The Year in Music

Before we get started, a caveat: no one here at NEWSWEEK has heard all of the music released over the past 365 days, so any best-of list is going to be, by necessity, incompletely informed. Even for those of us whose job it is to stay on top of the latest releases, it invariably proves overwhelming. And then there's the fact that music is painfully subjective--you'd have better luck compiling a less-divisive best-ice-cream-flavors list. So are these the best sounds of the year? Certainly you won't find too many chart-toppers here. But then you don't need us to tell you that Rihanna's "Umbrella" was a pretty good pop song. Hopefully you'll find something here that you missed, and be glad you did. To our ears, this list represents what sounded sweetest in 2007.

1, 2, 3, 4: Feist. The video (and iPod commercial) of 2007, and one of its better songs, too. Leslie Feist, a member of the loose-knit Canadian music mafia that includes Broken Social Scene and the New Pornographers, prances about with a rainbow of friends in what may or may not be an empty American Apparel warehouse. As her lovely tune--banjo, choir, strings, finger snaps--progresses, everybody prances and skips in an intricate, goofy-yet-endearing hipster Busby Berkeley number with Feist as its beating heart. All in one take. —BB

100 Days, 100 Nights: Sharon Jones. Imagine your favorite sounds from 40 years ago; maybe they were recorded at Stax or Motown, maybe by a group of Muscle Shoals session musicians. For whatever reason, a batch of their hip-huggingest music fell into some time capsule and wasn't unearthed until today. It's all here: boom-bap drums, chicka-chick guitars, simmering organ and gutbucket vocals ("The lies that you've been spinnin' up are running out of thread," Jones sings to a wayward lover. "And your crafty little pencil is running out of lead"). This is no "neo-soul"; this is the real deal. —BB
 
5th Gear: Brad Paisley. Everyone went crazy for "Ticks," Paisley's smash single in which the protagonist attempts to pick up a young lass with an offer to check her for pests. Cute enough. But for our money, it's Paisley's direct link to the Nashville of old that wins our hearts. There's ample nostalgia here--for Merle and Willie, sure, but also for Paisley's own childhood. "Throttleneck" and "Mr. Policeman" showcase his prodigious guitar chops. When he attempts a stab at seeming more, well, contemporary, the result is "Online," a bore of a song that relies on tired stereotypes about MySpace nerds (already a dated reference in the age of Facebook). "Some Mistakes" shows he does have a mature, more modern side as well—and it's enough to convince us to forgive him his his, well, mistakes. —BB
 
The Anthem: Pitbull.Reggaeton star and Cuban-American rapper Pitbull comes up with one of the best dance tracks of the year with "The Anthem." Here he blends the horn riff off a cheesy Italian techno track, frenetic salsa beats, booming hip-hop bass and Spanglish raps (that include shout-outs by the ubiquitous Lil' Jon) and comes up with one of the oddest yet catchiest club tracks around. The single, off his new CD, "The Boatlift," is the best reggaeton crossover we've heard yet.  —LA

Aunt Jackie: Jason Fox. A kid from Harlem uploads a homemade video featuring an infectious old-school rhyme and launches a local dance craze along the lines of the "Chicken Noodle Soup." A record deal with Jermaine Dupri ensues, as does an official video (and the inevitable parodies). A novelty act? Probably. We may never hear from Fox again, but we were glad to do the Aunt Jackie with him for the summer anyway. —BB

Better Get to Livin': Dolly Parton Where did this video come from? Cavorting around carnival grounds in a corset and tiny top hat, Dolly shows no mercy for those deflated, joyless legions who have lost their vim, vigor and sparkle: "Your life is a mess, your house's a wreck and your wardrobe's way outdated," she sings, while Amy Sedaris shows up in turns as the barker, fortune teller and some squeaky-voiced green allegory--for what, exactly, we aren't sure. It might not make sense, but anyone in this freakshow called life who could use a down-home spiritual adviser, step right up, step right up! --JC

The Complete 'On the Corner' Sessions: Miles Davis. From 1972 until 1975, Miles Davis was in the studio with a revolving cast of musicians who abetted his diversion from the path of straight-ahead jazz that began with "In a Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew." The results, largely confined until now to the albums "On the Corner," "Big Fun" and "Get Up With It," resembled like what James Brown and Sly Stone might've sounded like if they'd had tabla and sitar players flavoring their mixes. In Miles's case, the results were brilliant improvisational funk that only sounds better with time. And of course, in the midst of everything, there is "He Loved Him Madly," Miles's gorgeous funeral march for the late Duke Ellington, one of those works that truly is, to use the Duke's characterization of anything top-drawer, beyond category. Seminal stuff.  --MJ
 
Cornell 1964: Charles Mingus Sextet With Eric Dolphy. Before there was Town Hall, there was Cornell. In March 1964, Charles Mingus took his awesome sextet to upstate New York and played a gig that, before this recording surfaced, had been all but completely forgotten. The Town Hall concert took place 17 days later, shortly before the band toured Europe, and then, sadly, saxophonist Eric Dolphy died after slipping into a diabetic coma at just 36. Blue Note's raucous two-disc release is a revelation that will surely replace the Town Hall recording as the definitive document this band left behind. "Fables of Faubus" alone runs an epic mood-morphing 30 minutes and stands among the bassist bandleader's best recorded solos. Mingus had only previously recorded "Take the 'A' Train" with big bands, yet here it is with a sextet, rollicking joyfully all the way to Sugar Hill. A must-own for any jazz lover.  —BB
 
Dirt Farmer: Levon Helm. After beating back throat cancer, this album from The Band's drummer is something of a miracle. The song selection, a mix of traditional folk tunes and originals that sound as if they were penned 100 years ago, is superb. And Helm's voice, more weathered than it was when he sang about driving Old Dixie down, is the surprising star here. It's beaten up enough to imbue rusty Americana like "Poor Old Dirt Farmer" and the achingly gorgeous "Little Birds" with fresh authenticity. Still a crack drummer (and, it turns out, mandolinist), Helm leads a pitch-perfect acoustic band and is joined on vocals throughout by his daughter Amy. A warm, gratifying return to deep roots music. —BB