RENÉE GRAHAM

OutKast, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (Arista)
Once again, Big Boi and Andre 3000 raised the bar with the most funkalicious, genre–rocking, free–your–mind hip–hop album ever.

Macy Gray, "The Trouble With Being Myself" (Sony)
Crazy like a fox, Gray’s at the top of her game with these clever odes to her favorite topics – love, murder, and suicide.

K-Os, "Exit" (Astralwerks)
"I feel sorry for MCs, who sold out so easily, but the truth shall set them free, have no fear, know no fear." ‘Nuff said.

Michael Franti & Spearhead "Everyone Deserves Music" (Boo Boo Wax)
Other rappers want to get crunk; Franti would rather craft little gems about conscience and compassion.

Annie Lennox, "Bare" (J Records)
After a lengthy absence, Lennox returned with this emotionally raw collection about a love gone wrong. Heartbreak never sounded so good.

Joss Stone, "The Soul Sessions" (S-Curve)
The most soulful album of the year came from a perky 16–year–old blonde from rural England. How great is that?

Nelly Furtado, "Folklore" (DreamWorks)
Because this CD features Bela Fleck on banjo, a duet with the great Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso, and because Furtado makes iconoclastic music as if she’s never heard of radio demographics or MTV.

Cesaria Evora, "Voz D’Amor" (RCA)
More traditional than her last two CDs, but the music of Cape Verde’s Barefoot Diva remains intimate and deeply moving.

Los Lonely Boys, "Los Lonely Boys" (Or Music)
Truth be told, this rockin’ Tex-Mex band is at its best on stage – anyone who witnessed its show at the House of Blues in August knows what I’m talking about. But this debut will give you a big ol’ Texas-sized taste of what the Boys are all about.

The Mars Volta, "De-Loused in the Comatorium" (Universal)
From the ashes of At the Drive-In, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler Zavala, inspired by the suicide of a longtime friend, created this remarkable concept album of blistering prog rock and avant-garde jazz.