Top 12
discs of 1999 in alphabetical order |
astroPuppees: Pet [HighTone HCD 8105]"Ouch. I ache for you Kelley." |
Bruce Cockburn, Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in
Timbuktu [Rykodisc RCD/RAC 10407]"Arguably
Cockburn’s finest release since his 1980 masterpiece Humans." |
Davell Crawford: Love Like Yours and Mine [Bullseye
Blues & Jazz 1161-9606-2] "…the first
CD I have ever reviewed in which I could not find any major discrepancy between the
promotional hype and my reality." |
Ani DiFranco, UP UP UP UP UP UP [Righteous Babe Music
RBR013-D] "A poetic collection of folk songs
from the punk-folk queen of western New York." |
Marc-Andre Hamelin: Rzewski: The People United Will Never
Be Defeated [Hyperion CDA67077] "Devotees
of great piano writing (and great playing) should investigate without delay." |
The Jacques Loussier Trio: 40th Anniversary Album [Telarc CD 83474] "It’s rare for superior sonics, performance and musical
interest to come together as elegantly as they do here." |
Moby: Play [Rave New World V2 63881-27049-2] "…dead solid perfect." |
Geoff Muldaur: The Secret Handshake [HighTone HCD 8097] "If the songs from this album don’t remain in our head for
a long time, then the blues just ain’t for you." |
Me’Shell Ndegeocello: Bitter [Maverick 9 47439-2] "…a spare, clear-eyed reflection on the pain of love gone
astray, love rejected, and love unrequited." |
Utah Phillips and Ani Difranco: Fellow Workers
[Righteous Babe Music RBR015-D] "An oral
history and a reminder that the original movement was as much about human dignity as
economic." |
Tom Russell, The Man From God Knows Where [HighTone HCD
8099] "…a collection that walks the line
between a song cycle and a sort of folk opera so deftly that it ends up being a work both
epic in scope and acutely observed." |
Frank Sinatra, Sinatra 57 In Concert [DCC/Artanis
Entertainment Group ARZ-101-2] "…a pick of
the month, a year’s best and one for the ages all rolled into one." |
| Best
Reissue 
Squeeze, East Side Story [Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
UDCD 739]
"…like the many posh remastered movies on DVD,
Mobile Fidelity’s East Side Story is for the connoisseur as well as the
fan." |
Best
Audiophile Recording 
Roy Gaines, "I Got the T-Bone Walker Blues" [Groove
Note GRV1002-2]
"…might be the best CD I’ve ever heard, and
it’ll make your system sound like it cost a bundle." |
January 2000