Album

Divine Restoration

So, the greatest album never made has finally been made. Thirty-eight years on from its conception, Brian Wilson has painstakingly gathered up all the shattered mosaic pieces, and with the help of the best little tribute ensemble in the world, The Wondermints, has produced a reasonably faithful facsimile of the bold, ambitious masterpiece that nearly cost him his sanity back in 1967. The resulting work, rigorously road-tested during this year's tour dates, is a 17-track song suite in three movements which clocks in at a second over 47 minutes.

Matthew Sweet – Living Things

Nebraskan psych-popper hits form

Julian Fane – Special Forces

Twenty-one-year-old Canadian's debut of emotive electronica

State River Widening Cottonhead – Vertical Form

Government-endorsed, panic-reducing instrumentals from Wisdom Of Harry moonlighters

Six By Seven – 04

East Midlands space cadets unveil heavy guitar weaponry

Elvis Costello With The London Symphony Orchestra – Il Sogno

Rock purists derided Costello when he first flirted with classical forms 11 years ago, but his Brodsky Quartet collaboration The Juliet Letters still sounds like a bold career swerve. It could even be considered a punk statement in its bare-faced arrogance (stop sniggering at the back). Countless eclectic excursions later, Costello returned to Shakespeare in 2000 when an Italian dance troupe commissioned him to score a ballet based on A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Glen Matlock & The Philistines – On Something

Onetime Pistol's third solo LP. Oh dear...

Various Artists – All Good Clean Fun

A three-CD journey through the English underground of 1967-1975

Dwight Yoakam – The Very Best Of…

Roundup of Kentucky country boy's 1986-2003 years

Glittering Prize

Five-disc box set crammed full of unreleased gems
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