Album

Misunderstood pop maverick's heyday ('71-'75) and later forays reassessed

In tandem with her recent, more rock-oriented collaborative albums (corralling everyone from Damon Albarn and Jarvis Cocker to Billy Corgan), Faithfull has pursued her other career as a torch singer, the regal ruin of her pristine '60s folk voice now the perfect expression of seen-it-all wisdom/ennui. In the company of pianist Paul Trueblood and at the end of a world tour (recorded at the International Jazz Festival in '97), she's bawdy, wry and always wrenchingly expressive: in short, quite the best exponent of this sort of thing.

Outstanding neo-classicism from German composer/pianist

That's as in Robert, the devil, and a hellhound, too...

Belated arrival of American indie duo's second album

Second from Athens, Georgia quartet led by R.E.M. remixer/Bright Eyes engineer Andy LeMaster

Doomed US troubadour with the gentle touch

Disappointing documentary about the making of Zevon's final album

Tenth solo LP from former Police guitarist

Yet another live album from that model of maturity, Library Lou