Best Of 2010: New Releases

Yep, it's time for that old standby, the year-end top ten list.  This week I'll post my ten favorite new releases of 2010, plus ten runners-up; next week we'll cover reissues.  There was plenty of good stuff to choose from this year -- a good number of fine releases don't appear on the lists at all.

I've embedded links to my reviews of the recordings on the list.  I didn't start posting reviews until May, which is why not all the selections have links.  Format, as always, is Artist (Country) | Recording | Label.

1.  Gogol Bordello (USA) | Trans-Continental Hustle | American
2.  Fat Freddys Drop (New Zealand) | Dr. Boondigga & The Big BW | Electrofone
3.  various artists (South Africa) | Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music From South Africa | Honest Jon's
4.  The Budos Band (USA) | III | Daptone
5.  Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba (Mali) | I Speak Fula | Next Ambiance/Sub Pop
6.  Balkan Beat Box (USA-Israel) | Blue Eyed Black Boy | Nat Geo Music
7.  Moussu T E Lei Jovents (France) | Putan De Cancon | Le Chant Du Monde
8.  Chumbawamba (UK) | ABCDEFG | No Masters
9.  various artists | Radioclit Presents The Sound Of Club Secousse, Volume 1: African Dance Music Anthems | Crammed Discs
10.  The Souljazz Orchestra (Canada) | Rising Sun | Strut

Honorable mentions:
AfroCubism (Mali-Cuba) | AfroCubism | World Circuit/Nonesuch
Tony Allen (Nigeria) | Secret Agent | Nonesuch
The Apples (Israel) | Kings | Freestyle
Choc Quib Town (Colombia) | Oro | Nacional
Fat Freddys Drop (New Zealand) | Live At Roundhouse London | The Drop
Grupo Fantasma (USA) | El Existential | Nat Geo Music
Mariem Hassan | Shouka | Nubenegra
The Imagined Village (UK) | Empire And Love | ECC
Konono No. 1 (RD Congo) | Assume Crash Position | Crammed Discs
Ebo Taylor (Ghana) | Love And Death | Strut