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Having categorically kicked out the jams on their recent Grinderman outing Cave and Co. return beneath the Bad Seed umbrella, clearly still in thrall to making a bit of a racket and still crackling and sparking like live wires flapping around pools of water (just check out the number or entirely arbitrary exclamation marks on show!!!). Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! also finds Cave in probably the finest voice of his life and cramming more words per bar into proceedings than prime time Dylan, indeed stand out track ‘We Call Upon The Author’ could well be his finest moment to date. Let’s hope this aggressive streak continues for some time to come.
Ruby Palmer

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Apparently a companion piece to his previous, equally excellent, album Body Riddle rather than a brand new statement of intent, if you find the likes of Autechre or Aphex Twin too dissonant but still like your music to judder, glitch and stammer then Clark is your man. Taking a smorgasbord of atonal electronic sci-fi wooby sounds, coupling them with hisses, crackles and white noise but, and get this, then making them sound positively melodic (‘For Wolves Crew’ is so lovely you feel like giving it a great big cuddle) which is almost certainly because it’s creator is as fond of Pavement as he is of Squarepusher.
Drew Bass

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Blues artists can be as crude as any modern day rap star and Mason Casey is the latest in a long line (the albums title should give you a flavour). Star guests such as Steve Cropper and Jimmy Johnson pepper the album and help him add to his ever growing reputation. His typical New York attitude shines through on blues rockers 'Blue Hair Woman' and, one of the highlights, 'Chesterfield County Jail'. He also does R&B with aplomb on 'Nine Times A Man' and 'Done Crying' but these need more than one listen. The only out and out blues is 'Take Me To The Airport' which shows the real Mason Casey – Sofa King Badass? Sofa King Good!.
David Blue

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Seems it’s a month for comebacks as Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy resurrect the Cult and, aside from a hefty misstep on the dreadful sub Tindersticks ballad ‘Holy Mountain’ they make a pretty good stab at disinterring some prime-time, old skool, rock'n'rumble bluster. From the ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ ‘woo, woo’ vocal lifting title track onwards (actually they nick Keef’s riff from ‘Undercover’ later on as well) this is great fun with Astbury in great voice and unashamedly cut from the same cloth as Love and Electric. It will go a long way towards helping him back into the game after too long doing Jim Morrison karaoke.


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There can be few music fans of a certain age that don’t know that Mick Jones and Tony James met in the mid-seventies and went onto form London S.S before finding fame and fortunes in The Clash and Generation X respectively, but it’s actually Jones apres Clash outfit Big Audio Dynamite, and to a much lesser extent James Sigue Sigue Sputnik, to which their new outfit leans most heavily, although you’re never far from some machine gun punk guitar clatter as subjects like war, terrorism, consumerism and the tabloid press get the Jones patented flat nasal vocal treatment, in short both men doing what they do best, welcome back guys.


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As one of the few remaining acts to emerge from the incredibly vibrant early ‘90s dance scene still bothering the charts (2005’s ‘Galvanize’ from Push The Button was a massive worldwide hit), Tom and Ed obviously see little point in messing too much with what they do, as let’s face it they do it particularly well, so there’s no real surprises here if you know the band, what is surprising is just how many different colours they can still create given the basic big beat palette at their disposal, and a couple of blotchy creations midway doesn’t stop this being yet another multi-hued rainbow collection of brilliant bum shakers.


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Fans of Jason Swinscoe’s Cinematic Orchestra will already be aware of the man’s way with a tune, beavering away in widescreen jazzy ‘soundtrack for a film which doesn’t exist yet ’ territory - although there is apparently a screenplay to which the music relates (albeit one that has yet to be made). This time around he’s slowed things to an almost funereal pace, so much so you occasionally find yourself checking to see if tracks have finished. This is music which demands your attention, but if you give it you will be richly rewarded as repeat listen prove Ma Fleur to be a very beautiful album indeed.


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In a career defined by beguiling twists and turns, it should come as no surprise to find Ry Cooder swapping the Cuban vibes of 2005’s Chavez Ravine for an earthy sound rooted in the American dustbowl on this swift follow-up. Cooder’s lyrical eye is again on matters socio-political, here given focus by an effective allegorical concept that follows Buddy Red Cat, Lefty Mouse and the Reverend Tom Joad as they journey through a mythical version of the American west. While overlong at 17 tracks, there is enough wonderful stuff here – not least angular jazz creation ‘Green Dog’ – to repay the time spent.


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Much anticipated follow up to their 2005 debut Electric CBW are something of a jazz rock supergroup featuring fusion guitar great Larry Coryell, ex-Weather Report bass player Victor Bailey and, no stranger to super-groups himself, ex-Return To Forever drummer Lenny White. Recorded live in a New York church (i.e. no attempt is made to edit or overdub the odd mistake), the ‘au naturel’ approach is, initially at least, a little unusual to ears accustomed to buffed up studio efforts - the guitar deeper and drums more to the fore in the mix – but it captures the immediacy of the performance well, and the playing is consistently excellent.


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Another of those ‘whatever happened to...’ outfits who, for whatever reason, failed to clutch tightly enough to the coattails of whatever passing fad swept them in – in this case the slew of post punk outfits like The Cure, and the Bunnymen. But they left some worthwhile material to pick over, not least this fine effort recorded in the latter part of their career (‘92), which recalls the chiming guitar style of their earlier material (a style said to have influenced the Edge), married to an altogether fuller, more muscular driving song-writing style that really should have seen them sell far more records than they actually managed.


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Daft as a bag of idiot fish on crazy pills – we loved the helpful ‘(AKA Jingle Bells)’ addition to the track-listing of Jingle Belz, must be for the white folks eh? – and with a guest list that reads like Funkadelic heaven (Bernie Worrell, Blackbyrd McNight, Bobby Byrd, Fred Wesley, Bobby Womack, and a Christmas message from Mr Clinton himself, to name just a few). OK so most of the tracks are reinterpretations of Standards, but there are four new cuts and that clonking great squelchy bass is all over this like a rash ensuring that even the squirmiest moments (yes, that means you ‘Silent Night’), are still as funky as hell, yeah baby.


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As long term God lovers will already be aware, JJ Cale penned two of Eric Clapton's finest solo moments, ‘Cocaine’ and ‘After Midnight’, so this collaboration has almost certainly been in the back of many fans' minds (and at the top of many record company want lists) for a long, long time. Collaboration may be rather too strong a word, however, as Cale’s is the pen behind 11 of the 14 tracks here, and it's certainly his laid back 'after hours' shuffle that informs the proceedings. If things seldom move above a sedate foot tapping pace fans of both men will doubtless find much to love in this low-key melange of blues, jazz, and country.


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If, like this writer, The Charlatans’ long and consistent roll-call of singles sometimes passed you by on original release, then here is a welcome opportunity to play catch-up. Recorded for a total of three labels (Beggars Banquet, Island, Sanctuary) and wisely sequenced chronologically, these 18 songs chart a band gradually refining and reinventing its trademark, blues-tinged rock sound. Early hit ‘The Only One I Know’ – driven by late keyboard player Rob Collins’s fiery Hammond licks – remains a high-point, but the likes of more recent single ‘Up At the Lake’ suggest that the band still has plenty of inspiration in reserve.


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Like comparably gifted peer Paddy McAloon, Lloyd Cole’s highly literate approach to songwriting has often made him seem like a man out of time since his mid ‘80s commercial peak with former band the Commotions. Well, it’s the wider public’s loss, as Anti Depressant – following on from 2003’s fine Music In A Foreign Language – confirms Cole still has shedloads of inspiration. Stiletto-sharp allusions to neo-cons, ‘futures’ and Scarlett Johansson prove the pop-cultural antennae remain in full working order, while intimate, ‘one guitar and a G4’-style arrangements provide sensitive context. Sophisticated and stimulating.


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A Few Small Repairs, Colvin’s 1996 album, remains a classic of artful singer/songwritery. In truth, she’s struggled to match it since, but These Four Walls – her first for the increasingly-in-vogue Nonesuch – arguably manages the feat. Direct and pared-back, John Leventhal’s warm production offsets Colvin’s voice – up high in the mix and now more affecting than ever – with simple but classy arrangements. More specifically, there are ruminations on childhood (‘Tuff Kid’) and the troubling effects that the passage of time can have on relationships (‘Let It Slide’), not to mention a cracking cover of Paul Westerberg’s ‘Even Here We Are’.


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Recorded in the months leading up to his death in Sept 2003, his wife June having passed away in May, the work here is what kept Cash focussed, and in truth this is not an easy album to listen to, tracks which might seem horribly maudlin sung by a healthy performer lent incredible gravitas when the listener is so aware of the circumstances surrounding their creation, opening track ‘Help Me’ is particularly poignant given his wife’s passing and the last track he ever penned ‘Like The 309’, which concerns loading his coffin onto a train is a particularly moving way to add a full stop to this remarkable career.


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Another joint venture for the increasingly collaboration-inclined Costello sees him pair up with legendary producer and arranger Allen Toussaint. A benefit show for Toussaint’s hometown of New Orleans was the original spur, and the stately title track is an appropriately mournful rumination on the city’s then-recent devastation. It proves the centrepiece of a strong collection that encompasses both recreations of Toussaint classics (including ‘Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further?’) and a handful of freshly co-written tunes. But it’s the punchy, dynamic backing of Elvis’s band, The Imposters, that really lifts this into a higher league.


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Calexico are one of those bands for whom regular critical acclaim consistently fails to convert into units shifted, their Tex-Mex, Morricone-esque, cinematic, mariachi horn driven songs perfect soundtracks for driving across the desert but seldom visitors to MTV or the upper reaches of the charts. Garden Ruin may possibly change all that as this is easily Calexico’s most accessible album - and in the Document era REM-esque ‘Deep Down’, beautifully ethereal ‘Smash’ and the magnificent slow building show-stopper of an end-piece ‘All Systems Red’ three of their finest pieces of work to date – but don’t hold your breath.


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It may seem unlikely but this is actually Graham Coxon’s sixth solo album and as each one moved further and further away from the original’s scratchy lo-fi template, perhaps the most underrated guitarist of his generation, really hit his stride with 2004’s Happiness In Magazines and now this even more fully realised effort, which it has to be said bears more than a passing resemblance to Blur at their best. Ostensibly an album about love (the highs and, more often, the lows) Love Travels At Illegal Speeds clatters along in a fine old style, delivering track after track of classy (catchy) chorus laden rock.


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Cat Power
The Greatest (Matador)

Those of you already in thrall to the joys of Chan Marshall’s back catalogue will doubtless already have this comfortably nestled in your CD rack, those of you new to Ms Marshall however would do well to acquaint yourselves with this a.s.a.p. The central point of reference is still that hypnotically beautiful voice but, unlike her last few outings (in fact much of her recorded output), the supporting cast moves beyond Marshall’s spare, downbeat, guitar/piano backing to include a sterling line-up of Memphis muso’s fleshing out the majority of The Greatest into an altogether more upbeat, and certainly more accessible, beast.


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Coldcut
Sound Mirrors (Ninja Tune)

Having never achieved the chart ubiquity of some of their more feted dance peers it would be easy to view Coldcut as their era’s nearly men when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed Jonathan More and Matt Black always were the most open-minded, thought-provoking, experimentalists of their era – just as likely to work with ex-Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra as early cut and paste pioneer Steinski - (not to mention founding classy independent label Ninja Tune), and Sound Mirrors may well be their masterpiece, gleefully mooching all over the place stylistically whilst retaining their wonderfully atuned ear(s) for a top tune.

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Ben Christophers
Viewfinder (Rocketeer)

Another artist making the most of the immediate nature of the world wide interweb, this download only release is described by Ben as “a one-off album that is basically a demo” created by “experiment(ing) ruthlessly”. Now this sort of muso-speak is generally best paraphrased as ‘I had a load of so-so old tapes I needed to clear out’, but in this case is actually exactly as described. Veering between beautiful ballads, wheezing sci-fi and spooked ambience, Viewfinder successfully captures the spontaneity of a thoughtful and thought provoking artist in the act of creation and prompts one to wonder why he would bother working any other way now?


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Cream
Royal Albert Hall [Live] (WEA)

Go on, be honest, given Eric Clapton’s recent lacklustre output who amongst you honestly thought this reunion show was going to amount to anything more than a pale imitation of the – now approaching forty year old - original? Well you (and we, we admit it), were wrong as these resultant recordings lifted from those four nights at the Albert Hall in May this year prove. They may all be approaching bus pass territory (in fact Ginger Baker may already qualify), but this is far from a pedestrian chug through their back catalogue, the resultant years lending added depth and just the right amount of restraint to a set full of classic songs


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John Cale
Black Acetate (EMI)

Cale has dabbled in many a generic music pool over the years, from avante garde noise to accessible pop, from classical to country, punk to funk and beyond the man recognises no musical boundaries consequently his albums have seldom sold by the bucket-load. Black Acetate, the follow up to the critically acclaimed Hobosapiens, may however be just the album to buck that trend as, although it does once again charge all over the shop, it hangs together stylistically in much the same way as say the Gorillaz or Beck at his best and as such might just encourage people outside Cale’s hardcore followers to dip a toe in the water

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Johnny Cash
The Legend Boxset (Sony/BMG)

Lavish is probably too small a word for the deluxe edition of this box-set – which includes a coffee table book, exclusive lithograph, bonus DVD and extra CD - celebrating the 50th anniversary of Johnny Cash’s first single. Collecting hits, favourites, rarities and duets with the likes of Bob Dylan, U2, Elvis Costello, Ray Charles and more, 104 songs in total from his 1955 debut all the way up to cuts in 2002 with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and if Jesus gets rather too much CD space for the less pious fan there’s still acres of classic and classy Cash, that voice as warm and mellifluous as a well full of honey


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Coldplay
X&Y (EMI)

Another eagerly awaited return from yet another band with a massive debut and multi-million selling follow up to live up to and, like Oasis, the results are not at all bad. Like Oasis they’re on a hiding to nothing having achieved such conspicuous early success, and all the pressure that brings definitely can’t be conducive to creative song-writing, but songs like Low and Twisted Logic are easily as good as anything the band have done to date and whilst it’s not quite the U2 de-throning effort Chris Martin might have hoped for it’s still a damn good Coldplay album, and under the circumstances that’s no small achievement


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Dave Clarke
World Service 2 (Resist)

If anyone out there is considered drawing up a list of just who is still carrying the torch for techno and electro music in these dark ‘dance music is dead’ days then the mighty Dave Clarke should certainly be high up in the rankings, which even the most cursory listen to this Technics DZ 1200 mashed double CD mix proves. Whether squelching asymmetrically through the Electro CD or thudding like a bison on disco biscuits through the techno CD this glorious collection of his current favourite floor fillers proves that in the right hands dance music is still capable of raising temperatures, heartbeats and hackles


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Cream
I Feel Free – Ultimate Cream (Polydor)

Unlike many a so-called ‘ultimate collection’ this can in all honesty lay claim to such an epithet containing, as it does, pretty much all the recorded Cream output you might ever want to own. Split into Studio recordings, live recordings and for those of you that plump for the triple CD boxset the complete BBC Sessions these remastered classics now positively sparkle and crackle with energy, and contrary to opinions expressed elsewhere on this site prove Clapton, Bruce and Baker to be three of the finest musicians of their era, and Cream to be the first ‘true’ supergroup. Replace your old Vinyl now.


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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus (Mute)

Nick Cave has described this double CD set as "a work of genius" (the self-effacing, reticent old bugger), boasting songs which run the gamut of mad, bug-eyed testifying, out and out pop via gospel and beyond and finds Cave in the best vocal (and lyrical) form of his life. It also reveals the Bad Seeds - veering from swampy blues through widescreen melancholia and onto tight upbeat pummeling - to be one of the finest bands around. Far from missing the recently departed Blixa Bargeld the Seeds have coalesced into a fearsomely tight-nit outfit and created a brave, beautiful, grim, exhilarating, redemptive and incredibly ambitious collection.
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Chemical Brothers
Push The Button (Freestyle Dust/Virgin)

After a disappointing recent effort by the Prodigy and the retirement of Orbital there must have been a whole raft of clubbers of a certain age actively willing The Chemical Brothers to nail this mutha, hell dance music is about as popular a word around record companies and music papers of late little short of a serious return to form was gonna do. The good news? Mr Rowlands and Mr Simons have indeed nailed this mutha, and with the odd exception Push The Button does just that, bloc-rockin’ up a landslide of jack-hammer beat monsters. Welcome back guys, you’ve been missed.

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Cornel Campbell
Natty Dread - Anthology (Trojan)

Thought by many to have been one of the finest vocalists to ever to come out of Jamaica – an obvious contender, along with Dennis Brown, for Bob Marley’s crown - Cornel Campbell has actually been around since the 50’s, but it’s the ‘70s lovers/rockers era on which this collection concentrates. Both Bunny Lee and Tapper Zukie used Campbell’s Curtis Mayfield/Sam Cooke influenced falsetto to wondrous effect and pretty much anything you could want from this era (including cuts with Linval Thompson) are here including the hits Queen Of The Minstrel, Girl Of My Dreams and the wonderful Dance In A Greenwich Farm.


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Colleen
The Golden Morning Breaks (The Leaf Label)

Recorded, unlike her previous outing (Everyone Alive Wants Answers), with nary a sample in sight, this time around Cécile Schott populates The Golden Morning Breaks with a variety of gentle ululating, slowly evolving sounds using guitars, keyboards and slightly more obscure instruments like a Glass Harmonium. The results, entirely free of percussive assistance are, on the whole, enchanting, and if things occasionally veer towards the slightly whimsical the end results are never twee, the tendency to meander reigned in by limiting all but one of the tracks to sub six minute sketches (most clocking in around the three minute mark)..


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Phil Collins
The Platinum Collection (Virgin)

Long before Phil Collins became such an irritating cartoon oaf he was still Phil Collins, from Genesis, drummer with Brand X and skin whacker of choice to the likes of John Martyn, Brian Eno, John Cale, Robert Fripp and old ‘Percy’ Plant. Oh yes, Phil was the nuts, and his first three solo albums (two of which, Face Value and No Jacket Required are included on this 3-CD box) were really impressive. Liberally peppered with EWF’s brilliant Phoenix Horns and numerous top quality mates, all three albums still hold up brilliantly well today. Dump those prejudices and listen, you won’t be sorry.

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