Music: Top 40 Albums of 2007 29-25

25) Ween – La Cucaracha
Ween are method musicians... doing blissed out techno pop for "friends", haunting balladry for the truly screwed up "Object", sneery post punk for "Shamemaker". Like DeNiro in his prime, they believe it, so we believe it. Oh yeah and David Sanborn guests. That's commitment.
Here’s the video for “Friends”:


26) Robert Plant and Alison Krauss – Raisin’ Sand
Mummified Led Zep wailer Plant and beloved bluegrass warbler Krauss seem like an odd couple setup. But when those voices start a-twining and a-pining on these great songs the proverbial magic happens.

Here’s the video for “Gone Gone Gone”:


27) Nellie McKay – Obligatory Villagers
McKay has always been on the right side of the Crazy/Hot graph for me. She surprises here with a relatively compact set of songs but the arrangements and delivery shout out "Broadway!"
Here’s the delectable Nellie McKay doing “Zombie” :


28) The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes are The Dark Horse
Where Arcade Fire uses it's broad expanse of sound and musicians to create a communal vibe, Besnard Lakes is insular and brooding. Gripping and engrossing.

Here’s the video for “For Agent 13”:


29) Mark Ronson – Version
Ronson is the uberproducer responsible for last years great album by human trainwreck Amy Winehouse. Here he imagines britpop gold (and Britney Spear's "Toxic") as products of the Motown era.
Here’s a 40 sec. pop of Mark Ronson and Lily Allen’s cover of Kaiser Chief’s “Oh My God” (Columbia records, like a number of major labels, are too stupid to realize that videos are PROMO and not PRODUCT – so no full version to embed. Dumb wankers.)

Music: New Release Tuesday

Nellie McKay contemplates her own pinkness

This week's new releases are headed up by the Foo Fighters, who bring back The Colour and The Shape producer Gil Norton for the poorly named Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace .

Sam Beam's band Iron and Wine open up their sound with The Shepherd's Dog which features previous collaborators Calexico and a broader palette than his earlier folky releases.

Chaka Khan comes back after 11 years with Jagged Edge and hip-hop/soul chanteuse Jill Scott busts out with Real Thing: Words And Sounds Vol. 3.

Quirky cutie Nellie McKay releases her latest Obligatory Villagers.

Way alt-country troubadour Steve Earle issues Washington Square Serenade.

Joni Mitchell breaks the silence by releasing a new album on the Starbucks Hear Music label at the same time as jazzman Herbie Hancock puts out a guest-studded Joni covers disc.

Weird beard Devendra Banhart sends Smoky Rolls Down Thunder Canyon into the world like so much incense smoke.

Stars In The Bedroom After the War finally sees release in stores after being available online for some time.