Album

Another random trawl through the Whistle Test archives proves perhaps just too random—it's unlikely fans of Half Man Half Biscuit (their 1986 TV debut) or The Jam ('78's "'A' Bomb...") will be tempted by strange bedfellows like Supertramp and Chris Rea. So something for everyone but far too diverse a range to fully satisfy any camp.

New wave god turned worldbeat evangelist gets opera bug

Lovelorn pop from Chicago's Navin brothers

Nu-soul from old funk head making solo debut

The doyen of French hip hop returns with his sixth album

Sublime selection of Shangri-Las-style also-rans

Solo marvels from the Slint, Tortoise and Zwan maestro

It's too much to digest in one sitting—three discs, seven hours and almost 100 songs, released in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Jacques Brel's death. But it's fascinating to watch him turn so rapidly from the hesitant, gauche performer of the late-'50s into the charismatic equivalent of a Gallic Sinatra.

Neat narcotic nihilism from Norway

Electronica doesn't even begin to describe it...