Thin white rope

Twentieth solo album and full-scale return to form from the artist formerly known as TR-I

Already a boys' own classic, Kevin MacDonald's award-winning doc about two foolhardy Brit mountaineers scaling the 21,000ft Andean peak of Peru's Siula Grande is almost hideously gripping. Brilliantly paced, Touching The Void re-enacts the climb—and the descent, more to the point—with actors Brendan Mackey and Nicholas Aaron. But much of the drama lies in the memories of climbers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, the interviews with whom are candid and vulnerable.

Harrison's six albums, recorded 1976-1992 on his own Dark Horse label, available individually with extra tracks and as a deluxe box set with bonus DVD

Return of the Mac—another crazy episode in the longest-running soap opera in rock'n'roll

Alan McGee may have had bigger fish to fry in 1994 (namely the era-defining debut of five scallies from Burnage), but that didn't stop him investing well-spent time and money on this, The Cramps' sixth album proper. A good job, too, since Flamejob is a blast; its tunes every bit as colourful as their preposterous titles (eg; "Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs"). If anything, it sounds even more current today, with The White Stripes reigning supreme, than it did 10 years ago in the shadow of their mono-browed labelmates.

NYC's queens of kitsch mine classic-rock vault

Seventeen singles that reached pole position in the UK, US or Europe, plus new R Kelly ballad

Dark, melancholic 1974 solo offering from the thinking person's Byrd

Sellers heads for the White House in perhaps his finest screen performance