – post-punk

The Tiny
Tutankhamen (members of Shout Out Louds and Peter Bjorn And John)
Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Sweden Psych-Folk

First Aid Kit
Hellsongs (covers of metal classics)

Sweden Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Ceo (Eric Berglund) – solo
Filewile
JJ
Swedish House Mafia

Sweden Male Solo

Andi Almqvist
Nicolai Dunger

Last Days Of April (Karl Larsson)
The Tallest Man on Earth (Kristian Matsson) (for both Sometimes The Blues and The Wild Hunt)

Sweden Female Solo

Nina Kinert
Jeanette Lindstrom
Moon & Sun (Monica Tormell)

Britta Persson

Elin Ruth Sigvardsson
Jenny Wilson

Finland

Disco Ensemble – hard rock
Husky Rescue

Denmark

Annasaid – post-punk
Efterklang
I Got You On Tape
The Kissaway Trail
Lars And The Hands Of Light

‘Teitur’ Lasson (from the Faeroe Islands, a Denmark colony) – solo
My Bubba & Mi – psych-folk
Oh No Ono

Denmark Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Oh Land (Nanna Fabricius) – female solo
Anders ‘Trentemoller’ – solo – synth

Denmark Female Solo

Agnes Obel
Our Broken Garden (Anna Bronsted)

Iceland

Olof Arnalds – female solo
FM Belfast – synth
Pascal Pinon (named after the famous ‘two-headed’ circus freak show)

Iceland Experimental

‘Jonsi’ Birgisson (Sigur Ros) – solo
For A Minor Reflection
Hjaltalin

France

La Caravane Passe – cross-cultural (E. Europe)
Frank (Just Frank) – post-punk

Ben L’Oncle Soul – soul

Bibi Tenga & The Selenities – funk
Yann Tiersen

France Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Sonido ‘Blundetto’ – solo
Jamaica
Le Peuple De L’Herbe
Zombie Zombie (covers of John Carpenter movie theme music)

Germany

Anika – female solo – post-punk
Frames (not either of the same-named Ireland or U.S. bands) – prog rock
Get Well Soon
Hauschka (Volker Bertelmann) – solo – piano
‘Oceana’ Mehlmann – female solo – soul

Saroos – experimental
The Whitefield Brothers – funk

Germany Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Autodidakt (Andres Klein) – solo
Bodi Bill
‘Ellen Allien’ Fraatz – female solo
Jahcoozi
Lali Puna
Stereo Total

Spain

Depedro (Jairo Zavala) – solo
Lonely Drifter Karen
Amparo Sanchez – female solo

Spain Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Delorean
El Guincho (Pablo Diaz-Reixa) – solo
‘Oriol’ Singhji – solo

Switzerland

Bonaparte
Headman (Robi Insinna) – solo – synth
Sophie Hunger – female solo

Italy

Calibro 35 (movie themes)

A Classic Education
Sem’bro – psych-folk

Italy Male Solo

Banjo Or Freakout (Alessio Natalizia)
Marsmobil (Roberto Di Gioia)

Greece

Ekos Quartet – experimental
Larry Gus (Panagioits Melidis) – solo – experimental

Austria

Kontrust – symphonic metal

Turkey

Kim Ki O

Ukraine

Lana Mir – female solo

Africa

Daara J Family (Senegal)

The Good Ones (Rwanda) (not the same-named Arizona artist)
Konono N1 (Congo)
Oy (Joy Frempong) (Ghana) – female solo – experimental
Solvent (Jason Amm) (Zimbabwe) – solo – synth
Kae Sun (Kwaku Darko-Mensah) – solo

Mali

Afrocubism
Tamikrest
Ali Farka Toure & Tiamani Diabete

Nigeria

Asa (Bukola Elemido) – female solo

‘King Sunny Ade’ Adeniya

South Africa

Blk Jks (similar to TV On The Radio)
Boo! – synth
The Parlotones

Australia

The Cat Empire

Eddy Current Suspension Ring
I Heart Hiroshima
Karnivool – prog rock
Pendulum
Angus & Julia Stone – psych-folk
Tame Impala – psychedelic rock

Australia Post-Punk

The Black Ryder
Grinderman (aka Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
Parades
PVT

Australia Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Club Feet

Midnight Juggernauts

Australia Male Solo

Ry Cuming
Ernest Ellis
Horse Stories (Toby Burke)
Gareth Liddiard (The Drones)

Xavier Rudd
Paul Turner

Australia Female Solo

Sarah Blasko

Johanna (Cranitch) And The Dusty Floor

Julia Stone

New Zealand

Lawrence Arabia (James Milne) – solo
The Ruby Suns – synth

Surf City – garage

China

Hanggai – cross-cultural (Mongolian)

Phillipines

Joyo Velarde – female solo

Brazil

Seu Jorge (Mario Da Silva) & Almaz
Garotas Suecas

Caribbean/Mexico

Datapanik (Aruba) – synth

Gyptian (Delwin Edwards) (Jamiaca) – solo – reggae

Carla Morrison (Mexico) – female solo

Canada

The Acorn
Arcade Fire
The Besnard Lakes
The Birthday Massacre – prog-metal
Black Mountain
Boats
Born Ruffians
Elephant Stone
Frazey Ford – female solo – alt-country

Frog Eyes (Carey Mercer of Destroyer)
Gigi (Nick Krgovich of No Kids and P:ano [sic]) – garage
Hot Panda
Land Of Talk
Declan McGarry – southern rock
The Most Serene Republic – post-punk
Plants And Animals
The Russian Futurists
Meaghan Smith – female solo

Tokyo Police Club
We Are Wolves
Wintersleep
Wolf Parade (Spencer Krug of Sunset Rubdown)
Woodpigeon
Yukon Blonde

Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies
Steven Page – solo

Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene
Jason Collett – solo
K.C. Accidental (Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin)
Stars

The New Pornographers

Kathryn Calder – female solo

The New Pornographers

Canada Psych-Folk

Basia Bulat – female solo
Postdata (Paul Murphy of Wintersleep) – solo
Siskiyou (2 guys from Great Lakes Swimmers)
Leif Vollebekk – solo

Canada Experimental

Diamond Rings (John O’Regan) – solo
Holy F**k
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra

Women

Canada Garage

The Demon’s Claws
PS I Love You
Mark Sultan – solo

Canada Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

Akido (Kim Gabourey) – solo
Bikini
Caribou (Dan Snaeth) – solo
Crystal Castles
Chilly Gonzales (Jason Beck) – solo
Small Sins (Thomas D’Arcy) – solo
Suuns

Canada Male Solo

Luke Doucet
Jeremy Fisher
Owen Pallett (for both Heartland and A Swedish Love Story)

Athens, GA

Dead Confederate – psychedelic rock
Drive-By Truckers

Elf Power
The Futurebirds – psych-folk

Kylesa (Savannah) – metal

Modern Skirts
Of Montreal
The Whigs – garage

Athens Post-Punk

Maserati

Twin Tigers

Athens Alt-Country

Phosphorescent (Matthew Houck) (now in N.Y.) – solo
‘Jason Aldean’ Williams (Macon) – solo

Atlanta

Cody Chesnutt – solo – soul

Abby Gogo – post-punk
Bad Books (Manchester Orchestra, with Kevin Devine)
Zac Brown Band – alt-country
Deerhunter
Gringo Star
Last November
Mastodon – prog-metal

Sun Domingo

Atlanta Female Solo

Kaki King

Shannon Wright

U.S. Indie

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra)
Annuals
Atlantic/Pacific
Autolux
Avi Buffalo
Backwards
Band Of Horses
Bear In Heaven
Black Dub (Daniel Lanois)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Bluebrain
Broken Bells (Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley and James Mercer of The Shins)
Call Me Lightning

Chief
Cold War Kids
Colour Revolt
Cool Genius

Crocodiles
Grant Cutler & The Gorgeous Lords
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse
Darker My Love
Delta Spirit
The Dig
Dr. Dog
The Drums
Eagle Seagull
The 88
Elsinore
Emanuel And The Fear
Fake Problems
Fang Island

Free Energy
Future Islands
The Gay Blades

Generationals

Girls (not the same-named 80s England hard rock band)
Grand Mal
Grandchildren (not the same-named Canada ska band)
Here We Go Magic
Hooray For Earth
Incarnations

Inu
Jaill
Japanther
Nick Jonas & The Administration
Jukebox The Ghost
Kashmir
Kings Of Leon
Leland Sundries
Liars
Light Pollution
Local Natives
The Lovely Forest
Magic Kids
Magnetic Island (used to be called Renminbi)
Maps & Atlases

Margot And The Nuclear So And So’s
Meeting Of Important People
Menomena
Meridene
MGMT
Midlake
Miniature Tigers
Minus The Bear
The Morning Benders
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
Murder By Death
My Jerusalem (Rick Nelson of The Polyphonic Spree)
The National
New Idea Society
OK Go

Phantom Buffalo
Pomegranates
Portugal.  The Man
Redstone Hall
Retribution Gospel Choir
Rogue Wave
Rooney
The Routine
Shoulders Of Giants
The Silver Seas
Small Black
The Soft Pack

Solvents
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Star & Micey
Steel Train
Suckers
Sun Airway
Surfer Blood
Tangents (Derek Kurswill of Unearth) (not the same-named band from Athens, GA, N.Y., or Eng.)
The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!
Thorcraft Cobra
Vampire Weekend
Violens
Wakey! Wakey!
The Walkmen
We Are Scientists
The Whiskers (the one from Connecticut, not California)
White Rabbits
Wovenhand (David Edwards of 16 Horsepower)
Xiu Xiu
The Young Veins (2 guys from Panic! At The Disco)

U.S. Indie – Female Vocals

Admiral Radley (Jason Lytle of Grandaddy)
Apache Beat
Azure Ray
Beach House
Best Coast
The Bird And The Bee (Inara George, daughter of Lowell) (all covers of Hall & Oates)

Buke And Gass (named after their baritone ukelele and guitar-bass hybrid)
The Chapin Sisters (Abigail and Lily, daughters of Tom)
Christy (Edwards) & Emily (Manzo)
Cotton Jones

Dominant Legs (Ryan Lynch of Girls)
Elk City
The Ettes
Fol Chen
Girl In A Coma (mostly covers of rock classics)

Gospel Music (Owen Holmes of Black Kids)
Happy Birthday
High Places
The Hundred In The Hands
Kanipchen-Fit

Kitten (not the same-named 90s Canada band)
Jenny (Lewis of Rilo Kiley) And Johnny (Johnathan Rice)
The Like
Lovers (not the same-named France synth band)
Lower Dens

Mates Of State
Naked Hearts

Now Now
The Postmarks
Quasi (Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney)
Rabbit!
School Of Seven Bells
Secret Cities
She & Him (Zooey Deschanel & M.Ward)
Soars
Sonny & The Sunsets
Tamaryn
Twin Sister (not the same-named 90s Oregon band)
Von Haze
Warpaint
The Watson Twins
Wye Oak

Black Moth Super Rainbow

Dreamend (Ryan Graveface) – solo – psychedelic rock
Tobacco (Tom Fec) – solo – synth

Bon Iver

Sean ‘S. Carey’ – solo – psych-folk
Gayngs (members of Bon Iver and Megafaun) – psych-folk

Foo Fighters

Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants – solo
Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders – hard rock

The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady

Franz Nicolay – solo

Medicine

Brad Laner – solo
Radar Brothers (Jim Putnam)

Queens Of The Stone Age

Mini Mansions (Michael Schuman)
Sweethead (Troy Van Leeuwen) – hard rock

U.S. Post-Punk

Abe Vigoda (named after the actor)

Ceremony (2 guys from Skydrive, after 3rd guy left to form A Place To Bury Strangers)
Crocodiles (not the same-named 80s New Zealand band)
Film School
Former Ghosts (members of Xiu Xiu and Zola Jesus)
Grass Widow
Interpol
Mi Ami

Moon Duo (Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips)

A Place To Bury Strangers
The Upsidedown

The War On Drugs
Weekend (not the same-named Canada band)

Wow & Flutter

U.S. Psychedelic Rock

The Black Angels
Endless Boogie
The Fresh & Onlys
Salem (not the same-named Israel metal band)
Sleepy Sun

Gary War (Greg Dalton) – solo
Wooden Shjips

U.S. Alt-Country

Brent Amaker & The Rodeo

American Aquarium
Kasey Anderson – solo
Angel Band
Tim Barry – solo

Diane Birch & The Phenomenal Handclap Band (covers of Goth classics, including J.Division)
Cadillac Sky
Chatham County Lines
Court Yard Hounds (Emily Robison and Martie Maguire of Dixie Chicks)
The Duke & The King (Simone Felice of The Felice Brothers)

Justin Townes Earle – solo
‘Joey & Rory’ Feek (husband/wife)
Robert Francis – solo
Gwyneth (Moreland) & (Michael) Monko
Hayseed Dixie (includes bluegrass covers of Bohemian Rhapsody and Won’t Get Fooled Again)

Jamey Johnson – solo
JP [Jones], Chrissie (Hynde of The Pretenders) & The Fairground Boys
Kort (Kurt Wagner and Cortney Tidwell)
Lady Antebellum (Charles Kelley, brother of Josh)
Tift Merritt – female solo
Alison Moorer (sister of Shelby Lynne, wife of Steve Earle) – female solo
Railroad Earth
Reckless Kelly
The .357 String Band
Tumbledown (Mike Herrera of MxPx)
Uncle Kracker (Matthew Shafer) – solo
Gretchen Wilson – female solo

U.S. Blues Rock

Eden Brent – female solo
Kevin Fennell (with Ray Campi)
Lance Lopez – solo
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Robert Randolph And The Family Band
‘Seasick Steve’ Wold – solo

Sister Sparrow And The Dirty Birds

U.S. Southern Rock

Bo Bice – solo
JJ Grey & Mofro
Hill Country Revue (2 guys from N. Mississippi Allstars)

The Old 97′s
Ross Shifflet – solo
The Torches
Truth & Salvage Co.
Wilson’s Reservoir

U.S. Psych-Folk

The Autumn Defense (John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco)
Blitzen Trapper

Breathe Owl Breathe
Sean ‘S. Carey’ (Bon Iver) – solo

Carolina Chocolate Drops
Deer Tick
Devotionals (Tyson Vogel) – solo
Family Of The Year

Fistful Of Mercy (Dhani Harrison and Ben Harper)
Sean Flinn & The Royal We

Freelance Whales
Frontier Ruckus
Ganglians
Good Old War
Horse Feathers
Houses (from Chicago, not the Denver one, or the Netherlands band listed earlier)
Hurray For The Riff Raff
Infantree
Dawn Landes (married to Josh Ritter) – female solo
Lost In The Trees

Megafaun
Mountain Man
Musee Mecanique
Nina Nastasia – female solo

Nobunny
Pancake Breakfast
Pearly Gate Music (Zach Tillman) – solo
Peter Wolf Crier

The Pleasants
Shearwater (Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff of Okkervil River)

Snowblink
Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore

Sun Kil Moon (Mark Kozelek of Red House Painters)
Sundowner
Wooden Wand (James Jackson Toth) – solo
Woods

U.S. Experimental

Album Leaf
The American Dollar
Balmorhea

Barn Owl
Bombastic Meatbats (Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers)
The Books
William Brittelle (The Blondes)

Broughton’s Rules (guys from Don Caballero and Blunderbuss)
Callers

Julie Christmas (of Battle Of Mice and Made Out of Babies)
Clipd Beaks
Cocorosie
David Karsten Daniels & Fight The Big Bull (setting Henry David Thoreau poems to music)
Evelyn Evelyn (Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls)
Free Moral Agents (Isaiah Owens of The Mars Volta)
Gonjasufi (Sumach Valentine) (for both The Caliph’s Tea Party and A Sufi Is A Killer) – solo
Growing
The Gypsy Nomads
High Places
Zach Hill (Hella) – solo
Benoit Pioulard (Thomas Meluch) – solo
Rangda
‘Janelle Monae’ Robinson – female solo
Sarah K. Snider (w/Shara Worden/My Brightest Diamond) (about Penelope of Homer’s Odyssey)
Red Sparowes
Sleep Whale
Six Gallery

Soft Circle (Hisham Bharoocha) – solo
Starring
Marnie Stern – female solo
Super 8-Bit Brothers

Serj Tankian (System Of A Down)

Tera Melos
Kenseth Thibideau
Victoire
Yeasayer
Zs

U.S. Cross-Cultural

Balkan Beat Box (Gypsy)
Day Of Fire
Fool’s Gold (African)
Fozzy
A Frames & Climax Golden Twins
Gogol Bordello (Gypsy)
Toubab Krewe (Mali, West Africa)
The Wailing Wall (Jesse Rifken) – solo

U.S Garage Rock

Black Diamond Heavies
The Black Keys
Circus Devils (Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices)
Cut In The Hill Gang
The Dashing Suns

The Dead Weather

Dum Dum Girls
Electric Tickle Machine
The Gaslight Anthem
Gasoline Silver
Harlem
Legendary Shack Shakers
Ted Leo And The Pharmacists
Locksley
The Moondiggers
New Collisions
No Age
The Oh Sees

The Parting Gifts (Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and Patrick Keeler of The Raconteurs)
Dan Sartain – solo
Ty Segall – solo
The Strange Boys

Tyvek
Turbo Fruits (2 guys from Be Your Own Pet)
Wavves
We Landed On The Moon!

U.S. Hard Rock

American Sixgun

Batusis (Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys and Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls)
Black Robot (3 ex-members of Buckcherry)
Joe Bonamassa – solo
Brother Clyde (Billy Ray Cyrus)
Coheed And Cambria
Dirty Sweet
Disturbed
Micki Free – solo
Killola
Language Room

Les Zeppelin (female band covering Led Zep)
Lizard Skynard (Erik Sprague, aka freak artist Lizardman)
‘John 5′ Lowery (of Marilyn Manson) – solo

Off! (Keith Morris of Black Flag and Circle Jerks)
The Republic Of Wolves

Sweet Apple (J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.)
Taddy Porter (named after the beer)
Tweak Bird
12 Stones
J.Roddy Walston And The Business
White Hills

U.S. Prog-Rock

Titus Andronicus

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (The Mars Volta) – solo

U.S. Prog-Metal

Constants
Oceansize

Titan (not the same-named Canada metal band)

U.S. Industrial

Circle Of Animals (Bruce Lamont of Yakuza)

Electric Six

U.S. Alt-Metal

Lil Wayne (Dwayne Carter) (for Rebirth, but not for I’m Not A Human Being)
Linkin Park
Street Sweeper Social Club (Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine)

U.S. Soul

Aloe Blacc (Egbert Dawkins) – solo
Dreemtime
Cee Lo Green (Thomas Callaway of Gnarls Barkley) – solo
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Kings Go Forth
‘Eartha’ Moore – female solo
Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed – solo
‘Kelis’ Rogers – female solo
The Secret Handshake (Luis Dubuc) – solo

U.S. Funk

The Budos Band
Game Rebellion
Michael Leonhart & Avramina 7
Salvador Santana (son of Carlos) – solo

U.S. Reggae

The Expendables (not the same-named New Zealand band)
Transdub Massiv

U.S. Dance-Rock/Electro/Synth

!!! (Chk Chk Chk)
Active Child (Pat Grossi) – solo
Awolnation (Aaron Bruce) – solo
Bonobo (Simon Green) – solo
BT (Brian Transeau)
Chromeo

Class Action
Matthew Dear – solo
Dutch
Emeralds
Enlou
Flying Lotus (Stephen Ellison) (for Cosmogramma, but not for Pattern + Grid World) – solo
The Foreign Exchange (Phonte Coleman) – solo

Freeze Pop

French Horn Rebellion
Fuzz (David Streit) – solo

The Gaslamp Killer (William Bensussen) – solo
Girl Problems
Ghostland Observatory
Go Periscope
Ernest Gonzales – solo
Hey Champ

Home Video
The Internal Tulips
Javelin
Kaskade (Ryan Raddon) – solo

Kisses
Lazor Crystal
LCD Soundsystem (James Murphy) – solo
Le Concorde (Stephen Becker) – solo
Lookbook
Mackintosh Braun
The Juan MacLean (John MacLean) – solo
Mahjongg
Maximum Balloon (Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio) – solo
Miss TK And The Revenge
The New Monarchs
Mouse Fire
Nice Nice
The Octopus Project
Outputmessage (Bernard Farley) – solo
Morgan Page – solo
Paper Tiger (John Samuels) – solo
Phantogram

Pictureplane (Thomas Egedy) – solo
Punches
Ratatat
RJD2 (Ramble Krohn) – solo
‘Rafter’ Roberts – solo
The Samps

Scissor Sisters
Shy Child
Sleigh Bells
The Superions (Fred Schneider of The B-52s)
3OH!3

Tanlines

Twin Shadow (George Lewis) – solo
Ursula 1000 (Alex Gimenos) – solo
PT Weakley
Paul White And The Purple Brain

U.S. Male Solo

Sam Amidon
Drew Andrews (of The Album Leaf)
Alex Band (of The Calling)
Dave Beck
Bleu (William McAuley)
Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley)
Barton Carroll (of Crooked Fingers)
Cars And Trains (Tom Filepp)
Coconut Records (the actor Jason Schwartzman)
Matt Costa
Dead Snares (Jeffrey Cain of Remy Zero)
Darwin Deez
Keegan Dewitt
Martin ‘Dosh’
Joshua English

Jason Falkner
Joel Firstman
Brandon Flowers (The Killers)
Donavon Frankenreiter (for both Glow and Revisited)
Brett Gleason
Jimmy Gnecco
Jarred Gorbel
Half-Handed Cloud (John Ringhofer)
Halstead (Ryan Auffenberg)
Trent Hancock
Micah P. Hinson
Matt Hires
Griffin House
Hurricane Bells (Steve Schiltz of Longwave)
Jeff Jacobs (not the guy in Foreigner)
Jeremy Jay
Roy Jay

Mason Jennings
Shooter Jennings (son of Waylon)
Alex Kemp
Ray Lamontagne And The Pariah Dogs
Dylan Leblanc
Jeremy Lynch
Marco Mahler
Raul Malo
Paul Manousos
Nick ‘Merykid’ Mery

The Moon And Her Mother (Aaron Wallace)
Matt Morris
Neil Nathan

Netherfriends (Shawn Rosenblatt)
Perfume Genius (Mike Hadreas)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Grafitti (Ariel Rosenberg)
‘Joe Pug’ Pugliese
Joshua Radin
Dax Riggs
Josh Ritter
Sore Eros (Robert Robinson)

Sufjan Stevens (for All Delighted People, but not for The Age Of Adz)

Kelley Stoltz
Toro Y Moi (Chazwick Bundick)
Matt White
Wild Nothing (Jack Tatum)

Rusty Willoughby
Pete Yorn
Young Boy (Colin Caulfield)

U.S. Female Solo

Jenni Alpert (Cameron Morantz)
Animal Prufrock (of Bitch And Animal)
Clare Burson
Ana Caravelle (Anahita Novak)
Katie Costello
Lana Del Ray (Lizzie Grant)
Glasser (Cameron Mesirow) (her mother formed 80s band Human Sexual Response)
Gold Motel (Greta Morgan of The Hush Sound)

Gregory And The Hawk (Meredith Godreau)
Melora Hardin (the actress)
Jesca Hoop

Sarah Jaffe
Liz Janes

Quinn Marston

Elizabeth ‘Lissie’ Maurus
Megan McCormick (not the TV travel host)
‘Anna Rose’ Menken
Holly Miranda

Anais Mitchell (song cycle about the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice)
The Mynabirds (Laura Burhenn of Georgie James)

Joanna Newsom
‘Sugaree’ Noel (daughter of Leon Russell)
People Eating People (Nouela Johnston)
Sara Radle (The Rentals)
Amy Regan
Mia Riddle
Kelley Ryan
Kelli Scarr
Sahara Smith
Hayley Taylor (the actress)

Sharon Van Etten

Emily Jane White
White Hinterland (Casey Dienel)
Dorothy ‘Dar Williams’
Daphne Willis
Jenny Owen Youngs
Zola Jesus (Nika Rosa Danilova)

90s Artists – good albums

U.S.

The Apples In Stereo
Melissa Auf Der Maar (Hole)
Brant Bjork (Kyuss)
Blonde Redhead
Brandon Boyd (Incubus)

The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Carl Broemel (My Morning Jacket)

Buckethead (Brian Carroll)
Built To Spill

California Guitar Trio
Cloud Cult
The Disco Biscuits

David Dondero
Drive-By Truckers
Jakob Dylan
Eels (for both End Times and Tomorrow Morning)
Ben Folds (of Ben Folds 5) & Nick Hornby (author of High Fidelity & About A Boy)
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Mary Gauthier
Gin Blossoms
John Grant (of The Czars)
Patty Griffin
Charlie Hunter

Alan Jackson
Jimmy Eat World
Freedy Johnston
Damien Jurado
Korn
Joel Kosche (Collective Soul)
Ed Kowalczyk (of the band Live)
Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) & Isobel Campbell (Belle & Sebastian)
Jim Lauderdale
John Legend And The Roots (covers of 60s soul classics)
Les Savy Fav
Tone Lucca
Shelby Lynne
Magnetic Fields
Mice Parade

Harvey Milk (for both A Small Turn Of Human Kindness and The Bob Weston Sessions)

Steve Miller Band
Monster Magnet

Shawn Mullins
Nada Surf (covers of band’s favorite songs)

Old 97′s (for both The Grand Theatre Vol. One and Mimeograph)
Ozomatli
Mike Patton (covers of 50s Italian pop hits)
Liz Phair
Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices)
Matt Pond PA
The Posies (includes no original members)

The Reverend Horton Heat
Josh Rouse

Kermit Ruffins
Martin Sexton
Sister Hazel
The Slackers
Tony Sly (of No Use For A Name)

Smashing Pumpkins
Spoon
Stone Temple Pilots
Superchunk
Three Mile Pilot (Armistead Burwell of Pinback)
Thunderball
Tonic
Trans Am
Unbunny
Rufus Wainwright
Butch Walker And The Black Widows (Marvelous 3)
Weezer (for both Death To False Metal and Hurley)
Widespread Panic

Hank Williams, III

Rest Of World

Apocalyptica
Ash
The Bambi Molesters
Belle & Sebastian

The Charlatans
The Chemical Brothers
Cornershop
Danko Jones
Paul Dempsey (of Something For Kate)
The Divine Comedy
‘Fred Eaglesmith’ Elgersma

Faithless
Feeder
Gone Bald
Great Big Sea

Grimm Limbo (Frank Boeijen of The Gathering)
Sarah Harmer
Fran Healy (of Travis)

Hooverphonic

Idlewild
Jamiroquai
The Jim Jones Revue (of Thee Hypnotics)
Kula Shaker
Manic Street Preachers
Massive Attack

Morcheeba
Motorpsycho
The Orb & David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
Panico
Placebo (all covers, including 20th Century Boy by T.Rex)
Emma Pollock (The Delgados)
Scram C Baby
Philip Selway (Radiohead)
Bettie Serveert
Todd Sharpeville (Roland Philipps)
Stereophonics
Superchunk
Teenage Fanclub
13 (Dertien)
Tindersticks
Tricky (Adrian Thaws)
Unkle (for both The Answer and Where Did The Night Fall)

90s Artists – weak albums

U.S.

Christina Aguilera
Marc Anthony
Erykah Badu (Erica Wright of Soulquarious)
Big Boi (Antwan Patton of Outkast)

The Black Eyed Peas
Black Label Society
The Black Heart Procession (2 guys from Three Mile Pilot)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Buckcherry

Mariah Carey
Nels Cline (of Wilco)

Marc Cohn (covers of pop hits from the year 1970)

Sheryl Crow
Deftones

Daz Dillinger (Delman Arnaud of Tha Dogg Pound)

The Dillinger Escape Plan
D-Loc (Dustin Miller of Kottonmouth Kings)
Down
Eminem (Marshall Mathers)
Eskmo (Brendan Angelides)
Faith Evans
Far
Fat Joe (Joseph Cartagena)
Fear Fantasy
Filter

Jaime Foxx (Eric Bishop)
Fun Lovin’ Criminals
Ghostface Killah (Dennis Coles of Wu-Tang Clan)
Godsmack
Good Riddance
Macy Gray

Guster
Hanson
Juliana Hatfield
Hed PE
Helmet
Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson)
Jackyl
Jack Johnson

‘Eric Benet’ Jordan
Juvenile (Terius Gray)
Kane & Abel
Robert ‘R. Kelly’Jennifer Knapp
Less Than Jake (pop-punk covers of TV theme songs)

Lyrics Born (Tom Shimura)
Mushroomhead
Nonpoint
‘Bilal’ Oliver (of Soulquarious)

Pink Martini
Sam Prekop (of The Sea And Cake)
‘Ceschi’ Ramos
‘Usher’ Raymond
Kim Richey
Rockapella
The Roots
Darius Rucker (Hootie & The Blowfish)
Slum Village
Soulive (instrumental jazz covers of Beatles hits)
Rhonda Thomas
Toadies
Ultimate Fakebook
Underoath

Laura Veirs
Rhonda Vincent
Wilson Phillips
Wu-Tang Clan

Rest Of World

Angra
Autechre

Console (Martin Gretschmann of The Notwist)

Daft Punk (soundtrack to film Tron: Legacy)
Envy
Finger Eleven
David Gray
Matthew Herbert
Philip Jeck
Timo Maas
Damien Marley (son of Bob)
Oval (Markus Popp)
Peter Pan Speedrock
‘Shakira’ Ripoll
Roots Manuva (Rodney Smith)
The Sainte Catherines
Seal (Henry Samuel)
Skunk Anansie
Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson)

Dave ‘Tipper’

Bjorn Torske
Kate ‘KT Tunstall’ (of Tomoko)

Keith Urban

60s, 70s, 80s, Over-40 Crowd – good, worthy, interesting, “I’m glad they’re still around” albums

U.S.

Laurie Anderson
Bad Religion

Big Head Todd (Mohr) And The Monsters
Elvin Bishop
Bodeans
David Byrne (T. Heads) & Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) (concept album about Imelda Marcos)
Mary Chapin Carpenter

Peter Case (The Plimsouls)
Johnny Cash

Judy Collins

Steve Cropper (Booker T. & The M.G.’s) & Felix Caviliere (The Rascals)
Danzig

Dash Rip Rock
Devo
Doobie Brothers
The Doors

Dr. John (Mac Rebennack)
Alejandro Escovedo
Roky Erickson (of 13th Floor Elevators) With Okkervil River

David ‘Rock’ Feinstein (of Elf) (cousin of Ronnie James Dio)
The Flaming Lips (covering all of The Dark Side Of The Moon)
Lita Ford (The Runaways)
Black Francis (Frank Black of The Pixies)
Giant Sand
Goo Goo Dolls
Mike Gordon (Phish)
Buddy Guy
Merle Haggard
Heart
Jimi Hendrix
Kristin Hersh (Throwing Muses)
John Hiatt
Kristian Hoffman (of Lydia Lunch and James White & The Blacks)
Jason & The Scorchers
Daniel Johnston
Robby Krieger (The Doors)

Cyndi Lauper (blues songs with famous bluesmen)
Bettye Lavette (covers of famous English classic rock songs)

Huey Lewis And The News (covers of 60s Stax classics)

Jerry Lee Lewis (covers of old classics)
Lillian Axe

Los Lobos
John Mellencamp
Melvins

Natalie Merchant (10,000 Maniacs)
Bret Michaels (Poison)

Mountain (early rarities)
My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
Vince Neil (Motley Crue)
Willie Nelson
Mark Olson (The Jayhawks)
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project (The Gun Club)
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Ratt

Stan Ridgway (Wall Of Voodoo)
Lee Ritenour
Carlos Santana (covers of guitar classic rock)
Gil Scott-Heron

Southside Johnny (Lyons) And The Asbury Jukes
Ronnie Spector (Veronica Bennett)
Bruce Springsteen
Mavis Staples (The Staple Singers)
Swans (Michael Gira)
The Temptations
Jimmie Vaughan (The Fabulous Thunderbirds)
Loudon Wainwright
Jimmy Webb
Andre Williams
Gary Wilson
Peter Wolf (J.Geils Band)

Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate) And The Miracle 3
Neil Young
Dweezil Zappa (covers of Frank’s songs)

Rest Of World

Marc Almond (Soft Cell)
Joan Armatrading
Asia
Bachman & Turner (Bachman-Turner Overdrive)
Jeff Beck
Andy Bell (Erasure)
Luka Bloom (Barry Moore, brother of Christy)

Blurt
Bomb The Bass (Tim Simenon)

Boris (Japan hard rock) & Ian Astbury (The Cult)
The Chieftains (with Ry Cooder)
Edwyn Collins

Elvis Costello

Cowboy Junkies
Crowded House

Burton Cummings (The Guess Who)
Ray Davies (The Kinks) (duets with famous singers covering Kinks classics)

Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) (covers of obscure Mott The Hoople songs)
The Ex
The Fall
Foghat

Peter Frampton

Steve Hackett (Genesis)

Nina Hagen
Hawkwind
Helloween
Hoodoo Gurus

Steve Howe (Yes)
Inner Circle

Iron Maiden

James (for both The Night Before and The Morning After)
Elton John & Leon Russell
Howard Jones

Tom Jones
Killing Joke

Jon Langford (The Mekons) & Skull Orchard
Martha And The Muffins

Glen Matlock (The Sex Pistols) & The Philistines
Sarah McLachlan
John McLaughlin (The Mahavishnu Orchestra)
Sergio Mendes

Modern English

Motorhead
Nitzer Ebb

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Ozzy Osbourne
Robert Plant
Prefab Sprout
The Scorpions

Shakespear’s Sister (Siobhan Fahey of Bananarama)
Shonen Knife
Ringo Starr

Status Quo
Steeleye Span

David Sylvian (Japan)
Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention)
Tracey Thorn (Everything But The Girl)
Toots (Frederick Hibbert) & The Maytals

The Vaselines (big influence on Cobain)
Paul Weller (The Jam)

Toyah Willcox

Jah Wobble (John Wardle of PiL) (Japan music, following his China music)

Ron Wood (The Faces)
Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction

60s, 70s, 80s, Over-40 Crowd – dull, boring, poor, “why did they even bother?” albums

U.S.

Asleep At The Wheel

Marty Balin (Jefferson Airplane)
The Black Crowes
Bob Blank

Eldar ‘El Debarge’
Neil Diamond (covers of soft-rock classics)

P. Diddy (Sean Combs)
Melissa Etheridge
‘Kenny G’ Gorelick
GWAR
Herbie Hancock
Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 (includes Pete Buck and Scott McCaughey of R.E.M.)
Indigo Girls

Freddie Jackson
Michael Jackson

Quincy Jones

Shelby Lynne
Barry Manilow
Meat Loaf (Marvin Aday)
Pat Metheny
Lloyd Miller
Maria Muldaur
Aaron Neville

Juice Newton (Judith Cohen) (covers of soft rock classics)
NOFX

The O’Jays
Donny Osmond

Marie Osmond
Overkill
Brian Setzer Orchestra (Stray Cats)
Slash (Saul Hudson of Guns ‘n Roses)
Virgin Steele
Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) (George Gershwin covers)
Cassandra Wilson

Charlie Wilson (The Gap Band)
Rob Zombie (Robert Cummings of White Zombie)

Rest Of World

Accept
Mulatu Astatke

Eric Clapton

Phil Collins (Genesis) (Motown/soul covers)
Stephen Egerton (of The Descendants)

Foreigner
Peter Gabriel (covers, done without guitar or drums)

‘Yanni’ Hrysomallis

Annie Lennox
Meat Beat Manifesto
Kylie Minogue
Olivia Newton-John
Sade (Helen Adu)
Salem

Jimmy Somerville (Bronski Beat)
Rod Stewart
Underworld

Maarten Van Der Vleuten
Rick Wakeman

Worthwhile Live Albums – U.S.

All Time Low
Bad Religion – hard rock
Zac Brown Band (2009 Atlanta – Fox Theater) – southern rock
Jackson Browne & David Lindley (2006 Philadelphia)

Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier) (2009 England – Hammersmith) – hard rock
Robert Cray (1987 Austin, TX) – blues rock
Dropkick Murphys
Flogging Molly (Los Angeles – Greek Theater) – cross-cultural
Gov’t Mule (12/31/99 Atlanta – Roxy Theater) – southern rock

Hot Tuna (2010 Baltimore) – blues rock
Chris Isaak (2008 San Francisco – Fillmore Theater)
Mason Jennings – solo
Albert King & S. Ray Vaughan (1983 Canada, TV show In Session) – blues rock
Carole King (with James Taylor)
Jonny Lang (Nashville – Ryman Auditorium) – blues rock
Lynryd Skynyrd (2007 Louisville – Freedom Hall) – southern rock

Bob Mould (of Husker Du and Sugar) (2008 NY – ATP Festival)

Poco – southern rock
Iggy Pop (1977 Cleveland – The Agora, with D.Bowie in band)
The Pretenders (2009 London)

Otis Redding (1966 Sunset Strip, L.A.) – soul
Brian Setzer (2009 Japan)

Regina Spektor (2010 London)

.38 Special (1985 New York)
The Derek Trucks Band (2009 Chicago) – blues rock

The Marshall Tucker Band (1973 San Francisco ) – southern rock
The White Stripes

Worthwhile Live Albums – Rest Of World

Jeff Beck (2010 Grammy Museum) – England

Jack Bruce (Cream) (1975 Manchester – Free Trade Hall) – England
John Cale (1983-84 Germany, TV show Rockpalast) – Wales

The Charlatans (2010 London – The Roundhouse) – England
Elvis Costello (1978 Los Angeles – Hollywood High)

The Cranberries – Ireland

Fair Warning (2010 Tokyo) – hard rock – Germany

Nina Hagen & Karl Rucker – Germany
Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator) (1992 Berlin) – England
Fran Healy & Andy Dunlop (from Travis) – Scotland
Nik Kershaw – England

Greg Lake (ELP) (1981 London) – prog rock – England

Modern English – England
Mogwai (2009 New York) – experimental – Scotland

Mott The Hoople – England

Carl Palmer (Emerson Lake & Palmer) – prog-rock – England

Graham Parker & The Figgs (2010 Connecticut) – England
Graham Parker & The Rumour (1979 San Francisco) – England
Pet Shop Boys (2009 London)
Public Image Ltd. (2009 London) – England

The Real McKenzies – acoustic Celtic Punk – Canada
Michael Schenker (1980 Manchester – Apollo Theater) – hard rock – Germany
Michael Schenker Group (1981 Germany, TV show Rockpalast) – hard rock – Germany
Ringo Starr, with R.Derringer, B.Squier, G.Wright (2008 L.A. – Greek Theater) – England
Sweet (2008 California) – hard – England
The Temper Trap (2010 Sasquatch Festival) – Australia

Therapy? – hard rock – Northern Ireland
Ultravox (2009 London – played entire albums Vienna and Return To Eden)
UFO (1980 Germany, TV show Rockpalast) – hard rock – Germany
The Weakerthans – Canada
The Who (live Greatest Hits album, recorded from 65-09) – England

Poor Live Albums

Asia (1992 Japan) – prog rock – England
The Avett Brothers (2009 Charlotte) – U.S.
Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow) (83 + 87 Castle Donington, Eng.) – hard rock – U.S.
Alan Holdsworth  (of U.K. and Gong) – jazz fusion – England

Steve Howe Trio – jazz fusion – England

‘Beyonce’ Knowles – U.S.
Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds (2009 Las Vegas and 2010 New York)
Megadeth (live version of Rust In Peace album)
Papa Roach – hard rock – U.S.
Peter, Paul, And Mary (Prague)
Poison – hard rock – U.S.
John Prine
Queensryche (1990 London) – hard rock – U.S.
State Radio – U.S.
Sting (Gordon Sumner) (2010 Berlin) – England

Barbra Streisand

Most Overrated And Boring Indie Band Ra Ra Riot

Most Aptly Named Band

The Weepies (also won this in 2008)  Their music is so soporific and sad.

Most Disappointing Album Of The Year

Tired Pony (members of Snow Patrol, R.E.M., and Belle & Sebastian)

Most Valuable Players, Who Released Good Albums With More Than One Band In 2010

Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys and The Parting Gifts)
Richard Colburn (Belle & Sebastian and Tired Pony)

B.Cook, P.Cook, J.Westerlund (Gayngs and Megafaun)
Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) (Broken Bells and With Sparklehorse [Mark Linkous])
Ripley Johnson (Moon Duo and Wooden Shjips)

Ryan Lynch (Dominant Legs and Girls)

Robert Pollard (for 2 solo, and with Circus Devils)

Julia Stone (Solo and with brother Angus)

Fred’s Best Albums Of The Year

U.S.

Broughton’s Rules
BT
Built To Spill
Peter Case

Ceremony

Chromeo
Court Yard Hounds
Dead Snares
Devo
Endless Boogie
Alejandro Escovedo
Former Ghosts
The Gaslight Anthem
JJ Grey & Mofro
Buddy Guy
Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders
The Hold Steady

Home Video
Inu
Jimmy Eat World
Kings Of Leon
LCD Soundsystem

Maserati
The National
Vince Neil
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Grafitti
Red Sparowes
Sweethead
Toubab Krewe
Weekend
Wooden Shjips
Wovenhand

Wow & Flutter

Rest Of World

Amusement Parks On Fire
Antony & The Johnsons
Bachman & Turner
Andy Bell
Archie Bronson Outfit
The Bullfight
Crippled Black Phoenix

Customs
The Ex
The Fall

Fruit Of The Original Sin
Hot Chip
Hot Panda
James

Elton John & Leon Russell
The New Pornographers
The Phantom Band
The Len Price 3
Todd Sharpeville
Sisters Of Transistors
Sixtyniners

Space Siren

Surf City

Surrounded
Tutankhamen

Voice Of The Seven Thunders

Released Outside America And On My 2009 List, Then Released In America In 2010

Alberta Cross – England
Basement Jaxx – synth – England
Bombay Bicycle Club – England
Cornershop – England
Editors – post-punk – England
Charlotte Gainsbourg – female solo – England
Jj – Sweden
Ash Koley – female solo – Canada
Cate Le Bon – female solo – Wales
Mumford And Sons – psych-folk – England
Timber Timbre (Taylor Kirk) – solo – Canada

TV Buddhas – psychedelic rock – Israel
The Unthanks – psych-folk – England
You Say Party!  We Say Die! – synth – Canada

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