Albums of the Year Ry Cooder, Beck, Sean Paul and more BY JIM MACNIE

1) GORILLAZ | DEMON DAYS | Island

Ephemeral skronk decorating pulse-funk, sage samples linking chopped ’n’ screwed vocals — Damon Albarn and Danger Mouse didn’t leave the studio ’til this Frankenstein’d monster brimmed with the ugly beauty hip-pop zealots demand these days.

2) YERBA BUENA | ISLAND LIFE | Razor &Tie

Multi-culti modernists with a strong sense of funk bubblegum, the NYC outfit almost positioned themselves as an East Coast Black Eyed Peas with this wildly fun, deeply grooved romp through Latino culture that stretches from John Leguizamo’s nasty talk to echoes of tango.

3) RY COODER | CHAVEZ RAVINE | Nonesuch

Both rumination and indictment, it’s an audio narrative that recalls the foul politics that got a Latino enclave in LA mowed down to make way for Dodgers Stadium. The guitarist/auteur adores the aroma of yesteryear and sticks up for the character of the kidnapped culture.

4) PERNICE BROTHERS | DISCOVER A LOVELIER YOU | Ashmont

I like it when gloomy guys are committed enough to wrap their troubles in a bright package (take a bow, Beck), and on this band’s best disc ever, Joe Pernice bridged bleak emotions with vibrant synth pulses and chiming guitars.

5) Beck | Guero | Geffen

Something — the nightly news, I suspect — is bumming out our boy. Maybe he’s simply absorbing the fact that he’s not a boy anymore, and maybe we shouldn’t worry too much about his ennui. Happily, his keen eye for the disenfranchised (in this case it was LA’s barrio culture) helped energize the music itself.

6) THE HOLD STEADY | SEPARATIONSUNDAY | Frenchkiss

Giving props to all kinds of classic rockers, these modern indie dudes from Brooklyn put lots of guitar oomph behind their motor-mouthed leader’s story-songs. Craig Finn doesn’t really sing — he just kind of yells out his observations. But as he describes hood rat psychology, boy-girl trickery, and troubled teen cluckery, his gift for storytelling becomes pretty damn clear.

7) SEAN PAUL | THE TRINITY | Atlantic

Reggaeton may have rocked the trend meter, but dancehall reggae still has plenty of clout, especially when kicked with a deference to pop needs. That’s what the perpetually saucy MC is all about. Following his terrific Dutty Rock with a disc that’s almost as good, Paul proved himself the man of the moment as far as body music goes.

8) KANYE WEST | LATEREGISTRATION | Roc-a-Fella

Time couldn’t have chosen a better MC for its cover. The superstar who bum-rushed live TV to rub America’s face in the truth about Bush’s agenda was also the artist who packed his second disc with dope rhyme after dope rhyme after dope rhyme, finding reasons to fight the power as his grandma lay dying ("Roses") and ways to explain how hip-hop successfully seeped into the suburbs ("Crack Music").

9) SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA | across 110th street | Libertad

The clave grooves achieve liftoff on the first track and keep piling on the syncopations ’til your ass is too tired to care. The album brings Ruben Blades back the mic, and he sounds sugar-shit sharp. But it’s the instrumentalists that drive the action, especially pianist Oscar Hernandez and a cluster of congueros. Contrasting rhythms lock into each other, horns blast their fierce pride, and a room full of dancers reacts.

10) LIZZ WRIGHT | DREAMING WIDE AWAKE | Verve

Like most clever albums made by modern jazz(y) vocalists, it’s built on a formula of variety: some ’70s singer-songwriter tunes, a gospel or country track, a dash of lite R&B, and a predetermined lack of exclamation points. But when everything suits the singer at hand, as it does here, buffing contrivances is just another way of waxing clever. Between "A Taste of Honey" and "Get Together," there’s a deeply soulful program that manages to act sweet-tempered without forsaking a point of view.

SINGLES OF THE YEAR

Amerie | "1 Thing"

Damian Marley | "Welcome to Jamrock"

Gwen Stefani | "Hollaback Girl"

Kelly Clarkson | "Since U Been Gone"

Young Jeezy | "Gangsta Music"

Kanye West | "Gold Digger"

M.I.A. | "Pull Up the People"

Gorillaz | "Feel Good Inc."

Madonna | "Hung Up"

Rihanna | "Pon de Replay"