Thank God for Mississippi. Memphis, too. Our neighbors to the east did it right this year musically. Fat Possum offshoot Big Legal Mess put out the best thing I heard all year, “The George Mitchell Collection,” a 7-disc collection of weird and wonderful field recordings captured throughout the South over a 20-year period beginning in the early ’60s. Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm, out of Holly Springs, Miss., kept the legacy of Cedric’s grandfather R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough alive with their excellent sophomore release, “2 Man Wrecking Crew.” They were even better at White Water — hypnotic, raucous, essential. Based out of Memphis, but increasingly always on the road, Jay Reatard released a hugely infectious collection of pop-punk singles on Matador.
Here’s Cecil Barfield from the Mitchell collection.