While it can feel like Christmas every day, reviewing music can also be a Sisyphean task. As soon as one week of releases has been listened to and evaluated, a new week begins, bringing with it another half-dozen mail crates full of new music.
So the reviewer's perspective is different from that of the average CD shopper. The reviewer craves something fresh, something that grabs one's attention on the first listen. That's why young artists who offer novelty often become critics' favorites, be they Dizzee Rascal, Sigur Ros or the Fugees.
The true test of a CD's merit, however, comes when the blush of the new wears off. If the music still sounds just as good a year later, then it might even be deemed great.
In 10 years of writing this column, I've listened to thousands of CD's. In retrospect, however, perhaps the most important years for music of that decade were just before it, in the late 80's and early 90's. That was when Public Enemy, Nirvana, Dr. Dre, the Pixies, Pavement, Jane's Addiction, Guns N' Roses and the Aphex Twin all released seminal CD's that defined their genres, from gangsta rap to alternative rock to electronica.
Yet every now and then in the last 10 years one album has stood out and remained in steady rotation in my CD player or, nowadays, on my iPod. And there have been many of those. They may not be among the most important or the most popular releases of the last decade; they are simply personal favorites, listed below in no particular order, that have charmed their way to the top of my listening pile and are highly recommended as permanent additions to almost any CD collection or iPod playlist.
'CESARIA EVORA,' Cesaria Evora (Nonesuch, 1995): No matter what genre of music you prefer, it's hard to deny the beauty of this happy-sad CD of the music of Cape Verde. The rhythms are sensuous; the arrangements are impeccable; and Ms. Evora's voice rings plaintive and all-feeling above it all.
'CAR WHEELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD,' Lucinda Williams (Mercury, 1998): Whatever you call this CD â?? alt-country, folk-rock or bonafide Southern twang â?? it sits at the apex of the genre. The song that tugs the heart every time is "Drunken Angel," in which Ms. Williams shows her love for the songwriter Blaze Foley (who was shot in a fight) by getting angry at him for his senseless death.
'MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK,' Nirvana (DGC, 1994): I find myself listening to this atypical Nirvana CD more than their classic "Nevermind." Perhaps this is because rather than being musically immediate (like "Nevermind"), "Unplugged" is emotionally immediate, with Kurt Cobain turning cover songs like the Meat Puppets' "Lake of Fire" and Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" into blistering lamentations of his own.
'GRACE,' Jeff Buckley (Columbia, 1994): One of the most impressive debuts of the last decade, "Grace" showcased the depth, sensitivity and heaven-kissed voice of a timeless talent who never lived to see the release of his next CD. His version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is so heart-stopping that the wonderful original version is now second best.
'AQUEMINI,' OutKast (LaFace/Arista, 1998): Where the other genius rap and R&B producers of the last few years â?? Neptunes, Timbaland, R. Kelly â?? have produced perfect singles, OutKast has delivered full CD's that don't let up. OutKast may have cleaned up at the Grammys and on the pop charts this year with the wondrous sprawl of "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below," but "Aquemini' is this irrepressible Atlanta duo's inventive masterpiece.
'MOON SAFARI,' Air (Source/Caroline, 1998): Combining electronic dance, French chansons and lounge music with an ear for analog instruments and immaculate production, this French duo created the best easy-listening music CD with substance of the 90's.
'THE BENDS,' Radiohead (Capitol, 1995): Both this CD and its follow-up, "O.K. Computer," are among the most virtuosic, spellbinding rock releases of the last decade, blazing a path that other bands can watch from a distance. And though "O.K. Computer" is a better work of art, the more rock-driven "The Bends" has the better songs.
'TO BRING YOU MY LOVE,' P. J. Harvey (Island, 1995): Raw, slow and intense, this CD is as close to a blues dirge as any white British woman has ever come.
'HEARTBREAKER,' Ryan Adams (Bloodshot, 2000): It took an old soul to write a breakup album as classic-sounding as this, with depth, hurt and attitude in equal measure. Four years and hundreds of listens (not to mention Mr. Adams's subsequent celebrity girlfriends hoping to be the next to inspire a CD this beautiful) have not dimmed its poignancy in the least.
'DR. OCTAGON,' Dr. Octagon (Bulk/Mo' Wax, 1996): Between the in-his-own-world raps of Kool Keith and the virtuoso beats, samples and scratches of the Automator, this futuristic CD of melted brain candy may just be the pinnacle of alternative rap so far.
And my honorable mentions:
"As Heard on Radio Soulwax, Part 1," 2 Many D.J.'s (Waxed Soul, 2002)
"Unearthed," Johnny Cash (Lost Highway/American, 2003)
"The Marshall Mathers LP," Eminem (Web/Aftermath/Interscope, 2000)
"Woody Guthrie and Songs of My Oklahoma Home," James Talley (Cimarron, 1999)
"Reasonable Doubt," Jay-Z (Roc-A-Fella, 1996)
"There's Nothing Wrong With Love," Built to Spill (Up, 1994)
"Time Out of Mind," Bob Dylan (Columbia, 1997)
"Party Music," the Coup (75 Ark, 2001)
"White Blood Cells," White Stripes (Sympathy for the Record Industry, 2001)
"Dummy," Portishead (Go! Discs/London Records, 1994)
"The Sophtware Slump," Grandaddy (V2 Records, 2000)
"Danse Macabre," the Faint (Saddle Creek, 2001)
