Album

Shambling indie pop may be rather passé these days, but The Pastels have skilfully rebranded themselves and their associates as something akin to naïve artists. Central to this endeavour are Maher Shalal Hash Baz, a sprawling Japanese group who record for the Pastels' Geographic imprint and who pivot on Tori Kudo, a potter and former terrorist currently operating as a kind of whimsical Sun Ra. Recorded in East Kilbride, Blues Du Jour captures Kudo's haphazard troupe at their most accessible and endearing.

Roll over Jack Nitzsche and tell Bill Medley the news. Two dozen quality excursions into Echo Chamber Music

The shoegazing revival starts here. Apparently

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.

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.

Psycho-electronica-nothing to do with the other Donna

Enterprising debut from lo-fi New York singer-songwriter

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

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

If Scorsese skimps on the British blues in his box set, he compensates with a single spin-off disc focusing solely on Slowhand's contribution to the devil's music. Ten tracks trace Clapton's development through his days with John Mayall to Cream, Blind Faith and Derek And The Dominos. We also get "Rockin' Today" from the famous 1970 London sessions with Howlin' Wolf. There's nothing of more recent vintage, such as his 2001 collaboration with BB King. But it's still an impressive summary of Clapton's credentials as—surely—the greatest white blues man of them all.