With a bumper crop of major albums dropping around the holidays, it's too
soon to hazard an official tally of the year's best music. But we can
easily call out some of the year's big musical wins, as well as a rogue's
gallery of missteps by major artists.
... more combust onstage: The
surprise pairing between a classic rock god and the elegant bluegrass queen
yielded last year's critically acclaimed, award-winning "Raising Sand" album. When Plant and Krauss teamed with album
producer T Bone Burnett to tour, they only raised the bar (and the
energy level), magnifying the dark beauty of their studio work for some of the
year's most electrifying performances. In the process, they reversed the famous
chemistry between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: Krauss brought Plant class, while he
brought her sex appeal. Led Who? (Erika Goldring / Retna Ltd.)Close