Erykah Badu and Sarah Jaffe Land On Some Early Year-End Best Album Lists

By Pete Freedman Wed., Dec. 1 2010 at 2:30 PM

Categories: DFW Music News

Sarah Jaffe's had a big year, in case you didn't know.

It's officially December, which means 2010 is almost over, which means it's time for the overzealous music critics of the world to rush out their year-end best music lists, even though, hey, the year isn't over and there are still albums coming out and, y'know, there's still a good 30 or so days left for everyone to try and listen to the whole slew of albums they probably haven't listened to yet.

But I digress.

Two notable year-end lists made their debut today, and two Dallas females who've had plenty big years have popped up in them...

National Public Radio's included Erykah Badu's New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh on its in-no-particular-order Top 50 albums of the year list -- maybe not all that surprising given the year Badu's had, controversies and all -- and praised the album appropriately, claiming that the disc "floats by in a glorious haze on grooves that never exceed the speed limit (no chopping or screwing necessary)."

But this inclusion is a little surprising, actually: Sarah Jaffe's full-length debut, Suburban Nature, pops up on Paste's Top 50 countdown at a respectable No. 39 position, coming in ahead of the likes of Local Natives, Yeasayer, Deerhunter, The Black Keys and Wavves, thanks to praise of the album's "ebbs and flows on a sea of candid relationship narratives."

So. One Dallas female continues her success and the other further positions herself for a promising future. Yup, this is a town whose sound is dominated by women. We can all agree on that much, yeah?