Various Artists - 'Decade: Ten Years of Fierce Panda'

Fierce Panda is the indie record label that has served as the launchpad for dozens of glittering careers. This 2004 compilation gathers 20 tracks, well-known and rare, from the label's first ten years.
The album begins in fine style with Ash's storming cover of Helen Love's Punkboy from 1994.
Remember Kenickie, the sunshiney pop band fronted by Xfm DJ Lauren Laverne? They are represented here by their raucous girls-night-out anthem Come Out 2nite, which topped the much-missed John Peel's Festive Fifty back in 1995. Containing the memorable couplet: "She drank all that we had/ And she threw up and I was glad", the song goes on to urge listeners to grab what they want from life.
More recognisable songs come in the shape of Caught By The Fuzz by Supergrass (brilliant); All You Good Good People by Embrace (OK) and The Polyphonic Spree's Soldier Girl (yuck).
Those little-known groups Coldplay and Keane have songs on this album - the former's debut single from 1999, Brothers and Sisters; and the latter's second single This Is the Last Time (which was also their sixth single, thanks to the tedious process of re-releasing by Keane's current label Island).
There are a couple of superb sombre moments courtesy of Bright Eyes (Arienette) and Death Cab For Cutie (Tiny Vessels).
Apart from a few flat moments, Decade is an album of fabulously fizzy Panda pop. Let's drink to another ten years.

Dizzee Rascal - 'Boy in Da Corner'

Dizzee (aka Dylan Mills) possesses one of the best, most distinctive voices in Britain today - his sing-song rapping has a high-pitched, almost hysterical edge to it, which is compelling and highly entertaining.
On his debut album (which won the Mercury Prize in 2003), the tough, in-yer-face nature of typical hip-hop is given emotional depth, with moments of self-doubt and paranoia complemented by dark, melancholy backing music, on songs like Sittin' Here.
Dizzee's awareness of the cliches of his age group and the genre of music result in often hilarious lyrics, such as on Cut 'Em Off: "I socialise in Hackney and Bow/ I wear my trousers ridiculously low."
Eccentric touches keep the album fresh and interesting - during the chorus of Jus' A Rascal, he can be heard yelping "Rascal!" in the background; while the brilliant Fix Up Look Sharp contains a sample of a Canadian Bryan-Adams-a-like, Billy Squire.
The album's highlight is I Luv U, where Dizzee trades insults with a female MC, who gives as good as she gets.

Kylie Minogue - 'Ultimate Kylie'

Don't scoff - there's no room for music snobbery here. As a Kylie fan from the age of five, I was delighted to get this Best Of double album as a Xmas gift.
Kylie proves that, when done properly, pure pop is just as good as 'real' music (whatever that is).
The first disc is a reminder of Minogue's early days with the evil PWL Hit Factory, and the tracks have survived surprisingly well. The 80's synthetic production can grate at times, but songs such as Step Back In Time and the irrepressible Better The Devil You Know are strong enough to overcome this.
The more mature sound of early 90's anthem What Do I Have To Do is the best of this section.
Other songs only stand up to one or two nostalgic listens, such as the syrupy duet with the lovely Jason Donovan, Especially For You, and the infamous I Should Be So Lucky.
The second disc gathers Minogue's work from her mid-90's so-called "Indie Kylie" period (the Wilderness Years) and the four years since her renaissance (the Hotpants Years). Kicking off with her most recent hit I Believe in You, the majority of the songs are excellent: the infectious Love at First Sight, the unusual, string-laden Confide in Me and the D.I.S.C.O classic Spinning Around.
Where The Wild Roses Grow, a menacing duet with the God that is Nick Cave, ends with him smashing Kylie's head in with a rock. Nice. Placed as the last song on the album, perhaps it is meant to signify the 'death' of this Kylie ready for the 'birth' of a new one (The Corset Years?). Or perhaps I have studied too much semiotics at uni!
And there's also that "la-la-la" song, the one you can't get out of your head. Now, what was that called, again...?

Portishead - 'Dummy'

Often dismissed as 'miserable' (mainly by those who haven't listened to it!), this album, while admittedly downbeat and moody, is a cinematic modern classic.
Released in 1994, during the reign of "trip-hop", the ten songs are built with a backbone of drums and Hammond organ, while distinctive colour is added with samples of Lalo Schifrin, Johnnie Ray and Isaac Hayes.
The undoubted star of the show, however, is the bewitching voice of Beth Gibbons - sounding at times lost and lonely; at others tired and bitter.
Sour Times is foreboding with an edge of seedy glamour, like the theme from a Bond film.
On Roads, Gibbons' icy wail cuts through the hypnotic backdrop of organ and strings; while the album is thawed out by the warmer, more intimate feel of It Could Be Sweet.
Although each track is equally good, the sublime Glory Box is more equal than the others. The instantly recognisable strains of Ike's Rap by Isaac Hayes give way to Gibbons' world-weary vocals: "Gonna give my heart away/ Leave it to the other girls to play," she sneers, before pleading "Give me a reason to love you."
And there are plenty of reasons to love this album.

Futureheads - 'Hounds of Love' (single)

With manic vocals and singalong cries of "uh-oh-oh!", this is an inspired choice for the Futureheads' third single.
It's their interpretation of a Kate Bush classic, and like all the best covers, the band make the song completely their own.
In a word: barking.

Johnny Boy - 'You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve' (single)

This was one of the top non-mainstream singles of last year.
Although their name puts you in mind of lairy Britpop nobodies, Johnny Boy are in fact a polished girl-boy duo; and this sparkling song sounds like a cross between a track from the Phil Spector Christmas album and Pulp circa-1994.
Produced by James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers, this is the best thing he has ever been associated with.

The Smiths - 'The Queen Is Dead'

Released in 1986, this is the Smiths' finest album and arguably one of the best records ever made.
Veering from the gentle lilting pop of Cemetry Gates to the viciously witty anti-royal tirade of the title track ("Charles, don't you ever crave/ To appear on the front of the Daily Mail/ Dressed in your mother's bridal veil?"), the perfect symbiosis of Morrissey and Johnny Marr's creative parnership is at its peak here (None of the material either has produced post-Smiths can ever quite match this because THEY NEED TO WORK TOGETHER).
If the best moments must be chosen, they would be Bigmouth Strikes Again, its camp, self-martyring lyrics complemented by frantically plucked guitar; and the beautiful There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - not even the inclusion of "a ten ton truck" can spoil its poignancy.
As for the final track, Marr once remarked that he had presented Morrissey with a gorgeous, haunting piece of music, only for it to be entitled Some Girls are Bigger Than Others. And it is still gorgeous and haunting - the Smiths in a nutshell.

Top Quote

"Me and Bernard are like an old married couple. We fight all the time and we don't have sex." - Peter Hook, bassist from New Order on lead singer Bernard Sumner

Most listened-to songs of the moment

Ever Fallen in Love - Buzzcocks ; Hit - Sugarcubes ; Trick Me - Kelis ; Galvanize - Chemical Brothers ; Temptation - New Order ; The Mercy Seat - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ; Waiting for the Winter - Popguns ; Bone Machine - Pixies ; I Luv U - Dizzee Rascal ; Stand and Deliver - Adam and the Ants ; Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones ; Dress - PJ Harvey ; Save Button - Cathy Davey ; Sheila, Take A Bow - The Smiths ; Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode ; Hyperballad - Bjork ; What A Waster - The Libertines ; Strict Machine - Goldfrapp ; Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Saint Etienne ; Sacred Heart - Cass McCombs

The Directors Label: The Work of Chris Cunningham; Michel Gondry; Spike Jonze (DVDs)

This series of DVDs by the innovative directors Chris Cunningham, Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze prove that music promos have come a long way since Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.
Chris Cunningham's selection is dark and, frankly, often terrifying, cut through with a streak of wicked humour. His two videos for the Aphex Twin are here - Come to Daddy with the granny-scaring TV monster, and soft-porn-gone-horribly-wrong classic Windowlicker - as well as Bjork's astonishing All is Full of Love.
Squarepusher's Come on My Selector, set in a Japanese children's insane asylum is the best of the bunch, but if that's too much for you, there's also Madonna's Frozen.
Michel Gondry, the Frenchman best known for directing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, lets us into his surreal, colourful world, with vids for acts including Daft Punk, Kylie, The White Stripes and Massive Attack; featuring hundreds of drumkits, dancing skeletons and four Minogues running around town.
Gondry is Bjork's director of choice, and his six promos for her are among the best on the DVD, especially Bachelorette. There is also the Foo Fighter's fantastic Evil Dead-style video for Everlong.
Spike Jonze is probably the most well-known of the trio, the brains behind modern classics Sabotage by the Beastie Boys and Fatboy Slim's ubiquitous Praise You.
The award-winning Weapon of Choice, starring Christopher Walken is also here, and the pioneering backwards video, Drop by the Pharcyde is also worth a look.

Dresden Dolls - 'Dresden Dolls' album

The debut album from US duo Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione showcases their mix of rich, irony-strewn cabaret, gothic torch songs with a twist, and frenetic punk moments.
Amanda (who, as the singer, songwriter and pianist is the 'Jack White' to drummer Brian's 'Meg') possesses a voice which can switch from seductive murmur to frenzied yelp in a heartbeat, while the lyrics are full of dark humour.
Coin-Operated Boy is a jaunty little number singing the praises of Amanda's favourite 'toys' (!) and Girl Anachronism is a gleefully insane blast of fresh air, its demented lyrics reeled off like machine-gunfire.
Meanwhile, Jeep Song is an epic break-up song with gorgeous harmonies detailing the pain of seeing an ex-boyfriend's car everywhere: "I can't wait till you trade the damn thing in/ By then they would have put me in the loony bin."