Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones

The Beatles and the Stones, The Beatles and the Stones... They may be inseparable as the names of the two best British bands of the '60s, but we all know who is perceived by most as being superior, and not without reason. Watch the June '67 footage of the former's performance of 'All You Need Is Love' becoming part of the first ever live global television link, and in the audience you'll see Mick Jagger, grinning, clapping along, a mere disciple. Months later, with the bungling mysticism of the 'Their Satanic Majesties Request' album, his awe has mutated into imitation: in '67 The Rolling Stones tried to make their own 'Sgt Pepper's...' and sounded lost.

Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best Of The Replacements by The Replacements

The Replacements were one of the most iconic American alt. bands of the '80s. Paul Westerberg and his gang of misfits came out of Minneapolis in 1981 and grew from snotty punks to literate but still very drunk college rockers, equally influential on grunge (they empathised with teen angst when Kurt Cobain was still a teenager) and alt.country (there’s a melancholic twang to the likes of 'Achin' To Be'). This 20 track compilation is a decent overview of the band's career(ing) path before the reissue of all their albums later this year and the two good new tracks tacked on to the end have got hopes up for a full-scale. Pixies style reunion. Not before time.

Enemies Like This by Radio 4

You know that moment at Christmas when a child stops playing with a new toy and moves on to another? You can't help feeling that Radio 4 are that toy. Two years on from their major-label debut and the punk-funk sound they were pioneers of has reached a point where the stuffing is spilling out and its head falling off. For all the inventiveness of the angular basslines of ‘As Far As The Eye Can See' (which worryingly sounds like bloated '80s stadium rockers Simple Minds) and 'Grass is Greener' (ditto U2), there’s a distinctly stale odour. Their problem? Others have overtaken them and you can include Franz and Bloc Party in that  with their own take on choppy guitar and funk basslines. It’s only 43 minutes long. That's enough.

Alternately Deep by Roots Manuva

Another year, another Roots Manuva album, and this time, the bugger isn't even trying. with the exquisite introspection of 2005's ‘Awfully Deep’ still being pored over by virtually every would be Brit hopper in the hope that they might ingest the tiniest morsel of its magic, Rodney Smith has decided to completely empty out his musical drip tray by collecting together all of his outtakes, remixes and rarities from the ‘Awfully Deep’ sessions and put them into this stylistically varied, yet surprisingly cohesive sister album. The result is so infuriatingly good that when he is approached on the street, Manuva now runs a serious risk of being asked for his autograph and getting lamped by the same person. That much talent is awfully unfair on other prentenders to the UK hip hop throne.