Some pals and I always do a "what I listened to last year" email in January. Here's mine. What's yours?
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I have been listening to mostly old stuff - I realised I really don't invest enough time in music I already own in the scramble to acquire new, so I stopped buying CDs except by exception about a year ago.

Faves of the year:

Dexter Gorden - the later Blue Note stuff, especially "Gettin' around" and "Go!"

Karen Matheson - "Time to fall" - a new acquisition, wonderful singing with songs largely written by James Grant

Stacy Kent - "Breakfast on the morning tram" - her take on Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" literally had me in floods when I first listened to it - in vino veritas as they say. Some songs in French which are super.

A compilation which had lots of airtime was "Putumayo presents Women of the World" - from the local ethnic stuff shop - in a bewildering range of languages, basically folk jazz singers from around the world with great songs and playing - a standout being the opener by Sandrine Kiberlain - "Je m'envoyer des fleurs" which celebrates, err, a day of (ahem) self love. Those French eh!

As ever, lots of Little Feat, especially the "Electrif Lycanthrope" bootleg which was a live radio concert just after "Dixie Chicken" and mixed by Lowell - surely the finest band, bar none.

More old but new to me - Durutti Column - "The return of the Durutti Column" - great name for a debut album and splendid pointless noodling wandering about on an electric guitar.

I'm having a southern rock phase - Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, ZZ Top, Gov't Mule. Marvellous. Git down and boogie.

I also acquired, via a pal, a quantity of Jefferson Airplane - groovy, man - especially "Surrealistic pillow" and "Volunteers" - the version of "Wooden ships" beats CSN's hands down - I see the hand of Crosby in there.

"Only by the night" - Kings of Leon - good chunky rock album

More new - "A victory for common sense" - Stackridge - really very good album for a comeback - well, by any standards really - great songs, great playing, clear evidence of brain activity in the arrangements. Class.

Following some recreational blogging I bought the first Roxy Music album and "Station to station" by David Bowie for a reappraise. Roxy has worn very well - I liked it then and still do - as someone said, it sounds like 5 different bands all playing at the same time. STS on the other hand leaves me cold - why do the faithful love it so? Beats me.

Lots of folky stuff - Dougie Maclean (after seeing him at Hitchin Folk Club), Nic Jones (one of our finest), Bert Jansch, Sweeney's Men, Anne Briggs and of course our finest songwriter, Richard Thompson, who is so good it seems totally unfair really.