Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: 100 Days, 100 Nights

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Michael Giltz called this album a tie with The Great Debaters for best CD of 2007, and wrote in the Huffington Post: "Sharon Jones is the beginning and the end, an old school singer who sounds like she came straight from the Stax studios through a time tunnel and into the present. I've struggled all year to define the difference between 'retro' music that just sort of apes the past and the real deal. But you can't define it. You just feel it. Jones and the Dap-Kings have been steeped in classic soul for years and this album is their greatest achievement yet. Fanatics will love the little touches, like the way the songs sometimes fade out quickly just like the old pop singles where a tune would simply run out of space on the 45 and they'd have to dial down the sound abruptly at the end. But this isn't just for hardcore collectors. It's great, great stuff, with one pounding, unforgettable, heart-pumping song after another. Think Aretha. Think Otis Redding. Think Brooklyn's Sharon Jones." Also high on Mr. Giltz's list: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand; The White Stripes, Icky Thump; Terence Blanchard, A Tale of God's Will.