One of Emmylou Harris's best loved albums, and for good reason – it's a major departure from the some of the more straightforward, if neo classic country of her late 80s and earlier 90s work, taking on a more atmospheric sound with producer Daniel Lanois. Lanois deserves credit for inspiring a new direction for Emmylou, but Wrecking Ball is her show – and of all the folk, country and roots-oriented artists Lanois worked with over the years, Harris is the one with a voice big enough fill the atmosphere, and intimate enough to pull it back down to earth. Includes "Where Will I Be", "Goodbye", "All My Tears", "Wrecking Ball", "Goin' Back To Harlan", "Blackhawk", "Orphan Girl", "May This Be Love" and "Waltz Across Texas". CD

We're not normally the types to walk around singing the praises of the major labels – but hats off to MCA's Country Music Hall Of Fame Series, with beautifully remastered classic tracks that were previously nearly impossible to track down on vinyl, and excellent notes and biographical details. Honky tonk angel Kitty Wells gets the queen's treatment here – with 16 sweet, heart-tugging (but too endearing to be heartbreaking) singles originally released on Decca between the early 50s and mid 60s. Kitty sounds sad, sweet and beautifully earth-bound, with her vocals placed well out in front of the spare steel and waltz-picked guitar, and distant fiddle. Every ones a classic! Tracks include "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", "Icicles Hanging From Your Heart", "My Cold, Cold Heart Is Melted Now", "I Gave My Wedding Dress Away", "Release Me", "Making Believe", "I'd Rather Stay Home", "Mommy For A Day", "Heartbreak U.S.A", "Will Your Lawyer Talk To God", and "A Woman Half My Age". CD

Incredible early work from Willie Nelson – quite different from his outlaw material of the 70s, but equally compelling in its own sort of way! As you'd guess from the title and cover, the set came out at a time when Willie was a real up-and-coming songwriting in country music – responsible for hits for artists like Faron Young, Patsy Cline, and others – and finally given the chance to start as a singer on his own. Willie's style is as amazing as his songs – very different than the mainstream, and often inflected with plenty of jazz – which, for some odd reason, as wonderful as it sounds, is what also kept Nelson away from stardom for most of the 60s. Yet don't let that put you off at all, as the presentation of the material is sublime – completely personal, almost heartbreaking, and still with all those charms that most of the rest of the world didn't discover with Willie for another decade or so. Titles include "Funny How Time Slips Away", "Crazy", "Mr Record Man", "One Step Beyond", "Wake Me When It's Over", "The Part Where I Cry", "Hello Walls", and "Darkness On The Face Of The Earth". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark album in the British folk scene at the start of the 70s – one of those records that was maybe a bit ignored at the time, but which has gone on to shape the sound of generations in the decades that followed! Anne Briggs has a really haunting voice – one that's got this spare, eerie quality that maybe follows from earlier American work by a singer like Jean Ritchie – and she's also a hell of a guitarist too, playing here with a complexity and sense of sound that instantly rivals some of the greats of both the Takoma Records generation, and UK contemporaries like Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. The album mixes vocals and instrumentals beautifully – and although the sound is lean, the whole thing has a tremendously powerful sound – on titles that include "Standing On The Shore", "Tangled Man", "Clea Caught A Rabbit", "Fire & Wine", "Highlodge Hare", "Sandman's Song", "Time Has Come", and "Tidewave". LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic little record, and one with a sound that's a surprising as the album is obscure – a mix of Takoma Records-styled acoustic instrumentals blended with other cuts that have a much more funky jazz approach – all wrapped together as a wonderful testament to the overlooked talents of this Swedish guitarist! Thomas plays both acoustic and electric on the record – the former on those spare numbers that have a great sense of intimacy, and even on some of the fuller numbers that bring in a bit of electric piano, bass, and drums – as well as some earthier percussion that's especially nice! The electric guitar comes in a bit here and there, but always in ways that are nicely restrained compared to fusion – on titles that include "Nyanser", "EM", "Horisont", "Quebec", "Coral Reef", and "Frost". (Jazz, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

A really fantastic bit of lost country work from Billy Gray – an artist best known for his collaborations with Hank Thompson, but coming across here with a much more down-to-earth style! The set's got lean production and really well-done songs – the kind of rare country nugget that often fell between the cracks of bigger Nashville hits, but which is totally ripe for rediscovery all these many years later – in part as a glimpse at a secret history of country that was often hidden from the masses. Gray's approach is very much in a Texas honky tonk mode – small combo backing, steel guitar, and a blue-tinged vocal style that has some nice echoes of older Ray Price – but updated a bit more for Billy's generation. Titles include "Downtown Dallas", "You Got Caught", "How Would She Look In A Kitchen", "Big Hearted Sue", "Completely Confused", "Fortune Teller", "I'll Go Broke Loving You", and "Heart Of A Beggar". CD

The earliest album that Buck Owens cut for Capitol Records – and a great little set that catches the legend just before he'd put his hit 60s style a bit more firmly in place! Here, Buck is coming across more as a rising talent from the Bakersfield clubs instead of the later chart-topping radio star – and as part of that, he's got a style that's a bit more down to earth, especially on the ragged ballads which really shine on the record. The whole thing's a wonderful look at a talent that's already great, but yet to become as codified as later on – and titles include "Above & Beyond", "Excuse Me", "Tired Of Livin", "Walk The Floors", "Take Me Back Again", and "Second Fiddle". LP, Vinyl record album