Blur

Eclectic debut from talented Irish auteur

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

Debut album from spiritual kin of Grandaddy and Flaming Lips

Last year, lambchop were commissioned by the San Francisco International Film Festival to perform a live score to soundtrack FW Murnau's. 1927 proto-film noir masterpiece Sunrise. It so happened that Lambchop's leader, Kurt Wagner, had already embarked upon a self-imposed mission to write a song a day. As a result of both endeavours he ended up with so many songs that there are now two new Lambchop albums, each containing 12 songs. So is this the alt.country equivalent of OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below? Not quite.

Incandescent instrumental rock from Austin, Texas

Extraordinary hotel-room musings in vinyl-only form

Back in January, Arthur Lee sold out two nights at the Royal Festival Hall. They were magical shows, Lee performing '67's classic Forever Changes in its entirety, complete with horns and strings. Some complained on the night about the sound balance, but there's no problem with the quality here. Lee's in celebratory mood, as he and his backing band LA psychedelicists Baby Lemonade storm through classics like "Bummer In The Summer" in a blur of brass and strings. Superlative stuff.

"Thirteen big, salty tears," blurbs Black. "Like 13 little black dogs just born... ready to howl at the world"

Inspired world music outing is first album in six years from former Specials frontman Hall

Three days of mixed magic and Madness in leafy Surrey, from Thea Gilmore, Love, Cosmic Rough Riders, Alice Cooper, Jesse Malin, a befezzed marching band and more...