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Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals - Lifeline Tour Edition

THE soulful Lifeline slipped into record stores largely unnoticed last Autumn, but Harper’s scene-stealing appearance in the Hyde Park deluge will renew interest, and this special edition adds a bonus live CD recorded in Seattle. Read

Jackie De Shannon - Don't Turn Your Back On Me

YOU would have thought that the combination of being a good singer, a fine songwriter and drop-dead gorgeous would be enough to guarantee stardom for Jackie de Shannon. In her homeland USA it did, but here in the UK, sadly it did not. Read

Elliot Minor - Elliot Minor

IT’S already spawned six hit singles, and now the Yorkshire band’s debut album is getting a new lease of life to promote their summer seaside tour. Read

Liam Finn - It'll Be Lightning

It's tough being the son of a rock star – just ask Sean Lennon. Read

Steve Howe - Motif Vol.1

FOR more than 35 years Steve Howe has been one of rock’s guitar virtuosos, his angular licks driving both Yes and Asia. But pretty much each gig has included an unaccompanied acoustic spot, and now he’s re-recorded the solo showpieces in the studio. Read

Sharleen Spiteri - Melody

WHEN she first surfaced as the voice of Texas, we all fell in love with Sharleen Spiteri’s bluesy soul voice. But as the band waded further and further into the mainstream, she got lost in no man’s bland. Read

Keith Caputo - A Fondness For Hometown Scars

HE’S hit the headlines recently as the leading contender for the Velvet Revolver vacancy but there’s much more to the former metal merchant than meets the eye. Caputo, once Life Of Agony’s confrontational frontman, has crafted a stunning solo album that visits rock, pop, folk and even late-night jazz. Read

Various: Radio Gold 5

THIS quite splendid series continues with 30 more original American-made UK chart hits from the period 1956 to 1962. Read

Various - Power To The Motown People

HERE are 30 tracks on two CDs featuring Civil Rights anthems and political soul songs from the years 1968 to 1975. Read

Sebastian Bach - Angel Down

FUNNY to think that Skid Row singer Bach was almost the voice of Guns N’Roses, and made a bid for the Velvet Revolver mic, too. Read

Mason Jennings - In The Ever

HE’S the Minneapolis singer songwriter who opened Jack Johnson’s gig at the NIA and this is his sixth album, although the first to be released in the UK. Read

Beck - Modern Guilt (XL)

FOR his 10th album Beck has made another sudden switch in direction, teaming up with cool flavour of the month Danger Mouse, the studio svengali who’s inescapable. Read

Jakob Dylan - Seeing things

JAKOB Dylan’s a brave man. While his wonderful Wallflowers are on hold, he’s gone solo – and that means he’s on a hiding to nothing. He’ll inevitably be compared unfavourably to his iconic father Bob, a songwriter perhaps without equal. Read

John Mayer: Where The Light IS

NEVER quite understood the fuss about smooth-voiced guitar maestro Mayer. His studio albums tend to be bland affairs ideally suited for muzak playlisting in elevators and supermarkets. Read

Alice Cooper: Along Came a Spider

EVER wondered what became of little Steven, who was plagued by a black widow in Alice Cooper’s influential 1975 Welcome To My Nightmare Show? Read

My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade is Dead

STATESIDE rockers My Chemical Romance spent years as cult heroes before their bleak Black Parade album and controversial video made them stadium superstars back in 2006. Read

G Love and Special Sauce - Superhero Brothers

HOT on the heels of his NIA gig with Jack Johnson comes Garrett Dutton’s 10th album, a special sauce of party songs and politics that’s the soundtrack of the summer. Read

Dirty Pretty Things - Romance at Short Notice

FREED from the shackles of smackhead celebrity, Libertines Carl Barât continues to build on the foundations of his Dirty Pretty debut with a surprisingly mainstream sophomore set. Read

Primal Scream - Beautiful Future

THEY’VE done underground, they’ve done dance. Last time out they were retro-rockers – and now Primal Scream go pop. Read

Natasha Marsh - Amour

THIS is the debut album by fast-rising and outstanding soprano Natasha Marsh who, just a few years ago, graduated with a first in music and drama from Birmingham University. Read

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