best of the rest

Other new releases out this month.

Uriah Heep

Demons & Wizards BMG Back where it belongs, on 180g vinyl, with an Andy Pearce remaster, a Roger Dean sleeve re-imagine, a proto-progging Traveller In Time and a riff-romping Easy Livin’. ‘Appy days! 8/10 Mike + The Mechanics

Living Years 30th Anniversary Edition BMG With an airbrushed mid-Atlantic sound cripplingly redolent of its time, and a title track that’s almost 100 per cent wince, Rutherford’s Young/Carrack-voiced juggernaut is back, on double vinyl. 6/10 Buster Poindexter

Buster Poindexter / Buster Goes Berserk Floating World The New York Dolls’ Bad Detective hinted at David Johansen’s proclivity for inhabiting a character. Here are his first two albums as lounge-singing, serial-imbibing, Latin jazzer Poindexter. 7/10 The Fall

I Am Kurious Oranj Beggars Arkive Written to soundtrack a ballet about William of Orange (obviously), this orange vinyl, Brix-era gem opens with New Big Prinz (arguably everything you need by The Fall in 3:26). 7/10 The Beta Band

The Three Eps Because Call it folktronica if you must, but any collective that mix disparate styles with this degree of brave alchemical ingenuity are only prog. Nineteen-year old sampledelic trip-hop hip-rock genius. 8/10 The Business

1980-1988 Captain OI! Born of oi!, but fiercely anti-racist, Mickey Fitz’s South London punks never let their innate brutality (part Sham 69, part Only Fools And

Horses) get in the way of a decent hook. 6/10 Little Bob Story

The Collection Floating World A fireball of diminutive gallic energy, Little Bob’s raw-throated punkera R&B was a must-see in ‘77. His Feelgoods/MC5 schtick was red hot, but his shades-framed face didn’t fit. 7/10 Semisonic

Feeling Strangely Fine 20th Ed Umc/island Vinyl debut for the Minneapolis collegiate indie rockers’ second album that briefly burned bright enough to spawn a summer ‘99 UK Top 20 hit in Secret Smile. R.E.M.-y, but cheerier. 7/10 Splodgenessabounds

The Albums Captain OI! Obviously, there was more to ‘hilarious’ punk pathetique chancer Max Splodge than Two Pints Of Lager. But not much. Five discs, 118 tracks. One joke… And a packet of crisps. 3/10 Mott

Drive On Floating World Mott The Hoople without Ian Hunter (or Ronson, or Ralphs, or even Bender). Houston, we have a problem. Perky Watts songs, but it still sounds like a shrill Heavy Metal Kids demo. 5/10 Deep Purple

Two vinyl reissues Rhino More remastered archive vinyl pressed in apposite purple. In Rock

(10/10) opens with Speed King, and Fireball (9/10) its similarly allguns-blazing title track. So what are you waiting for? Various

Running The Voodoo Down Volume 2 Tad The subtitle has it: Explorations In Psychrockfunksouljazz 1967-77. As music’s head was expanded by Afrocentric politics, John Coltrane, MC5 and Melvin Van Peebles spread the news. 8/10