This has been an exceptionally good year for music. There’s simply not enough hours in the day to get to it all, but we’ve cherry picked a baker’s dozen of some of 2009’s bumper crop for you. Most of these artists aren’t household names (with one exception and she’s likely WAY off most JamBase reader’s radar) but all have produced albums of real substance. From the large scale Pink Floyd-isms of Porcupine Tree to the patient California Americana ache of Dawes to Phosphorescent‘s inspired handling of Willie Nelson and The New Up‘s sumptuous modern rock slow burn, there’s a sustained feeling of quality and depth, even in the lighter, poppier selections, here. We get the sense all of these musicians are going to be around for a long time making music worthy of our time, attention and love. If you hear something that you dig, trust us, there’s plenty more worth investigating on the full albums by this bunch. We’ve run album reviews for many of these releases, which are linked below for those who want to explore further. For now, press play and sink into the good stuff. You won’t be sorry…
