This year's Top 10 stretches across genres and generations: from rap to jazz, from old, established groups that sound new, to new groups that sound old. Here are my picks, with honorable mentions to follow.

10 "Accelerate" (Warner Bros.), R.E.M. — This marks the second time R.E.M. has reinvented and reinvigorated itself with an album of uncomplicated rock songs, leaving the cerebral sound collages and self-indulgent patter off the table. As with "Monster," the last record with this aim, Michael Stipe and company turn up the amps and reconnect with what made them perhaps the most important post-punk band 25 years ago. But when Peter Buck scratches out the opening chords of "Supernatural Superserious," it doesn't sound retro at all; it's just pure, energetic rock 'n' roll. And remember, these guys are much better players than they were in their early 20s. "Accelerate" wastes no time, reeling past at a mere 36 minutes and, thankfully, it's all good enough to warrant repeated plays in one sitting.

9 "Little Honey" (Lost Highway), Lucinda Williams — Once renowned for putting record companies out of business while taking her sweet time to make albums, Williams has been consistent and increasingly brilliant since 2000, even if her proclivity for self-pitying songs about bad breakups and bad decisions sometimes gets the better of her. She's gone from melancholy ("Essence") to pleading ("World Without Tears"), to desperate ("West") and comes out the other end with "Little Honey." The album's song titles tell the story, with the opening "Real Love" gushing out its sweet harmonies and giddy chorus. Sexy "Honey Bee" sounds like a lost Patti Smith sitting in with Lone Justice. Even AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top" is done in pure fun.

8 "Rising Down" (Def Jam), the Roots — The Roots have always thought about the bigger questions, but this alone has not made them the most important alternative rap group. Instead of a collection of massive egos and good producers (Wu-Tang, I'm looking in your direction), the Roots is a band. The group maintains a singular direction despite its divergent personalities, and in "Rising Down" has produced an album with a tone of cold isolation in the face of a fierce world.

In particular, the drumming of ?uestlove (that's not a typo) is big and forceful and gives the Roots a grain of looseness that drum machines and loops could never create. Over this stripped-down bed, light on the samples and trickery, Black Thought contributes some of the wisest and least ostentatious lyrics you'll ever hear, rapping about everything from war to a failing health system to child soldiers and terrorists. The album includes guest appearances from P.O.R.N., Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Common.

7 "Season of Changes" (Verve), Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band — Jazz has always been an urban music, and rightly so. But since 1997, jazz drummer Brian Blade has made music that is positively pastoral. This begs comparisons to Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell among others, but Blade's greatest strength is not in his musicianship (first-rate by any measure) but in his ability to paint with sound, going so far as to use pedal steel as a key component in earlier Fellowship recordings. Along with pianist Jon Cowherd, Blade has once again come up with sweeping charts that allow his bandmates to shine: tenor saxman Melvin Butler on "Return of the Prodigal Son," and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel on the atmospheric "Most Precious One." Blade's own playing is nothing short of breathtaking in its economy and feel.

6 "Gossip in the Grain" (RCA/Red Ink),  Ray LaMontagne — Ray LaMontagne's first two albums were heralded for their artful balladry and gruff, soft-spoken performances. On his third disc, producer Ethan Johns adds strings, guitars, occasional background singers and textures that underscore the singer's deep, reflective moods and, on occasion, his sense of humor. "You Are the Best Thing" even exorcises the phony soul that compromised his earlier work, and "Henry Nearly Killed Me" relies on an old blues progression. But his folk balladry forms the centerpiece of this listening experience (in particular, the aching sadness that drips from a farewell song like "Sarah," with the regretful air of a Cat Stevens or Van Morrison). Here Johns is John Kirby to Ray's Nick Drake, adding layers of accent and counterpoint to an already perfect union of words and music, and the result is moving, inviting, rewarding.

5 "Pacific Ocean Blue" (Caribou/Epic/Legacy), Dennis Wilson — Popular myth says Brian was the musical genius, Carl was the taskmaster and Dennis was the king of the party in the Beach Boys. But this 1977 LP — the only solo record of any substance from any member of the group until brother Brian's re-emergence in the 1990s — proves beyond doubt that Dennis had much more on his mind than chasing skirts and wrecking his liver. He had thoughtful, poignant and heartbreaking songs that were nothing short of naked pleas. He was a troubled soul who wanted only to be loved and not destroy that love in return, and he wasn't afraid to say so. The remastered set includes a full album of previously unreleased material, which, in light of his escalating addictions, leaves us to ponder the great What If. Dennis drowned in 1983.

4 "Ode To Sunshine" (Rounder), Delta Spirit — Subtitle this one "Basement Tapes for the Facebook Generation." True to the DIY spirit that swept through Woodstock during the summer of '68, the San Diego musicians recorded their debut album on their own in a rented cabin. The retreat produced the achingly beautiful waltz "House Built for Two" and the hard-charging "Streetwalker," itself sounding like some lost nugget off the Band's "Music From Big Pink." When former emo kids punch around on upright pianos, second-rate guitars and found percussion, pretty amazing things can happen.

3 "The Odd Couple" (Atlantic), Gnarls Barkley — Sophomore follow-ups to massive blockbusters are almost always disappointing from a commercial perspective, if not a creative one. But Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo seem to be catching fire on "The Odd Couple." The first single, "Run," may not have been the massive hit that "Crazy" was (honestly, nothing could have been), but it showed the duo was not afraid of dipping even deeper into classic R&B and pop music to create something new. Four Grammy nominations is nothing to laugh at either.

2 "Mudcrutch" (Reprise), Mudcrutch — The Heartbreakers, now down to Tom Petty, keyboardist Benmont Tench and guitarist Mike Campbell, on a whim re-formed the garage band they left behind in Florida when they headed out to Los Angeles for fame and fortune in the mid-1970s. The idea was for the reunion to be a loose, rocking, roots-flavored session. Mission accomplished (including a Byrds cover, a Flying Burrito Brothers standard and plenty of swirling SoCal country-rock twang courtesy of Campbell's eerie channeling of the late Clarence White). Oddly enough, it's exactly the music Petty should be making back at his day job. Maybe this should be his day job. The single "Scare Easy" is Petty at his snarling best, and the bouncing, summery "Topanga Cowgirl" is as bright and melodic as "American Girl." It's the best thing Petty's done since "Wildflowers," regardless of who's backing him up.

1 "Attack and Release" (Nonesuch), Black Keys — Drum and fuzz guitar groups seemed to be the next big thing a couple of years ago, but understandably the gimmick ran out of gas before anyone could prove it more than an Indie-er Than Thou fad. With the assistance of producer du jour Danger Mouse (see Gnarls Barkley), the Ohio duo has done the impossible: make this minimalist sound support innovative songs with hooks, not merely riffs. Borrowing from the Stooges ("Remember When") and Led Zeppelin ("I Got Mine") is always a good place to start, but a song like "Same Old Thing" — a genuine modern blues tune with dense, industrially manipulated guitar, flute and Dan Auerbach's soulful, distant vocals — is a key indicator that the group has taken the drum/guitar concept to a new plateau. Take that, Jack White.

Honorable mentions: "Asking for Flowers" (Zoe), Kathleen Edwards; "The Felice Brothers" (Team Love), the Felice Brothers; "Life, Death, Love and Freedom" (Hear Music), John Mellencamp; "New Amerykah" (Universal), Eryka Badu; "Evil Urges" (Red), My Morning Jacket; "Brighter Than Creation's Dark" (New West), Drive-By Truckers; "The Bedlam in Goliath" (Universal), the Mars Volta; "Chrome Dreams II" (Reprise), Neil Young; "April" (Caldo Verde), Sun Kil Moon; "One Kind Favor" (Geffen), B.B. King, "Real Animal" (Back Porch), Alejandro Escovedo; "Blame It on Gravity" (New West), Old 97's; "The Renaissance" (Universal), Q-Tip; and "Third" (Mercury/Island), Portishead.