Manu Chao
Proxima Estacion: Esperanza (Virgin)
Here's a Latin superstar who'll never be confused with Ricky Martin. The former frontman for French rock band Mano Negra serves up an intoxicating assortment of spiced reggae, subversive salsa, quirky rock, and poignant folk - belted out in English, Spanish, and French. Set between selections are stream-of-consciousness sound bites from mock- and real-radio broadcasts, which give Proxima Estacion a Sgt. Pepper aura.
Cowboy Junkies
Open (Latent/Zoë/Rounder)
Nobody turns to the Cowboy Junkies for a pick-me-up. But on Open, their most accessible and engaging offering, the Timminses raise brooding to a high art. The delicious account of murder and evil on "I Did It All for You" would make even the Coen brothers salivate: "She took his dentures from his mouth and placed them in her own / Took a shovel from the shed and then dragged him from their home." The Junkies call this release a journey of life; the title comes from "I'm So Open," one of several songs that offer hope for that dismal period between childhood and death. Manic-depressive may be spoken here, but Open is menacingly beautiful.
Basement Jaxx
Rooty (Astralwerks)
Gotta hand it to Basement Jaxx: Instead of following up its 1999 megahit debut LP with an album designed to please the masses, the innovative British duo tapped back into its underground integrity. Rooty is kitchen-sink house music. The punchy pop ballad "Romeo" melds kiddie keyboard stabs with a cartoon-theme backdrop, while the shuffling, scat-infused "Do Your Thing" makes Southern gospel vocals friendly on the dance floor. The best-produced track, "Breakaway," proves that seemingly disparate rhythm structures can be alarmingly infectious. Clocking in at only 43 minutes, Rooty leaves you pining for more.
Scott Fields Ensemble
96 Gestures (CRI)
Composer-guitarist Scott Fields forgoes his usual small group work for a triumph of scale. On 96 Gestures, conductor Stephen Dembski and a dozen A-list free-jazz musicians - including Joseph Jarman (alto sax), Myra Melford (piano), François Houle (clarinet), and Rob Mazurek (cornet) - work from and elaborate upon Fields' modular compositions. Three radically different performances pirouette as effortlessly as a Calder mobile in a gentle breeze.
Evan Ziporyn
This Is Not a Clarinet (Cantaloupe)
Ziporyn catapults the clarinet into the 21st century and around the world. On the solo "Partial Truths," he alternates percussive bass tones and smooth notes in the upper register. Later, he achieves a buzzing timbre by singing and playing simultaneously. "Thum Nyatiti" invokes the undulating motion of Afropop guitar, and "Honshirabe" suggests the Japanese flute, shakuhachi, known for its Zen-like pace and bent tones.
Shantel
Greatdelay (!K7)
Stefan Hantel, aka Shantel, was a prime mover in the late-'90s down-tempo scene - Kruder & Dorfmeister played their first gigs at his Frankfurt nightclub, and 1997's Auto Jumps & Remixes was one of the genre's defining discs. But Shantel went missing after 1998's Higher Than the Funk - he took two years off and moved to Tel Aviv. He returns refreshed, with a worldlier, jazzier sound in which acoustic instrument samples are reworked into grooves that bust a move but never break a sweat. The CD's high point is "Crystal," a Shaft theme for the ultralounge, complete with wah-wah guitar and the refrain "Damn right."
Radiohead
Amnesiac (Capitol)
Recorded during the same sessions that spawned last year's Kid A, Amnesiac manages to sound familiar without being tired. Lopsided rhythms (mainly piano with guitar thrown in) and indecipherable blips collide while Thom Yorke's plaintive vocals swirl around the notes. As he pleads "Release me, release me" on "Amnesiac/ Morning Bell," it's obvious these Brit post-rockers aren't striking any poses. Having earned creative freedom by selling millions of records, Radiohead follows a musical urge to fruition. The result: 11 highly personal tracks crammed with palpable genius. There are now only 9 spots left in this year's top 10.
Davìd Garza
Overdub (Lava/Atlantic)
This Texan draws on the knee-slapping rock of his home state and the soul and rhythm of his Mexican roots. Listening to the moaning vocals on "Bloodsuckers" or the stomping, dirty guitar grind of "Crown of Thorns," you can't help but imagine yourself swigging beers at some dusty old Austin roadhouse while being serenaded Robert Plant-style. It's a little self-indulgent ... but it just feels so good.
STREET CRED
Springboard: Exploring the Digital Age
Nestler Synthese CAD
Fab Force SK1 Fins
Free Flight: From Airline Hell to a New Age of Travel, by James Fallows
Spaceman
Sharpeworld
ThinkPad TransNote
ReadMe
Music
Bizarro Comics
Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, edited by Randall Packer and Ken Jordan
Memory Key, Q., and Thumbdrive
Just Outta Beta
Cosmonaut Keep, by Ken MacLeod
Postal Auction of Damaged and Unclaimed Goods
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