A diverse five-pack of power
The Arctic Monkeys, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” (Domino). A dodgy night on the town with the lads, set to music that makes every confrontation and flirtation vivid and urgent.
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Tom Waits, “Orphans” (Anti-). By turns ornery and cleansing, the three-disc set is an epic immersion in Waits-world.
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Nellie McKay, “Pretty Little Head” (Black Dove). A panoramic vision of American pop fuels charming love songs and passionate, quirky works of social advocacy.
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My Chemical Romance, “The Black Parade” (Reprise). Grand and eloquent hard rock suffused with the intense emotion of adolescence.
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Matisyahu, “Youth” (Epic). The Hasidic reggae singer from White Plains, N.Y., made one of the year’s most spiritually compelling albums.
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