POP AND ROCK
1 ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS Raising Sand (Rounder/Decca)
The pitch for this album – screaming rock god meets bluegrass fiddle-player
– wouldn’t convince anyone. So how did it emerge as such a sumptuous musical
feast? The impeccable taste of the producer T Bone Burnett, the intriguing
song selection, the masterful band and the unexpectedly gorgeous marriage of
those two voices.
Click here to listen
2 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Sound of Silver (DFA/EMI) On his second
album, James Murphy dug deep into the vaults to relocate the core values of
dance music and electronica, emerging with a sequence of songs that nailed
for ever the lie that machine music is incapable of emotion. Sound of Silver
courses with it. A masterpiece.
Click here to watch the video for Someone Great
3 ARCTIC MONKEYS Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino) Difficult
second album? I don’t think so. The Monkeys made light of following up the
fastest-selling debut of all time, creating an album that plays to their
strengths, but also manages to move their sound on and even to drop
intriguing hints about where they might be off to next. Click
here to watch the video for Brianstorm
4 CLIPSE Hell Hath No Fury (RCA) This long-delayed second
release from the Virginian brothers was a claustrophobically edgy account of
drug-dealing and paranoia, whipped up by the Neptunes into a storm of sonic
inventiveness no other hip-hop release in 2007 came close to matching. Click
here to listen
5 SUPER FURRY ANIMALS Hey Venus! (Rough Trade) Pardon the
hyperbole, but the last time we had a band who put together albums with this
level of melodic invention, lyrical wit, eclectic bravery, sheer charm and
peerless quality control, it was the 1960s, they were from Liverpool, and
there were four of them. Click
here to listen
6 MAVIS STAPLES We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti) The gospel
queen’s latest is a collection of songs that inspired the civil-rights
movement in America, but if that makes it sound dry and worthy, don’t be
misled. Staples’s passion combines with Ry Cooder – producing and playing
guitar – to create a subtly funky soul treat. Click
here to listen
7 DAVID FORD Songs for the Road (Independiente) Salvaging the
male singer-songwriter tradition after years of abuse by less talented but
more successful rivals, Ford provided a devastating reminder that an artist
with a keening voice, an ear for melody and a willingness, lyrically, to
wrestle with demons can still take the breath away. Click
here to listen
8 FEIST The Reminder (Polydor) The use of her song 1234 in an
iPod ad may have given her a long-deserved breakthrough, but this
spine-tinglingly talented Canadian chanteuse was already a hit with many
music-lovers, who wondered if she could equal the magic of the jazz- and
soul-tinged Let It Die, and discovered, to their relief, that she had. Click
here to listen
9 STEVEN LINDSAY Kite (Echo) This beautiful album is an
antidote for all those suffering from “they don’t write songs like they used
to” syndrome. Steven Lindsay does. Classic pop songwriting – somewhere near
Blue Nile territory – topped off by a brilliant reworking of Pixies’ Monkey
Gone to Heaven. Click
here to listen
10 BRITNEY SPEARS Blackout (SonyBMG) Most chart pop plays it
safe, but we can only assume that Britney’s producers reckoned there was
nothing to lose on this one, and just went for it. The result is the most
sonically exciting dance-pop album of the year (against, admittedly, some
fairly uninspiring competition). Click
here to watch the video for Gimme More
Mark Edwards and Dan Cairns
NEW ACTS
1 ST VINCENT Marry Me (Beggars Banquet) Annie Clark blasted her
way out of Texas on a debut album of breathtaking ambition and diversity.
Indebted to Bowie, Kate Bush and others, Marry Me still announced an
enormous, distinctive new talent.
2 FLYKKILLER Experiments in Violent Light (FlyKKlr) Wonderful
sonic spookiness from the more crepuscular corners of the dancefloor, with
twisted techno-soul from the Polish singer Pati Yang and David Holmes’s
associate Stephen Hilton. Sure, you can dance to it. But you’ll be dancing
on your own.
3 JAMIE T Panic Prevention (Virgin) His glottal-stopping street
poetry divided opinion, but Jamie Treays’s sheer dexterity, pellmell
enthusiasm and ability to ambush the listener with sudden shafts of raw
emotion, to a mash-up of garage, folk, ska and punk, was just too powerful
to resist.
4 GOLDSPOT Tally of the Yes Men (Fontana) From LA came the
Indian-American songwriter Siddhartha Khosla and his band, with an album
that reaffirmed the viability of jingle-jangle guitar music, with the
confidence to thrum with alt-pop cadences and the potential to conquer the
mainstream.
5 KLIMA Klima (Peacefrog) The French singer Angèle
David-Guillou made a debut all fans of Cocteau Twins, early Björk, Nina
Persson or the Knife should buy, if they haven’t already. Her introspective,
confessional songs have a magical, haunting quality.
Dan Cairns
BESTSELLING ROCK/POP ALBUMS
1 MIKA Life in Cartoon Motion (Casablanca/Island) 2 TAKE THAT
Beautiful World (Polydor) 3 ARCTIC MONKEYS Favourite Worst Nightmare
(Domino) 4 KAISER CHIEFS Yours Truly, Angry Mob (B-Unique/Polydor) 5
SNOW PATROL Eyes Open (Fiction/Polydor) 6 NELLY FURTADO Loose
(Geffen/Polydor) 7 JAMES MORRISON Undiscovered (Polydor) 8 THE
FRATELLIS Costello Music (Fallout/Island) 9 THE KILLERS Sam’s Town
(Vertigo/Mercury) 10 LILY ALLEN Alright, Still
JAZZ
1 BASQUIAT STRINGS Basquiat Strings with Seb Rochford (Fire)
Mercury-prize jazz nominations usually have a whiff of tokenism about them,
but not this time. The string ensemble led by the cellist Ben Davis, and
powered by the unobtrusive drumming of Seb Rochford, create a genuine
jazz-classical fusion. Clever originals jostle with the likes of Ornette
Coleman’s Lonely Woman.
2 MARK MURPHY Love Is What Stays (Verve) Not going gently into the
night, the singer who has long been a favourite of the hipsters delivers a
stunning meditation on the passing of the years. His voice is craggier now,
yet the rough edges only add to the poignancy.
3 PINK MARTINI Hey Eugene! (Wrasse) Thomas Lauderdale’s quirky West
Coast retro orchestra embarks on another world cruise, stopping off in the
Middle East, Japan and dimly lit corners of old Europe. The musicians are
anything but naive tourists, however.
4 LIANE CARROLL Slow Down (Splash Point) Year in, year out, no
singer-pianist gets better reviews from British fans, and here is a
laid-back studio set that truly does her justice. Carroll is a
heart-on-sleeve musician whose influences extend beyond the jazz mainstream
to embrace 1960s R&B and the singer-songwriter tradition.
5 COUNT BASIE At Newport (Verve) The ultimate swing machine, humming at
maximum revs in a high-spirited live date, repackaged for its 50th
anniversary. Lester Young steals it. Wish you were there?
Clive Davis
FRINGE
1 PETER CASE Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John (Yep Roc) Case fronted 1970s
punks the Plimsouls, but this is his career high: folk-blues protest songs,
sharpened by personal experience and a poetic gift way beyond most of his
contemporaries.
2 WILLIAM PARKER/ RAINING ON THE MOON Corn Meal Dance (AUM Fidelity) Leena
Conquest’s soulful vocals (Regal) might excite even Michael Parkinson’s
antique jazzometer, but William Parker’s combo set them within blistering
improvisations. A new take on The New Thing.
3 RICHARD YOUNGS Autumn Response (Jagjaguwar) Richard Youngs meshes
minimalist drones with the textures of traditional music, suggesting English
folk music filtered through a 1960s New York loft.
4 DEREK BAILEY Standards (Tzadik) Two years since he passed away, a
steady trickle of unreleased sessions threatens to make Derek Bailey the
Tupac Shakur of free jazz. These solo guitar sketches are skewed enough to
delight converts, but so beautiful they should win new followers.
5 ALASDAIR ROBERTS The Amber Gatherers (Drag City) Alasdair Roberts,
backed by various Scottish indie micro-stars, crafts original songs that
sound like sinewy standards. They do write them like this any more.
WORLD
1 SIMPHIWE DANA The One Love Movement on Bantu Biko Street
(Gallo/Warner) A 21st-century take on Miriam Makeba, if you will, as the
charismatic South African singer glides through an ethereal song-cycle that
blends township soul with black-consciousness slogans and dreamy mysticism.
Dana’s ingeniously layered vocals create their own utterly individual
soundscape.
2 BUIKA Mi Nina Lola (Warner Jazz) If you can imagine Billie Holiday
or Nina Simone being reincarnated as a flamenco artist, you have some idea
of the intensity of Buika’s fusion of Andalusian fire, sleek jazz and
upmarket R&B. A voice to die for. The sultry piano-based arrangements
are flawless too.
3 TARAF DE HAIDOUKS Maskarada (Crammed Discs) Have the wild men from
the Romanian hinterland finally been tamed? Not at all. This high-spirited
assault on the classical repertoire – from Bartok to Khachaturian and Manuel
de Falla – is a million miles from bland crossover. The reckless spirit of
the gypsy strings sweeps all before it.
4 IBRAHIM FERRER Mi Sueno (World Circuit) Farewell, old friend. The
valedictory performance from the great Cuban singer, his ballads given
exemplary backing by that young keyboard firebrand Roberto Fonseca. Ferrer’s
wistful duet with the great Omara Portuondo on the standard Quizas, Quizas
is simply heart-stopping.
5 MAYRA ANDRADE Navega (Stern’s) Just pipping the delightful album by
her Cape Verdean rival, Lura, the youthful Paris-based vocalist celebrates
the multifaceted heritage of the islands, and throws in a hint of chanson
for good measure. The lissom Andrade briskly upstaged Angélique Kidjo at the
Barbican recently. Remember the name.
Clive Davis
CLASSICAL
1 MONTEVERDI Orfeo, Furio Zanasi, Concerto Italiano, dir Rinaldo
Alessandrini (Naive) The first opera to survive in the modern repertoire
had its premiere in Mantua 400 years ago. It’s hard to imagine a finer
anniversary present than Alessandrini’s superbly theatrical and brilliantly
sung version, with an all-Italian cast headed by the noble-sounding Zanasi.
2 BEETHOVEN Hammerklavier Sonata et al, Mitsuko Uchida (piano) (Philips)
Magisterial playing from the Japanese pianist in the pinnacle of Beethoven’s
achievement for the keyboard – a Hammerklavier to rank with the greatest.
3 HANDEL Semele, Cast, Early Opera Company, cond Christian Curnyn (Chandos)
With Rosemary Joshua’s enchantingly ditzy heroine, Richard Croft’s romantic
Jupiter and Hilary Summers as Ino/Juno, this is the most complete and
idiomatically sung account on disc of Handel’s closet English opera.
4 SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Concerto No 1; Piano Quintet; Concertino, Martha
Argerich, Lilya Zilberstein (pianos), Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana,
cond Alexander Vedernikov (EMI) Argerich’s Lugano festival invariably
ignites sparks. These live Shostakovich performances, her first on disc,
crackle with the Argentinian’s accustomed virtuosity and musical repartee.
5 HANDEL Italian Cantatas, Vol 2, Emanuela Galli, Roberta Invernizzi
(sopranos) La Risonanza, cond Fabio Bonizzoni (Glossa) Volume 1 of this
series, featuring Invernizzi, was an award-winning hit, but this collection
of Handel’s early cantatas, fabulously sung by Galli, is better still.
6 HAYDN Die Schöpfung, Soloists, Les Arts Florissants, cond William
Christie (Virgin) Haydn’s great Enlightenment oratorio comes up as fresh
as a restored canvas in the hands of Christie’s wonderful period orchestra
and choir. The crack team of youthful soloists is headed by Genia Kühmeier,
Toby Spence and Markus Werba.
7 ROSSINI La donna del lago, Cast, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, cond
Maurizio Benini (Opera Rara) This excellent account of Rossini’s Walter
Scott-based romantic opera introduced the brilliant Carmen Giannattasio as
the titular Lady of the Lake, with Patricia Bardon, Kenneth Tarver and
Gregory Kunde, all stylish Rossinians, as the men in her life.
8 SCHUMANN/BRAHMS Piano Quintets, Leif Ove Andsnes (piano), Artemis Quartet
(Virgin) Andsnes and the Artemis are regular collaborators at the
Norwegian pianist’s chamber-music festival in Risor, and their rapport in
these great quintets is total. Elite music-making at its awe-inspiring best.
9 BEETHOVEN Symphonies Nos 1-9, Scottish Chamber and Philharmonia
Orchestras, Charles Mackerras (Hyperion) This cycle – recorded live at
the 2006 Edinburgh Festival with the SCO, in Nos 1-8, and the Philharmonia,
in the Choral – is one to live with, as Mackerras lavishes the wisdom of a
lifetime on these imperishable scores.
10 GLENN GOULD Original Jacket Collection (Original Jacket) This 80-CD
set of one of the iconic figures of 20th-century pianism is a beautifully
produced and comprehensive restrospective, controversial in some of the
German classics, but always stimulating, and the original LP sleeves make
this a collector’s item.
Hugh Canning
CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS
1 TIPPETT Piano Music, Steven Osborne (Hyperion) This is Tippett’s
complete piano oeuvre, including the luminous Concerto and the early,
concerted Fantasia on a Theme of Handel. Tippett’s keyboard manner is
ferociously demanding, but Osborne consistently transforms difficulty and
oddity into radiance and vision.
2 STOCKHAUSEN Stimmung, Theatre of Voices, dir Paul Hillier (Harmonia Mundi)
Stockhausen’s most famous work and his superficially simplest: a single
chord intoned by a vocal sextet for 70 minutes, producing a fascinating,
ever-shifting texture of tones, overtones, hums and “magic names”.
3 CAGE AND OTHERS Fantaisie_Fantasme, David Greilsammer (Naive) In this
enjoyable piano montage, 16 items are arranged symmetrically round Mozart’s
Fantasy in C minor, among them Cage Sonatas for Prepared Piano, Janacek’s
Sonata “1.X.1905” and Jonathan Keren’s Fantasie and Fantastrophes. It’s as
though the alienation effect of piano “preparation” has been applied to a
whole disc.
4 PANUFNIK Four Works, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, cond John Storgards
(Ondine) Fresh and vivid performances giving a concise impression of
Panufnik’s oeuvre: the early Heroic Overture, the Sinfonia di Sfere,
the brief, plangent Landscape and the grand, visionary Sinfonia Sacra.
5 DAVID SAWER From Morning to Midnight Symphonic Suite, Birmingham
Contemporary Music Group, BBC Symphony Orchestra, cond Martyn Brabbins (NMC)
Along with the half-hour suite from his Coliseum opera, the disc includes
The Memory of Water, for strings, the orchestral, Bentham-inspired “the
greatest happiness principle”, and the surreally brilliant ensemble piece
Tiroirs.
Paul Driver
CLASSICAL REISSUES
1 BRAHMS Violin Sonata Op 78, Horn Trio, Busch (violin), Serkin (piano)
(Appian) Busch and Serkin, stylish, passionate Brahms interpreters, play
like a single mind and sensibility in this vivid account of the G major
sonata from a 1936 BBC recital (finer even than their 1931 studio
recording). The horn trio, with Aubrey Brain, uses unpublished takes from
the famous 1933 sessions.
2 PUCCINI La Bohème,RCA Victor Chorus & Orchestra (Naxos
Historical) Beecham’s understanding of the work, at once instinctive and
deeply studied, remains incomparable in this ageless 1956 recording, with
Jussi Björling a glorious Rodolfo and Victoria de los Angeles the touching
Mimi.
3 VERDI Aida, La Scala Chorus & Orchestra (Naxos Historical) One or
two wobbly top notes are as nothing beside Callas’s intensity, emotional
conviction and matchless phrasing in this 1955 studio Aida. Tucker, Gobbi
and Barbieri sing their hearts out, with Serafin and the Scala orchestra on
glowing form.
4 MOZART Piano Concertos, K482, K595, English Chamber Orchestra (BBC Live)
Sviatoslav Richter, Benjamin Britten and the ECO are ideal partners in these
exciting performances from 1960s Aldeburgh festivals. The great E flat
concerto, K482, is particularly satisfying.
5 MENDELSSOHN Piano Trios in D minor and C minor , David Oistrakh (Doremi)
The violinist David Oistrakh’s devotion to chamber music has tended to be
forgotten, such was his fame as one of the great concerto soloists. In this
1948 recording, he and colleagues Knushevitsky and Oborin give fiery,
wonderfully tender performances of the two Mendelssohn trios.
David Cairns
BESTSELLING CLASSICAL ALBUMS
1THE FRON MALE VOICE CHOIR Voices from the Valley (UCJ) 2KATHERINE
JENKINS Serenade (UCJ) 3LUCIANO PAVAROTTI The Ultimate Collection
(Decca) 4HAYLEY WESTENRA Treasure (Decca) 5VARIOUS Classic FM
At the Movies – The Sequel (Classic FM) 6KATHERINE JENKINS
Second Nature (UCJ) 7BLAKE Blake (UCJ) 8RUSSELL WATSON The
Voice – The Ultimate Collection (Decca) 9KATHERINE JENKINS
Premiere (UCJ) 10KATHERINE JENKINS Living a Dream (UCJ)
DUDS OF THE YEAR
1 IAN BROWN The World Is Yours (Polydor) Railing against politicians is
admirable; doing so with the lamest lyrics of 2007 is unacceptable.
2 HARD-FI Once Upon a Time in the West (Atlantic) Supposed to be their
breakthrough, but dull songs and zero subtlety proved a turn-off. The album
nose-dived out of the charts.
3 DEBORAH HARRY Necessary Evil (Universal) She’s adored and copied by a
new generation of singers. So what does Debbie do? Makes the worst album of
her career, of course.
4 KYLIE X (Parlophone) Making your coldest and most disengaged album
when your public is cheering your recovery and looking for some heartfelt
emotion: that’s weird, isn’t it?
5 PRINCE Planet Earth (NPG) Despite the Purple One’s successful
month-long London residency, this wasn’t Prince’s brilliant new album; it
was his latest bad one.
6 PATTI SMITH Twelve (Columbia) Great cover versions can enhance,
transform or even surpass the original. Smith’s dour, banjo-pocked take on
Smells Like Teen Spirit (and the rest) is not one of them.
7 JOSS STONE Introducing Joss Stone (Relentless) Actually, we’d met,
twice, and this dire third encounter, far from being the moment when Stone
finally came good on her promise, instead nailed her as the overhyped
cruise-ship singer she is.
8 SHIRLEY BASSEY Get the Party Started (Lock Stock & Barrel) The
Dame with the big voice is swamped by horribly flat-footed clubbers’
arrangements, in a venture that gives “camp” a very bad name.
9 WYNTON MARSALIS From the Plantation to the Penitentiary (Blue Note)
He may have some valid points to make about the commercialisation of pop
culture, but the trumpeter spends too long on the soapbox.
10 GREAT HANDEL Ian Bostridge, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, cond
Harry Bicket (EMI Classics) Bostridge makes a weak case for purloining
music intended for mezzo-soprano castrato. His voice lacks the gravitas for
heroic Handel.
