Album

Delicious debut album for rainy days and Mondays

Many tentacled, notably uninhibited disco punks

Baroque release from NY anti-folknik

Overdue reappraisal of bluegrass' wildest old buck

Rare recordings from '60s English troubadour

The original grunge-pop heroes' '88 tour footage plus essential documentaries

Eighth LP from north country boys, recorded in 10 days

Big beat entrepreneurs uncover alt.country gem

The good doctor uncovers sprawling, mysterious history of his native city

Last year's Hey Harmony cemented Thomas Hansen's reputation, but the ex-postman and Norwegian Third Division footballer has dismissed it as the work of a man who'd "lost himself somewhere on the road, together with alcohol and marijuana." On this fourth opus, he's wrested control from the demons and emerges bolder, though perhaps less darkly alluring. The finest moments remain wondrous, though: "Silence Break Your Heart"'s spookily ethereal undertow; the strained vocal kink of "Waltzing Around Insane".