IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR

Uncut magazine put out the call to contributors for our top 10s of 2008. Here's what my lists of best (or favorite) albums, singles and reissues look like as of early October. I fudged on certain really good albums I haven't yet spent enough time with (like Lindsey Buckingham's latest) by putting key tracks in my singles list. Below those lists are a pair of top 10 LP lists from 1972, which I just discovered in a trunk in my garage.

ALBUMS
1. Pictures and Sound, Pictures and Sound (Vanguard)
2. Kings of Leon, Only by the Night (RCA)
3. Teddy Thompson, A Piece of What You Need (Decca)
4. Mudcrutch, Mudcrutch (Reprise)
5. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges (ATO)
6. Randy Newman, Harps and Angels (Nonesuch)
7. Explorers Club, Freedom Wind (Dead Oceans)
8. Beck, Modern Guilt (DGC)
9. Ray LaMontagne, Gossip in the Grain (RCA)
10. TV on the Radio, Dear Science (Interscope)

TRACKS (listed alphabetically)
Lindsey Buckingham, “The Right Place to Fade” (Reprise)
Robin Danar w/Jesca Hoop, “Yell” (Shanachie)
Death Cab for Cutie, “I Will Possess Your Heart” (Atlantic)
Elbow, “Grounds for Divorce” (Fiction/Geffen)
Fleet Foxes, “Ragged Wood” (Sub Pop)
Aimee Mann, “Freeway” (SuperEgo)
Pictures and Sound, “100 Directions” (Vanguard)
The Raconteurs, “Old Enough” (Third Man/WB)
Matthew Sweet, “Byrdgirl” (Shout! Factory)
Lucinda Williams, “Real Love” (Lost Highway)

REISSUES (listed alphabetically)
Blue Ash, No More, No Less (Collectors Choice/UMe)
Creedence Clearwater Revival, 40th Anniversary reissues (Fantasy/Concord)
The Doors, Live in Pittsburgh 1970 (DMC/Bright Midnight/Rhino)
Elton John, Tumbleweed Connection (UMe)
Little Richard, The Very Best Of… (Specialty/Concord)
Nick Lowe, Jesus of Cool (Yep Roc)
Old Records Never Die: The Mott the Hoople/Ian Hunter Anthology (Shout! Factory)
Otis Redding, Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul (ATCO/Rhino)
Ike & Tina Turner, Sing the Blues (Acrobat Music)
Dennis Wilson, Pacific Ocean Blue (Columbia/Legacy)


The 1972 Top 10 I submitted to Fusion mag:
Jackson Browne, Jackson Browne

Rod Stewart, Never a Dull Moment

Mott The Hoople, All theYoung Dudes

Little Feat, Sailin’ Shoes
Jesse Winchester, Jesse Winchester
The Eagles, The Eagles
David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street

Flying Burrito Brothers, The Last of the Red Hot Burritos
Brinsley Schwarz, Silver Pistol/Nervous on the Road

The 1972 top 10 of the late, great Paul Nelson:
The Rolling Stones, Exile on Main Street
Jackson Browne, Jackson Browne
Rod Stewart, Never a Dull Moment
Mott The Hoople, All theYoung Dudes
Randy Newman, Sail Away
Steve Young, Seven Bridges Road
John Fahey, Of Rivers and Religion
David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
The Kinks, Everybody’s in Showbiz
Wilderness Road, Wilderness Road