This year we asked our contributing music writers to name their five favorite albums of the year, and we encouraged them to look to multiple genres. A star denotes a title also chosen by Tribune pop music critic Greg Kot. (See also Bob Gendron’s picks, Page 8)
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ALLISON STEWART
Griffin’s heartfelt effort triumphs
1. Patty Griffin: “Children Running Through”
(ATO)
Griffin’s mainstream breakthrough disc isn’t as accessible as some of her past releases, but it’s every bit as fine. Heartfelt and determined and achingly great, it catapulted her into the first tier of American singer-songwriters.
2. The Arcade Fire: “Neon Bible”
(Merge)
Perhaps you’ve heard: They’re pretty good. About these brainy, chilly Canadians not much more need be written. Anyone suffering AF withdrawal should hunt down the grainy YouTube video of their live collaboration with Bruce Springsteen. It’s 2007’s unlikeliest marriage of heart (Springsteen), brawn (Springsteen again) and transcendent art rock.
3. Various artists: “Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration”
(Stax)
Memphis label Stax once rivaled Motown as the country’s greatest provider of midcentury soul and funk. This two-disc set collates some of its best historical offerings, from the Staple Singers to “Shaft.”
4. Jay-Z: “American Gangster”
(Roc-A-Fella)
Call it a Comeback, Take Two: This extended riff on the film of the same name manages to turn a sweeping saga of 20th Century entrepreneurial gangstership into the story of, well, Jay-Z. Overstuffed with horns, samples and the kind of deft wordplay no one on the planet — M.C. or otherwise — does better.
5. Mandy Moore: “Wild Hope”
(Firm Music)
Her former teen pop peers want to be Rihanna, but Moore wants to be Carole King circa “Tapestry.” Her gentle folk-pop disc “Wild Hope” was 2007’s most impressive career do-over, and the wistful, Lilith Fair-y single “Extraordinary” its sweetest song.
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ALISON BONAGURO
Country charms with rookies, vets
1. Miranda Lambert: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
(Columbia Nashville)
Call it a polished evolution in Lambert’s songwriting. She plays the part of the title track well, but this album also has sweet ballads, pleading laments and feisty whimsy. What prevails is a balanced track list that becomes her.
2. Luke Bryan: “I’ll Stay Me”
(Capitol Records)
This Nashville rookie has a drawl as slow as molasses, and it permeates the album without hindering his vocal stylings. His sound feels as new as an ironic city honky-tonk, and yet not one song is guilty of any pop leanings. Songs about rural life, rich with dead-on instruments, suit this charmer perfectly.
3. Martina McBride: “Waking Up Laughing”
(RCA Records)
McBride hasn’t run out of inspiration. This album has her aging gracefully into a more soulful singer/songwriter. With fewer feminist anthems, McBride has time to devote to the bright spots on this effort.
4. Little Big Town: “A Place to Land”
(Equity Music Group)
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Harmony quartets aren’t supposed to be this spectacular. But this sophomore album proves that some bands get better the second time. They seamlessly swing from one singer to the next, making it feel more like a mix tape than the same frontman over and over.
5. Tim McGraw: “Let It Go”
(Curb Records)
Turning 40 seems to have lifted a burden for McGraw.
No longer just a poster boy for country’s sexy side, these songs prove that he can sing. And he still has a gift for choosing vivid hits that sound country without sounding like everybody else’s country.
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ANDY DOWNING
Radiohead’s best focuses on love
(star) 1. Radiohead: “In Rainbows”
(self-released, radiohead.com)
Radiohead did more than establish a radical distribution system with the Internet-only “In Rainbows”; it also released the prettiest, most direct album of its career. Love is a constant throughout — whether frontman Thom Yorke is stalking it like a bloodthirsty predator (“All I Need”) or clinging to its last vestiges as life spins out of control (“Videotape”).
(star) 2. El-P: “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead”
(Def Jux)
On this staggering LP, the Brooklyn rapper creates a dense, jagged soundscape that evokes post-9/11 New York City. There are blood-spattered bystanders, emotionally run-down prison guards and, in the center of it all, a bare-knuckle brawler of an MC raging at the machine.
(star)3. Bettye LaVette: “The Scene of the Crime”
(Anti)
Here, soul survivor LaVette teams up with Southern rockers the Drive-By Truckers for a fiery batch of covers (and one tough-as-nails original).
(star)4. M.I.A.: “Kala”
(XL/Interscope)
“Kala” is a global tour that even finds the Sri Lankan/British MC rapping alongside aboriginal children on the throbbing “Mango Pickle Down River.” Despite the focus on social injustice, the groove is more likely to kick off a dance party than a political rally.
5. Neurosis: “Given to the Rising”
(Neurot)
The San Francisco vet’s ninth album is also among its heaviest; “Water Is Not Enough,” for one, moves like a waterlogged warship. “Origin” works the loud-soft dynamic to perfection, building tension for nearly 10 minutes before exploding in a burst of tightly coiled guitar.
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ERNESTO LECHNER
A nonagenarian’s comforting sound
1. Henri Salvador: “Reverence”
(Circular Moves)
It’s funny, I know, but my favorite album of 2007 was recorded by a 90-year-old Frenchman in love with bossa nova. In a year dominated by a pervasive feeling of dislocation and uncertainty (both in the music industry and the world in general), I found endless comfort in this sweet collection of delicate tunes performed by a man who has nothing left to prove. “Reverence” is the musical equivalent of a warm loaf of country bread on a chilly Parisian morning.
2. Porcupine Tree: “Fear of a Blank Planet”
(Atlantic)
Plenty of bands over the past 20 years have proved that prog-rock is still alive and kicking. Few, however, have embraced the teachings of Genesis and Pink Floyd with the ferocious confidence of this British band. There’s not an ounce of pompous excess here — just music of limitless longing and imagination.
(star)3. Cafe Tacuba: “Sino”
(Universal Latino)
An ode to a Mexico City adolescence spent daydreaming to the beat of mainstream Anglo rock, Tacuba’s profoundly melancholy sixth studio effort is, without any doubt, the best Latin album of the year.
4. Lily Allen: “Alright, Still …”
(Capitol)
Perhaps it is the pervasive influence of Jamaican ska and dancehall that makes this debut effort by the notoriously potty mouthed Allen so much fun.
5. Katia & Marielle Labeque: “Maurice Ravel”
(KML Recordings)
Throughout the years, I’ve listened to countless readings of Ravel’s ethereal fairy tale suite for four hands, “Ma Mere L’Oye.” None of them matches the stunning beauty of the version included in this definitive disc.
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DAVID ROYKO
Banjo gods not to be missed
1. Tony Trischka: “Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular”
(Rounder)
Bela Fleck and Earl Scruggs are just two of the eight banjo gods joining Tony Trischka for his best recording since 1983’s “Robot Plane Flies Over Arkansas” album, backed by a slew of additional string deities such as mandolinists Sam Bush and Chris Thile.
2. Bill Monroe: “My Last Days on Earth”
(Bear Family)
Covering his final decade or so, and containing some of his greatest instrumental compositions, Bear Family concludes the most important reissue series in bluegrass history.
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3. Chick Corea and Bela Fleck: “The Enchantment”
(Concord)
A creative high point for both the pianist and the banjoist, Corea and Fleck make a seemingly incompatible pair of acoustic instruments dance through a mainly original program of challenging but accessible jazz.
4. Battles: “Mirrored”
(Warp)
Battles is a powerhouse quartet that mixes minimalist repetition with odd time signatures, darkly impressionistic soundscapes.
5. Malcolm Arnold: “English, Irish, Scottish and Cornish Dances.” London Philharmonic, conducted by the composer
(Lyrita)
One of this year’s happiest classical stories has been the CD resurrection of the British Lyrita label, and these delightful miniatures have never sounded better than in the exquisitely recorded definitive performances.
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BOB GENDRON
Arcade Fire finds beauty in orch-pop
1. Arcade Fire: “Neon Bible”
(Merge)
Arcade Fire’s sophomore album opens with frontman Win Butler awakening from a nightmare that turns out to be less frightening than present-day reality. In establishing an overriding sense of fear and urgency, sweeping orchestral-pop arrangements and gospel undercurrents complement narratives littered with conflict, abduction and paranoia. Escape never sounded so beautiful — or necessary.
(star)2. Bettye LaVette: “The Scene of the Crime”
(Anti)
Gritty vocalist Bettye LaVette pairs with Southern rockers Drive-By Truckers and completes the longest-delayed comeback in R&B history. The Detroit native weeps and moans through nine thematically resonant cover songs (and one autobiographical original) all the while delivering the most wrenching soul record of the year.
3. Feist: “The Reminder”
(Cherrytree/Interscope)
Singer Leslie Feist retreats to the French countryside and gets in touch with her inner romantic. With a dulcet timbre, she both breaks and mends hearts with hummable pop tunes steeped in tender intimacy and playful sincerity.
(star)4. M.I.A.: “Kala”
(Interscope)
Globetrotting emcee M.I.A. gives world music a new definition on a rhythm-centric set that’s as staggeringly diverse (indie rock, rap, jungle, dancehall) as it is culturally aware.
5. High on Fire: “Death Is This Communion”
(Relapse)
The Oakland power trio adds Middle Eastern accents to its intimidating arsenal of crushing heaviness and virtuosic riffing, stirring up rugged fury.