HONORABLE MENTIONS

Lucinda Williams
"Little Honey" (Lost Highway)
Her band jams for real as her songs bewail the artist's plight or just stay out of the way ("Honey Bee," "Real Love").

Bob Dylan
"Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006" (Columbia/Legacy)
Out of 29 tracks, not counting the dozen in a deluxe edition that'll run you another hundred smackers, I count two or three stunners, eight or nine keepers, many outtakes, and a few live versions and movie songs ("High Water [For Charley Patton]," "Series of Dreams").

Ice Cube
"Raw Footage" (Lench Mob)
Some of the smartest raps of his career -- "Most rappers are parrots/They say what they told to say to get a neck full of carats" -- and some of the easiest beats ("Hood Mentality," "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It").

DJ Drama & Lil Wayne
"Dedication 3" (Gangsta Grillz)
He loves the studio, which earns it, and his young-money peeps, who don't ("Still Rise," "Magic").

Ry Cooder
"I, Flathead" (Limited Deluxe Edition) (Nonesuch)
Soundtrack to the nifty book of linked short stories this version includes, which is more entertaining than the songs because the characters aren't all musicians ("Pink-O Boogie," "Ridin' With the Blues").

Various artists
"The Rough Guide to Calypso Gold" (World Music Network)
Trinidad as Novelty Island, including many songs preferable in their Top 40 versions (Lord Kitchener, "Ah Bernice"; Houdini, "Uncle Jo' Gimme Mo'").

The Clash
"Live at Shea Stadium: October 13, 1982" (Epic/Legacy)
Arena-rock focused them punker than hit-making did ("Rock the Casbah," "Clampdown").

Nguyên Lê Duos
"Homescape" (ART)
Vietnamese guitarist-programmer co-constructs atmospheres, from electric Miles to Chinoiserie ("Mali Iwa," "Stranieri").

Judi Chicago
"X 1,000,000" (Judi Chicago)
Gay aggro-house comedy for singles by electoral fiat ("Jack Your Box," "An-Anatomy").

Grampall Jookabox
"Ropechain" (Asthmatic Kitty)
The Indianapolis version of Barcelona's El Guincho is longer on madness and shorter on joy -- must be the water ("Let's Go Mad Together," "You Will Love My Boom").

Young Jeezy
"The Recession" (Def Jam)
President No Drama or President O'Drama, the crack trade will survive ("What They Want," "My President").

Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid
"NYC" (Domino)
With New York drummer Reid in the driver's seat, "folktronica" turns frantic, dark, urban ("Lyman Place," "1st & 1st").

Nik Bartsch's Ronin
"Holon" (ECM)
If you can't imagine a jazz pianist whose biggest inspiration is Philip Glass, he does it for you ("Modul 45," "Modul 44").

Various artists
"A Jazz & Blues Christmas" (Putumayo World Music)
If swing them bells you must, wrap them in this (Ray Charles, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"; B.B. King, "Christmas Celebration").

Gang Gang Dance
"Saint Dymphna" (The Social Registry)
Soundscape dance-rock more artful than arty ("Vacuum," "First Communion").

Vivian Girls
"Vivian Girls" (In the Red)
Adoring Bikini Kill adoring the Go-Go's adoring the Ramones adoring Phil Spector ("Tell the World," "Never See Me Again").

Hercules and Love Affair
"Hercules and Love Affair" (DFA)
Beatier than Culture Club, but less winning, the usual price of transforming pop into art ("Raise Me Up," "Blind").

The Pretenders
"Break Up the Concrete" (Shangri-La)
For some people, love never gets easier ("Boots of Chinese Plastic," "You Didn't Have To").

Craig G & Marley Marl
"Operation Take Back Hip-Hop" (Traffic Entertainment/Good Hands)
Undie old-schoolism as narrative, not just rhetoric ("The Day Music Died," "Don't Make Me Laugh").

Q-Tip
"The Renaissance" (Universal Motown)
If jazz lite it must be, by all means, rap on top ("Shaka," "Official").

Homeboy Sandman
"Nourishment (Second Helpings)" (Boy Sand Industries)
Penn grad and law-school dropout Angel Del Villar solidifies his career plans ("Kain News," "Us and Them").

Hector Zazou
"In the House of Mirrors" (Crammed Discs)
Middle East meets Far East for trance sans dance ("Hool Ki Seva," "Twice as Good as We Are").

The (International) Noise Conspiracy
"The Cross of My Calling" (Vagrant)
Emo egoism meets anarcho-punk rhetoric -- wild ("The Assassination of Myself," "Washington Bullets").

Bun B
"II Trill" (Rap-a-lot)
Pimp C ... he dead ("Damn I'm Cold," "If It Was Up II Me").

Immortal Technique
"The 3rd World" (Viper)
Gangsta rage run through hard-left analysis -- lethal ("The 3rd World," "Mistakes").

Deerhunter
"Microcastle" (Kranky)
In their bad dream, life never stops, so they take the easy way out and fix it up a little ("Never Stops," "Nothing Ever Happened").

CHOICE CUTS

Ice Cube
"Ghetto Vet"
"Higher"
"Natural Born Killaz"
("In the Movies" [Priority])

Elvis Presley
"Blue Christmas"
"Merry Christmas Baby"
("Elvis Presley Christmas Duets" [RCA])