Annie, 'Don't Stop' (Smalltown Supersound)
Once dubbed "the anti-Kylie," Norway's Annie ignited the blogosphere back in 2004, releasing a slew of flawless electro-pop singles. With the snappy, lip-smacking "Chewing Gum," the sublimely cresting "Heartbeat," and the rest of her debut album Anniemal, she was the amiably cool blonde chanteuse that you could safely swoon over.
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Slayer, 'World Painted Blood' (American/Columbia)
Their horrific onslaught has been passed on the extreme left by myriad black-death grind upstarts, and these thrash originators mostly spin their mosh-pitstuck wheels on this tenth studio album -- anticipating Armageddon, reveling in torture, protesting oil war.
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Rakim, 'The Seventh Seal' (Ra Records/SMC Recordings)
It's appropriate for the man most consider the best rapper ever to open his first album in a decade with "How to Emcee." And it's no surprise that Rakim Allah proceeds to hold a clinic on lyricism throughout The Seventh Seal.
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The Rakes, 'Klang' (V2)
There's not a ton of polish to these Brits' angled post-punk, which may explain why some of their 2005 peers -- Bloc Party, Maxïmo Park -- won the ratings war. But the group's final album (they broke up in October) still punches like a champ, with sharp bursts of intelligent energy.
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Nirvana, 'Live at Reading' (Universal)
Nirvana's headlining gig at the 1992 Reading Festival looms infamously large because of (a) that amazingly creepy photo of Kurt getting wheeled onto the stage looking like Norman Bates' mother, and (b) the show was a mind-blower -- sloppy indie rock as stadium-filling psychedelic punk.




