Album

Auspicious, genre-defying debut from London-based polymath and sometime Telefunken/Hefner collaborator

Intensely moving, Simon Raymonde-co-produced follow-up to 2001's Lido

The hip hop underground goes uptown

Awesome trance-rock newcomers

Both Jim Krewson and Jennie Benford were raised in tradition-steeped communities (in Pennsylvania and Vermont respectively), rebelling into punk before reconnecting with roots years later. Their third album smudges the boundaries of bluegrass and old-time (fixin' a party between Scruggs-style, three-finger banjo and orthodox clawhammer) to strike a picture of high'n' lonesome authenticity. Aided by the Pinetops' propulsively rhythmic playing, the marriage of Benford's clear mountain preen and Krewson's hickory yelp is life-enhancing.

Reissue of US indie icons' undervalued third album

Definitive 52-track compilation spanning 1958-1972

Marden Hill CADAQUEZ Various Artists THE COOL MIKADO ALL ÉL In the '80s, Mike Alway's él records were a beacon of intelligent perversity, elegantly absurd and non-commercial.

First UK releases for currently hot band

Moody, brooding album by LA hipsters