Direct link here. Only 13 songs so some major culling but it'll do.

And who'd have thought, after all
Something so simple as rock'n'roll would save us all?

Lucinda Williams - Blessed
This is not from the album, it's her song from the The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams project which I forgot to include on these lists anywhere else.

Dennis Coffey - self-titled FUNK. (super name dropping in this vid, but he's earned it)

The Decemberists -- The King is Dead

Middle Brother -- self-titled

Deer Tick -- Divine, Providence

Country Cajun Revival -- The Real Thing

And some of the rest that made life worth ploughing on.

Hayes Carll -- KMAG YOYO

Charles Bradley -- No Time for Dreaming Seeing him next March.

Tom Russell - Mesabi

Eddie Roberts & The Fire Eaters - Burn

The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow Current Americana It duo.

Lindi Ortega - Little Red Boots

The Sheepdogs -- Learn and Burn ROCK

Robert Ellis - Photographs This is a curious album in that a couple of songs are tears in my beer country and others are more low fi-y straight ahead folky. All good.

Cash Box Kings -- Holler & Stomp Not to be confused with Hayes Carll's "Stomp & Holler."

Jimmie Dale Gilmore & The Wronglers - Heirloom Songs The Wronglers include Warren Hellman bazillionaire investment banker dude who bankrolled Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Fran, and who died recently. I hope he provided for it 'cos I've always dreamed of going one day.

I snuck another into here which makes my top ten a top twelve.

Bei Bei and Shawn Lee -- Into the Wind
Another "world fusion" offering that works, this time with guzheng (Chinese stringed thingy) and doofy doofy beats.

Buddy Miller -- The Majestic Silver Strings 'Surple" still makes me laugh.

Lydia Loveless -- Indestructible Machine She's 21 or something ridonkulous.

The Sweetback Sisters -- Looking For a Fight The Sweetback Sisters are quite hilarious, as well as lovely to listen to. My favourite song on the album is "Too Many Experts" because it basically sums up the entire Internet. (this video is not that)

Brennen Leigh -- The Box Just super good country music, we still like that round here.

Tedeschi Trucks Band -- Revelator Susan and Derek, bluesing it all up in you.

These are my top ten eleven in two instalments. Dave Alvin is pretty clearly number one. Rest much of a muchness. I'll do another post or two with the other music I enjoyed most this year.

Dave Alvin -- Eleven Eleven
This record is on the short road to being one of those where I can say I know every word to every song. Perfect balance of styles and a host of memorable characters, sketched in bluesy economy, brought to life by Dave's rumbling baritone and propelled by many a memorable lick. Here's one of my favourite songs, "Johnny Ace is Dead."

Gillian Welch -- The Harrow & The Harvest
Do I need to explain? No? Super.

JuJu -- In Trance
JuJu is Justin Adams and Judeh Camara who play the electric guitar and the Gambian ritti (one string violin) respectively. Their previous album made my Favourites list last year, and their albums will I suspect keep making the list as long as they do them. It is approaching banal these days to talk about the connections between western rock n roll via the blues and African genres, but just sticking the two traditions together is not guaranteed to produce anything interesting. These guys make it work perfectly.

The Bo-Keys -- Got to Get Back
Memphis funk super group (including the only survivor of the plane crash that took Otis Redding). Just what it says on the box.

Frank Turner -- England Keep My Bones
Well now. I had never heard of this bloke until someone included him on an early Best Of list back in November and now here we are. A punkier Billy Bragg? A more sarcastic Springsteen? Well, whatever I like every song on this album. I like the hookyness of every track, I like the acapella ditties about 1066, I like the atheist singalongs, I like the name checking of Johnny, Dylan, Jerry Lee and Dostoyevsky.

Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers -- Starlight Hotel
Do I need to talk about the attitude, the voice, the band and the lyrics? Or do I just need to say that it has a song on it called "If I Can't Trust You With a Quarter (How Can I Trust You With My Heart?)"

Tickets for Byron players' side shows have started going on sale, and so the Easter bottleneck shuffle has begun.

I haven't experienced any great angst with my schedule the last couple of years but in 2012 Lucinda Williams and John Hiatt are playing Sydney the same night, Tuesday 3rd April. What to Do!!!???

Actually the dilemma was not a big one in the end. My devotion to both is equal, really I can't split them. I've seen both live in the last couple of years and neither seem likely to give up touring or recording in the foreseeable future. So it comes then down to the venue, and that is, as the young folk say, "a no brainer." John is playing the Metro and Lucinda the State. The Metro: smallish, general admission where you can get up the front with a bit of rock and roll in the air versus the State where your only option is to sit and clap politely. Lucinda's ads say "One Show Only" so that is sad but man I am looking forward to "Walk On", "Slow Turning", "Tennessee Plates" etc etc in that venue.

Speaking of no-brainers Justin Townes Earle is at the Factory the night after. Never miss him live.

Steve Earle is going solo at the Factory the following week, through an early offer I got some front row seats and Steve solo is still a worthwhile proposition despite my mostly indifference to his last decade of output.

Also at the Factory in March is Charles Bradley, the latest retro soul revelation from Daptone.

I gather Trombone Shorty is also playing at the Metro but tickets aren't on sale yet. I'll also check out Bettye Lavette and Nick Lowe sideshows to see if I can fit them in.

Before all that in January I'll be seeing the Cambodian Space Project at the Vanguard and Hanggai at the Basement. Cambodian Space Project traverse the same general territory combining Khmer pop and western rock as the better known Dengue Fever. although CSP are actually based in Phnom Penh.

Hanggai play Mongolian folk music with electric guitars and a punk attitude. I find them quite enthralling.

Phew.