Jazz Masterpieces : The Golden Era

Masterpieces: 1956-1965
From All about Jazz

There are times when you have to hold back and let certain music speak for itself. This list of jazz masterpieces is exactly that kind of music. By definition, these records are without flaw. (Okay, so humans are inherently flawed, but you'll have to get out a microscope to find anything that falls short here.)

If you're just stepping into the jazz world, be assured that these recording signposts mark high points, turning points, and moments of sheer genius. In other words, required listening.

	Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Moanin' (1958) Jazz's most explosive drummer debuted his third version of the Jazz Messengers with this instant hard-bop classic. It's way too funky in here, thanks to compositions and performances by Benny Golson, Lee Morgan, and Bobby Timmons (who contributed the famous title track).
	Dave Brubeck: Time Out (1959) What was conceived by pianist Brubeck as an adventure into unusual time signatures ended up one of the most successful records in jazz history, due in large part to its beautiful melodies and the mesmerizing alto work of Paul Desmond.
	Ornette Coleman: The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) After four decades, this disc remains true to its title. Saxophonist Ornette Coleman solidified his group in 1959 to the working quartet recorded here. They broke convention and provided a major stepping stone on the road to free jazz.
	John Coltrane: Love Supreme (1964) One of Coltrane's most spiritually moving recordings, this disc has been popular among devotees and neophytes alike. It's a heart-felt celebration of divine love, with equal measures of devotion and exploration.
	Miles Davis: Kind of Blue (1959) The best-selling jazz recording of the era (and a perfect introduction for the jazz newbie), Kind of Blue helped introduce a new sound for jazz. Working from relatively simple structures, the musicians here lay out wonderfully lyrical extended improvisations.
	Eric Dolphy: Out to Lunch (1964) Eric Dolphy was always a big fan of bird calls, and much of his playing here reflects that natural sonority. This disc transports a relatively straightahead group into adventurous, inventive territory—with dramatically successful results.
	Bill Evans: Waltz for Debby & Live at the Village Vanguard (1961) The laid-back character of Bill Evans's piano playing here masks a serenely beautiful touch and wonderfully innovative ideas. His inhumanly intuitive interactions with bassist Scott LaFaro remain legendary. This is the best piano trio music ever recorded (and it's all live).
	Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage (1965) Pianist Herbie Hancock's best record adopts a nautical angle, with gentle waves of sound surrounding strong, forward-sailing melodies. Maiden Voyage relies upon subtlety, but it features wonderful group interaction and showcases some of Hancock's finest playing.
	Thelonious Monk: Brilliant Corners (1956) Quirky yet rigorously logical, Brilliant Corners is a triumph of composition and performance, a set heavy on Monk originals with Rollins, Roach and Pettiford along for the swing. Even its title describes Monk's angular genius.
	Oliver Nelson: Blues & The Abstract Truth (1961) Some of Nelson's best work - as a composer, arranger, AND saxophonist - features his large ensemble soulfully tight-roping arrangement and improvisation. A genuine masterpiece that has inspired musicians and arrangers for decades.
	Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus (1956) Not just one of Rollins' great moments - one of the great “monster” jazz sessions of all time, and, in “St. Thomas,” one the first crossroads between Jazz and the Caribbean.
	Horace Silver: Song for My Father (1963) One of the first hard bop albums and also one of the greatest, and not just from that title track (honored in “Rikki Don't Lose That Number”) but also his classic “Lonely Woman.”
	Jimmy Smith: The Sermon (1958) A foreshadowing of Smith's awesome Chicken Shack and Midnight Special , and defining moment of organ jazz. Smith, Lee Morgan and Curtis Fuller testify on the side-long title track.

New Buzz # Raul Midon

Every few years an artist hits the Soul Music world with advance buzz strong enough to land him a major recording contract and out-of-the-box media interest. One of these stories for 2005 is Raul Midon.

Born in Embudo, New Mexico to an Argentinean professional dancer father and a New York-born mother (who died when Raul was very young), Midon was exposed to music his entire childhood. Despite being born blind, Midon took on multiple instruments early -- first drums, then guitar -- and his fascination with Argentinean percussion and American jazz and blues led to an interesting amalgamation of styles that later crept into his own music as an adult.

Midon attended college in Miami and then began a career as a studio musician and vocalist in the Latin music scene. After self-releasing the album Blind To Reality in 2001, Midon moved to New York and began playing the club circuit. He soon gained a significant following among fans of multiple genres attracted to his powerful live performances that mixed elements of Latin music, R&B and folk, all fronted by his strong, soulful voice. A fantastic video of an August 2003 concert at the Kennedy Center (available for viewing at the Kennedy Center Website) brought music media attention and Midon gained the reputation as the next great unsigned artist. After releasing a live EP in 2004 he was signed by Manhattan Records and spent the next year working on his first major label studio album, State of Mind.

While highly anticipated, State of Mind presents a minor dilemma for an artist who has gained a sterling reputation as a live performer and who has been singing many of the disc’s cuts in concert for several months. Fortunately, working with legendary producer Arif Mardin, Midon has created a studio album that has the feel of a small club acoustic performance. India.Arie popularized the term “acoustic soul,” but her work sounds like Moby compared to Midon’s sparse arrangements. State of Mind is all about Midon’s voice and guitar, with everything else taking a back seat. This works well in highlighting not only Midon’s soulful voice, but also his delightful lyrics, which are at times innocent (“Keep On Hoping,” “Mystery Girl”), at times idealistic (“Everybody,” “Never Get Enough”), and just about always worthwhile.

Musically, State of Mind has the raw but mellow immediacy of Bill Withers’ early recordings, with a combination of soul and latin influences that keep the disc interesting despite its abundance of slow songs. And Midon’s strong performance is buttressed by a sterling set of compositions, including his playful duet with Jason Mraz, “Keep On Hoping,” the soulful ballads “Mystery Girl” and “Suddenly” (which feature Midon’s warm falsetto), and the nice midtempo “If You’re Gonna Leave.” Perhaps best of all is “Expressions of Love,” a cut that sounds like a classic Stevie Wonder slow song, with Wonder even accompanying on harmonica.

It is unlikely that hip-hop-crazy popular radio will embrace an album like State of Mind, but over the past two years artists from Norah Jones to Gordon Chambers have shown that there is a sizable adult audience willing to bypass radio to satisfy their craving for intelligent, melodic music that is less temporal and more timeless. And State of Mind is an album that could have been made twenty years ago or twenty years from now and still be both relevant and memorable. Hopefully it is also the tipping point for the career of this talented young artist.

U2 Dismantle the Grammys

Rockers upstage Mariah and Kanye at forty-eighth annual awards show

U2 upstaged major nominees Mariah Carey and Kanye West at the forty-eighth annual Grammy Awards, winning five awards, including Song and Album of the Year.

"If you think this is gonna go to our head -- too late," joked the band's singer Bono after accepting the award for Song of the Year for "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own." Both the song and the album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, Bono said, were dedicated to his late father, whom he thanked "for giving me the voice and a bit of attitude to use it." The band also won awards for Best Rock Song, Best Rock Album and Rock Performance by a Duo or Group, and colleague Steve Lillywhite was honored as Producer of the Year.

Carey, the comeback diva nominated for eight awards, took home three, for Best R&B Song, Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The ambitious rapper West, who also had eight nominations, also won three, for Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance.

Soulful newcomer John Legend took home three awards of his own, including Best New Artist and Best R&B Album. Accepting his award for Best Male R&B Performance for "Ordinary People," he explained that the song came out of a writing session with the Black Eyed Peas: "I kept it, and I'm glad I kept it."

Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" beat out both Carey's "We Belong Together" and West's "Gold Digger" for Record for the Year. "Pop radio playing rock music is a very big deal to me," said bandleader Billie Joe Armstrong.

Other winners included Alison Krauss and Union Station, who won three awards, including Best Country Album for Lonely Runs Both Ways. Kelly Clarkson, Damian Marley and Stevie Wonder were among the acts taking home two awards apiece.

Paying tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the late Coretta Scott King, one of the evening's first presenters Wonder said he hoped the evening's music would "lift us all to higher ground." Some of the performances did manage some lift, including Mary J. Blige's rousing collaboration with U2 on "One" and Christina Aguilera's acrobatic take on "Song for You," accompanied by Herbie Hancock. Carey sang with a huge gospel choir; West faced off against Jaime Foxx in an inventive marching-band-style segment.

Sixty-three-year-old Paul McCartney raised the roof with a raw version of the Beatles' metallic "Helter Skelter," noting that his two-song appearance was his first at the Grammys: "I finally passed the audition," he joked, echoing an old line by his late bandmate John Lennon.

Other performances were less than electric. Madonna, whose much-hyped show-opening slot was rumored to have irritated Carey, briefly shared the stage with the animated characters of Gorillaz. An all-star medley of songs in tribute to Sly and the Family Stone never got off the ground, despite an appearance by the long-reclusive, bleach-mohawked Sly Stone. Presenter Dave Chappelle, speaking from personal experience, made an apt introduction: "The only thing harder than leaving show business," he said, "is coming back."

And McCartney made an awkward encore appearance, joining Jay-Z and Linkin Park to sing the hook from "Yesterday." "Sounds so beautiful, don't you agree?" hollered Jay-Z.

The only political note was struck by Bruce Springsteen, who concluded his solo performance of "Devils & Dust" with three words about the military troops in Iraq: "Bring 'em home."

Country maverick Merle Haggard, rock changeling David Bowie, blues pioneer Robert Johnson, the psychedelic-era band Cream and the late comedian Richard Pryor were all honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Leave the last word, as ever, to Bono, who earlier in the evening compared being in a rock band with running away to join the circus: You think you'll be the ringleader, he said, but sometimes you end up serving as the clown, the freak, "even cleaning up the elephant dirt." But on this night, the veteran rock band swept up a lot more than that.

A selected list of winners:

Record of the Year: "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," Green Day (Rob Cavallo and Green Day, producers; Chris Lord-Alge and Doug McKean, engineers-mixers)

Album of the Year: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2

Song of the Year: "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own," U2 (songwriters)

Best New Artist: John Legend

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: "Since U Been Gone," Kelly Clarkson

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance: "From the Bottom of My Heart," Stevie Wonder

Best Pop Vocal Album: Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance: "Devils & Dust," Bruce Springsteen

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own," U2

Best Hard Rock Performance: "B.Y.O.B.," System of a Down

Best Rock Song: "City of Blinding Lights," U2 (songwriters)

Best Rock Album: How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, U2

Best Alternative Music Album: Get Behind Me Satan, White Stripes

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "We Belong Together," Mariah Carey

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: "Ordinary People," John Legend

Best R&B Song: "We Belong Together" (J. Austin, M. Carey, J. Dupri and M. Seal, songwriters) (Mariah Carey)

Best R&B Album: Get Lifted, John Legend

Best Contemporary R&B Album: The Emancipation of Mimi, Mariah Carey

Best Rap Solo Performance: "Gold Digger," Kanye West

Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Don't Phunk With My Heart," Black Eyed Peas

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Numb/Encore," Jay-Z featuring Linkin Park

Best Rap Song: "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" (D. Harris and K. West, songwriters) (Kanye West)

Best Rap Album: Late Registration, Kanye West

RS Site

Teens Save Classic Rock

Teens Save Classic Rock
A new generation of fans turn to Hendrix, Floyd and Zeppelin

Like countless parents before him, Steven Tyler is shocked at the music that's been blaring out of his fifteen-year-old son's bedroom lately. But the Aerosmith frontman can hardly disapprove. "I walk by at night and my son is listening to Zeppelin stuff, like 'Black Dog,'" Tyler says. "He's turned all his friends on to Cream, and they're all into [Aerosmith's] Toys in the Attic. I told him, 'I can't believe you're listening to this.'"

Though classic rock is in no danger of edging out emo and hip-hop on most teenagers' playlists, a growing number of kids are also making room for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles. At the same time, electric-guitar sales are soaring, with the cheapest models nearly doubling in sales from 2003 to 2004. "Kids go through hard rock, hip-hop and pop very quickly, and then they're hungry for something else," says E Street Band guitarist and garage-rock DJ Steven Van Zandt -- who gets hundreds of e-mails from teens thanking him for introducing them to bands like the Kinks. "They always end up coming to [classic] rock & roll."

Nine percent of kids ages twelve to seventeen listened to classic-rock radio in any given week in 2005 -- marking a small but significant increase during the past three years -- with a total of 2.3 million teens tuning in each week, according to the radio-ratings company Arbitron. And some markets have seen more dramatic growth: Teen listenership at New York's Q104.3, the nation's largest classic-rock station, has jumped twenty percent since fall 2002. "It really started in the past five years," says Q104.3 DJ Maria Milito. "You get these boys calling to request Hendrix whose voices haven't changed yet." Van Zandt's Underground Garage, heard on 140 radio stations across the country on Sunday nights, draws a third of its audience from listeners under twenty-five.

For teens, not all classic rock is created equal. According to the market-research firm NPD, kids ages thirteen to seventeen bought twenty percent of all Floyd and Zeppelin albums sold from 2002 to 2005, and seventeen percent of Hendrix and Queen discs but accounted for just three percent of Creedence Clearwater Revival sales, six percent of Rolling Stones sales and a paltry one percent of Cat Stevens sales. "There's such a force and power to a band like Zeppelin," says Rhino Records marketing vice president Mike Engstrom, adding that young buyers drove sales for the label's 2003 DVD collection of live Zep.

Young fans' enthusiasm helps evergreen discs such as Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and AC/DC's Back in Black sell thousands of copies a week. "Week after week, a whole new group of people are discovering these albums," says Jeff Jones, executive vice president of Sony BMG's reissue label Legacy Recordings.

Veteran artists are also seeing a surprising number of young faces at their concerts; at one Tom Petty show at New York's Jones Beach last June, kids as young as fourteen showed up in packs and sang along fervently. "I don't know how to explain it," Petty says.

"We're now seeing an audience that goes from sixteen to sixty," says Allman Brothers manager Bert Holman. "Kids feel they're seeing something legendary and special." Classic-rock mainstay George Thorogood, meanwhile, has had to change his set lists to accommodate the growing number of kids at his shows. "I've had to clean it up a little bit," he says. "It's like, 'Cocaine Blues'? Maybe not."

Why would kids born in the Nineties turn to timeworn guitar anthems? For all of the vibrant rock recorded in the past ten years -- from pop punk to neogarage to dance rock -- no new, dominant sound has emerged since grunge in the early Nineties. "I can't think of a record recently that blew people's minds," says Jeff Peretz, a Manhattan producer and guitar teacher. "And there aren't really any guitar heroes around anymore. Kids don't come in and say, 'I want to play like John Mayer.'"

"There is such a drought that kids are going back and rediscovering the Who and Sabbath," says Paul Green, who runs the Paul Green School of Rock Music, which has expanded from a single Philadelphia branch in 1998 to schools in twelve other cities.

At the same time, the Internet has made forty-year-old hits as accessible as current chart-toppers. "I started to see this as a real trend when Napster started around 1999," says Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, who has two teenage sons. Last year, teens even started believin' again in Journey's power ballads: They pushed the band's 1981 song "Don't Stop Believin' " into iTunes' Top Ten after it popped up during a romantic moment on MTV's wildly popular reality show, Laguna Beach. It has since sold more than 200,000 digital singles. "It makes me so happy that a new generation would embrace something we believed in," says former Journey singer Steve Perry. "Back when we were first successful, we were dissed -- but time has told a different story."

Old rock has become fashionable, too. The years-old couture and thrift-shop vogue for vintage rock T-shirts recently trickled down to mall retailers catering to teens, with Doors and Rolling Stones shirts selling fast at stores such as Hot Topic.

"It's almost a cyclical thing -- as music ages, it can become cool again," says Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis, who covers the Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care" on her new solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat. But Lewis also sees a simpler reason for the trend: "It's called classic rock for a reason -- it's classic. It's just really great music."

BRIAN HIATT

Posted Feb 09, 2006 10:43 AM

Indie Rock # Iron & Wine / Calexico

Iron & Wine/Calexico : In the Reins EP
[Overcoat; 2005]

Why didn't somebody think of this sooner? It's not a fair question, but it's an easy one to ask once you've heard the seven-track In the Reins, the first in what, if we're all very lucky, will be a series of collaborations between Iron & Wine and Calexico.

Iron & Wine's Beam and Calexico's Joey Burns sound heavenly harmonizing with each other, especially when guest vocalist Natalie Wyants joins them. Neither is an exceptional vocalist on his own, both occasionally lapsing to a whisper, but those hushed, gently melodic cords singing in unison make magic. Beam is the principle songwriter and vocalist on the album, and he's written some A material for the record, admirably putting his all into it instead of offering up some throwaway stuff and hoping Calexico can do something with it.

What ultimately ends up happening is Calexico's sense of cinematic grandeur and eclecticism imbues Beam's melodies and lyrics with an expansiveness that his humid Floridian folk doesn't usually have. Shades of jazz and country creep in, and they even tackle straightahead California pop on "History of Lovers". The only ingredients from Calexico's usual recipe that are absent are dub and mariachi, but they employ their arsenal so sympathetically to Beam's vision that an unschooled listener might never guess that this wasn't a proper, working band.

Calexico are no strangers to backing other singers-- Burns and drummer John Convertino began playing together as Howe Gelb's rhythm section in Giant Sand, and they've contributed to dozens of LPs by other artists over the years. The core duo of Calexico brings along most of the collective of Southwestern musicians that enlivens their own albums-- Paul Niehaus's lap steel, in particular, helps to shape the sound of the album. "Prison on Route 41" and "16, Maybe Less" both traffic in hushed country 'n' western tones, but are arranged in such a way that vocals give way to instrumental passages so smoothly that the solos don't feel at all like showcases.

There isn't a disappointing song on the EP (mini-album might actually be a better word for it), but it's worth noting a couple of stand-outs. Opener "He Lays in the Reins" is a subtle waltz stuffed with flourishes of acoustic guitar and brushed drums that almost two minutes in introduces the operatic Spanish vocals of Salvador Duran, a complete leftfield move that proves as inspired on subsequent listens as it does jarring on the first listen. But the real highlight is also the biggest shock: "History of Lovers" is what Fleetwood Mac's Rumours might have sounded like if it had been recorded in Memphis, complete with steel guitar trim and a great horn arrangement to go with some stunning harmonies and an unbelievable vocal melody.

Whether or not Iron & Wine and Calexico ever choose to follow this up with another collaboration (fingers crossed), it's clear that both acts are stronger for having worked with the other. It'll be interesting to see what comes next for Iron & Wine and Calexico and how this affects their work apart from each other. In the meantime, we can hope that this isn't a one-time-only engagement.

Pitchfork Review

My Top 10 Albums 2005 & 10 more

2006 was an interesting year with a good mix of releases across genres lots of comebacks and indie finally breaking thru into the mainstream .

So here are my favourite 10 records released in the year gone by

1 Plans # Death Cab for Cutie
Moving to a major label didnt effect the quality of the music , a captivating album from start to finish. The record hopefully will be released officially in India sometime.

Track picks 'What Sarah Said' & 'Brothers on a Hotel Bed'

2 Life in Slow Motion # David Gray
Just when you thought you couldnt get more dark and forlorn after his previous two masterpieces David Gray delivers another classic . A wonderful lyrical journey from perhaps one of the best songwriters of our generation.

Track picks ' The One I Love' & 'Aint No Love'

3 Devils and Dust # Bruce Springsteen
The Boss was back with just he and his dusty acoustic guitar. Very much on the Nebraska and Ghost of TD lines tackling strong themes and subjects , the boss was back to his very best.

Track picks 'Devils and Dust' & 'Jesus was the only Son'

4 Illonise # Sufjan Stevens
5 Extraordinary Machine # Fiona Apple
6 The Picarasque # The Decemberists
7 Get Behind Me Satan # The White Stripes
8 In Between Dreams # Jack Johnson
9 I am a Bird Now # Antony and the Johnsons
10 I am wide awake its Morning # Bright Eyes

The other 10

11 Songs for Silverman # Ben Folds
12 Back to Bedlam # James Blunt
13 Blinking lights and other revelations # Eels
14 Amos Lee # Amos Lee
15 Howl # Black Rebel Motorcyle Band
16 State of Mind #Raul Middon
17 Haughty Melodic # Mike Doughty
18 Late Registration # Kanye West
19 You Could Have it so much better # Franz Ferdinand
20 Mesmerize/Hypnotize # System of a Down

2005 RS Readers POLL

What people liked most, and least, in music

You, the readers, have spoken. Green Day were your American idols of 2005, sweeping the Artist of the Year, Best Single and Best Band category in our thirtieth annual Rolling Stone Readers' Poll, conducted online. You also sounded a holla for Gwen Stefani (Best Video, Best Dressed, Best Female Performer), Kanye West (Best Male Performer, Best Hip-Hop Artist), Coldplay (Best Album) and U2.

The results:

Best Album

1. Coldplay, X&Y
2. White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan
3. Mariah Carey, The Emancipation of Mimi
4. Kanye West, Late Registration
5. Gwen Stefani, Love. Angel. Music. Baby
6. Beck, Guero
7. Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine
8. Foo Fighters, In You Honor
9. System of a Down, Mezmerize/Hypnotize
10. Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth

Best Single

1. Green Day, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
2. Kanye West, "Gold Digger"
3. Kelly Clarkson, "Since You Been Gone"
4. Gorillaz, "Feel Good Inc."
5. U2, "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"
6. Gwen Stefani, "Hollaback Girl"
7. Mariah Carey, "Shake It Off"
8. Coldplay, "Fix You"
9. Foo Fighters, "Best of You"
10. White Stripes, "My Doorbell"

Artist of the Year

1. Green Day
2. U2
3. Kanye West

Best Male Performer

1. Kanye West
2. Beck
3. Trent Reznor

Best Female Performer

1. Gwen Stefani
2. Kelly Clarkson
3. Fiona Apple

Best Band

1. Green Day
2. U2
3. Coldplay

Best Tour

1. U2
2. Green Day
3. Weezer/Foo Fighters

Best Hard Rock/Metal Band

1. Audioslave
2. System of a Down
2. Nine Inch Nails

Best R&B Artist

1. Alicia Keys
2. Stevie Wonder
3. John Legend

Best Hip-Hop Artist

1. Kanye West
2. Missy Elliot
3. 50 Cent

Most Welcome Comeback

1. Fiona Apple
2. Weezer
3. Nine Inch Nails

Best Video

1. Gwen Stefani, "Hollaback Girl"
2. Green Day, "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
3. My Chemical Romance, "Helena"

Best Dressed

1. Gwen Stefani
2. The Killers
3. Kanye West

Best New Artist

1. Fall Out Boy
2. The Arcade Fire
3. James Blunt

Worst Single

1. R. Kelly, "Trapped in the Closet"
2. Black Eyed Peas, "My Humps"
3. D4L, "Laffy Taffy"

FROM RS

Music Biz Laments "Worst Year Ever"

Labels' woes continue as album sales drop seven percent, while digital single sales surge

It was yet another unhappy New Year for the music industry: Despite hits by Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and Green Day, 2005 saw album sales drop 7.2 percent as labels continued to struggle with adapting to the age of the iPod and the Internet. Overall, consumers bought 48 million fewer albums than in 2004, marking a disastrous twenty-one percent slide from the industry's peak in 2000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. And the holiday season, which typically accounts for forty percent of annual sales, was a bust. "It was arguably the worst in the music business's history," says Steve Bartels, Island Records president.

In contrast to CD sales, digital-song downloads jumped 150 percent in 2005 as consumers bought 352 million of them. "With digital technology, everyone's figured out that a business built only on the manufacture, distribution and sale of CDs has ended," says Dixie Chicks manager Simon Renshaw, echoing many other industry veterans. "The traditional model can't continue."

Where Are the Hits?

In 2000, the industry's last boom year, the top five albums -- including megahits by Britney Spears and Eminem -- sold a combined 38 million copies. The top five in 2005 sold just 19.7 million. Mariah Carey had the comeback story of the year, selling 5 million copies of The Emancipation of Mimi, the year's top album. Green Day, who sold 1.8 million copies of American Idiot in '04, sold 3.4 million more in '05. And a baby diva, American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, broke through, selling 3.5 million copies of Breakaway.

Just below the top ten, there were signs of hope, as developing artists -- Ciara, Young Jeezy, Fall Out Boy -- all sold at least 1 million copies. But expected best sellers from Missy Elliott and Santana barely broke 500,000 copies. "Last year you had releases from superstars such as U2, Eminem, Lil Jon," says Best Buy music buyer Lon Lindeland. "This year didn't match that."

Latin music was the only genre to see increased sales in 2005. As the reggaeton-heavy "hurban" radio format grew -- taking over rock stations in several major markets -- the genre's sales leaped 12.6 percent. Sales of alternative rock fell 8.8 percent, hip-hop dropped 7.8 percent and R&B saw an 11.6 percent decline. "Consumers who used to buy a lot of hip-hop are now buying Latin records," says Virgin exec Jerry Suarez. "It's something for the younger demographic to get excited about."

Digital Music Surges

In 2005, digital downloads became a major moneymaker for the first time, earning more than $500 million as sales of digital tracks jumped from 141 million in 2004 to 353 million in 2005, and sales of digital albums rose from 5.5 million to 16.2 million. In the fall, Apple's iTunes Store became one of the ten biggest U.S. music retailers, ahead of Tower and Sam Goody. And in the last week of 2005, digital single sales exploded to a record-setting 19.9 million -- outselling CDs for the first time in history -- as about 11 million Christmas-gift iPods flew off shelves. The digital boom helped offset some of the labels' losses; using SoundScan's formula of counting every ten sold singles as an album, album sales dropped just 3.9 percent.

Ring tones were even more profitable, as revenues doubled to $600 million. Real tones -- actual music rather than tinny reproductions -- became the dominant format.

But as sales shift toward digital distribution, battles are brewing over how much downloads should cost, and who should get the money. Apple CEO Steve Jobs called the labels "greedy" for suggesting iTunes should charge more than ninety-nine cents for hits; Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. shot back, "We want, and will insist upon having, variable pricing." Artists, meanwhile, complain that their royalties from digital tracks -- fourteen cents is the typical rate -- don't make up for the loss of income from CD sales. "This is where the sales are going," says Josh Grier, a music lawyer for Wilco. "But being part of the transition might be a bad thing."

Major-Label Woes

As the industry contracted, market share declined or remained steady for three of the four major record companies. The exception was Universal Music Group, which sold thirty-two percent of all music and six of the year's top ten albums. Warner, which became the first publicly traded record label in 2005, managed to hold steady, thanks to Green Day and the Asylum subsidiary, which scored hits with Houston rappers Paul Wall and Mike Jones. EMI dropped just 0.4 percent, with strong releases from Coldplay and Gorillaz. "It's not a growth market," says Arista exec Tom Corson. "This is a mature market that's being attacked on all sides."

Of all the labels, Sony BMG -- which merged in 2004 -- had the toughest year: The company's market share shrunk three percent, it paid $10 million to settle a payola investigation (Warner eventually settled for $5 million) and had to recall 4.7 million CDs that included invasive copy-protection software. "How does a record label self-destruct?" says Darryl Pitt, manager of the Bad Plus, whose CD was recalled. "This is a pretty good way."

The labels continued to battle piracy, filing hundreds of lawsuits against peer-to-peer downloaders. But in the month of November, for instance, twenty-one percent more users traded music online than in the same period the year before.

The Indie Scene

As the majors stumbled, independent labels gained market share, accounting for eighteen percent of CD sales in '05. Indie labels proved especially adept at Internet marketing via outlets like MySpace; the emo label Victory Records sold 558,000 copies of Hawthorne Heights' album The Silence in Black and White without radio play. And several hip indie acts -- the Arcade Fire, Interpol and Bright Eyes -- sold more than 250,000 copies each. The indie model of earning profits on a broad range of small-scale releases, rather than focusing on blockbusters, may offer a new direction for the majors. "The major labels want to say the glass is half full," says Gwen Stefani's manager Jim Guerinot. "I think everybody's getting the message: You better get a fucking smaller glass. The music business is a different game."

BRIAN HIATT AND EVAN SERPICK FROM RS

Biography # Jeff Buckley

Since he was the son of cult songwriter Tim Buckley, Jeff Buckley faced more expectations and pre-conceived notions than most singer/songwriters. Perhaps it wasn't surprising that Jeff Buckley's music was related to his father's by only the thinnest of margins. Buckley's voice was grand and sweeping, which fit with the mock-operatic grandeur of his Van Morrison-meets-Led Zeppelin music.Buckley began playing while in high school. Eventually, he moved to Los Angeles to study music; while he was there, he performed with several jazz and funk bands, as well as playing with Shinehead, a leader in the dancehall reggae movement.

A few years later, he moved to New York, forming Gods & Monsters with the experimental guitarist Gary Lucas. The band became a hip name, yet their lifespan was short. Buckley began a solo career playing clubs and coffeehouses, building up a considerable following. Soon, he signed a record deal with Columbia Records, releasing the Live at Sin-e EP in November of 1993. It received good reviews, yet they didn't compare to the raves Buckley's full-length debut, 1994's Grace, received. Unlike the EP, the album was recorded with a full band, which gave the record textures that surprised some of his long-time New York followers. Nevertheless, it made several year-end "Best of 1994" lists and earned him a belated alternative hit, "Last Goodbye," in the spring of 1995.

A long hiatus followed as Buckley worked on material for his follow-up effort, provisionally titled My Sweetheart, the Drunk. Originally slated to be produced by Tom Verlaine, who later dropped out of the project, Buckley finally began work on the record in Memphis during the late spring of 1997.

On the night of May 29, he and a friend traveled to the local Mud Island Harbor, where Buckley spontaneously decided to go swimming in the Mississippi River and waded into the water fully clothed. A few minutes later, he disappeared under the waves; authorities were quickly contacted, but to no avail -- on June 4, his body was finally found floating near the city's famed Beale Street area. Buckley was 30 years old. A collection of unreleased recordings, Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk), appeared in 1998, and two live albums arrived during 2000-2001, Mystery White Boy and Live at L'Olympia.

TOP 10 Albums of the year

The Year End lists

Rolling Stones Top 10
1. Kanye West, Late Registration
2. The Rolling Stones, A Bigger Bang
3. White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan
4. Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine
5. Bruce Springsteen, Devils and Dust
6. My Morning Jacket, Z
7. Beck, Guero
8. Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
9. Sufjan Stevens, Illinois
10. 50 Cent, The Massacre

Below link to their top 50
http://www.rollingstone.com/special/8952414


Amazon.com Editor picks

1. Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
2. Arular by M.I.A.
3. Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
4. Z by My Morning Jacket
5. Dimanche a Bamako by Amadou & Mariam
6. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall [Live]
7. I Am A Bird Now by Antony & The Johnsons
8. No Direction Home: The Soundtrack by Bob Dylan
9. Guero by Beck
10. Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple

E! Magazine

1. Plans by Death Cab For Cutie
2. Arular by M.I.A.
3. Guero by Beck
4. 12 Songs by Neil Diamond
5. Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
6. Late Registration by Kanye West
7. Z by My Morning Jacket
8. Demon Days by Gorillaz
9. Year Of Meteors by Laura Veirs
10. X&Y by Coldplay


Mojo.com

1. I Am A Bird Now by Antony & The Johnsons
2. Funeral by Arcade Fire
3. Aerial by Kate Bush
4. Devils & Dust by Bruce Springsteen
5. Z by My Morning Jacket
6. Chavez Ravine by Ry Cooder
7. The Magic Numbers by The Magic Numbers
8. Into The Woods by Malcolm Middleton
9. Dimanche a Bamako by Amadou & Mariam
10. Cole's Corner by Richard Hawley

Q Magazine

1. X&Y by Coldplay
2. Demon Days by Gorillaz
3. Employment by Kaiser Chiefs
4. Don't Believe The Truth by Oasis
5. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes
6. Back To Bedlam by James Blunt
7. You Could Have It So Much Better by Franz Ferdinand
8. Funeral by Arcade Fire
9. Eye To The Telescope by KT Tunstall
10. Stars Of CCTV by Hard-Fi