- Darius Jones Trio: Man'ish Boy (A Raw & Beautiful Thing) (AUM Fidelity)
- Mos Def: The Ecstatic (Downtown)
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz (Interscope)
- The Fully Celebrated: Drunk On the Blood Of the Holy Ones(AUM Fidelity)
- Brad Paisley: American Saturady Night (Arista)
- Matthew Shipp: Harmonic Disorder (Thisrtsy Ear)
- Polvo: In Prism (Merge)
- David S. Ware: Shakti (AUM Fidelity)
- UGK: UGK4Life (Jive)
- Art Brut: Art Brut vs. Satan (Cooking Vinyl)
- The-Dream: Love vs. Money (Def Jam)
- Henry Threadgill Zooid: This Brings Us To, Vol.1 (Pi Recordings)
- Mike Reed's People Places & Things: About Us (482 Music)
- Lily Allen: It's Not Me, It's You (Regal/EMI)
- The XX: XX (Young Turks)
- Darren Johnston: The Edge of the Forrest (Clean Feed)
- Digital Primitives: Hum Crackle & Pop (Hopscotch)
- Wilco: Wilco (The Album) (Nonsuch)
- G-Side: Huntsville International (mixtape/download)
- J.D. Allen Trio: Shine! (Sunnyside)
- Lonard Cohen: Live In London (Sony)
- DJ Quik & Kurupt: BlaQkout (Mad Science)
- Vijay Iyer Trio: Historicity (ACT)
- Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II (Ice H2O/EMI)
- Girls: Album (True Panther)
- Tyshawn Sorey: Koan (482 Music)
- Metric: Fantasies (Metirc International)
- Teegan & Sara: Sainthood (Sire)
- Jonatha Brooke: The Works (BDR)
- Brötzmann/Kondo/Pupillo/Nilssen-Love: Hairy Bones (Okka Disk)
- Abdullah Ibrahim: Senzo (Sunnyside)
- Sonic Youth: The Eternal (Matador)
- Miranda Lambert: Revolution (Sony Nashville)
- The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You (American Recordings)
- White Denim: Exposion (EM/Tunecore)
- The Very Best: Warm Heart of Africa (Green Owl)
- Allen Toussaint: The Bright Mississippi (Nonsuch)
- Japandroids: Post-Nothing (Unfamiliar/Tunecore)
- Steve Lehman Octet: Travail Transformation & Flow (Pi Recordings)
- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: S/T (Slumberland/Fortune Pop)
- John Olav Nilsen & Gjengen: For Sant Til å Være Godt (VME)
- Marcus Strickland: Idiosyncrasies (Strick Muzik)
- John Zorn: Alhambra Love Songs (Tzadik)
- Tune-Yards: Bird-Brains (4AD)
- Freddie Gibbs: midwesternboxframecadillacmuzic (self-released / mixtape)
- Tresspass Trio: Was There to Illuminate the Night Sky (Clean Feed)
- Lightning Bolt: Earthly Delights (Load)
- The Coathangers: Scamble (Suicide Squeeze)
- Jay Reatard: Watch Me Fall (Matador)
- Graham Collier: directing 14 Jackson Pollocks (Jazz Continuum)
- Wadada Leo Smith: Spiritual Dimensions (...)
- Staff Benda Bilili: Très Trés Fort (Crammed Disc)
- Quartet Offensive: Carnivore (Morpheus)
- Wussy: Wussy (Shake It)
- Kråkesølv: Trådnøsting (Diger)
- Mariachi El Bronx: El Bronx (Wichita)
- Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca (Domino)
- Pissed Jeans: King of Jeans (Sub Pop)
- Profound Sound Trio: Opus de Life (Porter)
- IPA: Lorena (Bolage)
- Deer Tick: Born on Flag Day (Partisan Records)
- Gerald Cleaver, William Parker, Craig Taborn: Farmers by Nature (AUM Fidelity)
Singles/songs:
Note: I haven't been as good as previously with keeping lists of fave songs and singles, even though you'd think iTunes plays should make things easier. New of this year: I'm adding singles from albums released the previous year, in this case Taylor Swift (whose album ended up close the top on my 2008-list). At least for now. Also, although jazz-tunes are frequently notable in their own right, and not just as album tracks, they have not been considered for this list.
- Taylor Swift: "You Belong With Me" (Big Machine)
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs: "Heads Will Roll" (Interscope)
- Lily Allen: "Not Fair" (Regal)
- DJ Quik & Kurupt: "Hey Playa" (Mad Science)
- Brad Paisley: "Then" (Arista Nashville)
- Mos Def: "Quiet Dog Bite Hard" (Downtown)
- Alicia Keys: "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart" (J Records/Sony)
- Polvo: "Lucia" (Merge)
- Dinosaur Jr.: "Over It" (JagJaguwar)
- Sonic Youth: "Antenna" (Matador)
- White Denim: "I Start to Run" (Full Time Hobby)
- Bill Callahan: "Eid Ma Clack Shaw" (Drag City)
- Freddie Gibbs: "Boxframe Cadillac" (mixtape)
- DJ Quik & Kurupt: "9xs Outta 10" (Mad Science)
- Bat For Lashes: "Daniel"(Parlophone)
- Girls: "Morning Light" (Fantasytrashcan)
- UGK "Still On The Grind Ft. Raheem DeVaughn" (Jive)
- Pearl Jam: "The Fixer" (Monkeywrench/Universal)
- Beyoncé: "Halo" (Columbia)
- Pissed Jeans: "False Jesi pt.2" (Sub Pop)
- Make the Girl Dance: "Baby, Baby, Baby"
- Amerie: "Why R U" (Def Jam)
- Maxwell: "Pretty Wings" (Sony)
- Fred da Godson: "Kobe & LeBron"
- The-Dream: "Sweat It Out" (Def Jam)
- Gallows: "Black Eyes" (Warner Bros.)
- Major Lazer: "Keep It Going Louder" (Downtown)
- Dirty Projectors: "Cannibal Resource" (Domino)
- Sandwitches: "Back to the Sea"
- K'naan: "Dreamer" (A&M/Octone)
- Dum Dum Girls: "Catholicked" (download)
- Horace Tapscott: The Dark Tree (HatOlogy, originally rel. HatArt, 1989/1991)
- The Feelies: Crazy Rhythm (Domino/Bar None, originally rel. Stiff, 1980)
- Richard Hell & the Voidoids: Destiny Street Repaired(Insound.com)
- Air: Air Song (Why Not/Candid, originally rel. India Navigation, 1975)
- Wildflowers: Loft Jazz New York 1976 (Douglas Music, originally rel. 1977, reissued several times)
- Freedom, Rhythm & Sound (Soul Jazz Records)
- Mulatu Astake: Information Inspiration (Strut)
- Walt Dickerson w/Andrew Cyrille & Wilbur Ware: Tell Us Only Beautifull Things (Why Not/Candid, originally rel. 1975)
- Vømmøl Spellemannslag: Vømmøl'n - Deluxe Edition (Mai/Universal, originally rel. 1974)
- Revolutionary Ensemble: Vietnam (ESP, originally rel. 1972)
- Death: ...For the World to See (Drag City)
