Album

Second solo album from former Squeeze man

Second irony-heavy opus from leaders' wives

Already Uncut-endorsed via two fine LPs as head of wistful country types Horse Stories, Burke's solo debut finds him in intimate, hushed repose. His acoustic guitar fingering is highly expressive, be it woven into delicate sound webs on the love-torn "Cigarettes", delving into the country-blues of "Long Face" or lighting up "Which Train's She On?" with flashes of slide. Burke's voice remains his crowning glory, though, wringing nuance from the simplest of melodies.

The Crowded House siblings back together for the first time in nine years

This frustrating compilation trawls the archives from the early '40s to the late '80s to assemble 20 of the divine Miss Lee's greatest film and TV performances. While some clips are understandably washed-out, Lee's wide-ranging voice is black-coffee-and-honey throughout. What lets the set down is the decision to cut gushing tributes from celebrity fans into the performances. That aside, fine stuff.

Legendary 'bootleg' recording of the Velvets on home turf, taped just before Lou Reed went home to mama and then became the godfather of gory glam

Soft-pop group so good Stereolab named a song after them

First album of joint material since 1976's Whistling Down The Wire

Southern gothic via Manchester

Following the success of 2003's inaugural compilation, the follow-up sways to the same delicious white-boy groove. The cream of '60s/'70s southern country is here—from Tony Joe White to Dan Penn—torn between smalltown escape and pining for home. White's "High Sheriff Of Calhoun Parish" drifts in on a haze of woodsmoke; Bobby Gentry's "Fancy" is stifling humidity personified; Townes Van Zandt gets alarmingly funky on the early "Black Widow Blues" (1966); Shirl Milete's "Big Country Blues" is a lyrical feast.