Album

Kinky

From Monterey, Mexico, Kinky's extraordinary debut album was recently shortlisted for the American equivalent of the Mercury Music Prize, and it's easy to hear why. The quartet mix funk, house, rock-en-Español, salsa, hip hop and mariachi into an anarchic musical fusion that has inevitably been dubbed 'decks-Mex'. Think the Chemical Brothers meet Flaco Jiminez and you'll get the idea. The lyrics are fascinating, too, although they're almost entirely in Spanish. "San Antonio" is about a local saint, who, when hung upside down, helps women to catch boyfriends.

Mick Turner – Moth

Fine Australian guitar sketches

Various Artists – Digital Disco

Avant-electro types dazzled by mirrorballs

Aqualung

Former frontman of The 45's and Ruth strikes gold

Dreams Never End

Four CDs of Mancunian magic from New Order's back pages, including cherry-picked album tracks, B-sides, rarities, remixes and live performances

23 Skidoo

Singles and rarities collections from pioneering punk funksters

The Pretty Things – Singles As & Bs

R&B/psychedelic/rock odyssey charted in 45s

This Month In Americana

Beguiling collection of sepia-tinged ephemera spanning 1993-2002 from LA songstress, sometime Creekdipper and full-time fairer half of Mark Olson

Erin McKeown – Distillation

Brilliant debut, released early 2003, from US roots singer

Shy FX & T-Power – Set It Off

Return of drum'n'bass, weirdly
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