those i forgot to mention

I am sure there are more than a few of my blogging brethrin who are also guilty of this when it comes to those dreaded year end lists. You gotta understand, some of us plough through hundreds of albums in a year. Surely we can be forgiven one or two cases of involuntary selective memory syndrome. Aaaanyway these are few that have recenntly come to mind that would have lengthened my original 'favourites list'

Ryan Leslie – Transition

Ok, so Robin may be my champion, but this dude is my close second. As smooth a vocally driven head nod as I've heard in many a while. This one has been stealthily doing its thing withj my eardrums yet I forgot all about it. Sorry Ryan (not that he's gonna read this anyway).

Brother Ali - The Truth Is Here

Before US and after The Undisputed Truth, there was CD/DVD combo The Truth Is Here. It arrived at only nine tracks deep. But Bro's ridiculously high standards and some live niceness on the other disc ensured an easy purchase.

Ghostface Killah - Ghostdini: Wizard Of Poetry In Emerald City

When I first heard this was coming out I was jazzed. My first instincts on what this release was gonna be like was Ghost doing his thing over some classic soul (as evidenced on some of his previous outings). Then I saw the tracklisting and (due to the guestlist) was pretty sceptical as to what I was gonna get for my ten quid/pounds. I bought it, but it sat untouched for quite a while. It must have been about 2 months before I actually played the thing. As soon as I'd finished repeating Do Over for the unpteenth time, I knew I'd had done Toney a grave disservice (sorry Ghost).

AB and Daru - A Work In Progress

Admittedly I'd never even heard of these guys before I got hold of this album. I found On Deck (an album track featuring Black Milk) while doing some random searches on Apple's pride and joy. Loved the song, copped the album and the rest, as they say.... Aaaaaaah the wonder of iTunes.

Calvin Richardson - Facts Of Life: The Soul Of Bobby Womack

Calvin is clearly in his element and at his very very best. They may all be covers, but maaaan when the songs sound this good, who gives a flying f%€# where they originated. Bobby would be proud.

Diamond District - In The Ruff

How could I not have included anything involving Oddisee. X.O. and YU make up this superb trio. Anyone who doubts the validity of what they like to call 'real Hip Hop' need only listen to this album.