State of grace

Athenian trio deliver alternative state of the union address on sombre 14th album

Birth of the Chinese empire, with jaw-dropping visuals

It's an odd time to evaluate Paul Simon's solo career in light of his successful 2004 reunion tour with Art Garfunkel. But maybe all that boomer nostalgia needs a little levity, and the sweep of his solo work proves Simon has never dwelled on the past. The Studio Recordings 1972-2000 is that rare bird—an attempt to collect an artist's entire oeuvre.

Texan noiseniks battle big beards and beer monsters to find life in the old rock yet

K7! Given her wonderfully insolent and vital contributions to Matthew Herbert's previous musical endeavours (most notably on 2001's Bodily Functions), this debut album from singer Dani Siciliano is long overdue. Indeed, the record has taken some three years to come together, Siciliano having invested in a basic home studio and learnt from scratch how to assemble the 11 performances featured here. And how do they sound?

Anthology of ex-Jayhawk's downhome career shift

Five-CD epitaph includes 64 never-before-heard tracks

Featuring the first new material from former My Bloody Valentine fulcrum Kevin Shields in 12 years, this is a bit special. Air's soundtrack to Sofia Coppola's 1999 directorial debut The Virgin Suicides proved to be one of the most durable of recent years (and it's been simultaneously reissued by the same label), and this—for her new film—comfortably matches that for understated, dreamy grandeur.

Prefab Sprout mainman releases extraordinary "talking book" opus

First solo album in a decade from world's most famous producer