- Matana Roberts: Always (a solo alto saxophone album, released on a small label of enthusiasts, Relative Pitch Records, no overdubs, breathtaking recording quality, deep listening – the small problem is, you won’t get it in your local store, it’s a „killer“, believe me, and, for some strange reasons, Matana’s solo excursions remind me of the joyful intensity of Marion Brown’s „Geechee Recollections“)
- David Torn: Only Sky (a solo guitar album that is so much more than a solo guitar album: a journey through textures, spheres, landscapes; blue moods of exstacy!)
- Keith Jarrett: Creation (the most introspective solo recital since „The Melody At Night With You“, going to the essence without playing old games)
- Lone Wolf: Lodge (an intense collection of songs, beyond the standard agenda of love lost and found; good to know there are still singers who listen to late-period Talk Talk)
- Rickie Lee Jones: The Other Side of Desire (finally back, and in brilliant form, with lyrics that sound conversational, incl some special New Orleans vibes)
- Paul De Jong: If (one half of the former „Books“ delivers a stunning collection of word-play, absurdity, and (not expected) sometimes heart-wrenching melancolia)
- Ghost Harmonic: Codex (the violin in the machine, the in-between-world of hidden overtones and secret echoes – only for seconds, Brian and Arvo lurk around the corner)
- John Potter: Amores Pasados (art songs, pop songs, who cares? Old Spanish poems and other sources – set into motion by two lutes and two singers. Captivating.)
- Nils Okland Band: Kjolvatn (music from the woods, the hinterland, recorded in a Norwegian stone church. Quiet does it: the maestro of the Hardanger Fiddle crosses styles and centuries)
- Geoff Barrow – Ben Salisbury: Ex Machina (brilliant soundtrack of a brilliant movie)
- Achim Kaufmann: Later (solo piano again, done with intensiy, playfulness, a wide range of sources from Thelonious Monk to Syd Barrett, from Herbie Nichols to Bob Dylan – much more than simply decent, let’s call it „en passant-passion of highest order“!)
- V. A. – Radio Vietnam (soundtripping through Eastern Radio, a roller coaster of sampling voices and sounds)