MASAI: Heaven and Hell (Concept Music) -- On Monday Sharon and Anna follow -up their appearance at the Feel The Noise concert with their debut single. This light pop track falls between the moulds that gave us The Corrs and B*witched. Judging from the latter's fall from grace, it might not be best musical direction to take. (6/10) CL

VALVE: Station EP (Pleasure) -- Opening track Euston, is so like Bury boys Elbow, it's hard not to believe it's not Guy Garvey singing. But the comparisons to the poetic indie outfit are complimentary, with all three tracks having a dry, yet crystal-clear beauty. Even in the darkest moments, Valve are everything that's good about about this breed of indie music. (8/10) CL

THIRTEEN:13: Truth Hurts (Polydor) -- There is nothing unlucky about this guitar group. When Wayne Murray and Co begin to receive recognition for their work, it will have been down to hard work and some great tunes. This acoustic-driven track is my single of the week but a touch lightweight to punch it's way into the charts. (8/10) CL

Albums

VARIOUS: Chillout Session 2 (Ministry of Sound) -- Think of lazy Sunday mornings or recovering on the beach after a heavy night out and you've captured the flavour of this album. A plethora of blissed-out beats from the likes of Massive Attack, Radiohead, Roger Sanchez and Schiller make this the ideal holiday companion. (8/10) DH ECHOBELLY: People are Expensive (Fry UP) -- Echobelly should by rights should be a distant memory of the glorious Britpop days. Back then, Sonya Madden's fiery outburst's and infectious tunes made them the darlings of the music media. But since the days of the brilliant On album the band have been swimming against the tide. After their last dodgy long play Lustre, they seem to have returned to form. Sadly, there are no hit singles here but tracks like Fear of Flying and the breathless Dying only serve to underline that the best of Echobelly is still be to come. (8/10) CL

FAITHLESS: Outrospective (BMG) -- Putting aside solo projects Rollo Armstrong, Dido and Maxi Jazz are back together pushing back the barriers of dance music. Rapper Maxi sings on a Faithless record for the first time, during the swaggering and empowering Mohammed Ali. Dido's at her best on the chill-out track One Step Too Far. But for fleeting moments from Maxi, this could have been nicked straight from her solo work. Covering a broad sweep of emotions and atmospheres, ranging from melancholy to mad love, Outrospective is one of the albums of the year. (9/10) CL

ROXY MUSIC: The Best Of Roxy Music (Virgin) -- Yet another Roxy Music compilation album, coinciding with a live tour nearly 30 years after the band shook the pop world from its post-'60s slumber with the amazing Virginia Plain. In the early days (1971-75) singer/songwriter Bryan Ferry had the knack of combining weird music with outrageous lyrics and adding a dash of glam rock for luck. Later tracks are crooned, ethereal smoochers. Music on this album is selected from both eras, starting with Avalon and More Than This from 1982 and backtracking to Virginia Plain and the wonderfully-named Pyjamarama, forming two distinct halves of a polished whole. PH