Steely Dan: Two Against Nature

HOLD on to your goatees - Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are back together, and patient fans will relish the release of their first new material in 20 years. The reformed Dan played a memorable gig in Dublin a few years ago, and Two Against Nature sees Becker and Fagen reeling back the lost years to produce a finely-crafted set of slick, contemporary jazz-rock. The unmistakable sound of Fagen's flip-flopping organ signatures and Becker's taut, spring-coiled guitar licks runs through Janie Runaway, What A Shame About Me and Almost Gothic, and age hasn't dulled the Dan's lyrical wit, either; Cousin Dupree takes a wry look at unsavoury familial relations, while Gaslighting Abbie hints humorously at dark deeds in the night.

Kevin Courtney

Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now

Joni Mitchell sings a song cycle about the birth and death of love? Isn't that what's she's been doing half her life? Yes. But the difference with this album is that, apart from re-recordings of her own songs Both Sides Now and A Case of You, this is Mitchell furrowing into some of the most soulful standards of the 20th century such as You've Changed, Answer Me, My Love and Don't Worry `Bout Me. Better still, she's backed by many of her favourite jazz musicians - including Wayne Shorter - and a full symphony orchestra. Standouts include a stunningly sensual Don't Go To Strangers, but for a song of joy, Though You're My Thrill is needlessly lugubrious. Overall, late-night listening from Joni: Blue by another name.

Joe Jackson

Warren Zevon: Life'll Kill Ya

IT is one of those signature traits that have taken the place of the secret handshake: do you know of Warren Zevon, and better still, do you like him? The answer must be in the affirmative, followed by a long list of his career greats, Warewolves of London, etc. Yet Zevon remains a cult star, with fragments of his graphic lyrics finding their way into cool detective fiction, but commercial success continuing to elude him into his 50s. Little has changed in the Zevon world since his first album in 1976. Older, wiser, but no less warped and weird, rock'n'roll melodies still a mix of the tender and the torrid, Zevon soldiers on, taking every opportunity to bark and bite at convention. Age has nothing to do with it; this man defines attitude.

Joe Breen