Album

Doomed R&B singer's last great recordings

It's an odd time to evaluate Paul Simon's solo career in light of his successful 2004 reunion tour with Art Garfunkel. But maybe all that boomer nostalgia needs a little levity, and the sweep of his solo work proves Simon has never dwelled on the past. The Studio Recordings 1972-2000 is that rare bird—an attempt to collect an artist's entire oeuvre.

Clock-stopping, pulse-raising mega-pop

First new material in eight years from heartland rockers

"Downright disgusted and sick to the soul"of the music they were hearing out there, Hayseed Dixie cut 2001 debut A Hillbilly Tribute To AC/DC in two days, loaded on beer and bourbon. Now, from the (sadly) fictional valley of Deer Lick Holler, comes this: 12 Appalachian blasts through Kiss, Queen, Motörhead and more.

Atmospheric math-rock debut from Texan quartet

Twenty-ninth solo album from original Van Der Graaf generator

Uncut recounted the tale of Fleetwood Mac's improbable reunion at length in May last year (Take 72). Now come two DVD releases commemorating the resumption of rock'n'roll's longest-running soap opera. Live In Boston is a straightforward concert film shot in September 2003 on their first tour in five years. The band clearly miss Christine McVie, the only member of the classic mid-'70s line-up not to participate, and on one level, they offer up stadium rock of the blandest kind.

Exhaustive triple-disc anthology of '70s Philadelphian troubadour

Reprised fun and frolics from Fee, Prairie and the girls