Perhaps the best R&B singer you've never heard of, Bettye LaVette has been recording for 50 years. This is a covers album. She can definitely sing a pretty, soulful song (Neil Young's I'm Not The One). But she really blows me away when she sings a slow burner (like Bob Dylan's I'm Not The One or Crazy from Cee Lo Green and Dangermouse) or gets down and funky (Savoy Brown's I'm Tired, my favorite song on the album or Fair Enough).
The fourth proper studio release from the New York based four-piece. They hit the big time with 2009's critically acclaimed Vecatimest (reaching number 8 on Billboard's Top 200 chart.) This is supposed to be a more cerebral work, but frankly, I like this album more. My favorite song is Gun-Shy, which is a dead give away to my love of pop hooks. Sleeping Ute seems like something Genesis would have created if they'd been formed in the 21st century. Yet Again is a sweet pop song (and the harmonies remind me of America.) The strings on What's Wrong make the song seem as if it's drifting on a breeze. From start to finish I hear influences from Yes, Roxy Music and the Flaming Lips.
Dylan continues his exploration of America's musical history, including country (Soon After Midnight which could be a Willie Nelson song), blues (
Early Roman Kings, basically a remake of Muddy Waters' Mannish Boy) and early 70's rock (Pay In Blood). The one song that has me truly confused (do I like it or not?) is the nearly 15 minute long title track: Tempest, a folk ballad and perhaps the longest song ever performed without a chorus, tells the story of the Titanic with references to both history and the James Cameron movie ("Leo took his Sketch book"). Listen if you have time, once, just so you can say you did.
My only dilemma here is whether I love this album, or am completely blown away by it. It's definitely leaping onto my 2012 Top 10 list, somewhere near the middle. This is their seventh proper studio release (my second, after 2008's Carried to Dust). 
This is the sophomore release for The XX. Their eponymous debut, released in 2009 is also excellent. The band, formed in London in 2008 while the (then four) members were still in high school, cite influences including everything from The Cure and the Pixies to Rihanna. The music is pretty minimalist, allowing the vocals to leap way out front. Romy Madley Croft provides a sensuousness with her satiny voice, while Oliver Sim's smooth-as-malt-scotch baritone serves as a perfect counterpoint.