National Top Nines

Fri., Jan. 8, 1999

MICHAEL BERTIN

1. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Mercury)

2. Billy Bragg & Wilco, Mermaid Avenue (Elektra)

3. Richard Buckner, Since (MCA)

4. Buena Vista Social Club (Nonesuch)

5. Dolly Varden, The Thrill of Gravity (Evil Teen)

6. Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach, Painted From Memory (Mercury)

7. Zoobombs, Welcome Back, Zoobombs (Rice Tone)

8. Cheri Knight, The Northeast Kindgom (E-Squared)

9. Monster Magnet, Powertrip (A&M)

CHRISTOPHER GRAY

1. Dwight Yoakam, A Long Way Home (Reprise)

2. Billy Bragg & Wilco, Mermaid Avenue (Elektra)

3. [tie] OutKast, Aquemini (Laface)/Goodie Mob, Still Standing (LaFace)

4. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Mercury)

5. Eightball, Lost (Suave House)

6. Pulp, This Is Hardcore (Island)

7. Beck, Mutations (DGC)

8. Garbage, Version 2.0 (Almo)

9. Lyle Lovett, Step Inside This House (MCA)

JAY HARDWIG

1. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Mercury)

2. B.B. King, Blues on the Bayou (MCA)

3. Gillian Welch, Hell Among the Yearlings (Almo Sounds)

4. Henry Butler, Blues After Sunset (Black Top)

5. Joe Louis Walker, Preacher and the President (Verve)

6. Freakwater, Springtime (Thrill Jockey)

7. Mollie O'Brien, Big Red Sun (Sugar Hill)

8. Marcus Roberts, Joy of Joplin (Sony Classical)

9. Baaba Maal, Nomad Soul (Palm Pictures)

CHRISTOPHER HESS

1. Son Volt, Wide Swing Tremolo (Warner Bros.)

2. Ralph Stanley & Friends, Clinch Mountain Country (Rebel)

3. Pedro the Lion, It's Hard to Find a Friend (Made in Mexico)

4. Tortoise, TNT (Thrill Jockey)

5. Freakwater, Springtime (Thrill Jockey)

6. [tie] Archers of Loaf, White Trash Heroes (Alias)/June of '44, Four Great Points (Quarterstick)

7. Gillian Welch, Hell Among the Yearlings (Almo)

8. 764-HERO, Get Here and Stay (Up)

9. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Mercury)

ANDY LANGER

1. Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse)

2. Monster Magnet, Powertrip (A&M)

3. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Mercury)

4. Fastball, All the Pain Money Can Buy (Hollywood)

5. Billy Bragg & Wilco, Mermaid Avenue (Elektra)

6. Metallica, Garage Inc. (Elektra)

7. Ozomatli (Almo)

8. Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (Rawkus)

9. Lhasa, La Llorona (Atlantic)

DAVID LYNCH

1. Hamdulillah, Music From the Fes Festival of Sacred Music, Vol. II (Sounds True)

2. Arvo Pärt, Kanon Pokajanen (ECM)

3. Liquid Soul, Make Some Noise (Ark 21)

4. Miles Davis translated by Bill Laswell, Panthalassa (Sony)

5. Olu Dara, In the World: Natchez to New York (Atlantic/Time Warner)

6. Kalhor/Khan/Chaudhuri, Ghazal: Lost Songs of the Silk Road (Shanachie)

7. Rush, Different Stages (Anthem/Atlantic)

8. Orchestre National de Barbès, En Concert (Tinder)

9. Jon Langford, Skull Orchard (Sugar Free)

MARGARET MOSER

1. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (Mercury)

2. Madonna, Ray of Light (Maverick/Warner Bros.)

3. Marianne Faithfull, A Perfect Stranger (Island)

4. Garbage, Version 2.0 (Almo)

5. Lyle Lovett, Step Inside This House (MCA)

6. Mary Jane Lamond, Suas E! (Wicklow)

7. Young Dubliners, Alive Alive O (Cargo)

8. Rob Zombie, Hellbilly Deluxe (Geffen)

9. Monster Magnet, Powertrip (Ruffhouse)

JAY TRACHTENBERG

1. Skatalites, Ball of Fire (Island Jamaica Jazz)

2. Chucho Valdés, Bele Bele En La Habana (Blue Note)

3. Bob Dylan, Live 1966 (Columbia/Legacy)

4. Patricia Barber, Modern Cool (Premonition)

5. Leon Parker, Awakening (Columbia)

6. Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos (Atlantic)

7. Johnnie Bassett & the Blues Insurgents, Cadillac Blues (Cannonball)

8. Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, So What (Acoustic Disc)

9. Jazz Jamaica, Double Barrel (Hannibal)