(FORTUNE Magazine) – NUGGETS II Rhino The Marmalade, the Missing Links, the La De Das...it would be easy to dismiss these mothball-festooned '60s garage bands as one-hit wonders. Problem is, they never had a hit. Thankfully, this fast-and-furious psychedelic curio chest rescues them from groovy obscurity. Air-guitar albums simply don't get any better.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS Essence Lost Highway Notorious for being a perfectionist and all-round slowpoke, Williams rushed back into the studio after her last CD, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, and the lack of polish suits her well. If she's smart--and we're lucky--she's already recording her next record.

KELLY JOE PHELPS Sky Like a Broken Clock Ryko Armed with a slide guitar that bends and oozes like quicksilver and a gentle rasp that scratches like used sandpaper, Phelps is the antidote to such overhyped crossroads wannabes as Johnny Lang. No fancy marketing, no phony-sounding back-story, just beautiful blues.

RADIOHEAD Amnesiac Capitol It's official: The Radiohead of old is dead. This was rumored to be the band's return to riff-happy rock after the emotionally chilly headphone opus Kid A. It's not. But that's not necessarily bad news. A minimalist knob-twirling fugue, it goes down like a lonelier, more haunted Dark Side of the Moon.

THE WEBB BROTHERS Maroon Atlantic There's a fine line between ambitious and pretentious. And while some skeptics may dismiss the sons of Jimmy Webb as trying too hard, we're not among them. These blissfully pure pop songs strive and soar to such orchestral heights, you might consider Maroon an early contender for record of the year.