P2 Best-of-the-Year Lists

Compiler Al Kunz wrote: "Finally, the list. The cutoff I used was 20 points (the equivalent of at least one person putting a disc first on their list). We had a total of 42 voters (the same as 2005). Two things jumped out at me. For the first time in several years we don't have a current mainstream country album in the top 10 (unless anyone thinks that label still applies to Vince Gill).

"I also found it interesting that #1 (Bob Dylan) is the premier Woody Guthrie follower from his generation. #2 (Springsteen) is the premier Bob Dylan follower from his generation and his contribution is a tribute to songs associated with one of Guthrie's cohorts and collaborators. That seems to say something about roots music and how it all ties together."

Compiler Al Kunz wrote: "We had 42 people vote this year (down from 58 last year). A total of 214 albums received at least one vote. I lowered the threshold to make the final list to more than 6 points (last year at least 10 were required). 117 discs made the list using these criteria (only 71 would have using the 10 point threshold). Discs are ordered by number of points with the number of first place votes breaking any ties. If there is still a tie at that point I didn't indicate that it was still a tie, but ordered them randomly. With the minimal number of people voting in the reissue category, I listed those reissues with multiple mentions in no specific order at the end.

"That Robbie Fulks is the winner probably comes as no surprise. That he finished with 50% more points than #2 is. Once again a current "mainstream" country radio star had a high finish (Lee Ann Womack at #4). Coincidentally this is the same rank as Gretchen Wilson finished last year and Patty Loveless the year before. This didn't happen at any point from 1996-2001. I was surprised at the high finish and number of votes for Eliza Gilkyson at #17. Although there are other high finishers that are popular with the folk crowd none of them seem out of place on the P2 list. Gilkyson, at least for me, is a surprise.."

Compiler Mitchell Moore wrote: "In the 9th annual P2 poll. 58 people voted, a bit over a third the number that participated during halcyon days of the list. Those 58 persons cast votes for 242 different new releases and 55 different reissues. A new release needed a minimum 10 points to make the final cut, and a reissue needed a minimum 5 points. 82 new releases met the threshold, as did 20 releases in the reissue category.

"Brian Wilson's Smile made both lists, in the bottom quarter of each, an understandable enough confusion given its ambiguous status. In the early going it was a close race between the eventual first and fourth place finishers, but the latter faded in the last week, and the second and third place finishers came on strong. Several artists—Neko Case, Allison Moorer, Annie McCue—came out of nowhere in the last week to finish in the top 20."

Compiler Barry Mazor wrote: "86 list members voted this year, a bit off from last year, but not by much. P2 tastes clearly remain diverse—but identifiable! How diverse? There were some 370 albums voted for in total—and 205 of them were voted for by only one member! We have a clear winner—and a handful of releases that placed well above the pack.

"For all of the change and evolution that's undeniably taken place in this list over eight years, the fundamental interests and tastes of P2 list members —many of whom are rarely heard from—have been remarkably constant. And if anybody tells ya P2 ain't interested in rock, the Drive By Truckers can tell them where to park it. Indie rock fans who came to alt.country—and this list—for its song based, tuneful, and only then twangful turn on rock often find those attractions in power pop or Southern rock.

"The results remind us that these are overlapping circles of interest, not "two sides of the fence" inevitably at war, and with a broad edgy center the list still seems to share. Many of those who voted for the Truckers this year—and Kings of Leon and the White Stripes—did NOT vote also for Loveless and Lucinda and The Louvin Brothers Tribute—but many DID. Same for those who voted for more mainstream country or bluegrass acts.

"Reporting cut off was two votes minimum for a recording, and a minimum of 15 points—the amount of a first place vote--between them. Point total counted first (15 for first, 14 for second, etc.—whether the voter went for the 15 or less, unless they called for equal votes for them all, which were registered as "5s."). Number of total votes counted second in case of ties, then the number of first place votes.)"

Compiler Amy Silver wrote: "For a while, it looked like Norah Jones, Solomon Burke, and Bruce Springsteen were going to be the top three records of the year, which would have been, well, kind of odd. In the end, twang triumphed, but we still ended up with an impressively eclectic list, and at some point I decided that the relative lack of actual alt-country music in the top 10 was less a damning judgment on the state of alt-country than an acknowledgement that P2ers have wide-ranging tastes.

"You just have to love a list that includes music ranging from And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead to Alan Jackson, from Hawaiian surf to soul-influenced rap, from Sleater-Kinney to Elizabeth Cook, and more. You don't have to love every record on that list, but you can't help admiring its breadth. A total of 350 records from 102 voters received votes. The list below shows all the records that earned at least 10 points; the number of parentheses is the total points for each record."