Think I'm a bit of an oddball when it comes to this thread, since my fave genre is folk, but I do listen to quite a variety of stuff (pop, rock, jazz, classical, world, country), and I like to branch out (i.e., I think M.I.A., mentioned earlier, is neat!). Here are some albums I like which have come out this year:
Tori Amos - "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" and "Midwinter Graces" (love all of Tori's stuff, these two don't disappoint IMHO; usually not in to holiday albums, but her arrangements are such that I forget it's a holiday album!)
Chantal Kreviazuk - "Plain Jane" (fan of all her stuff, too, especially like the jazzy tinge to some of the tracks)
Loreena McKennitt - "A Mediterranean Odyssey" (two CD set, live concert and compilation of Mediterranean-influenced tracks from her back catalog; wish their were some new tracks, but the new live recording's great; I am annoyed that some of the instrumentation was taken out on the compilation CD to shorten the time of the songs from their original versions, why edit!)
Rachel Proctor - "What Didn't Kill Me" (a country album; her 2nd record and 1st as an independent, am glad she's continuing to put out records; like first one a lot and same with this one, honestly can't think of a song of hers I don't like)
Holly Near with Emma's Revolution - "We Came to Sing!" (both these artists are politically and feminist minded; this record takes some of Holly's songs and re-works them with ER; they've created some really neat harmonies!)
Our Lady Peace - "Burn Burn" (to end this list with a male artist! LOL; like this one quite a lot better than their 2005 recording that came before it)
Cheers,
-M-
