Album

Neil Innes And The World – Lucky Planet

Post-Bonzos solo outing from 1970 for the future Ron Nasty

Anita Baker – My Everything

Eighties 'fireside soul' queen's first album in 10 years

Gold Chains & Sue Cie – When The World Was Our Friend

San Francisco art-punks' laptop party

Various Artists – From A Man Of Mysteries: A Steve Wynn Tribute

All-star salute to one of America's finest talents

Money Mark – Demo? Or Demolition?

All-too-brief mini album

Lisa Stansfield – The Moment

Sixth album unites Rochdale's biggest ever musical export with producer Trevor Horn

2Pac – 2Pac Live

Bootleg-quality live recordings from '96

Pet Shop Boys

PERFORMANCE

Various Artists – Twice As Nice

In the early '80s, energised by hip hop and electro, New Order produced a string of acts for Factory under their short-lived studio moniker Be Music, the results of which were greeted with indifference on these shores. Quite why is hard to fathom since, as Twice As Nice attests, tracks like "Sakura" by Section 25 and "Motherland" by RFATP were taut, bewitching slices of robo-funk that still excite today. The other producers herein (Arthur Baker, Mark Kamins and Donald "Dojo" Johnson of A Certain Ratio) all had their moments, too.

Various Artists – Maybe Someone Is Digging Underground

In 1967, John Peel used to justify the frequent inclusion of Bee Gees tracks on his legendary Perfumed Garden show by saying, "If you're going to copy anyone it might as well be The Beatles." He was right, of course, and this excellent comp is testimony both to that assertion and the undeniable endurance of the Gibb brothers' early material. Gerry Marsden, Billy J Kramer, Marmalade, Status Quo and Paul Jones are just some of the acts who elect to don the red velvet cape of love in order to deliver appropriately idiosyncratic interpretations of those delightfully eccentric songs.
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