JOAN ANDERMAN

Radiohead, "Hail to the Thief" (Capitol)
Let’s just say it: Radiohead is the best band in the world. Hovering somewhere between rock songs and the gaping maw, the band’s sixth album is a brilliant collision of mutant visions and gorgeous melodies – a brooding, soaring, paranoid, apocalyptic album you can make out to. Is there anything else?

OutKast, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (Arista)
"Hey Ya!" is the giddiest stick-to-your-ribs single of the year, and it doesn’t even hint at the sheer expanse of ideas on these 39 tracks. With a big middle finger to the rule book, Andre 3000 and Big Boi just say yes to jazz, funk, pop, soul, and hip-hop. This album is the sonic Kama Sutra, fair proof that everything is possible, truly eccentric, and a joy to behold.

Lucinda Williams, "World Without Tears" (Lost Highway)
God bless the bruised, brazen artists who aren’t scared of putting poetry, soul music, religion, and vomiting in the same song. Williams’s latest – her most fearless, artful, and hard-rocking album – is a 60-minute triumph of will over the fickle, fickle heart.

The White Stripes, "Elephant" (V2)
Recorded in 14 days on 40-year-old equipment, Jack and Meg White’s third disc takes the duo’s grimy, minimalist blues-punk and slathers it with color. Alternately scorched, sweet, and brain-rattling, the album is a rock ’n’ roll rarity: a study in extremes grounded by a powerful sense of balance. Plus it sounds good.

Pernice Brothers, "Yours, Mine, and Ours" (Ashmont Records)
On their third CD, South Shore natives the Pernice Brothers beefed up their stripped chamber anthems and twinkling indie-pop nuggets with sophisticated textures and produced a masterful modern pop album – shimmery, literate bummers front to back.

Damien Rice, "O" (Vector)
On his debut album, named after nothingness, Irish singer-songwriter Rice makes thrillingly unearnest folk. Variously stark and sumptuous, these 10 ballads are shambling, elegant, and more hopelessly beautiful than most everything else that came out this year.

Annie Lennox, "Bare" (J Records)
With the precision of a surgeon, Lennox brings 11 angles on her shattered life into bold relief, in the bargain straddling the divide between classicism and postmodernism, adult contemporary and the dance floor, lush theatricality and rock ‘n’ roll cool. A savvy, gorgeously wrought work.

Polyphonic Spree, "The Beginning Stages of ... the Polyphonic Spree" (Hollywood Records)
Remember that radically quaint idea of getting high on life? The Polyphonic Spree will take you there, with majorly majestic horns and strings, the shiniest melodies, Beach Boys-caliber harmonies, and unabashed good vibes. Check your cynicism at the pearly gates.

Elefant, "Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid" (Kemado)
A gleaming mash of slanted indie attitude and New Wave sheen, the 10 dance-pop tracks on Elefant’s lush, romantic debut make yearning seem so euphoric that the payoff seems besides the point. Required listening for fans of the Cure.

Josh Ritter, "Hello Starling" (Signature Sounds)
Ritter reminds us that it requires little more than a plaintive drawl and a clutch of good chords to build a perfect song. His are crafted with simple, burnished depth that transcends fashion and turns folk singers into heroes.