Ex-Miaow frontwoman Cath Carroll possesses an extraordinary voice. Sensuous, dreamy and capable of uniting diverse influences with a cool grace, here acid folk, Smiths-esque pop, hippie rock and Latino club romps are blessed with Carroll’s hypnotic understatement and literate guile.

Even the 1980s MOR sheen can’t crack the serene spell. Yet beneath the fractured haziness, this is grown-up pop resounding with heartfelt warmth and steely seriousness.

Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry

WONDERMAN YEARS

TROJAN

Various Artists

FLASHING ECHO

TROJAN

Studio One Story focuses on the label once called ‘the Motown of Jamaica’. Featuring the productions of label founder Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd, this is available on CD or vinyl and comes with a 100-page booklet and a three-hour DVD featuring documentary and performance footage.

Wonderman Years spotlights Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s output between his years of jobbing at Studio One and the foundation of his own legendary Black Ark Studios, capturing the era when roots reggae mutated into dub.

Flashing Echo, meanwhile, documents the experimental heyday of dub from 1970 to 1980, with 41 tracks over two CDs.

A trolley-dash of Purple treasures: quad remixes, B-sides, bootleg live tapes, pre-Purple beat boom embarrassments and much more. Few comparable products better illustrate a band’s growth, and this is the ultimate testament to just what made Deep Purple that little bit classier than their metallic compadres, Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy aside.

“Highway Star” and “Lazy” remind one just how unflaggingly inventive an improviser Ritchie Blackmore could be, and how lan Paice was probably Britain’s finest straight rock drummer ever. Flamboyant, excessive, expensive, but never less than compelling. Very Purple, really.

The Beatles, The Doors, The Bee Gees, Curtis, Kris and Willie etc, are treated to a first-class passage to heaven thanks to Green’s matchless ability to inhabit his material. Buy it for yourself, soul brothers and sisters.

The Prisoners

IN FROM THE COLD

BIG BEAT

The Prisoners spearheaded an early ’80s Medway garage scene that spat in the eye of synth-pop ubiquity. Their fourth LP was released just as their parent label, Stiff, went bust in 1986. A souped-up basement sweat where Dexys’ Stax meets The Hives’ urgent swagger. The Charlatans, for one, were eternally indebted.

Hamell On Trial

MERCUROYALE: THE BEST OF THE MERCURY YEARS

EVANGELINE

Hamell, with his stinging vocal attack, takes prisoners and then invites them to walk on scorched earth. He’s not all spleen; there are black comic moments here. If an anarcho-punk with a Bill Hicks sense of absurdity appeals then Ed’s waiting down a dark alley for you.

Joe Gibbs & The Professionals

NO BONES FOR THE DOGS

PRESSURE SOUNDS

Combining heavy rhythms with a surprisingly light touch, the powerhouse production duo of Joe Gibbs and Errol Thompson found success with Dennis Brown and Althea and Donna. No Bones…, though, draws on earlier dubs (’74-’79), with Culture’s classic “Two Sevens Clash” rhythms forming the backbone.

Aim

STARS ON 33

FAT CITY

Barrow’s Andy Turner rolls out his debut mix CD and, true to his production style, it’s full of chunky jazz-laced instrumentals. Despite an over-reliance on sister label Grand Central’s catalogue, it’s the washed-out psychedelia of “We All Together” and “King Biscuit” which prove the pick.

Stereo MCs

RETROACTIVE

ISLAND

Retroactive traces Stereo MCs’ career from hip hop wannabes to crusty-edged funk apostles. “Lost In Music” is the key track, bridging the transition from their ill-advised early incarnation to the heyday of “Connected” and the triumph of their loose-limbed shuffle.

The abiding concern of the Marsalis brothers has always been that jazz be recognised as the classical music of black culture. Thus it’s only natural the first release on their own label should be this homage to classic pieces by four jazz modernists: Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane and John Lewis. The scope is ambitious (Rollins’ “The Freedom Suite”, Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”) and the approach intense. Music to admire, perhaps, more than enjoy.

Horace Andy got fed up waiting five years for Massive Attack to make the follow-up to Mezzanine, so he took himself off to Jamaica to make his own album of classic, ganja-fuelled ’70s-style ‘conscious’ reggae with felicitous echoes of even earlier ska. There’s a magnificent cover of Gregory Isaacs’ “Night Nurse” which puts Mick Hucknall to shame, and an improbable but enjoyable version of America’s “Horse With No Name”. For the rest, it’s Horace’s original one-drop roots rockers (co-written with producer ‘Stepper’ Braird), as if dancehall and ragga had never been invented.

Tom Paxton was there back in the 1960s in Greenwich Village with Dylan, Ochs et al. Yet despite songs such as “Last Thing On My Mind” and “Ramblin’ Boy”, he always seemed a lightweight talent in comparison. Perhaps it’s because there are so few originals from the era remaining that we’re now able to appreciate him more. Whatever the reason, Looking For The Moon is a lovely, understated record full of relaxed folk and country-tinged tunes with a simple and easy charm. We probably didn’t need “The Bravest”?yet another 9/11 tribute. But “Homebound Train” and the title track are fine songs in anyone’s book.

The press release refers to Lerche’s “almost Bowie-esque vocal style”, although in reality it’s far closer to Neil Hannon. Indeed, if you stripped The Divine Comedy of everything that made them interesting, you might end up with something like Faces Down, an unremarkable collection of acoustic/indie musings on matters of clich

Groomed for mainstream success, Big Brovaz?an eight-strong London collective?rival their transatlantic contemporaries for marketing ambition and bling-bling blarney. The concept is shameless, too, matching up two producers, three male rappers and three female singers to create a lucrative hybrid of OutKast and Destiny’s Child. Sadly, the music doesn’t measure up. While the women sing decently, the rapping is unexceptional: it would have helped had they understood there was more to OutKast than flash and clowning. There’s little here to give their US idols sleepless nights.

Between 2000 and 2001, French DJ Bob Sinclar (the brains behind Jane Fonda-sampling “Gym Tonic”) and his buddies (including British act Liquid People, who also featured on Sinclar’s fine Cerrone remix package) put out a series of ethnic-influenced singles, crossing African rhythms with digital futurism. Although over 100,000 copies of this album have already been sold abroad, the UK is being treated to a deluxe edition with an additional disc mixed by DJ Gregory. Superb.

Hoggboy’s physical home is Sheffield, but their spiritual mecca is a hybrid of MC5’s Detroit and Ramones’New York. Their credentials are suitably top-notch, both sartorial (scuffed-up leathers and denim, unruly mops) and musical (Pistols legend Chris Thomas produces eight numbers; Uncut favourite Richard Hawley the other three), and there’s enough sneering garage bluster on show?the wildly crashing “Urgh!!!” and “So Young”; the feedback snarl of “Mile High Club”?for justification. The tunes sometimes lose their way, but there’s just enough belligerent suss left poking through the rubble.

Williams’ seventh solo outing is no less than a romantic, star-canopied waltz through a cluster of timeless classics wrung from the rose-tinted golden dawn of Broadway and beyond. Cosying up to the likes of “Moon River”, “Over The Rainbow” and “Blue Skies” in her own imperfect, easy-on-the-helium warble (somewhere between Minnie Mouse and Mary Margaret O’Hara), Williams suffuses these old chestnuts with warmth and wide-eyed wonder, like a child tumbling into love with the world for the first time. Wrapped up in gorgeous, velvety jazz arrangements, moments like “My Funny Valentine” caress the ear like sonnets.

Williams’ awkward grace proves irresistible. “Over The Rainbow” features affecting piano notes and Petra Haden’s lovely strings, while “Keep Sweeping Cobwebs Off The Moon” is like something The Handsome Family might creep around: a farting tuba, clarinet and tin-pot drums painting a picture of ’40s authenticity so striking that you can almost see that neon carnival pulling into town through rain-smeared windows. Of course, Williams’ wavering vibrato isn’t to everyone’s palate, but for those already smitten, this is rewarding stuff. Try listening to the closer, “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans” (conjuring up memories of visiting her Judy Garland/Hoagy Carmichael-loving maternal grandmother back home) without weeping like a baby.

Since their eponymous 2000 debut, Nickel Creek seem to have undergone a Popstars-esque makeover, all tousled barnets, wide-leg denims and moody photo ops. The vision, however, remains gloriously unaffected. To believe music this steeped in warm country earth yet determinedly shorn of revivalism flows from three sprites barely out of their teens is some feat. Again guided by producer Alison Krauss, This Side expands on their intricate acoustic shanties by occasionally plugging in the amps and stretching bluegrass, indie and folk over a thrillingly realised canvas. And still not a banjo in sight.

Prior to her finest solo record so far (Blacklisted), Case recorded Canadian Amp in her kitchen with a bunch of Chicago cohorts, initially pressing a tour/mail order CD only. Eight elegant slices of noirish country, these unadorned interpretations of Canuck talent (save for Hank Williams'”Alone And Forsaken” and two originals) rely on the sheer expressiveness of Case’s luminous voice for their power. Lisa Marr’s “In California” is simplicity itself, but Case’s own “Make Your Bed” and “Favorite” (Brett Sparks on back-ups) steal the show. Not bad for a stint of housework. As is noted on the sleeve: “You can do it in your underwear.”

Tributes, hook-ups and jams with the famous are nothing new for Willie Hugh Nelson, but as he starts to live out the refrains of his beloved old favourites like “September Song” and “Stardust”, the listener is permitted to indulge him a few poignant musical recollections. Closer to three score years and 10 than any man who spends so much time on the road has a right to be, ole Willie’s stop-over at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is not without a few creaky interludes?though these are due to the peculiar choice of some guests, rather than any fading of Nelson’s eye.

Stars & Guitars won’t ever figure in a long time fan’s list of great Willie-isms. It might be churlish to deny artists like Sheryl Crow, Rob Thomas and Jon Bon Jovi the chance to bask in the reflected glory of the bandana’d balladeer, but their contributions to “Whiskey River”, “Maria (Shut Up And Kiss Me)”and “Always On My Mind”won’t trouble devotees of the originals.

Nelson is such a good-hearted type himself that he’s prepared to let the youngsters take the plaudits. The concert is at its best when the forced professionalism of the hangers-on is replaced by genuine rawhide raggedness.

A truly blowsy version of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”, and an even more frayed take on The Rolling Stones'”Dead Flowers”, complete with real star guitarist Keith Richards, are the must-hear moments. Lovers of old country and alt.country alike will also need to check out Nelson and old buddy Ray Price reprising the classic “Night Life”, one of his darkest moments of the soul, an integrity-packed duet on Rodney Crowell’s “Till I Gain Control Again”with the saintly Emmylou Harris, and a suitably smoky collaboration with Ryan Adams on “The Harder They Come”.

Reservations aside, this item will be brought out on special occasions, even if it’s followed immediately by some real Shotgun Willie.

Zabrinksi sound old beyond their years. Blending Warp-style click-beat electronica with cosmic psychedelia, they’ve absorbed some hugely potent music. More importantly, they’ve reshaped it their way.

Veering between icy atmospherics (“Blen”), future-folk introspection (“Switzerland”) and ripe pop perfection (“Raid The Farm”), Zabrinski wrestle ambition with ability and make bold eclecticism sound easy. Brain-scrambling yet assuredly elegant, these precocious teenagers look set to usurp Super Furry Animals as Wales’ leading wide-eyed adventurists.

That the idea for a Fela Kuti tribute album originally came from a member of The Roots shows just how pervasive the influence of Nigeria’s legendary inventor of Afrobeat has been. Macy Gray, D’Angelo, Nile Rodgers, Kelis and Money Mark are all here alongside such African musicians as Baaba Maal, Fela’s son Femi Kuti, his old drummer Tony Allen and Manu Dibango. Many of the best moments come when the two camps combine, as on the Afro-soul stew created by Femi with D’Angelo and Gray on “Water No Get Enemy”. If you’re unfamiliar with the music of one of the true giants of African music, this is a good place to start.

Thin stuff, this, from the latest hip hop producer who fancies himself as an artist in his own right. Swizz Beatz may be in demand for his jumpy, uncomplicated tracks. As a rapper, he makes Dr Dre sound like Rakim. Worse, the myriad guest slots?Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Eve, Noreaga et al?often resemble outtakes, so that the stand-out performances come from visiting ragga MC Bounty Killer and a comparative unknown, Styles.

DMX, Swizz’s most potent collaborator in the past, doesn’t even bother to turn up. For most fans, a clumsy tag team of Metallica and Ja Rule will provide scant compensation.