Wilco continuing the looser, less self-consciously experimental, more straightforward songcraft road they'd been traveling on since Sky Blue Sky, after the art rock leaning previous few LPs – including the classic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – but Wilco being Wilco, their version of straight forward songcraft has more depth and diverse instrumentation than just about any other contemporary rock peers! And after some years of feeling underserved by the "alt country" tag and steering clear of anything too twangy, it's kinda nice to hear the more lap steal and Byrds-y harmonies back in the fold without discarding the art rock textures. Good stuff from a great band in it for the long haul! Includes "Wilco (The Song)", "Deeper Down", "One Wing", "Bull Black Nova", "You And I", "You Never Know", "Country Disappeared", "Solitaire", "I'll Fight", "Sonny Feeling" and "Everlasting Everything". CD

Beautiful later work from XTC – a record that has the group really reveling in that new pastoral sensibility they unlocked with Mummer – on songs that are more slowed down than at their start, with great use of acoustic instrumentation too – all with this well-crafted sense of songwriting that almost seems to preface some of the work to come by groups like High Llamas or Cardinal! There's so many folks who are slavish to the early years of XTC that they often miss the beauty of a record like this – a really cohesive whole that's given some superb production by Todd Rundgren in one of his best 80s moments. Titles include "Dear God", "Dying", "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul", "Big Day", "Another Satellite", "That's Really Super Supergirl", "The Meeting Place", "Summer's Cauldron", and "1000 Umbrellas". CD

Beautiful later work from XTC – a record that has the group really reveling in that new pastoral sensibility they unlocked with Mummer – on songs that are more slowed down than at their start, with great use of acoustic instrumentation too – all with this well-crafted sense of songwriting that almost seems to preface some of the work to come by groups like High Llamas or Cardinal! There's so many folks who are slavish to the early years of XTC that they often miss the beauty of a record like this – a really cohesive whole that's given some superb production by Todd Rundgren in one of his best 80s moments. Titles include "Dear God", "Dying", "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul", "Big Day", "Another Satellite", "That's Really Super Supergirl", "The Meeting Place", "Summer's Cauldron", and "1000 Umbrellas". CD

Music from Vinnie Monte, Nicardi Brothers, Judd Hamilton, Jerry Mason, The Temptations, Johnny Vanelli, Danny Leslie, Steve Fallon, Tony Cosmo, Ben Higgins, and more - 34 tracks in all. CD

A set that definitely lives up to the intrigue promised in the title – an alternative look at British music in the 80s, served up with some more experimental, unusual tracks that go way past the pop hits of the time! There's still some names here you might know, but there's also work from plenty of the hipper indie labels who kept things interesting – especially in the territory of companies like Factory, Rough Trade, and 4AD – who each get some space within! As with other sets done by Steven Wilson, there's some detailed notes that make the overall package a delight throughout – a cool book-styled cover with 80 pages of notes within – and a total of 58 tracks in all, work by Dif Juz, Cardiacs, A Certain Ratio, Perennial Divide, Cocteau Twins, Twelfth Night, This Heat, Ultravox, Durutti Column, Punishment Of Luxury, The Stranglers, Magazine, Bill Nelson's Red Noise, No Man, Slab, In Camera, Swell Maps, Gary Numan, The Sound, Crispy Ambulance, Dali's Car, Scott Walker, David Sylvian, The Shamen, This Mortal Coil, Associates, Section 25, Gang Of Four, PIL, Robert Fripp & The League Of Gentlemen, and Dead Can Dance. CD