Dinosaur Jr - Almost Ready (dinosaurjr.com)

Next month, April 30 to be precise, sees a new album called Beyond from the original Jr. line-up, their first in 18 years. “Some groups can change line-ups without anyone noticing,” their website observes, “but that was never the case with Dinosaur Jr. The pieces that fell away over the years were missed. But now they have all been collected together in one place. For how long no one can say. So just dig it while it is.” This free taster from the album is also available on their MySpace at www.myspace.com/dinosaurjr. ***

Mr Hudson – Why Must I Always Play The Clown? (iTunes)

One of the surprise highlights of Amy Winehouse’s current UK tour is the support band, Mr Hudson and The Library. An odd mix of The Police, 80s drum pads and quality pop songs, with a backing vocalist with a nice line in steel drums. They’re signed to Mercury and this is their first single, available exclusively as an iTunes download. ****

Keane - Live From London (iTunes)

One of the latest in a series of concerts recorded exclusively for iTunes, Keane’s eight-track acoustic set comes in somewhat shorter than previous releases by the likes of Coldplay but is still well worth a listen for some interesting takes on tracks from Hopes and Fears and Under The Iron Sea. They kept the between-song chatter in on the individual MP3s but, as the fans say, you really had to be there on the night as Dirrtylicious - a highlight of the show - is strangely missing from the album. ****

Depeche Mode - The Complete Depeche Mode (iTunes)

Following on from the our review of Bob Dylan’s 800-tracks-for-£169.99 The Collection digital box set in RC 332 comes this equally wallet obliterating – but incredibly tempting – iPod filler from Depeche Mode. It has 644 songs in total, and a 54-page digital booklet. That’s all of their studio albums, plus three live albums, Songs of Faith and Devotion Live, Playing The Angel Live and the classic, 101. Then there’s the singles compilations, the remix compilations, two hours-worth of “digital only remixes” (including far too many versions of John The Revelator than is healthy). For completists – and this would make completists of anyone – there’s one hours-worth of tracks snappily entitled Previously Unreleased Rehearsal Recordings and Rare Acoustic Performances, followed by two more round-ups: the 22-track Rare Early Live Performances and the 41-track line up Rare, Deleted and Promo-Only Remixes. Amazing. ***

DJ Reggie - Holla Dayz Inn (ryan-adams.com )

Ryan Adams fans will be well aware that DJ Reggie and Adams are one in the same. In fact Reggie is just one of three pseudonyms that Adams spent last year working under. He’s recorded eight off-shoot albums so far, all of which are available from his website. That’s Holla Dayz Inn, A Reginald Gangster, Hip HopBreaker and 4:20/20 as DJ Reggie, his rap and hip-hop alter-ego. Then there’s the more hardcore doppelganger, The Shit, which has released Christmas Apocalypse, This Is Shit, …Hits The Fans, Hillbilly Joel, General Ulysees S. Hospital and Self Portrait. And, for an even hardcore image of the artist, download Feel The Laser where this time he’s masquerading as WereWolph. **

Inspiral Carpets - Keep The Circle (mute.com)

Great to see the Carpets touring again this month and, if you have some gaps in your collection, they’ve just released this download-only compilation of “rare B-sides and udder stuff.” It’s got the flipsides of their 13 Top 40 singles and some rarities including a previously unreleased version of Saturn 5 (featuring Mark E Smith) and Garage Full Of Flowers, the band’s the first ever recording which was hitherto only available on a 1988 limited edition flexidisc. If you don’t download the whole thing, be sure to also check out the Satanic Wurlie mix of Cobra and the vocal and instrumental versions of St Kilda. *****

The Ordinary Boys – Last Christmas (theordinaryboys.com)

Recorded as a Christmas present for fans, Preston and co. come clean on their pop aspirations with this cover of the Wham! classic, available only from the Ordinary Boys official website. All you have to do is give them your email address in return, so they can add you to their mailing list. No chance of this one being bootlegged as it’s available only as a very low-fi- 64 kbps .WMV file. **

Brian Eno/David Byrne – My Life In The Bush of Ghosts (bushofghosts.wmg.com)

One of the most influential electronic/cut-and-paste albums of all time has been given the remastered makeover treatment for CD and, online, is one of the most detailed and interactive reissues we’ve come across in some time. Visually, David Byrne has made available Polaroids, studio shots and alternative album sleeves from the original 1981 issue. And musically the duo have made the complete master tapes available for two tracks for anyone and everyone to mix, remix, and meddle with to their hearts content. You can hear some of the results people have been coming up with on the site, and then rate them and leave your own reviews. *****

Scissor Sisters - Land of a Thousand Words (Sebastien Tellier Remix) (iTunes)

Using his own new lyrics and vocal parts, Sebastien Tellier first aired this special remix on his stint on BBC 6 Music’s 6Mix show, blending it with tracks as diverse as Queen and Herbie Hancock. It’s now available to buy online, but only via iTunes and draws heavily on US FM-style Eagles-like vocals and arrangements. ***

Thom Yorke – The Clock (Surgeon Remix) (theeraser.net)

This is the first in a series of remixes from and inspired by Thom Yorke’s The Eraser album, available as free downloads from his official website. “This was the one that made me think, we got to start getting these out,” blogged Thom on the stack of remixes he’s been sitting on since the album was releases last summer. “I was chuffed he (The Surgeon) wanted to do it as I think he is a master. He has turned it into something really hard. And disco… It made me very proud.” The remixes will only be available on the site for a limited time, so keep an eye on www.theeraser.net and Yorke-friendly blogs like Instrumental Analysis in Baltimore which reposted this and the Various Remix of Analyse at instrumentalanalysis.blogspot.com/2006/12/thom-yorke-remixes.html in case anyone had missed them first time around. ****

Sugababes - NapsterLive Session

This live set was recorded exclusively for the Napster download platform and – making it an even rarer treat – it’s completely unplugged and acoustic. There are five tracks: two classics (Push The Button and Hole In The Head), one let-down (Ugly), the latest single (Easy) and an oddity (a cover of Primal Scream’s Rocks). When you’ve downloaded, pop over to the Sugababes’ fan site www.ukbritney.net/sugababes/ which has put together a special sleeve for when you burn the set to CD.

Emma Lock – Shooting Star (iTunes)

If you took a dose of Joss Stone and mixed it with some Evanescence, and possibly a twist of Kate Bush, you’d have a fair idea of Emma Lock is coming from. She’s from Cornwall, looks amazing and this is her first set of songs. You can hear extracts at myspace.com/emmalock and her own www.emmalock.com. While some tracks struggle to find a shape and purpose, Transindental and Stepping Stones are wild, accomplished showcases for a great emerging talent. ***

Madness - Singles Box Sets Vol I & II (EMI)

If you’re looking to build a complete digital music collection of Stiff Records or their leading lights, Madness, then you can get a step closer this month. EMI’s 04 December release makes all of the Madness b-sides available for download for the first time ever. The Stiff era singles are included, as are later tracks like Uncle Sam and (Waiting For The Ghost Train). There are 32 tracks in the Vol. 1 package including the rare Don’t Quote Me On That promo disc. Although whether this is the version that only ever originally appeared on 12”, or the standard Work Rest & Play EP version used in the ‘physical’/CD Singles Box Set Vol. 1 that was released in 2003 remains to be seen…***

Moby – Go (Downloadable Deluxe Version) (Mute)

The promotion and marketing of Go – The Very Best of Moby has been a complete fiasco. With different track listings for at least six countries and various online ‘exclusives’ popping up all over the place, it’s been impossible to keep track of. Even Moby himself realised and made a special blog posting on Halloween to try and clear things up. You can read it yourself at www.moby.com/journal/2006-10-26/confusion_around_go_the_very_best_of_mob.html. The bottom line for download collectors? Get the Downloadable Deluxe Version – “a/k/a iTunes plus more stuff,” as Moby called it – for seven bonus tracks including a 2006 remake of Go, a Murk remix of Porcelain and possibly his greatest track ever, God Moving Over The face of Waters. **

David Bowie - Black Tie White Noise Extras (EMI)

This digital only release has 12 tracks from Bowie’s 1993 return-to-form album that reunited him with Nile Rogers and Mick Ronson. All sorts of remixes, off-cuts and oddments are here. Like Real Cool World (from the Cool World soundtrack), the Rock and Brothers In Rhythm 12” remixes of Jump They Say and a remix by the much missed Moodswings of a track called Nite Flights. If you only download one, make it the Dub Oddity version of Jump They Say or, as a reserve, the curious Indonesian Vocal Version of Don’t Let Me Down and Down (Jangan Susahkan Hatiku). ****

Enigma - A Posteriori (Liberty/EMI)

Despite reaching his sixth album as Enigma, no review of Micheal Cretu’s ambient/pop crossover ever fails to mention his inaugural hit, 1990’s Sadness Part 1. But at least this reviewer can start by saying how I couldn’t stand it! The chant/beats mash-up, the female vocal… I found nothing original or exciting in it at all. What I did love, was his minor 1993 hit Return To Innocence (like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan meets Public Enemy) and 1996’s even more minor album Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! (one of the few enjoyable dance albums released that year).

This one is much less varied than any previous effort. Cretu has got some great Euphoria-style sounds going on, but little else. I can’t decide whether it’s all blissfully chilled out, or just lacklustre. Most tracks are instrumental and few - save for the finale, Goodbye Milky Way - lack the emotional charge that Cretu has always managed to add into the ambience.

As an aside, this is the first promo CD I’ve seen with the individual reviewer’s name printed both on the cover and actual disc, which means that music piracy is about to meet a new, major hurdle and that the nabbing of moral-free reviewers is about to become quite a spectator sport for eBay-watchers!