The official top ten are albums I stand by in their entirety, with special mention for the top four, all spectacular and wonderful records that gave me something I was not expecting from their respective artists and got the most spins from me this whole year. Honorable mentions are close to great, certainly enjoyable. Anyone who likes the artists in question will probably enjoy them as much as I did. Those who don't know or like them may not be convinced. Reissues are all things I'll endorse in their entirety as well, noting especially that the Ornette reissue has never been available in the States in a good-sounding non-bootleg - Paul Bley still isn't served well by the recording (ironic that it was originally released under his name), but the rest of the band - especially Ornette and Don Cherry - sound good here. Oh yeah, Steinski too - another thing never officially available because of his sample-heavy construction, but this is the groundwork for a ton of hip-hop, and if you think a DJ and some records can't form meaning, check out his take on the Kennedy assassination, or his 9/11 piece. 
Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
Portishead - Third
Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It
Sonny Rollins - Road Shows Vol. 1
Nick Cave - Dig Lazarus, Dig!
Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip - Angles
Tricky - Knowle West Boy
Randy Newman - Harps and Angels
Anthony Braxton/Milford Graves/William Parker - Beyond Quantum
Honorable mention:
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