James

Alt.country debut with southern California leanings

Cherry-picked selection from original Mac man who had the blues word perfect

The Big Star flew solo, jumped back to his Southern roots, then went live in London

For a man so steeped in the honeyed hickory grit of Gram Parsons, newcomers to Bruntnell could be forgiven for mistaking his English 'burb origins for Bakersfield, Ca. New Zealand-born, Surrey-raised and westward soul-bound, he finally drew acclaim with 2000's superb third LP, Normal For Bridgwater. Its follow-up is equally fine, studded with guitars (courtesy of 21-year-old James Walbourne and Son Volt's Eric Heywood), faint washes of piano, peals of steel and a forlorn, imagistic delivery and way around a melody reminiscent of Joe Pernice.

Two CDs of remixes from the eternally bloody-minded Richard D James

Baltimore freak lets it all hang out

Wide-ranging anthology of classic gospel tracks

Further helpings of articulate and soulful intensity from highly-acclaimed British singer-songwriter on the follow-up to his Mercury Prize-nominated debut from 2001, Here Be Monsters

First UK releases for currently hot band

Scorsese's much-anticipated, brutal epic blazes beautifully across the screen