Daniel Lanois

Daniel Lanois has long been lauded for his cinematic touch as a producer, but Here Is What Is -- the soundtrack to a documentary by the same name -- is his first truly immense work as a solo artist. Spoken snippets by his regular clients are interspersed with carefully written songs, which are played by personnel including jazzer Brian Blade and Band organist Garth Hudson. Even incidentals like "Lovechild" have a dark, lustrous quality, helping to make Lanois-the-artist finally worthy of Lanois-the-producer.