Album: Dinosaur Jr - Sweep It Into Space

★★★★ DINOSAUR JR - SWEEP IT INTO SPACE Another near flawless album

Amherst's favourite grunge sons serve up another near flawless album

When Laurence Binyon wrote: “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn…” he was, of course, talking about the fallen soldiers of World War One, not Amherst’s premier hardcore grunge punks. However, on hearing Sweep It Into Space, Dinosaur Jr.’s fifth album since their unexpected 2007 rebirth, it could easily apply to J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph.

Album: Field Music - Flat White Moon

★★★★ FIELD MUSIC - FLAT WHITE MOON David and Peter Brewis draw inspiration from their own lives

David and Peter Brewis draw inspiration from their own lives

Although it is not solipsistic, Flat White Moon is Field Music’s most personal, most revealing, warmest-sounding album so far. David and Peter Brewis have opened up. Their ninth studio album together opens with a seeming declaration. “Orion from the Street” has a drum pattern, bubbling, whooshing sounds and weaving, treated guitar unambiguously alluding to The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”.

Reissue CDs Weekly: T2 - It'll All Work Out In Boomland

T2 - IT'LL ALL WORK OUT IN BOOMLAND Multi-disc reissue of atmospheric prog-rock gem

Atmospheric prog-rock gem from 1970 gets the multi-disc treatment

It'll All Work Out In Boomland was issued by Decca at the end of July 1970. A poor seller at the time, it began attracting attention in the mid-Eighties when prices for original copies began creeping up. Around 2000, it was picking up about £100. These days, a first press of British rock band T2’s sole album generally sells for between £300 and £400.

Album: Toumani Diabate and the London Symphony Orchestra - Kôrôlén

★★★ TOUMANI DIABATE AND THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - KÔRÔLÉN Belated release of adventurous 2008 concert recording

West Africa at the Symphony

Toumani Diabate, master of the 21-string kora, along with some other Malian musicians, collaborated on a symphonic concert at London's Barbican Centre in 2008. The orchestra in question were the London Symphony, who have often been open to working with musicians from outside the classical field.

Album: AJ Tracey - Flu Game

★★★ AJ TRACEY - FLU GAME West London superstar rapper tries to find his mature style with mixed success

West London's superstar rapper tries to find his mature style with mixed success

AJ Tracey is one of Brit rap’s aristocracy now. Along with the likes of Stormzy, Dave, J Hus and lately Headie One, he is massively bankable, with streams in the tens of millions for singles, sellout shows in Alexandra Palace, and radio ubiquity.

The Master Musicians of Joujouka review - a 4000 year-old rock'n'roll band

THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF JOUJOUKA A 4000-year-old rock'n'roll band

Healing music from the Rif Mountains of Morocco

The Master Musicians of Joujouka, described by William Burroughs as a “4000 year-old rock’n’roll band”, and recorded by Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones in the late 1960s, have always been something of a cult – even in their own land. Based in the rural foothills of the Rif Mountains in Northern Morocco, they are a professional clan that delivers performances renowned for their extraordinary transformative power.

Album: Imelda May - 11 Past the Hour

★★ IMELDA MAY - 11 PAST THE HOUR Irish star makes rare musical blunder into whiffy 'classical rock' and balladry

Irish star makes a rare musical blunder into whiffy 'classic rock' and balladry on her latest

11 Past the Hour opens with its title song, a delicious, twangy, string-laden Nancy Sinatra Bond theme that never was. The album closes with a lyrically empowered torch song, “Never Look Back”, which rises and rises over a marching band drum tattoo and swelling orchestration. Its enormousness is hard to argue with. Unfortunately, in between these two, Imelda May’s sixth album is a bit of a stinker.

Singer-songwriter Peggy Seeger: still in the vanguard of her musical dynasty

SINGER-SONGWRITER PEGGY SEEGER Still in the vanguard of her musical dynasty

A member of America's great musical clan, Peggy Seeger has been a fixture on the British folk scene for more than 60 years

If American music has a royal family, it’s surely the Seeger clan. Charles, the patriarch, the composer, musicologist and teacher who could be said to have invented ethnomusicology, married first to Constance de Clyver Edson, a violinist and teacher. That union gave us Pete Seeger, known to generations the world over for the songs “If I Had a Hammer” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”.

Album: Lady Dan - I Am the Prophet

★★★★ LADY DAN - I AM THE PROPHET Breaking free of patriarchy on Austin country-folk debut

Breaking free of patriarchy on Austin country-folk debut

There’s a line in “No Home”, the staggering centrepiece of Lady Dan’s debut album, that perhaps sums up the project. “Wolves will never be my masters again,” the artist, real name Tyler Dozier, sings as the strings swell, in a voice like the wilderness. “Men will never be my owners again.”

Reissue CDs Weekly: Wes Montgomery - The NDR Hamburg Studio Recordings

WES MONTGOMERY The NDR Hamburg Studio Recordings - live from 1965

Live recordings from 1965 are a footnote in the jazz guitarist’s discography

Speaking to America’s Hit Parader magazine in August 1967, Frank Zappa said “If you want to learn how to play guitar, listen to Wes Montgomery.” The article was titled My Favorite Records and the head Mother was being featured shortly after the release of Absolutely Free, the second Mothers Of Invention album. Montgomery was in good company.