Album

Josh Ritter – Golden Age Of Radio

Released to acclaim in the US early last year, 26-year-old Ritter's debut earned him support slots with Dylan and the admiration of Joan Baez. Now available in the UK, this is softly rolling roots-folk with the warmth of John Prine and a twist of Richard Buckner. Townes Van Zandt and Nick Drake ("You've Got The Moon"; "Drive Away") are obvious touchstones, too, but ldaho-born Ritter's lugubrious stealth is rooted in his own earth, addressing the paradox between the allure of the road and the pull of tradition.

Donna Summer And Ove-Naxx – Donna Summer Vs

Psycho-electronica-nothing to do with the other Donna

Cas McCombs – Not The Way

Enterprising debut from lo-fi New York singer-songwriter

Pearls Before Swine – Jewels Were The Stars

Lavishly annotated four-disc box collates albums 3-6 from Tom Rapp's gently stoned psych-folk collective

The Free Design

First and third LPs from contemporaries of The Association and The 5th Dimension

This Month We’re Being Buried In Blues And Roots

Probably the best blues album in the world...ever! Martin Scorsese's seven-part TV series on the blues has had mixed reviews in America. But it's impossible to fault the accompanying five-CD box set, which must qualify as the most comprehensive blues compilation ever released. With 116 tracks chronologically sequenced and expertly annotated, there's hardly a big name in the genre who isn't represented. Nevertheless, the set raises fundamental questions about why anybody should still bother listening to the blues.

64 Dolour Question

Five-CD epitaph includes 64 never-before-heard tracks

Various Artists – You Are Here

This timid compilation suffers from the eternal failing of dance's left field in mistaking an imitation of Eno, Reich etc for a genuine response. And where Herbert is a maverick provocateur, making music from McDonalds wrappers or lurching into revisionist big band music, his prodigies are more faint-hearted. The majority of cuts (including those from Herbert himself) are sleepy and heavy-lidded-boring, even. There's nothing wrong with this LP if you like smoochy post-dance or cocktail jazz, but it's hardly sensual or murderous.

Billy Bob Thornton – The Edge Of The World

The Man Who Wasn't There's second solo album

Desert Storm

Anthology of ex-Jayhawk's downhome career shift
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