Album

Bob Mould at his belligerent best...

Quiet ones from the quiet one...

Moving epitaph for The Blue Nile’s melancholic grace...

Historically fascinating post-Beatles mish-mash...

Sepia-toned friends-and-family set from the living legend...

Unique '60s classic remastered with added depth and bonus material...

The Baltimore duo stitches a blue velvet tapestry...

Uncle Barking! Essex Bard and Jeff Tweedy salute Woody Guthrie...

In their early years, it was easy to dismiss My Bloody Valentine as just another cutie band, anoraked, bobbed and locked into an indie obsession with a 60s ideal of perfect pop on singles like “Sunny Sundae Smile”. Then in 1987 founder member Dave Conway left and was replaced by Bilinda Butcher, who reportedly wowed the group’s Kevin Shields, Colm Ó Coisóig and Debbie Googe by singing Dolly Parton’s “Bargain Store” at her audition.

As long as you’ve been briefed on Yorkshire local history, you know where you are with Richard Hawley. His 2009 album Truleove’s Gutter took its name from the site of an 18th century tavern whose effluent spilled into the River Don. His 2005 Coles Corner memorialized a junction outside a Sheffield Department store that was a rendez-vous for 1950s couples.