Bragg

Responsible for surely the only concept album based around cricket, the Duckworth Lewis Method is the side project of Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon and Pugwash frontman Thomas Walsh. The duo, named after the complicated cricket scoring system, formed in 2008 after Hannon and Walsh met at Father Ted writer Graham Linehan's wedding in Ireland. After Walsh asked Hannon to contribute to a Christmas charity record, the pair discovered a mutual appreciation of ELO and cricket, and decided to combine the two to record an album together. Their self-titled debut was released two days before the 2009 Ashes through Hannon's own label, and reached number 40 in the U.K. charts.

This is the most comprehensive collection of the rockabilly era that was ever assembed in one box. On these 40CDs there are 1000 carefully chosen songs. A booklet is also included with information, biographies and many rare illustrations.

This first real "album" release by Stewart/Gaskin reached a level of sophistication rarely heard on pop/rock albums. Every track sounds like a labor of love, with no fillers…

It's a two plus hours survey of British indie music in 1992 and as expected, there's a mixed bag of gems, nostalgia, and iffy detritus that hasn't stood the test of time. But with any festival, the ups and downs are part of the experience. You can't expect to like everything, and the fun is in soaking up the atmosphere, discovering new bands, and confirming why your favourite artists are in fact your favourites. That was all true when I first heard this album back in the 90's. As a snapshot of they way things really were in 1992, this album is a priceless artifact that I never get tired of returning to.

Kirsty MacColl first emerged on the British pop scene as something of a novelty – her first single was the girl group pastiche "They Don't Know," which became a hit when covered by comic Tracey Ullman, and her first chart success on her own was the witty country-styled number "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis." But in 1989, MacColl released the album Kite, which revealed she was one of the best and most insightful U.K. songwriters of her generation, with a body of work that was witty, disarmingly honest, eclectic, and adventurous.