Kelly Hogan, “Because It Feel Good” Ms. Hogan, you do us right. Even though this record doesn’t easily fall into the country-music classification, there’s enough moody swamp and Southern humidity pouring out of it to make the ghost of Patsy Cline rise again just to catch one of Hogan’s spine-tingling performances. The strength of “Because It Feel Good”-and indeed the strength behind Hogan herself-is that voice; strong enough to knock down a hundred-year-old willow tree, delicate enough to make a construction worker cry. Kudos, Ms. Hogan, for adding an element of the surreal to country music; kudos for getting back to your roots and recording the record in Georgia; and kudos for just, well, being. Bloodshot Records
Audience choice: Neko Case, “Blacklisted” Bloodshot Records
