1. Rufus Wainwright, _Poses_: The grower to his debut's shower, this paean to excess un-camps camp, staking its tent firmly in the wilds of over-the-top, uncontrollable and uncontrolled emotion and desire. Nestled in arrangements both more rock and more baroque than the first album's, never has excess sounded so, well, *sincere.* A masterwork awaiting your discovery.
2. Mary J. Blige, _No More Drama_: Speaking of un-camping camp, this girl samples the theme from _The Young and the Restless_--in a song called "No More Drama," no less--and makes it work (here's the zinger)*without irony.* Mary proves, again, that no singer working in soul--scratch that: in *music*--today can deliver emotions as truthfully and as uniquely as she. Even when the emotion in question merely involves getting crunk upon it with your peeps in the dancery. 3. Bob Dylan, _Love and Theft_: Tweedly dum and tweedly dee indeed. Who knew what ribald jester lay within Dylan's increasingly craggy exterior? Anyone who saw him leering at blonde coeds in his recent tour audiences, that's who. The music here consists mostly of genre exercises, albeit damn good ones, but the album's real surprise and pleasure is its humor, whereby Elder Statesman #1 finally proves his command over *every* verbal mode imaginable. 4. Jill Scott, _Experience 826+_: Live albums are supposed to suck, right? Well, try this one, which outdoes the studio record by at least half. Fully reimagined tracks highlight the boho sista's ability to wail, beatbox, tickle your funny bone, and win your heart. See a trend? For such an awful year, 2001's best music was big on laughs and love. Somehow that makes perfect sense. 5. Sam Phillips, _Fan Dance_: Sam's usual vanilla melodies and acid pith sound here like they were recorded on a Wurlitzer. One of the best marriages of songs and production ever. Live she played the piano backing tracks straight into her microphone from a tinny tape recorder--which she then proceeded to shake violently. If all singer-songwriters were this funny, they'd also be this relevant. 6. Radiohead, _Amnesiac_: In my book these guys are not so much the world's best as the world's only rock band left--even during knob-twiddling experiments like this one. The music in Thom Yorke's head seems to leap forth fully formed like an offspring of Zeus. The best part? With a good pair of phones you can transplant these quirky kids straight from his head to yours. Sweet, fucked up dreams. 7. Maxwell, _Now_: Somehow amidst all the hype around the decade-old neo-soul revolution, this boy still found the space and tenacity to turn the grooves of his earlier records into real songs. Sure, at times he sounds just like Prince--but Prince rules, remember? This bouncyfunkysmooth record is made for vertical and horizontal dancing, while the studio cover of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" outdoes both her original and his previous unplugged rendition. When he breaks from the falsetto, so does your heart. 8. Daft Punk, _Discover_: "One More Time" is the worst song on this record, nothing more than listenable Cher without the warble or the Bob Mackie. The ringing chimes and flatulent vocals across the other tracks remind of you of that time when hip-hop sounded just like house and it all wore day-glo. When was that time--1989 or never? All of the above. 9. Yahzarah, _Hear Me_: Indie labels aren't just for angsty white boys with too much Camus on their hands. They're also for nurturing the quirkyjazzy talents of this former Badu girl. Her voice is a trumpet unzipping your trousers--on the rooftop. Sultry, sassy, and smooth. 10. Syleena Johnson, _Chapter 1: Love, Pain & Forgiveness_: Her tone ranges from Tina Turner to Toni Braxton, always raising a quiet storm not suffered since the death of Phyllis Hyman. If churchgoing Lane Bryant black women made amazingly melodic contemporary R&B records they'd sound like this. 10. The Strokes, _Is This It_ Singles: Aaliyah, "We Need a Resolution" Blu Cantrell, "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops)" Britney Spears, "I'm a Slave 4 U" Maxwell, "Lifetime" Mary J. Blige, "Family Affair" and "No More Drama" Garbage, "Androgyny" Madonna, "Don't Tell Me" Janet, "All For You" 'NSYNC, "Gone" (though Shai could've sung it better) Kylie Minogue, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" Missy Elliott feat. Nelly Furtado, "Get Ur Freak On" remix Basement Jaxx, "Romeo" No Doubt, "Hey Baby" --Michael ===== ____________________________________________________ "I could do better But there's no one quite like you." --Maxwell, "No One" / Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com
