I was going to write something more substantive today but I’m stuck at home dealing with a shattered window.  In the meantime, here is my list for the best albums released so far this year.  All album release dates will be from the first 6 months of the year.
10. Hem–No Word From Tom: You will not find a more ethereal voice than that of Sally Ellyson.  This album is a collection of outtakes and covers and display the sleepy Americana that would make the Cowboy Junkies proud.

9. Keane–Under the Iron Sea: Although nowhere near as strong as their debut and despite the fact that I don’t see the point in making keyboards sound like a guitar, this is still a strong outing.  Call me crazy but I would rather hear these guys over Coldplay any day.

8. Derek Webb–Mockingbird:  This is the one Christian album in the last 10 years that made me stop mourning the passing of Rich Mullins.  This is a wake-up call for the church to be the in-breaking of the Kingdom.  A welcome breath of fresh air in the derivative world of CCM.

7. Roseanne Cash–Black Cadillac: All the pain, anger and heartbreak of loss channeled into one poetic tour de force.  This is an album that captures the the complexity of grief and managing relationships in a fallen world.  This is an album that ranks up there with the best that anyone in her family has ever recorded.

6. Matt Nathanson–At the Point: This would be higher but I’m somewhat loathe to put a live album on this list.  Yet Nathanson is one of the best and most-overlooked songwriters of this generation.  Skip the dialogue and be wowed at the musicianship.

5. Neil Young–Living With War: This wins the award for the angriest album of the year.  Young is no fan of the war in Iraq and it shows in these cutting and acerbic tunes that call for a regime change.  He even offers up Obama and Colin Powell as possible successors.

4. Bruce Springsteen–We Shall Overcome: The fact that the Boss sits at number 4 is testament to how much great music has been churned out so far this year.  I’ve long been a fan of folk music and Pete Seeger is one of my favorite voices of protest music.  The melding of Rock’s Poet Laureate with Seeger’s tireless words of activism conspired to produce a disc that I’ll still be listening to when I’m Seeger’s age.

3. Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris–All the Roadrunning: These seeming disparate voices collide to produce what is, arguably, the most beautiful record of the year. Recorded over seven years, this album is a travelogue of heartbreak, hope and redemption.

2. Josh Ritter–Animal Years: This 29 year old can write.  There is no comparison to the genius, artistry and daring of this album.  Any other year it might be #1.  I defy you to listen to Girl in the War or Thin Blue Flame and not be moved by the realization that you are listening to greatness.  This epic disc is his Blonde on Blonde.  Proof that it’s great? My wife, who hates my music likes what she has heard. Buy it now.

1. Dixie Chicks–Taking the Long Way: Hate them all you want.  But these Chicks rock.  This album is, at turns, reflective and defiant.  Their musicianship is unsurpassed.  If you haven’t listened to them because of statements they made 3 years ago, you really need to reconsider.  These are songs of family, of hope, of longing.  It’s the best album of the year.  So far.

Any thoughts?  What has grabbed you halfway through aught-6?