The Best Albums of 1961


1. Robert JohnsonKing of the Delta Blues Singers


2. Bill EvansSunday at the Village Vanguard


3. Bill EvansWaltz for Debby


4. Oliver NelsonThe Blues and the Abstract Truth


5. John ColtraneOlé Coltrane


6. Max RoachWe Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite


7. Patsy ClineShowcase


8. Ornette ColemanFree Jazz


9. Stan GetzFocus


10. Bobby BlandTwo Steps From the Blues


11. John ColtraneAfrica/Brass


12. João GilbertoJoão Gilberto


13. Eric DolphyAt the Five Spot


14. Nina SimoneNina Simone at Newport


15. George RussellEzz-thetics


16. Grant GreenGrantstand


17. Hank MobleyRoll Call


18. Cecil TaylorThe World of Cecil Taylor


19. Lee KonitzMotion


20. Charles MingusPresents Charles Mingus


21. Milt Jackson & John ColtraneBags & Trane


22. Ella FitzgeraldClap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!


23. Miles DavisSteamin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet


24. Ray CharlesThe Genius Sings the Blues


25. Freddie HubbardReady for Freddie

The Best Albums of 1960


1. Charles MingusBlues & Roots


2. Eric DolphyOut There


3. John ColtraneGiant Steps


4. Muddy WatersMuddy Waters at Newport 1960


5. Bill EvansPortrait in Jazz


6. Karlheinz StockhausenKontakte


7. Thelonious MonkThelonious Alone in San Francisco


8. Lonnie Johnson & Elmer SnowdenBlues & Ballads


9. Tina BrooksTrue Blue


10. Bobby TimmonsThis Here is Bobby Timmons


11. Ornette ColemanChange of the Century


12. Hank MobleySoul Station


13. Ella FitzgeraldElla in Berlin: Mack the Knife


14. Yusef LateefThe Centaur and the Phoenix


15. Art BlakeyThe Big Beat


16. Miles DavisSketches of Spain


17. Duke EllingtonBlues in Orbit


18. Ella FitzgeraldLet No Man Write My Epitaph


19. Etta JamesAt Last!


20. Wes MontgomeryThe Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery


21. Joan BaezJoan Baez


22. Bo DiddleyBo Diddley is a Gunslinger


23. Lightnin’ HopkinsLightnin’ and the Blues


24. Duke JordanFlight to Jordan


25. Stanley TurrentineLook Out!

Guest List: The Best Albums of 2010 – John Macintosh

1. Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me

2. Beach House – Teen Dream

3. Twin Shadow – Forget

4. The National – High Violet

5. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma

6. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz / All Delighted People EP

7. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest

8. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

9. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today

10. Girls – Broken Dreams Club

11. How To Dress Well – Love Remains

12. Matthew Dear – Black City

13. The WalkmenLisbon

14. No Age – Everything in Between

15. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (II)

16. Caribou – Swim

17. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

18. The Morning Benders – Big Echo

19. Pantha du Prince – Black Noise

20. Four Tet – There Is Love in You

21. SpoonTransference

22. Janelle MonáeThe ArchAndroid

23. Erykah Badu – New Amerykah, Part 2

24. Magic Man – Real Live Color

25. LiarsSisterworld

The Best Albums of 2010


1. Kvelertak – Kvelertak


2. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today


3. Carbon Based Lifeforms – Interloper


4. Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini


5. The Black Crowes – Croweology


6. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs


7. Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me


8. Scissor Sisters – Night Work


9. Alcest – Écailles de lune


10. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma


11. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy


12. The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt


13. Misery Index – Heirs to Thievery


14. Blind Guardian – At the Edge of Time


15. Grinderman – Grinderman 2


16. The National – High Violet


17. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz


18. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest


19. Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh


20. Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here


21. Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can


22. Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit


23. Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid


24. Swans – My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky


25. Oceansize – Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up

The Best Albums of 2009


1. Mastodon – Crack the Skye


2. Amorphis – Skyforger


3. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport


4. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion


5. Group Bombino – Guitars From Agadez


6. Megadeth – Endgame


7. Natural Snow Buildings – Shadow Kingdom


8. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle


9. Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt II


10. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns


11. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix


12. The Antlers – Hospice


13. Antony & The Johnsons – The Crying Light


14. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest


15. Kylesa – Static Tensions


16. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic


17. Gui Boratto – Take My Breath Away


18. David Sylvian – Manafon


19. Atlas Sound – Logos


20. The Black Crowes – Before the Frost…


21. Mos Def – The Ecstatic


22. Cobalt – Gin


23. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm


24. Ancestors – Of Sound Mind


25. Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM