Best CDs of 2007

From French electronica and melancholy songwriters to worldly, eccentric indie-rock, here are 10 of this year's best debut albums, as chosen by Bruce Warren, executive producer of WXPN's World Cafe.

Host Bob Boilen talks with reviewers Carrie Brownstein, Will Hermes, Tom Moon and Meredith Ochs about the year's biggest surprises and letdowns in music. Hear their picks for the year's most innovative album, the best new band of 2007, the year's best song and more. Featured songs and artists are listed below.

On Second Stage, All Songs Considered producer Robin Hilton profiles the best of music's great unknowns. He chooses the best outsider artists of 2007: musicians who made remarkable recordings that were largely overlooked, led by Le Loup.

Each obsessive music fan views the obligatory year-end Top 10 list differently, but best-ofs tend to be most effective when the selections are purely a matter of personal taste — "favorites" rather than "best." Here are Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson's picks.

Few radio personalities openly embrace as much music as WNYC's John Schaefer, longtime host of New Sounds. This year, his favorites ranged from Osvaldo Golijov to Jamie T.

In any ongoing quest for mind-blowing music, each year brings an assortment of new left-field discoveries. KEXP's Kevin Cole offers up a selection of 13 excellent under-the-radar CDs, any of which could end up being your favorite of the year.

David Garland of WNYC picks the 10 best CDs he heard this year. The standouts came from artists whose creativity led them across stylistic and genre boundaries and into unusual, personal territory.

Weekend Edition Sunday music director Ned Wharton is back with his annual gift guide. He's surveyed the 2007 releases, and offers these suggestions for the jazz, rock, classical and world music fans on your shopping list.

Banning Eyre, senior editor of Afropop.org, shines the spotlight on Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean with his picks for the year's best albums. Among his selections: Watina, an effort by singer Andy Palacio to preserve the culture of the Garifuna people of Central America.

Kids' music comes in virtually every style and stripe, and varies wildly in quality. The best kids' albums of 2007 have appeal for kids and adults alike, and are suitable for listening, even while the whole family is in the car together. Highlights include Recess Monkey and many more.

This wasn't the strongest year for hip-hop, but 2007 still featured some excellent releases that pushed the genre's boundaries, as well as a few records that reveled, old-school style, in great beats and rhymes.

Minnesota's Twin Cities area is a hotbed of excellent classical music. It's also home to American Public Media, where classical music thrives. APM's Brian Newhouse thinks these 10 new classical recordings rise to the top of the year's offerings.

It has been a good year for classical music releases. WGBH Radio's Brian McCreath counts down his Top 10 for 2007, spotlighting powerhouse orchestras and sparkling voices.

To paraphrase an old marketing slogan, "this is not your father's Oldsmobile," these are not your father's classical artists. A new generation of instrumentalists, singers, and conductors has been taking the concert stage by storm, represented in part by these ten standout recordings of 2007.

Here's a look at the 10 CDs from the past year that are virtually guaranteed to impress friends, relatives and potential lovers. You don't even have to listen to them — just put them in your collection and memorize what's written here.

The best albums of 2007 include a plethora of reliable favorites, whether they're treading new stylistic ground (Iron and Wine), returning to roots (Wilco) or merely holding steady (Spoon). And, of course, a few new favorites join the mix, too.

Steve Seel, afternoon music host on Minnesota Public Radio's The Current, offers his picks for the Top 10 albums of the year.

KUT music director Jeff McCord hears dozens of new songs a week. Good and bad tend to get stuck in his head, but here he picks the 10 best of the year — the ones whose company he most enjoyed.

For WFUV's Rita Houston, 2007 was about great new CDs and great live shows — most of which were by the same artists. Her list includes albums by Amy Winehouse, Iron and Wine, Dan Wilson, Brandi Carlile, Wilco, Stars and more.

Folk Alley presents a sampling of its favorite albums this year, submitted by hosts and staff. Selections include venerated legends (Levon Helm, Ricky Skaggs), up-and-comers (The Greencards, Eilen Jewell) and successful folk favorites (Patty Griffin, Susan Werner).

KUT's David Brown offers up his picks for 2007's most memorable recordings, and finds that his hometown of Austin, Tex., is well-represented. But alongside the local likes of Spoon and Okkervil River were international juggernauts like Radiohead and Amy Winehouse.

WBGO Morning Jazz host Gary Walker shares his favorite jazz recordings of 2007. Among the artists he singles out: Michael Brecker, Abbey Lincoln, Maria Schneider and Ron Carter.

WDUQ's Shaunna Morrison Machosky picks her Top 10 jazz CDs of 2007. All meet these criteria: The albums feature solid, engaging and interesting compositions, they're not simply collections of same-old jazz standards, and they're worth repeated listens.