Best Of 2009: Americana

MAGNET’s Rome Clay picks his favorites of the year: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit (pictured), Drive-By Truckers, the Avett Brothers, Neko Case, the Felice Brothers and more. 1. JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT | Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit [Lightning Rod] The former Drive-By Trucker loads his second solo record with a wealth of songwriting gems. No song will ever use the phrase “rolled-up $20 bill” in a lyric any better than “Cigarettes And Wine.” 2. MAPLEWOOD | Yeti Boombox [Tapete] The album title pretty much says it all. Brooklyn boys make good. Harmonies and guitar glitter. 3. DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS | The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities And Rarities 2003-2008) [New West] The best way to fulfill a recording contract you’ll ever hear. Seems like some of these should have made a record somewhere along the way. 4. THE AVETT BROTHERS | I And Love And You [American] Ahhh, the Rick Rubin touch. He waves his magic psyche over a formerly uncivilized horde, and what comes out is “Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in.” Like it or not, the man can make changes. 5. DRIVIN N CRYIN | The Great American Bubble Factory [Thirty Tigers] Pure fun. Kevn Kinney and his slightly grayer bandmates turn it up, tune in and get busy with the guitar-y hard rock they always did best. 6. NEKO CASE | Middle Cyclone [Anti-] No, she hasn’t found her niche yet—the sub-sub-sub-genre she feels comfortable in and that fits her—but the journey continues to be interesting. 7. JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE | Midnight At The Movies [Bloodshot] Not daddy’s boy, Steve Earle's son mixes Hank Williams with lots of savvy and twang. 8. THE FELICE BROTHERS | Yonder Is The Clock [Team Love] The unruliest of the unruly mobs that seem to be taking over Americana these days, the Felice boys retain their rough, accordion-driven edges but crank up the quality of the songwriting. 9. DAWES | North Hills [ATO] The sound of what happens when you record in Laurel Canyon. CSN meets Freddy Mercury. 10. GREG KOONS AND THE MISBEGOTTEN | Welcome To The Nowhere Motel [Kealon] Pennsylvania boys got themselves some songs worth hearin’.