The latest releases reviewed

SQUEEZE
Essential Squeeze
Universal
****

If there's one thing for certain in the great songwriting duo history book, it's that under "most underrated and least appreciated", you'll find the team of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. Perhaps it was the fact that they could move so adroitly from the kitchen sink to the end of the pier that confused the critics. Whether it was the chorus-less Up The Junction or the giddy Pulling Mussels (From the Shell), there was not only musical innovation going on here but some really keen lyrical observations. If there's any quibble here, it's that there should have been one or two more tracks from the classic East Side Story album. Otherwise, this is a collection of beautiful pop songs; and, as an extra bonus, you get a live concert taken from 1982. www.squeezeofficial.com  BRIAN BOYD

Download tracks: Pulling Mussels (From the Shell), Up The Junction

VARIOUS
Kitsune Maison 4
Kitsune
****

For chic French music and fashion label Kitsune, the battle between decks and guitars never turned into a war. Over the course of three exquisite compilations and a bevy of sexy, funky singles, Kitsune have mapped out a fabulously alluring middle ground where hard-rocking electro producers and bands willing to put a pep in their fringes come together to make sweet music. On compilation number four, there's much to hum about, from the gently bewitching spell of Be My Friend, from Air man Jean-Benoît Dunckel's Darkel project, to the truly whiplash push and pull of Thieves Like Us, Crystal Castles and Whitey. Pick of the bunch on this outing are Manchester band The Whip, their Divebomb containing a massive mass of vim and panache, and the new-school punk-funk yelps and yahoos of Punks Jump Up on Dance to Our Disco. www.myspace.com/maisonkitsune  JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Divebomb; Dance To Our Disco; Stay On The Outside

Following his near-fatal motorbike accident in 2004, former Soft Cell singer Marc Almond shelved a scheduled album of original songs in favour of a collection of cover versions. Being in a coma for two weeks had left Almond pondering - as it might - the meaning of life, and so the idea of a survivor's story in song form took hold. What we have here is a life played out through a signature mix of the obvious (Dusty Springfield's I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten, Frank Sinatra's Strangers in the Night, Bobby Darin's Dream Lover) and the less familiar and more interesting (Charles Aznavour's I Have Lived, Al Stewart's Bedsitter Images, David Bowie's London Boys and Anita O'Day's Ballad of the Sad Young Men). Fusing the biographically themed songs together is Almond's larger-than-life, drama-queen delivery, which is equal parts poignant and tender. www.marcalmond.co.uk   TONY CLAYTON-LEA

Download tracks: I Have Lived, London Boys, Stardom Road

You'd think Crumlin was Dublin's own Haight-Ashbury, what with all the sunny sounds emanating from the likes of Pugwash and these two California dreamers, Mick McDonnell and Steve Cranley. Sundrive plough the same fertile West Coast valleys as Hal and The Thrills, and Still Here is a travelogue through the jangly heart of American soft-rock of the 1970s, via such songs as A Day Like Today, Until Tomorrow, Life Goes On and Storybook Girl. But, while the pair plainly aspire to Lennon-McCartney heights, tracks such as Discovered and I Want Rain are more Julian than John. Still, they've got some nifty musical moves - what they need now is to get out of the sun's glare for awhile and start putting some of the dark stuff in. www.reekus.com   KEVIN COURTNEY

Download tracks: Never Come Down; Fallen Down

At 22, the former Sugababe kicks off her solo career with a rather unfair advantage over the other wannabes. As a founder-member of Britain's most successful girl group of the 21st century, she's had her fair share of diva moments; but she's plainly hungry for more, and while Real Girl can't hope to reach a fraction of the hit rate of an average Sugababes CD, it issues a pretty robust challenge to her former 'Babe crew. Opener Just a Little Bit has the ooh-aah factor, and the title track just manages to rise above its Lenny Kravitz sample. Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control) puts Groove Armada in the driving seat, while Breakdown Motel remodels Amy Winehouse's brokedown soul. Guest turns from Winehouse (B Boy Baby, adapted from the Ronettes' Be My Baby) and George Michael add weight but not much substance. www.mutyamusic.com   KEVIN COURTNEY

Download Tracks: Just a Little Bit; Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)

Over 10 years and seven albums, Volga's multi-instrumentalists Roman Lebedev, Alexei Borsisove and Uri Balashov and vocalist Anjela Manujkan have boldly evolved their contemporary art/alt.folk project of electronic sounds, 12th-century folkloric texts and Manujkan's part-chant/

part-ululation into an exciting and unique quasi-shamanistic dance hybrid of fat grooves, warm noize and cool beats. In the beginning, the extraordinary Russian folktronic outfit featured Manujkan's delicate voice gliding over a spare, shimmering bed of traditional instruments and found sounds. On their new album, however, Manujkian's voice has become an instrument of astonishing power and range, soaring and swooping over a dense, roiling sea of chunky beats, surging digital textures and buzzing guitars. Pomol is Volga's best yet. www.lumbertontrading.com   JOCELYN CLARKE

Download tracks: Pomol; Kruchu

JOSH PYKE
Memories & Dust
Island
**

Josh Pyke has been a name in his native Australia since his debut album, Feeding the Wolves, broke in 2005. Laden with tracks built around fuzzy memories of growing up, it also showcased his obsession with performers such as Van Morrison and Elliott Smith. His new album, however, breaks no new ground. The title track, which aims for Brian Wilson but stops short at Crowded House, is a gentle lament about the march of time and the difficulties of growing up - through the cloying metaphor of a newly hatched baby bird. It doesn't quite work. Throughout the album, one can't escape the impression of being force-fed reruns of 1990s TV show The Wonder Years, as reimagined by an Aussie trying desperately to add grit and melancholy where none exists. Some things, such as cricket, travel well from Australia. It's rare that music does the same. www.joshpyke.com    PAUL McNAMEE

Download Track: Lines On Palms