Nashville-based Miller's stock has never been higher: Emmylou Harris' musical director for the past five years; superb 2001 collaboration with wife Julie narrowly edged out by Dylan's Love & Theft at the Grammys. Four albums in, this is his finest solo foray yet, remarkable for Miller's skilfully-woven fretwork and plaintive moonlit moan. A couple of throwaway rockers aside, its ambitious scope reins in cajun, dirty blues and old-time country.
An authentic children's band from Lewes, East Sussex, Hunkydory signed to that safe haven for eccentrics, él records, in 1988. These five precocious children sang and played all their own instruments, with the bulk of the material being written and arranged by one of the band's dads. When él's funders Cherry Red heard the material they got cold feet, and withdrew funding. Fifteen years on, this time capsule is a perfect, irony-free companion to the bubblegum escapist fantasies of sibling Siesta acts Death By Chocolate and Lollipop Train.
This features nine bands showcasing two tracks apiece produced by Gordon Raphael. New York's The Astro Jet and Soundtrak pursue hectic, angular new wave with conviction if not originality. But it's Berlin's Van Der Meer who greatly impress with "Now I've Found You", a ravishing dream-pop blast akin to My Bloody Valentine colluding with Juliana Hatfield. Elsewhere, the yearning, lyrical introspection of The Satellites shows that Raphael's A&R ear matches his studio skills.
