Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor

Recommended by Bex:

I always come back to this album. I picked up the Collector's Edition on my way to a Goldfrapp concert. This edition has extensive liner notes, documentary and video footage, and previously unreleased tracks.

Disc two of this edition features:

01 A Woman's Worth (Remix)
02 Juiciest
03 If I Was Your Woman (Original Funky Demo)
04 Ghettoman
05 Fallin' (Soundtrack Version)
06 Typewriter
07 Butterflyz (The Drumline Mix)
08 I Won't (Crazy World)
09 Girlfriend (KrucialKeys Sista Girl Mix)

Laura Marling - Once I Was an Eagle

Recommended by Bex:

Once I Was an Eagle was made over 10 days with just a cellist and producer Ethan Johns, on carefully-placed drums, piano, organ. Marling recorded her vocal and guitar parts in a single take each, and in one day, though it somehow sounds even more immediate.

As a lyricist, Laura favours a veiled sort of storytelling, her songs never not deeply felt but always more in the vein of short stories than memoir, and executed so supremely that sussing out the 'real' from the 'unreal' has always seemed beside the point.

At 23, the amount of time Marling had spent on this earth was once relevant because nobody in her peer group was making albums like this. With Eagle, it's because nobody of any age is making albums like this.

I look forward to seeing her - for the fifth time - this month as part of Secret Cinema. Based on a review by Pitchfork.

Marling is the one artist I can, personally, say surpasses herself with each release; considering her superb debut I find this astonishing.

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

Friend Recommendation:

Q Magazine: Elbow have hardly stepped out of their comfort zone here, but then their comfort zone has always been oddly unsettling. They're still burning: slowly, maybe, but stronger than ever.

The Guardian: Elbow sound beautifully understated rather than underwhelming, less underachieving than desperately undervalued.

Spin: Nicer than Pulp, less sappy than Coldplay, Elbow excel at meticulous orchestral pop that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Aaliyah - Ultimate

Recommended by Bex:

I'd all but decided this week's post (now postponed) when I watched Romeo Must Die, starring Jet Li and the late Aaliyah. I was holding back the tears by the end, and always find 'Miss You' an emotional listen.

Aaliyah is a musical loss that hit me hard. The albums sound fresher now than ever; one can't help but wonder what the R&B genre might have been today with her input.

I particularly recommend:
Hot Like Fire
Try Again
Back & Forth
Are You Feelin' Me
I Don't Wanna



R.I.P. Baby Girl, forever in our hearts.

Beyoncé - B'Day

Recommended by Bex:

I had the original release of this and, while good, something was amiss. Those of us familiar with Beyoncé will know: not only is she Queen B, she is also the Queen of album re-releases.

Modified Deluxe tracklist (with links):

01 Beautiful Liar
02 Irreplaceable
03 Green Light
04 Kitty Kat
05 Welcome to Hollywood
06 Upgrade U
07 Flaws and All
08 If
09 Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix)
10 Freakum Dress
11 Suga Mama
12 Deja Vu
13 Ring the Alarm
14 Resentment
15 Listen
16 World Wide Woman
17 Check on It
18 Back Up

Slipknot - Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)

Friend Recommendation:

Third studio album, following self-titled debut and the heavier Iowa - both great albums. Band members had promised a more experimental album prior to the release of Vol. 3.

For the first time in Slipknot's career, songs such as 'Circle' and 'Vermilion Pt. 2' were led by an acoustic rather than an electric guitar.

In Kerrang, drummer Jordison said, 'It's a bit more out there and a bit more spacey. It's almost as if Slayer was tapping on Radiohead'.

The Heavy - The House That Dirt Built

Friend Recommendation:

The title of The Heavy’s first album, 2007's Great Vengeance and Furious Fire, was the perfect trailer. The House That Dirt Built nicely builds the plot, opening up whole new musical storylines to explore.

By track five they've gone through soul, garage punk, a bit of James Brown funk, Hendrix and balls-out rock; by album’s end there's rockabilly, reggae and even a closing ballad. The most surprising thing, however, is how good they are at making it sound unified.