Collected by Massive Attack

As a big football fan, Massive Attack's Robert ’3D' Del Naja might appreciate the analogy we're about to bestow on him. He’s the Sam Allardyce of music. By that, we don’t mean he’s got a head like a pumpkin and chews gum like a Friesian, What we mean is that in the 15 years of his group’s career he’s signed up, got in on loan, transferred, dropped and generally wrung fantastic performances from a disparate group of characters.
’Collected’ is a neat detour as Massive Attack journey on to their fifth album, ‘Weather Underground’, due next year. A time to reflect on an outfit who, despite more fallouts than the EU parliament, have made some of the most enduringly intelligent music of our time. And, as with everything Massive Attack have done,

Silver And Fire by M. Craft

Australians in London, eh? Cramming into Walkabouts, drinking enormous amounts of shit lager, bellowing along to 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down. Sport'... and then, if young Martin Craft is anything to go by. returning to a bedroom to write dreamy guitar pop that reconciles a number of bad taste hallmarks uber slick '80s production, bossanova rhythms  with a world weariness of Radiohead proportions, it’s not without its bland lkea pop moments, but the oddly serene 'I've Got Nobody Waiting For Me' employs picked banjo without resorting to rustic cliche, while ‘Love Knows How To Fight' builds robust emotional fortitude out of gorgeous, ethereal layers of sound.

Puzzles Like You by Mojave 3

You could call ‘Puzzles Like You’ Mojave 3’s Great Leap Forward except it’s taken them five albums and 12 years to get here. No matter, because they've finally gone into their rodent infested Cornish studio and pressed the button marked ‘big’; cue jangling Byrdsy '60s guitar pop, throbbing Doorsy organs and new found exuberance. ‘Breaking The ice’ is a rollicking anthem, punctured by a piano thrashed to an inch of its life and ending in a wall of guitars, while ‘Most Days’ comes across as Gram Parsons covered by Pink Floyd. Sadly, original member Rachel Goswell is on leave of absence due to suffering the severe ear complaint labyrinthitis, but Mojave 3’s confident new demeanour should prove an effective medicine.

Rose Has Teeth in Mouth of a Beast by Matmos

Digital Dadaists Matmos like to challenge themselves almost as much as they do their listeners. So while previous albums from this San Franciscan duo have featured beats composed from samples of plastic surgery operations, whoopee cushions and - oh yes - the amplified neural activity of crayfish, here they've constructed a series of dense electronic sound collages, each intended as an ‘aural portrait’ of one of 10 gay icons. Their choices are winningly eclectic from Joe Meek to William Burroughs, Patricia Higsmith and the flamboyant King Ludwig ll Of Bavaria, each track allows Matmos to experiment with a different style. If you're the kind of person that enjoys chopped up samples of hair being cut or people receiving cigarettes burns intertwined with vocal cameos from Bjork and Antony Hegarty then it's safe to say you probably won't need to buy another album ever again. Everyone else will find ‘The Rose...’ easy to admire, but hard to really love.

Men, Women, & Children by Men Women & Children

Step up‘emo-disco’,a new entry to our list of previously inconceivable genres Tortured croons over'70s electro violin stabs and thumping basslines might sound like a recipe for disaster, but this lot could be on to something. New single ‘Dance In My Blood’is in a muddy field of its own, wearing star spangled wellies and having the time of its life, while 'Photosynthesis(We're Losing 02)'is another treat.OK, So there's a song that sounds like Scissor Sisters riding around in Super Mario Karts (‘Who Found Mister Fabulous’). another that puns on the vowel structure (“AEIOU nothing", from’vowels’, kill us every time), and artwork more pretentious than a coterie of fashionistas attending a show called 'Le Pretentious. Moi?'.The 'Children are the future.

Zero: A Martin Hannett Story 1977-1991 by Martin Hannett

Despite the fact that he died 15 years ago, Martin Hannett is responsible for a large proportion of your record collection. This is not to say that you only own records that were released on Factory or some early singles by U2, but that the mad Mancunian's unique production tecniques are still very influential today. Editors? They wouldn't have that cold, metallic echo without Joy Division's ‘Transmission’. The poetic, punk groove of Arctic Monkeys? Well, John Cooper Clarke's ‘I Don't Want To Be Nice’ always sounded good on the dancefloor. The Killers’ precision tooled anthems? They wouldn't have filled stadiums without ‘Pretty In Pink‘ by The Psychedelic Furs. Throw in some Happy Mondays and New Order too and this really is an indispensable collection.

Youth by Matisyahu

So, on the other side of the Atlantic, the bissest Sellins reggae artist at present is a 24 year old. 6ft 4in tall Hasidic Jew (you can tell this by his long beard and traditional garb). It's fair to say Matisyahu really doesn't look like your average chart topper and, unsurprisingly, he doesn't sound like one either. Blending the melodic majesty of Bob Marley, the slick production values of contemporary American R&B and hip-hop and rugged, almost Jamaican accented rhymes, Matisyahu's studio debut succeeds in being accessible, yet at the same time sounds unlike anything else on earth. The likes of ‘Fire Of Heaven/Altar Of Earth‘ may occasionally veer into over polished territory but, even forgetting the unique nature of its creator, ‘Youth’ is still a striking, articulate debut album.

The Graduate by MC Lars

What do you get when you combine a white collegiate rapper who hardly ever swears, some Supergrass samples and a lot of ‘insights’ about Myspace and (shudder) the ‘iGeneration'? This
album, which might as well be subtitled
‘Now That's what I Call Rap/Rock Novelty Hits 2006'. Not since The Bloodhound Gang's ‘The Bad Touch’ has someone been so unafraid of the cheesy. the geeky and the shameless. which is why MC Lars sometimes strays into the territory of mad genius (‘Moby Dick’, which retells Herman Melville's story to the strains of the ’Grass's ‘Moving’) and at others is so infuriating you want to take a pickaxe to the stereo. All Lars needs for ubiquity is one spin from Chris Moyles. Don't say we didn't warn you.