Jimi Tenor

What sounds on paper like it should be one of 2007's weirdest albums -- a collaboration between Finnish musical innovator Jimi Tenor and African artists including a trio of Fela Kuti's sidemen -- turns out to be a slice of pure heaven. Tenor puts down the homemade scrap-metal instruments and crafts a sound that pretty much defines his self-coined term "Afrobaltic." The songs surf from pop to Afrobeat, with a few references to squalling '70s avant-garde jazz for good measure. The end result is dreamy, playful and very, very hip.