Album

Pete Stampfel and Steve Weber's heretic folk-loons going ape in the country

Alaskan folk-poet turns pop princess

Former Band leader pays tribute to his native Mohawk and Iroquois roots

Comeback for '90s freeform indie-rockers

The Squire Of Somerton and The Black Neon are back

US-only album from '96 gets UK release

Reissue of last year's deepest pop record, plus extra disc of remixes

Golden age of Bunny Lee-tinged rockers make perfect hot weather music

Arguably (though there's no debate among the voices in this listener's head) the best album of 2001, Asleep In The Back must have been a tough (and tender) act to follow. Partly because the Lancashire-based band had around 10 years to write, record and re-record that debut, navigating a route through various music biz mazes. Required to deliver a follow-up with unaccustomed haste after gold discs, rave reviews and sold-out US tours, Elbow initially froze. "It was like rolling a boulder up a hill", Guy Garvey's said. They took a break, reflected, reconvened.

Best live band in the world according to Australian Rolling Stone