Forget J-Lo?on this absolute jewel of a record, Teena Marie redefined the boundaries of female pop. The primary-coloured explosion of the title track suggests a familiarity with the mischief of Ze Records, as well as a clear foretaste of what Prince would achieve later that decade. Indeed, future Paisley Park prot

Just as the jam, and even The Style Council, exercised quality control when it came to B-sides, the solo Weller was similarly shrewd in his choice of extra tracks, even after he traded the romantic 45 rpm seven-inch for the sterile CD single.

As compiled over Fly On The Wall’s first two discs, his non-album off-cuts between 1991’s “Into Tomorrow” and 2000’s “Sweet Pea” fall into three categories. First there are ones that got away, like 1995’s “A Year Late”?a harsh jab of acoustic melancholy which might have closed Stanley Road (instead it became the B-side of “You Do Something To Me”). Or 1997’s Heavy Soul-era “Shoot The Dove”, a mid-tempo rock spiritual which would have made a terrific single. Typical of Weller’s maturing repertoire, both deserve inclusion on any career best-of.

Secondly, there are instrumentals. Eight of them, from the early-’90s Acid Jazz hangover of “That Spiritual Feeling” to the block rockin’ beats of “Steam” (its charging drum loop adapted from Stanley Road’s “Whirlpool’s End”) and the E-wary funkadelia of ’97’s “So You Want To Be A Dancer”.

Thirdly, there’s remixes. Portishead’s spy-thriller distortion of “Wild Wood” (from a 1994 NME EP) still sounds great. Ditto Noonday Underground’s sinister shake-up of Heliocentric’s “There’s No Drinking After You’re Dead”.

Finally, there’s the Button Downs (reverse of Pin-Ups?geddit?) covers CD; ad hoc homages to CSNY (“Ohio”), Dylan (“I Shall Be Released”) and others. As well as unreleased takes on Ben Harper’s “Waiting On An Angel” and The Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down”, there’s “Instant Karma”, only previously available on last year’s Uncut Lennon tribute compilation (Take 66). It’s an intriguing epilogue, though Fly On The Wall is merited on the strength of its first two thirds alone, where Weller emerges as a prolific songwriter whose will to experiment has proved integral to his survival. The 10-year diary of a changing man, this is compulsive listening.

After his sizzling stint with Bowie, Mick Ronson recorded two solo albums before joining Mott The Hoople and going on to collaborate with Ian Hunter in a recording partnership that lasted 15 years. His third and final solo album, Heaven And Hull, was released a year after his tragic early death in 1993. This specially priced compilation offers 10 tracks without documenting their original provenance or providing writing credits. Hard to see who this package is aimed at.

Various Artists

POOR MAN’S HEAVEN: WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN VOL 6

BOTH BLUEBIRD/RCA

After The White Stripes, it’s normal for young bands today to treat the blues as if it were a fashion accessory. Shame on them, since, as both these impeccable discs reiterate, it was once a life-or-death catharsis for luckless social lepers without so much as a pot to piss in. Take This Hammer captures the great Leadbelly fresh out of stir in 1940 and wary of “TB Blues”, a common concern in the Depression era as also detailed on Poor Man’s Heaven. Poverty, plague, failed crops and the gamut of human misery abound, typified by Harry “Mac” McClintock’s divinely deadpan “Hallelujah, I’m A Bum”?75 years old but absolutely spellbinding.

Some albums are worth keeping for one track alone?in the case of this compilation, it’s Billy MacKenzie’s shattering piano-accompanied rendition of Dave Berry’s “The Crying Game” perhaps the bleakest thing his tormented voice recorded. The remainder of the album sees him tackling songs from all phases of the Associates’ career, including their then-current album Perhaps, as well as aimless covers of things like “Heart Of Glass”, which remind the listener of the hole left by the departure of Alan Rankine.

Mr MacKenzie’s voice is as mischievously moving as ever, but, as with everything he did after Sulk, the material let him down. There but for the grace of Bono walked he.

Originally issued in 1976 as In Concert From Newcastle, this live recording of The Animals at Newcastle’s Club A-Go-Go in December 1963 was made by R&B impresario Giorgio Gomelsky on an Ampex tape recorder for the purpose of capturing some of the excitement the group was generating in its pre-fame period. The Newcastle dates are supplemented by some tracks with The Animals backing bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson. Raw and rough, this music offers a rare chance to check out the early-’60s British R&B boom, and will appeal to dedicated collectors.

WORDS OF EXPECTATION: BBC SESSIONS

SANCTUARY

A loose best-of from their Fontana years (1990 to ’92, or Extricate to Code: Selfish), The War Against Intelligence is rife with classics (“Telephone Thing”, “Free Range”) but ultimately it’s another superfluous addition to The Fall reissue overkill. Unlike the double BBC bonanza Words Of Expectation, though, it’s a slightly rum affair. We’ve their first five Peel sessions from 1978 to ’81, then a jump of 14 years to two more in ’95 and ’96. The concept makes no sense (1984’s rare title track isn’t even here), though the content itself is superb and the 1980 session (“Container Drivers” etc) is simply genius.

In 1965 Lonnie Youngblood (aka The Prince Of Harlem) met Jimi Hendrix when the pair were serving it up for Curtis Knight’s various R&B ensembles. The two men hit it off sufficiently well to try out a slew of period-piece studio jams?”Under The Table”, “Wipe The Sweat”, “Goodbye Bessie Mae” et al?which form the bedrock of a collector’s must-have that may be too raw in the main for latter-day Hendrix fans.

IMPOSSIBLE PRINCESS

BOTH BMG

Kylie’s career has mostly depended on tabloid smoke and mirrors; her faux gay-icon survival sustained by editors’ insistence on the illusory perfection of her arse as much as by rare good singles like “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. That said, ’94’s Kylie Minogue, her debut for dance label Deconstruction, had moments of substance, like Arab-orchestral smash “Confide In Me”. Classical overtures, St Etienne sessions and Prefab Sprout’s “If You Don’t Love Me” on the extra CD sketch the pop folly that nearly was. Impossible Princess from ’96 (renamed Kylie Minogue after Diana’s death), including Minogue’s first lyrics and two Manic Street Preachers collaborations, is more experimental, with less tunes.

The story of this female Atlantan trio encompasses arson, excess, business wrangles and tragedy (Lisa ‘Left-Eye’ Lopes’ death in a car crash last year). Surviving this soap opera, however, is some great pop?especially this, their 1994 second album. Crazysexycool sold 11 million in the US and remains a seductive fusion of R&B with hip hop, giving production breaks to future key players like Jermaine Dupri, Puff Daddy and OutKast affiliates Organized Noise (who helm “Waterfalls”). Some smoochy hackwork, of course, but the slick environs never entirely tame TLC’s feisty vocals.

Those who remember little of Secret Affair beyond this double CD’s titular anthem of the ’79 ‘mod revival’ will find almost nothing to convince them that these East End also-rans deserved greater acclaim. Weirdly, “Time For Action” itself is presented in its diluted ‘US Remix’ format (sans yobbish outro). The rest is average, ’60s-centric pub rock (save the terrifying Dave Gilmour guitar territory of “Seen That Movie Too”), though the sleevenotes by vocalist Ian Page and guitarist Dave Cairns should please parka-clad nostalgists.

While many British rock bands were turning to love, peace and harmony in ’67, Farren’s Deviants were heading into bleaker proto-punk territory with MC5-style garage psychedelia. This package features tracks from the band’s defiant debut Ptooff! (one of the first independently made and distributed British rock albums, selling 10,000 copies before Decca picked it up), ’68’s methadone-fuelled Disposable, and their ’69 swan song, No 3. When the band split later that year (the remnants mutating into The Pink Fairies), Farren went on to be a solo artist, the editor of anti-establishment publication IT, and producer of the comic Nasty Tales.