Ray Charles - Ray Charles in Concert (BMG)

This DVD Video was recorded back in 1999 at a benefit concert in Florida for the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. While there are no extras, the first number is the background to some intriguing black and white warm-up and rehearsal footage and jamming. From there it’s straight into a great colour TV-shot concert with full big band.

There are some prime examples of the man and his magic here – and strong evidence that even at the end of the 90s he was still capable of delivering. I Got A Woman is the classic gospel opener. I Hurts To Be Loved draws emotion from the assembled orchestra and songs like Georgia On My Mind and Your Cheatin’ Heart (which gets a special ripple from an audience that adds little atmosphere to proceedings) are even more compelling, in light of Jamie Foxx’s Academy Award-hoovering portrayal of the man and his life.

The best moments of jazziness come when Ray leaves the keyboards to deliver a sax solo on Al I Ever Need Is You, and a couple of duets (including the I Had To Be You) with Diane Schuur, who gets a classic Ray Charles intro in “I’m going to introduce a little femininity to the stage. Hallelujah. Can I get an Amen on that?” Amen!

Jimmy Ramsay - Tower Blocks & Top Tens (Independent Music Press)

Any book that's 100% unofficial and with a low, 123-pages-to-£8.99 price ratio is never going to go in anything other than the cash-in category. Which is a shame because the story of Mike Skinner and The Streets is one that's well worth telling. In fact it was worth telling right from the moment Skinner started coming out with lyrics like “You say that everything sounds the same, then you go buy them. There's no excuses my friend, lets push things forward…”

Whether or not lines like that make him “the new Alan Bennett” (a claim dissected in this book) is another matter. But author Jimmy Ramsay tells Skinner’s story well, right from the moment he couldn’t believe his mum was singing along to Dry Your Eyes Mate via comparisons with Ken Loach and, really, Yes’ Tales From Topographic Oceans.

Of course it's never going to be the longest book because Skinner has only released two albums so far, 2002’s Original Pirate Material and last year’s A Grand Don’t Come For Free. But this is a world where Geri Halliwell and Robbie Williams are both on their second autobiographies, despite making about as much creative impact in their entire careers as Mike Skinner utters in a single outro.

Jennifer McKnight-Trontz - This Ain’t No Disco (Thames & Hudson)

Perfect coffee-table browsing, this 255-page encyclopaedia of sleeves from the post-punk era harks back to those classic The Album Cover Album books from that very period. If you’ve been reading Simon Reynold’s much talked about biog of the era, Rip It Up And Start Again lately then this is the perfect accompaniment, depicting the sleeves of most all of the records he examines.

It does have a slight US-bent, though but that’s not my only criticisms. My main gripe is the captions that accompany some of the sleeves. Firstly, only a small minority get captioned. If you’re going to tell a story why not tell it? Why the fragments? Also, the captions that are there offer little narrative, only recycling facts you’d probably already know.

So in a book celebrating the last great, golden era of the record sleeve, you don’t come away knowing anything about the people that made it happen –Peter Saville, XL, Accident, Keith Breeden, Town & Country Planning and the like all remain queuing up for good books to be written about them.

But you do come away with an instant coffee-table conversation piece. And an unputdownlable trip down memory lane.

Hazel O’Connor - Hidden Heart (Invisible Hands)

Anyone that spots this album in light of Hazel O’Connor’s recent ITV appearance on the 80s throwback-a-thon Hit Me Baby One More Time will be sorely disappointed. Disappointed because there’s nothing remotely cheesy or Saturday night about it.

In fact there’s nothing particularly retro about Hidden Heart either. It begins as a fresh, understated combination of electro beats and Celtic atmospheres which – combined with Hazel’s voice that has aged well – makes for an almost psychedelic/acid folk vibe. It then moves onto a lilting if perfunctionary set of blues originals.

This is an album that takes its time - it doesn’t rush to impress, and is clearly a labour of love both for the singer, her producer Martin Rushent, long term collaborator Cormac De Barra and his “trusty harp Matilda”. There are also some new collaborators, like Clannad’s Moya Brennan and Tony Dangerfield whose Subterraneans played with Hazel at Glastonbury last year.

Aside from the collab with Moya Brennan, standout songs include I’ll See You Again, Strong and Lovable, the latter of which explore this blues territory, where Hazel is now digging a real niche. All of which throws Hit Me Baby One More Time to the wayside. Forget the ITV cheese and give it a try.