Even better than the first album from Kensington Market – and a set that really extends their unique sound! There's a bit more confidence on a few of the tunes here – but never too much to dominate the group's personal approach to their music – and the instrumentation gets a bit bold at points, with a bit of fuzz on guitar, some moog and organ, and drums that make some of the best numbers move into compelling rhythms. The vocals always have a nicely lyrical feel – a good fit for the poetic lyrics – and titles include "Said I Could Be Happy", "If It Is Love", "Help Me", "Think About The Times", "Cartoon", "Dorian", "Side I Am", "Ciao", and "The Thinker". CD

One of the greatest albums to come from the New York underground of the early 80s – even if it was a relatively big "hit" on a major label! Laurie Anderson is in perfect form here – drawing on a strong tradition of avant garde performance, but without any of the indulgences that would mire down performance art in years to come. Instead, she's got a clean, clear style that's simply amazing – spoken passages that are poetic and pointed, but which also have a slight undercurrent of wit – a charming quality that never takes itself too seriously, even when the sounds and styles are somewhat dark. Instrumentation includes some great rhythm passages from David Van Tieghem, plus surprising performances from Rufus Harley on bagpipes and George Lewis on trombone. Titles include "From The Air", "Big Science", "O Superman", "Born Never Asked", "Walking & Falling", "Example #22", "Let X = X", and "It Tango". CD

Bob's fourth record, and close runner up to Freewheelin' as the masterpiece of this early stage of his career. While the overly arch Times They Are A Changin' pretty much stood as the cornerstone of classifiable folk rock at the time, Another Side is just that. Dense, elliptical, and downright surreal at times, with some of the protesty stuff that made the media so happy & hungry, but much more layered and poetic. Another side is also much more reverent of and indebted to the Harry Smith field recordings that Bob studied so hard, the stuff that finally caught on with the general public in the early 90s. Titles include "Spanish Harlem Incident", "It Ain't Me Babe", "Ballad In Plain D", "Black Crow Blues", "I Don't Believe You", "Motorpsycho Nitemare", "To Ramona", "Chimes Of Freedom", "My Back Pages", and "I Shall Be Free No 10". CD

Neko Case at her best, which is pretty much where she's been for the majority of her solo career – so it's saying something to mention that this might be her finest record! There's an artful, but still introspective poetic edge to her songwriting that really came out in fullest form for the first time on this one. Each record she made after The Virginian took a pretty remarkable creative steps away from that album's (still great) alt country into something deeper, and this was the biggest step of all. A modern classic. Includes "Margaret Vs Pauline", "Star Witness", "Hold On, Hold On", "A Widow's Toast", "That Teenage Feeling", "John Saw That Number", "Dirty Knife", "Maybe Sparrow", "At Last The Needle Has Landed" and more. CD