Various Artists

James Brown-inspired fare from Ohio to Oklahoma

Twenty-four songs which inspired the stoned psychedelic meanderings of Spacemen 3

Compilation of wistful folk delights

Cliche-free avant word-hop from the Bay Area's finest

Meticulously eccentric compilation of psychedelic rare groove

13-track compilation features newly discovered track and a little dubious tinkering

Superbly packaged box set of all five Garcia solo discs, plus oodles of outtakes

Forty songs extracted from records found in the Beatle's portable jukebox

First 'solo' album appended with Beserkley Chartbusters tracks including "Roadrunner (Once)", and the one with "Egyptian Reggae" on it

It's a neat concept, seeing how a particular culture regurgitated Los Beatles. Portugal emerges as a tryer: chap singing through his forehead on "I'll Follow The Sun", "When I'm 64" played on a wasp, a total botch made of "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" (which is bollocks anyway, to be fair) and a surprisingly loose grasp of rhythm all round. But, occasionally, Portugal triumphs: an atmospheric "Blackbird", a surfing "I'll Get You" and a delightful fado reading of "Hey Jude" taken at a canter on the pretty Portuguese guitarra.