When I Was Cruel
Elvis Costello

While the album title might refer to the days when he was everyone's favourite nasty little shit in a skinny tie this is more a case of Elvis going back to the future than an exercise in nostalgia. His voice still sounds like a hanky full of snot and The Attractions (2/3 of them anyway) can still make a vicious noise but the old dog is trying new tricks like the drum loop and vocal sampling on the title track and the frantic Latin-style brass on "15 Petals." There's a few misses here, like an old geezer trying to prove he can still get it up Elvis piles it on a bit thick vocally and lyrically and gives himself a hernia with a few songs that aren't strong enough to stand the strain. But still, this is a darn good album and it's a joy to hear Elvis spitting out bile again after he's been playing Mr. Cultured and Sophisticated the past few years. Now if only Woody Allen would release a film called "When I Was Funny."

Nude Tempo Vol. 1
Mixed by Miguel Migs

Naked Music are the go-to guys if you like your dance music creamy smooth and soulful and this is yet another release from them that's just too sexy for it's shirt. Using choice tunes from the likes of Lisa Shaw, Kerri Chandler and Hajime Yoshizawa (yes! THE Hajime Yoshizawa!) San Francisco DJ Migs spins together a mix that floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee as it glides from the jazzy and spacey to the funky and glittery. Featuring some tasty guitar licks and dreamy vocals driven along by bouncy 4/4 beats and juicy basslines that wiggle their way up your legs and work lubricating magic on your hips, the whole thing melts together like butter on a hot muffin to make one of the juiciest Houses mixes I've heard in while.

Release
Pet Shop Boys

Considering their history of ironic piss-taking the news that PSB's new album was going to be a guitar-driven "rock" record seemed like another prank. Well they were partly serious, actually, though the guitars come courtesy of Johnny Marr rather than Ted Nugent so there’s no headbanging going on here, instead this is a collection of elegant ballads that inhabit the same mellow universe as "Being Boring." Despite the relative lack of synths this is still very much a PSB record, but one that finds them firmly in stay-at-home-and-watch-the-telly mood with the dance numbers missing in action. Unfortunately, while the album does have a couple of real pop gems in "Home And Dry" and "I Get Along" the boys don't quite seem to have their mojos working this time out and a lot of it just floats by - very prettily, mind - without really making an impression. It's a solid enough job by the standards of most other bands but if I was a contestant on Supermarket Sweep this wouldn't be the first PSB album I’d grab.