RENÉE GRAHAM
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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? |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |